Captain Charles Thorn (1816-1897): Captain of notorious ships

Thorn family grave; Charles and Mary Thorn

 

Captain Charles Thorn was a steamship captain of numerous ships, including the USS California, a Pacific Mail ship that carried the mail from the East Coast to the West Coast. He later ran ships from San Francisco to San Diego. However, he is best remembered for being the captain of two ships etched in history for very different reasons, but oddly linked together.

He was captain of the steamship Union, which was owned by John Horner, who is credited with founding Union City. Horner named the city after his boat, which was berthed at what is now the corner of Horner and Veasy streets. The Union ran an overnight route between Union City and San Francisco. While in San Francisco, the ship was berthed in a basin between the Pacific and Broadway street wharves. 

The Steamship Union

 

In May of 1853, under Captain James Marsten, the Union was just leaving the mouth of Alameda Creek on a run to San Francisco when it came upon a disabled ship. The Jenny Lind, with Captain Thorn at the helm, was traveling from Alviso to San Francisco when its boiler exploded, killing 18 passengers and severely scalding another 40 of the 130 on board. Captain Marsten of the Union transferred the survivors and the remains of the victims to his ship and continued on to San Francisco, where the wounded were treated for their injuries. News accounts indicate that Captain Thorn miraculously escaped unscathed.

Captain Thorn and his family lived up and down the West Coast, including stints in Portland, San Francisco, Alviso and Alameda.

The funeral of the late Captain Charles Thorn occurred at the residence of Rev. W. W. Scudder, who served as a medical missionary in India for 22 years. His daughter used her inheritance to purchase the 250-acre Forest Home Farms in San Ramon where she built a 22-room house.

[Sources: East Bay Times, May 25, 2008; Personal photos of Terence Thorn; SF Call, Jan 19, 1897; The Patch, July 7, 2012; California Disasters by William B. Secrest]