Henry A. Stearns

Henry Augustus Stearns (October 23, 1825 – October 8, 1910) brought steam laundry to California, was a cotton wadding mill owner in Rhode Island, and a Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island. Early life Stearns was born October 23, 1825, in Billerica, Massachusetts, the seventh generation of an old New England family which traced its ancestry back to Isaac Stearns, who settled in Watertown, Massachusetts from England in 1630. He attended Phillips Academy for two years, then worked as a shoemaker and as a clerk in a general store until he was 20 years old. Before long, Stearns moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to join his brother George S. manufacturing cotton wadding, in the first such factory west of the Allegheny Mountains. Wandering years In 1850, Henry, feeling wanderlust, sold out his interest in the cotton wadding factory to his brother, and headed to California to join in the gold rush. He decided he would transport a steam boiler and machinery, with the intent to start a steam laundry in San Francisco. This required a land transport across the isthmus of Panama on the backs of men, then a sea voyage on an old whaling ship which sprang a leak, became disabled and set adrift. By the time the crew arrived in San Francisco four months later, the Stearns and the crew were near-starving. A doctor told Stearns he would not live. However, Stearns did recover. He set up the first steam laundry in California, became very successful, and then sold his share. He then moved on to operate a steam ferry boat named "Hector" between San Francisco and Oakland. He then moved on to the redwoods district and opened a steam sawmill. In 1853, Stearns returned to Cincinnati, then moved a few more times, including Buffalo, New York and then Sangamon County, Illinois.