Mott-Smith, John, 1824-1895

Albany, N.Y., dentist; California forty-niner; and Hawaiian dentist, businessman-planter, and government official.

Seeing no prospects for wealth in his N.Y. dentistry practice, Smith (as he was then known) joined the Rensselaer County Exploring Company as one of twenty operators sailing to California in search of gold. On Mar. 8, 1849, he sailed for Chagres aboard the mail steamer "Falcon," journeyed across the Isthmus by boat and mule train to Panama City, and eventually sailed to San Francisco, probably arriving in August or September of 1849. Smith worked sixteen months in the gold fields (Mormon Island near Natoma, Calif., and Ford's Bar in Eldorado County), quitting Dec. 25, 1850, with a $400 profit. In February, 1851, Smith sailed for Honolulu.

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