Daniel B. Foster was a ship's carpenter who came to San Francisco, Calif. from Norwich, Conn. sometime before 1850. He traveled south to the Isthmus of Panama in the winter of 1850 aboard the SS Panama. Foster kept an inventory of menus for all meals served on this voyage. He must have returned north aboard the same ship (probably as a common seaman), for, in San Francisco, he received a letter from Edwin Hitchcock of Norwich, Conn. dated April 8, 1850. Foster's name appears in San Francisco directories as late as 1867. After that date he seems to have moved north, for in his journal of a voyage to Honolulu with his son Jakey (1872-1873) Foster gives his address as "Portland, Victoria, San Francisco and Honolulu." In this journal Foster styles himself "Captain," although he was not master of the SS Jane A. Falkenburgh on which he sailed with his son.
From the description of Daniel B. Foster papers, 1850-1873. (University of the Pacific). WorldCat record id: 35163873
