Seth Lesser left New York for California in 1850, following the California Gold Rush, inspired by stories of the fabulous riches that can be had by the bold and adventurous. On the East Coast, the New York Herald’s August 19, 1848 edition broke the story. Soon the whole country was excited. Seth was soon packing his pick and shovel and heading for the West aboard a steamship even though he knew nothing at all about prospecting for gold.

Reaching San Francisco was an accomplishment in itself for Seth Lesser, as well as for many others who headed for California. Dying along the way was a fate common to many who were not so lucky. Surviving famine, typhoid fever and cholera, Mr Lesser sailed the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama connecting North and South America, for eight months. He reached the Pacific side of the isthmus by traveling through the jungle riding a mule. Then he waited for that ship that would bring him to the land of his dreams: San Francisco, California.

Hardly surprising was the fact that Seth Lesser arrived on a California which was a boomtown. There are always demands for goods and services that need to be met and businesses were being established everywhere. While learning prospecting, Seth shared lodgings with fellow-prospectors with whom he became friends on the way to California. His friends were cut out for the job. As it turned out, he wasn’t. Giving up after a year of digging here and there, Mr Lesser abandoned his plan of being a gold prospector. As people kept coming to San Francisco, the population grew and so did the demand for haberdashers. Thus did he build his new haberdashery store.

The California Gold Rush may not have yielded the gold that Seth Lesser desired, but he became a rich man by doing what he did best: being a haberdasher.