Caroline Crosby was one of the most detailed chroniclers of events related to the Mormons in California from the time of her passing through on her way to a mission in the Society Islands in 1850 until her family moved back to Utah at the end of 1857. For a year and a half, from January 21, 1854 to June 21, 1855, she resided in San Francisco. During that time, she probably recorded more detail about the branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which flourished there than did all other extant sources combined. This includes social interaction as well as the regular church meetings, and probably no Mormon visited there during her residence in the city without being noted in her diary. This paper draws from this most insightful document to convey a detailed picture of the branch and its people during that time.

Edward Leo Lyman, Newell Bringhurst