joyful and happy reunion, and all had much to talk about while he was there. He gave a performance in San Francisco which Daniel and Annie attended and very much enjoyed. James was on his way with his troupe to Australia where he was booked to play the part of a tragedian in Hamlet. Not long after James left San Francisco, Daniel and family, now living in San Jose, had another happy surprise--his father came on a load of lumber around South America with other passengers in search of gold. They too had much to talk about and all enjoyed his visit which was a short one because he soon returned back to his home in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Soon after his father's departure, Daniel was called on by two of the Twelve Apostles of the Church, Apostle C C Rich and Amasa M Lyman, who had just undertaken the colonization of San Bernardino, California. They needed money to purchase the property, so they came up to San Francisco, to solicit financial aid. Daniel Stark and his friend, John M Horner, went down to look over the deal, and while there Daniel said he paid $8,000.00 for a city lot in the center of San Bernardino of ten acres which he hired Mr. Jennings to fence with a 10 foot slab fence, and plant in grapes. He then entered into an agreement to buy 160 acres from the U S Government. As soon as he completed building his house in San Bernardino, he went to San Jose for his wife and four children. While there he sent money to his brother Joseph, in Boston, Massachusetts, to have him ship two, four and one half-foot rolling mill stones, and irons for a flourmill which he intended to build in San Bernardino. He also ordered a threshing machine to be shipped from Genoa, New York. Daniel then went over to San Francisco and bought a large grinding stone, and farming tools. These he loaded on a steamship on which he and his family went aboard. Before reaching San Diego, the ship broke a shaft, and the Captain threw overboard Daniel's grinding stone and farming tools to save the ship.
After Daniel located his family in their new home by the side of which he built two cabins made of blue denim in which to store potatoes and other vegetables, he left a non-Mormon maid to care for his wife. Then he went overland to Sacramento and bought seed, potatoes and other garden seeds, and a span of mules. He hired an Australian to care for his grapes and for two or three years they yielded bumper crops which Daniel hauled to a distillery where he received a very high price.