[3] Before long, Stearns moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to join his brother George S. manufacturing cotton wadding, in the first such factory west of the Allegheny Mountains.

[1] In 1850, Henry, feeling wanderlust, sold out his interest in the cotton wadding factory to his brother, and headed to California to join in the gold rush.

This required a land transport across the isthmus of Panama on the backs of men, then a sea voyage on an old whaling ship which sprang a leak, became disabled and set adrift.

He then moved on to operate a steam ferry boat named "Hector" between San Francisco and Oakland.

[1] In 1853, Stearns returned to Cincinnati, then moved a few more times, including Buffalo, New York and then Sangamon County, Illinois.