Northerner was built in 1847 by William H. Brown, of New York City, as a companion to the SS Southerner for the Spofford & Tileston Company's line of steamers serving Charleston, South Carolina and the East Coast of the United States.

[9] On October 10, 1858, southbound from Olympia to San Francisco, Northerner was hit broadside by the Steam Tug Resolute in Dana's Straits.

Since thousands of dollars of damage was done to both vessels,[10] and it was a clear night in a mile-wide passage, the ship owners filed cross-suits in the Washington Territorial Courts.

[13] The ship hit a submerged rock and wrecked on January 6, 1860, on Centerville Beach, California,[13] a few miles south of the entrance to Humboldt Bay.

Seventy others made their way through crashing surf to shore[13] and were aided by local people including Seth Kinman and Arnold Berding.