Captain Thomas W. Badger and his wife, Jennie, were traveling from California aboard the ship Central America when it sank in a hurricane off the coast of South Carolina in September 1857. More than 400 passengers and crew perished in the tragedy, and millions of dollars worth of freshly minted gold went down with the ship. Thomas and Jennie survived the sinking and continued home to Virginia to be reunited with family. They soon returned to California, where Capt. Badger had a shipping business and would later build an amusement park in what is now downtown Oakland. Letters Home is a collection of letters written to relatives back home from Capt. Badger, and later from his nephew, Thomas N. Badger, covering a period from 1863 to 1953.