George Henry Jesse
George Henry Jesse was a first-class passenger heading to Victoria. He was still on the Valencia when it finally broke up killing all on board. One Seattle newspaper reported on January 30th, "Survivors tell of the heroism of G.H. Jesse who is a prominent British Columbia oarsman, in refusing to take a place on the raft on which Connors and Long escaped, that he might remain to assist Miss Laura Van Wyck, a San Francisco society girl. Connors said: "I saw Jesse and know him, as he was a little further on the mast than I when the top-mast broke. I was carried down, and he had a hard time to keep in the rigging, holding Miss Van Wyck. "I called to him to come down and take a chance on the life raft, but he replied; "No, I have some one here to look after, and will stay and take my chances.”
The San Francisco Call reported on January 24th, “G.H. Jesse, a well known commercial traveller of the north, was on board the Valencia. Jesse’s destination was Victoria, where he had business for a northern firm. Jesse was formerly employed by the Hudson Bay Commercial Company and is well known all over the Northwest, as well as in this city.” A memorial stone for George Henry Jesse is in the Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, BC.