acquired the new name of "San Francisco". Sherman and Halleck lived in a house in Monterey, now known as the "Sherman Quarters", from 1847 to 1849. In June 1848, Sherman accompanied the military governor of California, Col. Richard Barnes Mason, to inspect the gold mines at Sutter's Fort. Sherman unwittingly helped to launch the California Gold Rush by drafting the official documents in which Governor Mason confirmed that gold had been discovered in the region. At John Augustus Sutter Jr.’s request, Sherman assisted Capt. William H. Warner in surveying the new city of Sacramento, laying its street grid in 1848. He also opened a general store in Coloma, which earned him $1,500 in 1849 while his army salary was only $70 a month. Sherman also earned money from surveying and by the sale of lots in Sacramento and Benicia. Even though he earned a brevet promotion to captain in 1848 for his "meritorious service", his lack of combat experience and relatively slow advancement within the army discouraged him. Sherman would eventually become one of the few high-ranking officers of the U.S. Civil War who had not fought in Mexico. Marriage and business career On May 1, 1850, Sherman married his foster sister, Ellen Boyle Ewing, who was four years and eight months his junior. Ellen's father, Thomas Ewing, was the US Secretary of the Interior at that time. Father James A. Ryder, president of Georgetown College, officiated at the Washington, D.C., ceremony. President Zachary Taylor, vice president Millard Fillmore and other political luminaries attended the wedding. Ellen Ewing Sherman was a devout Catholic, and the couple's children were reared in that faith. Their children were: Maria Ewing ("Minnie") (1851–1913) Mary Elizabeth (1852–1925) William Tecumseh Jr. ("Willie") (1854–1863) Thomas Ewing (1856–1933) Eleanor Mary ("Ellie") (1859–1915) Rachel Ewing (1861–1919) Charles Celestine (1864–1864) Philemon Tecumseh (1867–1941) Sherman was appointed as captain in the Army's Commissary Department on September 27, 1850, with offices in St. Louis, Missouri. He resigned his commission in 1853 and entered civilian life as manager of the San Francisco branch of the Bank of Lucas, Turner & Co., whose corporate headquarters were in St. Louis. Sherman survived two shipwrecks and floated through the Golden Gate on the overturned hull of a foundering lumber schooner. Sherman suffered from asthma attacks, which he attributed in part to stress caused by the city's aggressive business culture. Late in life, Sherman said of his