William followed his grandfather's career path and after serving in the Navy as an Acting Ensign in 1864-1865 aboard the U.S.S. Maumee, became a seaman working for the Pacific Mail aboard the Colima frequently sailing from San Francisco to Honolulu to New South Wales. When he was 31, he married Josephine Anna March and by 1880, they had settled in South Orange, New Jersey but maintained a summer home in Portsmouth. We are still sorting out William's sailing career (there was another William Shackford with a similar age who was also a sea captain at the time) but believe he was the captain of the steamships SS Colima (1875, 1876), SS Sabrina (1875), SS Acapulco (1880, 1886), the SS Newport (1887, 1891), and the SS Columbia (1892).
In March 1897, William's wife Josephine died. The next year he became the captain of Howard Gould's Yacht Niagara, was one of few guests of Howard Gould's wedding, and sailed to the Navy academy to visit his son Chauncey . In 1901, William was appointed to the Board of Visitors for the Naval Academy and became involved in the Marine Society and the Loyal Legion.
Children:
On October 16, 1907, William married Ann Langdon Treadwell of Portsmouth and a week later. His obituary from the New York Herald reads as follows:
William G. Shackford, Who Once
Had Charge of Gould Yachts, a
Victim of Heart Disease.
William G. Shackford, a retired sea cap-
tain and prominent resident of South
Orange, who was married a week ago the
second time, died suddenly yesterday
morning at his home, No. 170 Vose ave-
nue, South Orange, of heart disease. The
marriage of the captain, who was sixty-
seven years old, took place in Portsmouth,
N. H. His bride was Miss Anne Treadwell,
of that place.
Captain Shackford was head of the Pa-
cific Mail line steamships and subsequently
had charge of the yachts of the Gould
family until his retirement four years ago.
Chauncey Shackford, naval aid to Presi-
dent Roosevelt and an executive officer of
the Mayflower, is a son of the captain. The
other children are William Shackford, of
Coronado Beach, Cal.; Mrs. Norris Have-
meyer Munday, of Chicago, Ill. and Miss
Shackford. Captain Shackford's mother,
Mrs. Maria Johnson, is ninety years old
and resides in Portsmouth, N. H.
Captain Shackford was born in Bradford,
Conn., in 1840. He was a veteran of the
civil war and at the taking of Fort Fisher
was a member of the landing party.
REFERENCES
1850 United States Federal Census, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, population schedule, Portsmouth City, page 63 (penned), 32 (stamped), dwelling 363 family 480; digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : accessed 13 December 2013).
1850 United States Federal Census, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, population schedule, Portsmouth City, page 63 (penned), 32 (stamped), dwelling 363 family 480; digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : accessed 13 December 2013).
1880 United States Federal Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Incorporated Village of South Orange, enumeration district (ED) Enumeration District No 111, Supervisor's District No 1, Page No 63, House No 8, Dwelling No 432, Family No 473, Wm G Shackford; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 October 2013).
"DOLE DINES WITH VETERANS," The Hawaiian gazette (Honolulu, Hawaii), 27 May 1902; digital images, Library of Congress Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 29 September 2013)
General Register of the United States Navy and Marine Corps 1782-1882 (n.d.), page 667; digital images, Mocavo (http://www.mocavo.com : accessed 18 January 2014
"HOWARD GOULD MARRIED. Viola Kathryn Clemmons, the Actress, Is the Bride," The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah), 13 October 1898; digital images, Library of Congress Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 8 September 2013
"Minneapolis Man on the Naval Academy Board," The Minneapolis (Minnesota) Journal, 5 January 1901; digital images, Library of Congress Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 7 August 2013).
New Hampshire, New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947, , William G Shackford m Josephine A March, 3 June 1872; digital records, Family Search (http://familysearch.org : accessed 10 September 2013).
New Hampshire, New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947, , William G Shackford m Ann L Treadwell, 16 October 1907; digital records, Family Search (http://familysearch.org : accessed 10 September 2013).
Revised register of the soldiers and sailors of New Hampshire in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866 (n.d.), ; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed page 1162
Vital Records of Bradford Massachusetts To the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield, Mass.: Topsfield Historical Society, 1907), page 148; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 28 February 20
"YACHT NIAGRA LAUNCHED. Howard Gould's Palatial Vessel Consigned to Her Native Element," Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York), 19 February 1898; digital images, Brooklyn Public Library (Brooklyn Public Library : accessed 22 August 2013), http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org