three years ago was Port Captain of the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company at Pana-
ma died yesterday of apoplexy, in Rich-
mond Borough. Capt Shackford was born
at Eastport, Me in 1830. When the civil
war broke out he joined the naval volun-
teer service. After the war he became an
officer in the American Line Steamship
Company, and after that became connect-
ed with the Panama Railroad. Thirteen
years ago he was appointed an officer in
the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and
eleven years ago was made Port Captain
at Panama."
WILLIAM SHACKFORD (1830-1900)
William Shackford was born September 9, 1830 to Jacob Shackford and Eliza Pearce and at the age of 22 married Sarah Lincoln Harris, the daughter of Edward C Harris in St John, New Brunswick, Canada.
Although we don't what ships William first sailed on, we know from his obituary and his seaman's certificate dated July 28, 1858 that he followed his father's occupation of sea captain. From the General Register of the United States Navy and Marine Corp 1782-1882 and from William's pension file, we learn the details of his military service - he served July 13, 1863 to November 11, 1865 aboard the USS Home, USS Winoma, and USS Nahant. In 1870 he had a residence in Eastport, Maine, in 1880 a residence in Philadelphia and in 1890 a residence in New York. Due to his occupation, we presume he was not at these addresses very often as he worked extensively in Panama. We still trying to identify which ships he captained, a process made difficult because he and a distant cousin Capt John William Shackford (1839-1905) were officers for the American Steamship Company around the same time and he and another distant cousin, Capt William Gardner Shackford (1840-1907) were employed by the Pacific Mail Company around the same time.
William's family's summer vacations at Cape May often made it in the society pages of mulitple newspapers. The August 2, 1897 New York Tribune mentions the arrival of Mrs William Shackford, and Miss Carrie N. Shackford and an August 29, 1897 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer mentions that Captain William Shackford joined his wife at the Congress Hotel to recover from "an attack of isthmus fever to regain his health." Shortly thereafter Williams' wife Sarah died. According to a note in William's pension records, Captain John William Shackford, provided a reference for William to work at the Empire Transportation Company in Seattle after his wife's death. Sometime thereafter he became very ill with double inguinal hernias, senility, disease of the heart and kidneys, and general debility. He requested an increase to his $8/month disability payments on June 23, 1899. A letter in the files from a physician at the Sailors Snug Harbor, New Brighton, New York written March 16, 1900 stated that William was too weak to leave the institution and meet with the board in person. He died on May 8, 1900.
CHILDREN:
Caroline Noyes Shackford (1854-1913) - music teacher, never married
Marcia Parepa Shackford (1872-1933) - married Silas Holmes Furman. Raised three young children on her own as he died suddenly from appendicitis when she was 27.
Copyright 2014 Joanne Shackford Parkes
SOURCES
1870 United States Federal Census, Washington County, Maine, population schedule, Eastport, Page No 60, dwelling 420, family 472, Wm Shackford; digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : accessed 23 December 2014).
1880 United States Federal Censu, Philadelphia County, Pennslyvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, enumeration district (ED) Enumeration District No 122, Page No 3 (penned) 104, (Stamped), 1342 Spruce Street South Side, Dwelling 19, Family 22, William Shackford; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 October 2013).
1890 Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, , special schedule - surviving soldiers, sailors, and marines, and widows, etc., New York, New York, enumeration district (ED) Enumeration District No 612, Page No 1, No 5, Dwelling 7, Family 7, Willm Shackford; digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : accessed 22 May 2014).
"August at Cape May," The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennslyvania), 29 August 1897; digital images, Fulton History (http://fultonhistory.com/ : accessed 26 December 2014).
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
"MOONLIGHT SAILS AT CAPE MAY," New York Tribune (New York, New York), 15 August 1897; digital images, Fulton History (http://fultonhistory.org : accessed 26 December 2014).
"Mrs. William Shackford," The New York (New York) Times, 3 October 1897; digital images, New York Times (http://nytimes.com : accessed 29 July 2014).
"OBITUARY NOTES," The New York (New York) Times, 9 May 1900, Capt. William Shackford; digital images, New York Times (http://nytimes.com : accessed 28 December 2014
"Pension File William Shackford," digital images, Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com : accessed 9 June 2014), William Shackford
"Sunday's Obituary - Capt Jacob Shackford (1790-1869), written by his nephew Samuel Shackford (Blog 229)," , SHACKFORD Family History Blog 229, 21 December 2014 (http://shackfordgenealogy.weebly.com/shackford-blog/sundays-obituary-capt-jacob-shackford-1790-1869-written-by-his-nephew-samuel-shackford-blog-229 : accessed 21 December 2014).
"U.S., Seamen's Protection Certificates, 1792-1869," digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 December 2014), William Shackford