Charles was the second son of John Shackford and Elizabeth Batson. He had married Sophia Roberts Thayer about 1840 and had three children, Ann Maria Shackford, born 1840, Silas Thayer Shackford, born 1843, and Edward Warren Shackford, born 1846. In the 1850 census, Charles is found in Eastport working as a clerk with real estate valued at $200 with wife Sophia, and his three children ages 10, 7, and 4.
We do not know much about Charles' sailing career but assume that he most likely learned the sailing trade from his father who was the captain of the Boundary which ran a regular route from Eastport to Boston. We believe Charles started sailing the Brig Esther Elizabeth around January 1851 and our preliminary research has found the brig in Boston, New York, Eastport, Galveston, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
It must have been a very sad and difficult time for Sophia, Charles' wife when she learned that he and his ship had left Philadelphia but had not arrived in Boston. She was 32 years old and had three children ages 13, 10, and 7. Over the next few years she had to deal with raising her children on her own and dealing with the probate for her husband. Over those years, his estate was declared insolvent and she was required to place the real estate up for sale. In 1860 we find Sophia living with her mother, her aunt and two of her children, Ann Marie and Silas while her son Edward has moved in with his grandparents John and Elizabeth. In 1870 Sophia is in Brookline with Ann Marie and Silas. We do not find her in the 1880 census but she is living on Tremont Street in Boston in 1889. She died in Philadelphia at the age of 75 from an intestinal issue. Although her death record says she was buried in Eastport, we believe we have found her grave in Weymouth, Mass.
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SOURCES:
1850 United States Federal Census, Washington County, population schedule, Eastport, page 48? (penned), 244 (stamped), dwelling 271, family 359, Charles Shackford; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 June 2014).
"Arrived," New York Daily Tribune, 13 October 1851; digital images, Fulton History (http://fultonhistory.com : accessed 9 June 2014
"BOSTON," Semi-Weekly Courier and New-York Enquirer (New York, New York), 23 June 1851; digital images, Fulton History (http://fultonhistory.com/ : accessed 9 June 2014
"Disasters, &c.," New York Daily Tribune, 1 February 1854; digital images, Fulton History (http://fultonhistory.com : accessed 9 June 2014
"EASTPORT," Morning Courier and New York Enquirer (New York, New York), 27 August 1852; digital images, Fulton History (http://fultonhistory.com/ : accessed 9 June 2014)
"EASTPORT," The Evening Post, 24 September 1853; online images, Fulton History (http://fultonhistory.com : accessed 9 June 2014)
"EASTPORT," New York Daily Tribune, 28 November 1853; digital images, Fulton History (http://fultonhistory.com : accessed 9 June 2014
Find A Grave, Find A Grave, digital images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 22 February 2014), Sophia R. Shackford, Find A Grave Memorial# 68896278.
"Missing Vessels.: Brig Esther Elizabeth," The Sailor's Magazine, May 1854; online archives, Google Books, (books.google.com : accessed 21 April 2013), 1854, page 279
"Port of Galveston Thursday Evening, Feb 10, 1853," Weekly Journal (Galveston, Texas), 11 February 1853, Feb. 4, brig Esther Elizabeth, Shackford, Baltimore; digital images, The Portal to Texas History (http://texashistory.unt.edu : accessed 3 September 2013
Washington, Maine, , Chs W. Shackford; "Maine, Washington County Courthouse Records, 1795-1950," digital images, FamilySearch (FamiilySearch.org: accessed 9 June 2014); Probate Records, Probate records, 1854-1856, v. 19, Page 154, Image 157, Chs W. Shackford's Estate Representation by decree of Insolvency
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