Joseph Henderson (Pilot)
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Joseph Henderson (September 9, 1826 - October 7, 1890) was an early American harbor pilot.
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[edit] Early Life
Joseph Henderson was born in Charleston, South Carolina. At sixteen, Joseph left Charleston to find passage to New York as a cabin boy on a ship traveling to New York City. By the age of twenty-one, he was captain of his own schooner and a New York and Sandy Hook pilot. He married Angelina Annetta Weaver in New York City on February 13, 1849. They had six children: Sarah R., Maurice D., Joseph Jr., Mary Ann, Angelina A., and Alexander D. Henderson (businessman).
[edit] Sandy Hook Pilot
He was a notable Sandy Hook Pilot in the New York Harbor and along the Atlantic Coast during the Civil War. On October 18, 1872, Captain Joseph Henderson spoke at a meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Pilots about how he and his boat Pet, No. 9, rescued the crew of the brig Emily. [1]
On June 20, 1885, Joseph was expressly selected to escort the French Steamer Isère, laden with the Statue of Liberty into the New York Harbor to Bedloe's Island. This event and Pilot Henderson's appearance was printed in the New York Times: "Old Pilot Henderson, who jumped from the skylight down on the quarter deck of the Isère." [2]
On May 8, 1887, Pilot Joseph Henderson was listed in a United States Supreme Court libel for a collision between the American barkentine Freda A. Willey and the British steamship Martello. The suit said "Henderson has been a New York and Sandy Hook pilot for nearly forty-two years." [3]
[edit] Death
On October 9, 1890, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper carried a front-page article titled: "Captain Joseph Henderson Dead - An Old Pilot and a Long Resident of Brooklyn Passes Away". [4]
