| Joseph Henderson | |
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Captain Joseph Henderson ca. 1880 |
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| Born | Joseph Henderson September 9, 1826 Charleston, South Carolina |
| Died | October 7, 1890 |
| Residence | Brooklyn, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | American harbor pilot |
| Religion | Episcopal |
| Spouse | Angelina Annetta Weaver |
| Children | 6 |
Joseph Henderson (born September 9, 1826) was an early American harbor pilot. He was well known for being one of the oldest and wealthiest pilots in the New York Sandy Hook service. [1]
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Joseph Henderson was born in Charleston, South Carolina.[2] According to the 1880 Federal Census, Joseph's father and mother were also born in 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).
Capt. Henderson was a notable Sandy Hook Pilot in the New York Harbor and along the Atlantic Coast during the Civil War. During the war he was a pilot on the transports USS Arago (1861) and USS Fulton (1862), running from Newport News, Virginia to Port Royal, South Carolina[3]
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. [4] In 1883, Joseph was called upon as an expert seaman to determine the height of the water span of the Brooklyn Bridge [5]
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." [6]
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." [7]
In 1888, he was on board the pilot boat America, No. 21 during the Great Blizzard of 1888, when the vessel rode out the storm off Shinnecock Light.
On October 8, Joseph Henderson died (64) at his family home at 633 Willoughby Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. The Brooklyn Eagle newspaper carried a front-page article titled: "Captain Joseph Henderson Dead - An Old Pilot and a Long Resident of Brooklyn Passes Away". [8] Joseph was buried in the Green-Wood Cemetery at 500 25th Street in Brooklyn, New York at the family lot #13244 in section 8.
In 1929, Charles Edward Russell published the book, "From Sandy Hook to 62°", which is about the Sandy Hook pilots including references to Captain Joseph Henderson. [9]