Francis Perkins Van Pelt (1861 – July 20, 1942) was a 19th-century Sandy Hook Pilot. He is best known for being the President of the New York Sandy Hook Pilots Association and chairman of the executive committee of the New York and New Jersey Pilots' Associations.[1][2] His father was Augustus Van Pelt a Sandy Hook pilot.

Frank P. Van Pelt
Frank P. Van Pelt
Born1861
DiedJuly 20, 1942
NationalityUnited States American
Occupationharbor pilot
Spouse(s)Annie Elizabeth Van Nostrand (1885), Clara Hanson (1819)
Children2

Career edit

Van Pelt was the subject of a book about Sandy Hook pilots that listed him as a New York Pilot in 1922 and wrote about his experienced in a number of accidents and disasters. Van Pelt was on board the pilot boat Joseph F. Loubat, No. 16, which was struck by the Ward Line steamer Santiago on April 27, 1888. He and his brother John Van Pelt were among seven men taken off the pilot-boat by the Santiago before it sank.[3] It was reported that as president of the New York-Sandy Hook Pilots' Association, Van Pelt was listed among 35 percent of pilots that follow in the footsteps of their fathers.[4]

On September 19, 1915, his cousin, James H. Van Pelt, a Sandy Hook Pilot, died while boarding a Standard Oil tanker outside Sandy Hook.[2]

On June 19, 1935, when Van Pelt retired, he received the Grand Lodge fifty-year medal as a member of Tompkins Lodge at the Masonic Temple in Stapleton, Staten Island.[5]

Death edit

Frank Van Pelt died on July 20, 1942, at age 81, in Staten Island, New York City. He was buried at the Moravian Cemetery in New Dorp, Staten Island.[6]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "How the Union of New York and New Jersey Pilots Made Piloting a Science". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 1923-10-07. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  2. ^ a b Allen, Edward L. (1922). Pilot Lore; From Sail to Steam, and Historical Sketches of the Various Interests Identified With the Development of the World's Greatest Port. The United New York and New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Benevolent Associations.
  3. ^ "Running Down A Pilot Boat". The New York Times. New York, New York. 1888-04-27. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  4. ^ "Long Apprenticeship". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. 1930-10-18. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  5. ^ "Three to Get Masonic Medals". New York Times. 1935-06-19. ProQuest 101459720. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  6. ^ New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949, and New York, Staten Island, Moravian Cemetery, Interment Records, 1866-1967

External links edit