William T. Shorey

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William T. Shorey
Ship Captain
SpouseJulia Ann Shelton
ChildrenZenobia Pearl Shorey, Victoria Grace Shorey, William T. Shorey Jr

William T. Shorey (July 13, 1859 – April 15, 1919) was a late 19th-century American

Ahab.[1] He was born in Barbados July 13, 1859. He was of African descent through Barbados.[2] Spent his life at sea. He became the only Black captain operating on the west coast of the United States in the late-1880s and 1890s.[3] The John and Winthrop was the only whaling ship in the world to be manned entirely by an African-American crew.[4]

Early life

Shorey was born in 1859 on the Caribbean Island of Barbados. His father was Scottish and planted sugar and his mother was creole, or West Indian.[5] Even though slavery had ended on the island, there were limited opportunities for "men of color". Shorey was attracted to sea-life and adventure, and seized the opportunity to leave the island on board a ship bound for Boston. Through his relationship with the Captain on charge of the ship, he learned how to sail and navigate ocean waters. He began work as on a whaler sometime in the 1870s.[5]

Career

He obtained his certification in 1885.[6] His whaling voyages were based out of San Francisco on the whaling ships Emma F. Herriman, Alexander, Andrew Hicks, Gay Head II, and John and Winthrop.[2] Shorey was often a captain of a multi-racial crew.[7] Shorey retired from whaling in 1908 and lived in Oakland, where he became a civic leader, until his death from the Spanish flu pandemic in 1919.[2][8] He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.[9] In his obituary, he was remembered as someone "who for thirty years was In charge of mailing vessels engaged In whaling in Alaska."[10]

References

  1. ^ Katz, William Loren (1987). The Black West. Seattle: Open Hand Publishing, Inc.
  2. ^ a b c "African American History". San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. National Park Service. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Shorey, William Thomas (1859-1919)". BlackPast.org. 12 February 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  4. LCCN 66025424
    .
  5. ^
    JSTOR 25157362
    – via JSTOR.
  6. ^ "Captain William T. Shorey". calisphere. University of California. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  7. S2CID 149593602
    .
  8. ^ "A Captain's captain, William T. Shorey". African American Registry. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  9. ^ Cohn, Abby (January 5, 2001). "They're 6 Feet Under, But Pioneers Draw Crowds to Oakland". San Francisco Chronicle.
  10. ^ "William T. Shorey Death, 1919". Oakland Tribune. 1919-04-15. p. 3. Archived from the original on March 13, 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-13.

External links

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