Frank V. Hickey

Frank V. Hickey, marine engineer, has had an extensive experience on ocean, lake and river steamers, and has always given satisfaction in the line of his profession. He was born in 1860 in New York City, son of John and Ann E. (Houghton) Hickey; his father was a produce merchant and acquired some wealth in that line.

Mr. Hickey attended the public schools of his native city for some years, and after leaving school entered the shop known as Quinties, later going to Delamater's works, in New York City. He also acquired considerable experience in marine repair work in the shops of the Red Star Steamship line. His first actual service on an oceangoing boat was in the spring of 1881, when he shipped as oiler on the Morgan line steamship Algiers, plying between New York and New Orleans in the sugar and cotton trade. He remained in that employ three years, in the spring of 1884 transferring his field of operation to the Mississippi river as stoker on the passenger steamers Queen City and City of Pittsburg. During the winter months he worked in the machine shops in New York City or sailed out of that port. The first season Mr. Hickey passed on the lakes was in the employ of Capt. John Corrigan, of Cleveland, on the steamer Aurora. The next year he shipped as oiler on the steamer Progress, but closed the season as second engineer on the steamer Northerner. He spent the winter of 1889-90 in the steamship Progress on a voyage around the Horn to San Francisco and Vancouver, thence to China in the Empress of Japan and back to Vancouver, where he left his boat and returned to Cleveland. Here he was appointed second engineer of the new steamer German, owned by the Menominee Transit Company; in the spring of 1891 he was named second engineer of the steamer Wawatam; his next berth was on the steamer John Craig as second engineer and was followed by service in the same capacity on the steamers Inter Ocean and William H. Gratwick No. 2; in 1892 he fitted out the steamer Henry Chisholm as second, but when she was laid up in ordinary he was appointed chief engineer of the Charles J. Kershaw, closing the season on the J. H. Outhwaite as second. This following season he fitted out the George Presley, as second, transferred to the Henry J. Johnson and closed the season on the German. He then sailed as chief of the salt-water yacht Amadeus, and when she was laid up he went as second on the steamer John B. Lyon, in the fall engineering tugs out of Cleveland harbor. In the spring of 1896 he shipped as second engineer of the Edward Pease, transferring to the Inter Ocean, and thence as chief engineer to the Henry J. Johnson, which he laid up at the close of navigation. At the opening of the season of 1897 he went down to Ogdensburg to fit out the steamer Queen of the West, of which he had been appointed chief, but he left her to accept a like position on the Joseph S. Fay, on which he is engaged at the present time. He has eight issues of engineer's licenses. Mr. Hickey lives at No. 928 Pearl street, Cleveland, Ohio.

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Volume I

This version of Volume II is based, with permission, on the work of the great volunteers at the Marine Captains Biographies site. To them goes the credit for reorganizing the content into some coherent order. The biographies in the original volume are in essentially random order.

Some of the transcription work was also done by Brendon Baillod, who maintains an excellent guide to Great Lakes Shipwreck Research.