William T. Shorey
Born(1859-07-13)July 13, 1859
Barbados, West Indies
DiedApril 15, 1919(1919-04-15) (aged 59)
Oakland, California
OccupationShip 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 whaling ship captain known to his crew as the Black 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]

References

  1. ↑ Katz, William Loren (1987). The Black West. Seattle: Open Hand Publishing, Inc.
  2. 1 2 3 "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. ↑ Newell, Gordon R., ed. (1966). H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, WA: Superior Pub. Co. LCCN 66025424.
  5. 1 2 Tompkins, E. Berkeley (1972). ""Black Ahab: William T. Shorey, Whaling Master."". California Historical Quarterly. 51 (1): 75–84. doi:10.2307/25157362. JSTOR 25157362 – via JSTOR.
  6. ↑ "Captain William T. Shorey". calisphere. University of California. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  7. ↑ Farr, James (Spring 1983). "A Slow Boat to Nowhere: The Multi-racial Crews of the American Whaling Industry". The Journal of Negro History. 68 (2): 159–170. doi:10.2307/2717719. JSTOR 2717719. 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.
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