Frank P. Van Pelt

Frank P. Van Pelt (1861 – July 20, 1942) was a 19th-century Sandy Hook Pilot. He is 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]

Frank P. Van Pelt
Frank P. Van Pelt
Born	1861
Died	July 20, 1942 New York City
Nationality	American
Occupation	harbor pilot

Career

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 onbaord the pilot boat J. 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]

Augustus Van Pelt

His father, Augustus Van Pelt, was licensed as a pilot in 1841.[6] Augustus Van Pelt owned the pilot boat Columbia No. 8, when it went down off Fire Island on December 3, 1883.[2][7]

See also

• List of pilot boats and pilots.

References

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. 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. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
6. "Honorable Company of Pilots". The New York Times. 1923-08-12. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
7. "Lost Hope Regarding Pilot Boat No. 8, of the New York Fleet". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 1883-12-05. Retrieved 2020-08-04.

External links

• The Sandy Hook Pilots website