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From: Maryjane Stelmach Honner <>
Subject: [HACKETT-L] Capt. Francis Bondhead Hackett - 1905 bio
Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2000 10:06:34 -0700

Posted on: HACKETT Biographies
Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/surnames/h/a/HACKETT/biographies/2

Surname: HACKETT, TROTTER, GORDON, McLEOD, HUNTER, STAFFORD, HUTTON, VIGAR,
HONNER, MELOCHE, COOK, CAMPBELL, GERARDIN
-------------------------


HACKETT, CAPT. FRANCIS BONDHEAD BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

From: Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Essex Ontario
- containing biographical sketches of
prominent and representative citizens and many of the early settled families.
(illustrated). Toronto: J.H. Beers &
Co. 1905. pp 558, 559.

(Transcription and notes by Maryjane Stelmach Honner, 10 Aug 2000).

CAPT. FRANCIS BONDHEAD HACKETT, a well-known citizen of Amherstburg, owner
and captain of the
wrecking tug Home Rule, is of Scotch-Irish extraction.

James Hackett, his grandfather, was born, lived and died in Scotland. There
he married and reared a family, one of
his sons being James Hackett, who became the father of the subject of this
biography. James Hackett (2) was born
in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and for many years was a sailor on the Atlantic
Ocean. He had many adventures and
thrilling experiences, one of which was the wrecking of his lumber-laden
brig. Those on board were exposed for
fourteen days, were without food, and were finally picked up by a French
brig, but not before they had been driven
to such straits of starvation that they were ready to eat the flesh of
a comrade who had drowned at the time of the
wreck. James Hackett recovered fully from this terrible experience. In
1830 he came to Ontario, and served in the
Rebellion of 1837 as light keeper on Bois Blanc Island [Note 1]. Before
leaving for Canada he married Mary
Riley, who was born in Ireland, and a family of ten children was born to
them, namely: Robert, deceased; Dr.
James, deceased; Henry and Alexander, twins, the former deceased, the latter
a merchant in Toronto; Dr. Joseph,
who practiced in Toronto and Amherstburg, where he died; Eliza Jane, deceased,
wife of Capt. David Trotter, of
Amherstburg; Christiana who died aged sixteen years; Thomas [Note 2], deceased,
a mariner, who for
twenty-seven years was with Alger, Smith & Co., of Detroit; Capt. Francis
B., of this sketch; and Andrew, who
succeeded his father as lighthouse keeper on Bois Blanc Island.

James Hackett sailed the lakes some years after coming to Ontario, and
had the misfortune to lose three vessels,
and almost his life. He finally abandoned the lakes and was appointed,
by Governor-General Francis Bondhead,
light keeper on Bois Blanc Island, his appointment coming about through
the efforts of his faithful wife. Mrs.
Hackett, with her twin babes in arms, visited the Governor-General and
applied for the position with such effect
that it was given to the brave but unfortunate mariner [Note 3], and this
light has been in the care of the family for
over seventy years. As a token of appreciation our subject was named in
honor of Governor-General Bondhead.

Capt. Francis B. Hackett was born April 10, 1842, at the Bois Blanc lighthouse,
and his early lullaby was the
music of the waves. He attended school in Amherstburg, and at the age of
seventeen was ready to try his fortune on
the water, beginning in 1859, as a boy on the schooner William G. Grant,
plying between Chicago and Montreal,
in the grain business. He transferred to the schooner D. R. Martin, still
serving as boy, but next becoming a
seaman on the schooner John G. Deshler. He built the tug Minnie Martin,
which he sailed for ten years, and
then purchased the tug John Noyes, and sailed that a year. He then built
the passenger steamer Robert Hackett,
which he sold after sailing two years, and then purchased The Lake Breeze,
which he sailed for one year and
sold. During the following two years he sailed The City of Dresden, then
took charge of the Erie Belle. After
three years he bought the tidy little tug Home Rule, which he operates
as a wrecking tug. His long experience on
the lakes has made him familiar with all their moods, and few mariners
have a better record as safe and reliable
sailors.

On Feb. 6, 1866, Capt. Hackett married Jean Gordon, who was born in Scotland,
daughter of John Gordon; her
father was an uncle of John McLeod, ex-member of Parliment, and one of
her sisters is the wife of J. Howard
Hunter, inspector of insurance at Toronto. To Capt. and Mrs. Hackett have
been born the following children:
Minnie, wife of Dr. M.E. Stafford, of Detroit, has two children, Marjorie
and Helen; Gordon, a dentist in practice
in Detroit, married Lauren Hutton, daughter of Capt. Hutton, whose sketch
appears elsewhere [Note 4]; Howard, a
master mariner, in charge of the tug Florence, married Miss Elizabeth
Vigar; Miss Annie is at home.

Capt. and Mrs. Hackett have a pleasant home situated on the river front
at Amherstburg, in plain view of all the
boats as they pass during the navigation season. Both are consistent members
of and liberal contributors to the
Presbyterian Church. Politically Capt. Hackett is identified with the Reform
party. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order and the A.O.U.W.

1: Bois Blanc Island, located in the Detroit River, is also known as Bob-Lo
Island.
2: Thomas: Capt. Thomas Hackett (b. 1840 on Bois Blanc Island, Canada;
d. 22 Sept 1894 in Detroit, Michigan,/
.....USA)/
.....+ Christiana Honner (b. 1834 in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada; d. 1913
in Detroit, Michigan, USA)/
.........married: 18 Dec 1861 in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada/
.............Ralph Hackett (died on the tug Torrent in a wreck in the
St. Clair shipping canal)/
.............Percy T. Hackett; was a railroad conductor in Spokane, Washington,
USA/
.............Edward James Hackett (b. Sept 1869 in Amherstburg, Ontario,
Canada; d. 9 Apr 1871 in same)/
.............Norman Hackett (d. at the age of 84 in Detroit, Michigan,
USA); was a famous stage actor/
.............Thomas Hackett; lived in Detroit?/
.............Augusta (Gussie) M. Hackett

3: Local legend says that Governor-General Bondhead passed Mrs. Hackett
and the family dog Sailor one day,
admired the dog and asked if he could buy it. Mrs. Hackett said no but
he could have the dog in trade for the
lighthouse keeping job for her husband.

4: Capt. John T. Hutton: born 1849 in Brockville, Ontario, Canada; Wife:
Mary Meloche; Children: Laura, wife of
Dr. G. G. Hackett, of Detroit; Lillian, wife of James S. Cook, of Rochester,
New York; Parker, who died at age
eighteen; Milton, who sails with his father, a resident of Amherstburg;
Parents John Hutton (b. England, d.
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada ) and Catherine Campbell (b. 1812 in Ireland),
married 1838 in England; Siblings:
Elizabeth, wife of Capt. David Gerardin, of Amherstburg; Kate, wife of
J.D. Gibb, of Malden Township; Rosa.
Ibid. pp 628, 629.

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