BISSETT-L Archives

From: Bev Barney <>
Subject: [BISSETT-L] Stephen Albert Bissett b 2/2 4/1847
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 12:34:02 -0500

Hi ~~ In celebration of my great grandfathers birthday that is coming up
soon am republishing a newspaper article done for this 99th birthday. He
lived to be 103 and I knew him well. He use to tell me wonderful sea stories.

So here is a peep into our ancestors. Oh, his grandfather came from Scotland.

Stephen went to sea at age 8 as a cooks helper and was skipper of a Square
Rigger by age 24 running to the West Indies. He is listed as a sailor in
1869 living at 10 Britain St., St. John.

Stephen moved to Massachusetts by 1892.

Captain Stephen Albert Bissett b. 2/24/1847 d. 5/17/1950

Taken from The Evening News, Providence, RI by Clifford A. Shaw

99-Year-Old Former Sea Captain Cites Durability as Longevity Secret.

Captain Bissett Saved at Sea; Had 13 Falls.

How to live to be 99 may not be reducible to a set of rules, but Capt.
Stephen A. Bissett, sitting perkily on the edge of his favorite chair at
his home, 140 Adelaide Avenue, can tell you what you have to be prepared to
withstand in order to do it.

He has just turned 99 and says a few of the things he took in stride include:

Smallpox when he was 4. He was the fourth member of his family to get it.
That was in the days when smallpox survivors thanked rugged constitutions
and got little help from medical science.

Pneumonia 50 years ago, before doctors knew about sulfa drugs.

Spinal meningitis when he was in his thirties, at a time when this disease
usually left its victims crippled for life.

At least 13 bad falls, on board ship and ashore.

Shipwrecks in the West Indies, when the captain of the vessel on which he
was sailing ran the ship aground.

Saved From the Sea.

Two-day storm along the Atlantic coast, which swept away his deck cargo of
Maine potatoes and left his ship waterlogged in the raging ocean. A
fisherman pulled him out of that one.

To start with, Captain Bissett prescribes a Canadian-US heritage,
preferably fifty-fifty. His father (Andrew3, William2, Andrew1) was a
Canadian sea captain, his mother (Sarah Marie James2, Robert James1) a
native of New York state. (note: actually it was Connecticut Loyalists)

Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, on February 24, 1847, son of Albert
(should be Andrew) and Sarah James Bissett, the captain traveled the sea
from baby days. He remembers going ashore on T-Warf in Boston when he was
only seven and being fascinated with the turmoil as great square riggers
unloaded their cargoes from all corners of the world.

Started as Cook

Captain Bissett started his seafaring days humbly enough, as a cook. But
before he was 24, he was a skipper in his own right, captain of a square
rigger that carried lumber from Canada to the West Indies and brought back
sugar and molasses for US and Canadian ports.

When steam replaced sail, Captain Bissett skippered steamers from Boston to
New Brunswick. In later years he commanded a lighter in the port of
Boston, finally quitting the sea just before the first World War, when he
was nearing 70.

Hes still proud of his record for being able to get a ship through any
kind of weather.

One night when I was acting as wheelman on one of the New Brunswick
steamers, there seemed to be some confusion in the wheelhouse as to where
an approaching ship was located in the fog.

The captain hollered out, "Steve, how did you hear that horn blow?" I
said about a point and a half by the starboard bow and he said "Thats more
like it." And we passed safely. That was a feather in my cap.

Only 5 feet tall, Captain Bissett still retains a remarkable amount of
agility that got him safely about rolling decks in all kinds of weather
over his more that 50 years of seafaring.

He bounced out of his easy chair after telling about some particularly
enjoyable experience, rolled up his sleeve and pointed to the patriotic
tattoo on his left arm.

The fellow who put that on there told me just how I could take if off if I
ever got tired of it. He chuckled reminiscently. I never tried.

The secret of the tattoo removal? Thats something Captain Bissett imparts
only to another tattooed sailor.

The captain went through so many wars he is not quite clear as to which was
which. Age had confused the experiences somewhat.

Weary of Wars

There have been so many wars, he says with the only tough of weariness
evidenced in an hours talk.

After his retirement to his home in Malden, Massachusetts, nearly 30 years
ago, Captain Bissett busied his sea wise fingers making models of the
square riggers he had sailed. That hobby has been relinquished in recent
years, but when he was 97 he cut up two great trees that furnished wood for
the household of his daughter, Mrs. John. D. Buchanan, with whom he makes
his home.

Captain Bissett is the last of his family. His five brothers, all of whom
were sea captains, and three sisters have all died.

My father died when he was only 86. the captain explains sadly.

Mrs. Bissett died in Malden five years ago, and an only son, Charles, of
Melrose, Mass., died seven years ago. Besides Mrs. Buchanan, Captain
Bissett has two other daughters, Mrs. Mabel Look, of Dorchester, Mass., and
Mrs. Blanche Faye, of Providence.

Captain Bissett is sure there are other factors in longevity besides the
durability he has exhibited through the years.

Swears Off Tobacco

I take good care of myself and ask the Lord to take care of me, he
explains seriously. I dont drink nor swear, and I quit using tobacco
years ago, after a man told me in Boston harbor, "Youre the worst man to
use tobacco on the waterfront." I got clear of it.

The captains only apparent infirmity is a partial loss of hearing. He
reads newspaper headlines without glasses and takes his full place in the
life of the Buchanan household without needing any assistance.

I still shave myself with a straight razor. He says proudly.

Ill be seeing you next year at this time, Captain Bissett said in
parting, a challenge to the centennial year of his life which his ringing
voice made convincing.

Its me again. Two of his daughters lived to be in their 100's.

When he lived in Malden, MA he went to a revival meeting held by the Church
of the Nazarene and was 'born again'. From that time on, he was very
devote walking over 5 miles each way to church 3 times a week. He would
not allow anyone to play cards in his house and would not allow a Sunday
newspaper into the house. Until the day he died, he would get down on his
knees and pray twice a day. One branch of this family is still very active
in the Church of the Nazarene.

Beverly H. Barney, P O Box 956, Grantham, NH 03753-0956 PH: 603-863-2810
http://www.barney.or

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• [BISSETT-L] Stephen Albert Bissett b 2/2 4/1847 by Bev Barney <>