The Life & Times
Of
Sailor Jack
Compiled
By
Chuck Carr
2002
PRELUDE
This is an effort to docume=
nt the
life and times of Jack Archibald C=
arr
who sailed the oceans of the world and the Great Lak=
es
for forty-five (45) years as a Cook
& Steward. Include=
d are
family members who were part of his life.
Jack took great pride in his
cooking which appealed to all ethnic groups that usually comprised the crew=
of
any ship. When he wasn't cooking he enjoyed his beer and playing poker. He
skilled at memorizing cards allowed him to beat the odds of the game, much =
to
the consternation of other players.
At the age of 22, he enlist=
ed in
the U.S. Army for three years, but served only one year. After receiving his
discharge in Philadelphia,
he joined the Merchant Marine and shipped out November 27, 1926 on the S.S.
Naricssus as 2nd Cook, commencing a 45-year career in the Mercha=
nt
Marine that would earned him the respect of his peers and fellow shipmates.
Jack was truly a sailor's sailor and my stepfather.
THE MISSING YEARS
During his lifetime Jack
seldom mentioned his family. =
Any
references came in off handed remarks over a period of 55 years. His mothers' n=
ame
was Winifred and his father was William. I believe his older brothers'
name was also William.
I spent several years, filling out forms, writing letters and requesting bir=
th
certificates from the State of New York,=
the
boroughs of Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Broo=
klyn
and the City of Albany
all to no avail. For as long as I can remember Jack always said he was born=
in New York (Manhattan)"Hell's
Kitchen". Based on his casual comments I have reason to believe he was=
the
youngest child with brothers and sisters. One brother might have been a Pri=
est.
Once he mentioned visiting a brother, William, in New Orleans to borrow money. His brothe=
r was
an engineer with the De Laval Turbine Company in Trenton, NJ.
Jack, in his "honest way" apparently made an uncomplimentary about
his brother's wife during the visit and that ended all future contact.
For reasons known only to h=
im, Jack
had a habit of "playing" with dates and places when it came to his
place and date of birth. Apparently he "lost" his Army Discharge =
and
applied for a Certificate in lieu of his lost discharge, on that he changed=
his
age from 23 to 22? It's hard to understand the rationale for changing his a=
ge
by one year. These seem so trivial, but Jack obviously had his reasons.
After his discharged from A=
rmy and
until October 1939, Jack always sent his mother flowers on Mother's Day. On=
his
last visit, his ship docked a=
t Bayonne, NJ
for just one day. He took the subway into Manhattan.
When he arrived at his mother's home, he knocked on the door and a man
answered. He made the mistake of asking Jack who he was. Apparently this pr=
ompted
Jack to make a very explicit derogatory remark which his mother did not
appreciate. Apparently he was unaware his mother had remarried. Following t=
his
incident, he stopped sending flowers and never visited his mother again.
On one occasion he said he =
was sent
to a "Catholic" Reform School in up state =
New York when he was fourteen (14) yea=
rs
old. It's not known how long he was there, but supposedly a friend of his
stabbed a Priest with an ice pick and then both ran away. I believe Jack we=
nt
to Philadelphia
and possibly lived with a relative until he entered the Army, but I found no
confirmation.
I fou=
nd a
newspaper clipping in Jack's personal effects dated 1966 about the death of
Ralph J. Pantone in Port Arthu=
r,
TX. I wrote to one of Ralph=
's
daughter's Linda Bennette and learned that Ralph had been The Christian Brothers
Academy (a reform school) in Albany. His birth=
name
was Ralph J. Fusco and later changed to Pantone. His daughter believes he r=
an
away but doesn't know any det=
ails.
Jack and Ralph could have been together at Christian Brothers<=
/st1:PlaceName>
Academy.
LIFE IN THE MERCHANT MARINE
Jack joined the U.S. Army O=
ctober
25, 1925 in Philadelphia and was sent to <=
st1:place
w:st=3D"on">Ft. Ringold, Texas.
He was a Private First Class SN# 6773795 in Troop E, 12th Calvary. On April 27, 1926 he completed Cook and Ba=
ker's
school at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas.
Apparently Jack was very pr=
oficient
at cards, especially poker by the time he enlisted in the Army. Within a ye=
ar,
he earned enough money to purchase, in gold, his discharge (originally a
three-year enlistment) from the Army in October 13, 1926. Apparently a one-=
year
tour of duty satisfied this "New Yorkers" lust for Army life in t=
he Calvary.
When Denise was a teenager =
she
wanted a horse and often went riding at a local stable in Manitowoc. Jack was now living with us.=
His
knowledge of horses, saddles, etc. always amazed me, since he was a sailor =
from
New York, but I never questioned him and=
at
that time I didn't know he had served in the Calvary=
.
After Jack joined the Merch=
ant
Marine in 1926, tracking his movements and work history has been relatively
easy. The U.S. Coast Guard regulations require each seaman to receive a
Certificate of Discharge from the captain when leaving a ship. This document
contained dates of the voyage, ship's name and place of discharge. Often ti=
mes
a sailor would ship out in the next few days on the same ship, never the le=
ss a
Certificate of Discharge was issued.
One of the Medical Examinat=
ion
document cards found in Jack's possessions indicates he may have sailed a f=
ew
trips out of Philadelphia
prior to enlisting in the Army, but I found no documentation of such servic=
e.
He officially launched his Merchant Marine career November 27, 1926 when he
shipped as 2nd cook on the S.S. Narcissus and discharged February
14, 1927 in Mobile,=
AL.&n=
bsp;
This was the first opportunity for Jack to have met my mother, Sibyl
Wiggins. There is no record of when they actually met.
Sibyl's fat=
her,
Joseph "Hamp" Wiggins died August 16, 1915 in Centralia, IL
from a fever. He was working as
farm hand in the wheat fields. Willie Lee(O'Steen) Wiggins and the
children, 3 ½ year old Sibyl and 1 ½ year old Horace went to live Willie's father, James
Marion O'Steen, on his farm n=
ear
Rose Hill, AL. Willie was then able to work in the "shirt factory"=
; in
Andalusia.
In 1920, Wi=
llie
married to James Andrew Hare, for some reason, Sibyl and Horace remained on=
the
O'Steen farm until 1924. While living in Red Level, AL Willie and Jim Hare had two childr=
en,
Edna Earl Hare born February =
22,
1921 and James Andrew Hare, Jr.
February 22, 1923.
In 1924 the
L&N Railroad transferred Jim Hare to Mobile.
Sibyl and Horace then left the O'Steen&nbs=
p;
farm an d went to live
with Willie and her new famil=
y, Jim
Hare, Edna and James, Jr. in M=
obile.
Not long after getting settled in <=
st1:place
w:st=3D"on">Mobile, Jim's treatment of Sibyl and Ho=
race
bordered on abuse. He didn't treat his biological children much except they
were younger. When Sibyl and Horace reached the age of 15 they quite school=
and
went to work, in fact Horace moved out of the Hare home after leaving schoo=
l,
but Sibyl remained in the house until she became pregnant in August of 1927=
at
the age of sixteen.
I found the notation "=
March
22, 1926 / 26 Years" in Jack's 1947 union book, with no further explan=
ation.
I was never able to determine the significance of that date. Maybe it relat=
ed
to some event involving his family, such as his father's death?
Jack was discharged from th=
e S.S.
Maiden Creek May 23, 1927 in G=
ulfport,
MS. He was out of work for =
four
and a half months (4 ½) during that period he went to Chicago, IL
to apply for a replacement discharge from the Army, apparently he
"lost" the original. Do no why Chicago?
He did not ship out again until October 13, 1927 from Mobile.
I contacted the Military
Personnel Center
in St. Louis.
MO for a copy of his Army discharge. They had no record other than the
"replacement" document, which he had prepared in Chicago. Close examination of the disch=
arge
shows one of the dates has be=
en
changed by one year, which doesn't make&nb=
sp;
sense.
He shipped on the S.S. West=
Kyska
October 13th and was discharged December 12, 1927 at Pensacola, FL.
He was issued a Seaman's Certificate of American Citizenship at Mobile, AL
on December 14th. Could not learn why this was necessary.
=
Charles Hag=
an
Wiggins was born April 30, 19=
28 at
the Florence Crittenton Home for unwed mot=
hers
in Mobile and remained in Mobile until October 1928. Out of wedlo=
ck
births in those days was a very embarrassing issued. Sibyl's stepfather, Jim Hare, trie=
d unsuccessfully
to have me put up for adoption but Sibyl refused and her mother, Willie, had
the courage to stand up to Jim Hare in support of my mother<=
/p>
=
In October =
1928 at
the age of six months, arrangements were made for me to live with my
Grandmother Willie's sister, Jesse and her husband, Grover Tindel, on a farm
near Rose Hill, AL. Although Elmer Agee Wiggins (no relation to my mother) =
was
listed as my father he apparently never knew of my birth. When I was born, =
he
was a clerk at Hammel's Department store in Mobile and living with his mother. Siby=
l worked at the same store prior to =
the
pregnancy. Afterwards I believe she started working as a waitress. Work she would do for =
many
years..
After being on the
"beach" for four and a half months (4 ½) Jack
shipped on the S.S. Gotomsk=
a as 2nd
cook May 28, 1928. He continued sailing off and on this ship until April 3,
1929. It's possible each time Jack was on the "beach" for any
extended period of time, he could have stayed in Mobile. Many of the ships he sailed see=
m to
originate in or near Mobile, although he m=
ade
trips to various European, Far East and Caribbean
ports while he was ocean going. It
seems reasonable to assume Jack was seeing Sibyl each time he came to Mobile.
Some of the photos of Sibyl=
, Jack
and myself appear to have been taken on the farm in 1933, This could have b=
een
when they came to take me back to Mobile
after getting married. =
Jack thoroughly enjoyed his=
visits
to the farm, he liked the people and they liked him. It was always an event
when he arrived. He would cook and baked bread, which was a treat in lieu of
the normal corn bread and biscuits. Contributing to his popularity was his =
fast
talking "New York"
accent. Of course, he always obliged when a drink of moonshine was offered.=
He often cooked in a sleeve=
less
T-shirt, which revealed his many tattoos. The ones I best remember was the
Tiger face on his left shoulder and the face of an Indian Maiden with long
braids on the right shoulder. Smaller tattoos ran down each arm. After Sibyl
died, Jack continued visiting Jessie and Demphsey Bowers on their farm once=
or
twice a year until Demphsey died. They were the last family to live on
"Possum Trot" road. Today their house is the only one that remain=
s,
but it's unoccupied.
Around the age of eight, I =
ask him
how he got the "pictures" on his arms. He told me it was from
sleeping on the "funny pages" in the paper. I tried that method, =
but
with out success, consequently I have lived my entire life without tattoos.
Even my tour of duty in the Marines did not produce any.
Jack was discharged from th=
e D. T.
Waring in Savannah,=
GA June 27, 1931. He and a fellow ship=
mate,
"Hamburg Whitey" purchased a u=
sed
Model T Ford and started driving to Mobile.
They got as far as the Tindel farm when the car trouble developed. Having no
money for repairs they gave car to Grover Tindel and hitched-hiked to Mobile. Over time=
Uncle
Grover sold off parts until only the body remained. I have a very vague
recollection of this event, standing in the yard as they discussed what to =
do
about the car.
After being on the
"beach" for little over two and a half months, Jack shipped out on
the S.S. Rvanik for a trip via the Panama Canal, to the Los Angeles and returned. Then on Decem=
ber
30, 1931 he sailed on the City of Alma for
Europe, with a stop in Baltimo=
re,
MD. As the ship was leaving=
the
harbor in fog it was rammed by another ship. To avoid sinking, the captain =
ran
it on to a sand bar. After repairs were made they continued to Europe.
During the trip over, Jack =
severely
cut his thumb with a meat clever. He was discharged from the ship and on
February 6, 1932 and admitted to a hospital in Rotterdam, Netherla=
nds.
At first the doctors want to amputate his left arm to stop the infection, he
refused. Next they wanted to remove his hand he still refused. Next it was =
his
thumb, but he still refused. Finally, it healed and he only lost his thumbn=
ail.
It's not clear how Jack returned to the states, as there is no record of him
working his way back.
He shipped out July 16, 193=
2 on the
S.S. Yaka and was discharged March 11th in Mobile. I believe Jack and Sibyl drove =
over
to Mississippi
and was married March 22, 1933. This was a common practice in those days as=
Mississippi did =
not
require a blood test or a thr=
ee-day
waiting time.
Shortly after they married,=
at the
age of five and half (5 ½), I was brought to <=
st1:place
w:st=3D"on">Mobile. When I first arrived we lived in an apartment on Canal Street. For
some odd reason, I remember setting on the front steps with Jack (I later
learned it was July 24, 1933) when my grandmother came to tell my mother th=
at
her stepmother, Betty O'Steen had died and she wanted Sibyl to go with her =
to
the funeral in Rose Hill.
While still living at that =
address,
I recall the Police came to our apartment because the neighbors downstairs =
had
complained about the noise. When the cops arrived, Jack invited them in,
offered a beer, and then showed them the beer he was brewing in the bathtub=
. As
the Cops were leaving they told him to keep the noise down.
THE&n=
bsp;
ADOPTION
Considering Jack's
background as a sailor and the type of childhood he must have had in New York's "=
;Hell
Kitchen" he was the most unlikely person to adopt a five- year old
bastard "hillbilly"
kid. I can only assume he lov=
ed my
mother very much and maybe his experience as a child was a factor. While I =
was
growing up, Jack was gone most of the time; as a result we never really had=
the
opportunity to spent time together.
Of the fourteen years I lived at home, we probably spent a cumulative
total of three years together.
In August 23, 1933 Jack fil=
ed a
petition to adopt me. By that time we had moved to =
152 South Conception Street, just t=
wo
blocks off Government Stre=
et
down near the L& N train station and ship docks on Mobile Bay.
Today most of the area has been demolished and replaced by ramps to Interst=
ate
10 giving access to downtown M=
obile
and a park area along the river front.
A formal adoption hearing w=
as set
for October 27, 1933. However, Jack had shipped out September 30th
on the S.S. Yaka and was not discharged until November 21 in Pensacola. I assume an attorney represe=
nted
him at the hearing. He shipped out again on the Yaka and was discharged Jan=
uary
30, 1934 in Pensacola.
To impress the adoption cou=
rt, I
suspect his lawyer advised him to get a "shore job". Being absent
from household for extended periods of time would not have presented the
"stability" expected for an adoption.
To present the appearance o=
f a
"solid citizen", Jack opened a small bar on lower Government Street frequented mostly=
by sailors.
The back bar ran almost the full length of the building with a sawdust floo=
r. A
mirror ran the length of the bar.
Since I had not started school, I s=
pent a
lot of time across the street from the bar playing with my friend Johnny on=
the
median strip that ran down the center of Government Street. It had a number =
of
cannons with stacks of cannon balls from the old sailing war ships. There w=
as a
tower with a weather vane which Johnny and I would often climb up and play.=
The
policeman that walked the beat in area would chase us off. At times he'd ge=
t so
upset he'd take us over to the bar and chew Jack out. One day Johnny ran in=
to
the street and was hit by a Railway Express truck and killed. This was a ve=
ry
traumatic experience. Over the years I've had reoccurring dreams about him.=
On one occasion while walki=
ng with
Jack to the bar I ask if I could have a dog. A short time later we ran acro=
ss a
dog running loose. Jack pick him up and stopped at a neighborhood icehouse =
got
a piece of string and tied it around the dog's neck. I had my dog until we =
went
home that afternoon. Sibyl said "no dog!"
October 29, 1934 the final =
adoption
degree was issued and Charles Hagan
Wiggins became Charles Hagan C=
arr.
Ironically, court documents stated the whereabouts of my biological father,
Elmer Agee Wiggins was unknown at that time. However, in 1993 during my research checking the Mobile City
directories, I learn Elmer Wiggins
was living six blocks from the courthouse when the adoption was gran=
ted.
Although Sibyl and Elmer ha=
d the
same last name they were not related. They came from different Wiggins
families. Elmer was born in Coffeeville, <=
st1:State
w:st=3D"on">Alabama near the Mississippi State
line. Sibyl's family were from near Opp.
Following the granting of my
adoption, Jack apparently had his fill of working on shore. On November 19,
1934 after 9 ½ months, he closed his bar. On the last day of busines=
s,
Jack and his shipmates drank all the beer and booze. That afternoon, while I
was at the bar, I went out back with him while he dug up a Camel cigarette =
tin
box. I ask what kind of "cigarettes" was in the box. He said they
were "weeds" (marijuana). Apparently he was selling them to the
sailors. He told me "the=
cops
will put you in jail if they catch you with them, so don't ever touch or I'=
ll
kick your ass! On November 20, 1934, he shipped ou=
t on
the S.S. Betterton which was based in Houston,
where he remained until November 6, 1936.
Soon after Jack shipped out=
, Sibyl
packed our belongings in two steamer trunks which were to contain our
belongings for many moves in the years ahead. We took Greyhound bus to Texas. I think I
attended the first grade in Mobile for jus=
t a
short time before we left for Texas,
but there is no record.
It was extremely hot and hu=
mid when
we arrived in Harrisburg, a suburb of Houston. The firs=
t place
with lived was in a Tourist Court (fore runner to the motel) and within a f=
ew
days I came down with the measles and was miserable for about two weeks. Then we moved to a three-room apar=
tment
in a private home on the La Porte highway =
that
went to Galveston<=
/st1:City>.
Before school (1st
grade) started we moved to Pasadena which =
was
about five miles from Houston but still on=
the La Porte highway going to Galveston.
The population at that time was about 2,500 people. Sibyl rented a three-ro=
om
apartment in another private home at 510
Shaver Street from Mr. and Mrs. Hartsfield. He=
was
Principal of the Pasadena=
High School and his=
wife
taught math in the elementary school located behind our house.
I was impressed with the wo=
oden
sidewalks in two of the three blocks that made up the "downtown"
area. But I was very disappointed when two Texas Rangers pulled up in front=
of
the café where Sibyl worked on Harley Davidson motorcycles. Just lik=
e in
Tom Mix movies, I expected to see Texas Rangers ride up on horses.
While we were still living =
in Pasadena, Sibyl b=
ecame
seriously ill following a hysterectomy.&nb=
sp;
She developed gangrene and for a time was not expected to live. When
notified of Sibyl's illness, Jack was on a long trip, he called Sibyl's mother and asks =
if she
could come to Pasadena.
Within a few days, Willie and James (Sibyl's stepbrother) came by Greyhound=
bus
and stayed until Sibyl was out of danger. After a few weeks, Sibyl began
improving and finally recovered. Until my grandmother arrived, our landlord=
and
the people who owned the Mason's café where Sibyl worked watched aft=
er
me. When I went to the hospital, the nurses would feed me.
UNION ORGANIZAING
At that time all Texas grade school children received f=
ree
milk. However, since my father was a "striker", I was not allowed=
to
have free milk. At the time I didn't understand why I was the only kid that
couldn't have milk. But to me it wasn't&nb=
sp;
a big deal. To pay the rent while on strike, Jack helped our landlord
paint houses, when he wasn't walking the "picket line".
These were very dangerous t=
imes.
During the year long strike, there were many confrontations with law
enforcement. A number of
"strikers" were shot and killed by local police and Texas
Rangers. To feed the strikers, some of the men would drive out in the count=
ry
at night and steal vegetables, chickens, pigs and cows from the nearby farm=
s.
The food would be cooked on the "picket line". In addition to wal=
king
the "picket line, Jack also help cook and bake.
When the initial organizing=
strike
was finally over, Jack remained a staunch dues paying member of the National
Maritime Union of America through out his working life. He served for m=
any
years a union delegate for his ship and attended the conventions. There were
still a number of strikes for the next few years and they continued whenever
the union and ship owners could not recent a contract agreement. But they w=
ere
never like the early days, when things got violent.
In 1937 President Roosevelt=
created
the Social Security Act. On January 31 Jack applied for his Social Security Card # 467-05-0926. On
this document he stated he was born in Albany,
NY on July 9, 1906. He also=
had
written over his mother's last name. At first he wrote her last name as Car=
r,
then changed it to Harris. It could have been an honest mistake, except it =
was
convenient that Carr was easy to changed to Harris? Sibyl also applied for her card at=
the
same time, #467-05-0931.
BREAKING POINT
These must have been very l=
onely
times for Sibyl. She had never been so far away from her family and her ill=
ness
didn't help matters. Many of Jack's trips would last from a few weeks to ov=
er a
month. She was working as a waitress at Mason's Café in Pasadena and carrying for me. When Jack=
's
ship came into port, it was only for a few days. On one occasion Jack took a
job working on a tunnel under the river near Pasadena, but it didn't last long, then=
he
shipped out again.
By the summer of 1938, Siby=
l and
Jack's relationship was apparently severely strained. The extended strikes =
Jack
participated in added more stress. Money was always short, but Jack was alw=
ays
able to care of us. The relationship finally reached the breaking point. Wh=
en
school was out, Sibyl packed up our two steamer trunks and we returned to <=
st1:City
w:st=3D"on">Mobile. Once again, I returned to the farm=
to
live with Aunt Jessie and Uncle Grover and=
attended the 3rd grade at Rose Hill School. Sibyl stayed in Mobile got an apartment and worked as a
waitress
While I was on the farm, Si=
byl came
to visit me several times. On one trip she brought a pair of corduroy pants=
. I
was very excited, as these were very special since I always worn bib overal=
ls.
The first day I worn them to school, I spilled black paint drown the front
while painting a bird conservation sign. So much for the new pants…. =
back
to bibs!
During 1939, after getting =
off of
the Albert Watts, Jack was on strike from April until June. After the strike, he sailed the ba=
lance
of the year on the tanker, S.S. Virginia Sinclair making trips to Marcus Ho=
ok
(a port near Philadelphia) and Bayonne, NJ.
On one such trip, off the c=
oast of North Carolina, =
the ship
loaded with gasoline caught fire in the engine room. Fortunately, since it =
was
loaded it only burned. Had it been empty, it might have blown up. After bur=
ning
almost forty-eight hours the fire was brought under control and extinguishe=
d.
The captain had the crew standing by to abandon ship if the fire started to
spread.
Before school started in th=
e summer
of 1939 I returned to Mobile and enrolled =
in the
4th grade at R=
afael
Semmes School.
Before school started we moved to an apartment across the street from schoo=
l.
Sibyl was still working as a waitress.
NORTH TO THE GREAT LAKES
In early 1940, I remember S=
ibyl
taking a Greyhound bus to Tamp=
a,
FL to meet Jack. I stayed w=
ith my
Grandmother, while she was away. I assume this was the beginning of Sibyl a=
nd
Jack's reconciliation. Jack m=
ust
have convinced Sibyl he was going to start "shipping out" on the =
Great Lakes and would be home more often with no mo=
re
extended trips. This is pure speculation on my part.
In Jack's personal papers, =
I found
a note stating, "memorize time
between leaving the Virginia Sinclair October 16, 1939 until joining the Ze=
phyr
February 23, 1940".
This puzzling as I received a photocopy of discharge certificates fr=
om
the Coast Guard and a letter written to Jack February 20, 1941 stating his
discharge certificates had been found and would be returned if he sent his =
address.
The letter went to the home office of the Virginia Sinclair in Wilmington, DE.
In all probability it was never forwarded to Jack, so he decided to make up=
a
"story" as he was very diligent about keeping records of the ship=
s he
sailed on.
After getting off of the Vi=
rginia
Sinclair in January 1, 1940 Jack shipped out on the Zephyr from Houston where he =
remained
for the rest of 1940. The Zephyr gradually worked its way up the Atlantic c=
oast
stopping at Marcus Hook, via the St. Lawrence Seaway to Toledo,
the first port of call on the Great Lakes. The shipping season on the Great Lakes ends when the lakes start freezing, usu=
ally
starting in November. For the Zephyr the last trip ended at Detroit where Jack was discharged Decem=
ber
12, 1940.
Jack shipped out on the M. =
V.
Martha E. Allen, a tanker, April 23, 1941 from Cleveland. He sailed the Allen for twen=
ty-two
(22) years, ending January 10, 1963. Captain Dixon was the skipper and Paul
Gallagher, Chief Engineer. All three men had a great personal and professio=
nal
relationship that lasted over twenty-two years. Within a few years followin=
g Dixon and Gallagh=
er's
retirement, Jack's enthusiasm for the Allen began to wane and after working
with two replacement captains he left. He continued sailing on various tank=
ers,
but spent most of his remaining working life on the M. V. Polaris.
We remained in Toledo from the summer of 1941 until I
graduated in June 1947. During that time we moved four times in North Toledo but always within several blocks of the
Shell Oil docks, where the Martha Allen delivered and pick up her loads mos=
t of
the time.
Jack was probably a pioneer=
in
"sex education". When I was twelve years old I stayed home from
school a few days due to an infection with my little toe. I wasn't able to =
walk
very much so I set in the swing on our front porch. On one occasion, when Jack was in port, he come home he stopped and set down by me after
asking about my foot, he reached in his pocket and handed me a pack of "rubbers" (condoms) and =
said
"take these, I don't want you knocking up some broad". Then just<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> as casually got up and walked in the house and=
there
was never any further discussion about sex. At the time, I only knew enough=
at
the time to be embarrassed
Jack was five foot=
seven
inches tall and tough. He looked a lot like James Cagney, a movie actor in =
the
1920's, 30's & 40's. Both grew up in New York's
lower Manhattan
at about the same time. In spite of his small statue, Jack never took
"crap" from anyone and had his share of brawls.=
<=
/span>
One incident still=
stands
out in my mind from those days. Jack was home for a few days and was at the=
bar
next door to our apartment on New
York Avenue. He and Sibyl were playing cards w=
ith
friends. I had just came from school and stopped in to let them know I was =
in
the neighborhood playing. At the same time the local bar room drunk, about =
the
size of Jack, was working his way up and down the bar pestering people for a
drink.
When he reached the end of =
the bar,
a six foot two hundred pound guy punched him in the mouth knocking him to t=
he
flood. Jack jumped up, ran up to the big guy grabbed and landed a punched
square in his face. At the time Jack was probably weighted 145 lb. Before t=
he
guy could get over the shock and collect his wits, Jack pushed him to the f=
ront
door and then kicked him in the stomach sending him down four steps to the
sidewalk. Jack started chasing the guy down the street for half block. It w=
as
probably the surprise more than fear that caught the guy off guard.
There was an incident aboar=
d ship
when one of the crew came back after an all night drinking binge. He tried =
to
start a fight with Jack when he refused to serve him breakfast before it was
ready for the entire crew. Jack grab a fourteen-inch cast iron fry pan and =
hit
him up side his head sending him through the galley door outer deck.
Shortly after I returned fr=
om my
second tour in the Marines. I=
was
working at the Toledo Marine Supply delivering provisions to ships coming i=
nto Toledo. Early one=
morning
Red Irvine and I were making a delivery to the Allen on a 30 ft. freight launch. Two of=
the
crew returned to the ship after being ashore drinking all night.
After we finished unloading=
, we
tied up the boat and one of the guys started a fight with Red. I was just
standing waiting for Red, when the second guy started at me with a 2x4. The=
guy
was so drunk our encounter was very short. Red and I got in the launch and
continued making deliveries up river. Later someone must have told the guy I
fought that I was the "C=
ook's
kid". Apparently he thought if he couldn't beat the kid, he'd kick hell
out of the old man. For him, that turned out to be an even bigger mistake. =
He
went to Jack's room and knocked a hole in the screen door to Jack's room a
marlinespike. Jack took it away and hit him in the head causing a major
concussion requiring a two-month's stay in the hospital.
In April 28, 1947, Sibyl's brother, James Horace Wi=
ggins,
Sr. committed suicide.in Mobil=
e
Apparently there were ongoing domestic problems compounded by his addition =
to
gambling. He had lost two pre=
vious
auto repair businesses as a result of gambling debts. This third venture was
funded by a loan from his mother, Willie Lee Wiggins Hare.
His wife and four-year old son, James Horace, Jr. s=
topped
at the shop for just a few minutes, after Jimmy's dance lesson. Shortly aft=
er
they left, Horace stepped between two cars in the shop and put a pistol to =
his
head. It was never determined what pushed him to take his life. As a young =
boy
I recall him letting me do odd jobs around his auto repair sh=
op
when I while visiting my grandmother in Mobile. I remember him as very
pleasant, mild manner and "low key" guy who made friends easily.<=
/p>
Willie's emotional and phys=
ical
health had been deteriorating since her youngest son, James, Jr. was killed
July 17, 1944 in World War II at Normandy, France.=
The
untimely death of Horace just added to an already bad situation. Jack
encouraged Sibyl to go to Mobi=
le
and care for her mother. Since I was a senior in high school and it was fel=
t I
could care for myself until I graduation in June. Jack paid the rent and I continued living upstairs over the Toledo Marine Su=
pply
and working everyday after school. I would see Jack every few weeks when his
ship would come in for several hours.
After World War II the government gave relatives of
military personnel killed in Europe, the
option of having their remains returned to the states for burial. My
grandmother and Jim Hare elected to have James, Jr. returned. On July 23, 1=
948
he was buried in the National Cemetery in Mobile.
This was a very traumatic experience to my grandmother declining condition.=
She
passed away June 25, 1949.
Within a few days after gra=
duation
I drove my 1941 Buick Sport Coupe to Mobile.
After a few weeks of visiting and unsuccessful job hunting I enlisted in the
Marine Corps July 12, 1947. J=
ack
first learned I was in the Marines when I wrote him from Paris Island, SC. During my "Boot" trainin=
g he
sent several packages of "goodies". Unfortunately, I was unable to
enjoy them. Our DI, Staff Sargent Bruce Carroll, made sure everyone receivi=
ng
food packages passed them around until the contents were gone. Consequently=
the
goodies would be gone by the time the box got back to you.
After Boot camp, I was assi=
gned to
three weeks of Sea School in Portsmouth,
VA. My first duty station was the Mari=
ne
Detachment aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Philippine Sea CV 47. During =
that
tour of duty we made two trips to the Mediterranean<=
/st1:place>.
As we stopped at different ports I would write Jack and tell him about the
trip. In his replies I learned I was visiting many of the same ports when he
was sailing "salt water".
On my second trip to the
Mediterranean, one of the ports of call was Bone, Algiers. While on shore leave, I met two
sailors on an American freighter docked in Bone who had sailed with Jack wh=
en
he was ocean going in the 1930's. Needless to say I was I was very impressed.
My grandmother passed away =
June 25,
1949. I requested emergency leave but we were overseas and it wasn't granted. Sibyl remained in Mobile taking care of her mother's affairs. After
returning to the states I requested leave. After waiting a number of months=
, it
appeared I wasn't going to be called for the Naval Flight V-5 training prog=
ram.
I called Jerrie in Toledo and ask her to m=
eet me
in Mobile. We
had been engaged almost three years so I asked her to marry me now. Sibyl a=
sked
us to wait until Jack to get off the ship and come for the wedding.
We were married July 7, 194=
9 in the
rectory of the Dauphin
Way =
Baptist
Church. Only Sibyl =
and
Jack were present. It was very hot and humid that afternoon and the church
didn't have air conditioning, not even a fan. I was dressed in Marine Khakis
and Jerrie wore a Cherry Ice suit. During the ceremony perspiration started
dripping off the end of my noise. Jerrie could hardly keep from laughing. E=
ven
the Minister had to smile. After the ceremony, I offered to pay the ministe=
r,
but he refused since I was in service. As we were leaving, Jack slipped the
minister fifty bucks and said "put it in the pot Sunday". This was
Jerrie's first of many embarrassing moments she was to experience until she
came to know Sailor Jack.
We spent our wedding night =
at the
Battle House Hotel in Mobile,
which at the time was a first class hotel, in years later it was abandon. My
leave time was very short and I had to take a train back to Quonset Point, RI
the next morning to catch my ship. Several days later, Sibyl and Jerrie too=
k a
greyhound bus to Chicago.
They each rented apartments at 63rd and Harper on the South side=
of Chicago. Both wen=
t to
work Sibyl at a newsstand and Jerrie at Blue Cross/Blue Shield in the "=
;Loop". The home port for the Martha Allen was =
now East Chicago, IN.
After discharge from the Ma=
rines in
January 1950 I joined Jerrie in Chicago.
Since I had entered the Marines right after high school I didn't possess any
marketable employment skills. On my first job interview at the Illinois Sta=
te
Employment Service didn't go well. At the end of the "interview" I
was ask what qualifications I thought I had base on my military service. Be=
ing
depressed and angry, I told him I was an expert marksman and could field st=
rip
and assemble, blindfolded, various small arms and that should qualify me to=
be
a law enforcement officer or a professional assassin.
Jack said he knew the "=
;right
people" and offered to get me lined up as a limousine driver from the
gambling houses in East Chicag=
o,
IN. Although the money was
extremely good, I had no desire to get involved with the people that contro=
lled
the operation. Eventually, I sold vacuum cleaners door to door and later be=
came
a sheet metal apprentice until the Korean War started.
In August 1950, I was recal=
led to
active duty. At the same time we learned Jerrie was pregnant. Shortly after=
I
left for Camp Le Jeune Jerrie returned to Toledo
to be near her family and wait for Debbie to be born.
After I was discharged the =
second
time from the Marines, we remained in Toledo
for number years. Each time we added to our family, Sibyl would come over a=
nd
stay for a few weeks to help Jerrie. We would often see Jack when his ship =
came
to Toledo. He
always enjoyed having the kids come aboard ship to visit. As he did with me=
, he
would introduce the kids to his shipmates and shake them down for change. He
and Sibyl were very proud of their grandchildren. Sibyl was continually buy=
ing
clothes for the kids.
On one occasion, Jack showe=
d up at
our house in a taxi with a dog for the kids. "Diamond" was a boxer
that unfortunately suffered from arthritis in his hips. It wasn't long unti=
l we
learned that an office call for
a
Veterinarian cost more that an office call for the kids. Eventually, becaus=
e of
failing health, it was necessary to have Diamond "put down".
Life for Sibyl and Jack was=
pretty
uneventful through the 1950's. Sibyl continued living in East Chicago, IN.
From time to time we would make trips to visit her. Other times we'd take t=
he
kids over and leave them for a week. On one occasion while I was a Sales
Manager for Westinghouse Appliance Sales, Jerrie and I rented a trailer and
took Sibyl a Westinghouse aut=
omatic
washer and dryer. I installed=
it in
the basement of her apartment. Up to that time, she had always used a Maytag
wringer washer and a clothesline. It was several months later during one of=
our
visits that we realized Sibyl had never used either one of the laundry unit=
s.
She was simply afraid of them! We never pursued the matter and the wringer
washer remained until she passed away.
As my sales career continue=
d to
develop, it required moves which took us from Toledo<=
/st1:City>
to Midland, MI,
Detroit and Manitowoc, WI
in 1964. We were still able to take the kids to visit Jack when his ship ca=
me
to a nearby Wisconsin port.
After being ill for several=
months,
Sibyl was admitted to St. Catherine's hospital on January 1, 1965. I made t=
rips
to visit her during her stay in the hospital. At one point the doctor felt =
she
was recovering and could possibly go home soon. Jack and I visited her the
afternoon of February 13th. &nbs=
p;
Then I took a flight to San
Francisco on a business. When I arrived in California, I go=
t a
message that Sibyl had died while I was on the plane. I returned immediatel=
y.
The lonely years and booze had finally taken its to=
ll. At
the age of fifty-three Sibylene Wiggins Carr passed away February 13, 1965.=
It
wasn't until the funeral that I realize how many friends Sibyl and Jack had=
.
Years later when Jack passe=
d away,
I received a letter from one of Jack's sailor friends telling me what a fine
person Sibyl was. Many times while Jack was away, sailors who were out of w=
ork
and needed a few bucks would come by their apartment and Sibyl would loan t=
hem
anywhere from twenty-five to a hundred dollars. These loans were always rep=
aid.
I do not of any one that ever failed to repay her or Jack.
Sibyl was buried in Elmwood Cemetery
in Hammond, IN.&n=
bsp;
I always felt this was a lonely place for an "Alabama girl". In September 1978,=
after
discussing it with Jack, I made arrangements to have her body moved to Alabama for burial in the Rose Hill Cemetery, in the same county where=
she
was born.
Jerrie and I drove to Rose =
Hill for
the internment. Patsy (Bowers)
Sport arranged for a minister to provide a graveside service. In addition to
Jerrie and I, Patsy, her mother, Jesse Bowers and Dibby Bowers, life long
friends were there, which I really appreciated. I'm sure some were puzzled =
by
my desire to have Sibyl buried in a small rural cemetery. It's a personal t=
hing
that's difficult to explain. Jack elected not to attend and I never questio=
ned
his decision. I guess one funeral was enough for him.
On our return trip North, We
stopped in Montgomery
at the Alabama Bureau of Vital Statistics where I requested to see my origi=
nal
birth certificate. At first I was told it was impossible, finally I spoke w=
ith
the Mr. Forrest Ludden, Director of Vital Statistics. He invited me into his
office where he broke a wax seal on an envelope that contained my original
birth certificate. I was able to read it, but not allowed to copy. At that =
time
all adoption information was kept sealed. (the law was changed in 2000). Th=
is
was when I learned Elmer Agee Wiggins was my biological father.
After Sibyl died Jerrie and=
I added
a bath and large bedroom in the
basement at 2124 Markham in Manitowoc and ask=
Jack to
stay with us when he wasn't sailing. This worked fine for a few years, and =
then
he started going to Florida
to get away from the cold weather. He still came to visit in the summer and=
be
with the kids.
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