Frederick Pease Harlow (December 12, 1856 – September 10, 1952) was an American sailor and author.

Early life

Harlow was born

Mount Morris, Illinois Mount Morris is a village in Mt. Morris Township, Ogle County, Illinois, Mount Morris Township, Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,998 at the 2010 census, down from 3,013 in 2000. Geography Mount Mor ...

, the youngest of six children of an educator and Methodist minister, William Thompson Harlow, and his wife, Frances Ann Winsor. In 1866, his family returned to

Duxbury Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a historic seaside town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 at the 20 ...

, where he watched the landing of the

French Atlantic Cable Company The French Atlantic Cable Company (Société du Cable Transatlantique Francaise Limited) was established in 1869 to install a transatlantic telegraph cable independent of British territories. The cable ran 2,584 miles from Brest to Saint Pierre I ...

. He went to school in

Bristol, Rhode Island Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, US as well as the historic county seat. The town is built on the traditional territories of the Pokanoket Wampanoag. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England. The population of B ...

, and he graduated from high school in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

Career

Harlow shipped on the ''Akbar'' during two years on a trip to Australia, but he left the sea and went to Chicago. He went to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

where he was an express messenger for some time on the railroad, and then he was express agent in

La Junta, Colorado La Junta is a home rule municipality in , the county seat of, and the most populous municipality of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,322 at the 2020 United States Census. La Junta is located on the Arkansas Ri ...

, where he injured his leg by a package thrown into his car. He got a position in the Wells Fargo Express Co. and he was sent to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

as agent for the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

. During the rest of his life, he studied expert bookkeeping. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was accountant for the Washington Shipping Corporation. Between 1928 and 1931, he made four ship models, ''Akbar'', ''Conquest'', ''Glory of the Seas'', and ''Great Admiral''. He took a three-year trip around the World and wrote ''The Making of a Sailor'' (Salem Research Society, 1928), the narrative of his two inaugural voyages, coastwise on New England in 1872 and afterwards to the Far East in the Boston ship ''Akbar''; and ''Chanteying Aboard American Ships'' (Barre, Mass.: Barre Press, 1962), based on his lifetime of deepwater experience, prepared and posthumously published at the insistence and under the guidance of Ernest Dodge of the Peabody Museum of Salem, Mass.

Personal life

On February 14, 1898, Harlow was married to Gertrude Gilleland and they had one daughter, Frances Winsor Harlow. He died on September 10, 1952.

References

Bibliography

* Biographical entry in ''Encyclopedia of American Literature of the Sea and Great Lakes'', edited by Jill B. Gidmark • Curatorial and exhibition files, Kendall Whaling Museum • Curatorial and exhibition files, New Bedford Whaling Museum • Stuart M. Frank, Jolly Sailos Bold: Ballads and Songs of the American Sailor (East Windsor, NJ: Camsco Music, 2011), passim. 1856 births 1952 deaths American non-fiction writers {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub