Bits Of South Jersey - A Life Worth Telling

Through the centuries, millions of people have lived in south jersey. Some have been immortalized through books and articles; others did not meet with such notoriety.

It is my hope that every once in a while, I will be able to introduce the reader to someone that has lived in south jersey whose story is not recorded in the pages of history but still worth telling.

In 1912 a man by the name of James McCoy Hassell was born to sharecroppers in Tyrrell County, North Carolina. There were only three vocations to choose from in the county; farming, fishing or timber. Many farming families had to sacrifice their children’s education in order to keep enough workers in the fields. James did his part along with his six siblings until he was sixteen and left home. In 1933, during the height of the depression, he married. He spent the next six years working the fields and lumberyards and not getting ahead. Wanting a better life for his family, he sold his last crop and hitchhiked to Philadelphia where he found work with the Curtis Bay Towing Company. He started out as a deck hand and worked his way up to mate in a very short time. By 1953, he became licensed as a tugboat pilot with unlimited tonnage. This meant that he could pilot any tugboat on the open seas as well as the Delaware River where most of his work took him.

Captain Jimmy to his crew and "Coy" to friends and family, moved to south jersey in the 40’s. He spent most of his working hours on the Eagle Point tugboat. Curtis Bay bought the sea going tug from a company in Delaware that had refurbished her from her service during World War II. The company provided him and his crew, (including his brother-in-law) with a limousine to Delaware. When they arrived Captain Jimmy bestowed the name of the Eagle Point on the tug and piloted it back to the Philadelphia Shipyard where he continued to serve until 1975 when he retired.

One of his proudest moments came when he was chosen to join eleven other captains in piloting the USS Kittyhawk out of her berth in Camden. He climbed aboard this massive aircraft carrier, the largest in the world, and took the responsibility of guiding her out to sea for the first time. Along with the hundreds of workers that built her, his part was played with precision.

Captain Hassell lived in several south jersey towns including; Camden, Pennsauken, Oak Valley and eventually Hurffville. The property in Hurffville had enough land to maintain a small garden. Even though he earned more than enough in wages to live comfortably, he and his wife were frugal in raising their own vegetables and beef. The memory of the depression and their humble beginnings paved the paths of their success in life. Captain Hassell died in 1993 leaving a wife of 60 years, four children, thirteen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. He is also joined by the three other Hassell family members from south jersey that worked on the tugboats of the Delaware River; John, Bill and Andy.

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: Vickie Van Antwerp