Albert Hoogerzeil (1845 - 1920) rescues a drowning man - 1896 Newsclipping

 

Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, 14 January 1896, page 7. 

BEVERLY MAN'S BRAVE ACT

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Albert Hoogerzeil Risks His Own Life to 

Rescue a drowning Neighbor.

Beverly, January 14- A narrow escape from drowning of a Beverly man and a heroic rescue by another is reported this morning.

It seems that William Bennett, while spearing for eels through the ice in the harbor, broke through and was in great danger of drowning, as, on account of his heavy clothes, he was unable to swim. His cries for assistance were heard by Albert Hoogerzeil, who was fishing from a dory about a half a mile away from the drowning man.  Mr. Hoogerzeil rowed with all possible speed to the scene.  At the risk of his own life, he forced his boat through the broken ice and reached Bennett, just as he was sinking for the last time.

He dragged him into the boat and devoted some little time in resuscitating him.  Mr. Bennett was thoroughly chilled and was in great danger of succumbing, but Mr. Hoogerzeil took the clothing off his own back to aid in restoring warmth to the chilled man until he reached the shore and secured assistance.

It is understood that steps will be taken to bring the brave rescue to the attention of the Humane Society with a view that a medal may be secured for Mr. Hoogerzeil in recognition of his courageous act.

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One of my ancestral family names is Hoogerzeil.  I'm lucky because my 7th great grandfather, Ocker Bruins Hoogerseijl (1663 - 1749) of Krimpen aan de Lek, near Rotterdam in the Netherlands, made up his own surname when patronyms started going out of fashion in his home country.  He was a commander of a whaling ship, and his name "Hoogerzeil" translates to "High Sails".  Every person ever named Hoogerzeil or Hogerzeil has turned out to be one of his descendants.  

Ocker Bruins Hoogersijl's great great grandson, Peter Hoogerzil (1803 - 1889) was a stowawy from Rotterdam to Salem, Massachusetts in the 1820s.  He settled in Beverly, across the harbor from Salem, where he married Eunice Stone in 1828.  She was supposedly the daughter of the sea captain of the ship in which Peter was a stowawy.  I know that Eunice's father, Josiah Stone (1763 - 1848) was a commander of ships in Salem, so there may be some truth to this family myth!

Peter Hoogerzeil and Eunice Stone had six children: Lucy Ann, born 1832; Simeon, born 1839; Peter, born 1841; William, born 1843; Albert Stone, born 1845; and Edmund, born 1847.  Peter, Jr, is my great great grandfather.  Albert, his brother, and the hero of the story in the 1896 Boston Globe article, is my 3rd great uncle.  

Albert Hoogerzeil was a mariner in the United States Navy 1862 through 1864 during the Civil War.  He served aboard the USS Vermont, the USS Western World, and with the Potomac Flotilla.  Back home in Beverly he was a shoemaker and a fisherman.  At age 53 he married Mary Gaffney, born about 1859 in Ireland, on 15 December 1898 in Beverly.  It was his first and only marriage.  They had no children. 

For the truly curious:

A 2014 blog post about the Hoogerzeil Family plot in the Central Cemetery in Beverly:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/tombstone-tuesday-hoogerzeil-in-beverly.html  

A 2018 blog post for Surname Saturday on my Hoogerzeil lineage:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/surname-saturday-hoogerzeil-of-holland.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Albert Hoogerzeil (1845 - 1920) rescues a drowning man - 1896 Newsclipping", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 11, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/03/albert-hoogerzeil-1845-1920-rescues.html: accessed [access date]).