Nansemond County-Newport News City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries......Hazelwood, Capt. S. Bertram Jr., 1968 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 46, No. 72, Sun., Mar. 24, 1968, p. 1 Boat Found But 4 Men Missing Four Nansemond County men disappeared from an oyster boat Friday night and have not been seen since. Their empty boat was found sunk in nine feet of water off Grand View, near Buckroe Beach Saturday morning. The boat was captained by Bertram Hazelwood Jr., 27, of Crittenden. One crewman was Thomas Crocker of Hobson, the other known to the family only as "Bones." Gray Adams, 24, of Crittenden was also aboard. His father, Charles Adams, had taken young Adams to the boat Friday night just for a ride. Leaving Battery Park at 7 p.m. Friday, the boat went to the James River to pick up oysters to carry to the York River to plant. It stopped at the Newport News boat harbor to pay tax on the oysters. As the proper authority was not there, the men left word they would stop again on their way back. When they pulled out of Newport News, between 8 and 9 p.m. Friday, it was the last anyone heard of them. About 7 a.m. Saturday, a man in a crab boat discovered the boat off Grand View. Not finding anyone aboard, he called the Coast Guard and stayed with the boat until the Coast Guard arrived. Using helicopters and boats, the Coast Guard searched the entire area from about 8 a.m. until sunset Saturday. The search is expected to be continued this morning with divers. A Coast Guard spokesman said there was a hole in the starboard side of the boat but it is not yet known what caused it or if there had been any fire aboard. The boat went down in about nine ft. of water one-half mile off the beach. The cabin was still above water. ****************************************************************************** "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 46, No. 73, Mon, Mar. 25, 1968, p. 1 Navy Divers to Join Search For Boatmen Navy divers were expected to join the search for a Nansemond County boat captain and three other men believed to have been aboard an oyster boat found sunk Saturday near a Hampton beach. S. Bertram Hazelwood Jr., 27, of Crittenden was the captain of the 60-foot Klondike which was found in nine feet of water at Grand View, near Buckroe Beach, Saturday morning. The boat had not been seen since Friday night. Also believed aboard the boat are William Henry Mann, 50, Thomas Crocker of Hobson, and Gray Adams, 24, of Crittenden. Rough seas Sunday prevented two Navy divers from reaching the boat's bottom. The Coast Guard said the boat's hold is afloat with debris and that some wreckage found Saturday at Chesapeake Channel, north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, has been identified as belonging to the sunken vessel. Speculation has arisen that an explosion caused the Klondike to sink, the Coast Guard said, but gave no further details. A Coast Guard cutter, marine police, and the Virginia Commission of Fisheries are expected to resume the search today, weather permitting. The Klondike had departed from near Ft. Eustis after sundown Friday for a trip to the York River. ****************************************************************************** "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 46, No. 74, Tues., Mar. 26, 1968, p. 1 Part of Klondike Explored Divers Find No Trace of 4 Men PORTSMOUTH (AP) - Hope is fading that three crewmen and a passenger aboard the sunken oyster boat Klondike will be found alive. Navy divers explored parts of the sunken boat Monday in her watery grave about a half mile offshore from Buckroe Beach. The divers found no trace of the missing men. Missing are the boat's captain, Sidney Burt Hazlewood [sic; Bertram Hazelwood] Jr., 28; Thomas Crocker, 22; William Henry Mann, 55; and passenger Charles Gray Adams III, 24. The boat, owned by Battery Park Fish & Oyster Co., left from Battery Park near Smithfield at about 6 p.m. Friday. A fishing boat spotted the top of the Klondike's pilot house sticking above the water Saturday. O.A. Spady, General manager of the Battery Part Fish & Oyster Co., said the Klondike's load of 1,600 bushels of oysters was a heavy one. "But," he added, "I think he's carried near that many before. Just carrying 1,600 bushels by itself wouldn't have sunk him." She had purchased seed oysters from tongers in the James River during the day and, loaded to the gunwales, was headed for the York River to plant them. A James River bridge tender saw the Klondike pass about 6 p.m. No messages were received from her, although she was equipped with a radio- telephone. Friday night, winds in the area were from the south-southwest at up to 17 miles per hour. Saturday morning, fishermen aboard the fishing boat Rosedale spotted the top of the Klondike's pilot house. The oyster boat was on the bottom of Chesapeake Bay about a half mile from shore, a mile south of Grand View light. This is 3 1/2 miles north of Old Point. Spady, who is listed as the Klondike's regular master - Hazelwood is alternate master - said Monday that the place where the boat was found "is the roughest place along that stretch, because it's shoal water there. You catch anything wrong, and you don't know what could happen." The Navy divers who inspected the Klondike Monday were unable to enter the boat because of hazardous seas. Vessels from the Battery Park Fish & Oyster Co. are expected to try to pull the Klondike to shallow water today. They tried briefly Monday without success. ****************************************************************************** "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 46, No. 76, Thurs., Mar. 28, 1968, p. 1 Thorough Search Of 'Klondike' Set The Coast Guard planned a thorough search by divers today of the sunken oyster boat Klondike for any trace of the four men on the craft when it ran into trouble in Chesapeake Bay Friday night. Yesterday the boat was pulled closer to shore from the point where it was discovered Saturday morning about half a mile off Buckroe Beach. However it still hadn't been refloated. It was pulled to within about 500 yards of shore where pole-probes covered 60 per cent of the vessel's inner space Wednesday, the Coast Guard said. The Klondike, loaded topside with seed oysters, left Battery Park bound for the York River at 6 p.m. Friday. She was next seen, sunk in the bay, Saturday morning. Her three crewmen and one passenger had not been found Wednesday night. Missing are the boat's captain, Sidney Bertram Hazelwood Jr., 28; Thomas Crocker, 22; William Henry Mann, 55; and passenger Charles Gray Adams III, 24. The vessel Wednesday was reported clear of the shipping lanes and no longer a menace to navigation. A concerned observer of Wednesday's rescue-salvage operations was Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr., whose home is near those of the lost men. ****************************************************************************** "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 46, No. 77, Fri., Mar. 29, 1968, p. 1 No Trace Found Of Missing Men OLD POINT (AP) - Navy divers have failed to find any trace of four crewmen aboard the oyster boat Klondike which sank last weekend in Chesapeake Bay. The search Thursday was the first time a complete inspection had been made of all compartments of the 60-foot vessel, which was towed to shallow water to facilitate the operation. The Klondike was last seen a week ago loaded with seed oysters from the James River and headed for the York River oysters beds. Early Saturday she was spotted near Buckroe Beach with only the top of her wheelhouse showing above the surface of the bay. The owners of the Klondike said Thursday that the vessel probably will be surrendered to the Army Corps of Engineers for demolition. The salvage cost likely would exceed the value of the vessel, they added. ****************************************************************************** "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 46, No. "72" [78], Sun., Mar. 31, 1968, p. 12 'Klondike’'Tragedy Is Difficult to Accept A tragedy such as the loss of the "Klondike" and its four-man crew is enough to tear the emotions of any community, large or small. Captain S.B. Hazelwood Jr. was a young man as men who accept such responsibilities go. He was 27, married and the proud father of one child. His life's work had been chosen, and he was following in the footstep of his own father. Nobody questioned his youth, for he had experience valued above most else on the water. Charles Gray Adams III went along for the ride, or perhaps a "busman's holiday." He too was following in his father's business of oystering and seafood and Captain Hazelwood was his longtime friend. Just out of the Marine Corps, he had survived his combat tour in Viet Nam and was home to begin his life anew. Like most who have gone to Viet Nam and made it back home, he had a new appreciation for life itself. The crewmen were likewise experienced on the water. Thomas Crocker was married and has several children. William Henry Mann was a widower with no children. Both were well thought of people in their Hobson community. Loss of Hazelwood and Adams to their family's business is a shocking blow. Difficult as it may be, a loss such as that can be overcome to a degree. The loss even more difficult to bear is that of two such citizens from their community and this area. They were from families that are depended on heavily where solid citizenship counts. And both were following their fathers in this regard. Our heart goes out to the families of all. ****************************************************************************** "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 46, No. 90, Sun., Apr. 14, 1968, p. 1 Joint Services Are Set For 2 Klondike Victims The bodies of three of the men missing since March 22 when the oyster boat Klondike sank have been found. The body of William H. Mann, 57, of Hobson was in the bay off Little Creek. The body of Charles Gray Adams III was found Friday also. Sidney Bertram Hazelwood Jr.'s body was found Saturday. The body of Thomas Crocker, 22, has not been recovered. A joint funeral service will be conducted at 3 p.m, Monday for Charles Gray Adams III and Sidney Bertram Hazelwood Jr. in the Ebenezer Methodist Church by the Rev. W. Boyd Bryant, pastor, and the Rev. Leonard L. Hazelwood, pastor of Walmsley Methodist Church, Richmond, and Dr. Owen Kelly, pastor of Epworth Methodist Church, Norfolk. Burial will be in Mt. Zion Christian Church Cemetery. The bodies will be taken from the R.W. Baker and Co. Funeral Home to the church at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the families would like donations made to the church memorial fund or to the Suffolk-Nansemond Rescue Squad. The body of Charles Gray Adams III, 26, a resident of No. 10 Arber Arch, Crittenden, was found Friday afternoon inside the cabin of the Klondike. Adams, although not a crew member, was along for the ride. Navy divers had searched parts of the sunken boat March 25 but no trace was found of the body at that time. Adams was the son of Charles Gray Adams Jr. and Mrs. Kathryn Murphy Adams. Other than parents, he is survived by one sister, Mrs. Glenda Adams Howell of Norfolk. He was a member of Ebenezer Methodist Church, graduate of Chuckatuck High School, attended Randolph Macon College and was an Eagle Scout. Adams spent four years in the Marine Corps, one year which was spent in Vietnam. Police confirmed the identity of a body fished from the Chesapeake Bay Saturday by the aircraft carrier Independence, as the Klondike skipper Sidney Bertram Hazelwood Jr. Hazelwood, 26, was also one of the men missing since March 22, off Hampton's Buckroe Beach. He was the son of Sidney Bertram Hazelwood Sr. and Mrs. Alese Newman Hazelwood. Hazelwood was the husband of Mary Saunders Hazelwood. Other than his parents and wife, he is survived by one daughter, Miss Elizabeth Newman Hazelwood; one sister, Miss Gloria Anne Hazelwood of Richmond; one brother, Thomas Adams Hazelwood of Eclipse, a student at Elon College; and maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Everett Newman Sr. of Eclipse. He was a member of Ebenezer Methodist Church and a graduate of Chuckatuck High School. He attended the University of Virginia. Hazelwood was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, member of CE & H Ruritan Club and was an Eagle Scout (a member of the Order of the Arrow and had received the God and Country award). He served five and one-half years in the Coast Guard Reserve. ****************************************************************************** "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 46, No. 92, Tues., Apr. 16, 1968, p. 8 S. BERTRAM HAZELWOOD JR. CHARLES GRAY ADAMS III Joint funeral services for Sidney Bertram Hazelwood Jr. and Charles Gray Adams in were conducted at 3 p.m. Monday at Ebenezer Methodist Church, Crittenden, by the Rev. W. Boyd Bryant, pastor, the Rev. Leonard L. Hazelwood, pastor of Walmsley Boulevard Methodist Church, Richmond, and Dr. Owen Kelly, Epworth Methodist Church, Norfolk. Pallbearers for Hazelwood were O.A. Spady, Malcolm King, Charles Rose, Wilson Yeoman, Everett Bagnell, Pat Willis, Frear Hawkins and Tim Matthews. Pallbearers for Adams were Richard G. Davis, Wyatt Davis, John C. Adams, Wayne Adams, Dwight Bradshaw, Sidney B. Denno, Ernest Hazelwood Jr. and Robert Mertig. Burial was in Mount Zion Christian Church cemetery. ****************************************************************************** "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 46, No. 148, Thurs., June 20, 1968, p. 1 Body of Missing Man On Klondike Recovered By RICHARD L. AUSTIN A body found in late April off the coast of Dare County, N.C., has been identified as that of one of the four men aboard the ill-fated oyster boat Klondike. Positive identification of the body, as Thomas W. Crocker, 22, of Hobson was reportedly made by a member of his family by a scar. He is last to be accounted for of four men aboard the Klondike when it sank off Buckroe Beach March 22. According to a spokesman in the office of the Chief Medical Examiner's Office, Norfolk, this morning, the body was sent there after its discovery, remaining unclaimed until four or five weeks ago when it was sent to the State Anatomical Board in Richmond. The recent identification was made there. The Klondike, heavily laden with seed oysters, was enroute from Battery Park to York River planting grounds when it disappeared March 22. Not until mid-April, however, were the bodies of three of the four aboard, including the boat captain Sidney Bertram Hazelwood, 26, of Crittenden, found. First, the body of Crewman William H. Mann, 57, of Hobson was recovered in the Chesapeake Bay, off Little Creek. Then, that of Charles Gray Adams III, 26, a passenger and friend of Hazelwood's was found the same day in the cabin of the sunken boat. Hazelwood’s body was recovered the next day, Saturday, April 13, in Chesapeake Bay by the U.S.S. Independence. All of the men were from the Hobson, Eclipse, Crittenden area of Nansemond County. Crocker resided in Hobson. He was native of that community and was the husband of Mrs. Gertie Elliott Crocker and a son of John T. and Mrs. Pauline Moore Crocker. Surviving, besides his wife and parents, are one daughter, Margarette Crocker, and two sons, Alga T. Crocker and Allan L. Crocker, all of the home; three sisters, Mrs, Evelyn Eley, Miss Corine Crocker, both of Hobson, and Miss Emily Crocker of Suffolk; three brothers, David Crocker and James S. Crocker, both of Hobson, and Miles Crocker of Norfolk; and his paternal grandmother, Mrs. Maie Crocker, also of Hobson. A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday in Mt. Lebanon Church of Christ, Hobson, conducted by the Rev. J.L. Clifton, pastor. Burial will be in Macedonia Church cemetery, Hobson, with Crocker Funeral Home in charge. ****************************************************************************** "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 46, No. 150, Sun., June 23, 1968, p. 2 THOMAS W.CROCKER Funeral rites for Thomas W. Crocker were held Saturday afternoon at the Mt. Lebanon Church of God In Christ. The pastor Rev. C.L. Clifton delivered the eulogy. Interment was in Macedonia Cemetery. Crocker Funeral Home Inc. in charge. Pallbearers were brothers in-law. ****************************************************************************** ****************************************************************************** Capt. Sidney Bertram HAZELWOOD, Jr., oysterman - captain of the "Klondike," Coast Guard Reserve veteran, b. 15 Apr 1941*, Newport News, drowned 22 Mar 1968, Chesapeake Bay, off Hampton, interred in Mount Zion Christian Church Cemetery*, Crittenden, 15 Apr 1968 *Additional information: His parents & grandparents are also buried there. Mount Zion list (Z-2), an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/mtzion.txt A photo of his gravestone - added by David Kemp - & another article ("Danville Register," Mar. 27, 1968, p. 9) are posted with Find a Grave Memorial #102799206. B.Cert. 12925 D.Cert. 68-011150 gives Sidney Bertrum, D.O.A. 23 Mar 1968, Norfolk. He m. Mary Ainslie SAUNDERS (b. ca. 1942) 14 Sep 1963 in Hertford Co., NC. Mary's parents Thomas Jefferson III & Sallie Elizabeth (MINTON) SAUNDERS are buried in Wesley Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery, near Chuckatuck. Wesley Chapel list (WC-19), another extension of the SCHS Cemetery Project: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/wesleych.txt ****************************************************************************** Charles Gray ADAMS, III, oysterman, Marine Corps veteran of Viet Nam, b. 1 Oct 1943, Suffolk, drowned 22 Mar 1968, Chesapeake Bay, off Hampton, interred in Mount Zion Christian Church Cemetery*, Crittenden, 15 Apr 1968 *Additional information: His parents are also buried there. Mount Zion list (Z-14), an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/mtzion.txt A photo of his gravestone - added by David Kemp - is posted with Find a Grave Memorial #53041474. D.Cert. 68-010820 gives never married. ****************************************************************************** William Henry MANN, of Hobson, oysterman, b. 7 June 1910, Chuckatuck, drowned 22 Mar 1968, Chesapeake Bay, off Hampton, interred in a church cemetery, Hobson, D.Cert. 68-011239 His father Jno. Robert MANN was b. in 1873 in Nash Co., NC, and d. 13 Apr 1936 in Hobson. D.Cert. 11137 (Chuckatuck #4) gives buried 15 Apr 1936 in "Oaklawn" Cemetery - presumably Oakland Cemetery, Chuckatuck. The informant was Robert's brother George Jr. (1871 - 1947), who is marked there. Robert's obit ("Suffolk News-Herald," Apr. 15, 1936, p. 5) gives his name as George. ****************************************************************************** Thomas Washington CROCKER, of Hobson, oysterman, b. 14 Feb 1939, drowned 22 Mar 1968, Chesapeake Bay, off Hampton, interred in Mt. Lebanon Church of God in Christ Cemetery, Hobson, 22 Jun 1968 Find a Grave Memorial #201484463 [no grave photo] D.Cert. 19576 states, "Body washed ashore at S. Nags Head Beach in Dare Co." His widow (1944 - 2015) 2m. USAF SSGT Percy A. JONES, Sr. She is buried in the Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/h243b1ob.txt