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Thomas Joseph Heaver,
Jr. was the eldest child, and only son, of Thomas J. Heaver, Sr.
and Elida Ellen (Clark). Thomas Junior, known as "Dickie"
to friends and family, was born March 24,
1871 in Pittsford and was followed by five sisters.
Dickie’s love of the Erie Canal likely began with his father, “Old Tom”, who was a captain on
the canal repair scow in Pittsford. Scows, flat-bottomed boats with sloping ends, were used to
transport work crews and equipment to areas requiring maintenance. The scow crews would
repair canal breaks, remove debris and sediment built up along the canal bed and repair lock
gates and iron hardware.
When he was old enough, Dickie was apprenticed to his father, where he learned to be a
canaller. Following his apprenticeship, Dickie went on to serve aboard many steam freight
packets, including the J. M. Wiltsie, the C. H. Francis, the O. B. Tanner and the Lewis M.
Lawrence. Dickie became a well-known captain on these packet boats, which were used for
transporting goods on the Erie Canal.
In 1898, Dickie became a charter member of the Pittsford Fire Department. He served as its
Chief 1910-1912 and as secretary. For more than 30 years, he was also secretary of the
Northern Central New York Volunteer Firemen’s Association. In his later years, he served as
Master of Pittsford’s Northfield Lodge #426 F&AM and was active in many other fraternal
organizations.
He was married late in life to widow Bertha (Needham). They had no children together.
At his death on October 26, 1952 at age 81, Thomas Joseph “Dickie” Heaver, Jr.
was survived by his
wife, Bertha, and one sister, Myrtilla (Heaver) Snyder. He was laid to rest at
Pittsford Cemetery
beside his parents and his sisters Anna, Louisa and Sara. |