Robert Henry Hickman (1897-1939) was born on July 22, 1897 to George Hickman and Abagail (Domus) Hickman in Gouldsboro, Maine. Robert married married Olive Lucy Donovan, daughter of Webster D. Donovan, on February 17, 1917. He was 19 and she was 18.
By the 1920 Census Robert was a mariner on a steamer, most probably the “Rangeley.” By 1930 he was listed as a captain on a yacht.
Robert was one of nine crewmembers lost on the scallop dragger, “Madeline and Flora” when she was lost on November 20, 1939 while on her way from Rockland, Maine headed for Georges Banks. Robert Hickman had replaced a man in the crew who was stricken with appendicitis just before the boat sailed. Robert left his wife Olive and seven to ten children (depending upon the news account). Robert’s oldest son, Russell R. Hickman (1918-2010), was a crew member of the “USCGC Travis” (WPC-153) operating out of Rockland, Maine in 1939. He was on board the “Travis” when she aided in the search for the fishing trawler "Madeline & Flora."
The 65’or 67’ scallop dragger, “Madeline and Flora” – 70’, 17’ wide, 13’ draft was built in Damariscotta by J.D. Morse in 1927.
“Hickman - Robert Henry Hickman (1897-1939),” Southwest Harbor Public Library, accessed April 19, 2024, https://swhpl.digitalarchive.us/items/show/10688.Item 14641
