Hichborn was trained as a shipwright at the
Boston Navy Yard. He took a sea voyage to California via
Cape Horn in 1860.[2] He worked for
Pacific Mail Steamship Company. He joined the U. S. Navy in 1869 as a naval constructor. In 1884 he was sent to Europe and returned to the United States to report on the dock yards of Europe. He started work with the Bureau of Construction and Repair in 1869, becoming Chief Constructor in 1893.[2]
Personal life
Hichborn was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, to Philip and Martha (Gould) Hichborn on March 4, 1839.[3] He married Jennie Mary Franklin on November 29, 1875. They had four children, two of whom, Martha and Philip, survived until adulthood. His son Philip was the first husband of poet
Elinor Morton Hoyt.[1][2]