The United States Life-Saving Service originated in the 19th century from individual and charitable initiatives aimed at rescuing the lives of sailors and travelers who had been shipwrecked. The unofficial motto the men lived by was, “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back. “ Many gave up their lives to live by these words, saving shipwrecked victims in all types of inclement weather. Although not officially recognized as a service, a system of stations languished until 1871, when Sumner Increase Kimball was appointed chief of the Treasury Department’s Revenue Marine Division.
Sumner I. Kimball-Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard Historian Office
One of the first acts passed was to send Revenue Cutter Service officers on an inspection tour of the existing life-saving stations. With the need for more stations and men to work them, Kimball instituted six-man boat crews at each location and built additional stations. By 1874, numerous stations were added along the coast of Maine, Massachusetts, and later along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The following year, additional stations were added to serve the Great Lakes. In 1878, the network of life-saving stations was formally organized as a separate agency of the United States Department of the Treasury called the United States Live-Saving Service.
One of the more interesting historical documents noting service was the Articles of Engagement for Surfmen dated from 1875–1914. The records are arranged chronologically and then by district and station. They list the names of the Surfmen, their terms of engagement, and their record of compensation each received for duty. They may include reports of changes in crew, along with the reason for the change. The original records are in Entry #260, in Record Group 26 (RG26) of the United States Coast Guard. The United States Life-Saving Service merged with the Revenue Cutter Service in 1915 to form the modern United States Coast Guard, with the United States Lighthouse Service joining in 1939. If you have family who served, the records are an indispensable part of researching seafaring mariners from years earlier.
Courtesy of National Archives
The above articles list John Barry born circa 1842 in Ireland who served at the Fourth Cliff Life-Saving station (near Marshfield today) in Massachusetts in 1885. Barry was examined by a surgeon in Boston, Massachusetts, where his height, eyes, hair and complexion were recorded along with any other peculiar distinguishing marks or figures like tattoos.