The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 Part 99

[_Saving Life from the Perils of the Sea._]

LIFE SAVING MEDAL OF THE FIRST CLa.s.s UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Three men in a boat in a heavy sea. One is rescuing a person who has hold of a spar, at the end of which is a block with its sheet. Another is standing, casting a rope, and a third is seated and rowing. In the distance, to the left, is the wreck of a large vessel. PAQUET. F.

(_fecit_).

IN TESTIMONY OF HEROIC DEEDS IN SAVING LIFE FROM THE PERILS OF THE SEA. A female figure, standing, holds in her left hand a wreath of oak, and with her right is preparing to inscribe the name of the recipient on a monument which is surmounted by the American eagle, and to the right of which are a mast, a yard with its sail bent, an anchor, a s.e.xtant, and a branch of laurel. Exergue: ACT OF CONGRESS JUNE 20th 1874. PAQUET.

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ORIGINAL DOc.u.mENTS. (p. 442)

_Act of Congress Inst.i.tuting Life Saving Medals._

_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress a.s.sembled_: That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to cause to be prepared medals of honor, with suitable devices, to be distinguished as Life-Saving Medals of the first and second cla.s.s, which shall be bestowed upon any persons who shall hereafter endanger their own lives in saving, or endeavoring to save lives from perils of the sea, within the United States, or upon any American vessel: _Provided_, That the medal of the first cla.s.s shall be confined to cases of extreme and heroic daring, and that the medal of the second cla.s.s shall be given in cases not sufficiently distinguished to deserve the medal of the first cla.s.s: _Provided also_, That no award of either medal shall be made to any person until sufficient evidence of his deserving shall have been filed with the Secretary of the Treasury and entered upon the records of the Department.

Approved June 20, 1874.

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_Lucien M. Clemons, A. J. Clemons, and Hubbard M. Clemons, of Marblehead, Ohio, for rescuing two men from wreck of Schooner "Consuello," in Lake Erie, May 1, 1875. Awarded June 19th, 1876._

Treasury Department, Office of the Secretary, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., June 30th, 1876.

To Lucien M. CLEMONS, Esq.,[130]

Marblehead, Ohio.

[Footnote 130: Similar letters were written to A.

J. Clemons and Hubbard M. Clemons.]

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a life-saving medal of the first-cla.s.s, which has been awarded to you under authority of the provisions of the seventh section of the Act of Congress, approved June 20, 1874, for the extreme and heroic daring manifested by you in the rescue, under circ.u.mstances of peculiar peril and difficulty, of two men from the wreck of the schooner "Consuello," near Marblehead, Ohio, on the 1st of May, 1875.

In sending you this medal it is remarked that it and the two others respectively awarded to your a.s.sociates in the hazardous undertaking referred to, are the first that have been issued under the provisions of the act above named, and the Department is gratified that the law should commence its operations by honoring and commemorating an action of such distinguished gallantry.

I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant, Charles F. CONANT, _Acting Secretary_.

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_Hugh Beard, James Conley, William Gregory, Charles Danslow, (p. 443) John Dolman, George Lee, Philip Murphy, James Munday, James Martin, William Ruffler, Samuel Richards, and William Stewart, members of the crew of the Mersey Docks and Harbor Board; and E. Crabtree, Charles Eddington, William Griffith, James G.o.dfrey, W. Jones, John Dean, James Duncan, James Harvey, Robert Lucas, Thomas Maloney, Charles McKenzie, John Powell, John Robinson, R. J. Thomas, and Henry Williams, members of the crew of the "Royal National Life-Boat Inst.i.tution," at New Brighton, England, for rescuing persons at the wreck of the American s.h.i.+p "Ellen Southard" September 27, 1875, at the mouth of River Mersey, Liverpool, England. Awarded February 27, 1877._

Treasury Department, Office of The Secretary, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C. March 3d, 1877.

To Mr. James MARTIN,[131]

Master of the Mersey Docks and Harbor Board Life Boat, Liverpool, England.

[Footnote 131: Similar letters were sent to Hugh Beard, James Conley, William Gregory, Charles Danslow, John Dolman, George Lee, Philip Murphy, James Munday, William Ruffler, Samuel Richards, and William Stewart.]

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a life-saving medal of the first cla.s.s, which has been awarded to you, under the authority of the provisions of the seventh section of the Act of the Congress of the United States, approved June 20, 1874, for the extreme and heroic daring manifested by you in the rescue, under circ.u.mstances of peculiar danger and difficulty, of seventeen persons from the wreck of the American s.h.i.+p "Ellen Southard," on the 27th of September, 1875, at the mouth of the river Mersey, near Liverpool.

It is the first time this nation has had an opportunity to offer to other than its own citizens the medal of the life-saving service, and it is a matter of congratulation that the occasion is more than worthy of the token. No words, it is felt, can do justice to the conduct of the men of the Liverpool life-boat upon the scene of the wreck of the "Ellen Southard," and the fatal disaster which followed the rescue, whereby nine persons belonging to the s.h.i.+p and three of your gallant comrades perished, while it saddens the glory of the deliverance, yet throws into bolder relief the n.o.ble courage of the life-boat crew by disclosing the dreadful hazards they dared to encounter. Upon you, as upon each of the survivors, it is my privilege to bestow, in behalf of the United States, this medal, provided by law in grateful recognition of such deeds, and I beg you will accept it with this expression of the appreciation of the gallant conduct it commemorates.

I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant, Charles F. CONANT, _Acting Secretary of the Treasury_.

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To Treasury Department, Office of the Secretary, (p. 444) Mr. John DEAN,[132] Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., March 3, 1877 Member of the crew of the Life-Boat of the Royal National Life-Boat Inst.i.tution at New Brighton, England.

[Footnote 132: Similar letters of the same date were sent to E. Crabtree, Charles Eddington, William Griffith, James G.o.dfrey, W. Jones, James Duncan, James Harvey, Robert Lucas, Thomas Maloney, Charles McKenzie, John Powell, John Robinson, R. J.

Thomas, and Henry Williams.]

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a life-saving medal of the first cla.s.s which has been awarded to you, under the authority of the provisions of the seventh section of the Act of the Congress of the United States, approved June 20, 1874, for the extreme and heroic daring manifested by you in the rescue, under circ.u.mstances of peculiar danger and difficulty, of eight persons from the wreck of the American s.h.i.+p "Ellen Southard," at the mouth of the river Mersey, near Liverpool.

In transmitting this offering to you, as to each member of the crew of the Life-Boat of the Royal National Life-Boat Inst.i.tution stationed at New Brighton, it is proper to remark that it is the first time an opportunity has arisen for bestowing the medal of the life-saving service of this country upon subjects of a foreign nation. It was the fortune of your crew to arrive upon the scene of disaster after the Liverpool life-boat men had effected a deliverance, and been in turn subjected to a dreadful casualty, whereby nine of the persons they had rescued and three of their own number were drowned: and the remaining eight persons from the vessel and the twelve men of the Liverpool crew, clinging to the capsized boat in a fearful sea, owe their lives to you and your comrades. The extreme jeopardy and hards.h.i.+ps you encountered upon the occasion of their rescue are deeply appreciated, and, in behalf of the United States, I beg you to accept this testimonial, provided by law in recognition of such deeds of bravery and compa.s.sion. In sending it, allow me to add the expression of the sense of the gallantry and the devotion to high human duty which marked the conduct of yourself and of your comrades upon the occasion under notice, and of the a.s.surance that each member of your crew, in his own person, by this deed of valor and mercy, confers fresh and just honor upon the great name of England.

I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant, Charles F. CONANT, _Acting Secretary of the Treasury_.

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_Report of the United States Life-Saving Service._

Treasury Department, To the Honorable United States Life-Saving Service, LOT M. MORRILL, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., November 30, 1876.

Secretary of the Treasury, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.

Sir: - - - - -

AWARDS OF MEDALS.

During the year three life-saving medals of the first cla.s.s and two of the second cla.s.s have been awarded under the provisions of the act of June 20, 1874. The medals of the first cla.s.s were (p. 445) bestowed upon Messrs. Lucien M. Clemons, Hubbard M. Clemons, and A. J. Clemons, of Marblehead, Ohio, three brothers, who displayed the most signal gallantry in saving two men from the wreck of the schooner Consuelo, about two miles north of that place, on May 1, 1875. It appears from the evidence of the transaction that the schooner, which was heavily laden with blocks of stone, was seen by a number of spectators on the sh.o.r.e laboring in apparent distress in the pa.s.sage between Kelley's Island and Marblehead, the sea at the time being tremendous and the wind blowing a gale from the northeast, when her cargo of stone blocks, which had been left upon rollers, thereby causing the disaster, suddenly s.h.i.+fted, and the vessel at once capsized and went down. Five of her crew immediately perished; but the remaining two succeeded in getting a hold in the cross-trees of the mainmast, which were above water, where they clung for nearly an hour. It was then that the three heroic brothers took a small flat-bottomed skiff, twelve feet long, three feet wide, and fifteen inches deep, the only boat available on the coast, and leaving their weeping wives and children, who formed a part of the watching group of forty or fifty persons on the sh.o.r.e, went out in this frail sh.e.l.l to the rescue. The venture was, in the judgment of the lookers-on, several of them old sailors, hazardous in the extreme, but after nearly an hour's hard struggle with the waves, the Clemons brothers gained the wreck and delivered the two exhausted men from their perilous position in the rigging. With the added burden in their skiff they were then unable to make the sh.o.r.e, but remained for a long time tossing about upon the high sea in momentary danger of destruction, when fortunately they were descried by a steam-tug at Kelley's Island, which came to their a.s.sistance. Under these circ.u.mstances the medals of honor awarded them must be considered justly due to their self-forgetful heroism.

The medals of the second cla.s.s were given to Messrs. Otis N.

Wheeler and John O. Philbrick, in recognition of their services in saving the lives of two men wrecked on Watts' Ledge, on the coast of Maine, on Tuesday, the 30th of November, 1875. It appears that Mr. Wheeler happened to see at 9 o'clock in the morning, from the window of a house on Richmond Island, a man standing on the ledge, which is about a quarter of a mile distant, waving his hat as a signal of distress, and called on Mr. Philbrick, the only other man on the island, to a.s.sist in rescuing him. The wind was blowing a gale from the northwest, the ocean was rough and covered with vapor, and the weather was very cold, being at sunrise 16 below zero. The two life-savers went out in a dory, one rowing and the other making thole-pins for the pull back, there being but one pair. Arrived at the ledge, they found there two men, one lying at length on his side, where he had resigned himself to death, and got them with considerable difficulty into the dory, great care being necessary to prevent the boat being stove on the sharp rocks on account of the das.h.i.+ng of the sea upon the ledge. The return was effected with two pairs of oars, the second set of thole-pins being finished, and involved a hard pull dead to windward.

The men saved were badly frozen. They had been on the ledge since 9 o'clock of the night preceding, and at high tide, which was during the night, had stood in a foot and a half of water, which is the height to which the sea rises at that time over the highest point of the rock. When they were taken off they were almost helpless, and probably could not have survived an hour longer. Their boots had to be cut off; their feet and hands (p. 446) kept for hours in cold water; great blisters which puffed up two and three inches high on their extremities were opened with a knife, and they were put to bed in a forlorn condition.

Mr. Wheeler then took the dory and rowed two miles dead to windward with extreme difficulty, the wind blowing very hard, and the sea feather-white with foam, till he reached Cape Elizabeth, where he purchased rum, liniment, corn-meal and coffee. He got back to the island about dark, bringing with him Mr. Andrew J.

Wheeler. The rescued men were then in great suffering; and rum, gruel and coffee were administered to them, and their feet, hands, and heads bathed in liniment and rum. They were constantly and tenderly cared for by Messrs. Wheeler and Philbrick, a.s.sisted by Mr. Andrew J. Wheeler, until Thursday noon following, when they were taken off the island by the revenue-cutter Dallas.

The active and steadfast humanity of Messrs. Wheeler and Philbrick, involving such marked labors, hards.h.i.+ps and sacrifices in the interest of two poor castaways, can only be recognized, not recompensed, by the medals of honor bestowed upon them. It appears that they also, together with Mr. John N. Wheeler, of Cape Elizabeth, were subjected to considerable pecuniary loss on account of supplies and medicaments furnished these unfortunate men, clothing and bedding spoiled by the ichor from their sores, and journeys by team to Portland, to notify the Collector of their situation and necessities; and it is matter for deep regret that there is no appropriation available under the law to satisfy claims so intrinsically just, and arising under such circ.u.mstances.

Correspondence has been received from the Honorable the Secretary of State in relation to aid rendered by English life-boat crews to the crew of the American s.h.i.+p Ellen Southard, including a dispatch from the American consul at Liverpool, dated October 16, 1875, recommending recognition of the gallantry of these crews upon that occasion, and suggesting that this might take the form of a medal for each one of the members thereof. It appears that the Ellen Southard was wrecked by stranding on Sunday, the 26th of September, 1875, in a furious gale and frightful sea, at the mouth of the river Mersey. The s.h.i.+p soon began to break up, and unavailing efforts to construct a raft were made by her officers and men, who remained in extreme peril during the whole night.

The next morning, news of the disaster having reached Liverpool, the life-boat belonging to the Mersey Docks and Harbor Board, and the life-boat stationed at New Brighton, of the Royal National Life-boat Inst.i.tution, came to the rescue. The Liverpool boat arrived in advance of the other, and, after much difficulty and danger, succeeded in taking off all the persons on the wreck, seventeen in number, including the pilot. A few moments after, while all on board were congratulating themselves upon the fortunate escape, a terrific wave, which appeared, as averred by the deposition of some of the survivors, to be as high as a house, threw the life-boat entirely over, and eight of those belonging to the s.h.i.+p, including the captain and his wife, the pilot, and three of the fifteen life-boat men, making twelve persons in all, were drowned. The life-boat, which appears not to have been of the self-righting variety, remained bottom upward, and after struggling in the water for a considerable time, the survivors, being twelve of the life-boat crew and eight of the crew of the s.h.i.+p, managed to get on to her, where they clung for about an hour in great peril, when the New Brighton life-boat arrived and took them on board.

This melancholy disaster sets in the strongest relief the (p. 447) gallant devotion of the crews of the two English life-boats, all the members of which risked their lives, while three of them died in the brave effort to save our countrymen. The sorrow that must be felt for those who perished in this manly endeavor is tempered with satisfaction that the terms of the law permit us to bestow upon their living comrades in the enterprise the fitting tokens of our appreciation; and gold medals of the first cla.s.s have been awarded to the twenty-seven survivors, and will be struck as soon as possible.

- - - - - I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. I. KIMBALL, _In charge of life-Saving Service_.

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_Colonel J. S. Crosby, U. S. Consul at Florence, Italy, for rescuing the life of Miss Edith May, and endeavoring to rescue the late Miss Adele Hunter, and Mr. W. T. Garner and his wife, at the sinking of the Yacht "Mohawk," in New York Harbor, July 20, 1876. Awarded June 8, 1877._

To Treasury Department, Office of the Secretary, COLONEL J. SCHUYLER CROSBY, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., June 30, 1877.

United States Consul, Florence, Italy.