Prior
to the formation of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915, rescues at sea were the
responsibility of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, which was officially formed in
1878.
Curiously,
during the 37-year history of the Life-Saving Service, this federal agency
within the U.S. Treasury Department had but one superintendent in charge.
He
was Sumner Increase Kimball of Lebanon, Maine. Born in 1834, Kimball was
educated at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and then became a lawyer.
Kimball
was given his first government job in 1861, an appointment made by President
Abraham Lincoln. Kimball was assigned as a clerk on the Washington, D.C., staff
of Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, a former U.S. senator from Ohio.
Kimball was an impressive and talented performer who gained respect within the
halls of government.
The
strongest congressional advocate for the creation of a national Life-Saving
Service was U.S. Rep. William A. Newell of New Jersey (shown below), who started speaking out
in 1847. He argued that well-intentioned volunteer lifesavers were no match for
the cruel side of Mother Nature.
According
to an essay posted online by curators at the Ocean City (Md.) Life-Saving
Station Museum, two weather-related shipwrecks in 1854 off the coast of New
Jersey elevated the issue in the arena of public opinion.
First,
the Powhatan was grounded near Beach Haven, N.J. Its crew and passengers
(primarily German immigrants) all perished (at least 250 people). A few months
later, the New Era wrecked off the coast of present-day Asbury Park, N.J.,
killing as many as 230.
Pressed
to “do something,” Congress agreed that “the concept of a government-sponsored
service to aid mariners in distress was a valid one,” the museum reported. “The
first funds authorized were primarily for the provision of boats and crude
stations at a few critical areas along the coast. No provision was made to fund
employment of manpower.”
“There
was still considerable trepidation at the federal level as to just how much
involvement was appropriate. The times prior to the Civil War were filled with
issues involving states’ rights, and Congress was very cautious not to infringe
upon those rights.”
“Unfortunately,
the Civil War intervened in the further development of any competent
Life-Saving Service, and no advancement of importance was attempted between
1861-65,” the museum curators said.
“Once
reconstruction of the South began, it was more obvious than ever that coastal
shipping needed assistance,” the essay stated.
During
the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant, beginning in 1869, the wheels
began to turn.
By
1870, George Sewall Boutwell of Massachusetts, as President Grant’s Secretary
of the Treasury (shown below), was tasked with finding a “reform-minded person to head the
Revenue Marine Bureau to commence the process to bring about changes that would
better serve the interests of the maritime industry.” (Ultimately, this would result
in the formation of the U.S. Life-Saving Service in 1878.)
When
approached about the job in 1871, Kimball agreed to head the Revenue Marine
Bureau…if, and only if…Sec. Boutwell would give his personal assurance that he
would deflect politicians who sought to interfere with Kimball’s operation of
the bureau.
“Fortunately,
Sec. Boutwell agreed to Kimball’s terms for acceptance of the job,” the museum
essayists wrote.
Kimball
rolled up his sleeves and went to work, “completely overhauling the Revenue
Marine Bureau and its hodge-podge system of lifesaving stations,” wrote Dr.
Dennis L. Noble, a noted U.S. Coast Guard historian.
In
doing so, Kimball proved to be “one of America’s greatest, prolific and
accomplished federal government administrators,” Dr. Noble commented.
Life-Saving Service
‘comes to the rescue’ beginning in 1878
Sumner
Increase Kimball labored for seven years – from 1871-78 – to put together the
proper framework within the Revenue Marine Bureau of the U.S. Department of the
Treasury that would enable the nation to have a “first-class lifesaving
organization” to patrol the national coastline and interior waterways.
Two
shipwrecks off the coast of North Carolina in the late 1870s helped ramp up
public awareness in support of Kimball’s mission.
First,
on Nov. 24, 1877, the U.S. Army steamer Huron (shown below) wrecked off Nags Head in a
violent storm, and 103 persons drowned. (Sources reported that a makeshift
lifesaving station two miles away at Nags Head was “closed for the season.”)
Then,
only 20 miles farther north, on Jan. 31, 1878, the steamer Metropolis wrecked near
shore at Currituck Beach during another tempest. (Sources said that a rescue attempt
“was bungled by a lifesaving team that was inexperienced and ill-prepared.”)
Most of the 245 Metropolis passengers managed to swim about 100 yards to shore,
but 85 others drowned.
Early
on, Kimball employed two strategies that “helped the planets align.” First, he
dispatched Capt. John Faunce of the Revenue Marine Bureau (shown below) to travel the
nation’s coastlines and file an inspection report with recommendations for
lifesaving improvements.
Using
Capt. Faunce’s findings, Kimball published a 45-page manual on regulations and
operational procedures to guide a Life-Saving Service agency.
Kimball
hoped to construct Life-Saving Stations at seven-mile intervals along the east
coast, to form an interlocking system of lifesaving that would stretch from
Maine to Florida to Mexico.
Second,
Kimball employed William Douglas O’Connor (shown below) , a professional journalist, whose
skills were used to convince Congress and the public that Kimball’s “cause was
a worthy one,” wrote the curators at the Ocean City (Md.) Life-Saving Station
Museum.
“Kimball
shrewdly used O’Connor’s writing ability to attract public interest in the
heroic services provided by the lifesavers and…to persuade legislators to
provide funding,” the museum curators wrote.
“On
June 18, 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes (shown below) signed a bill creating the U.S.
Life-Saving Service as a separate agency within the Treasury Department. Soon
thereafter, Kimball was nominated to be the General Superintendent of the
service and rapidly confirmed by the Senate.”
Kimball
continued to head the Life-Saving Service for 37 years during its entire
existence (1878-1915)
“Much
of the present-day Coast Guard’s highly regarded reputation as a humanitarian
organization is the result of Kimball’s organizational skills and management
abilities,” the museum curators commented. “Many of the routines that he
established, such as constant drills with rescue equipment, are just as
important today as they were more than a century ago.”
Kimball in his later years.
Writing
for the Island Free Press of Hatteras, N.C., in 2022, James D. Charlet dubbed
Kimball a “wizard,” suggesting Kimball’s birthday of Sept. 2 be observed as a
national holiday.
Charlet
is a well-known storyteller throughout the Northern Outer Banks. He was
associated for many years with the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic
Site and Museum at Rodanthe in Dare County. He dressed and acted the part of
“Keeper James,” and has developed a vast knowledge base about the history of
the Life-Saving Service.
James Charlet frquently appears with his wife Linda Molloy,
who portrays the character of Miz Linda.
“Today’s
U.S. Coast Guard is revered for its consistency, uniformity and teamwork, but
perhaps most of all, for its excellence and rapidity of response,” Charlet
said. “The origin of all that goes back to one man and one time – the former
General Superintendent Sumner Kimball.
“His
impact on both organizations – the Life-Saving Service and the Coast Guard –
would prove to be immeasurable. He made America vastly safer for maritime
travel and…more secure.”
“Thank
you, sir.”