CHATHAM STATION CREW.
The No. 1 surfman is Bradford N. Bloomer. He was born in Chatham in 1871, and has been in the life-saving service for six years, all of which have been spent at this station. Before entering the service Surfman Bloomer was a Monomoy fisherman, so called. In this work he became skilled in the art of handling boats in the surf, and obtained a knowledge of the shoals that lie hidden along the coast off Chatham that especially fitted him for the work of a surfman. He married Julia Pitts, and is the father of two daughters.
Left to right: HERBERT P. SMITH. NATHANIEL HAMILTON. JOHN W. CROWELL. SAMUEL D. ELDREDGE. CHARLES H. HOWES. BRADFORD D. BLOOMER. CAPTAIN ELDREDGE.
CHATHAM CREW.
The No. 2 surfman is Charles H. Howes. He was born in Chatham, is thirty-six years of age, and has been in the life-saving service five years. Surfman Howes was assigned to the Coskata Station on Nantucket when he entered the service; later he was transferred here. He was a boatman and fisherman over the Old Harbor bars from boyhood until he entered the life-saving service. The experience he gained in that hazardous work fully prepared him for the duties of a surfman, and he has made a brave and trustworthy life saver. He married Henrietta Jones, and is the father of a daughter and son.
The No. 3 surfman is Samuel D. Eldredge. Surfman Eldredge was born in East Harwich in 1859, and has been in the life-saving service for five years, all of that time at this station. He was a boatman and fisherman from the time that he was a boy until he entered the service, and was in every way qualified for the work of a life saver. He married Sarah J. Eldredge.
The No. 4 surfman is John W. Crowell. He was born in East Harwich, and is twenty-six years of age. Surfman Crowell has been in the life-saving service six years, serving four years at the Monomoy Station under the late Captain Eldredge, the remaining time at this station. Before entering the service he was a boatman and fisherman on the Chatham bars. As a member of the Monomoy crew he was called upon to face the greatest perils in the work of rescuing lives from wrecked vessels, and proved a faithful and brave surfman. He married Elsie Nickerson, and is the father of a son.
The No. 5 surfman is Nathaniel Hamilton. He was born in Foxboro, Mass., in 1872, and has been in the life-saving service for four years. Surfman Hamilton was formerly a member of the Coskata Station, Nantucket. Owing to injuries received by falling on a piece of wreckage, while on patrol duty at that station, he was on sick leave for one year. When he reentered the service he was assigned to this station. He was a boatman and fisherman before entering the service, and has made a brave and efficient life saver. He married Abbie L. Johnson, and is the father of three daughters.
The No. 6 surfman is Franklin W. Eldredge. He was born in Chatham in 1859, and has been in the life-saving service one year. Surfman Eldredge joined the Coskata Station crew when he entered the service, and after five months at that station was transferred here. He was a boatman and fisherman before he entered the service, spending thirteen years as a fisherman over Chatham bars. He entered the life-saving service fully prepared for the most perilous work, and has proved to be a skilled and faithful life saver. He married Modena B. Jerauld, and is the father of three daughters and two sons.
The No. 7 surfman is Herbert P. Smith. He was born in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, in 1877, and has been in the life-saving service five years. Surfman Smith was a boatman and fisherman along the shores of Martha’s Vineyard from boyhood. In addition to being an expert boatman, he received a thorough nautical training, having made several foreign cruises as a cadet on the United States training ship Enterprise. Surfman Smith also served on the repair ship Vulcan during the war with Spain.
He is skilled in the art of boating through the surf and has made a faithful and fearless life saver.