Joshua James, the “Greatest Lifesaver”

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Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. — John 15:13

I guess I thought that search and rescue had always been part of the U.S. Coast Guard.  Truth is I really did not know anything of the history of this great branch of service. That is until we announced to our Saturday night Bible study group that we would be taking a trip to the northeast, and one stop would be at Boston. A retired coast guardsman in our group said, “If you’re going to Boston, you must go to Hull!”

Well, like most people in our group, we had never heard of Hull. Nor had we heard of Joshua James, Point Allerton, or the Massachusetts Humane Society. Turns out our friend told us that if you want to know the history of Coast Guard search and rescue, you drive a short distance from Boston to Hull, Massachusetts—on that spit of land that juts out into the mouth of the Boston Harbor. Once you drive those thirty miles, you visit the Hull Lifesaving Museum which is housed in what was the old Point Allerton U.S. Life-Saving Station. There you hear the story of Joshua James, view some of his crew’s lifesaving equipment, and see the map of the many wrecks which occurred as sea captains tried to navigate the narrow waters leading into Boston Harbor—thus providing the obvious need for a highly committed team of lifesavers.

Joshua James, often credited with being the world’s greatest rescuer, was born in 1826, the ninth of twelve children born to a Hull family. When he was 10 years old his mother drowned in a shipwreck, close to the family’s pier. As the story is told, it was that event which spurred him on to ensure that no one else would suffer a similar fate. Thus began his career as a lifesaver, first as a volunteer with the Massachusetts Humane Society and later as the Keeper of the Point Allerton Life Saving Service Station (and three other Hull stations) in 1890. He held that position until he died in 1902. It was when the Life Saving Service merged with the existing Revenue Cutter Service, by an act of Congress in 1915, that the name of the U.S. Coast Guard was used to encompass both enforcement of maritime laws and saving lives at sea.

James and his crews are credited with saving over 600 lives from certain death, most during vicious storms. One of the most dramatic rescues occurred in the midst of what is referred to in that area as “The Great Storm of 1888.” Five schooners and a coal barge were anchored near Hull on November 25, 1888, but none were prepared for the pounding that was going to take place because of the hurricane winds and waves of the next 36 hours. Joshua James led five crews of 28 Hull lifesavers to rescue 29 lives in circumstances that James referred to as “miraculous.”

Joshua James suffered a heart attack on March 19, 1902, after a full morning of rescue training with his crew. At his funeral, the superintendent of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, Sumner Kimball, gave this tribute:

“Here and there may be found men in all walks of life who neither wonder or care how much or how little the world thinks of them. They pursue life’s pathway, doing their appointed tasks without ostentation, loving their work for the work’s sake, content to live and do in the present rather than look for the uncertain rewards of the future. To them notoriety, distinction, or even fame, acts neither as a spur nor a check to endeavor, yet they are really among the foremost of those who do the world’s work. Joshua James was one of these.”

As I read that description of James, I am reminded of the picture of self-less service which our military members perform every hour of every day. All over the world, our military is protecting, preserving, defending those in need in areas of great unrest and uncertainty.  You are our heroes!

And also in that picture, I see clearly the picture of Jesus Christ, our greatest and ultimate life-saver. Consider these Scriptures:

“Jesus said to him (Zaccharias), ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.’” — Luke 19:9,10

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” — Romans 7:24,25

“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” — Colossians 1:13

Do you need rescuing from the storms of life? Are you adrift, not knowing where the secure port is? Are you lost and in need of saving? Joshua James may have saved many lives off the coast of Massachusetts, but Jesus Christ is the Savior of all the world.  Call out to Him in your need! Jesus Christ will answer: “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” — Romans 10:13

Work cited:

Information gathered from pamphlets available at the Hull Lifesaving Museum, on-line U.S. Coast Guard history, and Wikipedia writing on Joshua James (which include Sumner Kimball’s eulogy comments).

Questions to Share:

1. What is the value of remembering those who have gone before us in service to our fellow man, and the sacrifices that they endured?

2. How would you like to be remembered by those who come after you?