History

Capt. John B. Jones

keeper, Ocean City Life-Saving Station · active 1908–1913

Keeper of the Ocean City Life-Saving Station (Sixth District, Maryland) in the last years of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, after the death of Capt. Joshua J. Dunton in 1907. He and his crew gave signal service at the September 1908 fire that burned the Oriental Hotel; in June 1911 he refloated a grounded steamer with, the county paper said, "only an anchor, hauser, and his boat engines"; and on a Saturday morning in August 1913 he launched a boat into the surf for Harry Foulke of Glyndon and Mary Gladdin of Harford County, who had been caught by an undertow in front of a crowd of hundreds. The station's routine was still wholly federal in 1913 — a Public Health Service surgeon came down that July to give the keepers and surfmen their annual physical — and the service itself was merged into the new U.S. Coast Guard in January 1915. His death is recorded in the Worcester Democrat of 26 February 1921, which says he "was for some years captain of the Isle of Wight Life-Saving Station and was retired about five years ago on account of declining health."

In the record (2)

  1. 1913

    Capt. Jones and the life-saving crew launch a boat into the surf for two bathers caught by an undertow "in sight of hundreds of people."

    The Messenger of 23 August 1913: "Harry Foulke, of Glyndon, and Mary Gladdin, of Harford County, came near drowning at Ocean City Saturday morning in sight of hundreds of people. They were not in deep water and appeared to become caught by an undertow. Answering their cries for help, Captain Jones, of the Ocean City Life-Saving Station, got out one of his boats and he and his crew went to their rescue. Mr. Foulke was exhausted when the life-saving crew reached him, as he was struggling to keep Miss Gladdin above the water. They were brought safely ashore and after being treated by Dr. Frank J. Townsend returned to their hotel." Five years after Charles S. Richardson's letter demanding paid lifeguards and no council reply, the surf at Ocean City was still watched by the federal life-savers or by nobody. The Ocean City Beach Patrol was seventeen years away.

    Ocean City Life-Saving Station MuseumUnited States Life-Saving Service

    Source · checked 2026-08-06

  2. 1921

    Capt. John B. Jones, life-saving keeper, dies at Ocean City on 19 February 1921, aged 65 - and his obituary puts him at the wrong station.

    "Capt. John B. Jones, a well-known resident of Ocean City, died in that town on Saturday last at 3 o'clock, aged 65 years. Captain Jones was for some years captain of the Isle of Wight Life-Saving Station and was retired about five years ago on account of declining health. He is survived by three sons, Elmer C. and Harry W., of Ocean City, and Paul, of Los Angeles, California." The registry already carries a Capt. John B. Jones as keeper of the OCEAN CITY station in the last years of the Life-Saving Service, after Capt. Joshua J. Dunton's death in 1907. This obituary attaches him instead to Isle of Wight - the next station north - and retires him about 1916. Either the same man served both, or two men have been merged into one record. The obituary is the contemporary document and the registry entry is not.

    Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum

    Source · checked 2026-08-10