Capt. Soper

In the record (6)

1. 1891 · 1891-09-01

   Capt. Soper of the Ocean City Life-Saving Station drills his crew on the beach as the star turn of a Virginia Sunday school excursion.

   'Cape Charles Bethany Sunday School will give its fourth annual excursion to Ocean City, Md., September 1st,' the Peninsula Enterprise of Accomac announced on August 29, 1891. 'No pains have been spared to make the trip as quick and as pleasant as possible. Capt. Soper, of the Ocean City Life Saving Station, has consented to give an exhibition drill on the beach and ocean. A fine orchestra is expected to be present and furnish music for the occasion.' This settles the keeper's identity for 1891: Adelbert Soper, the 'broad-shouldered son of Neptune' who would be transferred down the beach to Green Run in April 1892 and swap posts with J. J. Dunton. It also shows the Service working as an attraction — the beach-apparatus drill sold excursion tickets a generation before it became the Beach Patrol's public show.

   Ocean City Life-Saving Station MuseumThe Beach

   Source · checked 2026-08-11

2. 1892 · 1892-04-09

   Ocean City and Green Run swap keepers, and a visiting reporter prices the job: $900 a year for the keeper, eight months on duty.

   "Capt. Soper, of the Life Saving Station at Ocean City, has been removed to the station at Green Run, and the Captain there, J. J. Dunton, has been transferred to the Ocean City station," the Democratic Messenger reported on April 9, 1892. In September the Bel Air Aegis & Intelligencer printed a long letter from Scott's Beach, Worcester County — "18 miles below Ocean City, on Sinepuxent Bay" — describing the service from the inside: "Each station is in charge of a keeper, whose salary is $900 a year, and seven assistants, who get $65 a month for the time they are on duty, which is from September 1st to May 1st... At nightfall a man, provided with signal lights, leaves each station and patrols the beach in the direction of the next station. Thus these patrols meet and after exchanging checks in proof that they have met, return to their starting points." The Scott's Beach station "is kept by Capt. Adelbert Soper, a broad-shouldered son of Neptune, who has been engaged in the humane work for 14 years and has aided in saving persons from 30 wrecks." The Messenger confirmed the season on August 27: "The life saving station men will resume their duties again Thursday next, the first of September." — 1892 FULL PASS, 2026-08-11 [confirmed]: The keeper swap is confirmed from federal payroll records, and one clause in it should be softened while two figures in it should be re-dated. The Official Register of the United States for July 1, 1891 lists the Fifth District keepers as "Adelbert Soper … Ocean City, Md … $700.00", "John A. J. Hudson … North Beach, Md … 700.00" and "George C. Birch … Green Run Inlet … 700.00". The Official Register for July 1, 1893 lists "Joshua J. Dunton … Ocean City, Md … 900.00", "John A. J. Hudson … North Beach, Md … 900.00" and "Adelbert Soper … Green Run Inlet, Md … 900.00", and the July 1, 1895 edition shows all three unchanged. So Soper did move from Ocean City to Green Run Inlet and Dunton did take Ocean City, exactly as the Democratic Messenger reported on April 9, 1892; North Beach was untouched, so this was not a general reshuffle. Soper's given name Adelbert is confirmed, and Dunton's full name is Joshua J. Dunton. The county paper corroborates the move twice more in its own columns: on September 10, 1892, "Captain Dunton who is in command here is a fine gentleman and every inch a typical life-saving captain. Capt. Hudson of North Beach Station another good man"; and on November 19, in a letter datelined GREEN RUN L. S. STATION, "surfman Gray of this station… returned to the station for Captain Soper and the rest of the crew." TWO CORRECTIONS. (1) The fact says Dunton came from Green Run. On July 1, 1891 the Green Run Inlet keeper was George C. Birch, not Dunton, so either Birch left and Dunton held Green Run for part of one season or the newspaper was loose about where Dunton came from; the biennial Register cannot settle it, and "the Captain there, J. J. Dunton" should be flagged as newspaper testimony rather than established. (2) The $900 salary and $65 monthly surfman's wage are correct for the second half of 1892 but NOT for April 9, when the swap happened: the act of July 22, 1892 raised keepers from $700 to $900 and surfmen from $50 to $65. On the day Soper and Dunton changed places they were $700 men with $50 crews. The eight-month season is right — "Pay of surfmen in District No. 5, from September 1, 1892, to April 30, 1893" — until the act of August 3, 1894 extended it. Finally, the station count: the FY1892 Annual Report's Fifth District table lists seventeen stations, of which exactly THREE are in Maryland — Ocean City ("just north of village"), North Beach ("10 miles south of Ocean City") and Green Run Inlet ("13½ miles northeast of Assateague light"). Fenwick Island is Delaware and was newly established that year; Assateague Beach and Popes Island are Virginia. — 1893 FULL PASS, 2026-08-11 [corrected]: The pay figures the campaign took from a Bel Air newspaper feature are half right. The keeper's $900 a year is confirmed exactly by the Official Register of 1 July 1893, which prints $900.00 against every one of the seventeen Fifth District keepers. The crew figure is wrong: the Annual Report for FY1893 says the whole Fifth District was manned "from Sept. 1, 1892, to April 30, 1893; 6 surfmen from Sept. 1, 1892, to Nov. 30, 1892, inclusive, and 7 from Dec. 1, 1892, to Apr. 30, 1893, inclusive" — six men, rising to seven in December, not seven throughout and not eight. Only Hog Island, Virginia carried eight. The eight-month season, 1 September to 30 April, is confirmed. The $65-a-month surfman wage is NOT confirmed by either federal source and remains a newspaper figure.

   United States Life-Saving ServiceCapt. Joshua J. Dunton

   Source · checked 2026-08-06

3. 1892 · 1892-07-22

   Congress raises the Worcester County surfmen's pay in July 1892: keepers from $700 to $900 a year, surfmen from $50 to $65 a month.

   The pay figures the campaign has been quoting for 1892 are real, but they belong to the second half of the year. The Official Register of the United States for July 1, 1891 lists the keepers at Ocean City, North Beach and Green Run Inlet — Adelbert Soper, John A. J. Hudson and George C. Birch — at $700.00 each, while the three Delaware bay-side stations drew $800.00. The Official Register for July 1, 1893 lists every keeper in the Fifth District at $900.00 flat. Between the two sits "the act of July 22, 1892, entitled 'An act to fix the compensation of keepers and crews of life-saving stations,'" cited by name in the Life-Saving Service's own appropriation tables; the FY1894 report describes it as "the act of July 22, 1892, increasing the rate of compensation of the crews from $50 to $65 per month." The season the money bought is stated in the same tables: "Pay of surfmen in District No. 5, from September 1, 1892, to April 30, 1893 …… 59,280.00." Eight months on the beach, from September 1 to May 1 — and a later act of August 3, 1894 extended the Atlantic season into August and May, so the eight-month year is correct for 1892 and stops being correct after 1894.

   United States Life-Saving ServiceCapt. Joshua J. DuntonCapt. John Andrew Jackson Hudson

   Source · checked 2026-08-11

4. 1892 · 1892-11-11

   The bark Copsefield strands off Green Run at one in the morning; a surfman spots her, Capt. Soper shoots a line, and the crew comes ashore "with great alacrity."

   A letter to the Democratic Messenger datelined GREEN RUN L. S. STATION, NOV. 15: "On last Friday morning about one o'clock, surfman Gray of this station discovered the bark 'Copsefield,' stranded on the bar about 3½ miles north of here. He immediately signaled her and returned to the station for Captain Soper and the rest of the crew. They arrived in the neighborhood of the ship at about five o'clock A. M., and soon got their gearing up and shot a life line out to her. Her Captain sent his first mate ashore with the message that he wanted to stay by the ship until high water, and with sails set, he had hopes of being able to drive her off the bar. The mate returned, the life line was cast off, and the Captain made preparations to take advantage of anything favorable to his getting off the bar, be that wind or tide, but his boat began to roll so badly that he hastily signaled again for the life line. All hands were much frightened and they came ashore with great alacrity. The Capt. says he was standing in shore on a wind; when he attempted to go about and saw the ship refuse to answer he knew the jig was up... Lewes wreckers have pulled the Copsefield off and towed her to the Breakwater, where she is now waiting for orders." No lives were lost, and the vessel was saved. The federal record confirms every part of it and adds two details the letter left out. From the wreck table of the USLSS Annual Report for FY1893: "Nov. 11 | Br. bk. Copsefield… | Green Run Inlet, Maryland. | Misstayed and stranded; sea heavy. Assisted by one of crew of North Beach Station, set up beach apparatus and landed mate in breeches buoy; telegraphed for tug and stood by until arrival of same; weather becoming threatening, set up beach apparatus again, but it was not needed. Craft was finally hauled afloat three days later." She was British, and the mate came ashore in a breeches buoy. A Wilmington paper caught her on the day, before her name was certain: “An unknown bark, probably the British bark Co[p]sefield, which sailed from Glas[gow for New] York, is ashore just north of Green Run, Maryland” — which supplies the voyage the other two accounts leave out, Glasgow for New York. — 1893 FULL PASS, 2026-08-11 [corrected]: The federal record locates this wreck more precisely than the campaign does, and at a name that matters. The U.S. Life-Saving Service's "Table of Casualties… Season of 1892–'93" (printed p. 216) enters it as: "Nov. 11 — Place: WINTER QUARTER BEACH — Name of station: Green Run Inlet — Vessel: Bk. Copsefield, London, England — Master: Gaston — Tonnage: 454." The service narrative adds that the Green Run Inlet crew were "Assisted by one of crew of North Beach Station, set up beach apparatus and landed mate in breeches buoy; telegraphed for tug and stood by until arrival of same... Craft was finally hauled afloat three days later." So: Green Run Inlet is the STATION, Winter Quarter Beach is the PLACE, and this is the only disaster the federal record enters on the whole Maryland coast for that season. It is also independent federal confirmation that Winter Quarter Beach is a distinct named point three months after the county tried to cut an inlet there.

   United States Life-Saving ServiceCapt. John Andrew Jackson Hudson

   Source · checked 2026-08-11

5. 1893 · 1893-07-01

   On 1 July 1893 Maryland's three life-saving stations are kept by Dunton, Hudson and Soper, at $900 a year each, with six surfmen apiece rising to seven in December.

   The *Official Register of the United States… on the First of July, 1893* prints every federal employee by name, station and pay. Under "Life-Saving Service at Large," Fifth District — "coast of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, from Cape Henlopen to Cape Charles" — seventeen keepers are listed at $900.00 each, and exactly three of them are in Maryland: | Station | Keeper | Born | Appointed from | Salary | |---|---|---|---|---| | Ocean City, Md | Joshua J. Dunton | Maryland | Maryland | $900.00 | | North Beach, Md | John A. J. Hudson | Maryland | Maryland | $900.00 | | Green Run Inlet, Md | Adelbert Soper | New Jersey | Maryland | $900.00 | The district superintendent was Benjamin S. Rich of Daugherty, Accomac County, Virginia, at $1,500; the assistant inspector, Lieut. John W. Howison, drew "None." The station on either side of the Maryland three are Fenwick Island, Delaware and Popes Island, Virginia; the next after that is Assateague Beach, Virginia, kept by James T. Tracy — which is the printed federal confirmation that Assateague Beach is a VIRGINIA station and does not belong in a count of Maryland's. The crews are in the *Annual Report* for the fiscal year ending 30 June 1893, under "Employment of surfmen, season of 1892–'93": the whole Fifth District was "Manned from Sept. 1, 1892, to April 30, 1893; 6 surfmen from Sept. 1, 1892, to Nov. 30, 1892, inclusive, and 7 from Dec. 1, 1892, to Apr. 30, 1893, inclusive." So an eight-month season, as the campaign has it — but six men to a station until December, not seven and not eight. Only Hog Island, Virginia had eight. The same report's station list gives the three Maryland stations by latitude and longitude — Ocean City at 38° 20′ 00″ N, 75° 05′ 00″ W; North Beach at 38° 11′ 30″ N, 75° 09′ 20″ W, "13¾ miles northeast of Assateague light"; Green Run Inlet at 38° 04′ 30″ N, 75° 12′ 50″ W, "10 miles northeast of Assateague light." A station of the United States government was still officially named for Green Run Inlet decades after Green Run Inlet had closed.

   United States Life-Saving ServiceCapt. Joshua J. DuntonCapt. John Andrew Jackson Hudson

   Source · checked 2026-08-11

6. 1894 · 1894-09-01

   The county paper names the coast's stations and eight of its men — and reports that the surfmen's pay was cut five dollars a month in the same year their season was lengthened.

   "In compliance with orders from headquarters the crews of Ocean City, North Beach, Green Run, Assateague, and other Life Saving Stations along our coast, went on duty Wednesday of last week at sunset. On Thursday one of the editors of the MESSENGER and a party of three other gentlemen from Snow Hill, witnessed the crew of Green Run Station go through the regulation drill, under Captain Soper... It is a shame that the pay of the men occupying such hazardous positions has been cut down five dollars a month. It is true the time of service has been extended, but many of the men would greatly prefer to be off duty longer and get their old pay." Across the year the paper names, in its North Beach and Ocean City columns: Capt. J. A. J. Hudson, keeper at North Beach, who fetched "the new boat wagon" down from Ocean City in March and was himself capsized in the bateau Florida Timmons in April and "rescued by the Life Saving Crew"; Capt. Dunton, who "put a neat fence around the Life Saving Station" at Ocean City in March; Capt. Soper at Green Run; surfmen William Taylor (off duty in January with a sore foot; moved his family from Berlin down to the beach in December "so long as he stays in the Life saving service"), Curtis Baker of Berlin, William Mumford, and Everitt Truitt of Ironshire, who "left last week to assume his duties in the Life Saving Station on Green Run beach." Lieutenant J. W. Howison, assistant inspector of life-saving stations for the district, visited North Beach in February and was at Chincoteague in April; the district superintendent paid the North Beach men in person that same month. The crews came off duty on 1 May, "leaving only the captain in charge of the station."

   Eight named men and four named stations, assembled out of a year of village-gossip columns — and the year's real news is in the last sentence of the September item. Congress lengthened the season and the Treasury paid for it by taking five dollars a month off the surfmen. The men would rather have had the money.

   United States Life-Saving ServiceCapt. John Andrew Jackson HudsonCapt. Joshua J. Dunton

   Source · checked 2026-08-11