The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1895-12-19
CAPT. BENJAMIN G. CAMERON
A Sketch of the Life Work of Kenosha S
Brave Life Saver.

Brave Life Saver.
The Marine Record, of Cleveland,
/ O.. in its current number has written
up the life of Kenosha's captain of the
life saving crew, Capt. Benjamin G..
Cameron. It has been a life full OF
brave deeds and this paper takes great
pleasure i'll repnnting the article. In
the Record there is fine half
tone cut of the captain:
Few of the keepers in charge of the
| ife-Saving stations on the lakes have
had a more varied career than Capt.
Benjamin O.. Cameron, OF the KenOoha
life saving station. Capt. Cameron, as
will be seen by his picture, looks every
inch Scotchman, and his bearing and
figure prepare one to expect story OF
unusual interest when reading his bio
81 graphical sketch.
Capt. Cameron was born on the Dor
der between New Brunswick and
Maine, near Holton, in 1889. His par
ents removed to Chicago when he was
only three years old, and here he was
reared, beginning his education at the
old Kinze public school, at that time
the only school in Chicago His life
saving exploits began at rather early
age. When he Was ten ye..rs old he
lived at the old ferry where the Rush
street bridge now stands, and learning
to swim, soon became an expert He
owned little scow, and with it's as
sstance he picked many a man out OF
the river. once, when the old ferry
boat capsized, when heavily la
den with passengers, young Cameron
was one of the first to the rescue, and
it was due to his timely and expert as
siotance that only few people out of
the large number on board were
| drowned.
He was only Ii years old when he
uegan sailing, and he had number OF
exciting experiences, being ship
wrecked five or six times, narrowly es-
Gaping with his life each time, without
assistance, this being before the days
pull people out of the water, happen
ing along at just the right time, as a
lite-saver should. In 1856 he rescued u
man who had fallen out of a boat at
Milwaukee, and in 1860 pulled out of
Chicago river a man who had fallen
from Randolph street bridge. In May,
1864, he rescued a man who had fallen
overheard from the schooner Dick
Summers ut the foot of Lake Michigan.
In December OF the same year he WAS
i'll KenOSha, and put out as captain OF
d volunteer crew in an old Frances
metallic life boat, two miles south OF
that port, taking off four men from the
schooner William H. HinSdale, which
was ashore and breaking rp. The
rescue Was worthy Of particular men
tiOn, because the crew had unusually
difficult work to get to the wreck, OW
ing to the large foes and bergs OF ice
aOng the shore, from one OF which they
had 10 launch their boat. The men
were found dashed in the rigging, cOY
cred with ice, with scarcely any life
.et in them.
In 1865 he was one of the crew which
rescued seven men from the schooner
! RevO wing Light, which was wrecked
three miles north of Grand Haven, and
in 1867 and 1868 he helped to take off
two crews of vessels which went on the
beach at NuSkegOn. In 1879 he was OF
great assistance in the rescue of sixty
five people from the steamer Amazon,
which was wrecked at Grand Haven.
Capt. Cameron received his commits
sion as keeper of the KenOsha station
October %, 1879. During these fifteen
seasons he has been the means Of saw
ny hundreds of lives and thousands OF
dollars worth of property, as is shown
by the log Of his station. The Keno
sna crew nave always had plenty of
work to do. On November 20, 1880,
seven men were taken off the schooner
E. P Royce, waterlogged eight miles
from Kenosha. In November, 1883,
they took six men rom the schooner
ROckaWay, off the same port No
vember "a, 1887, they rescued twelve
men from the steamer Scion II. john
son, wrecked ten mics south OF Keno
sha. In 1883 three men were saved
from wrecked yacht three miles from
port. April Is, 1889, they took fifteen
men off the schooner Hattie Earl
wrecked south of KenOsha. December
2, 1890, ten men were saved from the
steamer A. G. Van Raalte, which came
to grief south OF KenOsha. These are
are only few of his important rescues
He has done some excellent work dur
ing the present summer, which has
been noted concurrently by the daily
press.
The last service of this year was
picking up the volunteer crew which
went to the rescue of the sailors on the
stranded Harry Thompson, which was
a severe battle with waves and ice, but
resulted in the saving of three lives.
One Grievous Sin.
One of the victims of the recent raid