The Men of Monomoy

(Dedicated to the Memory of the Life-Savers of Monomoy on Cape Cod, who were lost Monday, March 17, 1902.)

Tell ye the story far and wide,

  Ring out ye bells with mournful toll

For the valiant crew of Monomoy

  Who sleep on Handkerchief Shoal.

Brave were the men of Monomoy

  Who went with a willing hand

To bring their storm-wrecked fellow-men

  Through the angry seas to land.                      Thro’

For the gale blew fierce, and the seas ran wild,

  And the crew were all but lost,

But the boat sped on through the angry deep        Thro’

  Like a shell on the breakers tost.

True were the men of Monomoy,

  Each true to his duty’s call;

No thought of self, no dread of death,                 (switched)

  Eyes seaward, and that was all.

And the wreck was made, and the boat turned back,

  When a monster wave swept o’er

And swallowed the boat of Monomoy,

  And the crew were seen no more.

Dead are the men of Monomoy,

  They sleep in a watery grave;

They rest upon the treach’rous shoal

  With the men they sought to save.

And the storms sweep down, and the seas roll in,

  And the ships their course pursue,

But the sea holds fast to its noble sons,

  For it loves strong hearts and true.

Great are the men of Monomoy,

  Men whose names shall never fade;

No soldiers on the battlefield

  E’er nobler sacrifice made.

And proud are the wives of Monomoy,

  Sons proud of their valiant dead;

And proud is the world of souls like theirs,

  Whose glory shall ever spread.

Tell ye the story far and wide,

  Ring out ye bells with mournful toll

For the valiant sons of Monomoy

  Who sleep on Handkerchief Shoal.

March 22, 1902

Pub. in B. Transcript,

March 27, 1902

                                               ‘Every Day in the Year. 1902.’
                                                James and Mary Ford, eds.
                                                entry for March 17

   Surfman Seth Ellis of Harwich Port, the father of Harwich Harbormaster (1958-1967) Joseph Ellis, is remembered as the sole survivor of the famous Monomoy station surfboat which was heavily manned by a crew of mostly Harwich lifesavers. Tragically, their lifeboat was overturned by waves during an attempted rescue of the crew of the schooner barge WADENA which was anchored grounded and inside of the Shovelful lightship in March 1902 (this position later renamed Stone Horse lightship beginning in 1916). This spot is immediately off the tip of Monomoy. According to John Hutchinson of Chatham who has carefully researched the story, the Wadena was not wrecked or sinking but anchored down by the towing tug against the current to await a favorable tide, not an unusual circumstance. With the change of wind and tide, the seas grew and an inexperienced crew aboard the barge raised a distress signal prompting the nearby Life Saving Station to launch a rescue effort.

 

   A monument at the Chatham Coast Guard Station (fig. 8) is dedicated in the memory of these lost souls and Capt. Elmer Mayo who saved 44 year old surfman Ellis. In a rare act, a bill rider authorized the US Lighthouse Department to build five homes in Harwich and one in Chatham. One for each widow and families of the six surfmen who lost their lives. One such home, that can be seen at 34 Oak Street Harwich Center, was built for the widow of Edgar C. Small and is referred to as the Monomoy Disaster House.

http://vsv.cape.com/~harharb/lightships.html