Mack Memorial
Standing near Chatham Lighthouse, the Mack Memorial recalls one of the most devastating tragedies in the history of the United States Life-Saving Service. During a powerful northeast gale on March 17, 1902, the coal barge Wadena became stranded on Shovelful Shoal, off Monomoy Point. Five men were trapped aboard, including the vessel’s owner, William Henry Mack.
Keeper Marshall N. Eldredge and seven surfmen from the Monomoy Life-Saving Station set out through the storm in an open rescue boat. While returning from the Wadena, their boat was overwhelmed and capsized. Eldredge and six of his men—Osborn F. Chase, Isaac F. Foye, Valentine D. Nickerson, Arthur W. Rogers, Edgar C. Small, and Elijah Kendrick—lost their lives. The five men aboard the barge also perished.
Surfman Seth L. Ellis was the sole survivor of the life-saving crew. Captain Elmer F. Mayo reached Ellis and rescued him from the shoal, an act of courage that is also honored on the monument.
William Mack’s mother and sister erected the obelisk in 1903 in his memory, but its inscriptions preserve the names of everyone lost and recognize the men who risked their lives attempting to save others. The Mack Memorial remains a powerful reminder of the dangers once faced by Cape Cod’s early lifesavers and of the courage that helped shape the traditions of today’s United States Coast Guard.
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