Charles Short,Plum Island Life Saving Station, MA

This is a picture of Charles Lewis Short, far left, with unknown sailors of the Plum Island Life Saving Service of Newburyport, MA. It is believed that he is shown with one or more of his uncles who also served.

Charles was born to Samuel Sewall Short Jr and Lydia Maria Tenney Atwood in December of 1868. He was a fisherman, clammer and cobbler at shoe factories in Newburyport all his life. He volunteered at the life saving service most of his life.

The Plum Island Life Saving Service became the first US Coast Guard Station in the country. The Short Family has a long history of service at the Plum Island Station.

Charles married Bessie Perkins Hilliard in Georgetown, MA in 1897 and made their home on Water Street, Newburyport, across from the Basin Seawall. They had 3 children, Henry Sewall, Betsy Hilliard and Geroge Granville. Henry Sewall was stillborn after his mother fell in the Plum Island Lighthouse. He is buried with his parents.