Wreck of the Ephraim Williams

[8] She was returning there with a load of timber from Savannah, Georgia, when she became waterlogged and unmanageable on December 18, 1884, off Frying Pan Shoals.

[8] The second in command of Dailey's lifeboat stated that his wife was dying at home, and he had no wish to make his children orphans.

Patrick H. Etheridge, the keeper of the nearby Creed's Hill Lifesaving Station quickly volunteered to take his place.

With enough effort they proved a skilled and determined crew could cross over the bar before it was swept by the next trough.

David Stick, the author of Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast, noted that: "During the first thirty years of operation of the Lifesaving Service on the North Carolina coast a total of twelve Gold Lifesaving Medals, the highest such award made by our government, were presented for exceptional bravery in saving life.

"[8] Of this number, seven—more than half—were awarded to the lifesavers from Cape Hatteras and Creed's Hill stations who rescued the crew of the barkentine Ephraim Williams, December 22, 1884.