Meet Marshall

Meet Marshall, a friendly Newfoundland dog rescued on Nantucket in 1877, whose real-life rescue story inspires several vignettes at the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum. Children in particular will be enchanted by this dog that once lived aboard the ship WF Marshall, the dramatic shipwreck in 1877 which imperiled all aboard, and by the brave life-savers from Nantucket who performed this maritime rescue.

Marshall the dog’s tale unfolds on a stormy night in March 1877, when the WF Marshall wrecked near Surfside Life-Saving Station, on Nantucket. Rescuers from the life-saving station wheeled a cart to a point on shore near the wreck and used a small cannon to fire a line to the ship. Soon, a line carrying a life-ring with pants called a breeches buoy was tied between the ship and the shore. One sailor at a time got into the breeches buoy and the life-savers pulled them to the safety of the beach. After the rescue, Marshall the dog is adopted by the family of a Nantucket life-saver.

This story of heroism and animal rescue has inspired a new children’s book, Marshall: A Nantucket Sea Rescue, available in the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum gift shop.