The Life and Times of Richard Etheridge

The Life and Times of Richard Etheridge. Pea Island Cookhouse Museum. , Early Life , January 16, 1842 , Richard Etheridge was born a slave., He was the property of John B. Etheridge, a wealthy commercial fishermen and landowner., Although a slave, Richard lived in the Etheridge's house and was raised as one of the family. , At an early age he was taught to read and write. (It was illegal in NC to teach a slave to read and write.), Richard Etheridge was a product of child labor. He worked alongside John B. Etheridge, and learned the skills of a waterman. He could pilot boats around the shallow waters of the sound, through the inlets in the ocean, and learned to read the weather and the tides, These qualifications would serve him well as a member of the United States Life Saving Service (USLSS)., Civil War , February 7, 1862 , Union forces capture Roanoke Island., Hundreds of escaped slaves began to arrive on the island and a Freedmen's Colony is established. A community was established (later called California), churches were built, and school teachers came from the north. For the first time in their lives, the young and the old were taught to read and write., January 1, 1863 , President Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation. (It allowed black men to enlist in the Union Armed Forces.) In August of that year, Richard Etheridge and his best friend Fields Midgett joined the Union Army., Richard was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and served three years in the 36th USCT Regiment., September 29, 1864 - Richard Etheridge and the 36th, along with fourteen other USCT regiments, spearheaded the attack on New Market Heights just south of Richmond, VA. Nearly 1000 black soldiers were killed or wounded during the battle and capture of New Market Heights. Fourteen out of the sixteen Medals of Honor awarded to USCT during the Civil War were earned by black soldiers who fought at the battle of New Market Heights., After the War , September 1866 , Etheridge and Fields return home after the war., Richard bought land, farmed, and fished. He married and had a daughter., Etheridge served on the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education., In 1875 he got his first job with the USLSS at Bodie Island Station as Surfman #6., United States Life Saving Service , January 24, 1880 , Richard was appointed Keeper at the Pea Island Life Saving Station becoming the first African American at that time to serve as Keeper in the USLSS., White surfmen refused to work for Etheridge and walked away., The station mysteriously burns to the ground., Etheridge selects his own crew, from blacks in the service and the community, and rebuilds the station., Etheridge was Keeper at Pea Island from 1880 until he dies at the station in May 1900., (captions) , Richard Etheridge , Patrick Etheridge and Richard Etheridge , Soldier of the 36th Regiment , Richard Etheridge and his USLSS Crew.