LEWES OLDTIMERS JOHN STEEL WINGATE.

LEWES OLDTIMERS

COAST GUARD CAPTAIN JOHH STEEL WINGATE

Captain John Steel Wingate, age 77, died Wednesday, February 8, 1950 in the

Beebe Hospital after a one week stay.

Wingate was of the last of the old regime of the sailing vessels Coast Guard at

Lewes.

He was born in Lewes, June 29, 1872, son of the late John M. and Jane Pettyjohn Wingate.

In 1896 he enlisted in the Coast Guard at the Lewes Station, and served there, also Rehoboth

and Cape Henlopen stations. In 1898 he became Captain in charge of the Rehoboth station,

until 1909 when he took command of the Cape Station until 1929. He was master of the

Lewes station until he retired in 1932, serving 37 years in the Coast Guard.

During these years lifeboats were man powered and he made rescues of crew member of

windjammers. He was on duty when the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse fell in 1926.

Captain Wingate remembers the storms were worse and tells of the 1900 snowstorm as

the heaviest, blocking Lewes Harbor from February to March.

Captain John Steel Wingate was survived by a son, Urbon of Lewes, two granddaughters,

several great grandchildren.

He was buried in the Lewes Presbyterian churchyard after service by Rev. Dr. William

Leishman..

SOURCE: Wilmington Morning News, February 9, 1950