Andrew A. Rasmussen
Port O'Connor, Calhoun County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A native of Denmark, Andrew Rasmussen (1858-1933) came to the United States at the age of 13 and began a maritime career that lasted for 60 years. Following the shipwreck of his schooner, the "Dorio and Doria," in 1885, Rasmussen joined Calhoun County's Saluria Life Saving Service, which had rescued his crew. By 1889, he was placed in charge of the station, which later became part of the U.S Coast Guard. Capt. Rasmussen and his wife, Theresa Amelia (Smith), built a home at this site in 1911. They are buried in the Port Lavaca Cemetery. (1985)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A Danish teenager who crossed the Atlantic at thirteen, Andrew Rasmussen spent sixty years at sea along the Texas coast. After his own schooner wrecked in 1885, he joined the very Saluria life-saving crew that had rescued him, rising by 1889 to command the station that later folded into the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1911 he and his wife Theresa built their home on this spot near the Gulf.
Why it matters
His journey from shipwrecked immigrant to captain of a federal life-saving station embodies both the immigrant experience and the birth of America's coastal rescue service.
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Related people
- · Andrew A. Rasmussen
- · Theresa Amelia Rasmussen
Themes & tags
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