William A. Newell

William A. Newell

William Augustus Newell (September 5, 1817 – August 8, 1901), was an American physician and politician, who was a three-term member of the United States House of Representatives, served as a Republican as the 18th Governor of New Jersey, and as the 11th Governor of the Washington Territory from 1880-1884. He is probably best known for, and was most proud of, the Newell Act, which created the United States Life-Saving Service (a Federal agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian efforts to save the lives of shipwrecked mariners and passengers; which ultimately merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the United States Coast Guard in 1915).