The wicks had to be trimmed, or cut down, to keep them from smoking. The lamps had to be refilled to keep them burning. Soot had to be wiped from the lantern's glass to keep the light bright and visible for ships at sea. Several times each night the keeper would climb the stairs to the lantern room to perform these duties ... night after night ... never-ending ... in all kinds of weather. They had to brave the rough seas, the vicious storms, the constant worry about their loved ones, rescuing people from the cold depths of the lakes and oceans while keeping a watch on the light in the tower which must not fail. Above all, the light had to remain lit as so many lives depended on it.
During the daylight hours, there were other chores to be done. Repairs had to be made, supplies had to be fetched, boats had to be keep in good condition, everything had to be good running order.
Often, the wife of the keeper was also the unofficial assistant keeper. But many woman were the official keepers themselves. The very first official woman lighthouse keeper was Hannah Thomas. In the late 1760s John and Hannah Thomas agreed to allow a lighthouse to be built on their property at the northern corner of the mouth of Plymouth Bay, if John was awarded the job as keeper. The lighthouse complex consisted of a dwelling with two attached towers. In 1769 the lighthouse began operating. John and Hannah were faithful to their duties and kept the oil lamp in each of the two towers burning. When John left to fight in the Revolutionary War, Hannah faithfully kept the lamps burning by herself.
Colonists defending the fort near Gurnet Lighthouse exchanged cannon fire with the British frigate Niger when the vessel ran aground nearby. One of the frigate's shots hit one of the lighthouse towers as Hannah stood watch.
John never returned from the war and was presumed dead. Hannah continued to tend the twin towers and in 1790 lighthouse officials awarded the keeper's post to her, making Hannah America's first female keeper.
Ida faithfully performed all the duties of running the lighthouse and found that she really enjoyed doing the work, hard as it was. In September of 1858, Ida rescued four boys from the sea single-handedly. Seeing their small boat capsize, she hurried to her boat and quickly rowed to them. One by one she pulled them from the sea and into her boat.
During the next eleven years, Ida saved the lives of eight men. No one knew about these rescues until 1869. The boys and men who had been rescued were embarrassed to admit that their lives had been saved by a lone girl in a small boat.
In 1869 a soldier had gone sailing for the day with a friend from Fort Adams. They knew little about sailing so they hired a young boy to help them. Too late, they learned that the youngster didn't know as much about sailing and the sea as he had led the men to believe. When the weather turned bad, the skiff overturned. The boy was swept into the current and drowned. The men held onto the overturned boat and cried for help. Ida heard their cries and raced to her boat and rescued the two men from the sea.
The grateful soldier told his story to the local press. A reporter from the New York Herald-Tribune read the story in the local newspaper and decided to write a feature article on Ida. Because of this publicity, Ida received many awards including medals, money and even a mahogany rowboat complete with red velvet cushion and gold plated oarlocks! Her mailbox was stuffed, day after day, with letters from people who respected her courage and dedication.
Ida didn't relish all the fanfare. She only did what was required of a good lighthouse keeper. She continued her devotion to her family and to taking care of her lighthouse. When Ida's father died in 1872, the government officially gave the lighthouse post to Ida. Her brother, Rudolph became her assistant.
In 1881 she performed one of her last daring rescues. Two soldiers from Fort Adams decided to walk across the half frozen Newport Harbor. The men's weight was too much for the thin ice and it cracked open. The soldiers fell into the frigid water. Ida heard their cries. Disregarding danger to herself, she ran across the soft, cracking ice and tossed her line to the soldiers. With almost super-human strength, she pulled one of the men to safety. By this time, Rudolph reached the scene and together they pulled the second man to safety.
When Kate met Captain John Walker, he was the keeper of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. Kate and her 7 years old son had arrived in America from Germany in 1883 after the death of her first husband. Kate had taken a waitress job in a local seaside inn. She could speak little English. John offered to give her English lessons and soon the lessons turned into a courtship. The couple married and moved into the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. Here, Kate learned to assist Captain Walker in his many lighthouse duties. She planted a garden and made numerous friends as well as giving birth to a daughter, Mary in December of 1884. Kate was very happy here but this all changed in January of 1885 when Captain Walker received notice that the Lighthouse Service had transferred him to Robbins Reef.
At first, Kate felt terribly lonely at Robbins Reef. She filled her days with playing with the children and teaching them to read and write. She taught them the names of the birds flying overhead. Many stormy evenings were spent in reading aloud or listening to Captain Walker tell about his adventures on the sea. She missed her garden and her friends. No one came to visit because of the position of the isolated lighthouse. Eventually Kate's feelings of lonliness passed and she came to love her harbor-locked lighthouse and started to think of it as home.
In 1886, Kate's world dramatically changed again. Captain Walker developed pneumonia and Kate called a hospital boat when she knew that she was unable to help him. On his departure, his last words to her were, "Mind the light, Katie." Two days later, he died.
John had said "Mind the light, Katie." - and she did - day after day, night after night, while the Lighthouse Service tried to find a man to run the lighthouse. Although they found Kate to be willing and competent, they felt a man was needed for the job. Several potential keepers came to look over the job, but each decided that Robbins Reef was too remote for him. Finally, with no man willing to take the position, the Lighthouse Service appointed Kate as keeper.
Now, Kate had no time to play games with her children or to read aloud. Besides keeping the light burning, she had to keep a log which included things as how much oil was used and the state of the weather. The brass had to be polish, the lens cleaned, and the place shining with new paint. Two or three times each night, Kate returned to the lamps to be sure they were still burning. She trimmed the wicks and refilled the lamps with whale oil if necessary. She checked for ice forming on the lantern room windows as ice cut down on the light's visibility. Many nights found Kate chipping away at ice in winter gales and sub-zero temperatures. She kept constant lookout for fog. When fog appeared, she would hasten to the basment to start the steam engine that powered the fog siren. When the engine stalled, Kate pounded with a hammer on the hand-operated bell, sometimes for hours, until the fog cleared.
During the day she shined brass, dusted machinery, checked motors, repaired wind and water damage, swept stairs, and polished the Fresnel lens. Despite all these chores, Kate still managed to get her children to school. Each morning she rowed the children two miles to Staten Island to the government school. Each afternoon she rowed to pick them up. Because of these rowing trips, she became a strong and skilled boatswoman. During her life as keeper at Robbins Reef, Kate had rescued between 50 and 75 fisherman from the frothing tides that ripped around her lighthouse.
 Opening
Page |
More
Lighthouses |
|
Maine
Lighthouses |
Outer Banks Lighthouses |
|
Lighthouse Lenses and Other Things |
Haunted
Lighthouses |
|
Loyal Lighthouse Ladies |
The Life of a Lighthouse Keeper and His Family |
|
Forever
Christmas |
Some
Of My Collection |
|
About
Grandma Carol |
|
