When you think of Lighthouse Keepers, do you think of men?
I did.
But the men had families. They had wives, and their children often grew up operating the lights. In America almost 200 women were lighthouse keepers, inheriting the role when their husband or father died. There were fewer women lighthouse keepers in Britain, and I told some of their stories on International Women’s Day last year.
Hannah Thomas was the first woman who was a Principal Lighthouse Keeper. She took over keeping the Plymouth lighthouse on Gurnet Point, Massachusetts, when her husband died in 1776. – Guinness Book of Records,
She was first of many women, who were were mentally and physically tough, several of whom were exceptionally brave.
Lighthouse buildings need constant maintenance – ask me how I know!
Back in the day, keepers and their families worked as joiners, painters, and builders, because they maintained the buildings too. And many were also small-scale farmers to feed their families.
And of course, the most important work was at night, when the light needed tending every two or four hours. Early lighthouse beacons were fires made of coal or wood. Later the lights were lit by oil or paraffin. But lamp-rooms tend to be up several flights of stairs or ladders and – whatever the fuel – it had to be carried up them to the light. The windows and the giant Fresnel lenses had to be kept spotlessly clean of soot and smuts.
National Geographic.
Abbie Burgess Grant was the daughter of one lighthouse keeper, and became the wife of another. She saved her family’s lives by moving them from the keeper’s house to the tower just before a storm destroyed the house.
Abbie and her mother and sisters endured a month-long period of storms. Abbie kept the light, nursed her ill mother, and looked after her younger sisters. She was just 17. Her father had sailed 25 miles away for oil, wicks, food, and medicine. At one point Abbie waded knee-deep in the freezing water to rescue the family’s chickens whose eggs were vital for the stranded family.
Military.com: Abbie Burgess | NElights: Abbie Burgess
She described the nightly work in the 1850s:
“In all these years I always put the lamps in order in the morning, and I lit them at sunset…. I often dream of them. There were fourteen lamps and fourteen reflectors. When I dream of them it always seems as though I had been away a long while, and I am hurrying toward the rock to light the lamps… before sunset.”
Reflections by Abbie Burgess Grant.
Ida Lewis was lighthouse keeper at the Lime Rock Lighthouse, in Rhode Island, for 54 years. She was rightly celebrated as an American heroine. She rescued over 25 people – and at least one sheep!
Despite her bravery – she was the victim of rage-bait.
The author praised her in the end, saying that “It was no more unfeminine than singing a babe to sleep”. The Wilmington Post.
The Victorians loved these heroic stories, and it is telling that the picture below is sometimes said to be of Grace Darling and sometimes of Ida Lewis. Early imaginary illustrations emphasise their femininity, showing bare arms instead of a coat, loose hair and waves.
Frances Wary Wouri Marshall was the last recorded lighthouse keeper on lake Michigan, and was also an informal lifeguard who didn’t waste time launching a boat:
“She was an extremely strong swimmer, and she saved many lives when people would come visit the lake and maybe not be aware of the dangerous riptides that we have in Lake Michigan and would find themselves just drawn out. Many times she would just drop whatever she was doing and race down the beach, jump in, and swim out to save these people. That was sort of her second calling.”
Patricia Majher, author of Ladies of the Lights.
These women were resourceful and tough in other ways.
Abigail and Rebecca Bates saw off boats of English soldiers, and defended the inhabitants of Scituate, Massachusetts. Abigail was a teenager (some sources say 13, some say she was 17), and Rebecca was in her late teens or maybe 20. During the 1812 war, Abigail and Rebecca saw a warship launching boats of soldiers to attack the town. The girls played a fife and drum from the lighthouse, and sounded so much like the local militia that the soldiers retreated back to their warship. This earned them the nickname “The American Army of Two”. I confess, I wonder if off-shore winds had more to do with it than the girls’ music, but it is a cracking story.
The Legend of The American Army of Two.
But the male environment posed other risks, and Anna Garrity was raped by her father’s male assistant, when she was a teenager in the 1880s.
“He actually wrote in his log book in a very almost clinical way that she had been raped, and that man was going to the sheriff’s, and we’ll see what happens”.
Patricia Majher: Author of ‘Ladies of the Lights.
It is not clear if her attacker was prosecuted, but he was at least forced to leave the service. Anna went on to become a lighthouse keeper in her own right.
Michigan Public: Ladies of the Lights
I suspect this was not unusual. I am haunted by the sisters I spoke to once who were the daughters of an Assistant Lightkeeper here in Scotland. One of them, at least, had been abused by the Principal Lightkeeper who relished their isolation and the power that came from his seniority. In her case, justice was not done.
Fannie May Salter showed a different kind of bravery when she appealed against the decision which said she was too old to continue as lighthouse keeper after her husband Clarence died in 1925. Her appeal was taken all the way to President Calvin Coolidge, who personally overturned the civil servants’ decision. Her dedication proved her worth. She missed the telephone call announcing the arrival of her grand-daughter because she was sounding the fog bell, once every fifteen seconds, for 55 minutes, while a steamer went past. My shoulder aches just thinking about that, and Fannie herself said
“I was never more exhausted in my whole life.”
Fannie Mae Salter, Lighthouse Keeper | Keeper Bio: Salter, Fannie Mae
I work mainly at a desk, and I have huge respect the sheer physicality of these women’s lives, their resourcefulness, technical skills, endurance and bravery. We should challenge the misogyny they faced in their own lifetimes and the sometimes patronising comments of contemporaries.
I am leaving the last word to American Historian, Shauna Macdonald:
“Clearly there were lots of women in and around lighthouses. We have to stop telling these stories about female lighthouse keepers as if they’re exceptional. These women were not anomalies.” – Shauna MacDonald.
But even so, these are stories we need to tell.
My related blogs
More rabbit holes
I am not a lighthouse keeper! My name is Ben, and I live next to Noss Head lighthouse, and welcome guests to The Lighthouse Keeper’s Cottage here.
International Women’s Day is a treat for me because I love uncovering the stories of the women and the lights. The links will take you down fascinating rabbit holes, to stories I had no room for here. I am awestruck by the daily resilience and physical bravery of the women – and the men – who kept mariners safe by keeping the lights.
These words are mine, and this post was not written by AI.
