The Beacon Winter 2020

The Official Publication of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association Winter 2020

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EXCURSION & EVENT PAYMENT AND REFUND POLICYGLLKA Membership required for all events.Deposit Requirement - 50% of the excursion fee per participant isrequired at registration to hold your place in each excursion or event.You may also make the payment in full.Final Payment - Due in full no later than sixty (60) days prior to thedate of the excursion or event. If at this time you do not wish toparticipate, please call the GLLKA office for a refund of your deposit.CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICY ON ALLEVENTSCancellation at Sixty (60) Days - If final payment is not received byat lease sixty (60) days prior to the date of the excursion or event, youwill be treated as a cancellation and your deposit refunded.Cancellation between Sixty (60) and Thirty (30) Days - If you cancelan excursion or event in less than sixty (60) days but prior to thirty(30) days of the excursion or event- you will receive a refund of yourpayment less an administrative fee of the smaller of 25% of the totalevent fee or $100 per participant.Cancellation between Thirty (30) Days and Start Date of Event - Ifyou cancel an excursion or event in less than thirty (30) days but priorto the start date of the event, you will not receive a refund unless aparticipant can be found to replace you on the excursion or event. Ifa replacement is found, you will receive a refund less anadministrative fee of the smaller of 25% of the total event fee or $100per participant.Official Publication of the Great LakesLighthouse Keepers AssociationVolume 36, Number 4Winter 2020 Beacon Deadline: February 15, 2021Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers AssociationP.O. Box 219707 N. Huron AveMackinaw City, Michigan 49701-0219Winter Hours - 9 AM to 4 PMSummer Hours - 9 AM to 5 PMPhone: (231) 436-5580 Fax: (231) 436-5466Email: [email protected] Website: www.gllka.orgOFFICERSPresidents………………Mark Siegman & Hallie WilsonVice President…………..Mike FinnSecretary………..………..Jennifer TregemboTreasurer…………………Dianne TaeckensBOARD MEMBERSWilliam Crane, Mike Finn, Robert Hazen, Ben Hale,MaryAnn Moore, Mark Siegman, Dianne Taeckens, JenniferTregembo, Hallie Wilson, Mark VanderVelde, & SherryNelsonOFFICE STAFFJim Tamlyn- Executive DirectorKatie Misic- Office ManagerSusan Brooks- Gift ShopPublic Notices_______________________________________________________On our front coverHarper’s Weekly: Journal of CivilizationNew York, Saturday, December 30, 1876“Christmas Eve in a Lighthouse”The BEACON is the official publication of the Great Lakes LighthouseKeepers Association (GLLKA), and is published quarterly.GLLKA is a non-profit 501(c) 3 and operated almost entirely byvolunteers. No portion of this publication may be reproduced withoutthe permission of the editor. Opinions within may not reflect the viewsof the organization.All GLLKA programs, services, and activities are performed withoutregard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex or handicap.* GLLKA MEMBER DISCOUNT:All current GLLKA members will be entitled to an in-store 10%discount on merchandise purchases by presenting a valid membershipcard at the time of purchase. Online and phone purchases areexcluded.* BEACON ARTICLES: If you would like to submit anlighthouse or maritime article to be published in theBEACON, please email to [email protected] via WordDocument or PDF. Submit photos via JPG.ContentsDirector’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Illuminating the Way: Women Lighthouse Keepers ofthe Great Lakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Cover Story:Christmas Eve in a Lighthouse . . . . . . . . . . 13The Keepers - Frederick T . Hatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18The Shadow of St . Helena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

The Beacon ~ Winter 20204Directors Report:GLLKA’s 2020 season - a year in review Jim Tamlyn, Executive DirectorIn a normal year we would summarize how this year has gone and give direction to where were going in the coming year. The year “2020” and the word “normal” will probably never be used in the same sentence ever again. All of our worlds have been changed and we must adapt to those chang-es.At GLLKA we have looked at how we move forward into a whole different world. We cut costs this year as we knew revenues would not be anywhere near past years. One of the costs that we changed this year was moving to an online Bea-con. This forced us to look at the Beacon as a whole. In its infancy, the Beacon was used as a way to get information from GLLKA out to its members. Stories of lighthouses and keepers warmed the Beacon up, to make it something worth-while, other than just a newsletter.We do not wish to change this but we are looking at a new delivery system. Our goals of preserving lighthouses and lighthouse history are the same as they have always been. When the Beacon was first introduced, social media did not exist and we did not have a website to updated our members about events. The Beacon was how we communicated with our membership. Today as I finish my report I will send it out, to be put into a magazine format and it will be returned to me shortly after to proofread. This will involve multiple peo-ple in different cities, all working online and will happen in hours without me ever leaving my desk. The world and how we work has changed dramatically from the first Beacon.We know that some of our membership would prefer a printed Beacon. Not knowing what the future holds, but pray-ing that the vaccine gives us an immunity that returns us to a somewhat normal world, we are going to test the waters with this. We are going to go to an online Beacon and leave mem-berships at the current rates. We have not raised memberships in over 10 years. If a member wishes to receive a printed Beacon, there will be an added fee starting in January 2021 to Standard Memberships to cover the cost of printing and mail-ing. Contributing memberships may receive a printed Beaconwithout an additional fee if requested. If you enjoy the online Beaconv, then your membership rate will stay the same. Ka-tie will be in contact with you all soon with the changes.We realize that some members will be left at a disadvantage on receiving cruise information, as a mailed Beacon will be delayed up to 3 weeks from the online Beacon. Any member who wishes to receive cruise info on the same day the online Beacon is sent, you can request to be added to a call list if you do not have an email address. This gives all membership an equal opportunity to hear about cruises or special events at the same time.We have been working in the Cheboygan Front Range Light this winter as time allows and are making progress. We look forward to seeing our GLLKA members visiting us next summer and seeing our progress, if 2021 allows.Our online store is updated often as we receive new mer-chandise. Thank you for your orders this holiday season, it certainly helped!I wish the Happiest New Year to all who read this and ask that everyone practice social distancing so that we may meet in person in the near future.www .gllka .org/shop

The Beacon ~ Winter 20205In a Facebook post, Bill Meahan said the following, re-garding female lighthouse keepers on the Great Lakes…“Note these women do not wear spandex nor possess some supernatu-ral power, they are simply strong and capable women doing what strong and capable women do and have al-ways done .”Meahan’s words are perfect to tee up a look back on the long history of these “strong and capable” women, who la-bored to ensure the safety of mariners navigating dangerous shores.Celebrated every March in the United States, Women’s History Month traces its beginnings to the first International Women’s Day in 1911. But, 79 years before that, women started making his-tory on the Great Lakes by becoming federal-employed lighthouse keepers.Responsibilities of a lighthouse keep-er were not only limited to keeping the lamps lit from sunset to sunrise but also included record keeping and acting as a tour guide for visitors. The keeper’s res-idence also had to be kept clean. Meals and laundry had to be taken care of and, if the station was blessed with land, there were often gardens and livestock to attend to. Another responsibility was to assist mariners on sinking ships and res-cue distressed people in the water.The majority of women lighthouse keepers saved lives, not only indirectly by keeping their lamps and fog horns operat-ing, but also directly by rescuing people from the treacherous waters of the Great Lakes. They took their job very seriously and rose to the challenges of lighthouse keeping with strength and determination.Just as male lighthouse keepers, the female keepers had family members to help with some of these tasks, but ulti-mately the responsibility was theirs.Many years before women had the ability to vote in the United States, these female lighthouse keepers not only had federally appointed jobs, but they received equal pay. Several female lighthouse keepers in the Great Lakes, such as Jane Enos, had lower-paid male assistants. Enos became keeper of the St. Joseph Lighthouse in St. Joseph, Mich., after her hus-Illuminating the Way: Women Lighthouse Keepers of the Great LakesBy L . Laughlinband, the previous keeper, died. She served as primary keeper from 1876-1881 and had several male assistants.The vast majority of women lighthouse keepers were the widows of keepers or the relatives of male lighthouse keep-ers. These women often already possessed the knowledge and skills needed to keep the light on and kept the appoint-ment due to their own merits.Many wives worked closely beside their husbands keeping the lights burning bright, but when husbands died, their wives did not let the light die with them. They were able to procure the appointment as primary lighthouse keeper.The first woman to be-come a lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes was Rachel Wolcott.Revolutionary War vet-eran, Benajah Wolcott, was the first keeper of the Mar-blehead Lighthouse, locat-ed in Sandusky, Ohio. After being appointed keeper in 1822, the Wolcotts moved onto the lighthouse proper-ty. Each night of the ship-ping season, they would climb the lighthouse tower, light the 13 lamps and keep them lit until sunrise.When Benajah died of cholera in 1832, Rachel took over. Two years later, Rachel married Jeremiah Van Benschoten, who became the light’s third keeper.In 1849, Catherine Shook became the first female light-house keeper in the state of Michigan upon the death of her husband, Peter, after the boat he was on capsized in Lake Huron. Peter had only been keeper for a year when he died, leaving Catherine alone at the lighthouse with eight children.Katherine “Kate” Marvin became the second keeper of Squaw Point Lighthouse, located 1 mile south of Gladstone, Mich., upon the death of her husband, Lemuel in 1898. Lem-uel had only been there for six months before his death. Kate served as keeper for a trial period before she was given the official position. She served for six years while raising 10 children, a record amongst lighthouse keepers on the Great Lakes.In 1906, Sarah Lane took on the position of lighthouse keeper at Mission Point Lighthouse, located in Old Mission Point, Mich., after her husband, John, died. Sarah was assis- Sarah Lane - Mission Point, 1906-1908

The Beacon ~ Winter 20206tant to John for 15 years and then by herself for several more years making her the only woman to serve alone at the light.Eva Pape became keeper of the North Point Lighthouse, in She-boygan, Wis., in 1869, not upon her husband’s death but after he was hurt in an accident involv-ing a cannon. Eva would serve as primary lighthouse keeper for 16 years.Some women held the position of lighthouse keeper only briefly while waiting for their deceased husband’s replacement.Ann Edson and her sister-in-law both had to serve as light-house keepers on islands outside of Toledo, Ohio, after both their husbands died. Nathan Edson was lighthouse keeper on Turtle Island and Marvin Golden, who was married to Nathan’s sister, was lighthouse keeper on West Sister Island when Nathan’s father died. While taking the body to the mainland for interment, the men disappeared. The boat was found several days later on its side with both men still tied to it.Harriet Towner’s husband kept the lighthouse at Michi-gan City, Ind., operating for three years before his death in 1844. Then Harriet served as keeper with her sister, Abigail Coit, serving as her assistant until 1853.Another way that women were assigned as primary light-house keeper was when their husband left for military ser-vice.Anastasia “Eliza” Truckey served as lighthouse keeper of the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse in Marquette, Mich., while her husband was away for war. Nelson Truckey left Eliza and their 4 children for three years to fight with the 27th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. During that time, Eliza kept the light burning without an assistant to help her.In 1894, Jennie Beamer took over the Big Bay Point Lighthouse, in Big Bay Point, Mich., on Lake Superior, while her husband fought in the Spanish-American War.While many women who served as lighthouse keepers did so at the same lighthouse as their father or husband, Mary Ann Wheatley did not. Her husband, William Wheat-ley, died at his post at the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse. Eagle Harbor Light 1913 - USCG Mary Ann Wheatly - Eagle Harbor Light

The Beacon ~ Winter 20207Mary Ann was given the assignment of lighthouse keeper at the Eagle Harbor Range Lighthouse, in Eagle Harbor, Mich., located on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Mary Ann was the first female keeper of the range light and served there for seven years.Caroline Litigot did get appointed as lighthouse keeper of the same lighthouse her husband kept but not for many years later. Barney Litigot was appointed keeper of the Mamajuda Lighthouse on the Detroit River but then died later that year. Caroline did not become the keeper for 12 years.Though many women lighthouse keepers were widows of the previous keeper, Georgia Stebbins followed in the foot-steps of her father. In 1873, Georgia was diagnosed with tu-berculosis, and the doctors gave her very little time left to live but recommended that she move to the Midwest for clean air and a chance at life. Twenty-seven-year-old Georgia packed up her belongings and moved to Milwaukee where her father had just been appointed lighthouse keeper of the North Point Lighthouse.Upon arriving, Georgia found both her parents ill and so she began her work as the lighthouse keeper in their place. Every night, she would climb to the top of the tower and light the lamp. Every four hours, she would refill the lamp with oil, trim the wick and clean the windows.Georgia preformed her father’s work for seven years, until the U.S. Lighthouse Ser-vice appointed her official keeper. Georgia continued the work for 26 more years.Many women faced the challenging as-signment of serving at remote station such as Mary Beedon and Mary Gigandet who both served at the Au Sable Light in Michigan. This lighthouse was located along the south-ern shore of Lake Superior 12 miles from the nearest village. A narrow path at the base of sand dunes was the only way to get to the lighthouse for more than 50 years. In bad weather, the path was impassable.Mary Corgan served as assistant to her husband at two Michigan lighthouses. While stationed on Manitou Island located in Lake Michigan, Mary gave birth to their first child in a boat on the way to the doctor’s office on the mainland 12 miles from the island.Mary Corgan’s second assignment was the Gull Rock Lighthouse, on the tip of the Ke-weenaw Peninsula, in Lake Superior. Also serving there were Mary Cocking and Alice Nolen, making this lighthouse the record holder for most women keepers in the Great Lakes.Gull Rock Lighthouse is located on a small remote island more than 2 miles off the Michigan shoreline. The half-acre island is made of hard rock with little soil on which to garden. Though women were not able to be primary lighthouse keep-er at lighthouses on islands like Gull Rock, they were able to assist their husbands there.Records show that a few women lighthouse keepers were unhappy with their profession. Lighthouse duty can be re-mote and lonely, if not just plain hard work.Though the lighthouse at Calumet Harbor, Ind., was just a few miles from Chicago and many updates had been made to the lighthouse, keeper Mary Ryan was very unhappy there and reported her unhappiness in the lighthouse log books. Georgia Stebbins - Milwaukee North Point

The Beacon ~ Winter 20208Several of her log book entries follow:• Dec . 4, 1873: Wind so bad, I think it will blow the tower over .• Dec . 25, 1873: I was supposed to have been informed when this light would be discontinued, not a vessel since the 15th of Nov . and nothing to light for and this is such a dreary place to be all alone in .• April 7, 1874: So dull, this place it is killing me . Wind blowing violently .• April 15, 1874: Oh, for a home in the sunny south, such a climate .• April 16, 1874: Such a time, everyone is in despaired think summer is never coming .• May 2, 1874: Nothing but gloom without and WITH IN .• May 31, 1874: So dull in South Chicago . This place is growing down all the time .• April 22, 1880: I think some changes will have to be made this is not a fit place for anyone to l sive in.• July 31, 1880: This has been the most trying month of my keeping a light house, the most important ques-tion, can anything worse come?• Aug . 28, 1880: The light house Engineers never do anything for me .• Aug . 30, 1880: Oh what a place .• Oct . 1, 1880: The news is that the light will soon go from me forever .• Nov . 1, 1880: This is all gloom and darkness .Even though Ryan was obviously unhappy at her job, she stayed at the lighthouse for seven years.Reports of improper behavior were rare among women lighthouse keepers, but it did happen.In 1877, Annie McGuire became keeper of the Pentwater Lighthouse in Pentwater, Mich., upon her husband’s resigna-tion. In 1885, she was removed from the position for drunk-enness and irregular habits.Being a lighthouse keeper was not easy and, sometimes, the lighthouses themselves were unsafe. Several women lost their lives while being lighthouse keepers.Julia Sheridan served as assistant to her husband, the pri-mary keeper at the South Manitou Island Lighthouse in Lake Michigan, for six years until their deaths. On a return trip from the mainland, Sheridan and her husband drowned after their boat capsized. Neither body was ever recovered.Minnie Cochems is another woman who gave her life. Minnie and her husband William Cochems were the light-house keepers of Sherwood Point Lighthouse in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. Mary faithfully tended the lighthouse for almost Minnie Cochems, Sherwood Point Lighthouse Julia Sheridan - South Manitou

The Beacon ~ Winter 2020940 years before she died getting out of bed. William stayed on as keeper for several more years and erected a birdbath in Minnie’s memory which still stands on the property today. The lighthouse later was passed to the Coast Guard and was updated with automated lights.The Coast Guard still owns the property, and it has been used as a camping ground for Coast Guardsmen and their families. While vacationing there, many people have claimed to have been visited by a ghost. Some claimed to have heard walking on stairs, voices, and mysterious cleaning such as dishes washed and beds made. These claims prompted per-sonnel with the Northern Alliance of Paranormal Investiga-tors to visit the lighthouse.Though the paranormal investigators found no concrete ev-idence of ghosts, there were events and sounds that could not be attributed to anything or anyone specific.Another female lighthouse keeper to pass away on duty was Mary Terry, keeper of Sand Point Lighthouse in Escana-ba, Mich. She died in a fire under mysterious circumstances in 1886.Terry’s husband was appointed as the first keeper of the lighthouse but died before it was finished being built. Terry was able to become keeper and lit the lamp for the first time. She did not have children and lived at the lighthouse alone for two years before she died.The lighthouse caught fire and Terry was burnt to death inside. An investigation into the fire found that the door to the house had been forced open and only fragments of her body were found.Little is known about some of the women lighthouse keep-ers, and some their names are not even known, such as Mrs. William Monroe, who was keeper of the Muskegon Light-house for 10 years after her husband’s death. There are no records of her first name.Just like their male counterparts, many women lighthouse keepers served for life. Anna Garrity was born into a family of lighthouse keepers. Her parents, Patrick and Mary Garr-ity, were both lighthouse keepers. In 1861, Patrick became lighthouse keeper of the Old Presque Lighthouse, in Presque Isle, Mich., before being transferred to the New Presque Isle Lighthouse in 1871. Several Garrity family members served at the New Presque Isle Lighthouse as well. Following three Garrity family members, Anna became keeper of the Presque Isle Harbor Range Light in 1903, at the age of 31. Anna kept this light on for more than 23 years.For 43 years, Harriet Colfax kept the light burning bright in the Michigan City Lighthouse, making her the longest-serv-ing woman keeper on the Great Lakes. Colfax lived in the lighthouse with Ann Hartwell, her confidante and companion of more than 70 years. Though she lived with Hartwell and had many assistants throughout the years, Colfax always lit the lamps herself. South Manitou, Undated, Sheridan CollectionColfax and Hartwell met when they were children in New York and became inseparable after moving to Michigan City with their families. Hartwell became a school teacher and Colfax taught music until her cousin, Schuyler Colfax, vice president of the United States, appointed her keeper of the lighthouse. The two women lived in the lighthouse from 1861 until Colfax’s retirement at age 80 in 1904.Numerous recorded accounts show Colfax and Hartwell to be the most well-known ladies in Michigan City and beacons of light in the community. The lighthouse came to be known as “Little Miss Colfax’s Light.”Several months after retirement and moving out of the lighthouse, Colfax and Hartwell passed away within weeks of each other.Another woman who served for multiple years was Eliza-beth Van Riper Williams, who served for 41 years.Elizabeth’s first husband, Clement Van Riper, was appoint-ed keeper of the Beaver Harbor Lighthouse in 1869. In 1972, he lost his life when he drowned while trying to rescue sailors from a sinking ship. Elizabeth was appointed to succeed him as keeper. In 1875, Elizabeth married Daniel Williams. She transferred to Harbor Springs, Mich., to be keeper of the Har-bor Point Lighthouse in 1884.Her memoir, “A Child of the Sea; and Life among the Mor-mons,” is a recollection of her life on the Great Lakes and her experiences with Native Americans and the Mormon colony on Beaver Island, Mich.

The Beacon ~ Winter 202010Born on Mackinac Island, Mich., Elizabeth’s gives a good historic account of life in Michigan during the 1800s and a window into the life of a woman lighthouse keeper.Elizabeth and William died within 28 hours of one an-other in 1938.With advances in modern technology, a large amount of the lighthouses had become automated by 1910, mak-ing lighthouse keeping an obsolete job. By the 1920s, only a few women lighthouse keepers were left on the Great Lakes.Francis Wuori Johnson helped her Coast Guardsman husband run the White River Lighthouse Station, located on Lake Michigan near the city of Whitehall, Mich., in the early 1940s. She returned to the lighthouse in 1944 as the primary lighthouse keeper.In 1953, Johnson was invited to be a contestant on the television program “What’s My Line.” During the show, a celebrity guest panel could not guess Johnson’s profes-sion, and she was awarded a check for $50.In 1954, Johnson retired, making her the last woman lighthouse keeper, ending a 121-year history of female lighthouse keepers on the Great Lakes.The women lighthouse keepers of the Great Lakes served their country with distinction at a time when em-ployment for women was very limited. They truly illu-minated the path for future women. Anna Garrity - Presque Isle Harbor Range Light Sherwood Point Lighthouse, 1913, USCG

The Beacon ~ Winter 202011 Elizabeth Van Riper Williams Francis Johnson - White River Harriet Colfax - Michigan City Ann Hartwell

Photograph by Terry Pepper - White Shoal Lighthouse, 2015-06-12Jane EnosSt. Joseph Light1876-1881Mrs. Stutires Carlton Elizabeth Van RiperSt. Joseph Light1883-1992Mrs. Harry MillerGrand Haven Light1872-1875Mrs. William MonroeMuskegon Light1862-1871Frances JohnsonWhite River Light1944-1954Annie McGuirePentwater Pier Light1877-1885Elsea HydeBig Sable Light1869-1871Sarah CaswellBig Sable Light1874-1882Julia SheridanSouth Manitou Light1872-1878Sarah LaneMission Point Light1906-1907Elizabeth Van RiperBeaver Island1872-1884Little Traverse Bay1884-1913Kate MarvinSquaw Point Light1898-1904Mary WheatleyEagle Harbor Light1895-1905Mary CockingGull Rock Light1872-1877Mary CorganGull Rock Light1877-1883Alice NolenGull Rock Light1892-1903Lydia SmithManitou Island1855-1856Jennie BeamerBig Bay Point Light1898-1898Anna CarlsonGranite Island Light1903-1903Anastasia TruckeyMarquette Harbor Light1862-1865Catherine McGuireMarquette Harbor Light1882-1891Mary BeedonAu Sable Light1876-1879Mary GigandetAu Sable Light1892-1897Mary GrangerBois Blanc Island Light1857-1857Mary GarrityNew Presque Isle Light1872-1882Anna GarrityPresque Isle Harbor Range1903-1926Catherine ShookPoint Aux Barques Light1849-1851Mary VreelandGibralter Light1876-1879Julia Toby BrawnBay City Light1873-1890Minnie CochemsSherwood Point Light1912-1928Harriet ColfaxMichigan City Light1861-1904Ann EdsonTurtle Island Light1869-1870Joanna McGeeMarblehead Light1896-1903Eva PapeNorth Point Light1869-1885Mary RyanCalumet Harbor Light1873-1880Margarethe SchoomerPort Washington Light1860-1861Georgia StebbinsNorth Point Light1881-1907Harriet TownerMichigan City Light1844-1853Rachel WolcottMarblehead Light1832-1834A List of Most of theWomen Lighthouse Keepers on the Great Lakes



The Beacon ~ Winter 202014In the fall of 2019, a very old drawing of a lighthouse keeper scraping ice off a lighthouse was brought to our attention . The drawing was from 1876 and titled “Christmas Eve at a Lighthouse,” and we started to look for the print and the story behind it . We found an original Harper’s Weekly of the print in a small bookshop on the east coast which we immediately purchased . Luckily, the 144-year-old print was in amazingly good condition . The problem was, only the print existed, not the story which would have been in the pages in the rest of the edition which had not survived . After a somewhat frustrating search we found that The University of Michigan had the story in their digital library . So, following Mr . Peabody, Sherman and the WABAC machine, we are inviting you to go join us to go back to Christmas in 1876 . The story and prints are exactly as a reader in 1876 would have seen them . Enjoy .Christmas Eve in a LighthouseNew York, Saturday, December 30, 1876“Christmas comes but once a year, but when it comes it brings good Cheer.” This famous couplet has been sounded in the ears of so many of us since childhood with such convincing iteration, and its statements are so backed up by cheerful experiences, that it requires something of a strain upon the imagination to fancy Christmas without all the delightful accessories with which sentiment and worldly prosperity have combined to surround it. But some of the pictures in this number of the weekly recall to the minds of those who are comfortably and happily situated how full of hardship, suffering and dreari-ness the blessed Christmas season may be to some of our less fortunate fellow-creatures.Upon the first page, amidst the darkness and gloom, shines out dimly the light from a lighthouse built upon some remote and dangerous point along our coast. Wind and rain and sleet do not pause for the sweet amenities of Christmas; the angelic song of “Peace, goodwill to men,” does not exert the smallest influence upon the storm. On the contrary, its energy and fury are devoted to the task of diminishing, if not utterly extin-guishing, the light whose comparatively feeble rays may save some tempest-tossed vessel from shipwreck and ruin. As the snow falls against the pane, the action of the light half melts and detains it there, while the keen breath of the wind soon thickens it into ice, and flake after flake accumulates, until the dazzling white mass becomes a veil of darkness beyond which no ray can pierce. Unless this is removed there is little chance for the vessels which the light-house was designed to protect. It is necessary that the keeper should forsake the shelter afforded by the habitable portion of the tower and ex-pose himself to the full fury of the gale while endeavoring to remove the sleet from the glass. How difficult and dangerous this operation may be, depends, of course, upon the storm and the strength with which he is able to maintain his hold upon the slippery iron frame-work which affords him his only sup-port. But it is a weird situation for Christmas, the merry night of glowing fires and flowing bowls, when light and warmth and the sweet security of houses barred and bolted against the intrusion of storm seem to set its fury at defiance.Mr. Walter Satterler’s characteristic sketch on page 1052. Representing a group of jolly little children gathered around a glowing Christmas fire in a poor and miserably furnished cabin, excites sympathy of another sort. We do not easily as-sociate ideas of Christmas with the children of the tropics. An African Christmas with the mercury at the top of the ther-mometer, seems as much out of place as the Fourth of July at the north pole. But these little Ethiopians seem to enjoy the merry season as much as the fair-skinned children of the North, and as they cuddle in various comical attitudes about the glowing embers, their delight is as genuine and thorough as that of the children to whom fortune has given rich houses and costly presents. It is a fortunate thing for the world that happiness is not regulated in degree by outward circumstanc-es. Old Father Christmas may distribute his gifts rather un-equally among the rich and the poor, but he is very rarely so unfeeling as to withhold them altogether.On page 1056 we have another one of the “old, old stories.” May they never grow fewer! Those greedy, yawning, insa-tiable stockings! Not content to being filled to repletion by plump little legs all the daylight hours all the year round, on Christmas-eve they hold up their greedy mouths to be filled with articles awkward, unsuitable, and generally ill adapted to the use and dimensions of any well-regulated stocking. And yet let it be hoped that they will never reform. So long as the eager little childish heart can believe in the sooty old saint, who scorns to deposit his treasures in any less awkward receptacle than a stocking, let the delusion endure. Too soon, alas! Christmas becomes to us older ones a time when the un-

The Beacon ~ Winter 202015

The Beacon ~ Winter 202016satisfactory labors of a year must be brought to a close, when the biting winds of winter steal away our strength, and pover-ty, gaunt and hollow-eyed, goes wailing through our streets. The picture on this page, “Christmas After All,” tells a cheering story of how much is done during the Christmas tide for the poor. They, at least, have reason to bless the sa-cred festival. In all ages and in all countries during this sea-son charity pours from the coffers of the rich and brightens the heavy hearts and cheerless homes of the unfortunate and sorrowful.Our last Christmas picture shows how the day is sometimes spent at sea. In a great steamer, when the weather is calm and people can sit at the tables without discomfort, Christ-mas may be kept in a very cheery fashion; but we should not like to change places with the hardy fellows in the lit-tle fishing smack, even though it rides triumphantly over the tossing waves. We decidedly prefer to take our roast turkey and plum-pudding where the table is subject to no sudden idiosyncrasies of motion, and the floor maintains a calm and dignified equilibrium.The celebration of Christmas is no longer marked by the boisterous jollity and exuberance of animal spirits which dis-tinguished its observance in old England down to a hundred years ago, but it is still the great holiday of the year, and the one in which all classes, rich and poor, most generally participate. It is especially the time for active deeds of kindness and benevolence, when charity is most needed and most abundant. In olden time it was also customary to extend the charity of Christmas and the New Year to the lower animals. Burns refers to this practice in “The Auld Farmer’s Address to his Mare,” when presenting her on New Years morning with an extra feed of corn: “A guid New Year I wish thee Maggie!Hae, there’s a rip to thy auid baggie!”We have read of an old gentleman in the Carse of Falkirk, in Scotland, who used regularly every Christmas morning to carry a special supply of fod-der to each animal in his stable and cowhouse. He was wont to say that this was a morning, of all oth-ers in the year, when man and beast ought alike to have occasion to rejoice.

The Beacon ~ Winter 202017

The Beacon ~ Winter 202018Born in N.Y. in 1859, Frederick Hatch joined the life-saving service in the spring of 1881 and served at the Cleveland, Ohio Station. The Cleve-land Station had eight crew members and a keeper. The crews trained daily, except for Sunday, to be able to respond quickly to any ship in danger. The motto of the life saving service was “You have to go out; you don’t have to come back.” In cases where rescuers demonstrated extreme heroism, they could be awarded a Silver or Gold Lifesav-ing medal. In the event such a person was awarded a second Gold Life Saving Medal they would be given a Gold Bar to attach to the Gold Medal. Only one person, Frederick T. Hatch, was ever awarded the Gold Medal twice. His first as a surfman with the Life Saving Service at Cleveland and his sec-ond as a Keeper with the Lighthouse Service at the Cleveland Breakwater Lighthouse.The following articles are from the United States Coast Guard, Gold Lifesaving Medal History. They include Hatch’s two actions, which led to his Gold Medal awards, but not the many other res-cues that are attributed to Keeper Hatch. To finish up on Keeper Hatch, we have a most impressive modern-day tribute to Mr. Hatch. Date of Award: December 3, 1884About 7 o’clock in the evening on 31 October 1884, during a hard northwesterly, the three-mast-ed schooner Sophia Minch arrived off the harbor of Cleveland, OH with a cargo of iron ore from Marquette, MI. While attempting to run in, however, the heavy sea disabled her rudder. She at once came to with both anchors off the east pier and hoisted a signal for assistance. The tug Peter Smith answered the call and steamed out to her. Two of the crew of the Cleveland Station (Ninth District) accompanied to assist in handling the lives. The captain of the Minch, deeming one tug insufficient to tow his vessel, refused to heave up his an-chors until another tug could be procured.The Smith, therefore, returned and obtained the assistance of the Fanny Tuthill. Keeper Goodwin and the rest of the life-saving crew, save one man left in charge of the station, jumped on board the Smith as she again steamed out to assist the disabled craft. Once alongside it was only with the great-est difficulty that the life saving men gained the schooner’s deck, one man, Surfman Distel, being left on the tug to aid in handling the lines. As soon as the anchors were tripped, the two tugs started with the vessel in tow. Before going very far, The Keepers:Frederick T. HatchBy James Tamlynhowever, both towlines parted. The two tugs, unable to do anything further, sought safety behind the breakwater. The sea then began dragging the vessel towards the rocky shore. It was also discovered that the water was finding its way into the hold and the men were sent to the pumps. They could do very little, however, as they took every effort to save from being washed overboard.The captain, fearful of the vessel driving onto the rocks, had a hasty consultation with Keeper Goodwin and resolved to scuttle her. He planned to let her sink to the sandy bottom where she would not receive so much damage and trusting to the chances of raising her after the storm. The scuttling was accomplished by boring auger holes in the deck forward. The schooner, in a short time, sank in shoal water with her deck just awash. All those on board, except two men, took to the fore rigging for safety. The other two, a surfman [Hatch] and the mate, were cut off from the rest and were compelled to climb into the mizzen rigging. Frederick T. Hatch

The Beacon ~ Winter 202019Surfman Distel, who had landed from the tug Smith, acted promptly. He, however, had only one of the station crew to assist him. Though it was now between 2 and 3 o’clock in the morning, he cast about for volunteers. Customs Inspec-tor Bates, the lighthouse keeper, George H. Tower, and three others, Messrs. Pryor, Duffy, and Tovat, promptly responded to the appeal. The latter, with his team to draw the apparatus cart, took the beach gear abreast of the sunken vessel. The first shot was successful, carrying the line just abaft the fore rigging. In a short time the gear was rigged and the breech-es buoy hauled off. Keeper Goodwin was the first to come ashore to take charge of the operation. The rest in the fore rigging following one by one until all but Surfman Hatch were safely landed.There were also the two men in the rigging aft who were unable to get forward. Surfman Distel volunteered to go off in the buoy to consult with Hatch as to the best means of saving the two men. The result was that Hatch agreed to attempt to reach the mizzen rigging and see what could then be done. It was an extremely hazardous undertaking, as the main boom and gaff were swaying from one side to the other in a most frightful manner. Literally taking his life in his hands, he told Distel that if he did not return in a reasonable time, it might be taken for granted it was impossible for him to do so. He further advised him to return to shore in the buoy and report the situation to the keeper.Hatch succeeded in reaching the after part of the vessel and found the men safe, but it was utterly impossible for him to get back. Distel, therefore, faithfully followed out his in-structions and when his comerade failed to return, he gave the signal to be drawn ashore and made known the facts to Captain Goodwin. As soon, therefore, as Distel could be sent off again, the gear was unrigged, the gun got into position, and communication established with the other end of the ves-sel. It took Hatch only a little while to haul off the whip and hawser. As soon as everything was all right, they were drawn safely ashore, Hatch being the sixteenth and last man to be rescued.The-whole affair reflected great credit both on the members of the life-saving crew and upon the little band of volunteers, who came so bravely forward to assist Distel in landing his comrades and those belonging to the vessel. The personal effects of the captain and crew were recovered and landed subsequently when daylight gave them the opportunity. A few days later (November 4), the station crew boarded the vessel and assisted in stripping her of sails and rigging, On the day following, they aided in setting up a steam-pump on her deck and removing a portion of the cargo. When all the arrangements were completed (6 November), she was floated and taken into the harbor.On 1 November, during the same gale that damaged the schooner Sophia Minch, the three-masted schooner John B. Merrill of Milwaukee, WI hove into sight off Cleveland Har-bor. She was inbound from Escanaba, MI deeply laden with iron ore. A vessel of nearly six hundred-fifty tons and carried a crew of ten persons including the captain’s wife, who acted as cook. It was about 5 o’clock when she was met and tak-en in tow by the steam-tug James Amadeus. The latter had brought almost under the shelter of the breakwater, when the towline parted and the schooner began drifting toward the beach. The tug succeeded in getting a line to her again and renewed the attempt to tow her in, but the towline snapped a second time. The schooner was now so near the breakers that it was dangerous for the tug to again risk an attempt. As a last resort the anchors were let go, but failed to hold.The life-saving crew closely watched the two vessels. As soon as it became apparent that the schooner must go ashore, Keeper Goodwin ordered the beach apparatus out. As it was already dark, the keeper started down the beach after giving his orders so as to keep track of the vessel. It was about half past 6 when the vessel stopped a little less than half a mile east of the station and nearly abreast of the Lake Shore Rail-road freight house. It was, therefore, in close proximity to the sunken Sophia Minch.As soon as she struck, the captain ordered the hatches opened in order to let her fill with water and remain steady. This saved the ship from thumping itself to pieces. This was a wise precaution, as she lay on the smooth, sandy bottom and it prevented her from driving up onto the rocks. Some of the volunteers, Messrs. Tower, Bates, Tovat, and Assistant Light-keeper Reed, who had assisted the station crew in the morn-ing with the Sophia Finch, were soon on hand. They rendered excellent service in getting the apparatus down and with the subsequent operations. The relief party arrived abreast of the vessel, which lay about four hundred feet from shore, at a quarter before 8. As soon as the gun could be placed in posi-tion, the shot was sent whizzing over the schooner. It dropped the line against the mizzen rigging. The whip and hawser speedily followed. When all was ready Surfman Hatch, with the keeper’s call for a volunteer, stepped forward and went off in the breeches-buoy to manage the gear on board. He had done likewise earlier on board the Sophia Minch.As soon as he reached the schooner the landing of the peo-ple commenced. The captain’s wife was the first one hauled ashore. The rest followed one by one. Within 45 minutes from the firing of the shot, all hands were safe and quickly taken to places of shelter. The landing was effected none too soon, as the weather was freezing cold.On 3 November, the gale having abated, the station crew lent valuable aid in pumping the Merrill out and in running lines to the three tugs employed to raise her. The task was successfully accomplished by 5 o’clock in the evening of the same day. The local press gave unmeasured praise to the life-saving crew and the little band of volunteers who acted so nobly at these two disasters. The captain of the John B. Merrill wrote the following complimentary letter:

The Beacon ~ Winter 202020The schooner John B. Merrill, in trying to make the harbor at Cleveland on the evening of 1 Novem-ber, in charge of the tug James Amadeus, when near the end of the breakwater parted her tow-line and the vessel’s anchors were let go, but failed to hold . She drifted onto the beach, where she soon filled with water, the sea making a clean breach over her, mak-ing it extremely dangerous to launch a boat in the heavy sea that was running . The life-saving crew was promptly on hand, and in a very short time had suc-ceeded in getting a line on board . Everything worked like clockwork, without a hitch, and in less than an hour all the crew of nine men and one woman were got on shore . It was blowing a gale, with a heavy sea running, and the night very dark . Too much praise cannot be given to Captain Goodwin and his crew for the efficient service they rendered in saving the lives of the crew, and also in getting the vessel off the beach on November 3 .J . H . COLEMANMaster of Schooner, John B. MerrillDate of Award: February 26, 1891During the night of Sunday, 26 October 1890, the schoo-ner barge Wahnapitae of Port Huron, MI, while attempting to reach the harbor at Cleveland, OH, wrecked against the breakwater about a half-mile from the life-saving station. This resulted in the drowning of one of the crew, Orla W. Smith of Oswego, NY. The Wahnapitae was a large craft from Ashland, WI bound to Fairport, OH with a cargo of near-ly two million feet of lumber. She was in tow of the steamer John M. Nicol of Detroit. The latter was bound to Cleveland. There were eight persons on the schooner, including the cap-tain’s wife, who acted as cook.Overcast and dark, it was a bad night for an attempt to en-ter the harbor. A strong gale was blowing from the north and the lake was rough, especially off the breakwater and piers. Under these circumstances the captain of the steamer saw that he would jeopardize his own craft if he tried to tow the schooner in. As his vessel was quite large, his best judgment and skill would be necessary to enter alone without being handicapped by a heavy tow. The towline was cast off and the steamer proceeded into the harbor while the Wahnapitae came to anchor just off the breakwater. It was expected that the harbor tugs would take hold of her and bring her in. The tugs did attempt to get a line to the schooner, but the sea was so heavy they were obliged to abandon the project.It was soon realized that a single anchor could not hold the schooner. She soon began dragging until she crashed against the easterly end of the west breakwater. She stuck fast until very shortly she became a complete wreck. As soon as she struck, the people jumped onto the breakwater and made for the lighthouse that was about one hundred feet from where she lay. Some of them succeeded, with the aid of the light-keeper, in reaching shelter. Others were less fortunate and narrowly escaped drowning.The arrival of the tow off the harbor had been observed by the life-saving station lookout. He kept a sharp watch and realized that the schooner was dragging toward the breakwater. The alarm was promptly sounded and the lifeboat was launched as the crew set out to render whatever assistance they could. The boat was already on its way when the tugboats Tom Maytham and H. L. Chamberlinsignaled to the station.Upon reaching the mouth of the harbor, the crew realized that the boat could approach the schoo-ner only from the windward. Any attempt to board her would be madness resulting in the destruction of the lifeboat. Keeper Goodwin, therefore, turned about and shot in under the lee of the breakwa-ter. He found the tugs engaged in rescuing some of the schooner’s crew who had been washed off the breakwater. They picked up one man apiece, but a third was drowned before either boat could reach him. Seeing another man clinging to the ladder on the inner side of the breakwater near the lighthouse, the keeper sheered the lifeboat in alongside and rescued him just as a wave broke over the breakwater and covered the boat and its occupants with a smother of foam.After a fruitless search for others of the shipwrecked crew, the keeper hailed the tugs to learn how many they had rescued and then pulled to the lighthouse to make inquiries there. The keeper of the light, Frederick T. Hatch, who had formerly seen service as a member of the Cleveland Life-Saving crew, informed Keeper Goodwin that he had under his care four persons including the captain and his wife. Hatch had done heroic work in aiding these people. It seems that when they jumped onto the breakwater he had run out and assisted The Evening Bulletin - Maysville, KY - May 5, 1891

The Beacon ~ Winter 202021some to the tower. When the waves prevented his reaching the rest, he jumped into his boat and rowed along under the lee of the crib-work. Here he picked up the woman and one of the seamen. Turning back toward the lighthouse a huge wave burst over the breakwater and swamped his boat. He and his two passengers were thrown into the water. Fortunately, he had taken the precaution of attaching one end of a small line to the crib-work near the tower and dropped the other end into his boat. When the craft over turned he quickly grasped the line and pulled himself and the woman to the ladder and up to the lighthouse. The sailor who capsized with him was probably the one subsequently rescued from the ladder by the station crew.Finding no others in the water the lifeboat crew returned to the station with the man they had picked up. The tugs on their way in landed their two rescued men also at the station and all three were furnished with food and dry clothes. Early the next morning (27th) the life-saving crew pulled to the break-water and brought ashore the people from the lighthouse. It was then learned that Orla W. Smith was the man that had been drowned. The last seen of him was when he was washed from the breakwater the night before with the two sailors that were picked up by the tugs. But for the presence of these tugs Photo from Facebook page of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Frederick Hatchit is likely that all three men would have perished. Lightkeep-er Hatch deserves praise for his undaunted behavior on this occasion. It is remembered that as one of the station crew, he displayed remarkable gallantry in saving life on the occasion of the sinking of the schooner Sophia Minch in October 1883. The crews of the tugs Maytham and Chamberlin also deserve credit.United States Coast Guard Announces the Future Commissioning of the Sentinel Class Fast Response Cutter FREDERICK HATCHOn Wednesday, March 25, 2020 the 43rd Sentinel Class U.S. Coast Guard Cutter FREDERICK T. HATCH was launched at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana. The Fast Response Cutter is currently in Guam where she will be based with 2 other Sentinel Class Cutters. The Hatch and her crew are in training currently, becoming familiar with each other before she is fully commissioned.The Sentinel Class Fast Response Cutters are all named after Coast Guard enlisted heroes. The 154-foot cutter has a 24-person crew and can run at 28 plus knots. You can follow the Frederick Hatch on her Facebook page: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Frederick Hatch.

The Beacon ~ Winter 202022While sundials measure hours, the shadows on St. Helena Tower measures months. The cameras on the tower are time stamped and so the viewer can read that the first photo was shot on October 8, 2020. The second photo was shot on De-cember 22, 2020, the first full day of winter. On the October 8 picture the shadow from the lighthouse is moving away from the tower and the December 22, picture has reached the end of its climb and will now start back toward the tower. Both of these photos are also time stamped by hour, minute and seconds. We review the cameras on St. Helena dai-ly watching over the island and the damage by high water to our dock and the shoreline.The cameras are run off solar power so you may have a point in time where the days are short and heavy cloudsobscurethe sun. On these days when the batteries have an insufficient charge they will turn the cameras on or off depending on bat-tery power. Look-ing across the top of the dock in the distance is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In the summer you may see one of the Bald-eagles which nest in the trees just across our lit-tle harbor.Our cameras can be accessed by going to gllka.org and scrolling to the bottom of the page. Just click on either Live Video The Shadows of St. Helenaand wait a few moments to connect. The Trail View camera has a very short commercial to go through first. The Dock View camera faces North and the Trail View camera faces west. Freighters may be viewed on the Trail View camera on the horizon as they come from or head towards White Shoals. The cameras switch to infrared at night and color goes to black and white.

Buffalo Breakwater Light Lake Erie New York, 1925 USCG˜˜˜

Milwaukee Breakwater˜ Lake Michigan˜ Wisconsin˜ 1949-02-16˜ MPL

Oswego West Pierhead Light˜ 1909˜ Lake Ontario˜ New York˜ ˜ CaNOAAPetoskey Breakwater Light˜ c. 1916

Sand Island˜ Lake Superior˜ Wisconsin˜ 1915˜ NPS

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Open for Tours May to October( (814) 833-36048 1 4 )8 3 3 -3 6 0 4w www.presqueislelighthouse.orgw w .p r e s q u e i s le l ig h th o u s e .o r gwww.northmanitoulightkeepers.orgwww.preservewhiteshoal.org920.421.3636w www.gllka.orgw w .g l lk a .o r gw www.gllka.orgw w .g l lk a .o r g