The Islands: Lighthouses: Introduction

The Island's Lighthouses
Introduction

LOCATION

The Great Lakes, the largest body of fresh water in the world, have played a major role in the history of both Canada and the United States. Before the days of railroads and planes, the quickest way to explore or access both countries was by ship. Thousands of immigrants made their way into Canada and the United States via the St. Lawrence River. The Thousand Islands area was an especially important Great Lakes area since it is where the St. Lawrence River connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean.

Whether one was a farmer or sailor, Thousand Islands residents often owed their livelihoods to the Great Lakes. The Lakes not only offered employment for mariners and shipbuilders� but also became a way for the farmers in the area to bring their goods to market and generate money to support themselves.

Click on photo for larger version
Kingston Harbor Map
From this map you can see some of the lighthouses near Kingston.
Snake Island�4 Mile Point lighthouse,
Simcoe Island�9 Mile Point lighthouse.
Ferguson�s Point�also known as Knapp�s Point, Brown�s Point on the tip of Long Island. (There was a lighthouse there.)
Kingston Clock Tower Light--At one time there was a clock tower in Kingston that was lit and used as another light for the Kingston Harbor.

WEATHER PLAYS A ROLE

Although the Great Lakes are surrounded by land, storms can strike suddenly and cause waves and conditions just as dangerous as any on the open seas. Because glaciers made the Great Lakes area flat-- polar fronts from the north can quickly sweep across the flat prairies and collide with warmer air masses rising from the south. The results are unpredictable gales, blizzards, fog banks and thunderstorms.

Because shipping of goods and people was so important on the Great Lakes, it was only natural to seek to protect the boats and their cargos from dangerous weather. Lighthouses provided a way to warn those on the ships about rocks, shoals and rugged coastlines. The Island lighthouses provided valuable beacons to guide boats in all sorts of extreme weather conditions and warn mariners to keep their distance from the rugged terrain.

The lighthouses established around Kingston, Ontario were especially important to the shipping industry. Although Kingston was one of the best natural harbors on Lake Ontario, there were many dangerous shoals in the area. The lighthouses described here�the two on WOLFE ISLAND, SNAKE ISLAND, SIMCOE ISLAND, PIGEON ISLAND, and TIBBETT�S POINT on CAPE VINCENT in NEW YORK were all vital to keeping trade in the Kingston area growing and prosperous.

CHALLENGES FOR KEEPERS

Each lighthouse was only as good as the man or woman tending the lights. �Although a few lighthouses were in coastal towns, many were located on rugged headlands or barren ledges far from the nearest village. Some keepers had only seals and seabirds for neighbors. When gales struck, keepers had to stay at their posts and take whatever the seas threw at them. Unlike the mariners they served, they could not outrun the storm or escape to some sheltered harbor. No matter what the conditions, their lights had to shine all night and every night since ships, property, and�most important�lives depended on them.� The Golden Age of American Lighthouses.

Through wind, rain, fog�really every imaginable weather conditions�it was the keepers� duty to keep the lights burning. The keepers would face severe criticism if there were any lapse in performing their duties. No matter if they stayed awake for days because of fog or other adverse conditions keeping the fog horn going when the light couldn�t be seen�.it was the keeper�s job to man their posts.

Even if a keeper was diligent, sometimes they couldn�t do their jobs. Early lighthouses were not always well constructed. The lighting mechanisms were primitive. The oil and fire that lit the lights and flashed out warnings to passing ships sometimes destroyed the lights themselves. Several times in the area around Kingston, lights exploded and caused fires. Sometimes the lights burned down the lighthouse. Whether lighthouses were burnt down or destroyed by natural elements, lighthouses were often replaced or rebuilt.

A COVETED JOB

With many area families turning to shipping on the lakes for their livelihood, the position as a lighthouse keeper meant the keeper could stay near the home and family and would not be always traveling about on the lakes.

�While never particularly well-paid, the position of light keeper brought with it a material security that no other employment at that time could guarantee. This advantage did kindle some envy�, as one wife of a keeper said:

�There was jealousy and it made trouble for my husband. And there were some people who tried to make him lose his job, especially at election time, or like�when there was smuggling. They said he had hidden what was known as miquelon�boot leg whiskey. He was supposed to have hidden a boatload of that. And then the police came�it was real hard on him. And it was just jealousy. It was two people on the island who really wanted his job, and they made that report but it was all lies.�

�Other keepers revealed that the slightest delay in lighting, or worse yet, the early extinguishing of their beacons was immediately reported to the administration, either by seamen or by conscientious local inhabitants.� For example:

BRITISH WHIG, (Kingston), Aug. 9, 1888
p. 8 Incidents of the Day�The captain of the schr. B.W. Folger states that the keeper of the lighthouse at the head of Simcoe Island is lax in his duty. He failed to ring the bell which it is his duty to do when the schr. B.W. Folger approached on Wednesday evening last. The schooner narrowly excaped running aground.

�Fortunately, the job was not all troubles and problems�quite the opposite. Lightkeepers also had their moments in the limelight; at one time they were among the few, if not the only, public servants in their small communities. As such they were among the dignitaries of the area, and the weighty responsibility of their position earned them widespread admiration and respect� --Lightkeeping on the St. Lawrence: The End of an Era.

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

While light keepers had to meet many physical requirements (good eyesight was especially important) in order to get their jobs�it was equally important to have good political connections if you aspired to one of the few keeper positions. In my research I found various keepers had political connections. Here are a few of the keepers that I found had political connections:

James ECCLES, the first light keeper of Pigeon Island, had been a sailor earlier in life. He was also listed in township records as deputy reeve for Wolfe Island in 1867. When he was appointed in 1870�his brother-in-law�Mory SPOOR was the Wolfe Island reeve.
Patrick McAVOY, the first light keeper of Knapp�s Point, Wolfe Island, was the brother-in-law of Thomas DAWSON when he was first appointed as keeper in 1870. Thomas DAWSON was the first elected reeve of Wolfe Island. My research indicates McAVOY may have lost the job for a few years when his relatives were not elected officials. Patrick was definitely back on the job at the time of his death in 1888 when another brother-in-law Patrick DAWSON was reeve. Patrick McAvoy had been a farmer and a blacksmith before becoming the light keeper. His ability as a blacksmith must have come in handy in keeping the lighthouse in repair.

KEEPER DUTIES

Although it is easy to think that the job of a keeper was an idealistic time spent communing with nature�the chores of a keeper were actually long and tedious. In times of bad weather�it was not enough for the keeper to keep the light lit�the keeper also had to man the foghorn to keep ships away from the shore.

�J.H. DAVIS was appointed the lightkeeper of Pigeon Island on May 16, 1896. During periods of heavy fog, Mr. Davis warned approaching ships of the perilous shoals by manually squeezing a foghorn (he had to have pretty strong arms).��Sentinels in the Stream.

Or at Nine Mile Point�where keeper Stannes VEECH �was required to hand-crank the system of weights and cogs every several hours to ensure that the light revolved continuously. This of course was not conducive to getting a good night�s sleep��Sentinels in the Stream.

When the keepers weren�t manning the lights, they were often preparing the light for the next time it would be lit. Hours of polishing lenses, cleaning fixtures that were exposed to the elements and likely to rust�were all part of the job.

�Prior to the age of electricity, smoke, oils and chemicals permeated lighthouse buildings, and the keepers and their families were exposed to constant noxious, even toxic fumes. These same substances lead to severe threat of fire and many lighthouses burned to the ground, sometimes consuming their keepers and their families.�

�Every day, lenses and windows had to be cleaned to prevent oil, smoke and grime from building up and diminishing the effectiveness of the light beam. Aside from sheer drudgery of these onerous tasks, it entailed sustained exposure to harsh chemicals. Admired as heroes, little was known about the tedium and risks of these families important work.��The Ultimate Book of Lighthouses

In addition to the usual keeper�s duties�the keeper also usually tended a garden, hunted or fished to keep food on the table for their families. Because the tasks of the keeper were often demanding and there was no money to pay for an assistant�keepers often enlisted family members to help them with their round-the-clock chores. Many family members helped out so much�they also considered themselves �keepers�. Many of these family members were never recognized as keepers by the government and were never paid for their labors. Some of them were lucky enough to land the position as keepers themselves when their family member retired.

�The first light keepers had to hire and pay out of pocket for their assistants�perhaps one of the reasons that assistants were often family members. In some cases a light was tended by several generations of the same family,� according to Ted Cater, Marine Officer, Canadian Coast, Prescott, Ontario--Sentinels in the Stream.

When the keeper did hire an assistant, only the main light keeper was recognized by the government�even if he had assistants because he paid the assistants himself. This sometimes means there are no records of certain lightkeepers�because they weren�t the keeper hired by the government.

KEEPING THE JOB IN THE FAMILY

An interesting aspect of light keeping is that the job was often handed down to family members from generation to generation. Because the tasks of the light keeper were often demanding and there was no money to pay for an assistant�keepers enlisted their children or other relatives to help with the round the clock chores of a light keeper. With the children growing up around the lighthouse, choosing to be a light keeper was what they knew and becoming keepers themselves was like keeping the family business going. Some of the local families that served the local lights were:

At SIMCOE ISLAND�s Nine Mile Point Light house, generation after generation of DUNLOPs saw duty at that light.
On SNAKE ISLAND, the ORR family handed down the job of keeping that light from Nathaniel ORR to his son, William BRADEN ORR, and then to Nathaniel�s son-in-law, Charles Victor SUDDS. Probable relative Howard ORR was a later keeper at Nine-Mile Point on Simcoe Island.
On PIGEON ISLAND, the ECCLES family turned the keeper�s job over to wife Sarah Ann SPOORs half �siblings�the DAVIS family. The DAVIS family had multiple generations work the light�including one woman, Mary STALEY DAVIS, possibly a widow of an earlier keeper.
The McAVOY family of WOLFE ISLAND had three family members responsible for the light at KNAPP�s Point. Patrick McAVOY--from 1875 until his death in 1888. His son, James McAVOY from December, 1888 until his own death in February, 1889. His wife, Catherine DAWSON McAVOY�from the time of her son�s death until April, 1990 when another permanent keeper was assigned to the light.
The GILLESPIE family of WOLFE ISLAND manned the light at Port Metcalf for several generations. Then a nephew of the GILLESPIE family�Everett WOODMAN became the light�s caretaker.

THE KEEPERS AND RELATED JOB DEATHS

The job of a keeper was definitely a dangerous one. Here is some information of keepers who died on the job:

James ECCLES, the Pigeon Island keeper, died in November 1873.
BRITISH WHIG Nov, 1873
�her husband drowned in Bateau Channel while returning from Pigeon Island.�

Even reports of a keeper�s death made the papers�.
BRITISH WHIG, Aug. 29, 1882
p.3 A Healthy Corpse - Mr. Gillespie, lighthouse keeper, foot of Wolfe Island, desires us to state that he is not dead, and the fact of his presence in this office certainly did give the report of his demise a quietus. The petition of a candidate for his position will, therefore, be of no avail. Mr. Gillespie is as well and active as he was 16 years ago.
BRITISH WHIG, (Kingston), June 11, 1887
p. 8 In Memorium�The Late Robert Gillespie�Robert Gillespie, who, for a quarter of a century, had been in charge of the lighthouse at Port Metcalf, foot of Wolfe Island, died on Thursday, aged 83 years. He was a brother of John Gillespie, Pittsburg, and leaves a widow and seven children. He emigrated to Canada in 1840, and previous to his appointment as lighthouse keeper was a farmer. For some time he suffered from rheumatism, and so severely that he could not walk. He was highly respected by all who knew him.

BRITISH WHIG, (Kingston), May 28, 1888
THEIR JOURNEY ENDED A week since Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Orr, keepers of the light near Snake Island, in the harbor, caught cold while crossing to their home at the lighthouse. They contracted pneumonia and sank gradually, Mr. Orr, aged 70, being in a hopeless state from the first, though Doctors Irwin and Fenwick were most attentive. On Sunday husband and wife died within a few hours of each other; after travelling the journey of life together in loving trust they together laid the burden of life aside and were joined in death also. The deceased have been life-long residents of the islands about Kingston, were most industrious, and were held in general respect. A family, grown up, is left to bear the saddening blow of a double bereavement.

BRITISH WHIG, (Kingston), Jan. 4, 1889
p.7 In Memoriam - Late Patrick McAVOY, Wolfe Island - had been lighthouse keeper at Knapp's Point for many years.
Personal research shows Patrick died of pneumonia in December, 1888.

Copyright 2004 by Pat McAvoy-Costin. All rights reserved.