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Tales in both early and contemporary literature document the steadfastness and dedication of lighthouse keepers as they went about their duties in often lonely places and in conditions of fierce winds and weather, all to be sure that the beams of light from their lighthouse towers would never fail to guide the sea-bound mariners along the often-foreboding shores of our nation’s coasts. It wasn’t all drudgery and sacrifice. Keepers and their family members, particularly the children who grew up as “lighthouse kids” in these often-far-flung locations, have documented that lighthouse life had its many rewards as well. The 1915 report of the Bureau of Lighthouses, within the federal Department of Commerce, noted that there were 1,471 light-keepers and assistants, and another 1,782 laborers in charge of minor lights. This is a one-point-in-time look. Over the many years since George Worthylake accepted the position of lighthouse keeper at the Boston Lighthouse, the first to be built in what would become the thirteen original colonies, thousands of men and women have served as keepers and assistant keepers at our country’s hundreds of lighthouses.
Even in the earlier years, when keeper positions were typically “political plums” and the appointees got scant training, the vast majority of these folks were good people who tried to operate and maintain their lights for the betterment of the mariners at sea. With the coming of the Light-House Board in 1852, and the subsequent Bureau of Lighthouses in 1910, formalized inspection procedures, as well as clearly written and continually updated “Instructions to Light-House Keepers,” assured that those keepers who needed guidance got attention, and that those who were clearly not cut out for the duties and responsibilities were identified and weeded out. The military organization during the Coast Guard years, from 1939 onward, continued these assurances. There were, however, individual keepers who needed attention, if not more serious corrective action.
Some light stations, such as that at Port Washington, Wisconsin, had only three assistant keepers in the brief years when that position was authorized. Perhaps the greatest number of assistants ever at a single station served at the Point Reyes Light Station a few miles north of San Francisco, California. During the 75-year period between 1870 and 1945, there were 36 First Assistants and 65 Second Assistants assigned to that station. Turnover was often tumultuous.
What follows is the brief tale of one of those many assistant keepers who served at light-stations near and far over the years. George H. Rathbun, one of those three assistant keepers just mentioned, the subject of this tale, served at the Port Washington, Wisconsin, light station from 1889 until his death in 1894.
Thirty-eight-year-old Rathbun was appointed to serve at Port Washington as the assistant to Charles H. Lewis Jr. Lewis was the head keeper at Port Washington for almost 34 years, from 1880 when he succeeded his father, Charles Sr., until his own retirement in 1924. Charles Sr. had served as the head keeper from 1874 until his death in 1880.
The assistant keeper position was authorized in 1888 when two long piers were constructed in the Port Washington harbor. A year later, in 1889, a squarish, pyramidal tower was erected on the north pier to guide ships into the harbor and a small Fresnel lens was put in service. Charged now with the care of two lights, the assistant position was created and George Rathbun was assigned to it.
This situation of interest is documented in a series of four letters, the handwritten copies of which are in the Port Washington Historical Society archives. The first of the letters, dated December 27, 1892, was from Port Washington head keeper Charles H. Lewis Jr. to the 9th District Inspector in Chicago. It reads:
“Sir, I have a complaint to make against my Assistant. The trouble is caused by his habit of frequenting saloons and finally coming to the station consistently under the influence of liquor. When I told him (what he already knew) that he violated the rules and that such conduct could not be tolerated, he did not seem to consider it of much importance, being chiefly his own affair. Personally, I greatly regret to make such a report, but being in charge of this station.
Very Respectfully,
C. H. Lewis, Keeper”
About a week later, on January 3rd, 1893, the Assistant Keeper, George Rathbun, responded to the Inspector, truthfully admitting to his transgressions and promising to do better.
“Sir, in reply to charges against me so I’ll say while there was ground for them which I deeply regret and while I tried to perform the duties of a Keeper which I believe there can be no complaint. Will say that I will give no reason for like complaint in the future.
Respectfully yours,
George A. Rathbun Asst. Keeper.”
Whether Assistant Keeper Rathbun lived up to his promise to do better the available records don’t tell, but he must have done so as he was still the assistant almost a year later, on February 12, 1894, when Keeper Lewis had occasion to write another letter to the Inspector in Chicago.
“Sir, I have to report that the “Assistant” [Sic, and we must assume he meant Mr. Rathbun] is dangerously ill with the “Grippe.” I have made arrangements so the lights have good attendance, without cost to the District.
Very Respectfully,
C. H. Lewis, Keeper”
Assistant Keeper Rathbun must indeed have been dangerously ill, as only three days later, on February 15, 1894, Keeper Lewis would send the following brief note to the Inspector.
“Sir, it becomes my sad duty to report the death of my Assistant who passed away at 7 pm last night. The cause of his death was “Pneumonia.”
Very Respectfully,
C. H. Lewis Keeper
Following George Rathbun’s demise, two other men would serve as the Assistant Keeper at Port Washington. Delos H. Smith held the position for only a few months. Smith was followed by William H. Duer who served until the 1860 lighthouse was decommissioned in 1903.
This story appeared in the
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