|
This past October 3rd the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society honored seven more lighthouse keepers by placing memorial lighthouse keeper markers at their gravesites. The seven keepers served at a large number of lighthouse stations in the Chesapeake area: fourteen in Virginia and three in Maryland, as well as on two lighthouse tenders: the Speedwell and the Orchid.
There were over 200 people in attendance for the day’s ceremonies, which included descendants of the keepers, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Coast Guard’s Auxiliary Flotilla 66, and, of course, members of the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.
Event coordinator Betty Collins opened and closed each ceremony with an assist from MC Tony Pasek that included the “Pledge of Allegiance”, a review of the keeper’s life, the Lighthouse Keeper’s Prayer, remarks by the descendants, and the playing of Taps.
The keepers honored were Walter M. Shawn, Henry Luther Dow, James Garnett Williams, William Thomas Brooks, Robert Harold Matthews, Andrew Broaddus Sadler and Charles Franklin Sadler.
Walter M. Shawn served at Wolf Trap Lighthouse in Virginia from 1895 to 1902, Smith Point Lighthouse in Virginia from 1902 to 1903, New Cape Henry Lighthouse in Virginia from 1903 to 1904, and briefly at Love Point Lighthouse in Maryland in 1904. His last tenure was from 1904 to 1908 at Thimble Shoal Lighthouse, a screwpile structure that was considered one of the most accident-prone locations in the Chesapeake Bay. On Sunday, January 26, 1908, about a mile off Thimble Shoal Lighthouse, keeper Shawn and his assistant rescued three adults and one child from a 12-foot boat after the barge Mascot sank during a gale with waves running 25 feet high. Later in life, he operated a general store in Foster, Virginia, where he also served as the postmaster. On the day after Christmas in 1888, he married Virginia E. Davis and the couple went on to raise three children. Born on February 14, 1862, Walter M. Shawn died on September 13, 1940 and is buried in the Trinity Cemetery in Foster, Virginia.
Henry Luther Dow served for nearly 44 years as an employee of the U.S. Lighthouse Service and later. the U.S. Coast Guard, with most of that time spent as a lamplighter. On Christmas Day 1909, he married Hattie May Brooks and the couple went on to have two children. In 1910, he joined the U.S. Lighthouse Service as a sailor on board a lighthouse tender, and nine years later, in 1919, he became the lamplighter at Virginia’s New Point Comfort Lighthouse at the entrance to Mobjack Bay. Born on April 2, 1884, Henry Luther Dow retired as a lamplighter on April 30, 1954 and died on June 7, 1955, a little more than a year after his retirement. He is buried at the St. Paul United Methodist Cemetery in Susan, Virginia.
James Garnett Williams served at five different light stations during his long career with the U.S. Lighthouse Service. Sadly, only two of those lighthouses are still standing; Wolf Trap Light and Cape Charles Light, both in Virginia. James G. Williams started his lighthouse career at Windmill Point Lighthouse in Virginia in 1875. It was here on June 28, 1898, that lighting struck the lighthouse, knocking a hole in it. Keeper Williams reported to Inspector Commander Hutchins: “The rain was so heavy that the hole could not be stopped, and I could not keep any light in the tower, except by hand lanterns.”
In 1907, he became the keeper at Wolf Trap Lighthouse, and in 1908, he became the keeper of the Hog Island Light in Virginia where he served until 1911. He then went to Cape Charles Lighthouse, the 2nd tallest lighthouse in the United States, where he served until 1917. It was here that he had to make a daily climb up and down a spiral staircase with 216 treads housed inside a central iron tube, with an additional 17 steps that led to the watch room. He finished his lighthouse career in 1919 at Virginia’s Great Wicomico River Lighthouse. Born on April 15, 1955, James Williams died on February 20, 1945 and was buried at the Smither Cemetery in Hudgins, Virginia.
William Thomas Brooks started his lighthouse career at Maryland’s Cobb Point Bar Lighthouse at the entrance to the Wicomico River in 1909. In 1911, he became the 2nd assistant, and in 1912, was promoted to 1st assistant at Thimble Shoal Lighthouse. In 1915, he became the keeper at the 1858 Stingray Point Lighthouse, a screwpile structure at the entrance to Rappahannock River near Deltaville, Virginia. On January 31, 1878, William Thomas “Billy” Brooks married Lucy Jane Marchant and the couple went on to raise five children. William Brooks was born on September 3, 1853 and died on March 31, 1941.
Robert Harold Matthews served at five different light stations during his 23-year career with the U.S. Lighthouse Service. Three of these stations were in Virginia and one was in Maryland. They were all screwpile lighthouses and none of them stand today. His lighthouse career started at Virginia’s Deep Water Shoals Lighthouse on the James River. It was here on August 7, 1918, that keeper Matthews rescued four soldiers adrift in a sailboat during a storm. In 1922, he was at Windmill Point Lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay where he served until 1933 when he was transferred to Ragged Point Lighthouse on the Potomac River in Maryland. His last assignment from 1936 to 1941 was at Virginia’s Great Wicomico River Lighthouse located near Reedville, VA, which marked the entrance to the Great Wicomico River. A descendant of his, Dale Fitchett, recalls playing ball as a child with his great-uncle Robert. Keeper Matthews would use his cane to bat the ball back to his young great-nephew. Keeper Matthews was born on October 14, 1873 and died on April 24, 1967 and was buried in the Smither Cemetery in Hudgins, Virginia.
Andrew Broaddus Sadler served at five different light stations during his career. Only one of these stations, Smith Point Lighthouse, is still standing today. However, there is a replica of the Stingray Point Lighthouse (built in 2003) in Deltaville, Virginia where Andrew Sadler served as the assistant keeper from 1903 to 1913, and a replica of the Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse (built in 2004) in Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore where he served as the keeper from 1923 to 1926. Born in 1867, Andrew Sadler married Willia Peters on February 27, 1887 and the couple raised one daughter, Edith Pearl. He retired from the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1930 when he was the keeper of the Great Wicomico River Lighthouse in Virginia. Andrew B. Sadler died at the age of 80 on July 1, 1947 and was buried in the Smither Cemetery in Hudgins, Virginia.
Charles Franklin Sadler started his career in the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1925 as a shop foreman. He then served on two different lighthouse tenders: the Speedwell, from 1931 to 1940, and the Orchid from 1940 to 1942. He recalled a freeze off Cape Henry, Virginia, in 1935 when they would wait for the buoys to pop up through the ice after the Speedwell used its icebreaking capabilities to break up the frozen bay. Once in the waters off Chincoteague Island, Virginia, he was sent out in the bitter cold at 2 a.m. to repair a signal buoy. Due to the rough waters, he had to board the buoy and despite not having the right tools for the job, he was able to correct the problem. From 1942 to 1954 he served as a lighthouse keeper at Wolf Trap Light, Cape Charles Light, Pages Rock Light, Stingray Point Light, and Tue Marshes Light, all in Virginia.
This story appeared in the
Mar/Apr 2021 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.
|
