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This past September 25, the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society honored father and son lighthouse keepers, William Yeatman, Sr. and William Yeatman, Jr., with the placement of U.S. Lighthouse Service Memorial Markers at their gravesites.
William M. Yeatman, Sr. was appointed the keeper of Maryland’s 1883 Point Lookout Lighthouse on September 22, 1871. He and his wife Anna Maria had 12 children, most of whom were born at the lighthouse.
As many lighthouse keepers did, in those days, the Yeatmans kept cows and chickens and maintained a large garden to supplement their food supply. Tragedy struck in 1893 when a fire destroyed keeper Yeatman’s barn and he lost 45 barrels of corn and 1500 bundles of hay for his livestock.
On May 31, 1908, while on the job, William Yeatman, Sr. passed away at the age of 77. He was buried at the First Saints Community Cemetery in Ridge, Maryland, where his wife and some of their 12 children are also buried.
Two of William’s sons followed in his footsteps to become lighthouse keepers: Percy and William, Jr. Upon his father’s death, Percy S. Yeatman took over his father’s job at Point Lookout, but for some reason he only stayed on for a few months, because later that same year, he was replaced as keeper by William Moody, who remained there until 1912.
On the other hand, son William, Jr. had a long and distinguished career in the U.S. Lighthouse Service, starting in 1904 at Smiths Creek Beacon in Maryland. By 1931, he was serving as the First Assistant keeper at Point Lookout Lighthouse where his father had served for 37 years. In between 1913 and 1931, he had served at Point No Point Lighthouse, Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, Drum Point Lighthouse, and Piney Point Lighthouse. He retired while serving as assistant keeper at Point Lookout Lighthouse in 1939 after 35 years with the U.S. Lighthouse Service.
During his time at Point Lookout Lighthouse, William Jr.’s children recalled that they couldn’t go out to play until their chores were done. This included cleaning the smoky kerosene lamps, polishing the Fresnel lens, and getting coal from the nearby store for the pot-bellied stove.
William Yeatman, Jr. passed away at the age of 81 on March 6, 1954 and was buried at the Saint Michaels Catholic Cemetery in Saint Mary’s County, Maryland.
This story appeared in the
Nov/Dec 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.
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