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As part of the 160th anniversary celebration of Florida’s Pensacola Lighthouse celebration, five former lighthouse keepers of the Pensacola Lighthouse were recently honored with U.S. Lighthouse Service memorial grave markers. The ceremony, held on January 12, 2019 and sponsored by the Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum, took place at the St. John’s Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida. The solemn event included the reading of the poem “It’s Brasswork,” which is sometimes referred to as “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lament,” written by Frederick Morong, Jr. (1883-1947); “The Legend of the Lighthouse,” by Judi Kearney, with remarks by Dianne Levi, who gave a biography of the life of the five keepers being honored. The Color Guard was provided by a local Boy Scouts group and music was provided by McGuire’s Bagpipers. Following are the Pensacola Lighthouse keepers who were honored with grave markers and a brief biological sketch of their lives.
Eugene C. Bonifay: Born on May 3, 1841, Eugene Bonifay became an assistant keeper at the Pensacola Lighthouse on August 2, 1959. When the Civil War broke out, he left the Lighthouse Service, and on June 11, 1861 he enlisted in the Florida Infantry, Company K, with the Confederate Army. At the conclusion of the war, he married Mary Louise Cooper and the couple had five children. He never returned to the Lighthouse Service and lived the rest of his life in Pensacola until his death on October 24, 1910.
George T. Clifford: Born on July 27, 1848 at Fort Barrancas, Florida, George T. Clifford enlisted in the Confederate States Army in May of 1864 at the young age of 16. A year into his army service he was captured on April 9, 1865 by Union forces in Blakely, Alabama. Fortunately for him, he was a prisoner for less than a month; he was released in a prisoner exchange on May 6th, of that year.
On October 26, 1885, George Clifford was able to secure the appointment as 1st assistant keeper of the Pensacola Lighthouse. He must have been an extraordinary assistant, because less than a year later, on July 1, 1886, he was appointed head keeper and several weeks after that, on July 23, 1886, he married Ellen Frazier. The couple went on, through good times and bad times, to raise their family at the lighthouse where they lived for the next 31 years. The couple’s son, Hisson Goodridge Frazier Clifford (1891-1954), was born at the lighthouse.
It must have been quite a celebration when their oldest daughter, Ellen Cordelia, who was born in 1881, was married at the lighthouse. The family again had cause to celebrate when, on September 9, 1904, their daughter Ellen Cordelia then gave birth to a daughter, Naomi, at the lighthouse. However, tragedy struck the family when, a few months after the birth of her baby, Ellen Cordelia died of pneumonia on January 20, 1905.
When George Clifford retired from the Pensacola Lighthouse in 1917, he knew that he had lived at there a long time, but little could he have known then that he would have the distinction of being the keeper of the Pensacola Lighthouse longer than anyone else in its history. He retired to a home that he had built on a dirt road near the lighthouse. Unfortunately, his loyal years of service did not garner him any retirement pay from the government. Sadly, his retirement years were short; he died on June 29, 1919. On February 28, 1920, a bill was introduced in Congress to provide a widow’s pension of $35 per month to his widow Ellen Clifford.
Martha C. Enfinger Lawrence: Martha Lawrence was appointed as the 2nd assistant keeper of the Pensacola Lighthouse on September 17, 1880 and served under her husband Samuel Lawrence who had been the head keeper since 1877. While serving as the 2nd assistant keeper, on January 12, 1884 she gave birth to a daughter, Tennessee Avada Lawrence. Although the entries in the light station’s log book at the time were very detailed by her husband, he did not mention that his daughter had been born there. When Samuel Lawrence was removed as the keeper on December 14, 1885, she also left the lighthouse.
Thomas Madden (1830-1914) was the son of Irish immigrants who came to America in 1827. Thomas Madden, who was the oldest of eight children, was born in Georgia, but the family later settled in Abbeville, Alabama. On October 19, 1855, Thomas Madden married Jane Elizabeth Palmer (1837-1907).
The Maddens’ stay at the Pensacola Lighthouse was a relatively short one. He was appointed as assistant keeper on January 18, 1869 and was promoted to head keeper on October 1st of that year. Thomas Madden was also able to secure the appointment of his wife as an assistant keeper. They left the lighthouse on October 1, 1869, presumably having secured a better paying job. After his wife’s death in 1907, Thomas Madden moved back to Abbeville, Alabama. After his death his body was returned to Pensacola, Florida and he was buried near his wife Jane in an unmarked grave. Julianne Clark, a descendant of the Maddens, along with the Pensacola Lighthouse Association, has purchased a headstone for the Mardens, and it is expected to be installed this month.
This story appeared in the
Mar/Apr 2019 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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