Mind The Light, Kate

Robbins Reef Lighthouse with New York City and Statue of Liberty

By Marilyn Turk

When Kate Walker first arrived at Robbins Reef Light in 1883 with her Lighthouse Keeper husband John Walker, she threatened to leave him. She had never expected to live in a home surrounded by water. The lighthouse was the type often called a "sparkplug" style, due to its resemblance. It was built on a reef in the middle of a body of the channel leading to the New York City Harbor. Eventually, though, Kate got used to living in the lighthouse and became her husband's assistant keeper. She served in that capacity until John died three years later. His last words to her were, “Mind the light, Kate.”

Robbins Reef, 1917

Several men were offered the position John had vacated as keeper, but they refused, saying the location was too lonely. So Kate, the forty-year-old mother of two, applied for the position. Objections were raised against her appointment due to her petite size, assuming she was unable to handle a man’s job. At four-foot-ten and 100 pounds, the task seemed too large for a woman, not to mention, a tiny one.

It took four years and several men turning down the position before Kate received the appointment. But Kate's work ethic soon proved she was as good at the job as any man. Not only did she keep the light burning, she also rescued at least fifty people whose boats wrecked on the reef during storms. When fog rolled in, she went down into the basement to start the engine that sent out siren blasts. When the motor sometimes broke down, Kate climbed to the top of the tower to bang a huge bell.

Kate on the ladder to the first floor of the lighthouse.

Every day, Kate rowed her children to school, recorded the weather in the logbook, polished the brass, and cleaned the lens. At night, she wound up the weights multiple times to keep the fourth-order lens rotating, trimmed the wicks, refilled the oil reservoir, and in times of fog, she started up the engine in the basement to power the fog signal. As her son Jacob matured, he helped with the tasks and was made an official assistant keeper in 1896.

Kate was keeper of the light for thirty years, retiring at the age of 73. The U.S. Coast Guard commemorated her commitment to her position and diligence to the work by erecting a buoy in her honor and in 1996, a Coast Guard buoy tender bearing her name was launched.

Silencing her critics, Kate proved that despite her small size, she was more than capable of “minding the light.”

USCG Tender Katherine Walker

The Lightkeeper Wore a Skirt

By Marilyn Turk

From 1789 until the mid-20^th century, lighthouse keepers manned lighthouses on America’s coastline. A keeper’s duties were arduous – walking up stairs multiple times daily often carrying heavy buckets of oil, constantly cleaning and polishing the lantern, and putting new coats of paint on the towers, for example. Many risked their lives to rescue victims of shipwrecks. It was not a job for the faint-hearted, the weak, or the lazy. The job required strength, commitment and excellent work ethic. It needed a man of stamina and resolve. A man? Not necessarily.

Emily Fish of Point Pinos Light, CA
 

You may be surprised to know that over 150 women served as lighthouse keepers or their assistants. Most of the time, the women became keepers when their husbands or fathers either died or became too ill to carry out their duties

In addition to lighting the lantern at sunset and keeping it going all night, most of these women had children to care for as well. There was no electricity, no plumbing, no telephones. Water had to be collected from a cistern or pumped from a well, food had to be grown and cooked, animals cared for, clothes made, washed and mended





Kate Walker of Robbins Reef Lighthouse
 

Often the lighthouse board was reluctant to give women the position, considering them the weaker sex. Sometimes it took a letter-writing campaign by the woman and people who vouched for her to coerce the board to give in and offer her the job. Such was the case at the Robbins Reef Light.

When Keeper John Walker died, his wife Kate was his assistant. But the board thought the tiny, 4’10,” 100-lb. woman was incapable of handling the position. It was only offered to her after two men turned it down. In addition to all her light keeping duties, Kate rowed her two children back and forth from school on the mainland. She served as keeper for 24 years and is credited with saving over fifty lives. See her story at  http://www.lighthousedigest.com/Digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=3490.

Margaret Norvell also had two small children when her husband, a lighthouse keeper, drowned. A woman from a prestigious family in New Orleans, she could have gone back to her parents where she’d enjoy a life of ease. Margaret chose instead to carry on her husband’s work and served as keeper at three different light stations in Louisiana. During that time, she saved hundreds of people – many whose homes were wiped out by a hurricane. She also performed a daring rescue of a downed airplane pilot by rowing two hours each way in a storm to save him.



New Canal Light, N.O, LA, where Margaret Norvell was keeper
 

There are many other stories of the brave women who served, all of them heroines who endured hardship for the safety of others. Why did they do it? Why did they stay in lonely, dangerous places, doing jobs that were not considered normal for women?

For some, it was the income. Even though they were seldom paid the same salary as a man, the money was still better than average for a woman. Many others wanted to carry on the work to honor their husband’s commitment. Maybe the motivation came from a natural, nurturing instinct to protect and care for people.

As Margaret Norvell put it, “There’s nothing unusual about a woman putting a light in her window to guide her menfolk home. I just happen to have a bigger light and a lot more menfolk to look after.”

My husband and I just returned from serving as volunteer caretakers at the Little River Light in Cutler, Maine. The experience was amazing, awesome, and invigorating. However, we had the modern conveniences of indoor plumbing and electricity, which were added to the 1888 keeper's house in the mid-20th century. We also didn't have to operate the light, since it is now electric and automatic. We had a power boat to transport us from "our" island to the mainland and didn't have to row across the water. Plus, we were able to go to a grocery store for supplies before we began our stay, and didn't have to grow our own food. So, despite the temporary isolation and lack of a few amenities we have in our own home, we didn't endure hardship. And I wasn't alone.

Me and hubby at the Little River Light
 

The life of a lighthouse keeper was not easy, and I now have an even greater appreciation for what these people, especially women, endured so that others would be safe. Do you think you could have been a lighthouse keeper?

To read more about lighthouses, go to http://pathwayheart.com.