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| Boon Island Lighthouse, ME, photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com |
By Marilyn Turk
Thanksgiving is here, and cooks are
preparing and planning their family feasts. Most of us gorge ourselves on a
variety of favorite dishes served for that special meal. Advertisements
featuring platters of golden turkeys surrounded by festive fall decorations
have challenged many of us to recreate such delightful settings on our own
tables as family and friends gather around in appreciation. But sometimes,
Thanksgiving meals are hard to come by. Here’s a story about one such time.
On Thanksgiving Eve, 1888, three
lighthouse keepers were marooned at the Boon Island Lighthouse six miles off
the coast of Maine. A winter storm raged for three days
while Head Keeper William C. Williams and his two assistants stayed in the
tower, forced to stay in the top part of the structure while the gale assaulted
the remote island.
The135-foot lighthouse shook each time it was
pummeled by wind gusts and crashing waves. Meanwhile, the keepers
wondered if the storm would ever end, if the tower would stand firm, and if
they would survive.
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| Boon Island Lighthouse, ME, photo National Archives |
Thanksgiving looked bleak and lonely.
With their families back on the mainland, there would be no annual celebration
or bountiful Thanksgiving feast. Stranded on the island, the keepers watched
their provisions diminish, unable to leave to go buy more. There’d be no
turkey, just boiled potatoes and bread . . . again.
A sudden, thunderous noise resounded
throughout the tower as an object crashed into the lighthouse. Was it another
boulder, loosened by the raging storm? Hoping the lantern windows had not been
broken, Keeper Williams went up to check.
There, lying on the galley surrounding
the lantern room, were eight black ducks, dead from striking the glass.
The next day, as calm returned to the
sea, the three lighthouse keepers sat down for Thanksgiving dinner and gave
thanks for keeping them safe through the storm and for the duck dinner God had
supplied.
As you look forward to your own
Thanksgiving meal this year, remember those who are not as blessed, and perhaps
even invite someone who doesn’t have such bounty to share your meal.
May God richly bless you this
Thanksgiving.
Marilyn Turk
loves to study history, especially that of lighthouses and the coast of the
United States. She is the author of Rebel Light, a Civil War love story, A
Gilded Curse, a historical suspense novel set in 1942, and Lighthouse Devotions - 52 Inspiring
Lighthouse Stories, based on her popular lighthouse blog. (@ http://pathwayheart.com)
To find out more about Marilyn’s new releases, sign up for
her newsletter at
marilynturk@pathwayheart.com.
You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Painting by Norman Rockwell
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