The Legacy of Tibbetts Point Lighthouse

by Susan G Mathis

Nestled where Lake Ontario meets the St. Lawrence River, Tibbetts Point Lighthouse stands as a guardian overlooking the waterways near Cape Vincent, New York. Steeped in history and surrounded by breathtaking scenery, this lighthouse has played a crucial role in guiding mariners through the treacherous waters of the Thousand Island region for nearly 200 years.

Tibbetts Point Lighthouse was first lit in 1827, making it one of the oldest in the Thousand Islands region. It's strategic location at the tip of the Cape Vincent peninsula marked crucial point for ships navigating the turbulent waters where lake Ontario meets the St. Lawrence River.

The original lighthouse, a 35-foot wooden tower, served as a beacon of safety for sailors navigating the intricate channels and the rocky shoals of the area. Over the years, the structure underwent several transformations, evolving into the impressive brick tower that stands today.

One of the most enchanting aspects of the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse is the panoramic view of Lake Ontario in the St. Lawrence river. Across the main shipping channel is Wolf Island, Canada, and the river beyond. The observation deck provides a breathtaking vantage point for anyone who wants to soak in the beauty of the surrounding landscape.

Today, the lighthouse property also houses a museum showcasing Maritime artifacts, historical documents, and an exhibit that show the fascinating history of the region. Visitors can learn about the development of navigation, the lives of its light keepers, and the importance of the lighthouse on the surrounding communities.

Tibbetts Point Lighthouse is a beacon of history, resilience, and maritime heritage. As its light still continues to shine across the waters and protect its sailors, the lighthouse remains a cherished symbol of connection between land and sea. 

Whether you are history, buff, a nature lover, or someone on vacation, the lighthouse welcome all who want to visit. My latest novel, Libby's lighthouse, tells its story.

Have you visited a lighthouse? Leave your answers or comments on the post below and on August 19 for my next post.

ABOUT LIBBY'S LIGHTHOUSE, 

book one of the Love in a Lighthouse three-book series:

It's 1894, and Elizabeth Montana, daughter of Tibbetts Point Lighthouse keeper, thought she'd love the lighthouse life forever. But her dying mother's long buried secret turns her world upside down, making her question if she'll ever truly belong and be loved. When a dashing young sailor appears wounded and disoriented, she finds purpose in helping him recover. Although he knows nothing about his past or his identity, his kindness and character steal a little more of her heart each day. 

Owen has no choice but to accept the hospitality of the lightkeeper and his daughter. As his relationship with Libby turns into something more, he knows their budding romance can go no further until he uncovers his past. With each passing day, Owen inches closer to discovering the secrets of his identity, but will the revelations bring him closer to Libby or tear them apart forever?

ABOUT SUSAN:

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than thirty times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books. She has twelve in her fiction line. Susan is also a published author of two premarital books, stories in a dozen compilations, and hundreds of published articles. Susan lives in Northern Virginia and enjoys traveling the world. Visit www.SusanGMathis.com/fiction for more.

A Soldier's Lighthouse Christmas

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse, Newfoundland. Photo by Annlynn Ward.

Christmas 1943 (a true story)

Private William Duval shivered as he rubbed his hands together over the small stove heater in his barracks. Man, this place was cold! Despite sharing a room with 19 other guys, the room never warmed up.
Some of the guys didn’t mind the cold so much. But back home in Louisiana, it just didn’t get as cold as here in Newfoundland. Why couldn’t he have been sent somewhere warm?

But then again, that’s where a lot of the fighting was – in the Pacific islands. Guess he should be thankful he wasn’t sent there. Who would’ve thought he’d end up in Canada, on a US base built to protect the northern coastline from German invasion?

He glanced at the pinup calendar hanging over his bed, his heart squeezing at the sight of his girlfriend’s picture thumbtacked over the movie star’s photo. Christmas was just weeks away, and what he wouldn’t give to spend it with Angela back home. Home where it was warm, where family and friends gathered together for food and fun. He could just see them all going around singing Christmas carols to their neighbors. If only the war would end before Christmas. Chances were slim with all the heavy fighting going on, but a guy could hope, couldn’t he?

His buddy Pete came in, slamming the door against a blast of frosty air. “Billy! We’ve been invited to the lighthouse for Christmas. Wanna go?”
“The lighthouse? What would we do at a lighthouse?”
“I hear the family there is swell – and real big too! Seems folks all around here go to the lighthouse for Christmas. Sounds good to me!”
“Well, it’s gotta beat staying in this barn. Sure, I’ll go.”

When Christmas day arrived, Billy and a bunch of other soldiers climbed into an Army Truck. After plowing through the deep snow, they reached the end of Cape Bonavista where the white lighthouse with vertical red stripes gleamed in the sunlight. Billy stepped inside the house and an array of tantalizing aromas drew him toward a table laden with food. Trays of Christmas cookies lay beside towering cakes and golden-crusted pies. At the other end of the table, platters of sliced meats and bowls of steaming vegetables invited.

A teenage girl ran up and introduced herself as one of Lightkeeper Hubert Abbott’s eleven children. Soon Billy’s stomach was full of Christmas dinner. Afterwards, he joined in the singing as everyone gathered around the family parlor while a man played Christmas carols on an accordion.  After singing, the folks played a variety of games, just like they did back home. As daylight began to dwindle over the Atlantic Ocean, Billy said his goodbyes to the hosts.

“Thank you, Mr. Abbott, Mrs. Abbott. You really made me feel like family today.”
“We’re glad you came, Billy. We’re all part of God’s family, and what better time for a family to be together than Christmas?”
Billy didn’t get to go home for the holidays, but thanks to the Abbotts, he didn’t spend the holiday alone.

The holidays can be a lonely time for people separated from their families. Many find the holidays especially difficult because their loved ones are no longer alive to share them.  God wants us to reach out to others, not just at Christmas, but all year long. Perhaps this Christmas season you can invite someone into your home, or find others who are alone and create a family environment together.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in," Matthew 25:35

I pray you all had a blessed Christmas. 

This is my last post for the Heroes, Heroines and History blog, as I've taken on more responsibilities and need to let go of others. I will miss you all, but hope to stay in touch by reading this blog along with you. As a parting Christmas gift, I'm offering a drawing for a copy of my book, The Christmas Gazebo. To enter, please leave a comment with your email address so I can reach you if you win. 

The Christmas Gazebo

by Marilyn Turk and Lenora Worth

Two Christmas Romances of past and present 

https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Gazebo-Romances-past-present/dp/1947523724/

 A “literary archaeologist,” Marilyn Turk writes historical fiction flavored with suspense and romance for Barbour Books, Winged Publications and Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. One of her World War II novels, The Gilded Curse, won a Silver Scroll award. She has also written a series of novels set in 1800 Florida whose settings are lighthouses. In addition, Marilyn’s novellas have been published in the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides collection and Crinoline Cowboys. Marilyn also writes for Guideposts magazine and Daily Guideposts Devotions.  She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association and Word Weavers International.

When not writing, Marilyn and her husband enjoy boating, fishing, playing tennis or visiting lighthouses.

Marilyn is a regular contributor to the Heroes, Heroines and History blog. https://www.hhhistory.com). Connect with her at http://pathwayheart.com, https://twitter.com/MarilynTurk, https://www.facebook.com/MarilynTurkAuthor/, https://www.pinterest.com/bluewaterbayou/, marilynturkwriter@yahoo.com.

The Lighthouse Keeper Who Came Back from the Dead

Race Rock Lighthouse, NY,
Photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com

By Marilyn Turk

Off the eastern end of Long Island Sound, you’ll find Fishers, Little Gull, Great Gull, and Plum–a string of islands. Many ships pass between the islands, but the deepest gap, called “The Race,” is just off the end of Fisher Island near a reef called Race Rock. The dangerous current that flows through the gap has been the doom of many vessels, especially before 1871, when the lighthouse built on the reef became active.

A stag station (men only), the lighthouse housed one keeper and two assistant keepers. The families of the married keepers lived on the mainland, and were visited when a keeper had leave to go home. Located eight miles off the coast from New Haven, Connecticut, going to and from the lighthouse was sometimes difficult for the keepers, depending on the tide. Waves can run in two directions where the water at the mouth of the Race meets the water of Fisher’s Island Sound. In bad weather, these waves can be quite large.

In April 1892, the new head keeper at Race Rock, twenty-four-year-old Christopher Culver, ran into those huge waves. After a brief shore leave to visit his family in New London, Culver set out to return to the lighthouse in a twelve-foot rowboat with a sail. Captain R.M. Jerome, a retired sea captain, watched Culver as he made his way out to the lighthouse. When Capt. Jerome saw Culver’s sail go down in the rough seas, he reported that the boat had capsized.

The ensuing search showed no trace of the keeper, and the newspaper reported his drowning.

In reality, Keeper Culver had abandoned his attempt to reach the lighthouse, lowered his sail, and rowed instead to Great Hay Harbor on Fishers Island where he found food and shelter at Mr. Oakley’s farm. Two days later, the keeper arrived back in New London aboard a steamship, and was reunited with his relieved and jubilant family.

At his sixty-ninth wedding anniversary, Culver recalled his premature death notice published sixty-four years before, thankful for the life he’d had since his “death.”

Keeper Culver didn't really die, he was just misplaced. 

At Easter, we celebrate the real resurrection of Jesus Christ, who really did die and really did come back from the dead, defeating death and sin simultaneously. We therefore have even more reason to be thankful for the life Christ has given us now and forever. 

Marilyn Turk

Historical fiction flavored with suspense and romance

 Marilyn Turk’s roots are in the coastal South. Calling herself a “literary archaeologist,” she loves to discover stories hidden in history. She is the author of two World War II novels, and the Coastal Lights Legacy series set in 1800s Florida—Rebel Light, Revealing Light, Redeeming Light, and Rekindled Light—featuring lighthouse settings. Marilyn’s novella, The Wrong Survivor, is in the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides collection. She also writes for the Daily Guideposts Devotions book.

She lives in Florida, with her husband, 9-year-old grandson, and a 17-year-old cat. When not writing, Marilyn can be found playing tennis, gardening, walking, fishing, or kayaking. She and her husband have visited over 100 lighthouses so far, but the RV is ready to travel to go see more.

Website: @http://pathwayheart.com

Email: marilynturkwriter@yahoo.com

Ministering to the Maine Islands

Moose Peak Lighthouse, courtesy lighthousefriends.com.

One day in 1905, the MacDonald brothers, both ministers, stood on top of Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island, Maine.  As they scanned the island-laden coastline, Alexander suddenly slapped his brother on the shoulder and exclaimed, “Angus, what a parish this would make!”

Alexander MacDonald

A robust man unafraid of hard work, Alexander was determined to make the parish a reality. While still in college, he had taught in small coastal and island schools, becoming familiar with the struggles of remote communities isolated by lack of transportation and communication.

The brothers knew life was tough on the islands, especially for lighthouse keepers’ families that had very little education and no health care. The MacDonalds’ dream was to provide needed services to these people.

To aid them in their efforts, the brothers contacted other coastal pastors, as well as, summer residents for support. The response was “most hearty, for all recognized the great need of such work,” according to one of the early mission bulletins, and the Maine Seacoast Mission was established.

Sunbeam I

The MacDonalds purchased a sloop named Hope and began sailing to nearby islands. The following year a Bar Harbor summer resident donated his motor yacht to the ministry. Named the Morning Star, the "staunch little launch" captained by Alexander MacDonald, cruised the coast during the summer. The brothers organized Sunday Schools, held church services, and cared for the sick. They also helped secure better public schools, started a circulating library and distributed literature.

Some ministers arrived at the islands in unusual ways.

Alexander MacDonald wrote, "We have storms, fogs, adverse winds, and strong tides to contend with, but our warm reception makes us forget such difficulties. I am ever grateful to the many friends who make this mission possible. My aim is to build so that others can continue to build on the foundation now being laid, so that the people all along the coast may be uplifted socially, morally and spiritually."


The determined minister petitioned state agencies and charitable organizations for textbooks and teachers, medical equipment, money, and volunteers. In 1912, another Bar Harbor summer resident donated $7,000 to build the first mission ship, a 57-footer. The daughter of the lightkeeper of Moose Peak Lighthouse on Mistake Island chose the name Sunbeam for the new boat, a name that signified the cheerful trust the islanders felt toward the Mission.


The new ship was better equipped with berths for emergency runs to mainland hospitals. Its durability allowed MacDonald to expand his time on the water beyond the summer season, reaching light stations and as many as 300 islands that were occupied year-round. "Mac," as he was called, performed marriages, funerals, and Sunday services in his pastoral role.

But beyond that, he brought the latest news to lonely islanders; encouraged them to plant gardens to improve their diets, often bringing them flour, vegetables, and meat. To care for their medical needs, he transported physicians, nurses, and dentists to the islands and carried the seriously ill back to mainland hospitals.


In 1916, the Mission hired a teacher for the children living in the many lighthouses along the coast, and the Sunbeam served as their classroom. MacDonald also began a tradition of adding Christmas gifts for island children to the Sunbeam’s cargo. When he died in 1922, brother Angus MacDonald stepped in as supervisor and the society established its first dedicated headquarters in Bar Harbor. The mission continued to meet the needs of islanders, helping to bring telephone service to the far-flung islands.

In 1926, Sunbeam II was launched, replaced by Sunbeam III in 1939, the society's first fully year-round boat, fitted for ice-breaking and equipped with accommodations for overnight stays, emergency transport, and dental clinics.
The steel-hulled Sunbeam IV was launched in 1964 and was replaced by the current ship, Sunbeam V, in 1995.

Sunbeam V

Today, far less people live year-round on Maine's islands and technology helps make living conditions better than they once were. However, the Maine Seacoast Mission continues to carry on its tradition “lighting the way by land and sea,” making life better for Maine’s coastal communities. “We respond to needs and concerns as we see them,” says current Mission President Scott Planting.

For more information, visit www.seacoastmission.org.

Historical fiction flavored with suspense and romance

Multi-published author Marilyn Turk calls herself a “literary archaeologist,” because she loves to discover stories hidden in history. Her World War II novel, The Gilded Curse, won a Silver Scroll award. When readers asked what happened to the characters after the book, Marilyn wrote the sequel, Shadowed by a Spy. Her four-book Coastal Lights Legacy series—Rebel Light, Revealing Light, Redeeming Light, and Rekindled Light—feature Florida lighthouse settings. In addition, Marilyn’s novella, The Wrong Survivor, is in the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides collection. Marilyn has also written a book of devotions called Lighthouse Devotions. Marilyn also writes for Daily Guideposts Devotions. Marilyn is the director of the Blue Lake Christian Writers Retreat. http://bluelakecwr.com.

Cedar Key Lighthouse

Cedar Key Lighthouse, Florida, Photo by Marilyn Turk

By Marilyn Turk 
*Comment at the end for a chance to win a book.

As other authors on this blog have noted, one of the best perks of being a historical writer is being able to visit the places in the story. Although the research is interesting on the internet from the chair in my office, it pales in comparison to seeing a place firsthand.

My series, Coastal Lights Legacy, is set near four different lighthouses on the coast of Florida. Each book takes place during significant events that occurred near or in each lighthouse. The lighthouses are the St. George Island Light during the Civil War, the Cedar Key light after Reconstruction, the St. Augustine Light a few years after the Civil War and the Pensacola Lighthouse during Reconstruction. Naturally, I had to visit each lighthouse to see firsthand what the area was like.

Of course, I couldn’t go back in time, but some things have remained since the 1800’s, the lighthouses, for one. Fortunately, I live in Florida, so these places aren’t too far away for me to visit.

This month, the second book in the series, Revealing Light, was released. Set in Cedar Key, Florida, the story happens shortly after the occupying Union troops left and southerners began to take back control of their state. My main character, Sally Rose McFarlane, who was born at the end of Rebel Light, goes to Cedar Key as a governess to teach the children of a successful town lawyer. However, Sally Rose has a secret she must hide in the changing environment of the area. That’s all I’m going to tell you, so I won’t spoil your reading of the book!

The town of Cedar Key is on the largest island in a cluster of islands known as the “cedar keys” in the Big Bend area of Florida, on the west coast. Also known as The Forgotten Coast, the area is home to places once significant or popular in Florida, but “forgotten” when interstates and progress diverted traffic. Since the Cedar Key Lighthouse is significant in Revealing Light, I had to go see it, right? But that is more easily said than done because the 1854 lighthouse is on an island called Seahorse Key about three miles from Cedar Key. In addition, the island is leased by the University of Florida as a marine lab that houses a dozen or so students in the lighthouse building several times of the year. What’s more, the island is only open to the public twice a year when the lighthouse has a special open house. Otherwise, the island is off-limits to the public due to its protected status as a nesting area for over 200 species of birds.

It just so happened that when I planned to visit Cedar Key,the island was not open to the public. So, to go to the lighthouse, I needed special permission from the university’s director of the marine lab. I contacted the director, and in what I believe is a God-wink, the director allowed me to go so I could do research for my book. Since I didn’t have transportation, he even provided that for me. I  met the island caretaker at a boat dock in Cedar Key, and he took me to Seahorse Key. 

What an amazing experience to view this uncivilized area through my character’s eyes! The caretaker proved to be an invaluable source of information as he pointed out various special features on the island, such as a small cemetery where Civil War sailors are buried and a hidden cistern within the lighthouse building itself.

General Zachary Taylor proposed the lighthouse on the island in 1850 due to its unique height above all the surrounding islands and the heavy commercial traffic in the area. However, it was General George Meade who designed the lighthouse that provided guidance to vessels transporting Florida’s red cedar to the two Cedar Key pencil factories.

By the late 1800’s, the area’s resources had been depleted, and with a new railroad built to Tampa, business shifted south. When an 1896 hurricane wiped out the majority of the commercial buildings, the area economy was lost. In 1915, the light was extinguished, and in 1929, President Herbert Hoover created the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge reserving three of the keys (islands) as bird sanctuaries.

On my trip to Seahorse Key, I had the opportunity to climb the spiral stairs of the lighthouse and step out on the gallery where I could see for miles—islands and water galore—the same sights the characters in Revealing Light saw. During my visit, I also saw shoreline trees filled with so many birds on nests, they looked like flowers. Hearing their symphony of nesting coos was amazing, accompanied only by the splashing of the waves on the beach. I wonder if Sally Rose heard that too?

Guess you’ll have to read Revealing Light to find out.

Leave a comment and your email address below for a drawing to win a copy!

Marilyn Turk writes historical fiction set on the coast. The Gilded Curse, a World War II novel, published in 2016, won a Silver Scroll award and its sequel, Shadowed by a Spy, will be out in July 2018. Rebel Light was the first book of her Coastal Lights Legacy novels which feature stories with lighthouse settings. The second book in the series, Revealing Light, will be published in 2018. In addition, Marilyn’s novella, The Wrong Survivor, will be in a collection called Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides coming out in November 2018. She has also written a book of devotions called Lighthouse Devotions. She blogs about lighthouses and writing on her website @ http://pathwayheart.com. In addition to climbing lighthouses, Marilyn enjoys boating, fishing, tennis, and gardening.

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

Michigan's Historic Big Bay Lighthouse

Huron Island Lighthouse

Granite Island Lighthouse

In 1882, the U.S. Lighthouse Board recommended a new lighthouse be built in Big Bay on Lake Superior between Granite Island Lighthouse and Huron Island Lighthouse. This recommendation was due to the high numbers of wrecked vessels in the vicinity and the distance between the existing stations. 

The lighthouse at Big Bay Point, Michigan was finished and put into operation in 1896. The solid brick station, located on high on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior, has sent out its beacon of light to passing ships for over a hundred

Big Bay Point LIghthouse

years.

The first Head Keeper at Big Bay Point, H. William Prior, arrived with his family approximately ten p.m. on August fifteenth, 1896. Head Keeper Prior kept meticulous records. Due to this, we know that his time of service was plagued by hardship and tragedy.

The first sign of trouble came when Assistant Keeper Heater went to the nearby town of Marquette for the unexpected death of his sister. After his return, Assistant Heater became lax in his duties and per the Head Keeper’s records, “he is so much under the control of his wife he has not the hart to do anything”. March seventh, 1898 Assistant Keeper Heater was transferred to Granite Island Lighthouse much to the delight of Head Keeper Prior.

After a series of irresponsible assistants, H. William Prior appointed his son, George E. Prior, to the position. He took the oath on January eighteenth, 1900, but tragically on April Sixteenth, 1901, George fell on the steps to the tower. His injuries were extensive and required a lengthy stay at a hospital in Marquette. July, 1901, George E. Prior died from septicemia due to a compound fracture of his femur.

June twenty-eighth, 1902, Head Keeper Prior’s melancholy apparently became unbearable, he was last seen walking into the woods with a gun and cyanide poison. He was not seen again until a year and half later when a hunter came across the skeletal remains of a man hanging from a tree. The remains were dressed in the clothing of the former keeper of Big Bay Point Lighthouse station.

In 1941, under the authority of the U.S. Coast Guard, the lighthouse was automated, and the last light keeper was reassigned.

Big Bay Lighthouse in winter

Then in 1951 & 1952, the US Army leased the buildings and land. National Guard and Army regulars were stationed at the lighthouse and would camp out in the fields surrounding the station for two week periods of anti-aircraft artillery training. On the cliffs, east of the lighthouse, large guns were installed. Aircraft was towed as targets over the lake. Imagine the sound of the guns as they fired over Lake Superior.

In 1952, a soldier stationed at the lighthouse committed a jealousy motivated murder at Lumberjack Tavern in Big Bay. The movie "Anatomy of a Murder," was based on this unfortunate incident.

After being abandoned for six years, the Big Bay Lighthouse sold in 1961 to a plastic surgeon from Chicago. He refurbished the station and dearly loved the home until he sold it in 1979, at which time, Big Bay Lighthouse became a bed and breakfast. Today, it is the only bed and breakfast with a working lighthouse in the United States.

Thank you for joining us at Heroes, Heroines, and History today.

Michele

________________________________________________________________

Award winning author, Michele K. Morris’s love for historical fiction began when she first read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House book series. She grew up riding horses and spending her free time in the woods of mid-Michigan. Married to her high school sweetheart, they are living happily-ever-after with their six children, three in-loves, and seven grandchildren in Florida, the sunshine state. Michele loves to hear from readers on Facebook, Twitter, and through the group blog, Heroes, Heroines, and History at HHHistory.com

The Lifesaving Women of Saugerties *plus Giveaway!

Saugerties Lighthouse, NY, photo by Sonja K. Keohane

“Help! Help us!” The frantic voices of sailors were lost in the storm as they cried out after their ship overturned. Waves crashed over them as they clung to the sides of their vessel. Would someone at the lighthouse see them and come to their rescue?

Then they saw the boat, its two occupants rowing vigorously as they struggled against the wind and turbulent water toward the desperate men. Each time the boat crested a swell, it disappeared behind the next one as the sailors watched anxiously, wondering if that boat been lost, too.

But hope returned when the boat emerged from the waves, still headed their way. As the boat neared, one of their rescuers leaned across its bow and reached out to grab the closest sailor and pull him onboard as the other rescuer kept the boat under control. One by one, the men were rescued, thanks to the strength and determination of the people in the lighthouse boat.

Not until they were safe at the lighthouse did the men realize their rescuers were two young women, Katie and Ellen Crowley, daughters of Saugerties Lighthouse Keeper Dennis Crowley.

The following account of the incident, printed in an 1878 newspaper, was told by a river captain who witnessed the scene.

Saugerties Lighthouse, NY, USCG photo

The waves ran so high, the gale blew so madly, the thunder roared so incessantly, and the lightning flashed in such blinding sheets, that it seemed impossible for the women ever to reach the men, to keep headway, or to keep from being swamped. But they never missed the opportunity of a rising billow to give them leverage and they managed by steady pulling to get ahead until they reached the men in the water. The great danger was that the tossing boat would strike the sailors and end their career, but one of the girls leaned forward over the bow of the boat, braced her feet beneath the seat on which she had been sitting, stiffened herself out for a great effort, and as her sister kept the bow of the craft crosswise to the waves, caught one of the men beneath the arms as he struck out on top of a billow, lifted and threw him by main force into the middle of the boat, and then prepared for the other man.

Katie, the older sister, was known for her ability to handle a boat, as well as swim. As a result of her proficiency in the water, the rescue was only one of many for which she was credited.

She never boasted of her achievement and when pressed to comment on her heroic prowess she said, “We are simply two girls trying to do our duty here in this quiet place, taking care as best we can of our blind father and aged mother.” Her father had lost his sight due to cataracts shortly after he became the keeper of the light, becoming dependent on his children to handle most of the duties.

So proficient in her duties, Kate became the official keeper at Saugerties Lighthouse in 1873 at the age of 20.

By 1964, the lighthouse had been abandoned, left to deterioration and vandalism. The US Coast Guard planned to demolish the building. But another heroic woman stepped in to save it. Ruth Reynolds Glunt, wife of Chester Glunt, who was keeper at Saugerties for 28 years, fought to save the lighthouse from demolition. Largely due to her efforts, the structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Saugerties Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast, NY

Today, the lighthouse is a bed and breakfast, thanks to restoration by the Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy which purchased the property in 1986.

Two women – Kate Crowley and Ruth Glunt are known for their heroic efforts at Saugerties, but while one saved people, the other saved the lighthouse. Both were passionate about their missions, and as a result, other people have been blessed.

*Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for a copy of Rebel Light, the story of romance during the Civil War on the Gulf Coast of Florida and the lighthouse that played a key role in it.

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 set on the coast of Florida, A Gilded Curse, a historical suspense novel set on Jekyll Island, Georgia, in 1942, and Lighthouse Devotions - 52 Inspiring Lighthouse Stories, based on her popular lighthouse blog. (@ http://pathwayheart.com)

Marilyn is also the director of The Christian Writers Retreat at Blue Lake March 22-25. If you live in the Gulf Coast area, take advantage of this local writers conference. See http://bluelakecwr.com/ for details and registration.

Christmas at the Needles

Needles Lighthouse, Isle of Wight, UK

By Marilyn Turk

Over the past five years, I've gained somewhat of a reputation as the "lighthouse lady," the one who blogs about lighthouses and puts them in her novels. I'm by no means an expert, but I do love lighthouses and love to research them. What I really love, though, is learning about the lighthouse keepers that took care of them 24/7, year after year. Very few lighthouses are still kept by humans since automation has taken over the lights, however, there are still a few people that used to be lighthouse keepers, and I've been especially privileged to get to know them.

One such lighthouse friend is Gordon Partridge, who was a  lighthouse keeper in the UK for twenty-two years (1974-1996). Gordon recently shared with me what Christmas was like when he was keeper at the Needles Lighthouse off the Isle of Wight. It is so special that I wanted to share it with you.

I was privileged to serve on Needles Lighthouse,one of England's best known and an icon of the Isle of Wight. My appointment lasted for just over six years during which time I was on duty for four Christmases, the memories of which have happily endured in my mind ever since.

The Lighthouse was "adopted" by the nearby Royal Lymington Yacht Club who generously,through their Clubhouse collection tub,raised much funding for "Lighthouse Comforts," amongst which were a stereo music centre,subscriptions to various publications,I.e. The quarterly, This England mag and others. Also on their list was to provide festive cheer for those on watch over Christmas, their kindness and generosity was overwhelming.

Usually, on the weekend before the actual Christmas, a fleet of RLYC craft, of all shapes and sizes, would sail down the Solent to the Lighthouse. Some 80 to 100 vessels would standoff and sing carols to us, weather permitting, the local Vicar would land and administer prayer to us. A senior member of the Club Committee would accompany him and deliver a sackful of cards and various cases of Christmas cheer, festive food, and often a bottle or two of the "hard stuff!"

I will never forget the atmosphere of song resonating across the water from the the assembled floating throng, who, for an hour or more, would offer a concert of favourite Christmas Carols and music which warmed our hearts with genuine Christmas love and peaceful wishes.

My heart is warmed whenever I think back, and I thank those people for their thoughtfulness and love from across the water.

We too should offer our greetings and welcome hands of friendship from across our waters.

That being so, I wish you and yours, a very Happy and Healthy Christmas. God Bless.

Gordon

Award-winning author Marilyn Turk lives in and writes about the coast – past and present. A multi-published author, she writes a lighthouse blog at http://marilynturk.com. Her latest release, Rebel Light, Book 1 in the Coastal Lights Legacy series, is now available, along with A Gilded Curse, and Lighthouse Devotions. Find them on amazon.com or through Lighthouse Digest magazine.