The Keepers of Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse
By Janice Gary
for The Capital
“I am sorry to report that my assistant, Mr. Peter S. Earle is losing his mind and I cannot trust him with the light. He has worried me with his actions and talk very much…”
So begins a letter to the Commander of the 5th District of the Light-House Establishment on February 26, 1905 by J. B. Suit, Keeper of the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. Suit asks that the Commander let him know what to do “as I have a very bad cold.”
Manned until 1986 and still in active service, Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse has its share of stories to tell. For over one hundred years, this quaint cottage on stilts has stood at its location just north of the South River in the Chesapeake Bay and served not only as a beacon for mariners but also a temporary home to legions of men who braved storms, ice, and lonely days to keep the light shining.
Some of the keepers were weather-worn mariners. Others were inexperienced young men in search of adventure. They signed up for a job often described as “long periods of boredom followed by short periods of terror.”
Being a lighthouse keeper at Thomas Point Shoal was a difficult post. Up to three men at a time served in close quarters. The pay was lousy -- $522 a year in 1911 -- approximately $12,000 in 2008 dollars, plus room and board. Some had the personality, perseverance and love of the sea to be a light keeper. Others were simply not up to the task.
The lighthouse we see on the Bay today is actually the third lighthouse for Thomas Point Shoal. The first light was land-based, built in 1824 on the Annapolis neck at Thomas Point. It was rebuilt in 1838, but by 1872 had deteriorated so badly it was no longer effective in warning mariners about the dangerous shoal located more than a mile offshore.
In 1874, plans began for the construction of a lighthouse out on the shoal. Originally, it was to be a Caisson style structure (such as the one offshore at Sandy Point). These sturdy concrete lighthouses could withstand ice and high winds. But the costs were deemed too high. Instead, a more cost-effective screwpile style lighthouse was chosen.
The light was renamed Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. George Sullivan, the last keeper of the land-based light, was re-assigned to the new lighthouse as First Keeper. Charles Miller was appointed Second Assistant and the position of Primary Keeper was awarded to Eugene Burchenal.
Burchenal was a Civil War veteran who had been wounded in the Battle of Antietam and was declared eligible for a disability discharge in 1863. One year after leaving the service, he re-enlisted and served with the 7th regiment until 1866. The Lighthouse Service valued the experience of veterans. Burchenal’s exemplary military record no doubt helped him gain the top position at Thomas Point.
In 1877, less than two years after the new lighthouse had been put into commission, a severe winter storm wracked the Chesapeake Bay. In his report to the lighthouse Board, Burchenal wrote: “some of the ice was over two feet thick pressing the house back.” The ice snapped the cast iron cap on the south spur pile, turning the lens over and smashing it pieces. “Two hundred gallons of oil was turned over,” he writes, “and the oil spread all over the house…”
The next day, Burchenal got in the small rowboat assigned to the Light and rowed through the ice fields to shore. He lit the old land-based light so that mariners would have some kind of signal until the Shoal lens was repaired. The Lighthouse Board commended him for his bravery.
In 1893, the U.S. Treasury Department wrote Captain Bergland of the 5th Lighthouse District, “In view of the unprecedented thickness of ice in the waters of your district, and … the fact that three lighthouses have already been carried away in the Chesapeake Bay, the Board directs you to take such measures as may be necessary to protect the lights under your charge.”
Eventually, a cast iron icebreaker and riprap was installed, but ice continued to be a problem. A Washington Post article dated February 7, 1907 stated that Charles Larsen, Assistant Keeper of Thomas Point Lighthouse was brought to Annapolis with a frost-bitten right hand, which he had received while exposed in an open boat on the Chesapeake Bay “during the whole of last night.”
Larsen had tried to row to Annapolis and had been carried across the Bay by pack ice. He was rescued by a tugboat.
Ice was not the only challenge out on the shoal. A keeper in 1908 reported that “during my absence from the station July 25th at 1:40 p.m., lightning struck the smokestack of the kitchen and nearly cut it in two … there was no fire but we cannot use the stove.” One report tells of losing the station’s rowboat in high seas. Another tells of a schooner crashing into the pilings. And of course, the lighthouse and the lens itself needed consistent maintenance.
According to U.S. Lighthouse Society chapter historian Sandy Clunies, keeping a lighthouse in working order was a never-ending task. The lantern, lens and other equipment needed to be dust-free and sparkling to assure the light would beam brightly each day. Much of the equipment was made of brass, which required constant polishing.
Painting the lighthouse was another year-round chore, as salt air quickly eroded the paint. And in the days before electricity, the keeper had to maintain supplies of oil to fill the lamps as well trim the wicks to keep a steady light. Early keepers were called “wickies.”
One major responsibility of a keeper was to file regular, almost daily reports to the Light-House Board. To do this, they had to row to shore during good weather and bad. Reports noted boating accidents, equipment malfunction and supply requests, but much of the correspondence had to do with personnel matters -- staff members who left for the mainland and did not return, men who were sick or homesick and some whose loneliness turned to despondency.
In 1903, Keeper Daniel A. White wrote the Light-House Board that he had left Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse and upon his return noticed the lamp was out and that his assistant, Henry Addicks, was nowhere to be found. “He had been acting queerly of late and several times threatened suicide.” White dragged the waters around the lighthouse for the body without success.
At larger, shore-based lighthouses, keepers lived with their families. But shoal stations such as Thomas Point were restricted to staff only, which earned them the name “stag stations.” Maryland was part of the 5th District, whose territory stretched from Delaware to North Carolina. Often, men from the Hatteras station were called to serve at Thomas Point Shoal.
Whether it was the tough weather conditions or loneliness, letter after letter to the Board from the men from at Thomas Point Light House ask for a change of assignment .
Devaney Jennett reported for duty at Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse on October 1st, 1908. By January 1909, he requested a transfer to the next vacancy in North Carolina or Virginia. “I am a family man,” he writes, “and this station is so inconvenient about getting mail.”
Malachai D. Swain repeatedly requested transfers “on account of having an invalid wife in North Carolina.” Homer T. Austin asks for a transfer to Lazaretto Light “as I could have my wife with me and live cheaper than boarding her in Annapolis.”
In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service merged with the U.S. Coast Guard, who assumed responsibility for the station. Those serving in the Lighthouse Service were offered a transfer to the Coast Guard. Some elected to do this and completed their service until retirement as civilian employees. It was the end of an era of service dedicated solely to manning the country’s lighthouses.
In 1972, the Coast Guard announced plans to automate the Thomas Point Shoal station and dismantle the cottage. The public outcry resulted in the lighthouse being listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse continued to be manned until its automation in 1986.
In 2004, a four-entity public-private partnership was formed to preserve the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. The City of Annapolis is the lighthouse owner, the U.S. Lighthouse Society and its Chesapeake Chapter act as lighthouse managers and the Annapolis Maritime Museum is the primary shore-based component. Anne Arundel County provides preservation and environmental expertise.
Since then, efforts have been underway to restore the lighthouse to its former glory. The all-volunteer Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society has been working to obtain grants to assist in the effort as well as in-kind contributions of paint, windows and other needed parts. Tours to the lighthouse began last year from the Maritime Museum in Eastport and will resume this spring.
Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse is the last unaltered screwpile cottage-type lighthouse on its original foundation in the United States. Fully automated, it continues to serve as a working lighthouse as an active Coast Guard maintained aid to navigation and NOAA National Data Weather Buoy.
The next time you see the flashing light of Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse or hear the low growl of its foghorn, think about the men who slept under that light and braved the elements to keep the Bay safe for mariners. And remember the new keepers of the lighthouse, who are hard at work to keep this jewel of the Chesapeake Bay sparkling for years to come.
For more information or to find out how you can help, visit the official page of the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse at www.thomaspointlighthouse.org
Sources:
“Early Keepers of Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse” by Sandy Clunies, Chapter Historian, United States Lighthouse Society
“Thomas Point Shoal Light Station National Historic Landmark Study,” by Ralph Eshelman, National Park Service
Correspondence of the Light-House Board and Light-House Establishment; National Archives, Washington, D.C.