The light from six lens-lanterns was displayed from April 22 to May 1, while the old lens was removed and the new one installed.
Several keepers were convinced that the ghosts of the two doomed assistant keepers still resided in the lighthouse, sending signals to each other, cleaning the lens, and warning others of the dangers presented by Minots Ledge. Bobby Sager Profiles | Facebook Thomas Farragher is a Globe columnist. Sign Up. The flashes within a group were two seconds apart, while the groups of flashes were separated by five seconds of darkness. The company was incorporated in California twelve years ago and is no longer active. Gulls circle round in clear skies, and time slows. As one keeper here recently said, I thought all one had to know how to do out here was to clean, paint, and polish brass, but I have found out that one has to be doctor, painter, steeplejack, glazier, boatman, gasoline engineer, electrician, stonecutter and even a cook when the women folks leave us in the fall., Miriam (Dolby) Hammel, wife of a coastguardsman stationed on the island during World War II to watch for German U-boats, had fonder memories of Boon Island. Thats when I look up, and realize were only halfway to the entrance. Hes arguably made it better. I feel irrationally possessive of Minots light, even though Ive never been in the tower. After a year on the island, Keeper Hanna wrote the following threat: unless the Government provides for me and my family as agreed, I shall on the first day of April leave this place. Hannas request was forwarded to Secretary of Treasury Albert Gallatin with the following notation, it has been difficult to get anyone who would consent to accept the appointment as keeper for the compensation allowed. The lighthouse is privately owned. Eva Philbricks father was an assistant keeper on Boon Island from 1913 to 1917. She did chores, roller skated on the islands boardwalk, searched tide-pools, worshipped with the family every evening, and picnicked on Sundays. To see these, take Route
A crew of Portuguese fishermen swore they saw a figure hanging on to an outer ladder shouting at them in their own language to keep away, and many local fishermen have reported hearing moans and cries for help coming from the base of the lighthouse. 5th
First Assistant: Joseph Wilson (1850 1851), Thatcher W. Ryder (1860), Andrew W. Williams (1861 1862), Thomas Bates II (1862 1864), Israel Vinal (1864 1865), Levi L. Creed (1865 1866), John A. Pratt (1866 1868), Levi L. Creed (1868 1874), Albert H. Burdick (1874 1877), Thomas J. Sheridan (1877 1880), Joseph B. Vinal (1880 1881), Alonzo Smith (1881), Nathan S. Hudson (1881), Frank W. Thomas (1881 1883), Albert H. Burdick (1883 1892), Joseph E. Frates (1892 1909), Levi B. Clark (1909 1910), Octavius H. Reamy (1910 1915), Henry M. Bailey (1915 at least 1916), Charles R. Albrecht (at least 1917), Roland F. Bassett (at least 1919 at least 1921), Francis R. Macy (1922 1923),Per F. Tornberg (1923 1924), George H. Fitzpatrick (1925 1927), Harold L. Havender (1927), Anthony Souza (at least 1935 at least 1936), Elton H. Hegarty (1938 1940), Patrick J. Even before the White Man saw his ships wrecked in those waters, Indians had lived in awe of the evil spirit Hobomock, who dwelt beneath the rocks and unleashed violent storms. Growing up in Malden, a blue-collar suburb in northern Boston, Bobby Sager began his education in making money early in life. The stone tower, built of granite supplied by Joseph W. Coburn of Boston, is 133 feet high -- the tallest lighthouse in New England. I was thinking of that recently as I sat on a South Shore beach, listening to excitement rise in Joe Castigliones radio voice as a home-team fly ball cleared the bullpen wall at Fenway. The film, also starring the lighthouse historian Jeremy DEntremont and Ford Reiche, who took on a similar extensive restoration of the Halfway Rock Light Station, in Casco Bay, Maine, is directed by Rob Apse, with a portion of the proceeds preserving Whaleback Lighthouse, at the mouth of the Piscatequa River in Kittery, Maine. In 1847, a crew began working from a schooner anchored next to the ledge, and over two years and $39,000 later, on January 1, 1850, Minots Ledge Lighthouse was illuminated for the first time. See Photos. A wreck on this fatal reef is always attended with the destruction of human life, owing to its great distance from the shore, and the tremendous sea that rolls in over the rocks when the wind is at the eastward.. The message: I dont do charity. Ruth Abbott Carley, who met Gordon B. Kenny at the USO on Boston Common and was dating the coastguardsman while he was stationed at Boon Island Lighthouse in 1951 to 1952, kindly provided the images embedded in this paragraph. After three years spent cutting the rock to form a foundation, the first six courses of the lighthouse were laid, dovetailed, and dowelled together in 1858. Head: Isaac Dunham (1849 1850), John W. Bennett (1850 1851), Joshua Wilder, Jr. (1860 1861), James J. The money was well spent, though; although many waves have crashed over the ninety-seven-foot tower and even broken windows, the lighthouse has sustained no significant structural damage. Its not just the Minots Ledge lighthouse thats changing hands. He studied economics at Brandeis and has a masters degree in management from Yale. Hanna soon realized the sum was insufficient and requested $450 annually. The Late Gale at Minots Rock Light, John W. Bennett, 1851. People named Bobby Sager. of Lamp Wicks
In December 1892, the British Schooner Gold Hunter wrecked on Boon Island with the temperature at four degrees below zero. Some time around 1a.m. "If you apply too. 265 to 440
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Girard was one of two bidders seriously pursuing Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse in 2010, but he dropped out of that auction after losing a coin toss to the eventual winner. The lighthouse was automated in 1980. Meanwhile the numbers of lighthouses are declining. 3 south from Boston, to Route 228. lens, which had been removed from the tower in 1993, was given to the Kittery Historical and
Its ledges were among the most perilous spots on the eastern seaboard until a lighthouse was established there in 1811, following James Madisons approval. 6th
Hanna later returned to the service as keeper at Franklin Island. I ask Waller if he ever imagines himself as one of the lightkeepers. Interested parties had sixty days to submit a letter of interest, after which they would be given an opportunity to inspect the lighthouse. We always find the answers by asking how they did it back in the day. Sager also was a partner and the president of Gordon Brothers Group from 1985 to 2000. The Dalai Lama, Sting, and Bobby Sager at Sager's home in Boston in 2012. The US General Services Administration put the lighthouse up for auction in 2014. No longer used as a main navigational aid, the lighthouse as we know it is slowly being rendered obsolete. It is 25 feet in diameter at its base and 12 feet in diameter at the top. Grover was cleared in court, but the accusations, and other difficulties, would continue. He can be reached at, the government had auctioned it off in 2014. Log In. 3. Breakwaters, River Lights, Channel, Small Islands in Sounds. Although Merrill said he took pains with the mortar and later wrote, I did my utmost to have it done well, an 1843 report said it was laid up in bad lime mortar, the tower was leaky, and the walls inside were covered with ice in winter and green mould in summer. After the twelve lamps, set in fourteen-inch reflectors, went into service in the new tower, the old one was taken down to a height of twelve feet and used as a wood shed. Lewis, who submitted a report in 1842 detailing the more than forty vessels that had met their end in the previous decade as a result of the ledge. Turn left on
At the mooring a few hundred feet out from the station, we hop into the dinghy, his sixththe sea took all the othersand from the stern I look at Waller, 59, in his thick-rimmed black and gray specs under a matching beanie rolled above his ears, rowing in galoshes and yellow waterproof fishing suspenders. I get the lighthouse obsession from both sides. The lighthouse was twenty-five feet in diameter at its base, twelve feet in diameter at the top, and 118 feet high to the base of its lantern. I want to live the fullest possible life.. A new, forty-nine-foot-tall granite tower with an octagonal wrought-iron lantern was built by Colonel Seward Merrill for $3,406.65 in 1831. In 2016, Sager also purchased Michigans Grays Reef Lighthouse at auction. Fun? Bobby Sager says, repeating my question. Next summer Waller, who has been awarded by the American Lighthouse Foundation for his work in preservation, will finally finish the near unimaginable with the installation of a rare antique first-order Fresnel lens with the refracting glass once commonly used to intensify light for mariners. If you look out into the Atlantic, past the Scituate, Massachusetts, harbor you can see Minots Ledge Light blinking 114 feet above the swell. Everything gets done according to what he wants. Eva recalls, Sometimes I played alone on the rocks, and when there were a lot of seals, Id make believe that was my army. until it becomes Main Street. Wilson climbed up the iron ladder to light the lantern, but found it impossible to descend to the living quarters. Dave Waller sits in the lantern room during a NorEaster last winter. Sager is now fixing up two more lighthouses (Minots Ledge Light south of Boston and Maines Boon Island Light) he landed at auction when they were offloaded by the Coast Guard. Minots future is still up in the air. One exception is the countrys actual last official lightkeeper still working for the Coast Guard: Her name is Sally Snowman, and her job and second home, Boston Light, are in jeopardy. 10 Lighthouses Built In Perfect Isolation - Listverse The U.S. General Services Administration, which is essentially the real estate arm of the government, was tasked with getting rid of it. The storm washed huge rocks up on the island, demolishing the keepers house and a couple of small outbuildings. Go help someone.. Some of the people purchasing auctioned lighthouses feel the same as me, and theyre buying them to save them. For the Graves lighthouse, Waller dove in again, pinching pennies. Second Assistant: Samuel Tobey (1855 1856), Josiah Tobey Jr. (1856 1859), John S. Baker (1859), Enos Gray (1859 1861), S. Tobey (1861 1864), George E. Bridges (1864 1865), Charles Ramsdell (1865 1868), Samuel R. McLorn (1868), Luther Amazeen (1868 1870), Nathan White, Jr. (1870 1874), Edwin J. Hobbs (1874 1876), David R. Grogan (1876 1878), George O. Leavitt (1878 1880), Paschal Fernald (1880 1881), Orrin M. Lamprey (1881 1885), William C. Williams (1885 1886), James Burke (1886 1888), Leonidas H. Sawyer (1888 1890), Charles W. Torry (1890), Walter S. Amee (1891 1893), William M. Brooks (1893), Alvah J. Toby (1893 1894), James Hawe (1894), Joseph A. Pruett (1894 1896), Charles S. Williams (1896 1897), Meshach M. Seaward (1897 1900), Merton E. Tolman (1900), Henry C. Neal (1900 1902), Frank L. Peabbles (1902), Leroy L. Myers (1902), James R. Faulkingham (1902 1903), William T. Stevens (1903 1904), Mitchell Blackwood (1905), William Henry Burns (1905 1907), Charles Whitten Allen (1907 1911), Fuller E. Larrabee (1912 1913), Charles A. Radley (1913), Albert Staples (1914 at least 1915), Roscoe M. Chandler (1916 1917), Harry M. Kelley (1917 1919), George E. Woodward (1919 1920), Arthur E. Ginn (at least 1921), Eugene L. Coleman (1923 1924), Myron L. Wilson (1924 1925), Andrew H. Kennedy (1925 1928), Fred C. Batty (1930), Frank M. Rumery (1930 ), Howard W. Gray (1932 1934), Hoyt P. Smith (1935 1936), Harry H. McClure (1936 1937), Henry S. Brown (1937 at least 1941), Calvin Dolby (1944 1945), Russell G. Carpenter (at least 1945), Clifford Gustavson (at least 1947), Charles Kendrick Capon (1951 1953), Harold L. Roberts (1956), Ron Schultz (1959). The bottom forty feet of the tower are solid granite, save for a central space that served as a cistern. Minots light has been giving people feelings since it was built in 1860. 1
On January 26, 1839, the Grovers were forced to retreat to the Light House as a place of safety as the sea broke into the porch, unhung the doors and forced the door of the dwelling house and entered the lower rooms, causing considerable damage. The Grovers had faced a similar situation on October 31, 1829 as recorded in the keepers logbook. Minot's Ledge Lighthouse - Cohasset, Massachusetts As the iron supports began to snap one by one, the bell was silenced, the beacon was extinguished, and the men were cast into the raging sea. Two water tanks, weighing about four tons each, were lifted off their granite foundations and carried a distance of seventy-five feet to the northeast end of the island and totally wrecked. The entries range from the weather 40 degrees, light rain in the morning to more compelling matters: Captured a rowboat full of German sailors in the fog, held them until Navy picked them up three days later. Current Address: KVFV Alaminos Dr, Santa Clarita, CA. Christopher Sager, Santa Clarita, CA (91350) - Spokeo The illuminating apparatus was changed in 1885 to burn mineral oil instead of lard oil, and then in 1894, a new second-order Fresnel lens was installed atop the lighthouse. 4
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Although the area is no longer populated by Indians who believe in the evil spirit of Hobomock, for years tales have abounded of strange moaning, tapping, and even mysterious polishing of the lens by ghostly hands. (Photo: Javaris Johnson/Snipezart). With no takers and erosion at its base, the 86-foot Kauhola Point Lighthouse in Hawaii was demolished altogether in 2009. Local nonprofits and people in the public sector have begun exploring an ownership transfer of the historic landmark through the 2000 act. Sager grew up in Malden, on the North Shore of Massachusetts, so maybe he just has that same nostalgia-fueled fascination. One of the first lighthouses that he built of granite was the Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse, in 1837. It is two miles from Graves and allows tours. Big Bay Point Lighthouse, a B and B looking out from the cliffs of Lake Superior, Michigan. On a windy January afternoon, our boat covers the nine miles from Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina to its offshore mooring in a swift 35 minutes, plunging five feet down and back up over waves that look like rolling hills in Vermont. Indeed life inside the lighthouse did prove precarious. From 1897 to 1905, his son, Charles S. Williams was first assistant, following his promotion from second assistant. Right in her hair.So after that, she started using the chamber pots. Lighthouse. Ive been knocked down by it on the wharf beside the light, and opening a window to look out more than halfway [65 feet] up the tower, Ive had as much as three buckets-full dashed in my face.. Asked Navy to reimburse us for their food; Navy refused. The Germans had been spies mapping the harbor in World War I. At night wed take beers out to the back porch and count the pulses from the light, picking out which ones said love and which ones said you.. I have made a calculation and find that what would make me comfortable, Oliver wrote, would amount to nearly five hundred dollars [per year]also the wages of a Man and Boy would be thirty dollars a month. display: none; It is situated in Cape Blanco State Park, amid miles of trails. Sitting at a table just steps away from where Hillary Clinton recently appeared at a fundraiser, Sager said hes driven by a counterintuitive impulse: a kind of altruistic selfishness. Philanthropist and photographer Bobby Sager, founder of the Sager Family Traveling Foundation and Roadshow, met Moise in 2005. Donovan (1895), Charles G. Everett (1895 1905), Ernest H. Small (1905 1909), Vivian A. Currier (1909 1910), Eugene N. Larsen (1910 1911), Fred M. Pease (1911 at least 1912), Percy A. Evans (at least 1939 1940). At $300,000, Minots Ledge Lighthouse was one of the most expensive lighthouses in American history. Summer Street and then right on Border Street. Naval Museum in Kittery, Maine where it may be viewed by the public. Henry David Thoreau described passing Minots Ledge Lighthouse in 1849:
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Graves Light sits on a rocky ledge in the middle of Boston Harbor, surrounded by water. White Shoal Light, Lake Michigan With an asking bid of $15,000, this delightful candy cane of a lighthouse has been made famous for its representation on the "Save Our Lights . Grover was still keeper in 1837, earning $600 per year, and his letter-writing enemies continued their assault, branding him a profane man, uncivil to those who visit the island and alleging that he lived in great intimacy with his wifes sister (while apparently estranged from his ailing wife). The Lighthouse Establishment heard and responded. Nepal. Some sit submerged under the waters of the Chesapeake Bay or are about to topple over in the Great Lakes. A little while after thatsame storm, Hutch put the teapot on the stove to get the tea hot, and he got up to go to the bathroom andthe sea took bathroom and all and took it all out back on the high rocksI was glad to get off that place. His first renovation was his Malden home, a 10,000-square-foot Queen Anne style firehouse that had nearly burned to the ground when he and his wife, Lynn, bought it from the town for $32,500. The catch? Once during a storm, Florence heard her daughters shrieks. It was kind of redundant.. Morris, his wife, their two-year-old son, and two coastguardsmen sought refuge in a small, sturdy structure, and a helicopter was dispatched to drop food to them after the waves subsided. Were climbing up this? I ask, as if its not obvious. Lets talk about something more serious, more substantial, suggested Sager, 62, sporting a gray T-shirt, dark slacks, and stocking feet. In 2013, the Kittery Historical and Naval Museum announced it was having difficulty paying the premium on the $800,000 insurance policy for the Boon Island lens. Graves . Waller on the bridge between structures, on the lighthouse acreage. The lighthouse is a three-story cast iron square structure, 45 feet in height, that rests on a cylindrical tower. What kind of a guy buys a lighthouse? Order
I dont have to fill in all the boxes before I decide to do something, for better or worse.. Hes rechinked the granite blocks to make it watertight, and put in running water and electricity. The GSA says theyre a symbol of the strength and longevity of our countrys trading practices and communal spirit. In less governmenty terms theyre markers of a kind of simplicity and purposeful adventure, which is now all but obsolete. In spite of Boston Lights historic importance, it will be a huge challenge for the next steward to preserve the station, says Jeremy DEntremont, when I later reach him inside New Hampshires Portsmouth Harbor Light, home of the American Lighthouse Foundations local chapter. Since the act passed, theyve transferred ownership of 68 lighthouses to non-profits and historical commissions for free, and sold 39. The stone dwelling designed for two keepers is occupied by three, two of whom have families. My dad grew up in the harbor the light protects, and my grandmother trolled for striped bass with a handline out past the ledge. In the old days, a light keeper lit the lens and hand-cranked weights to rotate the light, each sending out an identification signal or patternGravess is two white flashes every twelve secondsto guide mariners to shore, back where we came from in East Boston. I had read that. He and his partner made their fortune by transforming a small Boston jewelry liquidator into a worldwide financial advisory company. Fort Point Lighthouse was completed in 1853, shortly after its twin lighthouse at Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California. (Photos courtesy of Dave Waller) When I accepted the post, I closed my ears against the reports of the former keeper, treating them (as I now find) too lightly, and here I shall remain so long as a vestige of the lighthouse remains; but the truth must be told. We walk the fresh pale planks, turn around, and I see it why Waller would throw down the most moneyjust shy of a million dollarsever spent privately on a lighthouse. 3.15
The sea washd the small rocks from under the Lighthouse and Dwelling house; the island was all under water for 4 hours., On May 10, 1839, the complaints about Keeper Grover must have finally hit their mark, as the keeper wrote in his log: Turnd of[f] of Boon Island after Serving as Lighthouse Keeper 22 years and 10 months and 20 Day Without Cause.. I heard a plane just now, but therell be days when theres just the rise and fall of the tide and the wind.. Lighthouse fanatics have reached out to tell him theyre glad hes renovating it, and that they can see the good parts of private ownership. Minots Ledge Lighthouse lost its resident keepers in 1947, when the light was electrified and automated. About 100 years ago there were more than 1,000, according to the U.S. Lighthouse Society, and now 850 are still standing. The worst storm that struck the island during Keeper Williams lengthy tenure began on January 31, 1898 and was described by Williams in a letter to The Portsmouth Herald. As far as the preservation of lighthouses as historic monuments, Im optimistic about the ones that are tourist attractions being saved, he says. Rather than let the situation. We cut off the cabin and converted it into a barge to haul heavy materials out to Graves, says Waller, referring to the historic lighthouse he owns. Fortunately for Graves, we really care a lot about it.. Hes says hes planning to open it up for occasional tours, and that the response has been really good. To have the waves, like a pack of hungry wolves, eyeing you always, night and day, and from time to time making a spring at you, almost sure to have you at last.. ARLHS USA-545. Captain William H. Swift, an engineer in the U.S. Topographical Department, knew that it would be terribly expensive if not impossible to build a traditional solid cylinder that could survive full exposure to the ocean. Site open; tower closed, except for those with dinner reservations. (See this video of the Gay Head rescue.). Be selfish. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for INVISIBLE SUN BOBBY SAGER RIZZOLI NEW YORK SIGNED BOOK RARE at the best online prices at eBay! In March 1812, Thomas Hanna, grandfather of Marcus Hanna who would receive notoriety as keeper at Cape Elizabeth, agreed to man the light for $300 per year, plus a $100 advance for provisions. This photo is from 1910. Every year storms seem to do more damage. The glacier land (called drumlins) under both the tower and the keepers house, where Snowman, 71, lived half the year for almost 20 years maintaining the place and giving tours, is shrinking. Captain F.A. Lighthouse is best seen by boat, but a distant view is possible from Cape Neddick
Waller is recognized as an expert and has been an advocate for restoration, appearing in The Last Lightkeeper, an Amazon documentary released late last year. The fires inside the dwelling went out after the chimneys became capped with ice. Among the federal detritus, lighthouses are a special case. That cistern had green scum an inch thick on top of it., Despite the storms and hardships, several children and grandchildren loved their time on Boon Island. Light Hearted ep 61 - U.S. Lighthouse Society News