![]() ![]() Richards, who grew up at the Pointe Aux Barques Light during the 1920s, recalls: It always had a curved edge."īringing supplies for the lighthouse was also often very hard, tedious work. Not such a thing as a sharp edge in any corner of a piece of wood. They painted and they repainted and they painted, until paint usually built up so it had so manyĬoats there was no sharp edges at all anymore. The government put great stock in painting. "Things that I remember mostly about his duties were, there seemed to always be a paintbrush in his hand. Sheridan, who grew up during the 1910s at the Saugutuck Light where his father was keeper, recalls about his father's work: The tower, it seemed like it was forever in need of attention inside because Oh, every day there wasĪ man up there had to check it out to make sure that the light operated properly.and that the lens were clean and all the brass. Well that all had to be polished and kept right up to-oh boy. Knows living around the water, that painting and deterioration of the buildings around the water is more so than inland. So all those machinery had to be serviced, and oil had to be changed constantly. And then there was three generators and a big bank of batteries. "We had two big air compressors in the engine room that was for the foghorn. Maxwell Gertz, reflecting on his years at the Manituou Island The Board constructed a system that would work reasonably well if the keeper was conscientious, could read, and was willing to follow instructions.Īlthough a keeper's work was sometimes glamorized in the press, the daily routine of a keeper typically involved performing very routinized tasks, often in an isolated, uncomfortable setting. Such detailed instructions left little to the keeper's judgement, however, they likely represented the only way the Lighthouse Board could effectively run its often remote system of lighthouses using untrained personnel who were usually political appointees. For example keepers were told that after lighting the "central wick, No. The Lighthouse Board outlined 131 seperate tasks keepers were to perform in order to use and maintain a Fresnel lens apparatus. In addition to general guidelines and rules regarding conduct, the publication included very specific instructions regarding the operation and maintenance Station for only two reasons, to draw pay or to attend Sunday religious services.īy 1858 the third edition of these rules had become very extensive, running to eighty-seven printed pages. Without written permission a keeper could leave his or her A keeper could be immediately dismissed if he or she were discovered intoxicated or, if for any reason, the light was extinguished. In 1852 the first written rules for keepers were promulgated. Growing lists of rules and regulations that defined the keeper's daily routine. ![]() However, as the Lighthouse Board became increasingly involved in the work of running the lights it established an ever In the early parts of the nineteenth century there was little by way of formal regulation that defined a keeper's responsibilities. After 1939 all newly employed individuals who worked with Great Lakes navigational aids were members of the Coast Guard. Coast Guard, keepers who were then working had aĬhoice of either retaining their civilian status or becoming members of the Coast Guard. In 1939, when the Lighthouse Service became a part of the U.S. In 1896 light house keepers became members of the federal civil service, removing them entirely from the process of political appointment. A three month probationary period, overseen by the Board, was also required before an appointment became permanent. To the Board, which arranged for each nominee to be interviewed. Nominations from the collectors of customs were forwarded Newly appointed keepers should be between the ages of eighteen and fifty.Ī keeper should be able to read and write, keep simple financial accounts, be able to pull and sail a boat, and possess sufficient skill to maintain the equipment and perform minor repairs. Slowly, however, various reforms were put in place that limitedīy the 1870s the Lighthouse Board, which then was responsible for the operation of all lighthouses in the U.S., had established basic characteristics that keepers must possess. Until the 1850s this system of appointment stymied all efforts to reform the service and establish a merit appointment system. Most often used keeper nominations to repay political favors. The collector of customs, also a political appointee, Generally the local collector of customs nominated an individual to the Secretary of the Treasury, who formally appointed each keeper. For most of the nineteenth century keepers were political appointees.
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