Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

KEEPERS OF THE DUTCH ISLAND LIGHT

Rosemary Enright and Sue Maden

Occasional Paper #5 Jamestown Historical Society

Jamestown Historical Society Collection Dutch Island Light, about 1900 Jamestown Historical Society Occasional Paper #5

Based on a series of three articles that appeared in the Jamestown Press, October 1, 8, and 29, 2009 Revised and reprinted with permission of the Jamestown Press

W ith special thanks to Jeremy d’Entremont of the American Lighthouse Foundation for sharing his information and photographs and to Jeff McDonough of the Jamestown Press for printing the original version of this paper.

Published by Jamestown Historical Society Post Office Box 156 Jamestown, RI 02835 401-423-0784 jhs@ jamestownnri.com www.jamestownhistoricalsociety.org

Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

The first Dutch Island lighthouse and its keeper’s cottage were built at the southern tip of Dutch Island in 1826 on land ceded by the State of Rhode Island to the United States government the previous year. The first lighthouse keeper was appointed on January 1, 1827, and – according the Rhode Island Republican – the light was first lit on the same day.1 For the next 120 years, until the Coast Guard automated the light in February 1947, a keeper lived on the island, tending the light. Many brought their wives and children with them. Life on the 81-acre island was not always easy, although many of the men who lived there seem to have enjoyed the duty. The keeper was not allowed to leave his station without permission from a superior, except in an emergency and then only for 24 hours and after supplying a suitable substitute.2 At first, transportation to and from the island was by rowboat. The first keeper’s house was a four-room cottage built of stone and slate found on the island.3

Jamestown Historical Society Collection Dutch Island Lighthouse about 1900.

1 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

In the early days, the lighthouse keepers were political appointees, often veterans or retired seamen. "The best keepers are found to be old sailors, who are accustomed to watch at night, who are more likely to turn out in a driving snow storm and find their way to the light-house to trim their lamps, because in such weather they know by experience the value of a light, while on similar occasions the landsman keeper would be apt to consider such weather as the best excuse for remaining snug in bed."4 In 1852, the U.S. Light-House Board was formed and rules were issued restricting appointments to "persons between the ages of 18 and 50, who can read, write, and keep accounts, are able to do the requisite manual labor, to pull and sail a boat, and have enough mechanical ability to make necessary minor repairs about the premises, and keep them painted, whitewashed, and in order."5 In 1896, the keepers became civil service employees, and in 1937 the service was merged with the Coast Guard.

National Archives Record Group 407 Dutch Island, 1938. The black line shows the extent of lighthouse land.

2 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

Keepers of the First Light

William Dennis Jan. 1, 1827 to Aug. 3, 1843 Robert H. Weeden Aug. 3, 1843 to Nov. 3, 1844 William P. Babcock Nov. 3, 1844 to Sept. 21, 1846 Robert Dennis Sept. 21,1846 to Aug.5, 1853 Benjamin Congdon Aug. 5, 1853 to Dec. 13, 1859

The first keeper of Dutch Island could not have been appointed under the 1852 rules. W illiam Dennis, a Newport native and Revolutionary W ar veteran, was 80 years old when he took charge of the new Dutch Island light. Dennis had gone to sea at a young age and was in command of a merchant vessel based in London when the first shots of the Revolution were fired. He hurried home to take part in the uprising and during the war commanded six different privateering vessels. He was twice taken prisoner. After the war, from 1801 to 1813, he was sheriff of Newport County.6 W illiam Dennis served as the keeper at the lighthouse until shortly before his death at 93 years of age. Toward the end of his career, reports from the local superintendent indicate that the old man was not up to the job. W illiam’s son Robert took over at least some of the tasks, although he was not officially appointed to the post. W hen complaints surfaced that Robert was not living on the island and therefore could not be the keeper, he wrote an impassioned letter to the Board pleading with them to let his father live out his remaining days at the lighthouse.7 W illiam Dennis resigned in August 1843 and died the following month. The second keeper, Robert H. W eeden, stayed at Dutch Island for only 15 months. It was during his short tenure that Lighthouse Superintendent W illiam Ennis reported that the lighthouse and keeper’s quarters were “the worst constructed of any in the state.”8 W eeden’s next station was Beavertail Light, where he served until his death four years later.

3 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

W illiam P. Babcock, his successor, was appointed during the W hig administration of John Tyler. Three months later, the Democratic candidate James K. Polk was elected president. Babcock, fearing the loss of his job to a preferred political appointee, wrote to Polk’s Treasury secretary, who was in charge of the lighthouses: “I have a desire to inform your honor that I like my situation, and should be very sorry to lose it, for I am poor, and it is all I shall have to depend on to support my family through the winter. ... If keeping a good light and attending to my duty will ensure your honour’s approbation, I should be grateful for the favor.”9 Babcock retained his position until September 1846, when Robert Dennis returned to the island – this time as the officially appointed keeper. Because of his father’s time as keeper, Robert Dennis must have been more aware than his two predecessors of the conditions under which he would be expected to live and the reports filed by his superiors indicate that he was sometimes vocal in complaining about them. Following an inspection in July 1848, Edwin W ilbur reported: “The boat [used to get to and from the island and in rescue efforts] is very much out of repair, & will cost $20 to repair her, she is very heavy for the keeper to handle alone, he being the only man on the Island. It is proposed to have a new boat & sail of a smaller size instead of repairing the present one, which can be done by giving the boat builder the present one & $25.”10 Edward W . Lawton, the customs collector at Newport and the superintendent of local lighthouses, describing the keeper’s stone cottage two years later, said that toadstools grew out of the lintels and thick moss covered the wall11 and reported the following year “The Keeper complains bitterly about his lodging accommodations.”12 A report from a Thomas Coggeshall to Lawton about work he was doing on the light itself documents the sad shape of the 22- year-old lighthouse: “I find the sashes in Lantern in most miserable order. I have already set 24 and there are some few in lantern yet to set & the defective putty comprises all outside of Lantern & all other sashes. … There are some 40 lights 7x9 to be set here that absolutely require it.”13

4 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

Nonetheless, the younger Dennis was given high marks as a lighthouse keeper. An 1850 inspection praised him, saying he was "a good honest man, and I think he shows a good light, although a moderate consumer of oil."14 Conservative use of the whale oil used in the lighthouse lantern – while still maintaining a good light – was highly valued, and the comment on oil is a comment on Dennis’ management. After seven years as keeper, Dennis was relieved in August 1853 by Benjamin Congdon. Congdon was the last keeper to live in the original four-room cottage that Dennis complained about. The 1855 annual report on the lighthouse described its condition using words like wretched, cramped, and broken.15 In 1856, Congress appropriated $4,000 to build a new lighthouse station, including a new house for the keeper.16 The new living quarters were a great improvement. The two- story brick building was connected to the light tower. A parlor, living room, dining room, and kitchen on the first floor and three bedrooms on the second provided about 1,200 square feet of living space.17 The interior walls were finished with lath and plaster. Although still sometimes damp – as island houses are likely to be – and exposed to any severe storm that came up the bay, it was more comfortable and livable than the earlier cottage. Congdon moved into his new dwelling in 1857. At about the same time, life on the island became a little Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard Academy less lonely. In 1852, Powell H. Floor plan for the first floor of Carpenter, a businessman from the 1856 keeper’s house. Providence with connections in

5 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

Narragansett, bought most of the island intending to build a fish oil production plant.18 His venture failed. In 1864, six months after the governor of Rhode Island had ordered the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery Regiment (Colored) to construct defensive earthworks of the island, Carpenter sold his land to the federal government.19 The next generation of lighthouse keepers would share the island with the U.S. Army.

Jamestown Historical Society Collection The catboat (right) served as a ferryboat and mail carrier on the W est Passage and, under the command of Captain J. Lester Eaton, made four trips a week. The sloop (left) was a freighter.

6 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

Late 19th Century Keepers

Matthew M. Trundy Dec. 13, 1859 to Sept. 21, 1865 W. W. Wales Sept. 21, 1865 to Apr. 15, 1873 Andrew King Apr. 15, 1873 to Jan. 16, 1875 George Fife Jan. 16, 1875 to Oct. 1, 1883 Mrs. M. Fife, Feb. 20, 1878 to Oct. 1, 1883 Assistant Keeper H. W. Crawford Oct. 1, 1883 to Nov. 24, 1885 Lewis T. King Nov. 24, 1885 to Sept. 20, 1901

W hen Matthew Trundy arrived on the island in late 1859, he was 64 or 65 years old – like so many of the earlier keepers, older than the 1852 rules allowed.20 Trundy had previously been a baker in Newport and is one of the few keepers who seems to have had no previous lighthouse or maritime experience. His 64-year-old wife Phebe came with him. The census for 1860 shows two younger people – their son W illiam, age 42, and a domestic named Eliza, age 26 – living with the couple in the new house. During the Trundy’s time – he was keeper throughout the Civil W ar – the U.S. Army built Camp Bailey, the first fort on Dutch Island. Two defensive systems were constructed. One of them – the “Lower Battery” – was only about 700 feet north of the lighthouse and the small group at the lighthouse must have watched the activity with much interest. There is no record of communication, though. An outbreak of smallpox during the winter of 1863-1864 among the troops who were building the batteries may have led the keeper and his family to keep their distance from the Army contingent. The next keeper, W illiam W . W ales, was a native Rhode Islander. He grew up in Middletown in the 1820s and 1830s and served in the Fifth Rhode Island regiment in the Civil W ar.21 After the war, in the fall of 1865, he was given charge of the Dutch Island light and moved to the island with his wife and three sons. Military activity on the island continued, but in a time of peace at a much lower pace. W ales was transferred to the Beavertail Light in 1873 and died on station there in 1895.22

7 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

W hen W ales moved to Beavertail, Andrew King, who had been assistant keeper at the Beavertail Light for the five preceding years under his father Thomas King, was promoted to keeper at Dutch Island. The Kings were a well-known local family of fishermen and bay pilots who lived on Jamestown in the W est Ferry area.23 King stayed on Dutch Island for less than two years. During that time the Jamestown Historical Society Collection population on Dutch Island This portrait is believed to be of dwindled to 13 people - 12 W illiam W ales when he was keeper at the Army post, including at the Beavertail Light. an engineer, his household and one soldier, and one light keeper. It was the beginning of over 20 years of virtual inactivity for the military installation. The inactivity did not extend to the lighthouse. George Fife became keeper in 1875 – the first immigrant to hold the post. The Fifes were world travelers. Fife and his wife Marion were both born in England. Their two older daughters were born in Brazil; the third was born at the Dutch Island Light Station the year after the family arrived there.24 Three years into the Fife’s tour, changes began to take place both in their living conditions and in the their work. During the first 50 years of the station, a well supplied the water for the house, but the water was brackish and not suitable for drinking. In 1878, a proper cistern for the collection of rainwater was added in the basement of the keeper's house.25 Sixty years later the keeper’s wife insisted on boiling the cistern water before using it even for laundry – she claimed it had an odd smell – but it was a definite improvement on the earlier well.26

8 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

A fog signal was added the same year. “The U.S. steamer Mistletoe has arrived at Dutch Island with a large fog whistle to be put up at that place. This has long been needed, and mariners will rejoice to know of this action of the government,” reported the Newport Daily News on December 4, 1877. The fog signal – actually a bell that protruded from a window near the top of the lighthouse tower – was powered by a clockwork Jamestown Historical Society Collection mechanism that had to be wound up A bell on the west side of 27 every few hours. Marion Fife was the light tower was added appointed assistant keeper to help as a fog signal. her husband with the extra work that the fog bell required. She continued as the official assistant keeper until she and her husband left Dutch Island. Henry W . Crawford, who took over from the Fifes in 1883, was a merchant seaman before joining the lighthouse service.28 For 10 years before coming to Dutch Island, he was the keeper of the Newport Harbor Lighthouse on Goat Island.29 In Newport, his wife, Lydia, had been his assistant keeper. She was not appointed to help officially with his duties on Dutch Island, but like many keepers’ wives, she undoubtedly continued to serve in that capacity during the family’s two year stay at the post. Lewis T. King – a New Yorker and no relation to the Jamestown Kings – came to Dutch Island with his wife Harriet30 in 1885 and stayed at the light for 16 years, the longest service of any keeper. He was described in an article about Dutch Island that appeared in the Providence Sunday Journal in September 1889, as “the red-whiskered” owner of a small King Charles spaniel that “objected seriously to the visit. … The keeper was glad to have a call.”31 According to the reporter, King spoke in “good, old Down East style” and complained of vandalism perpetrated by picnickers who came to the island from Jamestown and Saunderstown – a complaint that would be repeated many times over the life of the station. W hen asked if the water ever bothered him, he said that the ocean spray “came against the house, and swept clean over the

9 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light light sometimes.”32 But it didn’t seem to concern him except for the extra work it made. In 1889, the Kings shared the island only with Ordinance Sergeant B.F. Morrell and his family, the sole representatives of the U.S. Army left to guard the remains of the batteries that had been built between 1863 and 1875. By the end of the next decade, however, military interest in the island, sparked by the threat from Spain that culminated in 1898 in the Spanish-American W ar, had returned. Battery Hale, with 10-inch disappearing guns, was constructed in the center of the island in 1897. Batteries Mitchell, Sedgwick, and Ogden – the closest battery to the lighthouse – followed. The military “post on Dutch Island” was christened Fort Greble.33 By the time King left his post as Dutch Island lighthouse keeper in 1901, barracks for 200 men34 plus officers’ quarters35 and logistical support buildings36 had been built within a mile of the keeper’s previously solitary post.

Jamestown Historical Society Collection Fort Greble about 1910

10 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

20th Century Keepers

Albert Henry Porter Sept. 20, 1901 to Apr. 15, 1915 John J. Cook Apr. 15, 1915 to Aug. 17, 1927 John Paul Aug. 17, 1927 to 1931 John D. Davies 1931 to July 1, 1934 Stanley M. Gunderson June 30, 1934 to Mar. 30, 1935 William C. Anderson Apr. 1, 1935 to July 16, 1936 Ernest H. Stacey July 16, 1936 to Feb. 1947

Albert Henry Porter was the first lighthouse keeper appointed under the new Civil Service legislation; he was also the first and only keeper asked to resign for moral turpitude. The son of a lighthouse keeper, Porter joined the lighthouse service at 21. Dutch Island was his third station and, from the number of requests for transfer included in his personnel files, he was not happy at the isolated post. Until 1910, though, he did his job well enough to receive “good” or “excellent” ratings on his annual reports, although in 1910 the inspector reported “the general condition as to order and cleanliness was only fair.”37 In the spring of 1911, Porter received permission to attend to matters relating to his father’s sudden death.38 W hen he returned from his leave, Porter accosted his wife with “certain stories of misconduct on her part while at that place [New York] which had been brought to my attention by certain people, who claimed to know such facts to be true. ... [she] admit[ted] that before she married me she led a fast life in New York for ten years.”39 She left, supposedly to return to New York. About the same time, the first recorded communication between the lighthouse and the army found its way into Porter’s personnel folder: the commandant of Fort Greble expressed the opinion that Porter was “untrustworthy.”40 The Lighthouse Service investigated the charge, but didn’t find any reason for action.41 For a while, things on the island seemed to improve. In 1912, Porter received commendations for his care of the lighthouse and his rescue of a boat owner and his wife.42 He received permission

11 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light to bring his mother to the island and to hire a housekeeper to help her. His mother never came, and the “housekeeper,” it soon became apparent, was Porter’s lover. In February 1915, the Commanding Officer at Fort Adams complained: “For some time Porter has been living in the lighthouse [with] a woman known as Catherine C. Lyal. ... During the time the woman has been at the Lighthouse with Porter she has had a child and the situation has become notorious. The continuation of this scandal, practically in the garrison, is undesirable.”43 A month later, two Lighthouse Service inspectors paid a surprise visit to Dutch Island. They arrived at 7:30 in the morning and the keeper answered the door in his pajamas. Porter’s answers to the inspector’s questions, recorded in a five-page handwritten report, are confused and, in some cases, funny. “Asked why he kept his clothes in her [the housekeeper’s] room” the inspector recorded, “[he] said he always did as that room is drier. W hen informed that no other room in house showed signs of having been occupied and asked where he slept, he said he slept in a chair in dining room.”44 The inspector asked for and received Porter’s resignation,45 which was accepted “not without prejudice,” and Albert Porter disappeared from the Narragansett Bay area, leaving behind a number of unpaid bills.46 The Lighthouse Service quickly selected Porter’s replacement – a veteran with 19 years combined Navy and Lighthouse Bureau experience who had for five years been applying for transfer to any “one-man shore station” in the northeast.47 John J. Cook relieved Porter on April 15, 1915.48 In his first few years, Cook faced several problems. Porter had not completed required paperwork and Cook was reprimanded.49 In June 1917, he fell from a ladder, hurt his back, and couldn’t work for three weeks – his wife was approved as his alternate.50 In February 1918, at the height of the First W orld W ar, the Department of Justice forwarded a report from their Newport office that suspicions were circulating that Cook – who had been born in Germany – was “a man of ‘ultra proGerman’ tendencies.”51

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J.T. Yates, the Lighthouse Inspector, stood by his man, responding that Cook was a navy veteran of the Spanish American W ar and had 12 years with the Bureau of Lighthouses. He concluded, “it does not seem to be just to cast a reflection as to an employee’s loyalty without Jamestown Historical Society Collection furnishing evidence of John and M artha Cook’s house at information to justify 112 Narragansett Avenue suspicion.”52 Cook worked closely with the military at Fort Greble. He received permission to shop at the commissary.53 The Post Surgeon took care of him on several occasions.54 In the spring of 1918, he wrote to ask permission for men from the fort to plant a garden on lighthouse grounds.55 His close relations with the post stood him in good stead when a brush fire threatened the lighthouse in 1923 and soldiers from the fort rushed to extinguish the fire.56 Cook retired on August 17, 1927, and settled in Jamestown.57 He built a house at 112 Narragansett Avenue, just west of North Main Road,58 for himself and his wife – they had no children. He died in 1930.59 His widow, Martha Cook, continued to live on Jamestown until her death in 1969.60 Cook’s retirement brought John Paul, previously at Fall River's Borden Flats Light, to Dutch Island with his three sons. In the late 1920s, the military usefulness of Fort Greble declined,61 and Paul’s son Louis remembered both the serenity and isolation of the post. In order to shop, Paul hoisted a flag to intercept the Jamestown-Saunderstown ferry. On these shopping trips, he would buy huge quantities of food, sometimes a whole side of beef. He raised vegetables and kept a flock of ducks. Fish from the bay also provided food for the station – Paul would, according to his son, catch a "bushel of blackfish" before breakfast.62

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Like his predecessor, Paul retired to Jamestown. His son Louis also stayed on the island, working at what was then the W harton Shipyard.63 The next keeper of the Dutch Island light, John D. Davies, was – like others before him – the son of a lighthouse keeper. His father had been keeper of the Rosses Point Light in County Sligo, Ireland.64 Davies immigrated to the United States in 1894, when he was 25 years old, and joined the Lighthouse Service in 1900. Before his appointment to Dutch Island, he was assistant keeper at the Black Rock Light Courtesy of Jeremy D’Entremont Station near Bridgeport, John Paul and his three sons Connecticut, for many years. W hen Davies retired after 33 years in the Lighthouse Service and two years at Dutch Island, he – like almost all 20th century keepers of the Dutch Island light – had difficulties resolving the amount of his pension. Because housing was provided on Dutch Island, his salary had been reduced by a housing allowance. The housing allowance was supposed to be added into gross pay in the calculation of his pension. For many years, it was not. 65 Davies’s successor, Stanley Gunderson, also had a family history of lighthouses – his father was lighthouse keeper at Stage Harbor Light near Chatham, Massachusetts. Following his father’s suicide in 1918 and his own discharge from the army,66 Gunderson took over as keeper there.67 He stayed at Stage Harbor Light until it was decommissioned in 1933. It was the middle of the Great Depression, and Gunderson was bitter about the closing of Stage Harbor, complaining to the Boston Post: “To save money they put in something that is far more expensive and less reliable and all that economy and put

14 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light another employee on the unemployment list. Rather a poor way to reduce unemployment and surely no help toward better times.”68 As a W orld W ar I veteran, he was given preference for those jobs that did arise and during the following year took several short- term positions with which he was very unhappy. W hen Davies’ departure brought the opening at Dutch Island, Gunderson accepted the appointment. Nine months later he resigned saying “My mother’s rapidly failing health makes it imperative that she live ashore. ... I also have been in poor health [because of] the three months I served a Great Point Lt. Sta. [Nantucket] under the extremely disagreeable conditions existing there.”69 W hile Gunderson’s successor stayed on the island almost twice as long as his predecessor, W illiam C. Anderson left no mark of his tenure. He retired June 30, 1936, to be followed by the last keeper of the Dutch Island light, Ernest Homer Stacey. Stacey joined the Lighthouse Service in early 1931 at the age of 23.70 He was immediately sent to W hale Rock Light Station, in Narragansett Bay west of Beavertail, as the assistant keeper.71 After over four years at W hale Rock, he was transferred to Duxbury Pier Light Station near Plymouth, Massachusetts,72 but within the year he returned to Narragansett Bay as keeper of the Dutch Island light.73 Two years later, Rhode Island was hit by its most violent storm in over 100 years, the Hurricane of September 21, 1938. The assistant keeper at W hale Rock Light – Stacey’s former post – died when the light was swept away in the storm. Dutch Island, four miles up the bay, escaped with relatively little damage,74 but from accounts of the storm, it must have been a harrowing day on the little island. Despite the inauspicious beginning, Stacey, according to members of his family, loved his tour on Dutch Island. On his arrival on the island, he felt “he had come home” and he would spend hours sitting on the rocks looking out over the bay.75 He loved to fish and never came home empty handed. The same serenity did not extend to his family. His wife Dot complained of the weather, the isolation, her husband’s child-like fascination with the light – and a diet of too much fish. Their

15 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light young son Robert, tired of rowing to school every day and missing many days because of rough weather, stayed with his grandmother during the winter months.76 Soon after Stacey’s arrival, the army began the active dismantling of the virtually abandoned fort to the north of the lighthouse.77 The W est Passage was now protected by more easily supported installations at Saunderstown and Jamestown. Stacey remained as keeper at Dutch Island throughout W orld W ar II, his status changed to “military” and his title to “Boatswain’s Mate, second class” as the conflict neared.78 Following the war, the automation of the lighthouses, so bitterly protested by Gunderson 15 years earlier, continued. Dutch Island was the first light in post-war Rhode Island to be automated. In February 1947, the Coast Guard completed the installation of the automated equipment and Ernest Stacey left the island. The U.S. Army, having previously removed the useful armaments and declared the remaining guns “salvage,” discontinued the post on Dutch Island in December of the same year.79 No one has made his home on the island since. For ten years, Dutch Island was ignored while weather and vandalism continued to destroy the military complex and the keeper’s quarters. In 1958, the military deeded their portion of island to the state "for the conservation of wildlife." In 1960, the Coast Guard decided that the keeper’s home and outbuildings were beyond repair and demolished them. Two year’s later they transferred the property, except for the lighthouse proper, to the state. In 1972 and again in 1977, the Coast Guard proposed discontinuing the light. Vandals had smashed doors, stolen equipment, and even poured liquid steel into a lock. The site was too expensive to maintain. The Dutch Island Light Station was officially discontinued in 1979, replaced by offshore buoys.80 Slowly the natural vegetation obscured the remnants of human occupation of the island. The lighthouse, without any protection or repair from the actions of vandals and the elements, decayed. In

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2000, a group of citizens formed the Dutch Island Lighthouse Society (DILS) to work for the restoration of the lighthouse. After years of fund-raising and petitions for permission to proceed, the light in the restored lighthouse was relit on November 18, 2007.81

Courtesy of Jeremy D’Entremont Dutch Island Light in 2000, before the restoration.

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Notes

1“The Light-House recently erected on Dutch Island, will be lighted on the evening of the first of January next,” Rhode Island Republican, Dec. 28, 1826. 2 “You will not absent yourself from the Light-house at any time, without first obtaining the consent of the Superintendent, unless the occasion be so sudden and urgent as not to admit of an application to that officer; in which case, by leaving a suitable substitute, you may be absent for twenty- four hours.” “Instructions To The Keepers Of Light Houses W ithin The United States,” Treasury Department, Fifth Auditor's Office, Apr. 23d, 1835. Quoted in “Lighthouse Keepers of the Nineteenth Century,” National Parks Service, Maritime Heritage Program, online at http://www.nps.gov/history/Maritime/. 3 Jeremy D’Entremont, The Lighthouses of Rhode Island. Beverly, MA: Commonwealth Editions, 2006, p. 73. 4 Report of I.W .P. Lewis reproduced in Public Documents and Extracts from Reports and Papers Relating to Light-Houses, Light-Vessels, and Illumination Apparatus, and to Beacons, Buoys, and Fog Signals 1789-1871. W ashington, DC: Government Printing Office, p. 370. Quoted in “Lighthouse Keepers of the Nineteenth Century,” online at http://www.nps.gov/history/Maritime/. 5 Arnold Burges Johnson, The Modern Light-House Service. W ashington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1890, pp.102-103. Quoted in “Lighthouse Keepers of the Nineteenth Century,” online at http://www.nps.gov/history/Maritime/. 6 “Another Revolutionary W ar Hero Gone,” Newport Mercury, Sept. 9, 1843. 7 “Dutch Island, RI” online at http://www.LighthouseFriends.com. 8 W illiam Ennis’s Account Book, Sept. 11, 1844. Quoted in Richard L. Champlin, “Dutch Island Light,” Newport History, No. 142, Spring 1971, Vol. 44, Part 2, p. 37. 9 W illiam P. Babcock to B.J. W alker, Secretary of the Treasury, Sept. 23, 1845. Quoted in Sarah C. Gleason, Kindly Lights, A History of the Lighthouses of Southern New England. Boston: Beacon Press, 1991, p 95. [N.B. Polk’s treasury secretary was R[obert] J[ohn] W alker, not B.J. W alker.] 10 W illiam Ennis’s Account Book, July 1, 1848. Quoted in Champlin, “Dutch Island Light,” p. 37. 11 Edward Lawton’s Account Book – Disbursements, Aug. 1, 1850. Quoted in D’Entremont, The Lighthouses of Rhode Island, p. 74. and Champlin, “Dutch Island Light,” p. 38.

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12 Edward Lawton’s Account Book – Disbursements, Aug. 2, 1851. Quoted in Champlin, “Dutch Island Light,” p. 38. 13 Letter from Thomas Coggeshall at Dutch Island to E.W . Lawton, Collector District & Port Newport, Sept. 18, 1850. At Newport Historical Society. Lawton, Edward. Lightship Ledyard, Lighthouses, Keepers, 1860s. Box 158, Folder 5. 14 D’Entremont, The Lighthouses of Rhode Island, p. 74. 15 D’Entremont, The Lighthouses of Rhode Island, p. 74. 16 “Dutch Island, RI” online at http://www LighthouseFriends.com. See also D’Entremont, The Lighthouses of Rhode Island, p. 74. 17 Plans for Dutch Island Lt. Station Heating System, Approved Jan. 18, 1932. Received from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, June 2005. Shows complete floor plan of house. 18 Champlin, “Dutch Island Light,” p. 38. 19 W alter K. Schroder, Images of America: Dutch Island and Fort Greble. Portsmouth, NH: Arcadia Publishing, 1998, p. 7. 20 1860 census, Jamestown. 21 W ales obituary, Newport Daily News, June 22, 1895. 22 Varoujan Karentz, Beavertail Light Station on Conanicut Island, Charleston: Book Surge Publishing, 2008, p. 72. 23Sue Maden, The Building Boom in Jamestown, Rhode Island, 1926-1931. Jamestown, RI: W est Ferry Press, 2004, p. 190-191. 24 1880 census, Jamestown. 25 D’Entremont, The Lighthouses of Rhode Island, p. 76. 26 D’Entremont, The Lighthouses of Rhode Island, p. 77. 27 Schroder, Images of America: Dutch Island and Fort Greble, p. 12. 28 1850 census, North Providence. Henry Crawford, 17, seaman. 29 Registers Of Lighthouse Keepers, 1845-1912, National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microfilm Publication M1373, Roll 1, New England. 30 1880 and 1900 census, Jamestown. 31 “Dutch Island, Sketches from a landmark in W estern Channel of Narragansett Bay,” Providence Sunday Journal, Sept. 1, 1889, p. 55. 32 “Dutch Island, Sketches from a landmark in W estern Channel of Narragansett Bay,” p. 55. 33 Schroder, Images of America: Dutch Island and Fort Greble, p. 8. 34 Schroder, Images of America: Dutch Island and Fort Greble, p. 45. 35 Schroder, Images of America: Dutch Island and Fort Greble, p. 40. 36 Schroder, Images of America: Dutch Island and Fort Greble, pp. 49-53. 37 Internal Department of Commerce and Labor memo, July 31, 1911, in Porter’s personnel records. Personnel records for Albert Henry Porter, John J. Cook, John Paul, John D. Davies, Stanley M. Gunderson, and Ernest H. Stacey were received from Civilian Personnel Records, National

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Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, MO, and are in the files of the Jamestown Historical Society. 38 Memo from Porter to Capt. R.M. Doyle, USN, Inspector, Mar. 1, 1911, in Porter’s personnel records. 39 Letter from Porter to Inspector, Apr. 10, 1912, in Porter’s personnel records. 40 Letter from Inspector to Commanding Officer, Fort Greble, July 25, 1911, in Porter’s personnel records. 41 Letter from Commissioner, Bureau of Lighthouses, to Secretary of Commerce and Labor, July 31, 1911, in Porter’s personnel records. 42 Memo from Inspector to Porter, Nov. 25, 1912; memo from Yates, Inspector, to Porter, Dec. 4, 1912, in Porter’s personnel records. 43 Memo from Commanding Officer, Fort Adams, to Commanding General, Eastern Department, Feb. 4, 1915, in Porter’s personnel records. 44 J.T. Yates, Inspector, in report of Mar. 9, 1915, visit, in Porter’s personnel records. 45 J.T. Yates, Inspector, in report of Mar. 9, 1915, visit, in Porter’s personnel records. 46 Letters in Porter’s personnel record, April-December 1915. 47 Letter from C. Thinnus, Capt. USN, to Cook, Jan. 7, 1910, in Cook’s personnel records. Reinforced by lists of acceptable stations provided annually by Cook, also in his personnel records. Dutch Island does not appear on the list until 1915. 48 Most public sources show Cook as keeper from 1916 to 1929. However, in a letter dated Apr. 12, 1915, Porter was informed by Inspector Yates (no other name on letter, but elsewhere in record J.T. Yates) “John J. Cook, Keeper of North Hook Beacon Lt. Sta. has been appointed to relieve you at the close Apr. 15th, 1915” and in a letter dated Apr. 15 (stamped received Apr. 17, 1915), Porter informs the inspector (no name) “Mr. John J. Cook arrived this P.M.” Letters in Porter’s personnel records. 49 Letter from J.T. Yates, Inspector, to Cook, July 29, 1915, in Cook’s personnel records. 50 Letter from Martha Cook to Inspector, June 19, 1917, in Cook’s personnel records. 51 Letter from A.B. Bielaski, Chief, Bureau of Investigations, Dept. of Justice, W ashington, DC to George R. Putnam, Esq. Commissioner of Lighthouses, W ashington, DC, Mar. 4, 1918, in Cook’s personnel records. 52 Letter from J.T. Yates, Lighthouse Inspector, to Commissioner, Mar. 8, 1918, in Cook’s personnel records. 53 Letter from W ar Department to Bureau of Lighthouses, W ashington, DC, June 3, 1915, in Cook’s personnel records.

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54 Report from Cook to Superintendent of Light-Houses, Feb. 15, 1919, in Cook’s personnel records. 55 Letter from Cook to Inspector, Lighthouse Service, May 11, 1918, in Cook’s personnel records. 56 “Dutch Island, RI” online at http://www.LighthouseFriends.com. 57 Letter from J.T. Yates, Superintendent, to Cook, Aug. 8, 1927, in Cook’s personnel record. 58 Maden, The Building Boom in Jamestown, Rhode Island, 1926-1931, p. 102. 59 Maden, The Building Boom in Jamestown, Rhode Island, 1926-1931, p. 173. 60 Maden, The Building Boom in Jamestown, Rhode Island, 1926-1931, p. 173- 174. 61 Schroder, Images of America: Dutch Island and Fort Greble, p.8. 62 D’Entremont, The Lighthouses of Rhode Island, p. 76. 63 Conversation with W illiam Munger, Nov. 10, 2009. 64 Birth Certificate, in Davies’ personnel records. 65 Multiple letters, in Davies’ personnel records. 66 Discharge papers dated Aug. 20, 1919, in Gunderson’s personnel records. 67 “New England Lighthouses: a Virtual Guide – Stage Harbor” online at www.lighthouse.cc/stageharbor; papers in Gunderson’s personnel records show official appointment date as Oct. 1, 1919. 68 Quoted on www.lighthouse.cc/stageharbor/history.html. 69 Letter from Gunderson, Mar. 5, 1935, in his personnel records. 70 Appointment letter, Jan. 16, 1931; birth date is Jan. 24, 1907, from status change records in Stacey’s personnel records. 71 Appointment letter, Jan. 16, 1931, in Stacey’s personnel records. 72 Change in Status report, Oct. 10, 1935, in Stacey’s personnel records. 73 Appointment letter, July 3, 1936, in Stacey’s personnel records. 74 “Fort Adams Damaged,” Newport Daily News, Sept. 27, 1938. The newspaper account refers to damage to the army buildings on Dutch Island. No report on the lighthouse proper was found. 75 D’Entremont, The Lighthouses of Rhode Island, p. 77. 76 D’Entremont, The Lighthouses of Rhode Island, pp. 77-78. 77 Schroder, Images of America: Dutch Island and Fort Greble, p. 89. 78 Change of Status forms, Jan. 1 and May 22, 1941, in Stacey’s personnel records. 79 W alter K. Schroder, Defenses of Narragansett Bay in W orld W ar II. Providence: Rhode Island Publications Society, 1980, p. 27. 80 “New England Lighthouses: a Virtual Guide – Dutch Island,” online at http://www.lighthouse.cc/dutch. 81 Sam Bari, “ Dutch Island lighthouse shines for mariners,” Jamestown Press, Nov. 21, 2007; Arlene Fleming, “A whole new light,” Providence Journal, Nov. 19, 2007.

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Bibliography

"Another Revolutionary W ar Hero Gone." [Obituary of W illiam Dennis], Newport Mercury, Sept. 9, 1843. Bachand, Robert G. Northeast Lights: Lighthouses and Lightships, Rhode Island to Cape May, New Jersey. Norwalk, CT: Sea Sports Publications, 1989. Bari, Sam. “Dutch Island lighthouse shines for mariners.” Jamestown Press, Nov. 21, 2007. "Bay light Dutch to remain." Providence Journal, Mar. 14, 1972. "DEM and allies launch fight to acquire Dutch I. Light." Providence Journal, Dec. 4, 1982. Champlin, Richard L. "Dutch Island Light." Newport History, No. 142, Spring 1971, Vol. 44, Part 2, pp. 37-41. Civilian Personnel Records. National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, MO. D’Entremont, Jeremy. The Lighthouses of Rhode Island. Beverly, MA: Commonwealth Editions, 2006. D’Entremont, Jeremy. "W orking to save an American treasure." Lighthouse Digest, Aug. 2000. De W ire, Elinor. Guardians of the Lights. Stories of the U.S. Lighthouse Keepers. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1955. "Dutch I. Light to be brighter." Providence Journal, Oct. 19, 1972. "Dutch Island Light may be extinguished." Providence Journal, Feb. 8, 1972. “Dutch Island Lighthouse Society holds Fund-raiser.” Jamestown Press, Aug. 24, 2006. “Dutch Island reprieve.” Providence Journal, Oct. 26, 2007. “Dutch Island, RI.” www.LighthouseFriends.com. “Dutch Island, Sketches from a landmark in W estern Channel of Narragansett Bay.” Providence Sunday Journal, Sept. 1, 1889. Fleming, Arline A. “A whole new light. Dutch Island Lighthouse shines after decades of darkness.” Providence Sunday Journal, Nov. 18, 2007.

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Fleming, Arline A. “After 28 years lighthouse gets its light back.” Providence Journal, Sept. 27, 2007. Fleming, Arline A. “Shipshape, Once Again.” Providence Journal, Sept. 14, 2007. “Fort Adams Damaged.” Newport Daily News, Sept. 27, 1938. Gleason, Sarah C. Kindly Lights: A History of the Lighthouses of Southern New England. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1991. "Group wants to restore lighthouse." Newport Daily News, Dec. 7, 2000. Heap, Major D.P. Ancient and Modern Light-Houses. Boston, MA: Ticknor and Company, 1889. Hoffman, Tom. A History of Dutch Island. Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, North Atlantic Regional Office, July 1980. Holland, Francis Ross, Jr. America’s Lighthouses. Their illustrated history since 1716. Brattleboro, VT: The Stephen Greene Press, 1972. “Jamestown,” Newport Daily News, Dec. 4, 1877. “Jamestown,” Newport Daily News, Mar. 30, 1979 Johnson, Arnold Burges. The Modern Light-House Service. W ashington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1890. Karentz, Varoujan. Beavertail Light Station on Conanicut Island. Charleston: Book Surge Publishing, 2008. Kennedy, Michaela. “A little lighthouse in the bay is ready to shine again.” Jamestown Press, Aug. 30, 2007. Kochel, Kenneth G. America's Atlantic Coast Lighthouses: A Traveler's Guide. Updated and revised by Jeremy D'Entremont. W ells, ME: Lighthouse Digest, 2000. “Lighthouse Keepers of the Nineteenth Century.” National Parks Service, Maritime Heritage Program. www.nps.gov/history/Maritime. Longo, Mildred Santille. Picture Postcard Views of Rhode Island Lighthouses and Beacons. Providence, RI: Rhode Island Publications Society, 1990. Maden, Sue. The Building Boom in Jamestown, Rhode Island, 1926-1931. Jamestown, RI: W est Ferry Press, 2004.

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McDonough, Jeff. "Saving a lighthouse" [editorial]. Jamestown Press, May 11, 2000. "Mechanism to replace manual Narragansett Bay Light Keepers." Providence Journal, Feb. 16, 1947. National Archives, Dutch Island Lighthouse site file, Record Group 26. “New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide - Dutch Island Light.” www.lighthouse.cc/dutch. “New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide – Stage Harbor Light.” www.lighthouse.cc/stageharbor. Newport Daily News, [W illiam W ales obituary], June 22, 1895. “Reclaiming the light.” Jamestown Press, Sept. 27, 2007. "Restoration of Dutch I. Light sought." Providence Journal, Dec. 12, 2000. Schroder, W alter K. Images of America: Dutch Island and Fort Greble, RI. Dover, NH: Arcadia Publishing, 1998. Schroder, W alter K. Defenses of Narragansett Bay in W orld W ar II. Providence: Rhode Island Publications Society, 1980. Snow, Edward Rowe. The Lighthouses of New England. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co, 1973. “The Light-House recently erected on Dutch Island.” Rhode Island Republican, Dec. 28, 1826. The News Flash. Newsletter of the Dutch Island Lighthouse Society. Aug. 2006. The News Flash. Newsletter of the Dutch Island Lighthouse Society. Special History Issue. Autumn 2008. “Vandalism darkens island lighthouse.” Standard Times, Apr. 5, 1977. “Vandals prompt proposal to end Dutch I. Light.” Providence Journal, Sept. 27, 1977.

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Courtesy of Swampyank

Dutch Island Light, 2008

25 Keepers of the Dutch Island Light

Also available from Jamestown Historical Society

Occasional Papers #1 So,W ho W as Charles Bevins? by James C. Buttrick #2 Some Jamestown Cemeteries and the stories they tell by Mary Miner #3 A Gould Island Chronology and some associated historical notes by Captain Frank Snyder (USN Ret.) #4 A Reminiscence On Building The Jamestown Bridge by Elmer S. Congdon

Other Publications Jamestown Bridge, 1940-2007: Concept to Demolition by Sue Maden Images of America: Jamestown by James C. Buttrick 100 Years of Jamestown by John Howard Narragansett Avenue, Then and Now (DVD) by Nicholas Schaus and Barry Cook Newport History, Spring 2009 (all Jamestown issue) Mr. Miller, the Miller by Martha Milot (children’s book) JHS Coloring Book by Martha Milot The Jamestown W indmill