Reprinted from 7-15-13
post.
At least three female
U.S. lighthouse keepers started their careers before they reached maturity.
Although their fathers were the official lighthouse keepers, they soon became
the primary workers.
Mind the Light, Katie, by Mary Louise Clifford and J. Candice
Clifford, includes the stories of Catherine Moore, Abbie Burgess Grant, and Ida
Lewis. Each is a fascinating female who deserves her own post.
Catherine (Kate) Moore
was twelve in 1817 when her father became lighthouse keeper at Black Rock Light
Station off the north shore of Long Island Sound (in Connecticut). She started
assisting him immediately. When he was injured two years later, Kate took over
his duties and remained unofficial lighthouse keeper until her father’s death in
1871. It was a long time to serve without official recognition, but perhaps she
was happy to give that honor to her father.
Years later, Kate
described her evening routine:
During windy nights it was impossible to keep [the lights] burning
at all, and I had to stay there all night, but on other nights I slept at home,
dressed in a suit of boys’ clothes, my lighted lantern hanging at my headboard
and my face turned so that I could see shining on the wall the light from the
tower and know if anything happened to it. Our house was forty rods [about 700
feet] from the lighthouse, and to reach it I had to walk across tow planks
under which on stormy nights were four feet of water, and it was not too easy
to stay on those slippery, wet boards with the wind whirling and the spray
blinding me.
Kate’s light was located
on Fayerweather Island. She planted a garden and kept a number of animals,
which were her main playmates. As she grew older, she carved and sold duck
decoys and had a thriving oyster business. She is credited with saving 21 lives
during her years at the lighthouse.
After her father’s death,
Kate received the official appointment and continued on until she retired in
1878. She lived another twenty-plus years in a house with a view of
Fayerweather Island and Long Island Sound.
Although Kate never
married and knew no other life, she appears to have been happy enough. Still,
when asked during her retirement years if she missed her island home, she said,
“Never. The sea is a treacherous friend.”
* * * * *
For more information on
Catherine Moore and Black Rock Light Station, see pages 7-10 of Mind the Light, Katie and/or check out
the following website:
* * * * *
The picture from the
Coast Guard shows Black Rock Light Station as it probably looked when Catherine
Moore served there.
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