Ida Lewis documentary premiere on May 30

The Bakers at Butler Flats Light, New Bedford

Amos Baker, Jr.

From its first lighting in 1898 until 1942, when the Coast Guard took over from the Lighthouse Service, Butler Flats Light in New Bedford, Massachusetts, had only two keepers, Captain Amos Baker Jr., and his son, Charles A. Baker.

Amos Baker Jr., had been in charge at Clark's Point Light in New Bedford for some years earlier, and his father was keeper there before him. In total, the two lights were kept by the Bakers for about 80 years.

After arriving at the lighthouse in April 1898, Amos Baker, Jr., wrote:

At 7 A.M. took charge of Butler Flats Lighthouse with Charles A. Baker as Assistant Keeper. The lighthouse is new but found it very wet and leaky and very dirty and everything topsy turvy. 

Captain Amos Baker Jr. was widowed twice during his years at Butler Flats, but his loneliness was eased by the fact that his son, Charles, was assistant keeper. He also had occasional visits from his daughter, Amy.

Some of the logs of Captain Baker are in the possession of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society. The entry for Christmas in 1907 reads:

Butler Flats Light

A pleasant Christmas Day... Squally in the evening, but we had some music from the phonograph so we had sunshine inside.

A fog bell was sounded by an automatic striking mechanism when needed, producing a double blow every 15 seconds. Amy Baker enjoyed saluting passing vessels with the fog bell.

The famous Captain Joshua Slocum once gave Amy a copy of a booklet about his sloop Spray with the inscription, "To the little girl who rang the bell each time I passed the light."

Amy Baker later wrote of the fog bell:

To one not used to it, it would seem almost unbearable when going for any length of time, but I have often been told in the morning that it had been running during the night, when I knew nothing of it, sleeping soundly all the while. Vessels are saluted by this bell.

Butler Flats Light today

The Baker family mostly found Butler Flats Light a pleasant place in summer, but winters were another story. Amy Baker wrote:

In the winter ice shakes the light a good deal at times and it is scarcely pleasant to have the chair in which you sit shake and realize what might happen if the ice proved stronger than the iron plates of the caisson. 

When Amos Baker died in 1911, his obituary recounted his fascinating life. Baker had first gone to sea Messenger, of which his father was captain. In 1862, as third mate on the bark Stafford, Baker had his leg broken in two places by a whale and spent 80 days on his back. By 1874 Baker had beome captain of the bark A.R. Tucker. He was appointed lighthouse keeper at Clark's Point after his second voyage as captain, which lasted 29 months.
as a 12-year-old cabin boy on the whaling ship

According to Baker's obituary:

For 13 years he lived in Butler Flats Lighthouse. Visitors occasionally came alongside, and Captain Baker's cheery, "Come aboard!" always made them glad to obey and see the old seaman's comfortable house. 

Visitors' signatures in the register while Amos Baker was keeper included that of President Grover Cleveland.

For more on the history of Butler Flats Light, click here.

Keeper Fairfield Moore at the Nubble Light

Fairfield Moore, previously at Rockland Breakwater Light, was keeper of the Cape Neddick "Nubble" Light in York, Maine, from 1921 to 1928. The first birth of a child at the Nubble occurred on August 23, 1923, when Moore’s daughter, Phyllis Moore Searles, delivered a baby girl.

In July 1926, it was reported that the fog bell tower was moved about four feet from its foundation by a powerful storm, leaving it on the brink of a precipice. Moore didn’t dare sound the bell because he feared that the vibration could plunge the bell and tower into the sea. Repairs were soon completed.








On March 20, 1927, the keeper’s daughter Eva Moore Kimball went into labor during a severe snowstorm. Keeper Moore rowed across the channel and picked up a local doctor. The two men returned to the Nubble just in time for the last seconds of the birth of Eva’s daughter, Barbara.

Barbara Kimball (Finnemore) lived at the lighthouse until she was six. Her favorite memory was accompanying her grandfather to the top of the tower to light the lamp.



For more on the Cape Neddick "Nubble" Light, click here.

Silas Gardner Shaw at Beavertail Light

This is a Daguerrotype of Silas Gardner Shaw and his wife Ann, c. 1858. Courtesy of Cheryl Vislay. Shaw was keeper of Beavertail Light in Jamestown, Rhode Island, 1858-1862 and 1863-1869. His daughter, Lena Clarke of Jamestown, recounted some memories in a letter many years later: 


"When we first went there was just a light, a barn and a stone wall around the government property. We soon had a henhouse, a sty (kept white), a flower garden, trellis with climbing roses, and a large vegetable garden. . . I often heard my father tell about a vessel going on the rocks south of the light and how the men came ashore carrying pails of cider and rolling pins, part of the cargo. . . In a severe storm, when another craft was grounded, one of the crew made his way ashore, carrying a heavy sea chest on his back, and the wind was so strong it blew him down on the rocks. . . Whenever my father heard a noise in the night, he always took his gaff hook and lantern and went along the shore to try to find out what it was. One night he saved five or six men whose yawl had washed on the rocks, and brought them to the light to remain during the night."


For more on the history of Beavertail Lighthouse,  click here.

Fort Pickering Light in Salem, Mass., gets a makeover

Story and photos by Phil Karwowski

Fort Pickering Light with holiday wreath and red bow

L to R: Dave Gilbert, Patrick Mulligan, and Capt. Bill McHugh

In mid-September 2013, contractors began giving the 142-year-old lighthouse on Salem’s Winter Island a much needed makeover. The scope of work included chipping, scraping, sanding, and cleaning the rusted surfaces of the 32-foot, cast-iron tower. After workers completed the two-month project, the tower looked great.





Dave Gilbert, manager of the Winter Island Park, thought it would be a good idea to decorate the light for the holidays. A six-foot diameter wreath was placed on the tower with the help of Salem Harbormaster Capt. Bill McHugh and Deputy Harbormaster Patrick Mulligan.

Click here for more information on this lighthouse.

Christmas at Stamford Harbor Lighthouse

John J. Cook, a native of Denmark, was the keeper of Stamford Harbor Lighthouse in Connecticut 1907-09. Cook went to sea early in life and had been awarded many medals during his years in the U.S. Navy.

A reporter once asked Cook how he could possibly enjoy Christmas in an isolated, lonely, offshore lighthouse. Cook explained that with such unpredictable weather and sea conditions, preparations and Christmas shopping had to be done well in advance. He described the Christmas feast they had at the lighthouse a year earlier, with goose, mince pie, and plum pudding. Christmas evening would be spent much like any other, with conversation, or card playing, or perhaps the reading of books or newspapers.

The rest of Cook's reply showed him to be quite a philosopher:

I dunno, it is pretty lonesome here sometimes, especially in winter, but we manage to enjoy our holidays. We can’t go to church on Christmas and we miss the nice music and the fine sermons, but there is a compensation for that. What more soul-stirring music could there be than that of wind and wave as they whistle and roar or moan and swish past our little home? And that light aloft is a sermon in itself. Many a fervent "Thank God," many a heart-deep prayer has gone up, maybe from people who wouldn’t be thinking of such things ashore, when the red gleam of Stamford Light was made out in a storm, or the bell heard in a fog. My little light has its mission just as your pulpit preacher has his; and no one who has watched it through the terrible winter storms can fail to appreciate this, and with it his responsibility. Human life, yes, human souls depend upon that light Christmas and every other night of the year, and I dare guess it’s compensation for the loss of a Christmas sermon to keep the light burning steadily.

Christmas Books About the New England Coast

By Imogen Reed

Are you looking for books about New England's heritage and landscape to give as presents this festive season - or even to suggest as possible gifts for yourself? If so, there are a number of new and recent titles to choose from, including Everyday Heroes: The True Story of a Lighthouse Family, tracing the story of Seamond Ponsart Roberts, who spent her childhood at three Massachusetts lighthouses. 

Here is a look at a few more books which could also make ideal holiday gifts for anyone who loves this unique region, whether they live here or are planning a visit.

Coastal History
Cold winter nights are the perfect time to delve into tales of the past along the New England coast. Written by local historian Robert A. Geake, who runs a blog about the region's past, The New England Mariner Tradition is published by The History Press and has the intriguing subtitle "Old Salts, Superstitions, Shanties and Shipwrecks." The author has spent the last 30 years researching and writing about the history of Rhode Island, covering everything from ancient inns to the Providence River, which was the theme of another of his recent books. He has gathered together many quirky tales, including the spotting of a sea serpent off Nahant in 1818.

The book also has a more serious side, looking back over three centuries at what life was like for sailors constantly facing the prospect of death at sea. Many old superstitions are examined, including dance ceremonies and donations of gin to calm storms supposedly caused by "old Neptune." The book also looks at the role of lighthouses along the coast in cutting the toll of shipwrecks.

Another interesting new title is Looking Back at South Shore History by John L. Galluzo, also published by The History Press, as part of their American Chronicles series. This book brings together a collection of historical columns from South Shore Living magazine, including an article about the first keeper of Scituate Lighthouse in 1811.

Guide Books to Savor

Many visitors from around the world enjoy sailing around the US coast, and a growing number arrive here by cruise liner. Planet Cruise says that a Transatlantic cruise gives memories which will last forever, and the same is true for a sea journey along the New England coast, discovering the wildlife and exploring the lighthouses and other historic buildings. The right guide book can help to make the trip even more enjoyable, and there are some new ones available. 

The Explorer's Guide: The Maine Coast and Islands by Christina Tree and Nancy English, published by Countryman Press, is full of detailed information. Subtitled "Key to a Great Destination", the latest edition has separate sections on each part of the coast, from the south, including the Yorks and Kittery, to Washington County in the east. There is also detail on Maine's islands. Another new Coastal Maine by Hilary Nangle, in the Moon Handbooks series, which suggests offbeat trips such as one combining lighthouses with lobsters and LL Bean. The author has a website full of further suggestions about travel around Maine.

Recipes from the Coast

Cookbooks are always popular festive gifts, and this season some are available with a The Coastal Table, by Karen Covey, published by Union Park Press, brings together recipes "inspired by the farmlands and seaside of southern New England." The author tells how she originally just wanted a weekend getaway on the south coast of Massachusetts, but ended up making her home there. Her cookbook includes many fish and seafood recipes, plus other ideas using fresh local produce. It also includes contributions from top New England chefs. Another mouthwatering new offering is Simply New England by chef Daniel Bruce of the Boston Harbor Hotel, published by the Lyons Press. Bruce says he aims to celebrate both land and sea, and lobster and halibut feature in some of the recipes.

There's even a reprint of a book combining cookery and history, The New England Economical Housekeeper, and Family Receipt Book by Esther Howland, first published in 1844. This contains more than 220 recipes, ranging from main meals to puddings and traditional medical remedies. The book gives a fascinating glimpse of 19th-century family life and customs, and cooking up some of the dishes - if you can get the ingredients! - will give a taste of the past.