Date of Service: 1872-1886 1842: Born in Northampton County, VA. to parents Gilbert & Rachael Parker. 1872-1878: Served as Assistant Keeper at Thimble Shoal Lighthouse, VA. His salary was $440/year. 1874: Married Sarah Jane Lyons on April 20th in Hampton VA. 1878-1886: Served as Principal Keeper at Back River Lighthouse, VA. His annual salary was …
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Date of Service: 1860-1863 1860-1863: Elizabeth Cross is named the First Assistant at Craney Island Lighthouse. Her salary is $300/year. (Her husband George Cross served as Principal Keeper) 1861: During the Civil War, the Confederates remove the lens from the lighthouse and cause major damage to the structure. Sources: Chesapeake Chapter Keeper’s Database; familysearch.org; uslhs.org; …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/keeper-bio-elizabeth-cross/
Date of Service: 1853-1863 1853-1856: George Cross is named Principal Keeper at Back River Lighthouse, VA. His salary is $400/year. 1859-1863: George Cross is named the first Principal Keeper at Craney Island Lighthouse, VA. His salary is $450/year. (His wife Elizabeth Cross served as First Assistant) 1861: During the Civil War, the Confederates remove the …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/keeper-bio-george-cross/
Timeline: Back River Lighthouse 1829: A 30-foot-tall, conical, whitewashed brick lighthouse with ten oil lamps and ten reflectors and one-story keeper’s dwelling is constructed for just under $5,000 by Winslow Lewis between Back River entrance & the Grandview area of Hampton, Virginia. 1855: Installation of a new revolving machine containing six, twenty-one-inch parabolic reflectors & …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/template-timeline-lighthouse-back-river-lighthouse/
Back River Lighthouse Remains 2021 – Photo by Greg Krawczyk Back River Lighthouse was built in 1829 by Winslow Lewis of Boston at a cost $3,500 plus an additional $750 for his own lamps. It was constructed on four acres of land six miles north of Old Point Comfort between the Back-River entrance and …
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