Date of Service: 1888-1919 1862: Born July 24 in Mathews County, VA to parents John P. & Margaret E. (Thurston) Hurst. 1886: Marries Narcissus Phillips Hudgins on February 22 in Mathews County, VA. The couple raises two daughter, Pearl Lorraine and Gladys Leone, and one son, Warner Arnold. 1888-1891: Serves as First Assistant Keeper at …
Category: Newport News Middle Ground
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/keeper-bio-james-beauregard-hurst/
Keeper Bio: Ripley, Wesley Foster
Date of Service: 1881 – 1916 1835: Born on June 18 in Mathews County, VA.1858: Marries Laberta F. Jarvis on November 11. Couple raises ten children: Martha, Louisa, Mary Ellen, Wesley, Mary E., Tommie, Robert, Delena, Maria, and Luther. 1860s: Ripley serves during the Civil War for the Confederacy on the Giles Light Artillery – …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/keeper-bio-wesley-foster-ripley/
Keeper Bio: Hudgins, John Filmore
Date of Service: 1895 – 1923 1856: Born on January 17 in Mathews County, VA1879 or 1880: Married Ellen Gertrude “Mittie” Thomas and raised eleven children.1895: Serves at the Smith Point Lighthouse. The Chesapeake Bay freezes. Ice strikes lighthouse – carries it six miles away from the foundation. Lantern, fog-bell apparatus, oil and some supply …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/keeper-bio-john-filmore-hudgins/
Timeline: Newport News Middle Ground Lighthouse
(Located at the confluence of the James River and the Chesapeake Bay, Hampton Roads, Newport News, VA. Oldest caisson lighthouse in Virginia. Updated 5/27/2020) 1891: 56-foot tall caisson with tower and cast-iron lantern built on L-shaped Middle Ground shoal. Five levels with basement in the top of the caisson. Fitted with 4th-order Fresnel lens and …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-newport-news-middle-ground-lighthouse/
Newport News Middle Ground Lighthouse
In 1871, the United States government established a light station to mark the underwater L-shaped shoal in the middle of the Hampton Roads shipping lanes. This caisson lighthouse was completed and first lighted in 1891 at a cost of $50,000. The lighthouse was fitted with a fourth-order Fresnel lens. The overall structure is 56 feet …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/newport-news-middle-ground-lighthouse/