Category: Keepers-Bios

Keeper Bio: Leikam Sr., George Henry

Date of Service: 1940 – 1960 1902:  Born on March 4 in Baltimore, MD 1940:  Stationed at Norfolk, Virginia as Quartermaster on the U.S. Coast Guard Tender, Violet. 1942 to 1943:  Keeper Leikam begins service as 1st Assistant Keeper at Holland Island Bar Lighthouse, Maryland. Salary – $1,440 a year. 1943 to 1945: Keeper Leikam …

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Keeper Bio: Tune, Helen C.

Date of Service: 1877 – 1883 1854: Helen Dodge was born in October 1854 in Vermont 1871: Marries Thomas Steptoe Tune on June 21 in the District of Columbia. 1872:  Daughter Lorena Elizabeth is born on June 22 in the District of Columbia 1877:  Helen is hired as acting Keeper in March for the Piney …

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Keeper Bio: Slacum, William Kirwan

Keepers

Date of Service: 1892 – 1914 1833:  Born on November 8, 1833, in Church Creek, Dorchester County, MD. To Barzillai and Julia Ann Slacum 1862:  Marries Margaret Jane Christopher on February 4, 1862, in Dorchester County, MD. 1880: Occupation listed as a clerk in Baltimore, MD. in the U.S. Census. 1892: Serves as Assistant Keeper …

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Keeper Bio: Bounds, Otho

Date of Service: 1892-1939 1867:  Born on September 27, 1867 in Allen (Wicomico County) Maryland. 1889:  Marries Esther E. Hopkins. The couple raises eight children. 1892:  Serves as First Assistant Keeper at Craighill Lower Front Range Lighthouse (MD). Annual salary – $435. 1892-1893:  Serves as Keeper at Lower Cedar Point Lighthouse (MD). Annual salary – …

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Keeper Bio: Yeatman, William

Date of Service: 1904-1939 1872:  Born on July 26 to parents William M. and Anna Yeatman, in St. Mary’s County, MD. 1900:  His occupation is listed as a blacksmith in the U.S. Census. Early 1900s:  Marries Julia Courtney. 1903:  Wife Julia gives birth to a daughter, Mary on December 10. Neither mother or daughter survive. …

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Keeper Bio: Yeatman, William M.

Date of Service: 1871-1908 1830: Born on October 1 in Richmond County, VA. 1862:  Marries Anna Maria Lamb on May 12 in St. Mary’s County, MD. They go on to have 12 children. 1871:  Appointed Keeper at Point Lookout Lighthouse, MD on September 22. His beginning salary was $520/year. 1874:  A Novia Scotian schooner, Etta, …

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Keeper Bio: Wilkins, Francis E.

Date of Service: 1884-1918 1852/1853:  Born in Virginia to parents G.W. & Mary Wilkins. 1884:  Served as First Assistant at Watts Island Lighthouse, VA. His salary was $420/year. 1890:   Appointed Keeper at Tangier Sound Lighthouse, VA. His annual salary was $575/year. 1892:   Marries his wife, Lida, on June 12 in Northumberland, VA. They …

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Keeper Bio: Gray, Benjamin Nathaniel

Date of Service: 1882-1907 1851:  Born in Maryland 1885:  Marries his wife, Sarah. 1882:  Served as First Assistant at Cove Point Lighthouse in MD.  His salary was $420/year. 1883:  Served as the first Keeper at Drum Point Lighthouse in MD.  His starting salary was $540/year and ending salary of $575/year. 1890:  Served as Keeper at …

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Keeper Bio: Somers, James T.

Date of Service: 1919 – 1958 1892:  Born on November 18 to parents Tobey & Matilda, Somerset County, MD. 1919:  Served as First Assistant at Cove Point Lighthouse in MD.  His annual salary was $1,115/year. 1919-1920:  Served as First Assistant at Point No Point Lighthouse in MD.  His salary was $1,182/year. 1923:  Served as First …

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Keeper Bio: Collison, David W.

Date of Service: 1907 – 1917 1873:   Born on July 30 to Robert & Mary Collison, Maryland. 1907-1909:   Served as the First Assistant at Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse in MD. His starting salary was $420/year and his ending salary was $480/year. Early 1900s:   Married his wife Ellen and raised six children. 1909-1912: …

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Keeper Bio: Austin, Julian Haywood

Date of Service: 1921 – 1948 1898:   Born on February 20 to John Lotson Austin & Markey Poyner Austin, in Frisco, NC 1916-1917:   Joins the U.S. Lighthouse Service and was stationed on three lightships, including LV71. 1918-1921:   Worked on multiple “oilers” for the U.S. Army. 1921:   Returned to the U.S. Lighthouse …

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Keeper Bio: Freeman, Josephine McWilliams

Date of Service: 1876 – 1912 1843:   Born on January 14 to parents Dr. Joseph & Eliza McWilliams in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. 1850:   Dr. Joseph L. McWilliams, the father of Josephine, sells 2.75 acres on the southwest corner of Blackistone Lighthouse at a price of $300 to the U.S. government as a …

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Keeper Bio: Nuthall, Martha

Date of Service: 1850 – 1861 1803:   Birth of Martha McClelland in Maryland. 1843:   John W. Nuthall age 40, widower, married Martha McClelland age 40 on January 3, 1843. 1849:   John W. Nuthall listed as Keeper at Piney Point Lighthouse. His annual salary is listed as $350/year. 1850:   In the 1850 …

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Keeper Bio: Nuthall, John W.

Keepers

Date of Service: 1849 – 1850  1803:   Birth of John W. Nuthall to Charles Nuthall and Anne McClelland. 1826:   John W. Nuthall age 23, married Maria Norris on January 31, 1826, in St. Mary’s County, Md. 1843:   John W. Nuthall age 40, widower, married Martha McClelland age 40 on January 3, 1843. …

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Keeper Bio: Sutton, Claudius Foster

Date of Service: 1897-1931 1869: Born in Craven County, North Carolina on December 11, 1869. 1897: Works as a cook at Smith Point Lighthouse in Virginia for $30. 1898-1901: Works as First Assistant at Pages Rock Lighthouse in Virginia. His annual salary was $420. 1901: Marries his wife Virginia Mildred Oliver on October 9, in …

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Keeper Bio: Steinhise, Thomas Jefferson

Date of Service: 1918 – 1941 1879: Born on September 29 in Leonardtown, Maryland.Marries wife, Ada Viola Wible.  The couple raises sixteen children. Works as a waterman and blacksmith.1918: Joins U.S. Lighthouse Service. Serves as Assistant Keeper at Tangier Sound Lighthouse (Virginia) with brother-in-law.1919: Serves as Keeper at Lower Cedar Point Lighthouse (Maryland). Resigns for …

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Keeper Bio: Carman, Lewis Riggin

Date of Service: 1936 – 1947 1907: Born October 13 in Delmar, Wicomico County, MD1926: Marries Gladys Ruth Elmore on September 1 in Crisfield, Somerset County, MD.1931: The couple has their first child, a son, Lewis Riggin Carman, Jr. on April 16.1932: The couple has their second child, a daughter, Caroline Virgie on October 24.1936-1938: …

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Keeper Bio: Sutor, Thomas

Keepers

Date of Service: 1853 – 1861 1802: Born sometime around 1802 in Maryland1830s: Marries his wife, Susannah in Havre de Grace Maryland. They go on to have five children, 3 daughters, Ellenor, Sarah B. Frances E. and 2 sons, Louis and Samuel.1850: Per census records, Thomas and his family live in Havre de Grace where …

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Keeper Bio: O’Neill, Henry E.

Keepers

Date of Service: 1881 – 1919 1841: Born on June 6 in Havre de Grace, Maryland. 1850s: The O’Neill family moves to Baltimore, Maryland. 1861: Henry enlists on September 12 in Baltimore, as a Private in Company D, 5th Maryland Infantry in the Union Army. His father, John O’Neill Jr., is named Keeper at Concord …

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Keeper Bio: O’Neill, Esther

Date of Service: 1863 – 1881 1797: Born in Fulton County, New York. 1830s: Marries John O’Neill, Jr. The couple have seven children, one of whom died as an infant. The remaining six children are Martha, Mary, Virginia, Charles Zelotes, Indiana, and Henry. 1861: Esther’s husband, John O’Neill, Jr. is appointed Keeper at Concord Point …

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Keeper Bio: O’Neill, Jr., John

Date of Service: 1861 – 1863 1800: Born in Havre de Grace, Maryland to John and Mary O’Neill Sr. 1830s: Marries his wife Esther, from Fulton New York and have 7 children, one of whom died as an infant. The remaining six children are Martha, Mary, Virginia, Charles Zelotes, Indiana, and Henry. 1860: Lives in …

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Keeper Bio: Thomas, Barney Crockett

Date of Service: 1917 – 1950 1896: Born on February 4 in Tangier, VA to John W. and Emma (Crockett) Thomas.1917: Married Ella H. Crockett on September 16. Couple raises six children; two sons – Everett and Hanson; and four daughters – Emma, Catherine, Violet, and Doris. 1917: Serves aboard the Coast Guard cutter Apache.1917 …

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Keeper Bio: Salter, Fannie Mae

Date of Service: 1925 – 1947 1882: Born in Mathews County, VA. 1904: Marries Clarence Walter “Harry” Salter. Had three children – two daughters – Jessie Olga Salter Crouch and Mabel Salter Best; one son – Charles Bradley Salter. 1922: Husband serves as Keeper of Turkey Point Lighthouse, North East, Maryland. 1925: Keeper Salter passes …

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Keeper Bio: Salter, Clarence Walter

Date of Service: 1894 – 1925 1877: Born in Mathews County, VA 1894 – 1903: Serves at Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse. 1904: Married Fannie May Hudgins. Had three children – two daughters – Jessie Olga Salter Crouch and Mabel Salter Best; and one son – Charles Bradley Salter. 1903 – 1908: Serves at York Spit …

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Keeper Bio: Sadler, Charles Linwood

Date of Service: 1944 – Retirement 1906: Born on June 12 in Mathews County, VA.1928: Married Mabel Martha Diggs. Raises four children.Joined Coast Guard buoy tender after a career of commercial boating.1944 – 1953: Serves as civilian First Assistant Keeper at Cove Point Lighthouse, Lusby, Maryland. Sadler and his family live in station’s three-story keeper’s …

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Keeper Bio: Ripley, Wesley Foster

Keepers

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 – …

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Keeper Bio: Respess, Charles Edwin

Date of Service: 1888 – 1915 1862: Born on July 24 – Barn Creek, Gwynn’s Island, VA.1888 – 1890: Assistant on Cape Charles Light Vessel #46. 1891 – 1893: Captain of newly christened Cape Charles LV #49.1892: Married Annie “Lovie” Grimstead on July 13.1893 – 1894: Service at Cherrystone Bar as Assistant ($435/year) and Old …

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Keeper Bio: O’Neill, John

Keepers

Date of Service: 1827 – 1838 1768: Born in Ireland on November 23. 1786: Immigrated to America at age 18. Works as a gunsmith. 1794: Served in the militia during Whiskey Rebellion. 1790s: Marries Mary Virginia O’Neill and moves to Havre De Grace.  Manages a nail factory and serves as town commissioner. Has five children …

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Keeper Bio: Marchant, Levi D.

Date of Service: 1882 – 1921 1856: Born on April 1 in Mathews, Virginia.1879: Marries Emma Susan Dixon on September 25. Couple raises five children: Ruby, Elizabeth, John Dixon, Talmadge, and Levi Theodore. 1882 to 1883: Keeper Marchant begins service on December 31 as Acting 2nd Assistant Keeper at Wolf Trap Lighthouse, Virginia. Salary – …

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Keeper Bio: Lewis, Frank Raymond

Date of Service: 1922 – 1948   1894: Born on November 23 in Mathews, VA.   1917 to 1919: Serves as a Corporal in the U.S. Army during    WWI in France; 7th Company, 154th Depot Brigade based in  Camp Meade.1921: Marries Clementine Ware Forrest on April 25 in  Norfolk, VA. Couple raises two children – …

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