Date of Service: 1866-1906
1842+/-: Benjamin Franklin Greenwood is born in Virginia.
1860: Benjamin Greenwood marries Julia Savage on November 22, in Arlington, VA.
1866: Benjamin Greenwood is appointed Principal Keeper at Jones Point Lighthouse, VA. at the age of 24. His beginning salary was $120/year, and his ending salary was $500/year.
1870: In the US Census, Benjamin Greenwood (age 28) lives with his wife Julia (28), and their two children in Alexandria, VA. His occupation is Lighthouse Keeper.
1873: Julia Savage passes away.
1877: Benjamin Greenwood marries Margaret Grover on April 7th, in Alexandria, VA.
1880: In the US Census, Benjamin (age 39), lives with his wife Maggie (age 24), and 4 children in Alexandria, VA. His occupation is Lighthouse Keeper.
1893: Jones Point Lighthouse is surrounded by water from a bad storm. The wall around the lighthouse was damaged by high tide and wind. Keeper Greenwood also lost several hogs.
1900: In the US Census, Benjamin Greenwood (age 60), lives with Maggie (age 45), and seven children in Alexandria, VA. His occupation is Lighthouse Keeper.
1906: Benjamin Franklin Greenwood dies while on duty on January 10th.
1906: Margaret Greenwood is appointed temporary Principal Keeper at Jones Point Lighthouse, VA., until the permanent replacement arrives.
Keeper Benjamin Franklin Greenwood Anecdotes:
Benjamin Franklin Greenwood served as Principal Keeper for a total of 40 years, the longest of any keeper at Jones Point Lighthouse. He raised a total of 11 children in the lighthouse.
When Benjamin Greenwood passed away, Margaret Greenwood was appointed temporary keeper at Jones Point Lighthouse, where she had lived for the last 29 years and raised her seven children. Many people in the area hoped that she would be appointed permanent keeper because of this reason.
The Republican party in Virginia urged the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, to appoint Margaret Greenwood as new keeper, and he agreed. However, the superintendent of the lighthouse service had already named a replacement, Francis E. Wilkins. When Francis E. Wilkins arrived at Jones Point Lighthouse on the lighthouse tender Holly, he initially refused to take the position when he found out that the family of Mrs. Greenwood had chickenpox.
Sources: Chesapeake Chapter Keeper’s Database; familysearch.org; uslhs.org, The Times Dispatch, March 4, 1906
