Date of Service: 1841-1843
1841-1843: John C. Waters is appointed Principal Keeper of Turkey Point Lighthouse, MD. On August 18, 1841. His annual salary is $350.
1843: John is dismissed from duty as Principal Keeper on June 2, 1843. It is not known why he was dismissed, but John Waters wrote a letter on October 19, 1844, asking for his job back. Below, is an excerpt from his letter:
In 1841 I was appointed Keeper of the Light house at Turkey Point in this state and in ‘43 an effort made by my enemies to have me removed. They made a charge against me that I was not a Lawful Citizen of the State and in order to rebut said charge, I sent to the Hon. I.C. Spencer the Secretary of the Treasury a certificate from the Secretary of State of Maryland, which certificate I presume is yet in the Treasury Department.”
It was my misfortune in my younger days to be a great victim of intemperance. But for more than twenty years I have been a reformed man and have endeavored to make myself useful to my family and to my fellow beings. And for the truth of this I would respectfully refer you to Judge Kell, Issac Munroe, and Augustus W. Bradford Esquire of the City of Baltimore.
I am a native of Harford County, was born and raised near Abingdon and am now nearly sixty years of age, have children and grandchildren.
Sources –Paula Krum, Historian, TPLHS, Official Register of the U.S, Record Group 26, Records of the U S Coast Guard, E35, NC31, Records of the Lighthouse Service, Light House Letters, Series P., 1833-1864, Box 4 (1844), p. 170. National Archives, Washington, DC.
