Refer to page 23 of Lighthouses Short and Tall: Grosse Point
The Superintendent of Lighthouses in each lighthouse district inspected all the lighthouses in his district at least once
a year and filed reports on what conditions they found. He came on a lighthouse tender, unannounced, and sometimes found things
pretty messy, as this 1891 report shows. Keepers were dismissed if they were regularly found negligent in maintaining their
station.
The Fifth Auditor in charge of the early lighthouse establishment was sympathetic to widows and veterans as can be seen
in this letter regarding Bald Head Light in North Carolina. On May 29, 1838, Stephen Pleasonton wrote to the Secretary of
the Treasury
The Light House at Bald Head (Cape Fear) . . . is very badly kept. The Keeper is represented to be eighty-eight years
of age, and was appointed in consequence of his revolutionary services. No consideration would induce me to recommend his
removal; but in order that the public service may not suffer, I respectfully propose to add an Assistant Keeper, with a salary
of one hundred and fifty dollars. (Source: National Archives, Record Group 26, Entry 35, (NC-31) Entry 35 "Light-House
Letters", Series P, 1833-1864)
This man was a Revoltionary War veteran. After the Civil War injured veterans were also given light keeper positions.
What use might have been made of the items on Keeper Rich’s requisition list? Two pecks of salt is a lot of salt!
A peck is 1/4 of a bushel. Was it used for melting ice?
