Digest>Archives> May/Jun 2014

Henry Wilson

Union Soldier - Confederate Soldier - Lighthouse Keeper - Postmaster

By Sonny Witt

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Henry Wilson was there when the first (1848) Cape ...

There are many stories to be shared about the people that settled Florida’s Cape Canaveral, and all of those stories have something to do with the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse. Almost none of the people would have ever made it to Cape Canaveral if it were not for the lighthouse. In fact, there is a better than good chance that if the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse had not been moved to its current location, there would be no rockets launched at Cape Canaveral or Merritt Island Florida.

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Henry Wilson. (Florida Memory collection)

One of those people was a guy named Henry Wilson. He was the assistant keeper of the original 65-foot tall brick lighthouse who witnessed the new151-foot tall iron lighthouse being assembled, given its black and white stripes, and then disassembled, moved, and reassembled at its current location in 1894. So who was Henry Wilson?

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Frances Burnham Wilson grew up at Cape Canaveral ...

Henry Wilson was born on May 1, 1830 in Penn Yan, New York. He enlisted in the Army when he was 16 and served in Mexico with Zachary Taylor (the twelfth President of the United States). Wilson also served in the 3rd Artillery in Mexico with Lt. Tecumseh Sherman.

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Vintage image of one of the keeper’s homes at ...

In 1847 Henry Wilson, now a Corporal in the U.S. Army, was sent to Florida to serve in Miami and then sent to Fort Dallas. Fort Dallas was established in 1836 as a U.S. Military Post and a prison during the Seminole Wars. Fort Dallas remained in Union hands during the American Civil War and was abandoned afterward.

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Vintage image of Cape Canaveral Lighthouse. ...

While at Fort Dallas, Henry Wilson was given the assignment of delivering 200 head of mules across the state to Fort Brooke, about a six week long round trip. Fort Brooke was a military post located at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa where the present day Tampa Convention Center currently stands. The fort was named after Col. George Mercer Brooke. Fort Brooke would serve as a major outpost on Florida’s Suncoast during all three Seminole Indian Wars and the Civil War. The fort also played a part in the development of the village of Tampa.

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Henry Wilson at his desk at the Cape Canaveral ...

Corporal Wilson also served at Forts Clinch and Pierce. Fort Clinch is one of the most well-preserved 19th century forts in the country. Although no battles were fought there, it was garrisoned during both the Civil and Spanish-American wars. After construction, it was named Fort Pierce for its Commander. The officer put in charge at Fort Pierce was none other than Lieutenant Tecumseh Sherman. Yes, the very same General Sherman of Civil War fame. The General entered West Point in June of 1836, and four years later, in June of 1840, graduated sixth in his class. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Artillery Corps. His first assignment was to Fort Pierce, Florida, where he was peripherally involved in the Second Seminole War. Corporal Wilson was given the assignment of delivering the mail from Fort Pierce to New Smyrna. It was a three-week long round trip, using two boats, one on the Indian River side of Haul Over Canal and another on the ocean side. According to historian Robert Ranson, who wrote in 1926, “In late 1853 two soldiers and a Sergeant were sent to protect the Cape Canaveral lighthouse families from Indian attacks. One of the soldiers sent to Cape Canaveral was twenty-three year-old Corporal Henry Wilson. There were no Indians at Cape Canaveral, so Corporal Henry Wilson had little to do but stare at the lighthouse keeper’s daughter, 16-year old Francis Burnham.” In late 1855, the soldiers left Cape Canaveral and returned to Fort Capon, Indian River, Florida where they arrived on February 28, 1855. One of the soldiers was Henry Wilson. Corporal Wilson must have taken a discharge shortly thereafter. Then, when A. R. Rose resigned as assistant lighthouse keeper at Cape Canaveral Lighthouse, Wilson was able to secure the job and was appointed on March 12, 1855. Henry and Frances A. (Burnham) Wilson were married on March 30, 1856. The wedding was held at the Trinity Episcopal Church in St. Augustine, Florida and the ceremony was performed by Rev. Alfred Miller. The bride’s father, lighthouse keeper Mills O. Burnham, gave the newlyweds a wedding gift of forty acres of Cape Canaveral land. The Wilsons went on to have eight children; they were Henrietta, Alfred Burnham, Francis Mills (Frank M.), Delia, Mary Augusta, Gertrude, Agnes and Florence. In May of 1862 Henry Wilson left Cape Canaveral to enlist in the Confederate States Army and was probably assigned to Company G of the Florida 8th Infantry Regiment. In his writing, A Memoir of Captain Mills Olcott Burnham a Florida Pioneer, historian Robert Ranson refers to Wilson as being “allowed a furlough in Virginia from the Confederate Army” where he may have fought against his old commander, Tecumseh Sherman. Henry Wilson entered the Confederate Army as a Private and left after being promoted to full 4rd Sergeant on February 1, 1864. He was back in Cape Canaveral and re-nominated to his previous lighthouse keeping duties on April 9, 1866. According to Ranson, after the war, Wilson never left Cape Canaveral except to deliver the mail by sailboat on the Banana River, and travel to Titusville after becoming Cape Canaveral’s first postmaster on June 15, 1883. He held that position for the next 30 years and was followed as postmaster by his son-in-law Thomas Thompson. The first mail was delivered to the new post office on July 13, 1883 by Mr. Sam Norton. Weekly deliveries were made to the newly opened Post Office starting with the July 19, 1883 delivery. On September 3, 1913, with failing eyesight Henry Wilson resigned after 30 years as postmaster. At that time he was the oldest Postmaster in the United States, both in service and age. A couple of years later, he was succeeded by his eldest daughter’s husband, Thomas J. Thompson. At the time of Henry Wilson’s death on April 14, 1917, all of his children were living. He left a widow, 8 children, 19 grandchildren, and 9 great grandchildren. With the exception of his oldest son who lived in New York, and Mrs. Robert Ranson, all were living at Cape Canaveral. Henry Wilson and his wife are buried in the Burnham Cemetery on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Editor’s Note: You can learn more about the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse at www.canaverallight.org. Sonny Witt has written the book Drawn to the Canaveral Light that is available on their web site through the link to the Keepers Closet.

This story appeared in the May/Jun 2014 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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