Digest>Archives> May/Jun 2014

Pleasonton’s Report of December 1850

By Timothy Harrison

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Pleasonton’s Report to Congress on December 14, ...

For an amazing 32 years, from 1820 to 1852, Stephen Pleasonton, the Fifth Auditor of the United States Treasury, served as the General Superintendent of the U.S. Light-House Establishment, as it was known as in those days. Periodically he would issue reports to the Secretary of the Treasury to be printed up and given to every member of Congress.

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Greenbury Point Lighthouse, Maryland.

By reading through those reports, a person can learn a lot about the early years of the Lighthouse Service. Pleasonton was known for being a penny pincher and he often had to defend his actions, which was obvious in his December 14, 1850 report for Congress, where he also bragged about his accomplishments when he wrote the following: “The light house establishment at this time consists of 331 light-houses and 40 light-ships, a large number of dumb beacons and about 2,500 buoys. Of the light-houses 270 have been built under the direction of this office, as well as all the light-ships and most of the beacons.

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Nobsque Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts.

“By advertising for proposals for all the work, and accepting the lowest bid and paying nothing until all the work was satisfactorily done, as has always been done by this office, I have saved of the several appropriations for building light-houses between the years 1820 and 1842, amounting to $1,248,708.38, the considerable sum of $224,216.45, and caused to some to be carried to the surplus fund. And, in building light-shops, within the same period, out of appropriations of $359,600, the sum of $59,121 was in like manner saved and carried to the surplus fund.”

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The second Wigwam Lighthouse in Massachusetts ...

He then went into great detail about other money he had saved in various areas and went on by reporting, “Whilst the British light-houses cost for their maintenance an average of from $3,300 to $3,600 per light, ours cost, upon average, from $1,100 to $1,300 each; and they have more small lights, in proportion to the whole number, than we have. If this difference in expense be applied to the whole of our extensive establishment for years past, it is obvious that several millions have been saved in the administration of the light-houses.” Pleasonton then went into an explanation of why he continued to use reflector lenses in lighthouses rather than Fresnel lenses, which was one the major causes of his downfall two years later.

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The Ipswich Rear Range Lighthouse in ...

Being a numbers man, Pleasonton thought he was doing the right thing by saving the government money. But, in fact, he was creating havoc in the Lighthouse Establishment with poor construction, inferior equipment, and dimmer lights, all of which also endangered the mariner at sea. In fact, if he had paid more attention to his own reports that he submitted to Congress, he would have realized that he had some serious problems. This particular report indicated that there were problems of one kind or another at nearly every lighthouse, something that most of the Congressmen realized when reading it.

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This is one of the early structures that once ...

For historians today, this 1850 report also included some interesting information on some of our nation’s lost and forgotten lighthouses, some of them being Georgia’s Fig Island Lighthouse and the Wolf Island Range Lighthouses, and Maryland’s Clay Island Lighthouse, Fog Point Lighthouse, and Watts Island Lighthouse, which he referred to as Little Watts Island. Interestingly, most of what was in the report came from local inspectors or, in a few rare cases, directly from the individual lighthouse keeper at each station.

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The second Cape Charles (Smith Island) Lighthouse ...

At Wolf Island Lighthouse, Pleasonton reported that lighthouse keeper William H. Rittenbury had died and a new keeper had been appointed. The report stated, “The eastern tower, which is built of brick, wants some repairs, such as painting, with cement and whitewashing; window frames and tops are some decayed; the west tower built of wood and painted black, is in good order.” Little could Pleasonton, who had witnessed first-hand the ravages of the War of 1812 when he saved many of America’s most valuable documents from being burned by the British, that the Wolf Island Lighthouse would be destroyed when the states would battle each other. After the Civil War, the lighthouse was rebuilt but discontinued in 1899 and later destroyed. For the Fig Island Beacon Light in Georgia, Pleasonton’s report stated “Now burning 2 lamps and a pole beacon with one lamp.” The pole lamp he was referring to is now known as the Savannah Harbor Rear Range Lighthouse and is still standing today. However, in describing the Fig Island Beacon Light, he wrote, “Dwelling built of wood, one story high, with lantern on the roof. This establishment is built upon piling, and covered with plank; dwelling is very leaky – some small repairs have been made to stop the leak. The keeper said that it leaked just the same after the repairs were made.” Pleasonton’s report about Clay Island Lighthouse near Crisfield, Maryland, where Littleton Harris was the light keeper stated, “Dwelling house is built of brick, with a lantern on the roof. The copper which covers the lantern-deck wants refastening, water gutters and spouts are rusted, and some leaky; door trimmings are wanted.” By 1892 the 1822 Clay Island Lighthouse had outlived its usefulness and was discontinued and demolished sometime after that. In writing about the Fog Point Lighthouse in Maryland where John L. Tyler was the keeper at that time, Pleasonton’s report stated, “Dwelling house is built of brick, having the roof covered with zinc; and several of the sheets are loose, and the remainder becoming so. Lantern is upon the roof of the dwelling, and some leaky; lamps, reflectors and oil-butts are good. Dwelling wants painting and whitewashing, and fixtures about the premises.” After Congress took the management of the lighthouses away from Pleasonton, a fifth order Fresnel lens was placed in the tower. By 1875 the lighthouse was no longer needed when it was replaced by the Solomons Lump Lighthouse and the Fog Point structure was destroyed. As stated in Pleasonton’s report, the situation at Greenbury Point Lighthouse in Annapolis, Maryland was much better than the other lighthouses, “Dwelling house is built of brick, one story high, with the lantern on the roof. The copper has been taken off the lantern deck and tin put in the place; it is now in good order, and neat and clean.” However, in this case it seems to indicate that most of the work might have been done by the new keeper, Thomas Morgan. Little could Pleasonton have realized that by 1891 the lighthouse would outlive its usefulness and that it would be demolished. In writing about Virginia’s 1828 60-foot tall Smith’s Island Lighthouse, Pleasonton’s report stated, “The cement of the tower is peeling off, and the window frames are decayed. Lamps, reflectors and oil butts are good. Dwelling-house wants raising, as the breakwater is so close to the dwelling that it prevents a free circulation of air, and makes it very sickly. The plastering is much broken off the rooms, and the stair steps need repairing.” At some point the lighthouse became known as the Cape Charles Lighthouse, and finally, 14-years later in 1864 the tower on Smith’s Island was demolished and replaced by a new 150-foot conical tower. However, that tower only lasted until 1895 when the third Cape Charles Lighthouse was built that still stands there today. Pleasonton’s report told how William Dade, the lighthouse keeper at Wigwam Point in Massachusett’s maintained a 32-foot tall tower with six lamps. “The lighthouse is a wooden building and painted white, and is leaky. The copper on the lantern deck needs renailing. Dwelling-house is built of wood, and wants painting inside and out; the plastering is some broken off on the inside.” Interestingly, the report made no mention of the fact that a new lighthouse was in the planning stages and would soon be built at the site. At Ipswich Lighthouses where John J. Philbrook was the keeper, Pleasonton’s report stated, “There are two lighthouses here. The western tower has revolving lamps; the clock runs well. Lanterns want reglazing; lantern decks are leaky about the joints of the soapstone, of which the decks are built. The shingles upon the roof of the dwelling need repainting.”

In writing about the fourth tower to occupy Maine’s Boon Island, Pleasonton’s report, in apparently referring to a previous report, stated, “The condition of this establishment remains the same. The tower is leaky, and likewise the dome. A new tower and all new lighting apparatus, and a new dwelling-house, are much needed. This is a very important light.” Two years after Pleasonton was removed from his lighthouse job, the newly created U.S. Light-House Board began construction of a new tower for the Boon Island Lighthouse that was built of granite blocks and stood 133-feet high, making it the tallest lighthouse in Maine. It took nearly two years to complete the construction and it was first lighted on New Year’s Day 1885.

Another interesting thing about this old report are that the names that people used to report on the lighthouses of that time often had different spellings, or were called by an entirely different name than what they are known by today. Examples from this 1850 report are that Sapelo Island Lighthouse in Georgia was spelled Sappelo; Dumpling Rocks Lighthouse in Massachusetts was spelled Dumplin; Cuttyhunk Light in Massachusetts was spelled Cutterhunk; Nobska Lighthouse in Massachusetts was spelled Nobsque; Great Point Lighthouse in Massachusetts was called Nantucket Great Point; Monomoy Point Lighthouse in Massachusetts was spelled Monamoy; Nauset Light in Massachusetts was spelled Nausett; Straitsmouth Island Lighthouse in Massachusetts was spelled as two words – Straits Mouth; Annisquam Harbor Light in Massachusetts was known as Wigwam Point; Whaleback Lighthouse in Maine was known as Whale’s Back; Negro Island Lighthouse in Maine is now named Curtis Island Lighthouse; Nash Island Light in Maine was spelled Nashe’s Island; Matinicus Rock Lighthouse in Maine was spelled Martinicus; South Carolina’s Cape Romain Lighthouse was then known as Raccoon Key Lighthouse; Highland Lighthouse on Cape Cod, Massachusetts was referred to using three different names - Parmet Lighthouse, Truro Lighthouse, and Cape Cod Lighthouse; Petit Manan Lighthouse in Maine was called Tittmanan, and Pilot Island Lighthouse in Wisconsin was called Port du Mort Lighthouse.

All photos from the archives of Lighthouse Digest.

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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