Lighthouses are interesting! Many people, like my sister, have an interest in lighthouses. People tend to include a visit to a nearby lighthouse into their vacation plans. There are people who buy dinner plates that have lighthouses pictured on them, as well as other lighthouse decorations for their home. But, what about the lighthouse keepers? Genealogists may want to take a look at the records kept by the keeper of the lighthouse.
Lighthouses are located along the coastlines, all around the United States. The original purpose of these uniquely shaped and designed buildings was to help prevent boats from crashing into dangerous parts of the coastlines. Guided by the light, ships could safely find the harbor they needed. Many lighthouses are historical, and all have their own stories attached to them. Some are said to be haunted. There is even a lighthouse sitting on Alcatraz Island. I imagine that there must be plenty of interesting stories to be found there!
Beginning in the 1880’s, the lighthouse keepers were required to maintain extremely detailed written records. In fact, part of the qualifications that a person had to meet in order to be hired as a lighthouse keeper included the ability to read, write, and keep records. It was that important! The lighthouse keeper had to submit quite a bit of information to the federal government on a monthly basis. These records are pure gold if you are trying to track down information about an ancestor who was a lighthouse keeper!
What kind of information can you find? There should be monthly reports about the conditions and the activities that occurred at the lighthouse station, which can give you a glimpse into your ancestor’s day to day life. Quarterly expenditures and salary vouchers were required to be submitted to the federal government as well. How much money did your ancestor make? What did he like to eat? It’s all in there, somewhere. They also had to record reports on shipwrecks, and unusual occurrences. Perhaps this is where some of the ghost stories originated. Lighthouse keepers were also required to keep a journal, which will delight genealogists who are descendants of a lighthouse keeper. A good place to find some of these records is the National Archives.