Digest>Archives> November 2001

The Secret Diaries

By Richard Clayton

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Sketches by Melissa Pelletier

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Perhaps the best-kept secret in American literature is in a warehouse in Suitland, Maryland. The original manuscripts, written in longhand by pen and ink, have been read by a very small number of people. Many of the books have been lost forever; however, those that have been saved are kept in storage in the National Archives Warehouse. They are the Lighthouse Log Books.

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The authors were the Lighthouse Keepers of yesteryear. Some writers were men of few words whose penmanship was almost illegible. Some gathered only the facts of wind and weather, while others wrote family histories. But, there is one set of books written so eloquently, one does not want to put them down. The pen strokes are almost a work of art and the writer was very expressive in his choice of words and phrases. The author was William Cameron.

He was first appointed in 1869 and for fifteen years, Mr. Cameron was Keeper of the Grand Island East Channel Light, on Lake Superior, at the entrance to the Port of Munising, Michigan. William had a way with words, written in a flowing style... Nov. 30, 1872: It has been one continued snowstorm and the wind blowing a perfect gale ever since the night of the thirteenth... we extinguished the Light this morning as it is winter. The thermometer stood at 8 degrees below zero at three o’clock this morning and there is two feet of snow on the level in the woods. The icebergs are almost as high as they were at any time last winter. The wind has blown furiously within the last few days than at any time since we have had charge of the Light. The seas rose up the stairway eleven feet higher than we have ever known before and has torn away forty-three feet of the stairway.

On Sunday, August 10, 1873, William Cameron had the pleasure of dining with Mr. and Mrs. Weisner on board the Steamer Surveyor. He wrote, “I have enjoyed three of the most delightful hours that I have ever spent in my life. I consider it one of the angel’s visits which seldom falls to the lot of a secluded Light-Keeper.” On August 15th, as the steamer was departing with the company on board, Mr. Cameron made this comment: “After having passed so pleasant a time in the society of Mrs. Weisner and the gentlemen on board, we can well appreciate the sentiments of the poet who wrote the following lines:

When friendships have withered,

And fond hopes have flown,

Oh, who would inhabit,

This drear world alone.

So we say as we watch the little steamer as she vanishes in the haze. The weather looks as if a north-wester was brewing but, we know the commander of the steamer is a sailor, every inch of him, and a gentleman who will never shirk his duty.”

There are some Light Keeper’s Logs that one wants to read on and on, as though they were written by a novelist. The prose is so perfectly stated and the handwriting is so clear. Here is a shining example of the creative mind of Head Keeper Cameron: Aug. 24, 1873: At 2:30 AM an eared owl (large kind) sat perched on the railing of the tower, as sedate and important as a Judge Advocate upon a court martial. But, when the bull’s eye of the lens would flash upon him, he would throw up his wings and cast his head down, as much as to say, “I Submit!” But, no sooner would the flash be off him, when he would hoot as if called, “Come on McDuff.” He finally retired to his native forest where he came across a ‘brother chum’ with whom he had quite a conversation. Although I am an old resident...in the woods...I never could learn their language thoroughly, which prevents me from committing his honor’s discourse to paper.

In an earlier account, the Keeper told us that he has two daughters. (His son, Frank Cameron was the First Assistant Keeper from 1871 until 1882.) In 1875, William makes this loving, though sad reference to his wife. July 16, 1875: I cannot refrain from expressing my gratitude to those indeed benevolent ladies who favored this station with their presence, for their kindness to my poor invalid darling. She appears to recover her cheerfulness since these ladies have passed here. But alas! No hope.

Oct. 11, 1875: My darling is becoming so weak, that I have concluded to send the family to Onota . . .

Nov. 7, 1875: My darling has gone to the long rest... but, I hope to meet all my darlings yet in heaven.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene,

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear,

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,

And waste its fragrance in the desert air.

In April 1876, Mr. Cameron began reporting the weather only at the instruction of the Lighthouse Inspector. He continued writing until the close of navigation in 1884, when the Lighthouse Board ordered his retirement.

William Cameron was an unusual Keeper in that he never signed his name in any Lighthouse Log Books. Thanks to Craig’s research at the Great Lakes Keeper’s Association in Dearborn, Michigan, a complete list of all the Keepers and the Assistants whoever served at the Grand Island East Channel Light provided the key to the mystery as to who had written the beautiful books. For many years, Mr. Cameron has remained anonymous.

In reading his beautiful penmanship, it seemed that the Keeper missed his calling in life. He should have been a writer. His books were written over one hundred years ago, by his own hand, using a quill pen dipped in black ink. His hand-written accounts are now in the National Archives for anyone to view. As I kept reading, it dawned on me that here was a lighthouse keeper and an author. I was privileged to have had a glimpse of William Cameron’s secret diaries.

This story appeared in the November 2001 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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