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Nestled on a 40-acre site on a 2,800-acre island in Lake Michigan’s Green Bay, about seven miles off the coast of the Door Peninsula, near Gibraltar, Wisconsin, sits the lantern-less 1868 Chambers Island Lighthouse.
One of the better accounts of memories of life at the lighthouse is in the book, Papa Was a Lighthouse Keeper, by Karen Anderson Henry, which was written from the childhood memories of her mother, Doris Hanson, whose father, Samuel O. Hanson, was the assistant lighthouse keeper on Chambers Island from 1909-1923.
The book primarily deals with one idyllic summer that Doris and her sister Sadie spent on the island with their father. And like many other lighthouses, the memories are similar to what other families experienced, but yet very different. Doris’s memories concentrate on the good memories but also touched on the hardships that were faced, but it is not until you read the author’s post note at the end of the book where you can really understand the tragedy and hardships that keeper Hanson experienced while serving his nation as a lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes.
Change in Life Style
Life had originally been good at the lighthouse for keeper Hanson and his family. That all changed in 1914 when his wife died in surgery. This left keeper Hanson with four children to care for by himself at the lighthouse. Because of his extensive lighthouse duties, he was unable to offer full- time care for the children and he could not afford to hire a person to help out. Some suggested that he remarry, but he had no desire to do so.
Keeper Hanson then made the decision that the boys were old enough to be hired out as farm help in exchange for room and board on the mainland. Clifford was ten and Arnold was nine. So the boys went to live with two different families. They could return to the island on weekends when there were no farm chores, or for holidays. The girls were younger; Doris was four years old and Sadie was seven years old. Sadie went to live on the mainland with a family for the school year, and Doris stayed behind to be taken care of by her father who had the help of his friend Jens Rollefson, who was also the head keeper at Chambers Island Lighthouse. But, when Doris was old enough to attend school, she was also sent to the mainland during the school year. There were times that the girls were mistreated at some of the homes where they were boarded. But, they never told their father. They didn’t want him to worry.
The summer return visit to the lighthouse was exciting for the girls; they were happy to spend time with their father again. They stayed in one of the two bedrooms that were on the second floor of the lighthouse tower. Their father had even decorated the windows with frilly curtains for them. The main lighthouse structure was the living quarters for the head keeper, but they all shared a common dining area. Keeper Hanson made pancakes every morning for breakfast.
After morning chores the sisters spent the day playing in the hayloft of the barn, exploring, fishing, picking berries, and watching the wildlife. They always looked forward to a daily treat from head keeper “Captain Jens,” who was described as a crusty sort of man who had emigrated from Norway and never married. But he loved the kids and was good to them. On a rare occasion the girls’ brothers got to come to the island and the family would be together again, albeit for only a short time. Since neither one of the lighthouse keepers knew how to bake, on special occasions the girls were sent on a hike to farm on the island to buy bread from the people who lived there.
More Tragedy
In 1921, when keeper Hanson’s youngest son became ill with a stomach ailment, the family with whom Arthur had been staying sent him back to Chambers Island Lighthouse to be with his father. However, his condition worsened while on the island. Finally, a decision was made to take him by boat back to the mainland and a hospital, but it was too late. He died of a ruptured appendix.
In April of 1922, tragedy again struck the Hanson family. Keeper Hanson’s eldest son, Clifford, had visited the lighthouse and was returning to the mainland on a sail sleigh when he fell through the ice and drowned near the community of Fish Creek. His companion at the time, Gus Erickson, survived and had summoned help, which arrive much too late.
Samuel Hanson was devastated. He had enough of Chambers Island, which had cost him the loss of his wife and two sons. He became very protective of his two daughters and took a transfer as an assistant keeper at Cana Island Lighthouse where he served under head keeper Oscar Knudson. For whatever reason, assistant keepers who served under Mr. Knudson did not stay long at Cana Island Lighthouse. The same was true with Samuel Hanson; he stayed less than five months. Perhaps he could not get along with Head Keeper Knudson, or he had finally had enough of lighthouse life. But Samuel O. Hanson’s days as a lighthouse keeper came to end at Cana Island Lighthouse.
More Ice Problems
Other than the tragedies that the Hanson family had, life at Chambers Island Lighthouse was probably similar to what other keepers experienced at other remote lighthouses, especially those on islands. But one thing we know is that crossing the ice to and from the island seemed to be quite common, but extremely dangerous, as the Hanson family came to find out.
On February 18, 1886 a man named Fred I. Schuyler attempted to take some relatives and two children across Green Bay on the ice. At about noon that day, with the temperature hovering near zero, and when the sleigh was about 4 ½ miles off the northwest corner of Chambers Island, in order to keep his feet warm, Mr. Schuyler ran behind the sleigh, leaving the reigns in the hands of his son-in-law, Addison Cleveland. Suddenly, and without warning, the horses went through a four-foot wide crack in the ice that had been hidden by slush. Schuyler began to cut the harnesses, but his hands were soon benumbed and his fingers frosted so that he could not use them. Fearing that nothing could be done to save the horses, he sent Mr. Cleveland to the Chambers Island Lighthouse for help.
It must have been an exhausting combination walk and run for Mr. Cleveland in the four plus miles across the ice to reach the lighthouse in the bitter cold weather. He obviously knew that the lives of the others depended on his success in reaching the lighthouse and getting help.
About three and half hours later, Mr. Cleveland returned on a sleigh with lighthouse keeper Lewis S. Williams and another man. Using the newly arrived sleigh, they pulled the horses from the water; however, one of the horses died, but miraculously, the other horse was saved. Then the entire cold and exhausted entourage proceeded to Chambers Island Lighthouse where everyone received warm dry clothes and some much needed hot beverages. They were all lucky to have survived the incident.
In 1893 the ferry steamer Ann Arbor No. 3 was stranded in ice about four miles northeast of Chambers Island. Lighthouse keeper Charles E. Young spotted the stranded steamer and travelled across the ice to get help from the mainland. Once again a lighthouse keeper had saved the day.
In April of 1911 Green Island lighthouse keeper Frank Drew and his brother George Drew, the 1st assistant lighthouse keeper at Green Island, attempted to cross on the ice and became trapped on an ice floe. George Drew was well known to people in the area. Prior to being transferred to Green Island Lighthouse, he had been the assistant keeper at Chambers Island Lighthouse from 1903 to 1909. The April 5th edition of the Marshfield Times reported that they were drifting northward on a large body of ice in Green Bay. The article stated, “The brothers started for Marinette, but were unable to get across a large crack in the ice. In the meantime the ice began to move and they were carried out in the bay.” Many people believed that they would never be seen again.
However, their outcome was reported on the front page of the April 12th edition of the Sheboygan Times with a headline that read, “Wind Perils and Then Saves.” The story incorrectly stated that both men were keepers at Chambers Island Lighthouse, which, as we know, was incorrect. But the newspaper gave a good account of what happened. “Thirty-Two hours after a heavy wind had set them afloat on an ice floe in Green Bay, George and Frank Drew were blown ashore at Chambers Island on Sunday, more dead than alive.” The story went on to say that the men started for shore over the ice on Sunday when a heavy wind detached a floe and swept it out into the bay. “Search for the marooned men proved unveiling. During the night, shifts in the wind piled up the flow on the island.” The men were rescued on Easter Sunday morning.
Longevity of Service
The first keeper of Chambers Island Lighthouse, Civil War veteran Lewis S. Williams, was also its longest serving keeper. He served as the keeper of Chambers Island Lighthouse for nearly 21 years, from September 9, 1868 to August 19, 1889 when he was forced to resign because of crippling rheumatism. He and his wife Anna raised 12 children at the remote island lighthouse.
Another person who was stationed for many years at Chambers Island Lighthouse was first assistant keeper Theodore B. Jacobson whose last name in some records was often spelled Jacobsen. Just about no one called him Theodore; instead he was called by Ted or Teddy. He started his lighthouse career as an assistant keeper at Racine Reef Lighthouse in Racine, Wisconsin where he served from 1921 to 1926 when he transferred to Chambers Island. He must have liked island life because he stayed at Chambers Island for 20 years where he raised his family. In 1939 he also saw the transition from the U.S. Lighthouse Service to the U.S. Coast Guard. During his 20 years he served under two different head keepers; Claude F. Chapman from April 1, 1925 to June 30, 1933, and then under Alfred L. Cornell who was the last head keeper when the lighthouse was automated.
In 2001 Marjorie Narlock, in a story in the West Allis Star newspaper, recalled some memories of life on Chambers Island where her grandfather Theodore Jacobson had been the keeper. “There was no electricity, no running water, but it was the most wonderful place. Newspaper reporter Nan Bialek, who interviewed Marjorie, wrote, “Every summer, Marjorie and her sister, Patricia, followed their grandfather up the narrow, cast iron stairway to the top of the castle like tower, where he carefully polished the brass and lit the kerosene lamp. The aroma of fresh bread, baked by Marjorie’s grandmother, drifted up from the woodstove in the lighthouse kitchen.”
A couple of years before the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. Coast Guard took over the lighthouse. Marjorie Narlock recalled, “During World War II, everything was hush-hush and they talked code in the office. “
In 1941 when Joseph Napiezinski (sometimes spelled Napeizinski) was retiring as one of the oldest keepers on the Great Lakes from his position as head keeper of the Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, he recalled some of his lighthouse years on the Great Lakes; some of that time had been spent at Chambers Island Lighthouse. He was already a veteran lighthouse keeper by the time he came to Chambers Island Lighthouse, where he served as head keeper from August 16, 1900 to May 24, 1906.
Frozen to Boat
Keeper Napiezinski said that trips to and from the mainland were particularly hazardous in the spring and fall when drifting ice floated in the bay, something that is obvious from what we previously mentioned. In many instances it was necessary for him to make the trip with a combination of rowboat and sled. When slush ice was strong enough, he traveled on the sled with the boat strapped on behind. When he struck open water, he launched the small boat, strapped the sled on behind, and rowed until he encountered another clump of ice.
One time keeper Napiezinski had to make an emergency trip to shore to contact a doctor. A child of another family on the island had been severally stricken with some type of ailment. He found the doctor, but the physician was apparently unwilling to risk his life across the treacherous ice for the trip to Chambers Island. So after telling the physician of the child’s symptoms, keeper Nipiezinski returned across the ice and slush to the island with instructions and medicine for the care of the ailing child.
One bitter-cold winter day when there was no ice on the bay, he was forced to row to the mainland for provisions. After he set out for the return trip to the island, the wind kicked up and dashed waves over his tiny craft. The water froze as it sprayed over the boat. By the time he nosed the craft to the lighthouse, he realized that he was frozen to the seat. His wife had to come down from the lighthouse and chop him free.
Assassination Message
There was no electricity on Chambers Island Lighthouse and news generally arrived via old newspapers that were picked up on supply trips or those that were dropped off by local fishermen who were friends of the lighthouse keepers. However, in September of 1901, an ingenious tugboat captain who was passing the lighthouse, signaled keeper Napiezinski that he had a message of interest by waving aloft a large pine board.
Mr. Napiezinski acknowledged that he had seen the signal and the boat captain motioned that he was throwing the board into the bay. The keeper watched the board as the current carried it to the shore near the lighthouse. Mr. Napiezinski ran to the water’s edge and found inscribed in big letters on the board, “President McKinley assassinated in Buffalo, New York.” Obviously this was big news and the keeper ran back to the lighthouse to tell others, who then gathered in prayer for the nation. Eventually newspapers reached the lighthouse where the family members were able to read the full account in the newspaper and magazines.
The Last Keeper
On July 1, 1933, Alfred L. Cornell replaced Claude F. Chapman as the head keeper of the Chambers Island Lighthouse. Cornell was no stranger to lighthouses. He had previously served at North Manitou Island, Pilot Island, and Green Island lighthouses. From 1929 to 1931 Alfred served as an assistant keeper at Green Island Lighthouse under his brother, Edward Cornell, who was the head keeper. In 1931 Alfred assumed the position as head keeper at Green Island Lighthouse and oversaw the automation of the lighthouse. Although he might not have realized it at the time, as well as being the last keeper at Green Island Lighthouse, he would also become the last Lighthouse Service keeper at Chambers Island Lighthouse.
On December 22, 1902, on Washington Island, Alfred Leon Cornell married Clara E. Moe. The family eventually grew to five children, the youngest, Myrtle having been born on February 22, 1913. Before he came to Chambers Island, Alfred Cornell had the misfortune to lose part of his foot when it was smashed between a boat and a dock. Just as he was recovering from this injury, tragedy would strike Alfred Cornell’s life. Six months after the arrival of their fifth child, and while Alfred was the 1st assistant keeper at Pilot Island Lighthouse, Clara got extremely sick and she was sent to Washington Island to be with family members. However, she had blood poisoning and nothing could be done. She died August 16, 1913.
Needing help with the children, the wife of one of his brothers, came to the rescue to give a helping hand. However, within six years of the death of his wife, Alfred was ready to remarry. On November 27, 1919 he married Maude Lee Drew, the daughter of Frank Drew who was the lighthouse keeper at Green Island Lighthouse, where Alfred would later become keeper before being transferred to Chambers Island in 1933. When Alfred Cornell and Maude Drew got married, he was 43 and she was 27. Alfred’s younger children and Maude went on to live at the lighthouse in the summer months and as time went on Maude and Alfred had five children together, which meant that Alfred Cornell had fathered ten children.
Tragedy struck the family in 1942 when their 12 year old son, Paul, drowned while diving off a train bridge on the Menominee River. Whether it was his son’s death or the fact that he had reached retirement age, or that the lighthouse was being automated, Alfred Cornell left Chambers Island that year. He and his wife lived their remaining years in Marinette, Wisconsin. Alfred Cornell died at the age of 81 on June 5, 1958 and his 2nd wife Maude passed away at the age of 68 on October 9, 1960.
A New Era
In 1955 the Coast Guard erected a 15-foot tall tower near the lighthouse to serve as the new beacon for Chambers Island Lighthouse. It is believed that sometime around 1961, the lantern room was taken off the lighthouse and the Fresnel lens was removed from the tower. For many years, it was widely believed that somehow or another the lens from Chambers Island was purchased at auction and went into the lens collection that is on display at Warp’s Pioneer Museum in Miden, Nebraska. However, a recent report indicates that the lens at the museum is not from Chambers Island Lighthouse. Additionally, photos of the lantern and the lens being removed from the lighthouse seem to be nonexistent. Later, the Coast Guard built a sixty-foot erector set style structure to serve as the beacon.
After the Coast Guard virtually abandoned the old lighthouse quarters, the structure suffered from vandalism and deterioration. Then, in 1976, the Town of Gibraltar acquired the lighthouse and its 40-acre site to be used as a public park. The lighthouse was restored, and Joel and Mary Ann Blahnik became the caretakers, a position they still hold to this day.
The Ghost
At the early stages of restoration caretaker, Joel Blahnik experienced strange happenings, which he attributed to a ghost. He explained the ghost as a mischievous sort of soul who liked to move tools around. Guests who came out to the island also reported strange happenings, such as someone shaking their bed when they were sleeping. One day a picnicking nun from a retreat on the island, who had heard of the ghost, placed her hand on the building and prayed for the release of the ghost. After that the ghost never returned.
Access
Today access to Chambers Island is limited to daytime hours by those who have their own boat. The lighthouse is also open during the annual Door County Lighthouse Festival held from June 12-14, but you will need to purchase a ticket in advance to visit Chambers Island Lighthouse and the tickets sell out fast. For more information go to www.DCMM.org or call 920-743-5958.
This story appeared in the
May/Jun 2015 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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