Photo Caption:
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Lighthouse Digest artist Virginia Souza drew this depiction of the first Minot Ledge Lighthouse from plans from the old U.S. Lighthouse Establishment. Although the camera was in existence during this year, and there are a number of photographs of many other lighthouses from that time, there are no known photographs of the first Minot Ledge Lighthouse. It was built in 1847-50 at a cost of $39,000, becoming the first lighthouse built in America to be exposed to the full fury of the sea. The first keeper, Isaac Dunham, a former keeper at Maine’s Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, said the lighthouse was unsafe. He eventually quit, fearing for his life.
The keeper at the time of the tragedy was John W. Bennett who was no fan of Captain William H. Swift, the man who built the first Minot tower. Like Keeper Dunham, he felt the tower was unsafe and made numerous statements that the tower would eventually collapse, most likely with the loss of life. He was right.
On the morning of April 11, 1851 Keeper Bennett left the lighthouse for the mainland, leaving his two assistants, Joseph Antoine and Joseph Wilson, to tend the light. He had no idea at the time, just how lucky he was. The next day he attempted to return to the light but the weather was too bad and each day thereafter the weather got increasingly worse and eventually reached hurricane force causing considerable damage on the mainland.
According to Edward Rowe Snow in his book about Minot Light, the morning after the worst part of the storm, Keeper Bennett went down to the edge of the ocean in an attempt to find out what happened. His worst fears were soon realized when he saw some of his own clothing and timbers from the lighthouse washing up on the shore.
However the builder of the lighthouse, Capt. Swift blamed the loss of life on the keeper. In a statement issued at the time, he said, “ It is certain that the course of the keeper, in leaving the men in the light without a boat, was entirely inexcusable, and even criminal.”
Apparently the assistant keepers both knew the tower was about to collapse because evidence points to the fact that they left the tower. Wearing life preservers they lowered themselves into the raging ocean in an attempt to reach shore. Both most probably died of a combination of exhaustion and exposure. The body of Joseph Antoine was washed ashore at Nantasket, MA.
According to Snow’s account, in his book, he believed that Joseph Wilson reached Gull Rock. To quote from his book, “Here it was that Joseph Wilson was washed ashore, more dead than alive, terribly chilled and bruised by the battering of the icy waves. He crawled up to the top of the rock, and discovered he was not on the mainland. This disappointment, after his long swim from the lighthouse, was too much for Wilson, and he sank, exhausted, in a cleft of Gull Rock far above the reach of the outgoing tide. He probably died before morning of exhaustion and exposure. It is not all conjecture, however, for when the body of Joseph Wilson was discovered the position and condition indicated that the young man reached the rock alive.”
Back to the edition of: July 2000
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