The Best of 2012: The Keeper of Stories: The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter

The Keeper of Stories
The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter
By Doug Mills
“There is neither tree nor shrub and hardly a blade of grass on The Rock. The surface is rough and irregular and resembles a confused pile of loose stone. Portions of The Rock are frequently swept over by the waves which move the huge boulders into new positions.” The Lighthouse Board’s 1891 Annual Report.

    Located nearly 18 miles out to sea, Matinicus Rock may well be the most inhospitable place on the coast of Maine. The Matinicus Rock light station was established in 1827. By 1831 its first keeper was too ill to continue and soon died. The second keeper also died after only a short time on The Rock. During a winter storm in 1842 Keeper Abbott and his family needed to seek shelter in the attic of the keepers house as waves swept over the island and through the first floor of the house.

    In 1853 Samuel Burgess became keeper at “The Rock”. He brought with him his handicapped wife and several of their ten children including 14 year old Abbie. Abbie soon learned the duties of the lightstation.
    One January morning in 1856 burgess had to sail to Rockland, some 25 miles away, for much needed supplies. He left Abbie to care for her mother and younger sisters as well as keeping the light. Burgess had no way of knowing a monster storm was bearing down on the Gulf of Maine. By afternoon the sky had turned black and the wind began to blow. The storm continued to strengthen through the long night. The morning came with a howling gale and the waves crashing over the entire island. Another sleepless night only to find, the next morning, the waves threatening to wash the keepers house into the crashing sea. Abbie moved her mother and sisters into the north lighthouse tower, then waded through knee deep water to save the chickens. A short time after she arrived back in the safety of the north tower a giant wave crashed over the island completely destroying the old keepers house!

    Day after day going about her duties as the winds howled and the waves crashed over the island. Watching for her fathers small boat returning from the mainland. Hours turn into days, days turn into weeks, weeks turn into nearly a month and still no sign of that sail on the horizon, no sign of her fathers return.
Abbie later wrote of those days, “As the tide came, the sea rose higher and higher, till the only endurable places were the light towers. If they stood we were saved, otherwise our fate was only too certain. But for some reason, I know not I had no misgivings, and went on with my work as usual. For four weeks, owing to rough weather, no landing could be effected on the Rock. During this time we were without the assistance of any male member of our family. Though at times greatly exhausted with my labors, not once did the lights fail. Under God I was able to perform all my accustomed duties as well as my father’s.”
After four long weeks of fearing the worst, Burgess was able to make it back to “The Rock”.   The sea had finally calmed down enough for him to land on the rocky island. Imagine his joy to find his family well and that the lights had never once gone out!


Once again in 1857 while burgess was in Rockland for supplies, foul winter weather kept him from returning for three weeks.

The Best of 2012: The Keeper of Stories: A Tale of Two Lights

The Keeper of Stories:
A Tale of Two Lights
 By Doug Mills

Two Lights Cape Elizabeth Maine
Marcus Auralius Hanna, a Civil War Medal of honor winner, was appointed
keeper of the two lights at Cape Elizabeth Maine, located on the approach to Portland harbor.
On the night of January 28, 1885 a huge winter storm moved up the Maine coast growing rapidly into a howling blizzard. Hanna sick with the flue spent the whole night sounding the steam fog whistle. At 6:00 A.M. he was relieved by the assistant keeper. Suffering from his illness and exhaustion he had to crawl through the deep snow drifts to the keepers house. Hanna’s wife put out the lights in both towers after sunrise.
It was around 8:40 A.M. when Mrs. Hanna saw it, a schooner aground on Dyer’s ledge, just below the lighthouse. It was the Australia out of Booth Bay bound for Boston. The captain had already been carried overboard in the violent seas. Two crewmen remained alive. They had climbed into the rigging to keep from being swept overboard, leaving them exposed to the freezing wind and ocean spray.  Hanna and the assistant keeper rushed to the shore near the stranded vessel. The ice on the rocks made it nearly impossible to get close

Marcus Auralius Hanna

and the wind and snow would not allow them to
keep the stranded sailors in sight. The waves
attempted to pull them into the deadly waters
while the cold wind slowly sucked the life out
of their bodies.
Hanna tried to throw a line to the freezing
sailors but to no avail. The assistant keeper
returned to his duties at the fog signal, feeling
the situation was hopeless. Hanna refused to
give up. Nearly frozen himself by this time he
waded waist deep into the freezing waves and
threw the line again. Success, the first sailor
managed to tie the rope around himself and was
pulled to the shore. After several more tries he was
able to get the rope to the second sailor. The sailor ties the line around himself. Hanna begins to pull him in. But, with the cold waters taking the life from his body and his cloths frozen from the wind and snow, his strength fails!
At that moment the assistant keeper returns with two neighbors and the four men were able to pull the second sailor to safety.

Two Lights  Cape Elizabeth, Maine

The Best of 2012: The Keeper of Stories: The House

The Keeper of Stories: The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter

The Keeper of Stories
The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter
By Doug Mills
“There is neither tree nor shrub and hardly a blade of grass on The Rock. The surface is rough and irregular and resembles a confused pile of loose stone. Portions of The Rock are frequently swept over by the waves which move the huge boulders into new positions.” The Lighthouse Board’s 1891 Annual Report.

    Located nearly 18 miles out to sea, Matinicus Rock may well be the most inhospitable place on the coast of Maine. The Matinicus Rock light station was established in 1827. By 1831 its first keeper was too ill to continue and soon died. The second keeper also died after only a short time on The Rock. During a winter storm in 1842 Keeper Abbott and his family needed to seek shelter in the attic of the keepers house as waves swept over the island and through the first floor of the house.

    In 1853 Samuel Burgess became keeper at “The Rock”. He brought with him his handicapped wife and several of their ten children including 14 year old Abbie. Abbie soon learned the duties of the lightstation.
    One January morning in 1856 burgess had to sail to Rockland, some 25 miles away, for much needed supplies. He left Abbie to care for her mother and younger sisters as well as keeping the light. Burgess had no way of knowing a monster storm was bearing down on the Gulf of Maine. By afternoon the sky had turned black and the wind began to blow. The storm continued to strengthen through the long night. The morning came with a howling gale and the waves crashing over the entire island. Another sleepless night only to find, the next morning, the waves threatening to wash the keepers house into the crashing sea. Abbie moved her mother and sisters into the north lighthouse tower, then waded through knee deep water to save the chickens. A short time after she arrived back in the safety of the north tower a giant wave crashed over the island completely destroying the old keepers house!

    Day after day going about her duties as the winds howled and the waves crashed over the island. Watching for her fathers small boat returning from the mainland. Hours turn into days, days turn into weeks, weeks turn into nearly a month and still no sign of that sail on the horizon, no sign of her fathers return.
Abbie later wrote of those days, “As the tide came, the sea rose higher and higher, till the only endurable places were the light towers. If they stood we were saved, otherwise our fate was only too certain. But for some reason, I know not I had no misgivings, and went on with my work as usual. For four weeks, owing to rough weather, no landing could be effected on the Rock. During this time we were without the assistance of any male member of our family. Though at times greatly exhausted with my labors, not once did the lights fail. Under God I was able to perform all my accustomed duties as well as my father’s.”
After four long weeks of fearing the worst, Burgess was able to make it back to “The Rock”.   The sea had finally calmed down enough for him to land on the rocky island. Imagine his joy to find his family well and that the lights had never once gone out!


Once again in 1857 while burgess was in Rockland for supplies, foul winter weather kept him from returning for three weeks.

The Keeper of Stories: The House

The Keeper of Stories: A Tale of Two Lights

The Keeper of Stories:
A Tale of Two Lights
 By Doug Mills

Two Lights Cape Elizabeth Maine
Marcus Auralius Hanna, a Civil War Medal of honor winner, was appointed
keeper of the two lights at Cape Elizabeth Maine, located on the approach to Portland harbor.
On the night of January 28, 1885 a huge winter storm moved up the Maine coast growing rapidly into a howling blizzard. Hanna sick with the flue spent the whole night sounding the steam fog whistle. At 6:00 A.M. he was relieved by the assistant keeper. Suffering from his illness and exhaustion he had to crawl through the deep snow drifts to the keepers house. Hanna’s wife put out the lights in both towers after sunrise.
It was around 8:40 A.M. when Mrs. Hanna saw it, a schooner aground on Dyer’s ledge, just below the lighthouse. It was the Australia out of Booth Bay bound for Boston. The captain had already been carried overboard in the violent seas. Two crewmen remained alive. They had climbed into the rigging to keep from being swept overboard, leaving them exposed to the freezing wind and ocean spray.  Hanna and the assistant keeper rushed to the shore near the stranded vessel. The ice on the rocks made it nearly impossible to get close

Marcus Auralius Hanna

and the wind and snow would not allow them to
keep the stranded sailors in sight. The waves
attempted to pull them into the deadly waters
while the cold wind slowly sucked the life out
of their bodies.
Hanna tried to throw a line to the freezing
sailors but to no avail. The assistant keeper
returned to his duties at the fog signal, feeling
the situation was hopeless. Hanna refused to
give up. Nearly frozen himself by this time he
waded waist deep into the freezing waves and
threw the line again. Success, the first sailor
managed to tie the rope around himself and was
pulled to the shore. After several more tries he was
able to get the rope to the second sailor. The sailor ties the line around himself. Hanna begins to pull him in. But, with the cold waters taking the life from his body and his cloths frozen from the wind and snow, his strength fails!
At that moment the assistant keeper returns with two neighbors and the four men were able to pull the second sailor to safety.

Two Lights  Cape Elizabeth, Maine

"The Keeper of Stories"

The Keeper of Stories Intro
By Doug Mills

Today we start a new series entitled "The Keeper of Stories" by Doug Mills.  In years past short stories were a staple of the publishing world, today is seems that storytelling is nearly a lost art.  Storytelling was for hundreds of years the way that history and tradition were passed from generation to generation.  In this series we will be presenting stories from the coast of Maine, some true some fictional but all entertaining.