By Sue Maden and Rosemary Enright

John Paul Albert Henry Porter was the first Dutch Island lighthouse keeper appointed under the new Civil Service legislation.

He was also the first and only keeper asked to resign for moral turpitude.

Porter, the son of a lighthouse keeper, joined the Light House Service at the age of 21. Dutch Island was his third station and, from the number of requests for transfer included in his personnel files, he was not happy at the isolated post.

Until 1910, he did his job well enough to receive “good” or “excellent” ratings on his annual reports, although an inspector called the general cleanliness of the lighthouse only “fair.”

In the spring of 1911, Porter received permission to attend to matters relating to his father’s sudden death. When he returned, he accosted his wife with “certain stories of misconduct on her part while at that place [New York] which had been brought to my attention by certain people, who claimed to know such facts to be true. . . . [she] admit that before she married me she lead a fast life in New York for ten years.” She left, supposedly to return to New York.

About the same time, the first recorded communication between the lighthouse and the Army found its way into Porter’s personnel folder: The commandant of Ft. Greble expressed the opinion that Porter was “untrustworthy.”

Although the Light House Service investigated the charge, it didn’t find any reason for action.

For a while, things on the island seemed to improve. In 1912, Porter received commendations on his care of the lighthouse and his rescue of a boat owner and his wife. He received permission to bring his mother to the island and to hire a housekeeper to help her.

But the “housekeeper,” it soon became apparent, was Porter’s lover.

A quick replacement

In February, 1915, the commanding officer at Ft. Adams complained: “For some time Porter has been living in the lighthouse [with] a woman known as Catherine C. Lyal… During the time the woman has been at the Lighthouse with Porter she has had a child and the situation has become notorious. The continuation of this scandal, practically in the garrison, is undesirable.”

A month later, two Light House service inspectors paid a surprise visit to Dutch Island. They arrived at 7:30 in the morning and the keeper answered the door in his pajamas. Porter’s answers to the inspectors’ questions, recorded in a five-page handwritten report, are confused and, in some cases, funny.

“Asked why he kept his clothes in her [the housekeeper’s] room” the inspector recorded, “[he] said he always did as that room is drier. When informed that no other room in house showed signs of having been occupied and asked where he slept, he said he slept in a chair in the dining room.”

The inspector asked for and received Porter’s resignation, which was accepted “not without prejudice,” and Albert Porter disappeared from the Narragansett Bay area, leaving behind a number of unpaid bills.

The Light House Service quickly selected Porter’s replacement – a veteran with 19 years of combined Navy and Lighthouse Bureau experience, who had for five years been applying for transfer to any “one-man shore station” in the northeast. John J. Cook relieved Porter on April 15, 1915.

But, in his first few years, he faced several problems. Porter had not completed required paperwork and Cook was reprimanded. In June, 1917, he fell from a ladder, hurt his back and couldn’t work for three weeks – his wife was approved as his alternate. Then, in February, 1918, at the height of the First World War, the Department of Justice forwarded a report from its Newport office that suspicions were circulating that Cook – who had been born in Germany – was “a man of ‘ultra proGerman’ tendencies.”

J.T. Yates, the lighthouse inspector, stood by his man, responding that Cook was a Navy veteran of the Spanish American War and had 12 years with the Bureau of Lighthouses. He concluded, “It does not seem to be just to cast a reflection as to an employee’s loyalty without furnishing evidence of information to justify suspicion.”

Cook worked closely with the military at Ft. Greble. He received permission to shop at the commissary. The post surgeon took care of him on several occasions. In the spring of 1918, he wrote to ask permission for men from the fort to plant a garden on lighthouse grounds.

His close relations with the post stood him in good stead when a brush fire threatened the lighthouse in 1923 and a soldier from the fort rushed to extinguish the fire.

Cook retired on Aug. 17, 1927, and settled in Jamestown. He built a house on Narragansett Avenue, just west of North Main Road, for himself and his wife – they had no children. He died in 1930. His widow, Martha Cook, continued to live in Jamestown until her death in 1969.

Serenity and isolation

Cook’s retirement brought John Paul, previously of Fall River’s Borden Flats Light, to Dutch Island with his three sons. In the late 1920s, the military usefulness of Ft. Greble declined, and Paul’s son, Louis, remembered both the serenity and isolation of the post.

In order to shop, Paul hoisted a flag to intercept the Jamestown- Saunderstown ferry. On these shopping trips, he would buy huge quantities of food, sometimes a whole side of beef. He also raised vegetables and kept a flock of ducks. Fish from the bay also provided food for the station — Paul would, according to his son, catch a “bushel of blackfish” before breakfast.

Like his predecessor, Paul retired to Jamestown.

The next keeper of the Dutch Island Light, John D. Davies, was – like others before him – the son of a lighthouse keeper. His father had been keeper of the Rosses Point Light in County Sligo, Ireland. Davies immigrated to the U.S. in 1894, when he was 25 years old, and joined the Lighthouse Service in 1900.

When Davies retired after 33 years in the Light House Service, including two years at Dutch Island, he – like almost all 20th century keepers of the Dutch Island light – had difficulties resolving the amount of his pension.

Because housing was provided on Dutch Island, his salary had been reduced by a housing allowance. The housing allowance was supposed to be added into gross pay in the calculation of his pension. For many years, it was not.

Davies’ successor, Stanley Gunderson, tended the Dutch Island light from July 1934 to March 1935, although his name is often missing from a list of the keepers. Gunderson was the son of the lighthouse keeper at Stage Harbor Light near Chatham, Mass. Following his father’s suicide in 1918 and his own discharge from the army, Gunderson took over as keeper there. He stayed at Stage Harbor Light until it was decommissioned in 1933.

It was the middle of the Great Depression, and Gunderson was bitter about the closing of Stage Harbor, complaining to the Boston Post: “To save money they put in something that is far more expensive and less reliable and all that economy and put another employee on the unemployment list. Rather a poor way to reduce unemployment and surely no help toward better times.”

As a World War I veteran, he was given preference for those jobs that did arise and during the following year, he took several short-term positions with which he was very unhappy.

When Davies’ departure brought the opening at Dutch Island, Gunderson accepted the appointment. Nine months later, he resigned, saying, “My mother’s rapidly failing heath makes it imperative that she live ashore . . . I also have been in poor health [because of] the three months I served at Great Point Lt. Sta. [Nantucket] under the extremely disagreeable conditions existing there.”

The last keeper

While Gunderson’s successor stayed on the island almost twice as long as his predecessor, William C. Anderson left no mark of his tenure. He retired June 30, 1936, and was followed by the last keeper of the Dutch Island Light, Ernest Homer Stacey.

Stacey joined the Lighthouse Service in early 1931, at the age of 23. He was immediately sent to Whale Rock Light Station in Narragansett Bay, west of Beavertail, as the assistant keeper.

After more than four years at Whale Rock, he was transferred to Duxbury Pier Light Station near Plymouth, Mass., but within the year, he returned to Narragansett Bay as keeper of the Dutch Island light.

Two years later, R.I. was hit by its most violent storm in more than 100 years: The hurricane of Sept. 21, 1938.

The assistant keeper at Whale Rock Light – Stacey’s former post – died when the light was swept away in the storm. Dutch Island, four miles up the bay, escaped with relatively little damage, but from accounts of the storm, it must have been a harrowing day on the little island.

Despite the inauspicious beginning, Stacey, according to members of his family, loved his tour on Dutch Island.

On his arrival on the island, he felt “he had come home” and he would spend hours sitting on the rocks looking out over the bay. He loved to fish and never came home empty–handed.

The same serenity did not extend to his family.

His wife, Dot, complained of the weather, the isolation, her husband’s child-like fascination with the light – and a diet of too much fish. Their young son, Robert, tired of rowing to school every day and missing many days because of rough weather, stayed with his grandmother during the winter months.

Soon after Stacey’s arrival, the army began the active dismantling of the virtually abandoned fort to the north of the lighthouse. The West Passage was now protected by more easily supported installations at Saunderstown and Jamestown.

Stacey remained as keeper at Dutch Island throughout World War II, though his status changed to “military” and his title to “Boatswain’s Mate, second class” as the conflict began.

Following the war, the automation of the lighthouses, so bitterly protested by Gunderson 15 years earlier, continued and Dutch Island was the first light in post-war R.I. to be automated.

In February, 1947, the Coast Guard completed the installation of the automated equipment and Ernest Stacey and his family left the island.

The U.S. Army, having previously removed the useful armaments and declared the remaining guns “salvage,” discontinued the post on Dutch Island in December of the same year.

No one has made his home on the island since.

The light is re-lit

For 10 years, Dutch Island was ignored while weather and vandalism continued to destroy the military complex and the keeper’s quarters. In 1958, the military deeded its portion of the island to the state “for the conservation of wildlife.”

In 1960, the Coast Guard decided that the keeper’s home and outbuildings were beyond repair and demolished them. Two years later, it transferred the property, except for the lighthouse proper, to the state.

In 1972 and again in 1977, the Coast Guard proposed discontinuing the light. Vandals had smashed doors, stolen equipment and even poured liquid steel into a lock. The site was too expensive to maintain.

The Dutch Island Light was offi cially discontinued in 1979, replaced by offshore buoys.

Slowly, natural vegetation obscured the remnants of human occupation of the island. The lighthouse, without any protection or repair from the actions of vandals and the elements, decayed. But in 2000, a group of citizens formed the Dutch Island Lighthouse Society (DILS) to work to restore the lighthouse.

After years of fund-raising and petitions for permission to proceed, the light in the restored lighthouse was re-lit on Nov. 18, 2007.

by Peter Randall, MD

In May of 2000, the lighthouse was visited by the DILS Board and Chris Powell of the RI Dept. of Environmental Management (which had jurisdiction over the island). In June of 2000, Ginger Hesse and Roberta Randall of the RI State Historic Preservation Office also visited the lighthouse. They assessed the building to be in need of extensive repairs, but basically very sound, and they named it an Historic Building. That summer, it was discovered that the RI Dept. of Transportation (RIDOT) had an Enhancement Program that was interested in the preservation of historic places and the enhancement of public lands. Specifically, they were interested in the Dutch Island lighthouse as an important aid to navigation, not only in the main channel of West Passage, but also as the entrance to Dutch Harbor. In September of 2000, the building was inspected by Marty Nally of the Campbell Construction Group, which had been involved in the restoration of a number of New England lighthouses. They agreed that the building was basically sound and estimated that its restoration, including the installation of a functioning light, would cost about $106,000. Immediately an application was filed by DILS for funds for restoration and reactivation with an estimated cost of $120,000, and the application was “accepted”. It took another 7 years to complete all the many details of design, planning, restoration and activation along with endless encounters with “red tape.”

While the grant request was for more than the estimated cost, it was realized that costs usually increase and also that about 85% of the money granted by RIDOT were Federal dollars and that they were not always forthcoming. Furthermore, applications and specifications had to fit both Federal and State requirements which differed. 

To start the long process of raising sufficient funds, it was decided to charge dues for membership in the Society, set at $25 for families and $15 for individuals. 

On March 15, 2001, at the urging of Shirley Sheldon, an open meeting was held in the Chapel of St. John’s in Saunderstown. About 50 people attended. Jim Gomes of Scituate, RI brought a large 42” model of the lighthouse that he had painstakingly built to scale inside and out, using approximately 2,242 handcrafted tiny bricks. The present lighthouse you may remember is 42 feet high. Shirley Sheldon made door prizes for everyone attending. According to the minutes, “…the audience was very enthusiastic and several signed up to be on committees for fundraising, merchandising, publicity, history, newsletters, DEM (Department of Environmental Management) contacts and membership.”

In June 2001, another similar fundraiser was held in the Jamestown Philomenian Library with presentations by DILS Board members, on the history of the lighthouse. Jim Gomes brought his lighthouse model again and gave a presentation about its construction. This model remained in the library for quite some time. At this library meeting, an unidentified man surprised the group by returning the original 250mm lighthouse lens that had been in his possession for about 20 years. The anonymous benefactor had been concerned about ongoing vandalism that he saw at the lighthouse and removed the lens from the tower for safekeeping after the lighthouse was abandoned and darkened. It is now on display at the American Lighthouse Foundation Museum in Wells, Maine.

Another wonderful surprise was a gift of $1,350 from Ron Foster and Jim Streeter of the New England Lighthouse Lovers Society (NELLS) for the construction of a secure and safe door on the Dutch Island Lighthouse.  This was a much appreciated boost to the early fundraising efforts and put to good use as designated. NELLS had been instrumental in the reconstruction and restoration of several lighthouses in Connecticut and Ron and Jim were consultants to our Board for several years.

Awareness of the mission of DILS was strengthened by several more fundraisers which were held in those early years. One was at the Saunderstown Yacht Club, dubbed “Bal Musette” with a French theme and exceptional music by the Café Accordion from Minnesota, thanks to the ingenuity of Kate Vivian of The Towers in Narragansett, RI. The dancing for young and old went well into the night. 

Another wonderful party and fundraiser was held in Saunderstown in 2001. There were libations and refreshments in the garden and again with musical entertainment thanks to Kate Vivian. Ken Newman joined the Board in 2002. Ken held two wonderful fundraisers at his home in Jamestown, with the Dutch Island Lighthouse barely visible across the harbor. He obtained support from 17 merchants and 2 caterers from Jamestown and a cadre of high school boys to help with the parking. At the last of these two events, we were serenaded by “Ye Mariners All” an excellent vocal group. 

In 2003 a new structure for the Board of Directors was approved establishing a Board that included more people in the directing of the Society.  The new Board was formed with a Chairman, First Vice-Chairman, Second Vice-Chairman, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and three Members-at-Large.

Little “Dutch” Island, comprising 81 acres, is located in the West Passage of Narragansett Bay between Jamestown and Saunderstown, RI. Originally it was called “Quetenis” by the Narragansett Indians who sold it to the Dutch West Indian Company about 1636. The Dutch from New Amsterdam (later New York) used the island as a safe place to trade their goods to the Indians for meat, fish and furs.  Later the English settlers of Rhode Island used the island to graze sheep.2

For many years it was fortified to protect the West Passage from sea invasion. It is not known whether this included the Revolutionary war era when the Conanicut Battery was activated further south on the western shore of Conanicut (Jamestown) Island. Dutch Island was later heavily fortified with massive concrete gun emplacements. These were started with large granite stone structures near the southern end of the island during the Civil War. The greatest building was during the Spanish American war and World War I.  At one time there was a battery of 25-ton cannon which used a 50-pound charge of black powder to fire a 300-pound cannon ball as far as 3 miles. (2)

There were similar fortifications at Fort Getty on Conanicut near the present Recreational Vehicle Camp and at Fort Kearny near South Ferry on the west shore. The fort on Dutch Island was called Fort Greble after Lt. Jon T. Greble who was one of the first officers killed in the Civil War. It included 3 sizeable brick homes for officers and many other frame buildings for families, a hospital, supplies, stables and a bakery, etc. Photographs taken at that time showed almost no trees. (2)

Dutch Island was used for National Guard training up to World War II. It housed as many as 495 officers and men (2).

In 1825, the U.S. Government bought 6 acres on the southern tip of the island with the purpose of establishing a “light station”. The first tower was built in 1826 using native stone from the island. It was 30 feet tall.  One of the first keepers was Robert Dennis, whose father had fought in the Revolution and who was also present at the Boston Tea Party. Dennis was 78 years old when he became keeper.   His son, Robert, took the keeper position shortly after his father died.

According to Jeremy D’Entremont (a member of the first Board of Directors of the Dutch Island Lighthouse Society), the lighthouse and the Keeper’s House in the mid-1800’s were described as “the worst construction of any in the state”, and the lantern was described as “wretched” (3).

In 1857, the old tower and the Keeper’s House were demolished and replaced by the present 42-foot brick tower and a four-room Keeper’s House. The basic structure of this tower was described in 2007 by consulting engineers’ inspection as still being “very sound”. The cost of these two structures in the 1850’s was $4,000, and included a “fourth-order” Fresnel lens and a fixed white light. In 1878, a fog bell was installed on the west side of the tower to be activated by a clockwork mechanism (3).

In 1924, a flashing red light was installed. Irving Sheldon of Saunderstown wrote that when he was about 11 years old (in the 1930’s), he rowed over to the Lighthouse from Saunderstown to pay a visit to the keeper. He was cordially met by the Keeper John Paul and shown around – including a climb up to the light where Irving described the big heavy Fresnel lens as being floated on a tub of mercury, so it could rotate without friction. The light at that time was lit with kerosene. He also remembers a very big weight on pulleys that ran the mechanism that rotated the lens. It hung in the tower and had to be pulled up “like the weights on a grandfather clock” (1).

John Paul was one of the last Keepers (1929-1931) and his son Louis remembered that this father kept a vegetable garden and a flock of ducks. He said that the fishing off the rocks was “excellent” and that his father would catch “…a bushel of blackfish before breakfast.” He would buy a whole side of beef in Jamestown or Saunderstown, salt it thoroughly and keep if for prolonged use (3).

In 1943, the light was automated and lit by electricity, as a flashing red beacon. In 1947, the military left the Island and in 1950 the Keeper’s House was demolished because of vandalism and because toadstools and moss were growing in the house (3).

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References

(1) Irving C. Sheldon, Saunderstown: personal communication

(2) Schroder, W.K., Dutch Island and Fort Greble: Arcadia Publishing of Chalford Publishing Corp., Dover, N.H. 1998

(3) Jeremy D’Entremont: personal communication