. She started in Hatteras, North Carolina, near where she grew up and moved north, toward Hull, Mass., toward my dad. Many link the name Boon Island to the wrecks of the trading vessel. Lives in Montgomery, Texas. Plans for original Minots Ledge Lighthouse, Granite blocks being assembled at Cohasset in 1857, Base of tower as it appeared on July 1, 1859, two double-dwellings were built at Cohasset, Memorial plaque ready for lowering to seafloor. The storm washed huge rocks up on the island, demolishing the keepers house and a couple of small outbuildings. I want to live the fullest possible life.. Three years later, Hanna left and was replaced by Eliphalet Grover. See Photos. And, with that, the Sager Family Traveling Foundation and Roadshow was born. To ease the burden, two assistant keepers, the stations first, were assigned to Boon Island in 1855. Outside a lot. Graves Light, a historic lighthouse in Boston Harbor, is privately owned by David Waller and a partner, Bobby Sager, and under renovation to preserve it. Among other things, the lighthouse needs to be repointed and sealed up. Im not nearly so optimistic about the ones that are remote and inaccessible to the public, many of which will eventually face demolition by neglect., Many land-based lighthouses and the soil around them are contaminated with lead paint that must be remediated before someone saves them. First Assistant: Joseph Wilson (1850 1851), Thatcher W. Ryder (1860), Andrew W. Williams (1861 1862), Thomas Bates II (1862 1864), Israel Vinal (1864 1865), Levi L. Creed (1865 1866), John A. Pratt (1866 1868), Levi L. Creed (1868 1874), Albert H. Burdick (1874 1877), Thomas J. Sheridan (1877 1880), Joseph B. Vinal (1880 1881), Alonzo Smith (1881), Nathan S. Hudson (1881), Frank W. Thomas (1881 1883), Albert H. Burdick (1883 1892), Joseph E. Frates (1892 1909), Levi B. Clark (1909 1910), Octavius H. Reamy (1910 1915), Henry M. Bailey (1915 at least 1916), Charles R. Albrecht (at least 1917), Roland F. Bassett (at least 1919 at least 1921), Francis R. Macy (1922 1923),Per F. Tornberg (1923 1924), George H. Fitzpatrick (1925 1927), Harold L. Havender (1927), Anthony Souza (at least 1935 at least 1936), Elton H. Hegarty (1938 1940), Patrick J. Sager is now fixing up two more lighthouses (Minot's Ledge Light south of Boston and Maine's Boon Island Light) he landed at auction when they were offloaded by the Coast Guard. Crossing back over the bridge, we make our way up: five spiral clangy metal flights; past a bunk room, the keepers quarters, and a third-floor kitchen; and to the lantern room. He also envisions it as a place where representatives of societies that wage war against each other, that commit unspeakable atrocities, can sit across from each other and find common ground. Breakwaters, River Lights, Channel, Small Islands in Sounds. Sager acquired Minots Ledge Lighthouse at auction later in 2014 and then Michigans Grays Reef Lighthouse in 2016. On April 16, 1851, the fierce winds of a noreaster left the tower reeling in the pounding seas and blinding snow. What kind of a guy buys a lighthouse? After the events of 9/11 over a decade ago, without a primary need, government lighthouse maintenance funds were absorbed during the incorporation of the Coast Guard into homeland security, leaving enough only to maintain the automated lights and foghorns. The tin, above which she was perched, had been two-thirds full and when the sea come, it struck the back of the toilet and it knocked the windows out of the back of the toilet and all that stuff come right out of the square can right onto Arothusa! South Africa. Following two shipwrecks in 1810, a twenty-five-foot tall tower topped by an octagonal lantern was constructed at a cost of $2,377 along with a stone keepers house for $150. Shad Sager Overview Shad Gary Sager has been associated with one company, according to public records. Brides (1939 1940), Percy A. Evans (1940 1942). Since purchasing the lighthouse at a government auction seven years ago, Dave. As a seven year old, Moise was a soldier in the Congo. Rick Friedman/Sager Family Found Stay up-to-date with important news developments, delivered right to your inbox.. He and his wife pulled their two children out of school and traveled the world. Boon Island Light sold for second time, Paul Briand. Head: Isaac Dunham (1849 1850), John W. Bennett (1850 1851), Joshua Wilder, Jr. (1860 1861), James J. The reasoning was that the legs would offer almost no resistance to the wind and water. Writer, Editor, Skier. The Late Gale at Minots Rock Light, John W. Bennett, 1851. 1 Thirteen bidders participated in the auction, which closed on August 17 with a high bid of $78,000. See Photos. But he is. 6th Sager has been taking photos of youngsters from war-torn countries for several years now, as he and his family have traveled the world practicing what he calls "eyeball-to-eyeball philanthropy.". Sager hasnt officially said anything about what hes planning to do; hes actually been radio silent since the sale. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/File/Globe Staff, What kind of a guy buys a lighthouse? Indeed life inside the lighthouse did prove precarious. Meanwhile the numbers of lighthouses are declining. At the time it was the most anyone had paid for a lighthouse. The Fresnel lens, manufactured in Paris by F. Barbier, completed one revolution every thirty seconds atop a mercury-filled float and was placed in operation on May 1, 1894. Great Lakes Lighthouses, Seacoasts, Islands, Sounds. In the case of the lens built for Minots Ledge, the number 143 was produced by eight flash panels that created three groups of flashes: the first showing one flash, the next four flashes, and the last three flashes. Artist, writers, and poets, from Marianne Moore to James Taylor, have canonized lighthouses. At this time, the second-order lens was dismantled and placed in storage in the tower, and a third-order Fresnel lens was installed. For the Graves lighthouse, Waller dove in again, pinching pennies. Although the area is no longer populated by Indians who believe in the evil spirit of Hobomock, for years tales have abounded of strange moaning, tapping, and even mysterious polishing of the lens by ghostly hands. Waller has done a ton of work on the tower. Undaunted, Captain Alexander began anew. Comparative Table of Lens Orders It's not just the Minot's Ledge lighthouse that's changing hands. As a whole, theyre basically obsolete theyre only designed to do one thing but theyre also historically significant, so the feds dont just want to flatten them. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast, "Light Hearted." He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org Ruth Abbott Carley, who met Gordon B. Kenny at the USO on Boston Common and was dating the coastguardsman while he was stationed at Boon Island Lighthouse in 1951 to 1952, kindly provided the images embedded in this paragraph. Rwanda. We went all in, he says. 3.15 The fact that it no longer belongs to the public that its owned by an individual who can turn it into a vacation house or tear it down feels like a transgression. Turn left on I had read that. Robert Sager is an American philanthropist and photographer, best known for founding the Sager Family Traveling Foundation and Roadshow, a charitable organization. Several keepers were convinced that the ghosts of the two doomed assistant keepers still resided in the lighthouse, sending signals to each other, cleaning the lens, and warning others of the dangers presented by Minots Ledge. Minots blinks 143, so people call it the I Love You Light, and before Ray J made it a bad R&B song, my parents would sign letters and then send texts 143. Icy Minot Ledge Lighthouse. Until construction of the new dwelling was completed in 1905, animosity festered, as was noted in a letter by First Assistant Charles W. Torry, charging the Keeper of that station with neglect of duty, in not properly keeping an account of oil expended at the station, and a waste of the Government property in throwing surplus oil away in order to make his account of expenditures tally. Apparently, no disciplinary action was taken against Keeper Williams; but Torry soon found himself unemployed. Past Addresses: See available information. The keepers pet cat was the first casualty of the tower, which swayed so dramatically during a storm that the panicked animal jumped to its death. Two water tanks, weighing about four tons each, were lifted off their granite foundations and carried a distance of seventy-five feet to the northeast end of the island and totally wrecked. Second Assistant: Samuel Tobey (1855 1856), Josiah Tobey Jr. (1856 1859), John S. Baker (1859), Enos Gray (1859 1861), S. Tobey (1861 1864), George E. Bridges (1864 1865), Charles Ramsdell (1865 1868), Samuel R. McLorn (1868), Luther Amazeen (1868 1870), Nathan White, Jr. (1870 1874), Edwin J. Hobbs (1874 1876), David R. Grogan (1876 1878), George O. Leavitt (1878 1880), Paschal Fernald (1880 1881), Orrin M. Lamprey (1881 1885), William C. Williams (1885 1886), James Burke (1886 1888), Leonidas H. Sawyer (1888 1890), Charles W. Torry (1890), Walter S. Amee (1891 1893), William M. Brooks (1893), Alvah J. Toby (1893 1894), James Hawe (1894), Joseph A. Pruett (1894 1896), Charles S. Williams (1896 1897), Meshach M. Seaward (1897 1900), Merton E. Tolman (1900), Henry C. Neal (1900 1902), Frank L. Peabbles (1902), Leroy L. Myers (1902), James R. Faulkingham (1902 1903), William T. Stevens (1903 1904), Mitchell Blackwood (1905), William Henry Burns (1905 1907), Charles Whitten Allen (1907 1911), Fuller E. Larrabee (1912 1913), Charles A. Radley (1913), Albert Staples (1914 at least 1915), Roscoe M. Chandler (1916 1917), Harry M. Kelley (1917 1919), George E. Woodward (1919 1920), Arthur E. Ginn (at least 1921), Eugene L. Coleman (1923 1924), Myron L. Wilson (1924 1925), Andrew H. Kennedy (1925 1928), Fred C. Batty (1930), Frank M. Rumery (1930 ), Howard W. Gray (1932 1934), Hoyt P. Smith (1935 1936), Harry H. McClure (1936 1937), Henry S. Brown (1937 at least 1941), Calvin Dolby (1944 1945), Russell G. Carpenter (at least 1945), Clifford Gustavson (at least 1947), Charles Kendrick Capon (1951 1953), Harold L. Roberts (1956), Ron Schultz (1959). Sri Lanka. The 59-foot Cape Blanco Lighthouse, built in 1870 and the oldest lighthouse still standing in Oregon, offers tours into the workroom only and allows visitors onto the grounds. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. The flashes within a group were two seconds apart, while the groups of flashes were separated by five seconds of darkness. Also: bikes, going places, and what the F were doing to the planet. Stories about the lighthouse dovetailed with our familys history. The interior was damp. Therefore on these considerations I feel myself inadequate to the task, unless government will supply me with some of the above stated articles.. When he ran out of money a year into the renovation, he teamed up with another original bidder who matched his million, a local businessman named Bobby Sager, who has hosted celebrities like Sting and Tom Hanks at Graves. I think thats what attracted me to Graves and to other things in my life. Not wanting to see the lens returned to the Coast Guard, the Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce held a raffle that generated $2,000, enough to pay the premium for two years. During the early 1930s, Fred Batty was an assistant keeper at Boon Island. Go help someone.. Lighthouses across the country are crumbling amid worsening storms and dwindling funds. People name churches and rehab centers after them. Rocks weighing fifteen tons or more were moved twenty feet, and two outbuildings were swept away. But who owns the thing? But Waller, who has been in close touch with him because Sager was the other bidder for the Graves light, says that hes talked to him about his plans, and that, for now, hes going to leave it untouched. The ladder up from sea level, Graves Light, built in 1905. In 1847, a crew began working from a schooner anchored next to the ledge, and over two years and $39,000 later, on January 1, 1850, Minots Ledge Lighthouse was illuminated for the first time. Rather than let the situation. Find the closest hotels to Boon Island Lighthouse, Select a photograph to view a photo gallery, Boon Island, a tiny outcropping of granite, only two football fields long and fourteen feet above sea level at its highest point, is located six-and-a-half miles off Maines southern coast. From 1897 to 1905, his son, Charles S. Williams was first assistant, following his promotion from second assistant. In 2000, hed had enough. In addition, a supply shed, measuring twelve by twenty feet, and a brick oil house were erected on the island. William C. Williams signed on as second assistant on August 5, 1885, earning $450 annually. which houses part of a third-order Fresnel lens used in the lighthouse can be seen at Government Island in Cohasset. There were two Coast Guard keepers on the island when the storm hit, tossing boulders across the island. Lives in Kenbridge, Virginia. Boon Island I ask Waller if he ever imagines himself as one of the lightkeepers. Part way to the tower, the dory sprang a leak. Donovan (1895), Charles G. Everett (1895 1905), Ernest H. Small (1905 1909), Vivian A. Currier (1909 1910), Eugene N. Larsen (1910 1911), Fred M. Pease (1911 at least 1912), Percy A. Evans (at least 1939 1940). Its peaceful. Bobby Sager. But who owns the thing? Its 36 degrees out, and the sweeping waves splashing up make the scene even more surreal. The ledge its built on was notorious for wrecking boats because of its steep shelf and twitchy tides. Sometime after this, the light was dubbed the I-LOVE-YOU light do to its unique 1-4-3 flash pattern. 3,530 Site open; tower closed, except for those with dinner reservations. The bottom forty feet of the tower are solid granite, save for a central space that served as a cistern. If I didnt exist, the ships wouldnt be crashing into the rocks, he says, deadpan with his eyes to the floor. A before and after view of the fourth level inside the tower. Among the federal detritus, lighthouses are a special case. Charles Williams, who served as first assistant to his father, had recently married and was celebrating his honeymoon on the island with his new bride. Four keepers, a head keeper and three assistant keepers were initially assigned to the new lighthouse, and two double-dwellings were built at Cohasset to provide shore accommodations for the keepers and their families. It means tracking down plumbing to shoot water 96 feet up to the kitchen, and replacing rusting cast-iron stove burners with noncorrosive brass because the salt air rusts everything, even inside. The message: I dont do charity. Asked Navy to reimburse us for their food; Navy refused. The Germans had been spies mapping the harbor in World War I. Graves . Hanna soon realized the sum was insufficient and requested $450 annually. It is two miles from Graves and allows tours. Free shipping for many products! Yes. Its finding ways to reverse 40 years of dark and dirty neglect1970s linoleum curling up over rotted wood, rusted metal walls, wilting sheets of paint. Some sit submerged under the waters of the Chesapeake Bay or are about to topple over in the Great Lakes. In 1901, the Lighthouse Board requested $10,000 for a powerful fog signal to replace the bell used on Boon Island. Thats when I look up, and realize were only halfway to the entrance. The first light of dawn revealed only the bent remains of a few pilings. . We boiled every bit of what we drank or bathed with. Seeing the keepers predicament, the assistants in the lighthouse sprang into action and used a rope to lower Assistant Keeper Whitman to the water where he was able to seize Reamy. The General Services Administration, which likes to call itself The Nations Landlord, is in charge of selling off any federal property thats deemed irrelevant. Construction wasnt easy. Sager was one of the final bidders for Graves Lighthouse in 2013 and acquired Maine's Boon Island Lighthouse earlier in 2014 from its private owner. A Coast Guard motorboat from Allerton finally reached the scene and picked up all of the men, who were three miles past the lighthouse at this point and unable to return to the mainland due to the wind. Image courtesy of The Power of the Invisible Sun, by Bobby Sager.Last week Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, hosted a concert at Carnegie Hall to benefit the Rainforest Fund, the nonprofit they . Includes Age, Location, Address History for Shad Gary Sager . He studied economics at Brandeis and has a masters degree in management from Yale. On a windy January afternoon, our boat covers the nine miles from Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina to its offshore mooring in a swift 35 minutes, plunging five feet down and back up over waves that look like rolling hills in Vermont. Im not sure if its the romance, or the ghosts, but its always drummed up a kind of fascination. Eva Philbricks father was an assistant keeper on Boon Island from 1913 to 1917. Waller on the bridge between structures, on the lighthouse acreage. Maybe he just wants to be able to see it flash. Ive been knocked down by it on the wharf beside the light, and opening a window to look out more than halfway [65 feet] up the tower, Ive had as much as three buckets-full dashed in my face.. Head: Benjamin Wane (1811), David Oliver (1811 1812), Thomas Hanna (1812 1816), Eliphalet Grover (1816 1839), Joseph P. Junkins (1839 1840), Mark Dennet (1840 1841), John S. Thompson (1841 1843), John Kennard (1843 1844), Isidore S. Thompson (1844), John Kennard (1844 1846), Nathaniel Baker (1846 1849), John S. Thompson (1849 1853), Hiram Tobey (1853), Caleb L. Goold (1853 1854), George Bowden (1854 1855), Josiah Tobey (1855 1859), Nathaniel Baker (1859), Joseph H. Hart (1859 1861), George B. Wallace (1861), Benjamin Bridges (1861 1864), R.C. Following some competition, Boon Islands original second-order Fresnel The granite had to be cut and assembled on Government Island, attached to the mainland in Cohasset Harbor, and then pulled by oxen to a vessel that would transport the stone out to the ledge. The museum has the following table of lens sizes posted. Minots was constructed to replace an earlier light, which was swept away in a storm. Thomas Farragher is a Globe columnist. The island in the morning was one of the grandest sights I ever witnessed. The present lighthouse was constructed in 1854, along with a new dwelling. These were good precautions, but unfortunately they couldnt avert all danger. When I accepted the post, I closed my ears against the reports of the former keeper, treating them (as I now find) too lightly, and here I shall remain so long as a vestige of the lighthouse remains; but the truth must be told. Bobby Sager Team Sager | Sager Family Foundation Boston, Massachusetts, United States 493 followers 448 connections Join to connect Sager Family Foundation Yale University Experience. In December 2014, just months after acquiring the lighthouse, Girard sold the property to Boon Island LLC for $119,673. She spent a summer visiting lights along the eastern seaboard. Email Address: See available information. 3rd On November 11, 1818, Keeper Grover sent a letter to Collector Dearborn that included the following: I have just been informed that I am dead, but I am yet alive and hope to live to see those people brought to justice for making the report; one of the three is the man that has sent you his recommendation. The same guy who purchases a meteorite that fell from the heavens in Ghana and places it in a little red wagon in his living quarters. That lighthouse is part of our narrative, and I dont think were the only weirdos who put emotional weight on places. The other occupants of the island at the time were Head Keeper Williams and his wife, and S. H. Sawyer, who was filling in for Assistant Keeper Seaward, who was ashore taking care of his wife. When no qualified custodian was found, an online auction for the lighthouse was opened on May 14, 2014. 3 Their website is full of Black Hawk helicopters and former cop cars. If you look out into the Atlantic, past the Scituate, Massachusetts, harbor you can see Minots Ledge Light blinking 114 feet above the swell.