Keeper

Confederates Buried Lighthouse's

Lens in Island Sand Hills To Keep
Federal Troops From Seizing Them
Southerners Also
Tried To Dynamite
Old Structure
By DEE WOODS
The Lighthouse on Harbor Island
Fromthe diary of Capt. John
Mercer, pilot, written on Mustang
Island at Aransas. Pass:
Thursday, February 29, 1872.
Wind NE. Schooners Two Marys,
Elizabeth and Union arrived from
Pasgagoula.
Lighthouse tender, Schooner
Union anchored off the bar and
sent a boat to the lighthouse with
oil. John went to Shell Bank
with Schooner Elizabeth and came
back. Not water enough for the
Union and Anthea Godfrey to go
to Shell Bank: Steamer Morgan
arrived fromRockport. Anchored
in the Pass. Too rough to go to
sea. Day ends, NNE. A regular
peeler.
Fresh Buoy for the Bar
October 16, 1872. This day be-
gins with the wind SSE. Mod-
erate. Schooner Anna Holton ar-
rived from' Corpus Christi after
laying in the bayou nine days
windbound: She got a cash of
The late Capt. FrankSteph-
enson, pictured above in uni-
form, was one of the early-day
keepers of the Aransas Light-
house.
water and went on to New York.
In the morning laying around
reading novels.
At 1 p. in. U. S. steamer hove
in sight. Went out to her. She
put a fresh buoy for the bar and
tookup the old one. Ned brought
her inside and anchored her
abreast the lighthouse.
Captain Roberts, Mrs. Roberts
and two children and Miss Emma'
Thompson came to the house.
Miss Emma stopped. The others
went home. Day ends. Wind SSE.
. . . Often, throughout the cap-
tain's diaries, the Aransas Light-
house is mentioned. The tower
for the light is 65 feet high. It
was established in the year 1855
on a marshy spot directly oppo-
site Aransas Pass. Today the
pass is one and one-eighth miles
southward and the lighthouse is
on Harbor Island, which wind and
wave have built up, though the
lighthouse end is covered with
water at extreme high tide.
Burled in Sandhills
When the tower was built it was
equipped with a fourth order,
fixed, white light. For many
years Capt. FrankStephenson, de-
ceased, was keeper, with Thomas
Roberts assistant. Stephenson was
related to the Mercers and his
name appears often in the diary.
Oil supply for the light was
brought by U. S. lighthouse ten-
ders once a year. Since thQbea-
con was established it is said the
light has been out" only twice
during the Civil War and during
the 1919 hurricane.
Federal troops in the War Be-
tween the States bottled up Aran-
sas and Corpus Christi bays. To
keep the lighthouse fromfalling
into their hands, Confederate sol-
diers tookthe valuable French
imported lens and threw it into a
marsh, or, as another story goes,
buried it in the sand hills on St.
Joseph's Island.
W. G. Browder, keeper of the
lighthouse today, say he has two
pieces of the lens, one about six
inches across, which were broken
off when it was taken fromthe
tower.
During the 1919 stormthe
keeper and his wife sought refuge
in the tower, taking with them
several vessels of fresh water.
These utensils were all they had
left of their household goods. It
is said everything else was swept
away by the hurricane. This time
the light was out only a few days.
Shoots Out at the Top
An octogenarian of this city says
the Confederates also tried to dy-
namite the lighthouse tower. The
soldier who was ordered to do the
blowing up had had much expe-
rience with explosives. But to be
sure the job was done he doubled
the quantity of explosive he con-
sidered necessary.
The charge blew the top off
the tower, and it was uncanny
the way the spiral iron staircase
shot right up into the air follow-
ing it. With the exception of a
few bricks knocked out of the
side and a small crackat the base,
the tower itself was not damaged.
However, Browder says there is
no evidence of the bricks being
replaced or a crackin the base of
the tower ever being repaired.
Records show the lighthouse was
reconditioned and put backin use
in 1867, but the federal army did
make use of the tower for signal-
ing purposes during its encamp-
ment on St. Joseph's Island.
Change for Lighthouse Service
Today the light is not an oil
lamp. It is a revolving electric
light with flashes at stated inter-
vals. Each light on the Gulf coast
has a separately timed flash.
At regular intervals the radio
beacon broadcasts position of the
lighthouse, which may be picked
up by vessels about 500 miles out
in the Gulf.
After channel lights were placed
in the Aransas and Corpus Christi
bays, the personnel at the light-
house was increased to four men.
Inspection of the lights is made
three times a weekon Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday. The men
live at the lighthousethere are
three houses, one stucco and two
frame buildings. Besides Keeper
Browder, there Is the first assist-
ant, C. L. Henscn, and E. A. Ma'
shall and H. 1). Merrick.
Since July 1. according to Jam,
A. Alsup, officer in charge of IA
Coast Guard Station at Port Arai
sas, and in accordance with ti
government's re-organization pr,
gram, the lighthouse service
under the Coast Guard.
(To Be Continue(
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