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Visitors to the 1848 lightkeeper's dwelling and the 1866 lighthouse can compare their
lives with those of the Copper Harbor lightkeepers. How did a
person get this job? How often did the keeper have to clean the glass? What was it like to
spend the winter in the 1848 dwelling, where icicles formed indoors despite "good
fires . . . burning in the stoves?"
Between 1849 and 1919, eight lightkeepers and their families served at this station and
made it their home nine months of the year. The keepers brought skills learned in other
places. Henry Clow and John Power had served as soldiers at Fort Wilkins. Edward Chambers
was a sailor on the Great Lakes. Charles Corgan had farmed, taught school and sold lumber.
 John Power married the daughter of a lightkeeper. While keeping the Copper Harbor
light, Power taught school nearby and studied law. As an Upper Peninsula attorney,
educator and politician he unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Congress five
times and was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1880, 1884, 1892 and
1904.
Charles Corgan served as keeper of the light on Manitou Island, off the Keweenaw
Point. He replaced his son-in-law John Power as the Copper Harbor lightkeeper in 1873.
Three of his sons followed him into the U.S. Lighthouse Service. He died in 1889 at
Copper Harbor. His son Henry was by then serving in the position he once held.
Lightkeepers and their families lived in the lighthouse from March through November.
Michigan Historical Museum historians used furnishing plans, journals and oral histories
from this and other Lake Superior lighthouses to create exhibits and to recreate rooms,
such as this bedroom in the 1866 lighthouse.
 The lighthouse service stockpiled food, fuel and equipment for lightkeepers at
district depots. Michigan depots were located in Detroit and St. Joseph. Supply boats
called tenders carried the supplies to the lighthouses. Lightkeepers received an annual
ration of pork, beef, flour, rice, beans or peas, potatoes, coffee, vinegar and brown
sugar. Keepers bought other groceries locally at their own expense. The well-stocked
pantry of the 1866 lighthouse (left) shows commercially available foods of the early 20th
century. The kitchen in the 1848 dwelling features a dry sink.
In 1876, the lighthouse service began to issue libraries to isolated stations. Books
were packed in study pine cases and rotated between stations every three months. In 1883,
the government issued regulation uniforms to lightkeepers for the first time. Keepers wore
their uniforms while on duty, during inspections, and on days when they expected visitors.
I have been instrumental in Saving Many a person from a watery grave. . . . I
have cleared up many an acre of land for the government [having] cleared 5 different light
House Stations that I have found in a state of wilderness. (Napoleon
Beedon, August 15, 1879)
Copper Harbor Lightkeepers
| Keeper |
Service at
Copper Harbor |
Age at
Appointment |
Wife and Children
Who Lived Here |
| Henry Clow |
1849-1853 |
? |
Ellen Rock Clow
(James H., Ellen) |
| Henry C. Shurter |
1853-1855 |
? |
unknown |
| Napoleon Beedon |
1855-1869 |
19 |
Mary Hickey Beedon
(Lyman J., William E., Rush M., Arthur, Maurice) |
| John Power |
1869-1873 |
23 |
Elizabeth Corgan Power
(Walter J., Mary E., Patrick S.) |
| Charles Corgan |
1873-1881 |
53 |
Mary Mooney Corgan
(Mary, Daniel, Nellie) |
| Edward Chambers |
1881-1882 |
? |
unknown |
| James W. Rich |
1882-1883 |
? |
unknown |
| Henry Corgan |
1888-1919 |
35 |
Catherine Dunn Corgan
(Harry, Katie, Emmet, Mary, Rose, Courtney) |
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