Wood Island Light turns 200 (July 18, 2008)
By Stephanie Grinnell
Staff Writer
Pounded by hurricane strength winds and sea spray, witness to a murder-suicide and a rescue, home to many keepers, possibly a ghost and one special dog, Wood Island Lighthouse is celebrating its 200th birthday this summer.
The birthday will not be celebrated with a specific event because Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse historian Sheri Poftak said there is no clear date when the lighthouse off the shores of Biddeford Pool was dedicated. She said the group estimated this year to be the 200th birthday of the structure using the knowledge that it was definitely in service by 1808. She said research shows the original lighthouse was constructed of wood and lasted only a few years before being replaced with a stone tower in 1838. Recently, a local stone cutting family revealed the stone for the tower construction came from Pioneer Quarry in Biddeford, Poftak said.
More changes arrived on Wood Island in 1858, when the beacon in the lighthouse was switched from lanterns to a Fresnel lens. Poftak said all lighthouses were taken over by the Coast Guard in 1939, including Wood Island. When this happened, lighthouse keepers had a choice, they could give up their jobs or receive Coast Guard training, Poftak said. Wood Island keeper Earl Benson chose to join the Coast Guard.
“So it was a smooth transition for Wood Island,” she said.
In the late 1980s, the Coast Guard realized they could not manage all of the lighthouses and turned them over to nonprofit organizations. Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse was established in 2003 and the lighthouse had not been manned since 1986, Poftak said. Since its inception, Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse have made repairs to the half-mile-long boardwalk to the house, replaced the timbers in the boat ramp, replaced the porch roof, re-roofed the well cover, replaced flashing between the tower and building, replaced the lightning cord and repaired a missing bulkhead to the basement of the keeper’s house. Poftak said Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse is currently working on repairs to the boathouse.
“All of this sounds like small potatoes,” she said. “But it’s big potatoes.”
Poftak explained the repairs have been preventative, so damage to the house and lighthouse will not worsen. She said a railing was added during the winter to the spiral staircase leading to the top of the tower to increase safety. Repairs are funded through donations and annual fundraisers as well as sales of merchandise on Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse’s Web site.
There are many well-publicized stories about the lighthouse and events on the island, some tragic and others humorous, Poftak said. In the tragic category are a murder and suicide, which was reported in the “Biddeford Daily Journal” on June 2, 1896. The story, which can be found in full at www.woodislandlighthouse.org, reports after a day of drinking, Howard Hobbs shot and killed Frederick W. Milliken, a game warden and special officer stationed on Wood Island. According to the story, Hobbs was not keeping up with rent payments and after he shot Milliken, he returned home and took his own life.
Another tragedy was averted with the rescue of 2-year-old Tammy Burnham, daughter of keeper Laurier Burnham, when she became severely ill on the island during a storm. The Coast Guard boat sent to bring her to shore for medical attention capsized in the rough surf and Tammy and her rescuers were thrown overboard, to be recovered by Laurier Burnham in a “peapod” boat. Details of the story of Tammy Burnham may be found on the Web site and local author Margo Alley released a book about the ordeal earlier this year entitled “Wood Island Lighthouse, The Rescue of Tammy Burnham.”
Another well-known occupant of Wood Island Lighthouse was Sailor, a dog who mastered the fog bell and would salute passing ships by pulling a rope attached to the bell, Poftak said.
It is possible there are other residents on the island who are in spirit form, as evidenced by two paranormal investigations in recent years, Poftak said, adding paranormal investigators captured several photos in the basement of the lighthouse showing a progression from an orb to a woman’s face to a whole body. The photos, property of investigators, have not been published.
Since the investigation, Poftak said she has had several experiences that have led her to believe there is a presence on the island, such as open doors with no explanation and a knocked over table inside the empty house. Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse member Caryn Firebaugh said the house is not drafty, removing wind as a possible culprit.
“I think all lighthouses have stories,” Firebaugh said. “But there is something special about walking that boardwalk.”
Staff Writer
Pounded by hurricane strength winds and sea spray, witness to a murder-suicide and a rescue, home to many keepers, possibly a ghost and one special dog, Wood Island Lighthouse is celebrating its 200th birthday this summer.
The birthday will not be celebrated with a specific event because Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse historian Sheri Poftak said there is no clear date when the lighthouse off the shores of Biddeford Pool was dedicated. She said the group estimated this year to be the 200th birthday of the structure using the knowledge that it was definitely in service by 1808. She said research shows the original lighthouse was constructed of wood and lasted only a few years before being replaced with a stone tower in 1838. Recently, a local stone cutting family revealed the stone for the tower construction came from Pioneer Quarry in Biddeford, Poftak said.
More changes arrived on Wood Island in 1858, when the beacon in the lighthouse was switched from lanterns to a Fresnel lens. Poftak said all lighthouses were taken over by the Coast Guard in 1939, including Wood Island. When this happened, lighthouse keepers had a choice, they could give up their jobs or receive Coast Guard training, Poftak said. Wood Island keeper Earl Benson chose to join the Coast Guard.
“So it was a smooth transition for Wood Island,” she said.
In the late 1980s, the Coast Guard realized they could not manage all of the lighthouses and turned them over to nonprofit organizations. Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse was established in 2003 and the lighthouse had not been manned since 1986, Poftak said. Since its inception, Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse have made repairs to the half-mile-long boardwalk to the house, replaced the timbers in the boat ramp, replaced the porch roof, re-roofed the well cover, replaced flashing between the tower and building, replaced the lightning cord and repaired a missing bulkhead to the basement of the keeper’s house. Poftak said Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse is currently working on repairs to the boathouse.
“All of this sounds like small potatoes,” she said. “But it’s big potatoes.”
Poftak explained the repairs have been preventative, so damage to the house and lighthouse will not worsen. She said a railing was added during the winter to the spiral staircase leading to the top of the tower to increase safety. Repairs are funded through donations and annual fundraisers as well as sales of merchandise on Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse’s Web site.
There are many well-publicized stories about the lighthouse and events on the island, some tragic and others humorous, Poftak said. In the tragic category are a murder and suicide, which was reported in the “Biddeford Daily Journal” on June 2, 1896. The story, which can be found in full at www.woodislandlighthouse.org, reports after a day of drinking, Howard Hobbs shot and killed Frederick W. Milliken, a game warden and special officer stationed on Wood Island. According to the story, Hobbs was not keeping up with rent payments and after he shot Milliken, he returned home and took his own life.
Another tragedy was averted with the rescue of 2-year-old Tammy Burnham, daughter of keeper Laurier Burnham, when she became severely ill on the island during a storm. The Coast Guard boat sent to bring her to shore for medical attention capsized in the rough surf and Tammy and her rescuers were thrown overboard, to be recovered by Laurier Burnham in a “peapod” boat. Details of the story of Tammy Burnham may be found on the Web site and local author Margo Alley released a book about the ordeal earlier this year entitled “Wood Island Lighthouse, The Rescue of Tammy Burnham.”
Another well-known occupant of Wood Island Lighthouse was Sailor, a dog who mastered the fog bell and would salute passing ships by pulling a rope attached to the bell, Poftak said.
It is possible there are other residents on the island who are in spirit form, as evidenced by two paranormal investigations in recent years, Poftak said, adding paranormal investigators captured several photos in the basement of the lighthouse showing a progression from an orb to a woman’s face to a whole body. The photos, property of investigators, have not been published.
Since the investigation, Poftak said she has had several experiences that have led her to believe there is a presence on the island, such as open doors with no explanation and a knocked over table inside the empty house. Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse member Caryn Firebaugh said the house is not drafty, removing wind as a possible culprit.
“I think all lighthouses have stories,” Firebaugh said. “But there is something special about walking that boardwalk.”
On November 29, 1960, Chief John F. Kennedy, U.S.C.G. of Fletcher's Neck Life Saving Station, along with his Engine man Kenneth Realue, and the rest of his Coast Guard crew, rescued Tammy Burnham, a 2 1/2 year old light keepers daughter at Wood Island Lighthouse, Maine. The men aboard the 30 foot lifeboat saved that little girls life that night. Much has marketed about the rescue in regards to, "preserving the history of Wood Island Lighthouse". John F. Kennedy and Kenneth Realue have much to share about the history of the rescue. Both of these Coast Guard veterans are interested in sharing the interesting facts surrounding the story. They have a heroic tale to tell. I was there that night and I remember it well!
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Wood Island Lighthouse
The Rescue of Tammy Burnham
By, Margo Alley
This wonderful book mentoined in the Wood Island article above is available at:
www.biddefordpoolmaine.com
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A PUBLIC STATEMENT
By Lily Burnham
March 22, 2010
On November 29, 1960, our two and a half year old daughter Tammy Burnham and Seaman Edward Syvinski were given up for “lost at sea” by USCG Chief John F. Kennedy of the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Biddeford Pool, Maine.
While attempting to transport our very ill daughter to the mainland, the skiff Kennedy commandeered capsized in the fog, rain and heavy seas. When Kennedy’s relayed message to the island was “We will look for the bodies in the morning,” my husband Laurier determined to find our daughter notified Chief John F. Kennedy that he would use his peapod boat in an effort to find them and Kennedy threatened to court martial him if he left his post. My husband did eventually find our daughter and Seaman Edward Syvinski with no thanks to Kennedy who had sent his own seaman out without so much as a life jacket.
Today, forty-nine years later Maurene Kennedy, daughter of former chief John Kennedy, has sought to disprove the true facts backed up by a thorough USCG investigation surrounding the rescue of our daughter Tammy and the cover-up of events that evening, with her own fabricated version of it. Please disregard her efforts to obtain recognition for her father based on false testimony.
For anyone who is interested in the true story of my daughters’ rescue that is nothing short of a miracle the book Wood Island Lighthouse: The Rescue of Tammy Burnham, by Margo Alley is available from www.biddefordpoolmaine.com
The book is the true and accurate accounting of exactly what happened from first hand eyewitness’s that were present on that dreadful evening, including myself.
Signed,
Lily Burnham
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The USCG has responded to demands to reopen the 1992 investigation of Tammy Burnham’s rescue from the waters of Wood Island Harbor on November 29, 1960.
After thorough considerations the USCG has determined that the investigation Lt. Kristopher Furtney conducted in 1992 was sufficient and reinvestigating the rescue would serve no benefit to the public.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/biddefordpoolhistorian/4473920294/
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