Twin Lights Historical Society

06/22/2026

On this day in 1904…The Massachusetts Supreme Court refuses to overturn the conviction of Thatcher’s Island lighthouse keeper Asa Josselyn for polygamy. Josselyn’s complex case—he was actually married three times—was followed with great interest in the Boston newspapers.

06/21/2026

George Eldridge • 1821–1900
Eldridge, a retired whaling captain, purchased “Spout House” in Atlantic Highlands in the 1850s and jump-started the clamming business in the nearby shallows, employing local farm workers for $2 a day. In 1863, he invented a 20-foot hand rake that enabled clammers to work from rowboats well beyond wading depth. A day’s work with the new device typically produced up to 10 bushels of little necks, cherry stones and large “chowder” clams.

06/20/2026

On this day in 1860…Congress approves the construction of the current Twin Lights and selects architect Joseph Lederle’s design of a fortress-like structure that closely resembles the logo of the Army Corps of Engineers.

06/19/2026

On this day in 1894…Bill Daykin, the lighthouse keeper at the Carmanah Point Light in British Columbia, discovers the body of “hermit artist” John Kergan, who lived on Trial Island. He had disappeared three weeks earlier.

06/18/2026

Including some Monmouth Park tales...

Great Moments in New Jersey Horse Racing BEST BY A MILE Henry Stull Whether horse or human, the speed with which a mile is run has always marked the true measure of speed, strength and stamina. In 1890 in Long Branch, Salvator and Tenny—regarded as the two fastest horses in America—squared off i...

06/18/2026

On this day in 1907…Boat designer Charles Herreshoff and his engineer are badly injured in the Long Island Sound when their speedboat snaps in half during a test run in high waves. They are rescued by Capt. Wright the Bridgeport Lighthouse keeper.

06/17/2026

Millicent Johnsen • 1922–2013
Millicent Mercer Johnsen, one of the area’s most active philanthropists, had a special love for the Twin Lights and was a longtime supporter of the Twin Lights Historical Society. She spearheaded the group that convinced the Boston Museum of Science to relinquish the Fresnel lens that had been removed from the South Tower when the lighthouse was decommissioned. Johnsen served as President of the Garden Club of America and owned the Cheval Corporation, which bred and trained thoroughbred racehorses. She received the Silver Bell from the Seamen’s Church Institute for her lifelong support of seafarers. Her father, Henry Mercer, headed the syndicate that built the yacht Weatherly, which won the 1962 America’s Cup.

06/16/2026

On this day in 1913…Buffalo Harbor lighthouse keeper William Gordon rescues Frank Fisher, a one-armed fisherman who had been yanked off the breakwall after hooking a sturgeon.

06/15/2026

On this day in 1920…The keeper at the Henlopen Lighthouse on Lewes Beach in Delaware confirms the government’s worst fear: despite an investment of $200,000 over the course of a decade, the structure’s foundation is being washed away. The lighthouse would be deactivated four years later and collapse in 1928.