Douglas W. Bostick - The Morris Island Lighthouse: Charlestons Maritime Beacon

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2008 by Douglas W. Bostick

All rights reserved

Cover design by Marshall Hudson.

Cover image: The Morris Island Lighthouse. Photo by Richard L. Beck, DMD, and chairman of Save the Light, Inc.

First published 2008

Second printing 2013

e-book edition 2013

ISBN 978.1.62584.371.5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bostick, Douglas W.

The Morris Island Lighthouse : Charlestons maritime beacon / Douglas W. Bostick.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-470-7

1. Morris Island Lighthouse (Folly Beach, S.C.)--History. I. Title.

VK1025.M67B68 2008

387.15509757915--dc22

2008009763

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is dedicated to the members and board members of Save the Light. We all owe them a vote of thanks for accomplishing what everyone else said could not be done.

Save the Light Board of Directors

Dr. Richard Beck, Chairman

John Davy

Paula O. Hinton

Al Hitchcock

Carl Hitchcock

Barry McLaurin

Robert New

Betty OBrien

Bob Ramella

Cherie Vick

Lisa Weitz

Fred Wichmann

Save the Light Advisory Board

Jim Booth, Chairman

Congressman Henry Brown

George Campsen

Jack Corgan

James L. Ferguson

Harry Huge

Glenn F. Keyes, AIA

S.C. Representative Wallace Scarborough

Jim Sullivan

Contents

Foreword

The Morris Island Lighthouse is the most beloved reminder of South Carolinas maritime roots. It is the states only first-order light station. This lighthouse and its two predecessors have welcomed and guided mariners safely to our shores for three centuries. This important book by Doug Bostick chronicles the history of our beloved lighthouse and the keepers and families who braved sometimes brutal conditions and meager provisions to ensure the safety of ships entering Charleston Harbor.

Sea Island and Charleston residents are hopeful that Long Island, located between James Island and Folly Beach, with its unmatched beauty and species diversity can be preserved in its natural state. Long Island, along with Black Island, held in trust by the Ohlandt family; the East end of Folly Island, held in trust by Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission; and Morris Island, recently returned to the public domain, could form an important natural and cultural conservation region.

There are many reasons to love and preserve the Morris Island Lighthouse. So much a part of the fabric of our past, so much a reminder of our maritime roots and so beautiful as a gateway to the treasures of the natural beauty that bless this community, it is easy to understand why there is such strong support for Save the Light. Our mission is simply to preserve this historic icon for the people of South Carolina.

I trust you will find the many stories about Morris Island and the lighthouse fascinating and informative. May it lead to a greater appreciation of the rich historic treasures we are fortunate to still enjoy.

Richard L. Beck, DMD

Chairman, Save the Light, Inc.

Acknowledgements

I was raised on James Island, in the shadow of the Morris Island Lighthouse. As youths, my friends and I treated the lighthouse as a great mystery. We were drawn to it yet never could get to it. We imagined great stories about living on Morris Island and the devastation of the war years, and we tried to understand how an island disappears.

My grandmother spent many summers visiting her brother-in-law, a lightkeeper on Morris Island in the early twentieth century. She and my grandfather, Jack, were avid fishermen, going out in their boat most days of the week. Grandmother and Jack cast for their own bait, raked their own oysters and brought home plenty of fish. When other favorite fishing holes failed, they would head to the jetties. One of my favorite Saturday adventures was fishing with them in the daytime and then heading to their house for an oyster roast in the evening. Grandmother always warned us to never eat sweets after eating oysters. I always assumed she made that up since sweet desserts cannot be caught at the end of a hook.

My goals with this book were to share the many fascinating stories of the Morris Island Lighthouse and to peek into the lives of those who braved the isolation and bore the brunt of extreme weather in order to provide safe passage for the many ships finding their way to Charleston Harbor.

I am indebted to the staffs of the South Carolina Historical Society, the Charleston Library Society and the South Carolina Room of the Charleston County Public Library. Thank you to the patient staff at the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the office of the U.S. Coast Guard historian.

Thank you to my good friend Mrs. Roulain Deveaux, the granddaughter of Captain John Wieking, for sharing her stories and family photographs. I also want to offer my gratitude to Katherine Davis Craig, the daughter of lightkeeper W.A. Davis. Her pictures, taken with her Brownie camera, are a treasure trove.

Thank you to Save the Light chairman and photography enthusiast Richard Beck for the use of his many photographs. His never-ending passion for the preservation of the Morris Island Lighthouse is admirable and contagious. I am also indebted to Jim Booth for the use of his images and the opportunity to review his lighthouse files. He has kept us entranced for years with his stunning paintings of the lighthouse and historic sites in our beloved Lowcountry.

I appreciate the kind permission from the late Faith Ferguson, the granddaughter of Reverend Cornish, for use of her family photographs of Morris Island.

I want to convey my admiration and thanks to Barbara Schoch. She understood the need to preserve this iconic image of South Carolinas maritime history. When everyone said, You cant! she said, I can and I will. Every great grass-roots effort has to start with someone; this one started with Barbara.

One often hears the expression, They broke the mold with him! Johnny Ohlandt would have never fit into a mold. He is the quintessential one of a kind. He has been the equivalent of the modern-day lightkeeper for the Morris Island Lighthouse.

My good friend Fred Wichmann has inspired me. Fred was born at the Cape Romain Lighthouse at McClellanville. An avid wooden boat fan, he has devoted himself to several local history projects, the lighthouse included.

Many of the Save the Light board members like Paula Hinton, Barry McLaurin, Robert New and Al Hitchcock have sustained a passionate devotion to the task of preserving this lighthouse for many, many years. There are also a number of professionals, most notably Jack Corgan and Carroll Crowther, who volunteered their technical and organizational expertise to the lighthouse preservation project. Theirs is the kind of effort and devotion that you could never get if you did pay for it. For them, the trip has been a labor of love.