“I regret to say that I found this station in a very unsatisfactory condition. Harding made the following report to the department after his visit to Machias Seal to remove Edmonston and deliver the new keeper, Alexander Eddy. ![]() Wright Edmonston was then placed in charge of both the fog signal and the lights, but he left the island after a year when the Marine Department refused to grant him a considerable increase in salary. Crosby, who resigned after just six months because his family was unwilling to reside on the island. The following year brought an end to John Conley’s thirty-plus years of service on the island, along with the much shorter service of James Ackroyd and his replacement J.H. Mariners would often see only the brighter of Machias Seal’s two lights or would see two lights but think the dimmer of the two lights was from the keeper’s dwelling, and would thus concluded they were off West Quoddy, where a single third-order light was displayed.Ī steam fog-whistle, the most powerful one then on the Bay of Fundy, was established on Machias Seal Island in 1873, with James Ackroyd as its engineer. Though the brighter light was appreciated, it also created a problem. The light from a powerful third-order Fresnel lens was first exhibited from the new lighthouse on November 6, 1869. ![]() Clarke and Stackhouse were contracted to construct a new tower at a cost of $2,450. By 1869, one of the two towers was worn out, and Messrs. A six-pounder signal gun with a house and platform was also installed during that period along with a new flagpole. ![]() Major work was carried out at the station in 1856-1857, including repairs to the towers’ stone foundation walls, lanterns, and decks, new shingling for the towers, and repairs to the dwelling and barn. In 1843, a supply of provisions was stored on the island and an 800-gallon tank was erected to store rainwater for the use of “shipwrecked Seamen and Emigrants.” A pattern of firing the gun every two hours during low visibility was later established. Machias Seal Island was located in the center of a shipping channel and was frequently shrouded in fog in the summer season, so the keeper was supplied a four pound signal gun and a supply of powder in 1841 to serve as a fog signal, though the installation of a large alarm bell was recommended.
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