Fannie Salter

Fannie May Hudgins Salter (1883–1966) was the last lighthouse keeper at Turkey Point Light in Maryland, United States where she served from 1925 until she retired in 1947. From 1922 -1925, she worked at the light along with her husband, C. W. Harry Salter, until his death.[1] Salter was one of four female lighthouse keepers who served at Turkey Point between 1844 and 1947, 86 of its 114 years of service. Salter was its last keeper when she retired and Turkey Point became fully automated.[2]

Salter polishes the Fresnel lens at Turkey Point Light

When she retired, she reportedly said, "Oh, it was an easy-like chore, but my feet got tired, and climbing the tower has given me fallen arches."[3]

Life

Salter was born to Isaac M. Hudgins and Indiana Frances Jarvis, a native of Mathews County, Virginia.[4] For a time during the 1920s, she and her husband lived in Franktown, Virginia, where their son Charles Bradley was born.[4] She and her husband are buried in the cemetery of Friendship Church in Susan, in that county.[5]

Career

Her official USCG biography reads:

"C. W. "Harry" Salter served as the keeper of Turkey Point Light from 1922 until he died in 1925. Salter's wife, Fannie May Salter, took over her husband's duties in 1925 thanks to the personally granted authorization of then President Calvin Coolidge. Because of her age, the Civil Service had told Fannie that she could not succeed her husband. However, she appealed to her senator who took it to the White House, which then overruled the Civil Service. She served until August 1947 when she retired at age 65, with 22 years of service as lighthouse keeper, and another 23 years previously assisting her late husband who was keeper at several stations. She stated, "Oh, it was an easy-like chore, but my feet got tired, and climbing the tower has given me fallen arches.
Before the station was electrified, Fannie would fill and light one of the two lamps at dusk, climb the tower and place the lamp within the lens, then recheck it about one hour later, and again at 10 pm before going to bed. From her bedroom in the keeper's quarters she could see if the light was functioning properly and would immediately awake if the light ever went out. With electricity installed in 1943, she only had to turn on a switch, which lit a 100 watt bulb, which in combination with the lens produced 680 candlepower of light. Once she had to manually strike the fog bell when it suddenly failed as a steamer was heading for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in a fog. She rang the bell four times a minute for 55 minutes until the steamer had safely passed. In so doing, she was away from the phone when her son-in-law tried to call and tell her that her daughter had given birth to her granddaughter.
The Lighthouse Board in 1928 authorized $25 per month for a laborer to wind the fog bell striking mechanism for Mrs. Salter during months of the year when fog was prevalent. This fee was reduced to $15 per month in 1932. Upon retirement, she moved to another house six miles away, but she was still within sight of the light. She died at age 83 in 1966. Turkey Point Lighthouse had more women lighthouse keepers than any other lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay." Fannie Salter became the last female lighthouse keeper in the U.S. after another woman retired in 1932. In August of 1936, the Lighthouse Commissioner George Putnam created an article about her which was published in National Geographic Magazine. She retired on October 1, 1947 and she was 65 years old. Fannie assisted her husband for 23 years and another 22 years after he died. She died in 1966.[6]

References
  1. "Women & The Sea : The Mariner's Museum". www.marinersmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  2. "The Story Behind the Chesapeake's Feminist Lighthouse | Washingtonian (DC)". Washingtonian. 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  3. Healey, David (2012-09-18). Great Storms of the Chesapeake. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61423-689-4.
  4. Lisa Tendrich Frank (17 January 2013). An Encyclopedia of American Women at War: From the Home Front to the Battlefields [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. pp. 497–. ISBN 978-1-59884-444-3.
  5. Fannie May Hudgins Salter at Find a Grave
  6. Lighthouse webmaster - Geoffrey Baker - info@lhdigest.com. "Lighthouses@Lighthouse Digest ... Collecting Nautical Antiques". www.lhdigest.com. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
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