POINT BETSIE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS & ASSISTANT LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS RECORD
This record spans over 125 years of service when Point Betsie Light Station was operated by resident crews, as well as keepers or officers-in-charge of rescue stations of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and U.S. Coast Guard which shared the Point Betsie Lighthouse property from 1877-1937. To make Point Betsie’s Personnel Record as complete as possible, we encourage readers to email us, if you know of anyone else who served at Point Betsie, including dates of service, if known.
1858-1975:
David Flury, Lighthouse Keeper 1859; Abel Barnes, Lighthouse Keeper 1859-1860; P.D. Barnes, Lighthouse Keeper 1860-1861; Alonzo J. Slyfield, Lighthouse Keeper 1861-1882; Edwin R. Slyfield, Lighthouse Keeper 1882-1888; Peter Dues, Lighthouse Keeper 1888-1893 (late in his tenure an Assistant position was authorized for the station); Charles W. Butler, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1892; George Chamberlin, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1892-1893; Soren Christenson, Lighthouse Keeper 1893-1895; Thomas Hart, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1893-1894; Medad Spencer, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1894-1904; Philip Sheridan, Lighthouse Keeper 1895-1919 (early in his tenure a second Assistant position was authorized) Frank H. Glover, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1898-1900; James P. Burdick, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1900-1901; John S. Kerchill, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1901-1902; Charles Stibitz, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1902-1907; Roy Oliver, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1904; Albert F. Straubel, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1904-1906; Edward L. Gray, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1906-1910; Knut A. Nelson, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1907-1909; Raymond J. Grant, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1909-1917; Frederick W. Ferguson, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1909-1910; Howard A. Kimball, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1910-1916; Frederick Bennett, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1911(approx.) -1916; David Howard, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1916; Elmer L. Grenzer, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1917-1928 (approx.); Severin Danielsen, Lighthouse Keeper 1919-1928; Charles E. Tesnow, Lighthouse Keeper, 1928-1933; Edward Wheaton, Lighthouse Keeper 1933-1946; Henry J. LaFreniere, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1928-1945; Robert McKillop, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1928; Nels A. Nelson, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper 1931-1946; John P. Campbell, Keeper 1958-1963, George (LaVonne) Milligan, Lighthouse Keeper, 1971-1975.