First Horse Island Lighthouse

Frightened by the approaching redcoats with their glistening bayonets, most of the volunteers let fly one burst of musket fire and then quickly turned and fled. One company of militiamen, led by Captain Samuel McNitt, courageously held their ground and backed by regulars were able to stop the British advance. When told their side was winning the battle, the fleeing militiamen returned to join in the victory. Seeing this increase of men, the British retreated, thinking fresh reinforcements had arrived, and the Second Battle of Sackets Harbor was over.

For his role in the battle, Samuel McNitt was regarded as a local hero, and everyone felt it just when he was later offered the position of keeper of Horse Island Lighthouse. Jurisdiction over the island was ceded to the Federal Government by the State of New York on April 26, 1831, and later that year, the light was established. The keeper’s dwelling was a one and a half story structure with the light tower protruding from the center of its pitched roof. In 1857, the light at Horse Island was upgraded through the installation of a fifth-order Fresnel in the lighthouse’s lantern room.

This first lighthouse was reportedly destroyed by fire, and in 1870 it was replaced by a one and a half story brick dwelling with an attached square tower at one end. The site selected for the new lighthouse was 300 yards southeast of the earlier tower, as the lake was starting to encroach on the original site. In 1883, Horace G. Halloway, a veteran of the Civil War, was appointed keeper of Horse Island Lighthouse. One day, Keeper Halloway noticed a sailboat just off the island. A strong northwest wind had been blowing for some time, churning up the lake, and Halloway commented to his wife that “the sea was too heavy to carry the amount of sail which they did.” He was soon proven correct, as when he looked out to the lake again the craft had disappeared. Certain that the boat had capsized, Halloway raced to the beach, where he could hear cries of help, and quickly launched the lighthouse boat. Two military men had been aboard the sailboat, and when finally reached, they had been in the water nearly an hour. One man was “partly unconscious” but his companion was able to help himself into the rescue boat. The Halloways cared for the two men at the lighthouse until they were sufficiently recovered. A boat was then dispatched from the mainland to transport the deeply grateful and now a bit more humble men back to their barracks.

Second Horse Island Lighthouse

Keeper Halloway served until 1911, when he resigned his position and was replaced by his son-in-law George H. Ward, who transferred from Crossover Island. Keeper Halloway continued to live on Horse Island with his daughter until he passed away in May of 1920. Prior to that final winter, he had been “quite active for a man of his age.”

George Ward was part of a family of lighthouse keepers. His father, James, was a keeper, and three of George’s sons, Frank, Edwin, and Oswald would serve at various lighthouses on Lake Ontario, including those at Rock Island, Tibbetts Point, and Sodus Point.

Keeper Ward served until 1926 when he was replaced by Schuyler Simmons. After his first wife passed away in 1922, Simmons married Julia Shay from Montana and worked a farm near Henderson, New York before beginning his service as lightkeeper. Simmons passed away in 1932 and was succeeded as keeper by his wife, who hired a local man to help keep the light and adjacent farm. Life on Horse Island seemed idyllic for Julia, who kept a horse, a cow, a young bull that was as “friendly as a housedog,” and a flock of Plymouth Rock chickens that were so tame that they would perch on her shoulders. Her life reportedly came to a tragic end when she was killed by a train.

In 1957 Horse Island Lighthouse was declared excess and sold by the General Services Administration to Carl Martin after an automated light atop a metal skeletal tower replaced the function of the lighthouse. Since its construction in 1870, the lighthouse received an addition in 1914 and had its tower heightened ten feet in 1900. Even with this extension, only the top of the tower can be seen above the trees that have encroached on the lighthouse property. The Martin family still retains the lighthouse as a vacation home.

Photo Gallery: 1 2

References

1. “Horse Island Reminiscences,” Jeremy D’Entremont, Lighthouse Digest, October, 2005.
2. “Sharing Family Memories of Sackets Harbor Light,” Laura J. Pacyon, Lighthouse Digest, May, 2004.