From many lands they came. Sifting through time to arrive at a small 
Village,  They were Fisherman, Stonecutters, Lighthouse Keepers, Sailors and  
men with various other trades. This Family By The Sea.

Samuel Cavanor was the first keeper of Ram Island light. He was born in Halifax, Nova 
Scotia, in 1851 and worked for our federal government as a young man in the 
geological survey department and buoy tending. After losing a leg on a tender, he 
entered the lighthouse service in the late 1870s and became an assistant on Seguin. 
In 1883 he was appointed keeper at the new station at Ram.

Cavanor arrived at Ram on October 17, 1883, and started log entries immediately. Each 
page has 31 lines, probably intended to cover a month's activities. However, 
Cavanor's first page ran from October 1883 to September 1885 -- about 1,200 words 
devoted to the two-year span. Cavanor wrote on November 5, 1883, "I light the light 
under my charge for the first time."

Though Cavanor had children born at the lighthouse, was a Mason and a popular local 
man, and his wife ran a shore dinner business on Fisherman's Island, the log gives no 
sign he had a personal life. The more mundane entries included reports on repairs, 
inspections, supply vessel arrivals, and so on. There was constant work painting the 
buildings, fixing the plank walk, the chimney, the boat slip, and so on. Common 
visitors were inspectors about three times a year, a lampest occasionally, 
carpenters, and engineers. Supply boats were all named for flowers, so in December 
1883, "Iris set a bell buoy on hipercits [Hypocrits]," and in 1884, "Myrtle left 
paint to paint the station."

Cavanor had his own spelling rules, but his rules were no worse than current-day 
rules. On December 6, 1884, "The schooner Mineola went ashore on Squrle [Squirrel] 
and was a totle rack." Looking for patterns of wrecks, it seems that vessels were 
wrecked near Ram about once a year. In 1885, the schooner Garland went ashore on the 
Hypocrits; in 1886 two schooners went ashore on Squirrel; in 1887 the schooner Nathan 
Cleaves was a total wreck on Fisherman's Ledge; in 1889 the schooner Alice went 
ashore on Fisherman's; in 1891 "the" Gustus J. Fabans "went ashore and burnt up at 
Ocean Point" (the Augustus J. Fabens wreck is profiled in Boothbay Region Historical 
Sketches, v. II). Later in 1891, the Lena F. Dixon, which had gone ashore on 
Monhegan, grounded out on Ram while being towed to Boothbay Harbor.

Wreck rates slowed down in the 1890s. Not until 1897 was there another wreck in 
Cavanor's vicinity. In November the "schooner Charles A. Campbell struck a ledge 
outside of the Gangway Ledge." In 1899 the Sabrina was wrecked on Fisherman's Island, 
and in 1900 two vessels had bad ends: a three-masted schooner went ashore at Little 
River Point and a schooner wrecked on Ram. Other wrecks: in 1903 on Ram, the Harriet 
W. Babston; in 1908 on Fisherman's the Frank and Ira; in 1911 on Pumpkin Ledge the 
Eastern Light; in 1912 on Fisherman's the Aldine and another ashore at Ocean Point.

Cavanor acquired a new responsibility in August of 1897. During the previous 14 
years, he hadn't made daily entries, only noting events out of the ordinary as they 
occurred. In 1897 he started noting the weather every day, and the notes usually 
included the wind direction; whether it was light, fresh, or moderate; and whether it 
was dry or foggy.

Cavanor normally reported any federal activity in the vicinity, such as survey crews 
in 1893, 1902, and 1910; or the 1899 presence of six ships from the Atlantic squadron 
anchored inside of Squirrel Island, and the 1903 arrival of cruiser Cleveland. In 
1911 another job appeared, that of reporting on the traffic of everyday federal 
vessels. He noted the passing by of the buoy tenders, such as the Lilac, or the 
revenue cutters, such as the Woodbury. Perhaps it was a measure to help safeguard the 
vessels; if they were later missing, the lighthouses could at least report the last 
sightings.

Aside from normal upkeep of the buildings and suchlike, Cavanor had an ongoing battle 
with storm-caused destruction. A heavy gale carried the dory away in February 1885; 
in 1889 the lightning conductor was carried away, and the boat slip was repaired in 
1890. In 1897 there was big trouble -- February 6 the fog signal was worked on; it 
broke February 21; fixed on the 25th; broke March 19; fixed the 24th unsuccessfully; 
fixed May 6; broke May 31; fixed June 9; broke August 26; fixed the 27th; apparently 
the fog bell did not break down again until 1907. However on February 1, 1898, six 
months after the fog bell troubles, the weight box was carried away in a gale. 
Repaired a week later, it was carried away again on February 22. In November 1900, 
the three trees that had been on the island blew down. In February, 1908 a gale 
carried away the plank on the boat slip, and tore up planks on the bridge and balcony.

Cavanor's last log entry was April 7, 1913, and another hand noted that he died on 
April 10. According to his obituary, he had a heart attack while passing by the 
Congregational Church. Having already had bouts of heart trouble, he was intending to 
leave the lighthouse service and live in the Harbor on Eastern Avenue on property 
that had once been the sight of a slaughter house and later went to Ray Sherman.

Since another keeper could not be found immediately, one of the town's old salts took 
over for a while at the station. Captain O. G. Reed ("by God"), as he was called, 
manned the lighthouse for about a month. Many oldtimers remember O.G., who died in 
1934, as one of the early 1900 town characters. On May 10, 1913, keeper Mitchell took 
over the light.

The April 12, 1913 Register reported on the death of Cavanor, "Probably no family in 
this vicinity were more attached to each other living all those years together on the 
little island surrounded by every comfort making them all and all to each other." 
After 30 years on the island, the death of Cavanor ended the first chapter in Ram 
Island's manned lighthouse era.


             Lonesome

I'm lonesome for a place called home
I miss the sea and the land of foam
I miss the gulls that float on high
I miss the smell of the flats at low
I miss my home of long ago

I miss the boats and miss the shore
I miss the friends knocking on the door
I miss the sunshine and the fog
I miss the search of the shore for a log
I miss this job that was such a chore

I miss the clutter of the ship
I miss the smell of paint and tar
I miss the watching of boats afar
I miss the sound of the sea that roar
I wish I could hear it more 

I miss the winter night so still
I miss the trudge up the hill 
I miss the walks along along the shore 
I miss the smell of the the salty sea
I'm as lonesome as I can be 
I miss the sound of the rope that taped 
Upon the house in a lonesome way
When I return I'm there to stay 

Written by Florence Batty / McLeod 
while in Portland in 1941
lived there during WW II 


Thank you for viewing my site.  Please come back soon there will be more 
photos to see more names to look through. If you find a link between your 
family and mine, Please feel free to e-mail me. I Would love to hear from you .
If you find any mistakes on this site please let me know, and I will make any
changes necessary to fix my mistakes.

I need more photos of family.  Just send and I'll add to site.



ACKER BILK