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This past September 11, Michigan’s Friends of Tawas Point Lighthouse and State Park honored two of their lighthouse keepers with the placement of memorial Lighthouse Service keeper markers at the gravesites at two different cemeteries.
Honored was Herbert N. Burrows, who was the keeper at Tawas Point Lighthouse from 1910 to 1923. Burrows started his lighthouse keeping career in 1889 at Lake Huron’s Port Austin Reef Lighthouse. He also served at Crisp Point Lighthouse, Fort Gratiot Lighthouse and Forty Mile Point Lighthouse. On July 30, 1896, while stationed at Port Austin Reef Lighthouse, keeper Burrows nearly lost his life when his boat, loaded with provisions, capsized in high seas.
The other keeper honored was Sherman Wheeler, who was stationed at the Ottawa Point Lighthouse from 1853 to 1857. When the Ottawa Point Lighthouse was demolished, it was replaced with the Tawas Point Lighthouse.
A number of descendants of William N. Burrows attended the ceremony, but the Friends group was unable to locate descendants of Sherman Wheeler.
This story appeared in the
Nov/Dec 2021 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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