The name Hayden's Light was a local moniker used by the folks living along the river. It honored a longtime lightkeeper named Gilbert Hayden who rowed to the lighthouse twice a day to light and then extinguish its sixth-order lens.
The name Hayden's Light was a local moniker used by the folks living along the river. It honored a longtime lightkeeper named Gilbert Hayden who rowed to the lighthouse twice a day to light and then extinguish its sixth-order lens. Records I found don't indicate the fuel source, but it was probably kerosene.
Bernie Hayden also kept the Essex Reef Light. He may have been a relative of Gilbert Hayden, possibly his son. In Bermie Hayden's later years, his eyesight failed, but he continued to work as a lamplighter until the light was made automatic in 1919. A side note to his service: Mariners and local folk in Essex sometimes teased Bernie by saying the lighthouse has lifted off its foundation and floated away.
The keepers had several months' vacation in the winter when the light was extinguished due to ice on the river. They