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The two lighthouse keepers who perished manning the first Minots Ledge Lighthouse may get a belated memorial to their heroism.
The town of Cohasset, Masssachusetts has formally voted to allow Herbert Jason and John Small to place a granite memorial on Government Island honoring the two keepers. The keepers, Joseph Antoine and Joseph Wilson perished when one of the most violent storms of the century smashed into the ocean lighthouse toppling it into the sea 146 years ago.
The proposed memorial will be a 1.5 ton stone of polished black granite bearing a carving of the lighthouse and a brief record of the Keepers' deed. At the bottom will be the old motto, "They kept the good light." The base for the stone will be a compass rose within a brick that circles 12 feet in diameter. The cardinal points of the compass also will be in black granite, with the other points in polished pink granite.
The monument, on Government Island, will be placed between the 26-foot replica of the top of the present Minots Light tower and the templates where the granite blocks for the present lighthouse were shaped in 1855.
This story appeared in the February 1998 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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