Lighthouse lover: keeper of the keepers

FISHERS LANDING — When Mark A. Wentling discovered at age 10 that one of his ancestors was a lighthouse keeper, his eyes lit up. He had to know more.

He did discover more about that ancestor, but he didn't stop there.

Mr. Wentling, a 1992 graduate of Carthage Central School, has spent years researching the Rock Island Lighthouse where his great-great-great-grandfather Michael J. Diepolder served from 1886 to 1901.

He has developed biographies and found portraits of most of the keepers who served at the structure beginning in the 1840s and continuing to the 1950s when the station was deactivated.

That information and more is on a Web site Mr. Wentling created, and he would like to write a book about the lighthouse and its keepers.

"I realized this is not only about my family but the role Rock Island Lighthouse has played in the area and all of its family connections," Mr. Wentling said from his home in Randolph, Mass., where he works as a research database designer.

The 40-foot-tall lighthouse on the St. Lawrence River, about 4.5 miles northeast of Clayton off Fishers Landing and in the town of Orleans, was constructed by the U.S. government in 1847 and reconstructed in 1882.

It was given to the state in 1977 and has been closed to the public since the 1980s because of needed repairs, but people can use the island for picnicking.

RENOVATIONS PLANNED

Last year, the state awarded $1.1 million in grants to do improvement work on the island. Renovation plans include structural work to the lighthouse and keeper's home and expanded dockage and a museum inside the existing house on the island.

The work is still a go despite recent cutbacks in state funding, according to Kevin A. Kieff, regional director of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. He said the project will go out to bid this year, with work taking place in 2010 and a reopening planned for 2011.

Mr. Kieff sees much potential for the site.

"It's just a great place and it has a great story," he said.

He envisions small tour boats bringing a couple of dozen passengers to the island. He would also like to start a Rock Island friends group.

"We think a lot is going to come out of the woodwork about Rock Island," he said.

'HIT THE JACKPOT'

As a young man, Mr. Wentling began his search in north country libraries for information on the lighthouse keepers, but found nothing.

His luck changed while he was continuing his research at Houghton College. He discovered the Chicago-based Great Lakes Lighthouse Research organization, and in response to a query he was sent a list of keepers at Rock Island and their dates of service.

He discovered that his great-great-great-grandfather died at the station and was replaced by his wife, Emma.

Mr. Wentling moved to Washington, D.C., in 1996 and began working as an index writer for the National Geographic Society. His home was within walking distance to the National Archives Building, where U.S. government lighthouse records are stored.

"I hit the jackpot," he said.

QUEST GOES ON

Mr. Wentling founded the Rock Island Lighthouse Historical and Memorial Association in 2000.

The organization's Web site has brought the lighthouse more attention, and his quest to collect more information and further improve the facility continues. He supplied text and images for interpretive signs installed on the island in 2006.

"It's immensely satisfying to help people discover their connections to the lighthouse," he said.

But he said there is more to be discovered about the lighthouse. Specifically, he's missing a few portraits of its keepers. He doesn't have a date of death for or a portrait of the lighthouse's last keeper, Dennis "Pat" Carroll.

Those who have information on the above may contact Mr. Wentling by e-mailing him at keeper@rockislandlighthouse.org.