Climbing A Lighthouse

Anyone who knows me, knows I have bad knees & always take the elevator. I never get the chance to climb a lighthouse.

Today was the perfect opportunity! 29 steps up & 7 rungs on a ladder. I made it!! Of course Steve was right with me & that's the only reason I would attempt it. This is the Stonington Lighthouse.

The views out the windows.

It was constructed in 1840 to replace an earlier lighthouse. 7 keepers & their families lived in it. In 1789 lights were put out on the breakwaters. The keepers who tended the breakwater beacons lived in it till 1909. The history of Stonington is of sea captains,, farmers explorers,, sailors & entrepreneurs. Stonington was attacked by the British in 1814. Items from China brought back & portraits of people in the 1700s & 1800s.

Steve & I are 10th cousins through his Palmer/Denison side & my Champlin/Denison side. The Palmers were a big family here. I found several residences on a map. The Denison's also were Mayflower people. There is a house called the Palmer House that we went to see.

Walter Palmer was his father. He was a first settler. The brothers Nathaniel & Alexander built it in 1852. They were both Sea Captains & Shipbuilders.

Nathaniel at 21 was the first to chart the Antarctic Peninsula. He was an explorer & involved in International trade. He designed many ships & was responsible for the start of the America's Cup Race.

His brother Alexander lost his wife, so he & the children went to live with Nathaniel. His wife raised the children.

Elizabeth Dixon Palmer

We had a picnic at a park. The weather was fine. We got to eat outside, not in the car like our earlier picnics!!

Next we went to the Babcock-Smith house. As you can see, Joshua was a first at a lot of things. I have Westerly RI Babcocks & we were told Palmers married Babcocks. The place was closed. Not sure how we are related!

This area has a lot of history of my Clark family so we are visiting a lot of churches & cemeteries. More on that later.

We went to the lighthouse in Westerly RI. It's called Watch Hill Light. We walked out part way but we had visited 4 small cemeteries before & were pretty tired.

A few of the mansions on Watch Hill.

These are the views to the back & side of our campground.

Sunday started with us making an honest attempt to attend church. We arrived to an empty parking lot. We figured it was Stake Conference. We got to the 2nd ward almost a 1/2 hour late. I cannot sit on those hard chairs & can't hear in the back. So we got an early start on our day.

We first visited Fort Griswold Battlefield. This is the historic site where, on September 6, 1781, British Forces, commanded by the infamous Benedict Arnold, captured the Fort and massacred 88 of the 165 defenders stationed there. The Ebenezer Avery House which sheltered the wounded after the battle has been restored on the grounds.

We found the museum closed. Google said it was open but it appears we are a week early!

The Battle Monument has been dedicated to all those who fought in wars.

Our next visit was to Fort Trumball.

Built 1839-1852 as the 3rd Fort Trumball.

Crew or officers quarters. This was also a school for the Coast Guard.

This was the Lynde Point Lighthouse. Someone lives in it now.

Fort Saybrook was the first fortified fort in New England. Primarily as a place of defense and protection, as well as a refuge for wealthy gentlemen from England who sought political, economic, and religious freedoms in New England. The men who initially settled Saybrook, designing and constructing the fortifications, dwellings, warehouses, and other structures knew each other well; many were soldiers and military engineers with combat experience in the Thirty Years War in the lowlands of northern Europe. The intent was to build, sustain, and defend a thriving settlement in the new world.

Lieutenant Lion Gardiner Statue – Old Saybrook, CT

The first fort constructed on Saybrook Point between 1635 and 1636 and was occupied until it burned in the winter of 1647/1648. Following the fire, the fort and all the associated structure were in disrepair or entirely destroyed.

We went to see the New London Harbor Lighthouse. It is very hard to see because there is a residential community near it.

The other Lighthouse was the New London Ledge Lighthouse.It is out in the ocean.

My Joseph Clarke traveled with Roger Williams to Rhode Island to settle it. They were kicked out of Massachusetts because of their beliefs & the Seventh Day Baptist Church was formed. They actually are Anabaptists. They don't believe in baby baptisms. Up in Providence is the old church. Here in the southern Rhode Island area, Joseph Clarke's son, Joseph, preached in these little churches. They still have congregations today.