Stephen Woolverton, Keeper of the Cleveland Harbor Lighthouse, 1831-1838

Lighthouse Keeper Stephen Woolverton wrote numerous letters to Fifth Auditor Stephen Pleasonton during the third decade of the nineteenth century. This correspondence provides glimpses not only into the life of an early keeper, but reflects the struggles of the growing Lighthouse Establishment in defining the role of a lighthouse keeper. There were 155 light stations in the U.S. when we first hear from Woolverton in 1831, no formal instructions were issued to keepers until 1835. Cleveland Harbor Light was established in 1829 at the corner of Main and Water Streets to serve the harbor at Cleveland, Ohio, on Lake Erie. The first surviving piece of correspondence from Stephen Woolverton is dated July 9,1831. He was defending himself against the following charges that he believed the local collector, Mr. Starkweather, intended to levy against him.