![]() ![]() Mukilteo Light Station with separate Keeper’s Houses on either side of Lighthouse, about 1934 At Mukilteo, each of the keepers had more spacious accommodations in their own two-story house. Also, while at Turn Point, each of the keepers and their families lived in one side of a two-story duplex. Unlike many other lighthouses that are situated in remote locations, the Mukilteo Lighthouse was close to a community with schools and shops. Peter and his family must have been delighted by his reassignment to be Mukilteo Lighthouse Keeper in early 1906. The listing under the Department of Commerce chapter shows him as Keeper at Turn Point, WA, with a compensation of $800. He is listed in the 1905 Official Register of the United States Officers and Employees of the Civil, Military, and Naval Service. Like most Keepers of the time, he was a member of the US Lighthouse Establishment, which was funded by the US Treasury Department (and later by the US Department of Commerce). Peter Christiansen was promoted to head Keeper at Turn Point in 1898. Turn Point Keepers Quarters Duplex – 1898įor their rescue efforts, the keepers received a letter from the Lighthouse Board that read, in part, : “Such services to humanity merit the highest commendation, and the Board is glad to number among its employees men of such sterling courage and fidelity to duty, who are willing to jeopardize their own lives in order to save the lives of others.” With some help, the captain was able to subdue the knife wielder, who was placed in a straight-jacket and locked up in the station’s hen house. One of the intoxicated sailors on the tug brandished a butcher knife and threatened his comrades. They found it and used a breeches-buoy to rescue all on board, but their troubles were not over. Wet and cold, the keepers pushed off in the station’s boat to find the barge. The sober captain told the keepers that other crew members were drifting aboard a barge that he had cut lose before the tug foundered on the rocks. ![]() The tug captain appeared to be the only person on board, until several drunken crew members were found to be below deck. Lighthouse keeper jobs oregon free#Equipped with pike poles, the keepers plunged into the water and managed to free the tug and direct it to a safe moorage. While at Turn Point, during the evening of February 16, 1897, repeated blasts of a ship’s whistle brought Keeper Durgan and Assistant Keeper Christiansen rushing out into the frigid winter night to find that the tug Enterprise had run aground on rocks near the station. There followed a son Perry, born February 1, 1896, and a daughter Clara, born in 1902, both on Stuart Island. Son Charlie Christiansen, was born in August two months after the couple’s arrival at Turn Point, and was the first white baby born on Stuart Island. In 1894, Peter relocated from Oakland, California with his pregnant wife, Theodine, and daughter, Anna, to become Assistant Keeper at the Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart Island in the San Juan Islands. in 1892, possibly starting in Oakland, California. Peter established permanent residency in the U.S. Peter and Theodine had a daughter, Anna, born in Oslo on December 13, 1888. Theodine was the daughter of Hans Tonnessen. His previous stints with the merchant marine and later duty with the Navy evidently took him back and forth to Norway, because, on January 12, 1888, he married Theodine Tonnessen in Oslo, Norway. Peter Christiansen Family in 1896: Charles, Peter, Anna, Theodine and Perry Records show he immigrated to the United States in 1882, sailing from Glasgow, Scotland. Peter went to sea at age 14 and joined the merchant marine in about 1873. It is not surprising that emigrants from there continued with life’s activities closely connected to the sea. Located on the southwest coast of Norway, Stavanger is a busy seaport and ranks as the country’s fourth largest city. Our first keeper was born Peder Nicolaij Kristiansen on December 3, 1858, in Stavanger, Norway, to parents Christian Bentzen and Guri Christine Hansvolden. ![]() Navy for 10 years, and keeper of the Turn Point lighthouse in San Juan county for nearly 12 more years. He had been in the merchant marine for 11 years, in the U.S. Christiansen’s appointment to Mukilteo came as a reward for his long record of faithful services. Christiansen was on site and ready to ensure its steady beacon remained a guiding light for ships entering Possession Sound. When the Mukilteo Lighthouse lamp was first lit on March 1, 1906, keeper Peter N. By Peter Anderson, Director, Mukilteo Historical Society ![]()
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