without correspondence to fill in the gaps. Edward had received a postcard from a woman named Cass in 1906, dated the month of March, two months after the death of 
Margaret’s brother. Questions remain unanswered about the time between 1906 and the next correspondence Margaret received from Edward. Things were very much changed in both their lives. It was now 1907. Margaret was twenty-nine years old. Edward was no longer enlisted in the Revenue Cutter Service. He was appointed to the United States Lighthouse Service. He began his duties at the Horseshoe Reef Lighthouse and the Buffalo Life Saving Station on May11, 1907. On October 19, 1907, Edward sent Margaret a postcard. Was this his way of trying to reconnect a relationship that had been left to the wayside by time, circumstance and career choices? On the other hand, was it simply a compassionate lover, trying to send a quick message to a woman he loved who had been met with much tragedy over the past several years? Edward was an assistant lighthouse keeper, his younger brothers Alfred and Charles were soon to follow his example and enlist in the Revenue Cutter
Service. Edward was approaching twenty-nine years of age. The brief message of his postcard, “Hello Margaret how are u will write soon. How is everything at Hudson With wishes E.M.H.”, is written in haste and on the back 
of a picture of the Buffalo Harbor. It may be this is the first time Margaret sees the place that she will eventually call her home. Margaret remained in Hudson and was strengthened by her close ties to the rest of the family. Lighthouse keepers did not have much of a chance to get away for a vacation and travel would have been difficult under these circumstances. No letters or postcards survive from either Edward or Margaret until the fall of 1907. If Margaret traveled to Buffalo to visit, it is not known. Most likely, she stayed in Hudson. What is clear from the correspondence of 1907, Margaret and Edward continued to have a relationship. Perhaps Edward waited until he was settled in the Lighthouse Service as a keeper, or he may have waited for Margaret to recover from her grief, or perhaps it was Margaret who wanted to wait. After all, the wife of someone out to sea eight or nine months of the year is not exactly a romantic beginning for a newly wed couple.
On January 14, 1908, Margaret and Edward were married in Hudson, Michigan, after the navigational season had ended. Margaret was thirty years old and Edward was thirty-one years old. Some twenty-four years had passed since the first picture of Margaret was taken in a chair much too big for her.
This time her photograph would tell a very different story. There was no chair to engulf her in its overstuffed arms. Instead, she is framed by a delicate oval boundary next to the man she had loved for eight years. Still dressed in her dark mourning clothes with only a simple jet necklace her face reveals an emotion captured for all of eternity. Her piercing eyes are softer, wider and her lips not so tightly pursed almost seem to emit a secret smile.
The secret behind Margaret’s slight smile was that her destiny had been partially fulfilled, she had taken command of her world and that day unlike twenty-four yeas earlier, she wanted to have her photograph taken. She had captured the heart of an enlisted officer in the Revenue Cutter Service and a Lighthouse Keeper. She was right were she wanted to be.
THE NEWLY WED
He did not wear his lighthouse keeper’s uniform on his wedding day. His suit dark and well fitted surrounded a freshly starched white shirt and held the face of a man serene and content. Edward’s eyes look into the camera, deep set and dark they are the counter balance to Margaret’s fair complexion and light colored hair. Edward by contrast has thick, dark, wavy black hair. Looking closely, Margaret is not the only one who had a secret smile that day. So did Edward and his smile was ever subtle, if caught at all by the observer. His secret was the beautiful woman beside him and in front of him. He had taken command of his world and now she was apart of it. He had given his heart to a beautiful, strong, independent woman who was just right for the life of a lighthouse keeper’s wife. His destiny had also been partially fulfilled that day and like Margaret, he was right were he wanted to be.
The trip back to Buffalo was uneventful. Little did Margaret know that two weeks after their arrival, Edward would be back tending the light. He would also be stranded for many days at the Horseshoe Reef Lighthouse, unable to return to the shore because of the tremendous ice jam. Edward was not the only person stranded. Margaret would be stranded at the new keepers residence alone, and without her
husband of less then two months. The next month, February would set record-breaking snowfall throughout the mid-west, especially in Michigan and Illinois. Margaret was about to meet Buffalo and Tonawanda.
No comments:
Post a Comment