DAUGHTER OF MICHIGAN: LIVING ON THE BEACH

On January 19, 1908, two postcards were sent to Hudson, Michigan. One was to Claire Belchor and the other was to C.E. Sheridan. Margaret had married someone of importance. He was not a farmer and his family had not been living in America for over two hundred years. They were German and lived in Tonawanda. His family must have been very pleased to learn that Edward would be returning close to home to serve as the lighthouse keeper at the Horseshoe Reef Lighthouse in Buffalo. After all, he could have been assigned to any one of the many lighthouses located on the five Great Lakes. Travel to Buffalo from Tonawanda was still not easy. However, it was a lot better then going to some place far away. He was also bringing a new wife home and she was beautiful, smart and had lived by herself in Detroit. Not one of Edward’s sisters had gone off to a big city to pursue a career. Margaret was a Methodist and it was accepted Edward would follow her into the new religion. Eleven days after their marriage and return to Buffalo the newly married wife penned those two messages with pride on her first postcards as Mrs. Herman (n).

The first postcard was addressed to Miss Claire Belchor, Hudson, Michigan. She writes to Claire that the home they live in “is right down the pier” and points out Edward’s lighthouse. She also notes that it is now “all ice and snow”. The ship on the postcard was to play an important role in their lives. She tells Claire it is the tender Crocus. This tender would travel to Edward’s second lighthouse bringing much needed supplies and books for them. The postcard is signed, “Mrs. E.M. Herman”.

The second postcard is addressed to C.E. Sheridan, Hudson, Michigan. Choosing a card with a scene from a storm the previous year, Margaret writes that the house is down the beach. When Claire’s card arrives, they would have a better idea. It is signed simply, “Margaret Herman”.

Early Buffalo photographs are of Margaret and Edward in his Lighthouse Keeper’s uniform standing in front of the large keeper’s residence, which was newly built to house the keepers. Life on the “beach” as the 1910 census taker referred to the area was not isolated. The Buffalo Life Saving Station was a large and busy complex. There were other lighthouse keepers to serve the main light and there were keepers and Life Saving crews. Presumably, the keepers had families, especially wives that Margaret could look to for companionship and support.

Buffalo was a busy and growing city when Margaret arrived. It was one of the busiest on the Great Lakes, which made working the harbor one of the more dangerous for sailors and lighthouse keepers. Margaret would have to be strong for there would be many times her husband was stranded at the lighthouse and could not return home. She does not write any of this or convey her thoughts and feelings during her first year of marriage. (Less then two weeks after their return to Buffalo following the wedding, Edward was stranded for many days at the lighthouse because of ice and storms. Margaret was stranded at the new residence without a husband. Edward recounted the story years later to a newspaper reporter).

There are no other postcards save the two written to family in Hudson shortly after her trip to Buffalo. Most likely, her first year of marriage was spent adjusting to living at the keeper’s residence and making a home for them. She probably had to learn all about her new family in the not so distant Tonawanda. Fitting in would never be easy for Margaret, especially when you are thirty and have lived on your own in a large city.

By the time the second navigation season ended on Lake Erie, Margaret did not want to spend her second Christmas with keeper Edward in Buffalo. She left for Hudson leaving her husband behind. Their life must have been happy those first two years. Edward wrote to his wife in Hudson on December 20, 1909. “Dear Margaret”, the card began and went on to describe the horrible weather conditions he faced in Buffalo. “The harbor is already full of ice and it was very cold”. Because of the ice, he was not able to ferry across from the lighthouse to the residence. He must have stayed there at the light while she was gone. A loving husband writes that he had to walk over the ice and a great distance around to fulfill her request. The request was for Edward to recover her fur and bring it with him when he traveled to Hudson

Margaret’s fur coat had a long and colorful history. It symbolized for her a part of life that did not involve the hardships of living at a lighthouse. She wore it often along with a large hat of grandeur proportions, and may have been of her own design. Elegant and regale she is photographed in her coat and hat time and time again. Why she did not take it with her on the journey back home will never be known. Yet, Margaret’s fur coat would still be remembered as being very important to her ninety-six years later. Edward’s niece wrote a letter to his great niece in 1996 reminiscing about Margaret and her life at the lighthouse in Ohio. “She always wore her fur coat in the winter-it was one she brought with her from Hudson. She was never without it and it was very important to her.” This niece did not know that Margaret’s husband had walked across a frozen harbor on a blustery cold day in December to retrieve a warm fur coat for his beloved wife of less than two years.

When he wrote this postcard to his wife Edward for the first time in any of the correspondences sent to her signed it, “with love, Ed”.

The year 1909 also marked a change in Margaret’s hometown. The population had grown enough the mail needed to be sent to an address. The card was mailed to
Mrs. Ed. M. Herman
C/o C.E. Sheridan
R 4 Box 73
Hudson, Mich

Margaret and Edward spent their second Christmas together as a married couple on the banks of the Bean Creek, in a house on route four, a long way from the lighthouse in the Buffalo harbor.