Sarah Patterson Johnson

Sarah Patterson Johnson. [New Jersey] Women's Heritage Trail. , Sarah Patterson Johnson was officially appointed Assistant Keeper of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse on May 27, 1867. Sarah assisted the Head Keeper, her brother, Charles Patterson, who tended the lighthouse from 1861 to 1885. Her family resided in Howell Township, New Jersey, where she owned 40 acres of land. Sarah's main duties included filling the lamp in the Fresnel Lens with oil, trimming the wick, and making sure that the flame burned brightly through the night in both the Sandy Hook Lighthouse and the West Beacon, a smaller lighthouse located on the bayside. All year long, in all kinds of weather, these lights were kept burning from sundown to sunrise by Charles and Sarah so that ships would not wreck along the shores of Sandy Hook. After Charles resigned as keeper in 1885, Sarah continued working at Sandy Hook as a schoolteacher until the Spanish-American War forced the Army to order all civilians to leave the peninsula in 1898. Sarah died in 1909 and is buried across the street from her former home in Howell Township. In the U.S. Lighthouse Service, many women acted as assistant keepers for their head keeper husbands or fathers. Some women even succeeded their kin upon their deaths to become head keepers., "...I get homesick...I can only look at sand and water [here]. We can't hardly tell whether its spring or not... [because] it is always one thing here; the sand and cedars never change." , - Sarah Patterson Johnson in a letter to her father at the family farm in Howell Township, N.J., [Top left upper blue box reads] , The Sandy Hook Lighthouse Site is on the NJ Women's Heritage Trail because of the significant contributions of Assistant Lighthouse Keeper and Teacher Sarah Patterson Johnson to the state of New Jersey., [Top left lower blue box reads] , The New Jersey Women's Heritage Trail highlights a collection of historic sites located around the state that represent the significant contributions women made to the history of our state. The Heritage Trail brings to life the vital role of women in New Jersey's past and present.