Pigeon Island Keeper Genealogy

While the Pigeon Island Light House has a long history of keeper connections with the DAVIS family, the first keeper was actually James ECCLES (Wolfe Island OS-29, Horseshoe Island, and Simcoe Island I-12). James was born in 1816. He had been a sailor. He is listed as being the Wolfe Island deputy reeve in 1867. He was named the first keeper when the lighthouse was established in 1870. By no coincidence, his brother-in-law, Mory SPOOR was Wolfe Island reeve at the time.

James was married to Mory’s sister--Sarah Ann SPOOR and they had 11 children during the course of their marriage according to Russ Waller. Since Pigeon Island was so tiny (it was 5 hectares or 12 acres)—it only contained a lighthouse, a keeper’s residence and a small boathouse—the family continued to live on Wolfe Island (OS-29). James worked on Pigeon and rowed back and forth to Wolfe Island until 1873.

Sarah Ann Spoor & James Eccles
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James Eccles was the first Pigeon Island Lighthouse keeper. His wife's husband was the Wolfe Island reeve at the time of his appointment (Morey Spoor). He only lasted on the job 3 years before he died "coming back from Pigeon Island".

On Nov 4,1873, James Eccles died. According to the British Whig in a later story—James “drowned in Bateau Channel while returning from Pigeon Island.” He was 58 at the time. Sarah died in December 30, 1881 when she was 63. They are both buried at Trinity Anglican Cemetery on Wolfe Island.

When James died—there was an immediate need for another keeper on Pigeon Island. Here’s where Sarah’s family enters the picture. Sarah, as mentioned earlier, was a SPOOR before marriage. Her own mother, Olive (nee TOFT) SPOOR must have been a young widow. She had two children by an unknown SPOOR (Sarah and Morey) when she was widowed. Olive married John DAVIS of Long Island (Wolfe Island’s earlier name) on March 16, 1825 according to Trinity Anglican church records. Olive and John DAVIS had 5 children and lived on Wolfe Island (OS-24).

There are two possible DAVIS men that may have become light house keeper after James ECCLES died. It was either Sarah Spoor ECCLES’s half brother—William DAVIS (a sailor) and 23 on the 1851 census (son of Olive TOFT SPOOR DAVIS and John DAVIS). He would have been about 45 around the time he became keeper

OR

James DAVIS (son of William DAVIS and Sarah MACDONALD (Wolfe Island OS-18))—who would have been a first cousin of the William DAVIS listed above) listed as age 16 on the 1851 census (he would have been about 38 at the time if he became keeper).

Age is an important factor here. One of these men married Mary STALEY in 1852. On the 1851 census, Mary (daughter of Martin STALEY and Catherine LAMBERT (Wolfe Island OS-22)) was listed as 22.

According to Tina Gemmell—Mary married a James William DAVIS on December 28, 1852 at Trinity Anglican Church on Wolfe Island. Tina has this DAVIS man as the son of William DAVIS and Sarah MACDONALD—but the age seems too young for Mary STALEY DAVIS. Either ages or information may have been mixed up on either the census records or church records.

Either way by 1881, Mary STALEY DAVIS was listed on the 1881 census as a widow living on Wolfe Island. Her occupation was listed as the lighthouse keeper working on Pigeon Island along with her son, Ambrose. The census lists Ambrose as 25 years of age in 1881.

Usually women were not given the job of lighthouse keeper—unless they were widows of former keepers. So I’m assuming that Mary STALEY DAVIS’s husband was a keeper before she and her son took over. According to Lightkeeping on the St. Lawrence—no women had ever succeeded in securing the position of light keeper on their own merits—while in America over 30 widows had taken over their husbands’ position as official light keeper by 1851.

By 1886, Mary STALEY DAVIS was dead. She was buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery. There was no marker for her husband there. Her headstone says “Eliza Staley—wife of Jas W. Davis died Sept 24, 1886 aged 58 years 3 mo. This would seem to support Tina’s evidence.

Davis Family
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Richard DAVIS (Pigeon Island Lightkeeper) and his family.
Richard (On the left with beard) lived from 1819 to 1906. He was married to Ann BENNETT.
On the top is Richard’s grandson—James A. DAVIS(1874-1936). He was married to Maud GRIMSHAW and then later Alice T. INGALLS.
On the right is James T. DAVIS, Richard’s son. He was born in 1853 and married Virginia LALONDE in 1873. Virginia died in 1901. After Virginia’s death, James T. married Dorothy SLUMAN CRAWFORD.
On the bottom is Alena DAVIS, Richard DAVIS’s great-grand daughter. She was the daughter of James A. DAVIS, and grand daughter of James T. DAVIS. She is the daughter of Maud GRIMSHAW. When she grew up, Alena married Samuel J. WOODMAN.
As far as I can determine, neither James A. nor James T. was ever the head lighthouse keeper at Pigeon Island. Another son of Richard, John H. DAVIS (not pictured) took over that job. John H. was married to Margaret SANDIESON. They had eight children according to Russ Waller.

On April 5, 1885—Richard DAVIS (keeper 1885-1896) was listed for the first time as the keeper at Pigeon Island in a story in the British Whig. By the 1901 census, he is listed as being 81 and as a “retired” keeper. Richard DAVIS was married to Ann BENNETT. They had 12 children. There is a picture of Richard DAVIS with this article.

Richard picture here (at left with beard 1819-1906) with grandson James A. DAVIS (1874-1936), son James T. (b. 1850) and great granddaughter Alena (b. 1895 d/o James A. DAVIS and Maud GRIMSHAW) had been replaced by another son, John H. DAVIS (married to Margaret SANDIESON) as the Pigeon Island lightkeeper. It was said about John H. DAVIS:

“J.H. Davis was appointed the lightkeeper of Pigeon Island on May 16, 1896, at an annual salary of $420 per year. During periods of heavy fog, Mr. Davis warned approaching ships of the perilous shoals by manually squeezing a foghorn (he had to have pretty strong arms). The lightkeeper lived in a 1 ½ story wooden dwelling with four rooms, and there was a small boathouse for the boat that in the 1800s provided the only means of travel to and from the island.”
-Sentinels in the Stream, Lighthouse of the St. Lawrence River

John H. (b. 1852—1930) and his wife Margaret eight children. I could find no further records on who succeeded him.

I do know even into the 1920s, there were DAVIS family connections with the lighthouse on Pigeon Island. In Winston Cosgrove’s book, Wolfe Island Past and Present, Cosgrove mentions he remembers:

“Allie and Clarence Davis going to Pigeon Island.” Whether Allie and Clarence were keepers is unknown. But taking an 8-mile round trip over to Pigeon Island simply for a visit is a rather long trip. There was really nothing on the island to see. These two Davis brothers were the sons of Allen DAVIS and Eliza HALL. I don’t know if the father was a keeper there.

The Islands: Lighthouses: Pigeon Island: Genealogy