First Name:
George
Last Name:
Worthylake
Type: Light Keeper
Collection / Donor:
Born:
1673
Died:
1718
Place(s)
Place:
Title / Position:
Principal Lighthouse Keeper
Cause of Termination:
Died
Year Started:
1716
Year Departed:
1718
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Entered Date:
Oct 05, 2018
American Folk Figure. A native of Boston, Massachusetts, he was the first person to be a lighthouse keeper in the United States, and the first to die in the line of duty. Worthylake worked as the lighthouse keeper of the Boston Light on Little Brewster Island for the General Court of Massachusetts. On November 3, 1718, while returning from a trip to pick up his pay, the canoe that he was in capsized and he drowned, along with his wife and daughter. He was the inspiration for the poem, "Lighthouse Tragedy", by Benjamin Franklin.