Margaret Norvell (1860-1934) was a lighthouse keeper, employed by the
United States Lighthouse Service
The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of the ...
, a precursor agency to the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
.
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Norvell became a lighthouse keeper in 1891, and remained in that service for 41 years.
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Widows whose husbands were lighthouse keepers, who died in office, were allowed to hold positions as lighthouse keepers themselves.
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Norvell's husband drowned in the course of his duties.
Norvell was credited with saving many lives, including by venturing out into storms in a rowboat to rescue stranded mariners.
Early life
Born Margaret Celeste Dimitry Ruth on February 11 1860 in Washington D.C. and married Louis Gray Norvell in 1883. Louis Gray Norvell was from St. Louis and became a lighthouse keeper on Deer Island at the
Head of Passes
Head of Passes is where the main stem of the Mississippi River branches off into three distinct directions at its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico: Southwest Pass (Mississippi River), Southwest Pass (west), Pass A Loutre (east) and South Pass (centre). ...
on the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
.
[Norvell, John E]
"Margaret Norvell – 'True, Steady, Unfailing'"
March 1, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
USCGC ''Margaret Norvell''
In 2010 when the Coast Guard decided that all the new
Sentinel class cutters
The Sentinel-class cutter, also known as Fast Response Cutter due to its program name, is part of the United States Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System Program, Deepwater program. At it is similar to, but larger than the lengthened 1980s- ...
would be named after Coast Guard personnel who had been recognized for their heroism Norvell was one of those to be honored.
[
The fifth cutter in the class will be named the . She will be homeported in ]Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, with the other first five cutters to be delivered.[
]
Although she is homeported in Miami, the Coast Guard brought her to , whose sea traffic was protected by the lighthouses she served in, for her official commissioning.[
55 of Norvell's descendants attended her commissioning in June, 2013.
]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Norvell, Margaret
1860 births
1934 deaths
Female United States Coast Guard personnel
People from New Orleans
United States Lighthouse Service personnel
Women lighthouse keepers