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Winslow Lewis ( Nathaniel Winslow Lewis; 11 May 1770 – 20 May 1850) was a
A resident of
Frequently Close to the Point of Peril: A History of Buoys and Tenders in U.S. Coastal Waters, 1789-1939.
'" A Master's Thesis It also allowed him to visit the lighthouses yearly to ensure their smooth operation. Lewis soon branched out into contracting work, winning bids to build new lighthouses around the country. When Stephen Pleasonton took over the responsibility for these contracts in 1820 and reorganized the Lighthouse Establishment, Lewis apparently continued his oil supply contract. Pleasonton began an alliance with Lewis, who was soon being awarded most lighthouse construction deals in the United States. While demand for the towers was high and funds were short, Pleasonton took great pride in the fact that Lewis was able to complete the work cheaply and rapidly. Lewis soon had a set of standard plans drawn up to meet demand; these plotted out five different sizes of lighthouses, at 25, 30, 40, 50, and 65 feet high. Many such towers were built; most were made of brick, but a few were constructed of stone. But Lewis knew little about proper engineering practices, and most of the lighthouses were either poorly constructed, or they were too short. Most had to be replaced; only a few survive today. Little is known of Lewis' later career, but he died in his home town of Wellfleet. His nephew, I. W. P. Lewis, was also a lighthouse builder and engineer.
Description of lighting systemUS Lighthouse Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Winslow 1770 births 1850 deaths American lighthouse keepers People from Wellfleet, Massachusetts Lighthouse builders 19th-century American engineers Architects from Massachusetts Engineers from Massachusetts 19th-century American architects 19th-century American inventors
sea captain
A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...
, engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
, inventor and contractor active in the construction of many American lighthouses during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Life and career
A resident of Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Wellfleet is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, and is located halfway between the "tip" and "elbow" of Cape Cod. The town had a population of 3,566 at the 2020 United S ...
, Lewis began developing his ideas during the embargo
Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they m ...
of American shipping during the Napoleonic wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. He created a new lighting system based on Argand lamp
The Argand lamp is a type of oil lamp invented in 1780 by Aimé Argand. Its output is 6 to 10 candelas, brighter than that of earlier lamps. Its more complete combustion of the candle wick and oil than in other lamps required much less frequent ...
s; in 1812 the United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
purchased his patent rights for the system. In so doing, it awarded him a contract to equip all American lighthouses with the lamps; the fitting took four years. In 1815 Lewis won another contract with Samuel H. Smith, Commissioner of Revenue, which gave him a monopoly over the provision of winter pressed Spermaceti oil for lighthouses throughout the eastern seaboard.Amy K. Marshall,"Frequently Close to the Point of Peril: A History of Buoys and Tenders in U.S. Coastal Waters, 1789-1939.
'" A Master's Thesis It also allowed him to visit the lighthouses yearly to ensure their smooth operation. Lewis soon branched out into contracting work, winning bids to build new lighthouses around the country. When Stephen Pleasonton took over the responsibility for these contracts in 1820 and reorganized the Lighthouse Establishment, Lewis apparently continued his oil supply contract. Pleasonton began an alliance with Lewis, who was soon being awarded most lighthouse construction deals in the United States. While demand for the towers was high and funds were short, Pleasonton took great pride in the fact that Lewis was able to complete the work cheaply and rapidly. Lewis soon had a set of standard plans drawn up to meet demand; these plotted out five different sizes of lighthouses, at 25, 30, 40, 50, and 65 feet high. Many such towers were built; most were made of brick, but a few were constructed of stone. But Lewis knew little about proper engineering practices, and most of the lighthouses were either poorly constructed, or they were too short. Most had to be replaced; only a few survive today. Little is known of Lewis' later career, but he died in his home town of Wellfleet. His nephew, I. W. P. Lewis, was also a lighthouse builder and engineer.
See also
*Lewis lamp
The Lewis lamp is a type of light fixture used in lighthouses. It was invented by Winslow Lewis who patented the design in 1810. The primary marketing point of the Lewis lamp was that it used less than half the oil of the prior oil lamps they re ...
* Back River Light
* Bodkin Island Light
* Cat Island Light
* Little Cumberland Island Light
The Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse is a privately owned lighthouse in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, on the north end of Little Cumberland Island adjacent to main Cumberland Island, in Camden County, Georgia, Camden County on th ...
* New Presque Isle Light
The New Presque Isle Light was built in 1870, at Presque Isle, Michigan, east of Grand Lake, and sits on the namesake peninsula. It is one of 149 lighthouses in Michigan, more than any other state. Because of changing shoreline particularly, or ...
* Pass Christian Light
* Sapelo Island Light
* Tchefuncte River Range Lights
The Tchefuncte River Range Lights are a range that was first established in 1838 to aid vessels entering the Tchefuncte River from the north side of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. The lighting apparatus was supplied by Winslow Lewis and consisted ...
References
Further reading
* F. Ross Holland, Jr. ''America's Lighthouses: Their Illustrated History Since 1716''.External links
Description of lighting system
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Winslow 1770 births 1850 deaths American lighthouse keepers People from Wellfleet, Massachusetts Lighthouse builders 19th-century American engineers Architects from Massachusetts Engineers from Massachusetts 19th-century American architects 19th-century American inventors