Kim: Here is the text of the entry on the Point Pinos lighthouse, including the mention of Andrew Wasson. >From "History of Monterey County California with Illustrations", by Elliott and Moore, 1881, pp. 80 - 81. POINT PINOS LIGHT-HOUSE The building is a dark gray stone structure, one and one-half stories high, built in the strongest and most substantial manner. Rising from the center or ridge of the roof is a brick tower painted white, on which is firmly placed the iron lantern and illuminating apparatus, the exterior of which is painted red. This light station was erected by order of Hon. Thomas Corwin, Secretary of the Treasury, in the year 1853. The light was first exhibited to mariners on January 20, 1855, and Charles Layton was first keeper appointed. The light is classed as a third order Fresnel, with catadioptric lenses, of immense and powerful magnifying capacity. The light, in ordinary fair and clear weather, should be discernible from a vessel's deck sixteen and one-half nautical miles. The height of center of focal plane above high water on sea level is ninety-one fee. The arc illuminated is four-fifths of the entire horizon, or two hundred and twenty-eight degrees. The description of the light, as given to mariners in their charts, is a third order fixed white, Fresnel light. The drive to the light-house is pleasant and pretty, and well shaded. The view from the tower well repays the visitor for his pains, and those in charge are always pleased to see visitors and to show them every attention. The following persons have been principal keepers of the light: Charles Layton, Charlotte Layton, George C. Harris, Frank Porter, Andrew Wasson, and Captain Allen L. Luce. ++++++++++++ Also, here is the text of a query posted by Ben Martinez to the Monterey County GenConnect Queries Board a little over a year ago: >> Sheriff's and Deputies of Monterey County Posted by Ben Martinez <benmart@webtv.net> on Fri, 24 Sep 1999 Surname: Roach, Lyons, Keating, DeGraw, Smith, Watson, Wasson, Graves, Franks, Horton, Matthews, Farley, Keef, Nesbitt, Oyer, Abbott, Bordges, Cornett, McCoy, Tibbs, Davenport, Cook, Hicks, Wood, DeLaTorre, Layton, Beckwith, Poole, Gardner, Woodside, Pomber, Leese, Phillips, McKinnon, Lingley, Branch, Kinloch, Harris, Franscioni, Pihl, Parson, Johnson, Trenner, Watson, Ramsey, Reinegger, Alvitre, Eisemann, Savicki, Bolman, Brown, Arnold, McMahon, Pacheco, Dieck, Carrillo, Fisher, Schumacher, Myers, Nyland, Rodriguez, Davis-Bruglia, Claxton, Alford, Kaufman, Jacobus, Knox, Shaw, Los Banos Have biographical sketches of the Sheriff's and Deputies of Monterey County (California) since 1856. << Mr. Martinez apparently has a copy of the softbound booklet described in the last line above. This booklet is also available on the stack of California books, shelves with Central Coast books, in the circulating section of the Salinas Public Library, as I saw it there last week (before you made your queries.) It has short (one paragraph to one page) bios of the sheriffs, and there may be more help for you there. --Sheila P. In a message dated 9/27/00 7:17:46 AM Pacific Daylight Time, amason@a-mason-na.com writes: > Hi Kim, > > First, A. WASSON is listed as sheriff of Monterey County for the years > 1872 and 1873 in the book "History of Monterey County with > Illustrations, 1881". The copy of the book I have is missing page 81, > which according to the index contains information about "Andrew Wasson". > The previous page begins the history of the Point Pinos Lighthouse. The > Monterey County Historical Society has an original copy of the book, > mine is a 20th century reprint. MCHS can be contacted at <mchs@dedot.com>. > > It occurred to me this morning that there are three locations in the > state that might have the log: > > The first possibility is the Bancroft Library in Berkeley. In the late > 1800s, Bancroft and his associates crisscrossed the state gathering > information on the history of the state. They have a huge collection of > various documents, many submitted by the authors themselves. > > Included in the collection is a two-year diary that an indirect ancestor > kept for the years 1846-1848. He was a foot soldier with the NY > Volunteers and his diary describes his life as a soldier during the > Mexican War in Baja. No one knows how the diary wound up there, but > we're glad it still exists. Bancroft even had it microfilmed. > > Another good possibility is the Huntington Library in Southern > California. Several years ago I reviewed an inventory of the > Huntington's collection of documents related to the history of Monterey > County. I was amazed, their collection is massive. The bulk of Jacks, > Spence, Colton, and Hartnell's correspondence reside there. When I asked > how so much of Monterey County's historical documents wound up in > Southern California, I was told that the Huntington had very deep > pockets and purchased a lot of their collection from the heirs of the > people involved. > > The third possibility is the California State Library in Sacramento. The > State Library was founded in 1850 and has been actively collecting > documents and artifacts since then. There was a recent PBS program > featuring the Library and they showed Bidwell's original diary of his > first wagon train trip to California, among a lot of other very rare and > unique items. > > Apparently in the late 1800s, there was quite a competition among > libraries to collect as much stuff as possible relating to the history > of California. Personal diaries were a popular item, and I imagine that > the logs for Point Pinos Lighthouse was probably also considered an > important addition. > > Monterey County museums and libraries were founded much later than the > ones listed above. Thus a lot of the really good stuff was already > snatched up by the early birds. > > Hope this helps, > Anita C. > Monterey County > > kim wrote: > > Much of the history has been documented. The problem is that 1870 > is just > > prior to government ownership. I have actually had to convince "experts" > on > > Pt Pinos that Andrew Wasson WAS a keeper there. No one seems to know he > was > > a Monterey County sheriff either. Poor man. >