Lamplighter Luke

Luke G Hughes, my great grandfather, was born near Shiloh in Camden County, North Carolina in 1862, during the midst of the Civil War.  He was the son of Joseph Hughes and Mary “Polly” Gibson Hughes.  Luke’s mother died when he was eight years old, and it is said that he was pretty much on his own after her death.  As the oldest of four brothers, Luke started working by the age of 12, and had been a salesman, dry dock worker, farmer, milkman, huckster, and saw mill worker, as well as a lamplighter for the South Norfolk, Virginia community of Berkley for 3 years around 1900.  He and his wife, Jane Roberts Hughes moved their family to Norfolk County, Virginia about 1895. 

 

In an interview and news story printed in 1949, Luke Hughes, then 87 years old, tells about his lamplighter experience of almost 50 years earlier. 

BERKLEY LAMPLIGHTER BID $75 TO KEEP TOWN LIGHTED – “I bid $75,” said Luke Hughes.  And being low bidder he got the job of being the first lamplighter for Berkley when it was first incorporated way back near the turn of the century.

To know just about what to bid and what it would cost him for oil and globes, Mr. Hughes took a lamp home and burned it all night.  He figured it out and when the bids went in his was the lowest.  “Some bid as high as $150 a month,” he recalls. 

He had to furnish the oil, keep the lamps all 75 of them, lighted all night, and if a globe got broken install a new one.  “But I came out quite a bit ahead,” he says proudly.  “In the Winter it cost me $28 a month but only $22 in the Summer,” he explains.  “That left me good pay because the average wages in those days was 80 cents which was considered good man pay.”

Lamplighter Luke likes to tell how he roamed the streets at dusk with his donkey cart and placed a small ladder against each pole to light the lamps.  Sometimes he took a partner with him.  When he did they made better time for he would drive on and the partner would climb the ladder and then race after the cart.”

Luke was 97 years old when he died in 1959.  He had a long and colorful life, which included a murder trial at 70 years of age.  I can’t say that he was innocent – as Luke’s defense was that he couldn’t remember anything except that they had been drinking and had an argument the evening before.  Both men had been quite drunk, and Luke claimed to have been knocked out or passed out.  He testified that when he woke in the morning, the victim was dead on the floor with a fatal bullet wound.  Luke called the police who arrived and noted that the victim was still warm, and that Luke had scratches and lacerations on his face.  The bullet that killed the man was from Luke’s gun.  At the trial, there was no eyewitness and only circumstantial evidence.  The prosecution was unable to prove to the jury that the gun had been actually fired by Luke Hughes, and Luke was acquitted.

Virginian Pilot and The Norfolk Landmark newpapers; Friday, February 3, 1933; page 8. 

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Key Individuals:

Luke G Hughes (1862 – 1959)

Jane Roberts Hughes (1861 – 1933)

Notes:

There is confusion regarding Luke's middle name – was it Gibson or Godfrey?  Godfrey is the middle name noted on Luke’s death certificate.  However, delayed birth certification for three of his children – Polly, Florence & Charles – record the father as Luke Gibson Hughes. 

Luke had an uncle, Samuel Godfrey who was married to his father’s sister, Sarah/Sallie.  And Luke’s mother’s maiden name was Gibson.  Thus, it is reasonable that either name could be Luke’s middle name.  I suspect that Gibson is correct, however, as it is found 3 different times and recorded many years earlier than his death certificate.

 - Jane Scribner McCrary