.jpg)
Barefoot Mysteries
Kick off your shoes, get comfortable and join us, barefoot Pat and Dave, your Barefoot Mystery Junkies, while we explore the Unsolved, the Unexplained, the Paranormal and the Weird World We Live In.
Barefoot Mysteries
The Ghost of Penfield Reef:
Prepare to be spooked in this chilling episode of Barefoot Mysteries, as we uncover the eerie tale of Frederick Jordan, the chief lighthouse keeper of Penfield Reef Lighthouse in 1916. Discover how his lonely and isolated life led to a desperate decision to reunite with his family during a treacherous storm, and the haunting legends that followed.
Join us as we delve into ghostly sightings of Frederick's figure and unexplained phenomena experienced by other lightkeepers. We invite you, our listeners, to share your ghost stories. So grab a blanket, dim the lights, and get ready for a spine-tingling journey into the lonely lighthouse keeper's ghost story.
Theme Music courtesy of Uppbeat
Artist: Alex Besss
Track Title: Threatened
Contact us at: barefootmysteries @gmail.com
Welcome to Barefoot Mysteries, where your Barefoot Mystery hosts, pat and Dave, explore the unsolved, the unexplained, the spooky and the downright weird world we live in. Oh, i love ghost stories, don't you? Who doesn't like ghost stories? Oh, don't tell me you don't believe in the supernatural. Well, you just might, after you hear this real life story of a ghost.
Speaker 2:Barefoot Mysteries Detective Dave Ooh.
Speaker 1:Detective Dave Are you trying to scare me.
Speaker 2:Yes, Oh boy Well this will scare you.
Speaker 1:I have a real life ghost story. You got a little bit of time to just curl up and listen.
Speaker 2:I would love to hear what it is All right.
Speaker 1:I'm always taking you to different times, and this time I'm taking you to 1916. Frederick Jordan's job as the chief lighthouse keeper for the Penfield Reef lighthouse was one of the most lonely and isolated jobs a man could imagine. The lighthouse was built in 1874 on a perilous reef about a mile off the coast of Fairfield, connecticut. It was actually the only means to warn passing ships about the hidden reef that was right in their path. Now, before lighthouses were automated, lighthouse keepers had to do everything by hand. So Frederick had to make sure the paraffin vapor lamps continued to burn brightly, and he'd have to wind the rotation mechanism to make sure that the light was flashing with the correct pattern. Well, that's interesting. It is, isn't and I did not know until I was researching this story that each lighthouse had their own pattern so mariners could distinguish exactly where they were.
Speaker 2:That would be a good thing if you're out in the crazy sea.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Well. that would be a lifesaver for many of them. Now the also Speaking of you know storms and this sort of thing out at sea. you also had to keep an eye out for any sudden change in the weather, because back then, or back then actually even now, the weather can change suddenly. it can be sunny and all of a sudden, a storm out at sea will form, and you had to be ready to track these changes and to see if you needed to warn ships.
Speaker 2:Well, you were the computer. you were the only guy, You were it.
Speaker 1:You were also at the beck and call of ships in distress. Now, during heavy fog conditions, you were responsible for, of course, sounding the fog horn. Now, the fog horn would sound, but you would also have to alternate between the sounding the fog horn and detonating explosive charges near the ships. Explosive charges, explosive charges near the ships, so that they were aware that there was danger ahead. Ah Now, frederick's job was not for the faint-hearted. He lived in solitary conditions, alone, isolated. He always had to be alert and watchful, because of the sea, of course. He had to work through dark and violent storms, always at the ready to save the ships and crew in the event of a shipwreck.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you slept, you'd sleep with one eye open.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, if you slept, is probably the right way to put it. It took a special kind of man to do this type of job. It was a job requiring them to be both mentally and physically fit because, after all, lives were at stake. They were in your hands. The conditions under which Frederick worked were known to sometimes tear a man down physically, emotionally and mentally. I would imagine that probably happened quite a bit. How many men could be out there that long and have constantly be alert and not really be able to rest and be so far away from everyone you know and be so isolated? It's almost like solitary confinement.
Speaker 2:Yeah, very deep and depressed job.
Speaker 1:Right, which is why, in order to maintain their mental and physical well-being, light housekeepers were scheduled with alternating work weeks.
Speaker 2:Light housekeepers. So is that like somebody that sweeps your floors and stuff, yeah, no.
Speaker 1:Well, nobody sweeps my floors here, including me sometimes, but you know. Anyway, so they were scheduled with alternating work weeks. rather than working that nine to five, five days a week, or whatever, they would work six weeks on. now That's 24, seven, six weeks on, with two weeks off, so you could recoup.
Speaker 2:That's a long, long time.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely My gosh. you can imagine they were probably like, oh, I can't wait for this end of this six weeks. So by December, with Christmas fast approaching, Frederick was getting frustrated, angry and tired of these storms that had come up right at the end of his six weeks. They continued pounding the lighthouse week after week, stranding him and holding him prisoner for several long weeks, way past his week schedule.
Speaker 2:Well, and he still had to do all of his jobs during this period for his be even worse for the ships.
Speaker 1:And he could imagine if you're exhausted at six weeks, what are you at eight or nine weeks out? Then you're really overboard.
Speaker 1:And in your, all you're seeing is storms. There's no sun out. That would be just talk about depressing, depressing. He felt like he was at the end of his rope. He just could not wait any longer to get off the reef and be rejoined with his family. Finally, during a break in the weather, frederick's prayers were answered when assistant keeper Rudolph Eitan was able to make it. Oh, apparently my dog know. Oh, my dog must know, rudolph, or her for her. I've heard this story.
Speaker 2:I think he's trying to help.
Speaker 1:I think he is, or he doesn't want to hear, or he sees a ghost. Okay, all right, let's hurry up and get through this so that you know that I'm safe. Now I'm getting even more scared, okay, so where was I? Oh, yes, his prayers had been answered because assistant keeper Rudolph Eitan was able to make it to the lighthouse shore because there was a brief interval during the weather, the stormy weather. Sorry, dave, but apparently, if you want a guard dog, a brave guard dog, a German Shepherd is not one to get, because he didn't like hearing a ghost story Battery didn't like the lighthouse.
Speaker 1:Oh, who knows, But you know whoa? Okay. so where was I before I was so rudely interrupted and scared to death by that howling Good Lord? just perfect sound effects for a spooky movie. You got that right. So Frederick's prayers had been answered and he was elated. He said I am going to be home to spend Christmas with my family.
Speaker 2:And who saved him, rudolph.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Rudolph came and relieved him of his duties so he could go.
Speaker 2:Not the red nose reindeer.
Speaker 1:Not the red nose reindeer. No, honest to God. Would you just stay with the story? Yeah, i'll try. Oh, geez, okay.
Speaker 2:That's hard to do.
Speaker 1:I hope you get haunted tonight and then you'll be sorry you were like that. Anyway, let me get back to my story, if you don't mind.
Speaker 2:Please.
Speaker 1:Okay. On December 22nd 1916, the day that Frederick was scheduled to leave for home, the day began being cold and harsh, a horrible wintery day. But despite the gale force winds that had suddenly come up, churning the ocean water, and against the advice of Keeper Rudolph, frederick could not be dissuaded to stay and wait for the storm to pass. He wanted to go home, he wanted to be with his family, and he insisted that he could, and he would row himself to shore.
Speaker 2:Well, if you've been around that much terrible weather, you probably think you know what you're doing.
Speaker 1:Exactly, You know. He said I can do it. You know, it's only, it's only a mile to shore, I can do it, I've done it before. So at around 1.30 in the afternoon, against all advice, Frederick loaded his family's handmade Christmas presents into the little boat and he started to row away from the lighthouse.
Speaker 2:With his precious cargo of gifts.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, can you imagine? Of course he said, no, i'm going to do it. He was ready, he's, i've got to go. I've got to go and spend time with my family. Poor man. Well, when he was only a couple of yards away from the shore, angry sea started to attack him from all sides. His little boat was being tossed around like I don't know, like a little ping pong ball in the middle of a whirlpool bath. Sounds pretty bad, oh my God. Well, standing there on the shore watching him, rudolph watched horrified from the shore as a massive wave came and crashed directly onto The Little Boat being rowed by Frederick.
Speaker 2:A tough row.
Speaker 1:Awful, just awful, just terrifying for him. He couldn't believe it. He was in such shock. Frederick managed to cling onto his overtone Little Boat and signaled for help. In an attempt to save his friend, Rudolph dragged another rowboat into the water as the unrelenting wind gusts. Can you imagine? It's like a hurricane and you're trying to row out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it sounds like a suicide mission.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, he's trying to row out there in the water like that against all this unrelenting wind. When more gusts came around, and what they did was they just started to push Frederick farther out to sea. As he kept rowing out there, rudolph realized that he wasn't able to get his little boat any closer to his friend. His friend was being blown out farther into the sea. Fearing for his own life, rudolph had to abandon his rescue attempt and could only watch helplessly as Frederick drifted farther and farther away until he could no longer fight to stay above the water And he disappeared in the cold, dark seas.
Speaker 2:So very sad He couldn't help it but he would have been with him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he would have. You know he's, i'm going to go down. There's no way. He's so much He's getting blown so far out Yeah, mother nature. However, rudolph wanted to save his friend, so he continued to send distress signals in an attempt to reach any nearby ships. In other words, i'm going to keep attempting, i'm going to send these, these distress signals, so I can get a ship out here and maybe rescue him.
Speaker 2:No luck There was no one near enough for them to hear the distress signals with all those different codes they had.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely. But you know what, if they're too far away, they can't hear the signals. No luck, it took about three months before Frederick's body was found. Three months, three months Wow. Who knows how far out the currents and the wind had actually taken his body. Rudolph was not blamed for anything. He was found guiltless in the death of his friend and he was promoted to chief keeper of the Penfield Lighthouse. Now he had only been in his new position at the lighthouse for a couple of weeks When he reported that December 22nd, the day that Frederick had died, would not be the last day he would hear from his former boss. Oh, so Well, this is what he reported He wrote in his lightkeeper journal, and I'm going to read it word for word Perfect Quote.
Speaker 1:Some days later, when I was off duty on what was one of the worst nights in the history of Penfield and the waves were crashing over the lantern, i was awakened by a strange feeling that someone was in my room Sitting up. I distinctly saw a gray, phosphorescent figure emerging from the room formerly occupied by my boss, fred Jordan. It hovered at the top of the stairs and then disappeared in the darkness below, thinking it was the assistant keeper. I called out to know if anything was the matter, but he answered me from the lens room that all was well. Much puzzled, i went downstairs and to my consternation I saw lying on the table the logbook of the lighthouse, open to the page, the very page that recorded the drowning of poor Jordan staring me in the face. That very, very page, the very page. Okay, so he watches this figure go down, he follows the figure go down and somehow the logbook for the lighthouse had been removed from its shelf and was open to that page on the table.
Speaker 2:That's kind of a little spooky.
Speaker 1:Yeah, explain that one, would you.
Speaker 2:I don't think I have an explanation yet.
Speaker 1:Hold on, i've got. I seem to have a problem with the dogs. Now we have another one that is angry about poor Frederick, apparently. I think he's getting spooked. I think he is getting spooked, all right. Well, here we go. It's nothing like taking them up on your lap to calm them down. I wish someone would do that for me, okay.
Speaker 2:The ghost had volunteered.
Speaker 1:No, I'm not. Yeah, yeah, he can just stay where he is.
Speaker 2:Chicken.
Speaker 1:Well, Rudolph not only experienced that that he had written about, but he also experienced an unearthly cold in the lighthouse, And he would sometimes see a hazy figure coming out of the lantern room at all different times of the day or night. Over the years, several lightkeepers also reported seeing the figure of an old man dressed all in white floating down the tower stairs and then disappearing after exiting the tower door. Other keepers have witnessed a ghost or shadowy figure in the lantern room swaying and sometimes moaning as if in pain. In fact, decades not years, but decades after Frederick's death, other lightkeepers reported the light acting strangely at time, but most especially right before a storm.
Speaker 1:But these paranormal occurrences weren't just confined to the lighthouse crew or to the lighthouse. One owner of a yacht reported that during rough weather, a mysterious figure in a rowboat guided their yacht to safety, but that the rowboat disappeared after they had entered safer waters. In 1942, a group of teenagers were fishing near the lighthouse when they accidentally capsized their boat. They saw an old man on the nearby rocky shore who directed them to swim to safety at the base of the lighthouse. When they went inside the lighthouse to thank him for saving them, the keeper in the lighthouse, had no idea who the boys were talking about. After seeing his photograph, however, on the wall, the boys identified Frederick as the man who rescued them.
Speaker 2:He's still out there helping them.
Speaker 1:Can you believe it? I mean, these are, you know, 1942, okay, from 1916, that's a few decades. These boys weren't even alive, Yeah quite a while.
Speaker 1:When Frederick died and this had here he was saving them. Well, to this very day, mariners along the Connecticut coast claim that in stormy weather, a human figure is seen in the lantern room or floating above the hidden reef. Although no longer in service, the lighthouse is still famous. It is now most famous for being haunted by a loud lighthouse keeper. It would appear that the ghost of lightkeeper Frederick Jordan is still guarding the safety of mariners who come too close to the dangerous reef.
Speaker 2:He's just helping people all along.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, even after death, this man is still saving people. Well, Dave, are you a believer?
Speaker 2:You know, i'm amazed at how many people are involved and see this And, yeah, i can believe some of this information.
Speaker 1:Well, look at here, i'm just reading about it. My dogs were losing their minds, so you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they were here and what you were saying.
Speaker 1:I don't think they liked it. I don't think they wanted to hear about ghosts, or maybe it was Frederick who decided to stop by because I was talking about him. Who knows, that could be, who knows. But anyway, i still believe in ghosts and I would love to hear if any of our listeners feel the same way I do. If you've ever been in a lighthouse and experienced anything, or seen things or heard things, i would love to hear from you. Please send us an email and let us know what you've seen and heard, and if you've heard any other interesting stories about other lighthouses, we can be reached at barefootmystoriesatgmailcom. Again, that's barefootmystoriesatgmailcom. Oh, i really, really want to hear what you have to say Me too. So, yeah, let's do it, and we can't wait to read them all. So in the meantime, until our next episode and we meet again, please be safe, watch your back, keep the lights on and always, always, more importantly, be good to each other. Thank you.
