10/06/2026
"L. N. DeDiemar" by Louis Milton Thiers, undated.
Louis Napoleon DeDiemar (our subject) was born around 1840 in Canada, to Louis Napoleon DeDiemar, a Prussian immigrant (this is an edit, see comments), and Eliza, an Irish immigrant. In 1850, the family had a farm in the Town of Southport. By 1860, they were in Somers. The DeDiemar farm was along Sheridan Road, about halfway between 7th Street (County A) and 1st Street (KR); approximately even with Bob's on Sheridan. It was on both sides of Sheridan Road, with the farm house along the north branch of the Pike River, about 800 yards west of Sheridan.
In September 1861, Louis N. DeDiemar and his brother Benjamin joined the three-year First Wisconsin Infantry. On 9 October 1862, the First Wisconsin fought in the Battle of Perryville. As his regiment took the colors of the First Tennessee, Louis was hit in the right arm, which required its amputation.
As with many veterans who gave limbs in service of their country, Louis found employment in public service. In 1865, he was a tax collector for Somers. Later he was a Deputy Sheriff.
Another veteran who found employment in public service was Louis' friend: Ernest Timme. Timme joined the same company and lost the other arm, this one at Chickamauga. He's rise in public service to be Inspector General of the Postal Department, but he was a regular in Kenosha. And he and Louis would go together to buy new gloves, and go in together and split a pair. I always use this anecdote for school tours and the third graders never laugh, but the chaperones do.
In 1872, Louis was appointed the Keeper of the Southport Light Station. Unlike most Federal jobs, the Lighthouse Establishment was not subject to the Spoils System. This made the job stable, well-paid, and one held by professionals. As a result, Louis was able to hold the post for 35 years. His wife, Mary E. DeDiemar (formerly Mary Timme) was his formal First Assistant for many years, and the defacto First Assistant for more. Every inspection we have record for says they kept the station in excellent condition.
As a result of ensuring a position for his wife, Louis went through at least 15 appointed assistant keepers. None stayed for long, as there was little room for acquiring skills or advancing through the system. It's likely this, combined with his age and tenure, which led to charges being leveled against DeDiemar. And in July 1907, he was ordered to retire. Another Kenoshan was ordered to take over: William Raether, who had been an assistant keeper in the past and recently had been keeper in Waukegan. The regional inspector, Commander J.M. Orchard of the US Navy, made several allegations in a private report about DeDiemar to the Lighthouse Establishment.
A letter writing campaign spearheaded by Zalmon Simmons, Judge Slausson, Captain Ben Cameron of the Life Saving post, and Port Collector George Hale, got the attention of Teddy Roosevelt (no doubt, Louis's brother-in-law, Ernest Timme, a high ranking civil service official, bent someone's ear on the issue) and DeDiemar was given a fair hearing.
In October 1907, with DeDiemar defended by Peter Fischer, a hearing allowed the charges to be made public: the Lighthouse Establishment alleged that Louis DeDiemar was lax in keeping the house and grounds clean, and that he had bad relations with his assistant keepers. On the steamer "Dahlia," his accuser from the Lighthouse Establishment arrived with a crowd of officials and third party observers. In testimony of 35 witnesses, former assistant keepers--including Raether, who was to replace DeDiemar--attested that they enjoyed good relations with the head Keeper. Every other witness was in support of DeDiemar's abilities. The lighthouse station was fully inspected by third parties--including a Navy Admiral--and they were found to be in excellent condition. And, finally, J.M. Orchard alleged that DeDiemar was too disabled to be a Keeper. The specific claim was that a one-armed man could not disassemble, clean, and reassemble the steam engine attached to the fog horn. So, while being watched by Lighthouse Establishment officials, third parties, and local dignitaries, Louis single-handedly (literally) disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled the fog horn at the Light Station. A long blow from the horn was his signal to the town that he won.
He kept blowing it until his accuser left on the Dahlia, giving Orchard a memorable sendoff.
The most likely reason for the trumped up, and false, charges is that Commander Orchard and Louis Napoleon DeDiemar didn't get along. Maybe they simply had conflicting personalities, maybe Orchard, as an officer who came up in the peacetime Navy with few avenues for promotion, was resentful of long tenure Keepers, or there was some other petty squabble. But DeDiemar won. The next year Orchard was recalled to fleet duty in the Pacific and would be in command of USS West Virginia, a Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser. So his career clearly wasn't harmed by his false charges.
Despite winning, DeDiemar wasn't reinstated in Kenosha. Instead, he was given a consolation prize: the lighthouse at South Haven, MI. And he ran that site until 1913, when he was hit by a train while walking down the tracks in that community. It's possible that a long career around a fog horn left him hard of hearing. He survived the initial impact, but required a foot amputation. He passed away a few days later.
