 In 1864, CSA Captain John Goldsmith, a former owner of the island, led a party which destroyed the lighthouse lens and confiscated the oil used to light it; the group then declared its intent to destroy the structure.Keeper Jerome McWilliams, an acquaintance of the captain's, succeeded in convincing the men not to destroy the lighthouse because his wife was pregnant; he argued that destroying the family home would leave both her and the baby vulnerable.The United States Navy purchased the island in 1919 and razed most structures on it, leaving only the lighthouse and building piers and a landing strip.