Charles Nelson Row was born 7 September 1836 in Kemptville, Grenville Co., Ontario, Canada, son of Joel Row and Sophia Clothier. Charles married Margaret Ann Henderson, born 18 November 1832, a daughter of William Henderson and Abby Shipman, also of the Kemptville area. Charles and Margaret had at least seven children, and among them was Emma A. Row, born 16 October 1857 at Brockville.
        Emma grew up in Brockville where she lived with her parents and siblings into her twenties. When she was 26, she was enumerated in the 1881 census of the West Ward of Brockville in her parents' household as a milliner, making women's hats and accessories.

Emma Row Diepolder's parents: Charles Nelson Row & Margaret Ann Henderson.
(Photos courtesy of Carl J. Bradshaw)

Census of the Row Household in 1881

Name  Marital Status Gender Ethnic Origin Age Birthplace Occupation Religion  Charles M. ROW   M   Male   English   53   Ontario   Not Given   C. Methodist   Margaret A. ROW   M   Female   English   49   Ontario      C. Methodist   Annie ROW   M   Female   English   28   Ontario      C. Methodist   Emma A. ROW      Female   English   26   Ontario   Milliner   C. Methodist   Lucy A. ROW      Female   English   24   Ontario   Dressmaker   C. Methodist   Dora L. ROW      Female   English   14   Ontario      C. Methodist   Reuben H. ROW      Male   English   25   Ontario   Carpenter   C. Methodist   Lewis E. ROW      Male   English   19   Ontario   Farm Hand   C. Methodist   Alfred ROW      Male   English   13   Ontario      C. Methodist

Source: Census of Brockville, Ontario, Canada, West Ward, Brockville, Dist. 109-A, p.6, household #27.

This photo of the Row family is unlabeled. Seated third from left in front is Charles N. Row next to his daughter Dora. Behind him is his wife Margaret, likely with their other daughters—perhaps Emma Diepolder is one of them. (Photos courtesy of Carl J. Bradshaw)

        In 1886, Emma immigrated to the United States and was residing at Thousand Island Park, Wellesley Island, when on 2 July 1894 at Gananoque, Ontario, she married Michael J. Diepolder, the keeper at Rock Island Lighthouse, a widower who for four years had been caring for his daughter Ada, then 12, alone on the island.

        On 21 March 1895, Emma gave birth to their first and only child, Lawrence Engelbert Diepolder, who was named in honor of his paternal grandfather Engelbert Diepolder, who died when Michael was 11 years old.
        During their days at Rock Island together, Emma's mother "Mrs. Margaret A. Row" of Brockville made occasional visits, which Michael recorded in the station logs.

        In 1901, Emma's life took a tragic turn when on the morning of July 16th she found her husband dead in the shop on Rock Island, where he had suffered heart failure after bathing in the river.

        That same day, Emma Diepolder took over care of Rock Island Lighthouse. The practice of appointing widows to tend lighthouses was a long-established U.S.L.H.S. policy by the time she was called upon:

"Fifth Auditor Stephen Pleasonton, administrator of the Lighthouse Establishment from 1820 to 1852, had no qualms about appointing female keepers to replace related male keepers who died in service. In 1851, he wrote, 'So necessary is it that the Lights should be in the hands of experienced keepers that I have, in order to effect that object as possible, recommended on the death of a keeper, that his widow, if steady and respectable should be app't to succeed him, and in this way some 30 odd widows have been appointed.'"

Click the picture below to read a note from Emma to her step-daughter Ada.

Emma was officially registered as a "Laborer" during the time of her service, but she received a federal salary of $560 per annum, which was equal to that of Keeper. Her brief tenure was the result of tragic circumstance, but conferred her the distinction of being the only woman to ever serve in a government-appointed role at Rock Island Lighthouse. Her employment also made her and Michael the only married couple to each hold official positions there.

Register of Lighthouse Keepers, showing Emma's period of service.

        Emma tended the lighthouse until what would have been Michael's service anniversary for that year, and on September 12th, 1901 she resigned. She left Rock Island when Eugene Butler took over on October 1st. For several years after, Emma visited the island from time to time with her son, Lawrence, and Butler recorded each stay in the official station logs.

        Emma removed to Fineview on Wellesley Island, a resort community with an idyllic view of Rock Island, where she continued to raise her son, who was by then six years old. Ada and her husband Floyd L. Carter lived just a short walk down the road at Thousand Island Park.
        She also opened a taxidermy shop. Howard Gardner, whose family had a summer residence at Fineview, once wrote: "Mrs. Diepholder...was a taxidermist and had a place at Fineview and when she had a big fish to mount we usually dined on Muskie, pike and once in a great time, sturgeon."
 

A typical view of the lighthouse that Emma & Lawrence would have enjoyed while living at Fineview.

        On 25 September 1909, Emma's mother Margaret died at Brockville, and was buried at Reeds Cemetery. Her father Charles passed away on 24 September 1913.

       By 1917, little Larry had grown to an adult and was drafted for service in World War I. On his draft registration card he reported that he was self-employed as a gas engineer and boat pilot working out of Thousand Island Park (perhaps with his uncle Floyd Carter, a self-employed mechanic who also did boat work). Emma, by then in her sixties, was dependent on him.

            After World War I, Larry moved to Hernando County, Florida, (perhaps to escape a romantic relationship, it was rumored). Emma moved from Fineview to St. Petersburg in November 1921, and died there on the afternoon of Wednesday, 20 June 1923, according to her obituary published the Watertown Daily Times. She was 65 years old; death was sudden. According to her death record, she was buried on June 22nd in St. Petersburg.

 

Larry Diepolder next to one of the Spad fighter planes he ferried from the factory to the war front during World War I. (Photo courtesy of Gary Henderson)

 

            After his mother's death, Larry Diepolder remained in St. Petersburg, where he continued to apply his expertise in mechanics to his love of the water, building boats and competing in races with them. There he also started "DiePolder Electric" in St. Petersburg, which operated as recently as 2001 as the "Die Polder Electric Motor Works."
 

Larry Diepolder with "Old Empty Pockets", an "E" class hydro boat he raced between 1928 and 1930. ([Photos courtesy of Gary Henderson)

        Around 1938 or 1940, Larry established a cattle ranch, named Sandy Hills Ranch, on State Route 50 between Weeki Wachee and Brooksville. About this same time, his nephew, Austin Carter, fell in love with a Florida woman and it is perhaps possible that he visited Larry on his ranch during his time in the state. The ranch sprawled across 1,387 acres of undeveloped land, encompassing an 80-acre lake and several springs, plus a world-renowned system of underwater caves, later named Diepolder II & III in his honor, (Diepolder II was photographed by Wes Skiles for the March 1999 issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine). Larry left the entire ranch to the Boy Scouts of America in his will. Today, the property is known as the Sand Hill Scout Reservation and serves as training grounds for the Navy SeaBees on weekend duty, and also hosts an annual Civil War re-enactment of the "Brooksville Raid."
 

Artwork by Main Henderson.

        Larry was Emma's only child, and he never fathered any children of his own, but soon after establishing himself in Florida, Larry married Courtney Brown Diepolder, born 7 July 1895, who had three sons from a previous marriage. Her son Main Henderson, who has a tremendous talent for art, has made several paintings that capture the character of Larry's personality.
        The Florida Death Index contains a record of "Larry E." Diepolder, born 21 March 1895, died 18 March 1978 in Hernando County (certificate number 23292); it also contains record of a Courtney Brown Diepolder, born 7 July 1895, died 22 March 1980 in Hernando County (certificate number 24168). In Brooksville Cemetery, Hernando County, is buried Larry Diepolder, age 82, died 18 March 1978, and Courtney B. Diepolder, died 22 March 1980 (no age indicated).
        In addition, the Florida Death Index contains a record of an Isabel Diepolder—presumably a second wife—born 17 March 1894, died 4 August 1983 in Pinellas County. Florida's Pinellas County Genealogy Society lists Larry E. and Isabel Diepolder in their database of "pioneers."
        Main Henderson, his son Gary Henderson, and their families still live in Florida near the old Diepolder Ranch.

 

 

Main Henderson & wife Marge.	Gary Henderson & wife Rita.
(Photos courtesy of Gary Henderson)

 

Larry Diepolder, as painted by Main Henderson in 1959.