There's something special about a family legacy.

I'm sure we've all heard about people who have the same occupation as one of their parents,

and I can't help but smile when that happens.

The watchmaker who learned the trade from his father, or the artist who inherited the

tools and training from hers.

In some professions, this family affair keeps old skills alive.

It preserves them for one more lifetime, allowing the chain to keep going.

But one family takes the prize for the most committed to that mission, and they earned

it by passing down the same occupation from generation to generation for over 170 years.

The Not Family kicked off their amazing run in 1730.

Founding father William Not worked at the job for 50 years, passing away in 1780, but

his son had entered the trade 13 years earlier, and put in 41 years of his own.

On and on they went, making sure the next generation understood the power and responsibility

of their simple little job.

Along the way, the Not's intermarried with the two other long-asserving families in

their profession, creating one giant network of like-minded people.

But while all of that is fascinating and even a bit delightful, what's most interesting

is the career they all devoted their lives to.

All of them, you see, were lighthouse keepers.

It's a legacy worth celebrating, partly for the devotion and sheer longevity of it all,

but also for the risk this family took in the call of duty.

Their task might seem simple to us today, to keep the light burning all the time, but

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