In 1873, 27-year-oldGeorgia was living with her husband, Lemuel, a jeweler and watchmaker, in New York City when shewas diagnosed with consumption (an appropriate alias for tuberculosis) andgiven little time left to live. Her doctor said the only chance for survivalwas to leave the filth of the manufacturing metropolis for a habitat that hadclean, clear air to breathe. Lemuel stayed behind to work and Georgia journeyed the rails to the new,burgeoning city of Milwaukeeto live with her parents at the North Point Lighthouse, where her father,Daniel Green, had recently been appointed keeper.
When Georgia arrived at the northern end of Milwaukee Bay, a remote plot of rocky land severedby deep ravines that dropped from the bluff to the lake below, she found bothher mother and father in ill health. She immediately took on some of her dad’sduties. No one knows whether it was the change of scenery, the climate, the airquality or just a sense of commitment to her aging parents, but Georgia beganto feel better. Her husband joined her permanently several months later, and openeda jewelry shop on East Mason Street. According to “Lady of the Lighthouse,” anarticle by David Allen Jones, within months Georgia was taking care ofvirtually all the keeper duties.
She spent her daysmaintaining the interior and exterior of the lighthouse, the keeper’s quartersand the outbuildings, as well as the landscaping. She was required to write adetailed record of all activities seen from her vantage point, from thegoings-on around the keeper’s quarters to the conditions of Lake Michigan, including weather and boat activity. Each evening atsunset, Georgiawould climb two flights of steps and a final vertical ladder up the 28-foottower (and later the 39-foot tower of the new lighthouse that opened in 1888)to the lantern room, where she would light the lamp. Every four hours afterthat, she would refill the lamp with mineral oil, trim the wick, adjust the airventilation, clean the window if needed, and wind the clockwork that kept themassive Fourth Order Fresnel lens rotating. According to Jones, Georgiaonce stated that she had never been away from the lighthouse overnight sincearriving there in 1874.
Georgia’s father retained his title aslighthouse keeper for seven more years, while his daughter performed the work.In July 1881 the U.S. Lighthouse Service deemed Georgia the official keeper ofthe North Point Lighthouse. Mrs. Stebbins would become the longest-servinglighthouse keeper in the rich history of the lighthouse, serving for 26 years,until she retired in 1907.%uFFFD
John Enright will give a lecture titled“Women in the History of U.S.Lighthouses” in coordination with Historic Milwaukee from 11:15 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. onWednesday, Feb. 24. For more information, visit www.historicmilwaukee.org.
