By Ken and Barb Wardius
Only a few women possessed the title of head lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes. The vast majority of keepers were men. Occasionally a woman, usually the spouse, would hold a position as an assistant lighthouse keeper.
Many times though the federal government did not officially recognize a woman as an assistant keeper, even though she knew and performed numerous if not all the routine lighthouse duties. This was a government cost saving measure and was not intentionally discriminatory at that time. It was just the norm in the 1800s.
A select number of ladies did hold the prestigious occupation of head lighthouse keeper, however. The North Point Milwaukee Lighthouse was home to one such special person: Georgia Green Stebbins.
Born Georgia Anna Green in July of 1846, her unlikely lighthouse journey began more than seven hundred miles away from the shores of Lake Michigan and Milwaukee in west central New York State, near Syracuse in the small town of Jordan.
At the age of 20, Miss Green married Lemuel Dibble Stebbins in 1866 in her hometown. He was originally from Connecticut but later moved to New York City. He was a watchmaker and jeweler. He hoped one day to specialize in diamonds. After their marriage, the couple resided in New York City.
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Georgia Green Stebbins had only been married a few years but her young life already had its share of challenges and sadness. Her daughters Emma Kate and Lillian both had died as infants in 1867 and 1869, respectively. Next she developed a persistent, hacking cough and tiredness that would not go away. Georgia’s doctors told her she had a sickness called consumption (it’s called tuberculosis today) and that she would not live long unless she left the unhealthy air of New York City. They suggested she find a place with fresh, clean breezes.
So a sickly, weak Mrs. Stebbins leaves the smoggy metropolis of New York City in 1873 for Milwaukee where her parents lived. She had to temporarily leave her husband and travel alone to the far away shores of Lake Michigan, most likely via train. Her husband Lemuel would eventually join her in Milwaukee.
When she arrived in Milwaukee she discovered both of her parents were also ailing, especially her father Daniel Kellogg (known as D. K.) Green who was the lighthouse keeper at the North Point Lighthouse, located on a bluff overlooking the north end of Milwaukee Bay. Georgia had to immediately step in to assist her father at a time when caring for a lighthouse was rarely a woman’s job.
In time the day to day chores and upkeep of the lighthouse eventually fell into a predictable routine for Georgia. Daily tasks included preparing and caring for the lighthouse Fresnel lens after sunrise and before sundown (as well as during the night), maintaining lighthouse supplies, many other cleaning chores, writing daily logbook entries, cooking, and giving tours of the lighthouse to the public as needed, among others. The list goes on and on. Georgia was also responsible for the family’s pet and guard dog named Tappan, a massive and powerful mastiff.
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In addition to those many lighthouse related duties, newspaper accounts mention Georgia’s love of flowers which decorated the grounds at North Point. They included pansies, verbenas, and gladiolus. The light station surroundings were a reflection of Georgia’s green thumb.
Georgia Stebbins also kept a scrapbook. It contained newspaper clippings pertaining to North Point, her son Albert’s school papers, a few recipes, and other miscellaneous family information. Her interests were numerous and varied.
D.K. Green maintained the title of head lighthouse keeper for a number of years, even though his daughter did much of the actual everyday work. In 1881, Georgia’s mother Catherine died and federal lighthouse officials named Georgia the head keeper at the North Point Lighthouse. She had been the unofficial keeper for nearly eight years. Almost forty years before women in the United States were given the right to vote (1920).
Georgia became a woman lighthouse keeper at a time when that profession was almost always a man’s job. She would continue in the role as head lighthouse keeper at North Point until 1907 when she retired. Counting her twenty-six official years as keeper, plus another eight years assisting her father, Georgia served over three decades, easily making her the longest tenured keeper at North Point. During that time she climbed the lighthouse stairs tens of thousands of times.
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While many lighthouse days were filled with uneventful and repetitive responsibilities, several exceptional events punctuated Georgia’s time as lighthouse keeper at North Point. For example:
● The original 1855 lighthouse at North Point became precariously close to an eroding bluff. Georgia saw to the smooth transition to a new metal lighthouse at North Point built farther inland in 1888.
● Shipwrecks occasionally occurred off North Point. On at least one occasion, Mrs. Stebbins physically assisted sailors to escape the wreck of their sailboat.
● On April 20, 1893, work crews were excavating a new Lake Michigan water intake tunnel for the city. A terrible storm produced huge waves that flooded and trapped sixteen men in a chamber below the lake. Mrs. Stebbins saw the disaster unfolding from the lighthouse and ran to a nearby telephone in the neighborhood to alert the Milwaukee Life Saving Service located near the Milwaukee harbor. Fifteen men perished and one lucky soul survived.
● Son Albert Kellogg Stebbins was born at the North Point Lighthouse in June 1875. After losing two infant daughters, Albert was the light of Georgia’s life. He would grow up to be a successful, prominent attorney in Milwaukee. She also welcomed a grandson, who like his father was born at the lighthouse.
An unassuming person, most of Georgia’s logbook writings were short and to the point. For example, the night of January 28, 1888, her entry simply states:
“Total eclipse of the moon. Clear beautiful night”.
As Georgia’s time at North Point drew to a close, her logbook writings on June 19, 1907, were equally concise:
“Order received for discontinuance of the light June 30”.
Her final entry was modest as well:
“Light discontinued this 30th day of June 1907. Correct Statement. Georgia A. Stebbins, Keeper”.
Prior to her retirement Mrs. Stebbins summed up her feelings for the North Point Lighthouse:
“I have become very much attached to the lighthouse, having lived here so long, and I think there is no more beautiful spot on the lake shore.”
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What an adventure: From small town Jordan, New York, to sprawling New York City, then to the coast of Lake Michigan and Milwaukee. She could never have imagined how her decision to journey to a lighthouse in Milwaukee that helped hundreds of mariners would become her guiding light and change her health and life forever. This unhealthy, humble young lady matured into a strong, devoted, and courageous lighthouse keeper, serving with purpose for more than thirty years at the North Point Lighthouse. When her life abruptly changed direction, Georgia Stebbins dedicated herself and thrived in a career she had never expected and became an unlikely heroine.
Georgia Stebbins lived out the remainder of her life on Milwaukee’s East Side. Not a lot is known of her life after her lighthouse tenure. She passed away on July 11, 1920, one week prior to her 74th birthday and one month before women in the United States were guaranteed the right to vote. She is buried in Milwaukee’s Forest Home Cemetery, the final resting place of some of early Milwaukee’s most influential people.
Georgia Green Stebbins thought of herself as ordinary, but her story is anything but. Sounding modest, Georgia once told a newspaper reporter, “It seems to me a lighthouse is a commonplace affair, and it seems to me the work of taking care of the light is very ordinary indeed.”
This extraordinary, hard-working, determined, strong willed, and intelligent lady adapted to lighthouse life that was not easy. And she did it during an era when this was not a typical profession for women. What a remarkable person.
Image Credit: The photo of Georgia Green Stebbins, about 1895, is courtesy of the Stebbins family.
Note: For other lighthouse stories by Ken and Barb Wardius and other stories, see the Blog Section index.
Ken and Barb Wardius talk about lighthouses on Wisconsin Public Radio.
Ken and Barb Wardius are the authors of Wisconsin Lighthouses, A Photographic & Historical Guide. They have also written books on the Cana Island Lighthouse, the Wind Point Lighthouse and the North Point Milwaukee Lighthouse. They live in Glendale, Wis., and are members of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society. Their website is www.gowisconsinlighthouses.com
