In honor of Women’s History Month, I set out to spotlight two remarkable women who made waves along Lake Michigan—Johanna Brotch and Georgia Stebbins.
I spoke with retired U.S. Naval Reserve Commander Douglas Mintline, who, as it turns out, is the current owner of Johanna Brotch’s former home.
“Johanna Brotch was born in Prussia and immigrated to the United States in 1869,”Mintline explained. “She settled in Bay View and became the community’s only female ship owner. Not only that,she holds the distinction of being one of its first female entrepreneurs, as she actively ran the business.”
Her ships—the Sassacus and the Arctic—were captained by her husband, John Brotch, and transported commercial goods such as wood, grain, and iron across the Great Lakes.
Resilience best defines Johanna’s life. She and her husband had six children, all of whom she outlived. After her husband’s death, she supported herself by renting rooms in her home.
By the time of her passing in 1948 at the age of 91, she had become a prominent figure in the Great Lakes maritime community.
Mintline unknowingly purchased the Brotch home in 1993 and discovered its rich history during renovations. Inspired by what he learned, he authored two books and successfully advocated for the installation of the first historical marker recognizing the former home of a female ship owner.
It was during my conversation with Mintline that I learned about another maritime marvel: Georgia Stebbins, the first and only female lighthouse keeper at North Point Lighthouse.
Watch: Georgia Stebbins was the first and only female lighthouse keeper at North Point Lighthouse
To learn more about Stebbins, I visited the lighthouse and spoke with docent and curatorial committee member Mary Meegan.
“Georgia came to Milwaukee from upstate New York because she had tuberculosis,” Meegan said. “Her doctor recommended fresh air. At the time, her father was the lighthouse keeper. As her health improved, she noticed his was declining.”
What began as helping her father soon became a full-time responsibility. When he retired, Stebbins was officially appointed lighthouse keeper—a role she would hold for 26 years.
Each evening at dusk, she climbed the lighthouse tower to fill the lantern with oil, trim the wick, and clean the glass. This demanding routine had to be repeated every four hours until daybreak. She also maintained detailed logs of passing ships and, when vessels ran aground, she would haul her rowboat to the water to rescue stranded sailors.
“Georgia took great pride in the fact that she spent every night at the lighthouse during her tenure,” Meegan noted. “She claimed she was never away for a single night in those 26 years.”
Stebbins was also a wife and mother—giving birth to her son inside the lighthouse. She died in 1921, just before her 75th birthday.
To learn more about these remarkable women, visit:
The Historic JohannaBrotchHouse — The Historic Bay View Lake Captains Society
Georgia Stebbins | North Point Lighthouse and Museum
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