Abbie Burgess
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Abbie Burgess (later Mrs. Abbie Grant; 1839–1892) was an American lighthouse keeper known for her bravery in tending the Matinicus Rock Light, in Maine, during a raging winter storm in 1856. She tended the light for nearly a month while her father, the head keeper, was away from the island. Her heroic actions attracted much attention, and she was soon a popular heroine.
Burgess later married a lighthouse keeper, and spent fifteen years as the keeper at White Head Light. After her death in 1892, a memorial in the form of an aluminum scale replica lighthouse was placed over her grave in Spruce Head Cemetery.
[edit] Legacy
Burgess is the subject of the children's book, Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie and the subject of the folk song "Lighthouse Keeper" by Neptune's Car. There is a United States Coast Guard USCG Coastal Buoy Tender (WLM 553) based in Rockland, Maine named for her as well.
[edit] External links
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