Elizabeth Price Lusby was born in Cecil County on December 14, 1786. In 1819, she married Robert C. Lusby. Robert served in the War of 1812 until 1814 and served as the sheriff of Cecil County from 1815 to 1817 and 1824 to 1827. In 1843 Robert Lusby was appointed the Principal Keeper at Turkey Point Lighthouse, where he remained until his death in 1844. Upon his death, Elizabeth was named the Principal Lighthouse keeper.
After a complaint regarding the visibility of the light at Turkey Point, Elizabeth wrote a letter to the lighthouse inspector stating that she was afraid the condition of the lamps would create difficulties for mariners: “Capt. Howeland has for the past three years, reported at Washington the defective condition of the lamps…When last here, he repaired them as well as he could, hoping they might stand for another year, but the repeated soldering, filing, etc., has worn them away so much that he could not make a permanent job, and hoped he should be able to bring a new set this spring. I told him I feared complaint from watermen, which he thought probable, but nothing more could be done.
In 1853, Elizabeth’s pay was suspended for one month, due to bad record-keeping involving oil. Elizabeth responded with the following explanation: “I have been frequently indisposed and not able to attend to measuring the oil myself, and those I have to assist me may have carelessly given a lesser quantity than they should.”
She was the first female lighthouse keeper at the station. She lived at the lighthouse a total of 27 years, with 18 of those years as the Principal Lighthouse Keeper. She died on February 27, 1862 while serving as Keeper. She is buried at Harts United Methodist Church Cemetery, Elk Neck., MD.
