Geraldine Marie Keeler was born on July 8th, 1855 in Chicago, Illinois. She was the only child of Lydia and Arthur Keeler. The Keelers had moved to Chicago in 1852 from Baltimore, Maryland, lured by the promise of new opportunities. Arthur Keeler, a bookkeeper by trade, found a respectable living by working for a prominent law firm. Lydia Keeler made sure their small home was tidy and well organized, and keeping a firm eye on her daughter.

Once she was of age, her parents enrolled her at the Faulkner School for Girls. It wasn’t long before Geraldine’s teachers discovered her natural affinity for chemistry and engineering. One teacher in particular, Miss Josephine Coulter, took special interest in nurturing Geraldine’s interest. Miss Coulter, herself, was a talented scientist, and took every opportunity to work with her young protegee.

When Geraldine turned 12, her mother came down with typhoid fever. Her father immediately sent Geraldine to board at the Faulkner School while he took care of his wife. Tragically, Arthur also contracted the illness, and both of Geraldine’s parents died within the year. The sale of the family home and other assets was enough to keep Geraldine at school until she graduated.

A few months before graduation, a solicitor unexpectedly called upon the young woman. He bore a mysterious envelope from Babcock & Turner, a Carson City law firm. Much to Geraldine’s shock, the enclosed papers listed her as the last living descendant of George Howard Keeler, a previously unknown great-uncle who had passed away at the beginning of the year. George Keeler had lived in the small town of Paiute Springs, Nevada. Geraldine was now the inheritor of a house and a small parcel of land.

Although Miss Coulter tried to persuade her to remain in Chicago, Geraldine wanted a place of her very own, even if it was in the “uncivilized” Wild West. Upon graduation Geraldine gathered up the rest of her remaining stipend from her parents and her small amount of personal belongings and boarded the Union Blue train line.

After several trains and a carriage ride, Geraldine arrived in Paiute Springs in the early fall of 1874. It caused quite a stir in town when the young nineteen year-old woman arrived with papers claiming that she was now the owner of “Mad George’s” house on the outskirts of town. No one would talk directly to Geraldine about her great-uncle, although she did catch occasionally catch partial whispers when people thought she wasn’t near. Undeterred, she moved into her new home and began settling in.

Geraldine noticed several oddities right away, the most noticeable being the presence of a locked room at the back of the house. She searched everywhere, but could not find a key that fit the lock. Finally, in frustration, Geraldine sat down with some scrap pieces of metal and other bits. After a few weeks, she had tinkered a mechanical device that neatly unlocked the door for her.

Entering the room, Geraldine discovered a hidden laboratory, containing beakers, test tubes, burners, chemicals, and a small reference library. One the shelves were a few handwritten notebooks detailing George Keeler’s scientific work. Fascinated, Geraldine sat right down on the floor and began reading. As she turned through one book, a piece of paper fluttered out into her lap. The young woman picked it up. It was a blueprint for one of George’s gizmos …

Over the next two years, Geraldine follows in her great-uncle’s footsteps, dedicating herself to creating new and sometimes fantastical gizmos and devices. Her dream is to become as much of a household name as Smith and Robards. She does manage to sell a few gizmos here and there. Her success, especially because of her gender, has garnered the unfortunate attention of another inventor in Carson City. She and Mr. Erasmus Tefertiller simultaneously and independently came up with an idea for a particular device, but Geraldine filed the patent first. Tefertiller has never forgiven her for this and actively slanders her name, insisting that she’s a fraud. This infuriates Geraldine, who tries to show him up any chance she gets.

For the most part, the townfolk of Paiute Springs treat her well, although people just shake their heads at her propensity to wear men’s clothing (which Geraldine considers more practical for working in a lab). She has lunch every Sunday at the Prince Royal Arms, but otherwise spends a lot of time shut up in her house working on her newest experiment.