Elizabeth Whitney Williams
Elizabeth Whitney Williams | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Elizabeth Whitney June 24, 1844 |
| Died | January 23, 1938 (aged 93) Charlevoix, Michigan |
| Other names | Elizabeth Whitney Van Riper |
| Occupation | Lighthouse keeper |
| Years active | 1872–1913 |
| Notable work |  A Child of the Sea and Life Among the Mormons on Beaver Island. |
| Spouse(s) |
Clement Van Riper
(m. 1860; died 1872)Daniel Williams (m. 1875) |
Elizabeth Whitney Williams was an American lighthouse keeper and writer. She served as a lighthouse keeper for 41 years, including a 29-year stint at the Little Traverse Light.[1][2]
Early life
Williams (née Whitney) was born on Mackinac Island, Michigan, on June 24, 1844 as the only child of Elizabeth Cross Dousman Gebeau (1796-1896) and Walter Whitney (1809-1870). The Matriarch Elizabeth had been married first to Louis Gebeau, who drowned in an 1841 boating accident on Lake Michigan.[3] By the time she was four years old, young Elizabeth's family had moved to Beaver Island where her father, a carpenter, worked for the Mormon leader "King" James Strang.[2] In 1852, after being pressured to convert, the Whitney family fled to Charlevoix and then to Traverse City.[2] After Strang was assassinated and the Mormons were forced out, the Whitney family returned to Beaver Island in 1857 where Williams met and married Clement Van Riper, a cooper from Detroit, in 1860.[2] Van Riper began teaching in the nearby Anishinaabe community on Garden Island, where Williams assisted her husband and taught gardening techniques.[4]
Career
In 1869, Van Riper was appointed keeper of the Beaver Island Harbor Light after the prior keeper, Peter McKinley, resigned due to poor health.[4] However, Van Riper was also often in poor health and Williams assisted her husband by cleaning and polishing the Fresnel lens.[2]
During a stormy night in 1872, Van Riper rowed out to help rescue crew from the schooner Thomas Howland, which was sinking in the harbor, but he died in his efforts.[3] The duty fell on Williams to keep the light burning in the lighthouse during the three-day storm and she was left "weak from sorrow."[2] A few weeks after her husband's death she was officially appointed keeper of the Beaver Island Harbor Light during a time when few women were ever appointed and lighthouse keeping was thought of as a man's job due to the physical labor and investment of time.[2] She found the responsibility daunting but "longed to do something for humanity's sake" and seemed to view tending the light as both a calling and comfort.[4]
In 1875, Williams remarried—to photographer Daniel Williams—and eventually requested a transfer to a lighthouse on the mainland.[4] In September 1884, she was transferred to the newly constructed Little Traverse Light at Harbor Springs.[4] Williams excelled at her work and later won an award for best-kept light on the Great Lakes.[5]
Later life
Williams retired in 1913 and moved to Charlevoix with her husband where they spent 25 years in quiet retirement.[2] Williams died, 12 hours after her husband, on January 23, 1938.[4]
Legacy
Williams is one of America's longest-serving lighthouse keepers with 41 years of service.[1] In 1905, Williams published an autobiography entitled A Child of the Sea and My Life Among Mormons,[6] which is available for online reading through Project Gutenberg. A children's book, Elizabeth Whitney Williams and The Little Traverse Light, is based upon Williams' life.[1] In December, 2024, Elizabeth was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.
References
- ^ a b c "Women Lightkeepers: Elizabeth Whitney Williams". Absolute Michigan. April 16, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Elizabeth Whitney Williams: A Child of the Sea". harborspringshistory.org. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
- ^ a b promotemi (June 10, 2022). "An Illuminating Lady – Elizabeth Whitney Williams – Promote Michigan". Retrieved August 12, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Mason, Kathy S. Angel of the Lighthouse: Elizabeth Whitney Williams (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 27, 2011.
- ^ "Life as the Keeper of Beaver Island's Whiskey Point Lighthouse". MyNorth.com. March 18, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
- ^ "The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Child of the Sea; and Life Among the Mormons, by Elizabeth Whitney Williams". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
Further reading
- Williams, Elizabeth Whitney (1905). A Child of the Sea; and Life Among the Mormons. J.E. Jewett.
External links
Media related to Elizabeth Whitney Williams at Wikimedia Commons- Works by or about Elizabeth Whitney Williams at Wikisource