Elizabeth Whitney Williams
(1844 – 1938)
Elizabeth Whitney Williams was one of the longest-serving lighthouse keepers in American history. Williams was born on Mackinac Island in 1844. Her first husband Clement Van Riper, whom she married in 1860, was appointed keeper of the Beaver Island Harbor Light in St. James. She assisted her husband in his duties winding the heavy clockwork mechanism and cleaning and polishing the lighthouse’s Fresnel lens. When her husband was lost at sea, she was given his position.
Later, when she remarried, she transferred to keep Little Traverse Light near Harbor Springs. Over the years, Williams earned widespread acclaim and attention for her work as a keeper. By 1897, she was one of only four female keepers stationed at lighthouses in the Great Lakes region.
In 1904, the Detroit Free Press captured the challenges and significance of Williams’ lifesaving role on behalf of maritime transportation. “For more than three decades she has been in charge of one of Uncle Sam’s lighthouses on the Great Lakes, doing daily and nightly work which only the hardiest of men have been accustomed to do.”