Lillie hitchcock coit biography of michael

Lillie Hitchcock Coit

American philanthropist (–)

Elizabeth Hitchcock Coit (August 23, – July 22, ) was a patron of San Francisco's volunteer firefighters and the benefactor for the construction of the Coit Tower in San Francisco, California.

Life

Born in West Point, New York, in , she moved to California from West Point with her parents—Charles, an Army surgeon, and Martha Hitchcock.[1]

"Firebelle Lil" Coit was considered eccentric, smoking cigars and wearing trousers long before it was socially acceptable for women to do so.

She was an avid gambler and often dressed like a guy in order to gamble in the male-only establishments that dotted North Beach. Her father was successful and when he died he left a substantial inheritance. InAlexander Garrett, a distant cousin of Mrs. Coit, arrived at her Palace Hotel apartment armed with a gun to decide a business dispute.

She was an avid gambler and often dressed like a man in order to gamble in the male-only establishments that dotted North Beach.[2]

Her father was successful and when he died he left a substantial inheritance.[3] As a young woman, she traveled to Europe with her mother.

After her return, she married Howard Coit, the "caller" of the San Francisco Stock Exchange during an economic boom.[1] They separated in , and he died in at age [2]

In , Alexander Garrett, a distant cousin of Mrs.

Coit, arrived at her Palace Hotel apartment armed with a gun to finish a business dispute. A companion of Mrs. Coit's, Major McClung, who was present in direct to deliver a message to her was shot and killed while reportedly protecting Coit.[3] Toward the end of her experience, Coit had a long reside in Europe but returned to San Francisco where she died in [4]

Firefighting

Coit was fascinated by firefighters from a young age.

At age 15, in , she reportedly witnessed the Knickerbocker Engine Co. No. 5 respond to a fire call on Telegraph Hill when they were shorthanded, and helped them obtain up the hill ahead of other competing engine companies.

A Tower of Concrete and Flame – MICHAEL G. WILLIAMS: Lillie Hitchcock Coit, Elizabeth Hitchcock Coit (August 23, – July 22, ) was a patron of San Francisco's volunteer firefighters and the benefactor for the construction of the Coit Tower in San Francisco, California.

Sources differ on whether this happened while she was coming home from school or coming from a rehearsal for a wedding.[1] She was thereafter treated as a "mascot" of the firefighters, and after her return from commute in Europe, in October , she was made an honorary member of the engine firm.

She then rode along with the firefighters when they went to a fire or were in parades, and attended their annual banquets.[5] When volunteer firefighters were ill, she visited the sickbed, and when they died, Coit sent flowers and attended the funerals.[4] She continued this relationship with firefighting throughout her life, and after her death her ashes were placed into a mausoleum with a variety of firefighting-related memorials.[2]

Bequest

Coit left one-third of her estate to the City of San Francisco "to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I include always loved".[1] The city used this bequest to build Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.

The remainder of her bequest also sponsored another neighborhood landmark, a statue of three firefighters at the northwest corner of Washington Square Park.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ abcdeBowlen, Frederick J.

    "Notable People – Lillie Hitchcock Coit". San Francisco Heat Department Museum. Retrieved 13 April

  2. ^ abcHarris, Gloria G.; Hannah S.

    Cohen (). "Chapter 2.

    She is the patron saint of all pioneer firemen of the city, and if the survivors of that once sturdy brotherhood could have their most ardent wish gratified then the lot of Mrs. Hitchcock- Coit would be a supremely joyful one in this life. From her earliest infancy, when as Miss Lillie Hitchcock, she romped in short frocks, she was curiously fascinated by the red shirt and warlike helmet of the firemen, and gloried in the excitement of a massive blaze. As a child, still in her teens, she displayed extraordinary enthusiasm when the energy bell tolled out its alarms, and with an energy and speed that the most agile fireman might envy she hastened to the scene of the fire.

    Settlers – Elizabeth 'Lillie' Hitchock Coit: San Francicso's Volunteer Firefighter". Women Trailblazers of California: Pioneers to the Present. Charleston, SC: The History Press. pp.&#;26–40 [36–40]. ISBN&#;.

  3. ^ abBragman, Bob (August 18, ).

    "Coit Tower: Tales of murder, drag, and a small round apartment".

    Very curious. Lillie was quite a gal!!! Never have heard of her before. Connie, I stumbled across her name and hadn't heard of her before either.

    Bay Area & State. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 24,

  4. ^ abCarl Nolte, "Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a San Francisco lady,", San Francisco Chronicle, October 25,
  5. ^" – Biography of Lillie Hitchcock-Coit".

    SF History Museum. Retrieved 13 April