Lillie hitchcock coit biography definition
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She then rode along with the firefighters when they went to a fire or were in parades, and attended their annual banquets.
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. Everything she had, even her linen, was marked - L.H.C.5. Lacemakers even worked it into her monogram on her fans.
In December, 1866, the paid fire department of San Francisco was organized, and she became a veteran. Knickerbocker Number 5 always had an annual dinner October 17th , or as she called it, “Numbers 5's birthday,” for October 17, 1850 was the date that the company was voted in the department. It was always her self-appointed duty to see to the table decorations and flowers. Later in the evening she would appear at these dinners dressed in a black silk skirt, red fire shirt and black tie, and her veteran's belt - she usually carried her helmet.
Immediately she had herself driven to the fire on Market Street. She found two ladders up and her Number 5 and some other company both playing water on the flames. The pipeman on the other ladder jeered at Number 5's pipeman and pointed her out in her Paris dress saying that she was only a ‘Featherbedder.”
Number 5's man was furious and to disprove the charge turned the hose full on her and ducked her well. Of course she was surprised, but seeing it had been done by Number 5 she waved her hand and took her ducking as a fireman should. Number 5's pipeman then played the stream on the burning building, and her fellow member screamed to the other pipeman - “Told you she was no “Featherbedder.”
She always wore a little gold 5 pinned to her dress and signed herself Lillie H.
Coit5. She asked that this 5 be left on her at the end. As a young woman, she traveled to Europe with her mother.
They separated in 1880, and he died in 1885 at age 47.
Coit was fascinated by firefighters from a young age. 1900 . She was an avid gambler and often dressed like a man in order to gamble in the male-only establishments that dotted North Beach.[1]
Her father was successful and when he died he left a substantial inheritance.[2] As a young woman, she traveled to Europe with her mother.
Bay Area & State . Page 26 This training made her the envy of every woman at a dance. Lillie's dance card was always quickly filled after her entrance.
On October 3, 1863, she was elected an honorary member of the Knickerbocker Company, and always regarded that honor as the proudest of her life. She wore the numeral as an ornament with all her costumes, along with the gold badge presented at the same time.
As Miss Hitchcock became older, she gave up the habit of following the engine, but the tie that bound her to the company was as strong as ever. If any member of a company fell ill, it was Lillie Hitchcock who gladdened the sickroom. And!
should death call him, she sent a floral tribute as final expression of her regard.
After her marriage to Howard Coit, a caller at the San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange, she traveled extensively in the East, in Europe and the Orient. Notwithstanding all her wanderings, her love for California was steadfast and she at length made it her permanent home.
She was a notable figure even at the court of Napoleon III and a maharaja of India, and later when she came back to San Francisco to live she brought with her a remarkable collection of gifts from royalty and others. They included gems of rare value, object of art, mementoes and souvenirs, some of them priceless.
When Mrs.
Coit died here on July 22, 1929, at the age of 86, she gave practical evidence of her affection for San Francisco. She left one-third of her fortune to the city "to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved." For several years after her death, there was question as to the most fitting interpretation of the "appropriate manner" in which to make the memorial. The executors of her will at last determined to erect a memorial tower in honor of this colorful woman and also a memorial tribute to San Francisco's firemen.
Both have been completed for some time. The novel appearance of the 185-foot cylindrical tower which stands atop Telegraph Hill is surely a significant symbol to the memory of one whose individuality made her as outstanding an example of contrast to her days as is this unusual form of memorial shaft.
The second memorial to her was unveiled in Washington Square, December 3, 1933. It is a sculptured block representing a life-sized group of three firemen, one of them carrying a woman in his arms.
Everybody pull and we'll beat 'em!"
Everybody did come and pull and Knickerbocker No. 5 went up the slope like a red streak and got first water on the fire.
That was a famous day for Lillie. From that time on she caught the spirit of the Volunteers and Dr. Hitchcock had difficult work attempting to keep his daughter from dashing away every time an alarm was sounded. As it was, there never was a gala parade in which Lillie was not seen atop Knickerbocker No.
5, embowered in flags and flowers. She was, literally, the patroness of all the firemen of her city. 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 have always loved".
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.
Membership
She was thereafter treated as a "mascot" of the firefighters, and after her return from travel in Europe, in October 1863, she was made an honorary member of the engine company.
She, like everyone else, went to all the fires that happened in the day time, and at the first clap of the bell at night she always awoke, and then she would pace the floor until the engines were again housed. Many times she would order coffee and a hot supper served at the Oriental Hotel for the members of her company on their return, and her indulgent father was only too willing to pay the bill.
Known for smoking cigars, gambling in men’s clubs, and embracing the city’s rebellious spirit, she left a lasting mark on SF.
Her legacy lives on through Coit Tower, built with funds she left to beautify the city.
Mr. Coit died of heart disease during sleep, May 14, 1885; at the age of 47.
- Coit Tower was designed as a fire nozzle to honor Lillie Coit and the San Francisco firefighters. The 210 foot tower was designed by Arthur Brown, Jr.
(1874-1957) an American architect based in San Francisco who had stated on many occasions that his tower was not designed to resemble a fire hose nozzle. Davis went on to be U.S. Secretary of War and President of the Confederacy. Chapter 2. Bowlen, Frederick J..
She was Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who was destined not only to become a legend but to attain that eminence long before her life ended.
She came to this city on the ship Tennessee in 1851 from West Point, where her father, Dr. Charles M. Hitchcock, was stationed. Dr. Hitchcock served in the U.S. Army during the Indian Wars. During the Mexican War he performed a splendid piece of surgery on Colonel Jefferson Davis, saving his leg.
Page 27 During her married life her home was the rendezvous for the state builders - Ralston, Sharon and others - and these men recreated at night by playing poker. Mrs. Coit was as good a player as any of them and was often the only woman in the game.
It's a woman!” Everyone in the valley knew her for a “dead shot.”