Summary
Lucy Davis, of Richmond, Indiana, was the niece of William H. Shields’s wife and traveled with the Squaw Island light crew toward Beaver Island on December 14, 1900. After the sailboat capsized, she died during the overnight drift.1
The held reports do not provide her age, parents, marriage, or burial details.
Open questions
- Can Richmond, lighthouse-service, civil, or cemetery records identify Lucy Davis more fully?
- What was her relationship to the Shields family beyond the report’s “niece” wording?
See also
Footnotes
-
Held Beaver Beacon accounts of the December 14–15, 1900 Squaw Island light-crew tragedy. ↩
Sources
- Beaver Beacon, January 1965, “48 Years Ago Tragedy Struck Squaw Island Light Crew; Lone Survivor Tells Story.”Names Lucy Davis, identifies her as the keeper’s wife’s niece from Richmond, Indiana, and reports her death during the overnight drift.
- Beaver Beacon, December 1971, “Lone Survivor Tells Story.”Repeats the episode and places her death at approximately 6:30 p.m. without providing further identity.