Born to James W and M. Ellen Smith in July 1845 was daughter Elizabeth Jones Smith Phillips Peck, referred to as “Lizzie”. Some have suggested Lizzie was the daughter of John J Pleasant. We cannot definitively know but the Vital Statistics book in the Charlestown Public Library names James, carpenter, and M. Ellen as the parents.
Lizzie married R B Phillips in San Francisco in 1865. Earlier, in 1861, Mr. Smith sold land on Washington Street to John and Mary Ellen Pleasant where they later opened a Boarding House.
Mr. Phillips, a barber, who appeared to have several land holdings, died in 1868. MEP appears to have made his funeral arrangements.
At some point Lizzie remarried William B Peck who is listed as a chiropodist/foot doctor and saloon owner in the City Directories. Lizzie died in 1878 at the age of 33. She reportedly had several miscarriages or saw the death of her young babies with Mr. Peck.
Lizzie and Mary Ellen appear to have had a difficult relationship with Lizzie posing as Mrs. Pleasant and collecting rental payments. Lizzie was prosecuted for this. Attached are several articles about Lizzie’s difficult life in San Francisco.
John and Mary Swear Complaint against Lizzie 1868
Forgery Testimony in Court, SF Chronicle Feb 27 1875
Elizabeth Peck found Innocent June 1875
Lizzie’s Life Odd Life Story, SF Call 1875
Lizzie was buried in San Francisco’s Lone Mountain/Laurel Hill Cemetery. In 1901 with the closure of the cemetery, her remains were moved to Colma, CA. A memorial site can be found here: Link and a Find a Grave link
Lone Mountain/Laurel Hill Cemetery San Francisco (1) Left-Wide view and (2) Right-Original location of Lizzie and John J’s gravesites.
Special thanks to Beth Winegarner, author of San Francisco’s Forgotten Cemeteries: A Buried History for helping to find Lizzie and John J’s final resting spots.
Funeral Director’s Book showing MEP making arrangements for an Elizabeth Clark Logan and two weeks later, William Peck making arrangements for MEP’s daughter, Lizzie.
