Image © Sherry Staley-Harysch via FindAGrave.com. Used with permission.
Elizabeth McCorriston (June 9, c.1875-June 1, 1931) was a school teacher and principal on the Island of Molokai during the early 20th century.
Elizabeth McCorriston, known as “Lizzie,” was born in Kamalō, Molokai, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, on June 9 in either 1874, 1875, or 1876 to Daniel McCorriston (1840-1927) and Anna McColgan (c.1851-1907). [1] [2] [3] [4]
On August 12, 1896, Lizzie was appointed to teach at the Kamalō Government School. Over the next 31 years, she intermittently served as a teacher and principal of the school, teaching first, second, and third grades. She resigned as principal in 1927 and was replaced by the daughter of her sister Sarah Theresa McCorriston (1868-1924), Mae Edith Dunn (1897-1989), in June of the same year. [2] [5] [6]
On March 21, 1900, Lizzie married Frank Hudson Foster (1869-1955) in Kamalō, Molokai. [7] They had seven children:
Daughter Neoma Elizabeth Foster was born in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on April 8, 1901, and died in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on April 30, 1986
Son Daniel Hudson Foster was born in Kamalō, Molokai, on November 18, 1903, married Dorothea Margaret Rosine Weber in Mana, Kauaʻi, on January 31, 1931, and died in Oxnard, California, on January 6, 1988
Son Francis Harold Foster was born in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on December 30, 1904, married Daphne Kapahuilima Mundon on July 25, 1931, and died in Kaunakakai, Molokai, on September 24, 1984
Daughter Anna Elizabeth Foster was born in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on March 18, 1907, married John Andrew McGuire at St. Patrick’s church in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on October 5, 1938, and died in Camarillo, California, on March 25, 1993
Son George Trimble Foster was born in Kamalō, Molokai, on May 11, 1908, married Alice Mariea Adolphson in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on February 9, 1939, and died in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on February 4, 1993
Son John Lucas Foster, known as “Jack,” was born in Kamalō, Molokai, on May 8, 1911, married Marie Eleanor Brite in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on December 15, 1941, and died in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on January 27, 1999
Son James Ferdinand Foster was born in Kamalō, Molokai, on May 2, 1913, married Margaret Marnie Forbes in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on September 4, 1941, and died in Honolulu, Oʻahu, on January 24, 1995
In 1927, Lizzie was part of the group that met City of Oakland aviators Ernest Smith and Emory Bronte after they crash-landed in a grove of kiawe trees. For her part, she was gifted with Smith’s smelling salts. [8]
Lizzie died at 4:20am on June 1, 1931, in Kaimukī, Oʻahu, Territory of Hawaiʻi, and is buried at Diamond Head Cemetery in Honolulu, Oʻahu. [1]
“Mrs. Frank Foster Passes Away,” The Honolulu Advertiser, June 2, 1931, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28817903/elizabeth_mccorriston_obituary_1931/
“Transferred by Treasurer Bowen,” The Honolulu Advertiser, August 13, 1896, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39000223/elizabeth_mccorriston_appointment_to/
Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 17 November 2019), memorial page for Elizabeth McCorriston Foster (9 Jun 1874–1 Jun 1931), Find A Grave Memorial no. 71786476, citing Diamond Head Memorial Park, Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA ; Maintained by J and K (contributor 47317736)
“1900 United States Federal Census,” database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed 117 NOvember 2019), search for Lizzie Foster, residing on Oahu and born in 1876; Year: 1900; Census Place: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Territory; Page: 24; Enumeration District: 0005
“Assignment of Public School Teachers Throughout Territory,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, October 6, 1925, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39001511/elizabeth_mccorriston_teaching_grades/
“News Letter From Molokai,” The Honolulu Advertiser, June 1, 1927, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39004313/elizabeth_mccorriston_replaced_by_may/
“Foster-McCorriston.,” Evening Bulletin, April 27, 1900, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29980713/elizabeth_mccorriston_marriage_to/
Jack Chung, “Arrival on Molokai is Sensational,” The Honolulu Advertiser, July 16, 1927, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28074446/edward_mccorriston_landing_of_the_city/
