Here is our much beloved paternal Great Grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Davis Lightbourne of Crawl Point, Bermuda. Like Bermudians of yesterday and today, she worked most diligently and ceaselessly to raise her family, tend the gardens and the animals and to do all tasks that called upon the feisty and courageous character of Bermudian women and men. She gave birth to nine children, including six daughters (who married Young, Brown, Lines, Kruger, Williams and Henehan) and two sons and a first daughter who died in infancy.
There are many family stories of “Lizzie” as she was familiarly known. Lizzie was a devout member of Holy Trinity Church at Bailey’s Bay, to which she walked to attend services on a regular basis. She taught reading and writing to all the children in her area, with no exception nor exclusion of those whose skin was a different color. In her words, as related to us, “ALL children must learn to read and to write!” She lived and treasured the Christian values she espoused.
Lizzie was the daughter of Isaac Davis, Jr. and Hannah Greatbatch. Our paternal Great Grandfather James Anderson Lightbourne was the son of Sarah Gibbons and John A. Lightbourne. He founded the lime burning business that Great Uncle George “Red” Lightbourne operated for 47 years.
We are most proud to look to Lizzie Lightbourne’s kind legacy as an example of how to live.
The photograph of Lizzie Lightbourne was taken on the Crawl Point property, where the wall still stands. It dates from the 1930’s.