The Graves of Harriet Colfax and Ann Hartwell

Harriet Colfax served as the keeper of the Michigan City, Indiana Lighthouse for 43 years, from 1861 until her retirement at age 80 in 1904. She received the appointment to the position through her cousin, Schuyler Colfax. At that time he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Living with Miss Colfax at the Michigan City Lighthouse was her lifelong companion, Miss Ann Hartwell. While often assumed by officials from the Michigan City Historical Society that Harriet Colfax never had a gravestone, further research has shown that "Ann and Tat" as their friends called them, are buried side-by-side in simple graves in Greenwood Cemetery.

Harriet Colfax was born in Ogdensburg, NY on December 3, 1824. While there she had worked as a voice and piano teacher. She moved to Michigan City in 1851 where she worked for her brother, Richard, founder and editor of The Michigan City Transcript, a local Whig newspaper. She served as his typesetter for a number of years. Upon his death she sought other work and appealed to her famous cousin, U. S. Congress Member Schuyler Colfax for assistance in gaining a patronage appointment in government service. It was in 1861 that he secured her the position of lighthouse keeper. (Anon, 1905a, 1905c; Clifford & Clifford, 1993; Stonehouse, 2001).

There was controversy surrounding Miss Colfax’s appointment in the patronage job. Her performance, however, won over any who doubted her abilities. Note the following from a newspaper article from 1881 titled “About the Lighthouse and Miss Colfax:

For nearly 30 years this warning signal has been under the care of a woman who in fair or foul weather during all this time has never once neglected the duty imposed on her in 1861 when she was appointed light keeper at this port through the influence of her cousin, Schuyler Colfax, afterwards vice president of the United States (under U. S. Grant). At that time Miss Harriet A. Colfax was a pleasant faced young woman of 25 with soft light brown hair and gray trustful eyes. Her petite figure seemed peculiarly unfitted for the position, and they were not wanting those who sneeringly remarked upon this, and hinted that if a wax doll had influential relatives it might just as well have been appointed light keeper at Mich. City as Miss Colfax. But time has disproved all these unkind statements and innuendoes, and after 30 years of continuous faithful service the verdict is unanimous that a wiser choice for so responsible a place could not have been made. (Anon, 1881)

For a period of forty-three years, Miss Colfax faithfully kept the Michigan City Light. Through all those years, she lived in the lighthouse with her lifetime companion, Miss Ann C. Hartwell. 

That Harriet Colfax and Ann Hartwell cohabited has never been contested. Details regarding their relationship, however, have been. A newspaper article dated September 12, 1881 stated the following:

After her brother died, Miss Colfax gave music lessons, and about this time she formed a life partnership with Miss Ann Hartwell, a bright cheery little school teacher of Mich. City, who is also a native of Ogdensburg, N. Y. For upwards of 33 yrs these little women have dwelt together in perfect harmony, their affection for each other being unmarred by a single cross word. Thoroughly unselfish, each has vied in her attentions to the other, they have lived as happily as two doves with no serpent in the form of man to create a discord in their lives. When Miss C. went to live at the light house, of course Miss Hartwell accompanied her, and altho this was not until 1861, the little ex-school teacher, for she had discontinued teaching, declares with a saucy toss of her frost touched curly hair, they have been lighthousekeeping together for 33 years notwithstanding. (Anon, 1881)

Miss Colfax and Miss Hartwell were active members of the Michigan City community. In the late 1800s, after twenty-five years of teaching, Ann Hartwell ran a newsstand and bookstore in downtown Michigan City. Her bookstore was known for not selling anything on Sundays. Out of the shop, she also ran Michigan City's first circulating library. In 1894, Miss Hartwell was a founding director of the Michigan City Branch of the Needlework Guild of America, an organization providing clothing to those in need. Miss Colfax and Miss Hartwell were supporters of the Library Association and construction of the Michigan City Library which opened to the public on October 9, 1897 (Anon, 1894; Michigan City Historical Society, 2012a).

Additional information from the archives of the Michigan City Historical Society/Old Lighthouse Museum indicates a deep intimacy and love shared by Miss Colfax and Miss Hartwell. Following is an excerpt from an article about Harriet Colfax, published in the Chicago Tribune on October 2, 1904, just prior to her retirement from the position she had held for forty-three years.

In the house of Miss Colfax, her confidante and companion of seventy years, lives Miss Ann Hartwell, a tiny, slim, blue eyed woman with curly gray hair, infinitely gentle, and like her aged comrade in many ways. Passing the four score milestone together, these two quaint, lovable spinsters have been bosom friends since the days of their childhood in Ogdensburg, N.Y. Miss Hartwell was a pioneer school teacher of northern Indiana, she taught three generations of its people, and when old age and failing health brought an end to her work she went to the lighthouse to pass away her final years with "Harriet." Here they lived for many years, clinging to the old fashioned habits and methods of half a century ago.

Winter and summer on Sunday mornings these two slow going, weary but dainty ladies can be seen wending away to church, arm in arm, dressed like the fashion plates of the ante-bellum days, smiling upon middle aged men and women who were their pupils forty years or more ago, cheering one another with gossip of the romances of the far time when they were themselves belles of the same town in which they are now ending their peaceful lives. There is something almost childlike in the tenderness with which the two cronies love one another.

           "We have never quarreled, Harriet and I," Miss Ann will say.

"And we never will, Ann," Miss Colfax will answer, taking the other's small, thin hand in hers. "Never! That is, unless you again insist on tending my light. That's one thing you or anyone else shall never do while I am lighthouse keeper."

And then the queer, guileless pair will laugh right heartily, smiling in each other's faces as though it were a merry topic. (Chicago Tribune, 1904)

Similarly, obituaries for both women who passed away within three months of each other speak to a deep and loving relationship. An obituary for Ann Hartwell published in a Mishawaka Indiana newspaper titled “Death Severs an Unique Companionship” noted that, “All these years the two estimable maiden ladies continued their beautiful companionship” (Anon, 1905b). The following was printed in Miss Hartwell’s obituary in the Michigan City Dispatch:

In her early life, in Ogdensburg, she formed warm attachments for a girl friend, Miss Harriet E. Colfax, which attachments grew to a sisterly love. Miss Colfax came to Michigan City in 1853 and when Miss Hartwell came in 1854, the friendship which began in Ogdensburg was continued and the two women became inseparable life companions. In 1861, when Miss Colfax was appointed keeper of the lighthouse at this port the two went to the lighthouse to live, and for nearly 50 years they have lived together as would two devoted sisters. In the summer of 1904, when changes in the light service at this harbor made it necessary to abandon the main light Miss Colfax, at her own bidding, resigned the keepership of the lights, and the two women, who by prudent management saved from their earnings a comfortable competency for the remainder of their lives, removed to the city, where they have since made their home. Miss Colfax, like her life companion, has been feeble in health for the past year or more, and at times it has been uncertain as to which would be the first to be called. Even at the hour of death of Miss Hartwell the death angel was beckoning to her companion and friends at her bedside watched with anxiety lest the slender thread be snapped and she too would answer the call. Her condition is serious and while it has been her heart's desire that she be spared to give the final care to her weaker sister, this prayer having been granted, friends fear that she too will answer the final summons. She fully realizes her condition and her desire now is that she and her companion of more than 50 years may be laid away together. (Anon, 1905d)

An obituary notice for Harriet Colfax printed in the New York Times notes, “Her companion, Miss Ann Hartwell, died two months ago, aged seventy years. Both were born in Ogdensburg, N.Y.” (Anon, 1905d).

It seems that after their passing, the story of Harriet Colfax and Ann Hartwell took some interesting turns. A Michigan City News article, “First Lighthouse Tower Built in 1858; Pioneer Woman Held Perilous Job,” dated September 1935, reported the following:

As the story runs, Miss Harriet E. Colfax secured the position from her first cousin, Schuyler Colfax, vice-president during the term of President U. S. Grant. Disappointed in love, she turned to her cousin to send her far away so that she might forget. (Anon, 1935)

This 1935 report has a major flaw in it. Specifically, it implies that she left Ogdensburg directly for the position at the Michigan City Lighthouse. However, as we already know, she moved to Michigan City ten years prior to acquiring the position as light keeper to work with her brother at the Michigan City Transcript. Interestingly, the article does, however, make mention of Ann Hartwell.

No story of Miss Colfax would be completed without describing her life long friend, Ann Hartwell, Michigan City school teacher and later proprietor of a news stand that would not sell papers on Sunday. Miss Hartwell lived with Miss Colfax for many years, and the two women, so different in personality in personality were alike in one thing—they were both pioneers, both did the unusual for women of their day.

Miss Hartwell’s independence was shown in her bobbed hair, sensational for that day and her strong will. In buying a hat it was said she followed the custom of selecting one that she could not shake off her head, as she could not use hat-pins as other women did.

She didn’t like onions and anyone in a room with Miss Hartwell who had eaten onions was asked firmly to leave. (Anon, 1935)

The 1935 statement that Harriet Colfax had been “disappointed in love” would crop up time and again in the 1950s and 1960s. A September 13, 1950 Michigan City News Dispatch article added a whole new layer of story in stating, “She was reported to have been ‘disappointed in love’ and took the lonely job of keeper much as another girl might enter a convent in similar circumstances” (Anon, 1950). Interestingly, in 1950, the statement made in 1935 is now in quotes. Even the title of the 1950 article implies a change in the collective memory of Harriet Colfax. Where previous articles portrayed her as a strong woman, the article, “History of Lighthouse Mirrors One Girl's Life: Harriet E. Colfax Tended 'the Light' More than 50 Years; Built in 1858” now is calling her a “girl.”

Another Michigan City News Dispatch article published on June 26, 1965 quoted the “disappointed in love” statement and added distance to the relationship that Harriet Colfax had with Ann Hartwell.

A man listed in Coast Guard Records only as Mr. Harrison was the first keeper. He lasted until April 1, 1861 when a house was attached to the lighthouse tower. At that time, Harriet E. Colfax, first cousin of the vice president under Grant took up lighthouse keeping, assisted by school-teacher Ann Hartwell. Miss Colfax reportedly was “disappointed in love,” and took the lonely job in much the same way another girl might enter a convent. (Kaske, 1965)

Anon. 1881. "About the lighthouse and Miss Colfax." September 12, 1881.

Anon. 1894. "The Needlework Guild: A branch organized in this city." Michigan City Dispatch, June 11, 1894.

Anon. 1905. "And another old resident answers death's call and passes away quietly: Forty years in the lighthouse." Michigan City Dispatch, 1905.

Anon. 1905. "Miss Ann Hartwell: One of Michigan City's oldest and well known residents called to her final rewardafter a lingering illness--Hers was an active life identified with the history of the city." Michigan City Dispatch, 1905.

Anon. 1905. "Death severs an unique companionship." January 27, 1905.

Anon. 1905. "Obituary: Miss Harriette E. Colfax." New York Times, April 17, 1905.

Anon. 1905. "Gone to her reward: The venerable Harriet E. Colfax passes away." Michigan City Dispatch, April 20, 1905.

Anon. 1935. "First lighthouse tower built in 1858; Pioneer woman held perilous job." Michigan City News, September, 1935.

Anon. 1950. "History of lighthouse mirrors one girl's life: Harriet E. Colfax tended 'the Light' more than 50 years; Built in 1858." Michigan City News Dispatch, September 13, 1950.

Kaske, B. 1965. "Lights have guided lake ships." Michigan City News Dispatch, June 26, 1965.

Michigan City Historical Society. 2012. "Michigan City lighthouse history." Michigan City Historical Society, Inc." Old Lighthouse Museum. Accessed November 4. http://oldlighthousemuseum.org/lighhouse_history.html.

Michigan City Historical Society. 2012. "Harriet Colfax and Ann Hartwell." Michigan City Historical Society. Last Modified September 12, 2012. Accessed December 7. http://oldlighthousemuseum.org/colfax_hartwell.html.

Michigan City Public Library. 2013. "175 years in Michigan City, Indiana." Michigan City Public Library. Accessed November 4. http://www.mclib.org/175years/chronology.html.