Key West in Monroe County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Elisabetha Merklin Knight Beiglett Smith

1828 - 1898

— Key West Historic Memorial Sculpture Garden —

Elisabetha Merklin Knight Beiglett Smith Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Brandon D Cross, May 4, 2023

1. Elisabetha Merklin Knight Beiglett Smith Marker

Inscription. In 1846 Elisabetha Merklin left home in Oberhausen, Germany and sailed for Tampa, Florida to live with an uncle. According to her passport, carried in a tube around her neck, she was a citizen in good standing. The passport said she was leaving for America and was given the right to return to Germany at any time. The ship, carrying her to Tampa, wrecked on the Florida Keys reef, and she was rescued by Key West wrecker Peter Knight. In 1849 she married her rescuer. Peter Knight, died two years later in 1851. In 1852, Mary Elizabeth, her Americanized name, married Russian sea Captain Augustus Beiglett. Beiglett unfortunately died in 1855. In 1858, she married Joseph Henry Smith, a seaman from New York. She also outived Joseph Smith who died in 1883. Between marriages, she supported her children by making and selling cheese and noodles and running a boarding house. Mary Elizabeth died in 1898, and at her request, was buried with her first love Peter T. Knight. She was a true pioneer woman who arrived on the Island as so many did by shipwreck. Her children, numbering nine in all, went on to establish some of the leading families

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on the island.
Donated by
The Families
and
The District I Advisory Committee
of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council

Erected by The District I Advisory Committee of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Settlements & Settlers • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1846.

Location. 24° 33.586′ N, 81° 48.41′ W. Marker is in Key West, Florida, in Monroe County. It can be reached from the intersection of Wall Street and Tifts Street. The marker is located within the Key West Historic Memorial Sculpture Garden. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 401 Wall Street, Key West FL 33040, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on the Florida Keys.

It is also in the American South

and on the Gulf Coast.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one

Photographed by Brandon D Cross, May 4, 2023

2. Elisabetha Merklin Knight Beiglett Smith Marker

of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Charles Helberg (here, next to this marker); Ellen Russell Mallory (here, next to this marker); Captain Edward "Bra" Saunders (here, next to this marker); Peter Roberts (here, next to this marker); Stephen R. Mallory (here, next to this marker); John Watson Simonton (here, next to this marker); Maria Valdez Gutsens (here, next to this marker); Julius F. Stone (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Key West.

Also see . . . The Key West Sculpture Garden – Where History Meets Art. (Submitted on May 15, 2023, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 15, 2023, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 731 times since then and 49 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 15, 2023, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.