ELLIOTT, Lyman P. & Edna
ELLIOTT, Lyman Perley (1892-1949) [SS#557-30-8546] and his wife, Bertha Edna (1882-1967), moved to San Nicolas Island in March of 1929 as caretakers for Robert L. Brooks, who in turn leased the island through a contract with Ed Vail. The Elliotts were to watch over the herd 1200 sheep kept on the island. Also with them was Edna’s teenage son by another marriage, Milton Prentice, who helped guard the sheep from offshore poachers. Milton and Lyman built a small shack at the exposed east end of the island, which was subsequently used as a lookout station and guardhouse. Milton frequently stayed in the shack while watching for poachers. He was involved in a shooting incident in which fisherman, Steve Semerenko was killed. After this incident, the Elliotts convinced their daughter Margaret, and her husband Roy E. Agee to move to San Nicolas Island to help with the sheep opertion. Thus the Agees moved to the island with their daughter, Frances in late 1929.
The Elliotts are buried in Downey District Cemetery, Los Angeles County.
| ISLAND | COLLECTOR | INSTITUTION | DATE | NUMBER | SPECIMEN | DEPARTMENT |
| San Nicolas Island | Lyman Elliott | MVZ | January 1929 | UCLA-18297 | Urocyon littoralis dickeyi | Mammals |
| San Nicolas Island | Lyman Elliott | MVZ | January 11, 1931 | MVZ-47295 | Urocyon littoralis dickeyi | Mammals |
| San Nicolas Island | Lyman Elliott | MVZ | January 23, 1931 | MVZ-47296 | Urocyon littoralis dickeyi | Mammals |
| San Nicolas Island | Lyman Elliott | MVZ | Winter 1931 | MVZ-55005 | Urocyon littoralis dickeyi | Mammals |
| San Nicolas Island | Lyman Elliott | MVZ | Winter 1931 | MVZ-55006 | Urocyon littoralis dickeyi | Mammals |
In the News~
Jan 26, 1932 [LAT]: “Four Voters in Quandry on Their Isle. L. P. Elliott, one of the four residents of San Nicolas Island off the Ventura coast, has written to County Clerk Hallowell asking whether the residents of the wind-swept island can register by mail and if it is necessary to come to the mainland to vote in the general election. Elliott said it was impossible for all the island residents to come to the mainland at once to vote and that the cost would be prohibitive.”
June 11, 1934 [Revocable License]: “…Whereas, E. N. Vail disposed of his sheep, horses, equipment and other improvements on said Government reservation to R. E. Agee and L. P. Elliott, who are now, and for more than five years past have been, occupying Government reservation; and whereas the term of occupancy expires July 31, 1934… Now Therefore, in consideration of the premises, the Secretary of the Navy hereby grants to R. E. Agee and L. P. Elliott permission to occupy the Naval Reservation, San Nicolas Island, California, for grazing purposes from August 1, 1934.”
May 23, 1935 [LAT]: “Woman Collapses on Patrol Vessel. While coming to the mainland from her lonely sheep ranch on San Nicolas Island, seventy miles south¬west of the harbor, Mrs. Bertha E. Elliott. 50 years of age, collapsed on a Coast Guard patrol boat yesterday. At San Pedro Emergency Hospital surgeons expressed belief she had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. She was accompanied by her daughter, Mrs. Roy E. Agee.”
