WHITNEY, Etta Marilla
WHITNEY, Etta Marilla (1861-1950), born in Michigan and often misidentified as sister of Santa Catalina Island owner George Shatto. She is credited with the naming of Avalon. Etta Marilla Tichnor married Edwin J. Whitney in 1885 in Flint, Michigan. They had sons:
- Walter Ticknor Whitney (1888-1977), professor of astronomy at Pomona College;
- Forest Lawn Cemetery, Los Angeles
- Edwin Pascal Whitney (1896-1948)
- Forest Lawn Cemetery, Los Angeles
Etta Whitney came to Los Angeles in the late 1880s with her husband, Edwin, to work with her brother-in-law, George Shatto, to develop Santa Catalina Island. Initially called Shatto City, she changed the name to Avalon.
Etta Marilla Whitney died on March 27, 1950. She is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Los Angeles.
In the News~
May 19, 1931 [LAT]: “Pioneer of Catalina dies. Edwin J. Whitney, who began island residence forty-four years ago, passes here. Edwin J. Whitney, who went to Catalina Island as a resident forty four years ago when his brother-in-law, George Shatto, owned it, superintended the first construction work done there, became the first president of the freeholders of Avalon, sat as the island's first justice of the peace and helped established the first church, died yesterday at the age of 79 years at his Los Angeles home, 440 South Arden Blvd. When Mr. Whitney took his young wife there in 1887 the island was d destination of far adventure. Comfortable steamers did not make swift journeys, as now. A stretch of sea which was not always easy to navigate, because of the lack of adequate vessels, lay between it and the mainland. Mr. Whitney had married three years before at Flint, Mich. His bride was Etta M. Tecknor and they had started west to make their home. Arriving on the Coast, the young couple took steamer for Catalina where Mr. Whitney's sister, as Mrs. George Shatto, had preceded him. The arrivals found plenty of work awaiting them. When the city of Avalon was created, it was Mrs. Whitney who named it. The streets of the city were named after the Whitney family. Mr. and Mrs. Whitney helped establish the Congregational Church and Mr. Whitney built and operated the Glenmore Hotel. In 1914 he and his wife moved to Claremont and in 1915 transferred their residence to Los Angeles... ”
