Elizabeth Williams Champney
| Elizabeth Williams Champney | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elizabeth J. Williams February 6, 1850 Springfield, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | October 13, 1922 (aged 72) Seattle, Washington |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Vassar College |
| Period | 1876–1921 |
| Spouse | James Wells Champney (1873–1903) |
| Children | 2 |
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Williams Champney (February 6, 1850 – October 13, 1922) was an American writer of numerous articles and novels, most of which featured foreign locations. Her novels were originally directed mainly at young girls, including the "Witch Winnie" series and the "Vassar Girls Abroad" series, but she later wrote romantic semi-fictional fables of castles, such as The Romance of the Feudal Chäteaux (1899). She was the wife of artist James Wells Champney.
Champney was born Elizabeth Johnson Williams in Springfield, Ohio, on February 6, 1850. Her parents, who were abolitionists, moved the family to Kansas Territory in her youth, to join the fight against the spread of slavery to Kansas. After the Civil War, she attended the Seminary for Young Ladies in Lexington, Massachusetts, where the artist James Wells Champney was her drawing instructor. She completed her education at Vassar College, where she received her A.B. in 1869, a member of the second class of Vassar graduates.
After graduation she returned to Kansas, to Kansas State Agricultural College in Manhattan, Kansas, where she served as Secretary for the college and the first instructor of drawing at the school.
While living in Kansas, she was engaged to be married to a farmer. However, the marriage apparently never took place, and in May 1873, she instead married James Wells Champney – her former drawing instructor – who happened to be traveling through Manhattan, Kansas, as part of a trip through the Louisiana Purchase to illustrate an article entitled The Great South by Edward King for Scribner’s Monthly. For the next three years, the new couple traveled through the southern United States, and then Europe, before settling on the East Coast. Her first published piece, a poem, was published six months after her marriage.
In 1876, Elizabeth and James Wells Champney returned to the United States and settled in Deerfield, Massachusetts. In addition to their house in Deerfield, the couple also acquired a home in New York City in 1879, where James Wells Champney opened a fashionable studio at 96 Fifth Avenue. Elizabeth and James Wells Champney also continued to make frequent trips to Europe and other foreign locations, including North Africa, which provided material for both of their work.
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