Eliza Tibbets | |
|---|---|
 Eliza Tibbets in Los Angeles | |
| Born | Eliza Maria Lovell August 5, 1823 Cincinnati, Ohio, United States |
| Died | 1898 (aged 74–75) Summerland, California, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Activist, horticulturalist |
| Known for | Introducing hybrid Washington navel orange trees in California. |
Eliza Tibbets (born Eliza Maria Lovell; 1823–1898) was among early American settlers and founders of Riverside, California; she was an activist in Washington, D.C., for progressive social causes, including freedmen's rights and universal suffrage before going to the West Coast. A spiritualist, she led seances in Riverside. She became known for successfully growing the first two hybrid Washington navel orange trees in California.
Married three times, she had a relationship with Luther C. Tibbets, living with him in Virginia and moving with him from Washington, D.C., to California in the early 1870s. They married there and lived by agriculture. Her success with the navel orange contributed to adoption by farmers of this variety of orange tree and rapid expansion of the citrus industry and the historic cultural landscape of orange groves in California.[1][2]
- ^ California State Parks, California Citrus State Historic Park. (Sacramento: 2002)
- ^ U.S. Congress. House, Congressman Ketnner of CA Remarks on the Washington Navel Orange Anniversary Celebration, Cong. Rec. 63rd Cong. 2d Sess. (3 Sep. 1914), 3.