In this undated photograph, Ettie Hedges Pennypacker (1879-1970) stands in a farmyard in a long pale dress. The dress is anachronistic, a simple Empire style popular into the 1820s but out of fashion during her lifetime. Perhaps she is in costume for a party, such as the ones she attended at Home, Sweet Home or the state historians conference.
Ettie was born Esther Cartwright Hedges, the youngest of five children, to Mary Baker Hedges (1839-1927) and William Huntting Hedges (1839-1905). The family lived at 189 Main Street, where they operated a farm. Ettie graduated from East Hampton High School with the school’s first graduating class in 1895. In 1898, before the current East Hampton Library building existed, Ettie became the first librarian for the East Hampton Free Library. Until that point, the library had been run exclusively by volunteers. Ettie continued as librarian for 56 years.
Ettie was active in many community organizations, including St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, the Ladies Missionary Society, and the Ramblers Literary Society. Despite her many social activities, Ettie remained unmarried until late in life, which was unusual at the time. As a librarian, however, she became quite close with Morton Pennypacker, a county and town historian. Morton relocated to East Hampton from Queens, and in 1930 he donated his own extensive archives and library collection to establish what is now the Long Island Collection.
In 1936, when Ettie was 57 and Morton was 64, they married. Most of the community had assumed neither would ever marry, and for many years the union remained a popular topic for old-timers to remark about.
Ettie retired as librarian when Morton grew ill and did not return to the job following his death in 1956. They had no children, but Ettie doted on her nieces, one of whom lived with her as a companion until her death in 1970.
To this day, portraits of Ettie and Morton hang in the Long Island Collection, keeping watch over the library that brought them together. An honorary organization established in their names, the Pennypacker Society, continues to benefit the library.
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Moriah Moore is a librarian and archivist in the Long Island Collection at the East Hampton Library.
