Elsie Singmaster (Lewars) was an O Henry and Newberry award winning author of short stories and books during the first half of the twentieth century. Singmaster is well known for her stories about the Pennsylvania Germans from whom she descended on her father’s side. A resident of Gettysburg from 1900-1958, she also wrote widely about the Battle of Gettysburg. In 1907, she was graduated from Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Singmaster was a lifelong Lutheran. She worshipped at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Gettysburg and served broadly in church and community leadership capacities. She wrote Martin Luther, The Story of His Life in 1917 to help celebrate the Lutheran-sponsored Quadra centennial of the Reformation. Singmaster was the daughter of John Alden Singmaster, professor and president at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg from 1900 until his death in 1926.
-Susan Colestock Hill