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| | |age = 100 | | |age = 100 |
| | |status = Deceased | | |status = Deceased |
| − | |relatives = '''Mother:''' [[Mabel Simpson]]<br>'''Father:''' [[Hiram Simpson]]<br>'''Stepfather:''' [[Virgil Simpson]]<br>'''Half brother:''' [[Abraham Simpson I]]<br>'''Husband:''' [[Milford Van Houten]] | + | |relatives = '''Mother:''' [[Mabel Simpson]]<br>'''Father:''' [[Hiram Simpson]]<br>'''Half-brother:''' [[Abraham Simpson I]]<br>'''Husband:''' [[Milford Van Houten]] |
| | |appearance = "[[The Color Yellow]]" | | |appearance = "[[The Color Yellow]]" |
| | |voiced by = [[Yeardley Smith]] | | |voiced by = [[Yeardley Smith]] |
Latest revision as of 15:22, March 14, 2025
- For the Eliza Simpson appearing in "Treehouse of Horror XV", see Eliza Simpson (Treehouse of Horror XV).
| Eliza Simpson
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| Character Information
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Eliza Van Houten (née Simpson) was an ancestor of Lisa Simpson (her great-great-great grandaunt) who helped a man named Virgil get on the Underground Railroad.
History[edit]
When Lisa was researching the history of the Simpson family for a school project, she found the diary of Eliza Simpson. Reading the diary, Lisa saw that Eliza went to rescue a slave from Colonel Burns, who turned out to be Virgil Simpson. Eliza told Virgil that she was there to rescue him and take him north, pointing in the direction she thought was north. Virgil told her, "I don't think so," and when Eliza complained, asking if it was because she was young and a woman, Virgil told her it was because she was pointing south. Virgil and Eliza then ran off in the correct direction while being chased by two patrollers.
Unfortunately for Lisa, the diary crumbled to dust after this part of the story. After going to the Springfield Library, Lisa and Marge were given a cookbook by Mabel Simpson, the mother of Eliza, called Mabel's Table: A Cookbook. In the footnotes of one of the recipes, Mabel continued the story, which Eliza had told her. Eliza and Virgil couldn't outrun the patrollers, who were on horses, so they went to a traveling circus where they joined as temporary acts. Virgil became a clown, and Eliza became a bearded lady. Eventually, they managed to make it back to Eliza's house. Eliza's father, Hiram, was initially against the idea of having an escaped slave stay with them but agreed when Virgil baked him "wheel cakes." In the present, Lisa was happy that it turned out Eliza had successfully rescued Virgil.
After giving the report at the Black History Month presentations, Milhouse called out Lisa's story as lies, as he had the diary of his ancestor, Milford Van Houten. Milford apparently overheard that Colonel Burns had tracked Virgil down to the Simpsons and demanded that Hiram tell him where he was. He bribed Hiram with a "nice surprise," and Eliza reluctantly agreed to stay out of it as Hiram told Colonel Burns that Virgil was in the turnip shed.
Feeling down about Eliza betraying Virgil, Lisa tried to find anything that told her the next part of the story. She found an old video of Eliza at 100 years old, where she said she regretted holding her tongue, and the head pat that Burns gave her had haunted her for her entire life. In the background of the video was a picture of Eliza and Milford Van Houten on their wedding day.[1]
Non-canon[edit]
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The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened or existed.
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Milford Van Houten apparently held onto the opinion that Eliza was a terrible person for betraying Virgil, despite marrying her.[2]
Appearances[edit]
References[edit]
Episode – "The Color Yellow" 
Video game – The Simpsons: Tapped Out (mentioned)
