Abbie Burgess Grant was a well-known, romantic figure in her
day, but Ida Lewis may have been the most famous of the lighthouse daughters.
Idawalley (Ida) Zorada Lewis’s father was appointed keeper
of the beacon on Lime Rock in 1853, but he did not move his family there until
1857, after the government constructed a dwelling on the tiny island. The
oldest of four children, Ida was 15 when they moved to the lighthouse.
Four months later, Ida’s father had a paralyzing stroke. Between
them, Ida and her mother managed both the lighthouse and a household that included
Ida’s paralyzed father and an invalid sister. Because of these responsibilities,
Ida did not have time to attend school. She did play an important role in
her siblings’ education, however.
The lighthouse was surrounded by water. The only way to make
the one-third mile trip to shore was by boat. Ida was already an excellent
swimmer, and she now became an excellent rower as she ferried her siblings to
and from school. She also picked up supplies when needed.
A newspaper article credited Ida’s father with this quote:
Again
and again I have seen the children from this window as they were returning from
school in some heavy blow, when Ida alone was with them, and old sailor that I
am, I felt that I would not give a penny for their lives, so furious was the
storm.
But Ida always got them home safely.
Ida’s rowing and swimming skills were to make her famous.
She is officially credited with saving 18 lives, but she kept no records and
the actual count is probably much higher.
The first recorded rescue occurred in 1858, when Ida was
sixteen. Four boys went out for a sail, and one of them decided to show off by
climbing to the top of the mast and rocking the boat back and forth. The boat
capsized, and the four youths struggled to hold on to the overturned boat. Ida
rowed over and pulled each of the four into her own boat.
Several of Ida’s rescues occurred when soldiers were
returning to Fort Adams after a night of too much drinking. It strained the
wiry Ida to pull these uncooperative men into her boat, but she never thought twice before helping them.
At one of those times, Ida was sick with a cold and was
warming her feet at the fire when her mother cried out that a boat had overturned. Ida ran to the soldiers’ aid without taking time to put on a coat or
shoes. With the help of a younger brother, she pulled two men into her boat in the middle of a snowstorm. She later received a Congressional medal for
this rescue.
Because the lighthouse was so close to shore, and with Ida’s
growing fame as a rescuer, tourists swarmed over the tiny island, interrupting the family's solitude and leaving litter
and destruction everywhere. Ida also had some famous visitors, including
President Ulysses S. Grant.
After a four-year engagement to William Wilson, Ida married him in 1870 and quickly regretted it. Although she never got a divorce, she
soon returned—alone—to Lime Rock.
Ida and her mother continued to keep the Lime Rock Light for
Ida’s father until his death in 1872, when Ida’s mother became the official
keeper. Ida received the appointment in 1879 and continued it until her death
in 1911.
* * * * *
For more information on Ida Lewis and Lime Rock Light
Station, see pages 42-48 of Mind the
Light, Katie and/or check out the following websites:
* * * * *
The illustration shows Ida Lewis on the cover of the July
31, 1869 issue of Harper’s Weekly.
No comments:
Post a Comment