Ida was awarded a gold watch from one of the rescued soldiers, as well as $218 from the military soldiers of Fort Adams. Before she could even throw on her shoes, Ida and her brother hoisted the men onto dry land and brought them to the lighthouse. While their young leader was lost to the waters, the soldiers survived by holding onto to the capsized vessel. Suddenly, a snowstorm hit the waters of the harbor and flipped the men’s boat. On that fateful day, soldiers Sergeant James Adams and Private John McLaughlin were traveling through Newport Harbor in a boat with a teenage guide. However, her most well-known rescue took place on March 29, 1869. That’s when the 12-year-old girl rescued four men were struggling in the water after their boat overturned. Lightkeeperīy the time that Lewis had become an official lighthouse keeper, she had already saved many lives.
At an annual salary of $750, Ida became the richest lighthouse keeper in America.
Ida’s appointment was made possible by the attempts of her secret admirer General Ambrose Everett Burnside. Then, her mom passed away from cancer in 1878, leaving Ida to become the official lighthouse keeper the following year. When asked her opinion about people who criticized her profession, Ida sassily replied “None – but a donkey, would consider it ‘un-feminine’, to save lives.” When her father died in 1873, Ida and her mother helped to keep the light alive. She enjoyed taking her little siblings to their school by boat every day and would volunteer to row into town for supplies. Therefore, Ida became an extremely good swimmer. Since Lime Rock Light was basically located on an island, its locals had to take a boat to reach the mainland. She even made sure to turn off the light every morning. Her daily tasks included packing the lamp with oil twice a day, snipping its wick, and scrubbing carbon off its reflectors. Since her dad was disabled, Ida was officially in charge of caring for her father and controlling the Lime Rock Light.
Several months after the family’s move, Ida’s father experienced a severe stroke. He and his family relocated to live at the lighthouse three years later. By 1854, Captain Lewis was designated to manage the Lime Rock Light in Newport. Their father, Captain Hosea Lewis, had served for the Revenue-Marine and was later appointed to the Lighthouse Service. Lewis and her three siblings were raised by a military sea official. Born Idawalley Zoradia Lewis in 1842, Ida was raised in Newport, Rhode Island.
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