Ida Lewis - A Little Brave Woman (8 photos)

In Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, the smallest state in America, stands a small lighthouse named after Ida Lewis, a fearless keeper who manned the outpost for over half a century. During that time, Ida Lewis is known to have saved countless lives.





Ida Lewis was born in 1842 in Newport, Rhode Island, the second oldest of four children of Captain Jose Lewis. She first came to Lime Rock in 1854, when her father was appointed lighthouse keeper. At first, the lighthouse was called Lime Rock and was a square granite tower with a lens and an oil-fired lantern.



To get to the lighthouse, Jose had to row 200 meters every day, which was not always possible, especially when the sea was rough. Therefore, in 1857, a two-story house was built for the keeper, and Ida and her family moved to the island.





Less than four months later, the girl's father suffered a stroke. After this, Ida, along with the other children, took on many of the lighthouse maintenance duties, including filling the lamp with oil at sunset and midnight, trimming the wick, cleaning the reflectors of carbon, and extinguishing the light at dawn. She also looked after the younger children, taking them to school every weekday and fetching supplies from the city. She was very skilled at rowing her heavy rowboat, and by the age of 15, Ida was known as the best swimmer in Newport.



For over twenty years, Ida helped her mother keep the light going until she was officially appointed keeper in 1879, earning a generous salary of $750 a year. For a time, Lewis was the highest paid lighthouse keeper in the country. The extra pay was given in recognition of her extraordinary service in going above and beyond the call of duty to save lives.



Ida made her first rescues when she was just 12 years old, pulling four people out of the water after their boat capsized. Her most famous rescue, for which she gained national fame, occurred in 1869, when she saved two soldiers during a winter storm. Ida's mother saw the men clinging to the overturned boat and woke her up.



When Ida reached the soldiers, one of them saw her and said in surprise, "She's just a girl." The soldier nearly fainted when Ida grabbed him by the hair and pulled him into her boat. They later gave Ida a gold watch as a token of their gratitude, and the people of Newport gave her a boat.

After her rescue in 1869, Ida's fame quickly spread, and she appeared in newspapers.



During her 54 years working at Lime Rock, she is credited with saving 18 lives, although unofficial estimates put the number at 25. Ida's last rescue came when she was 63 years old. A friend of hers was rowing toward the lighthouse, stood up in her boat, lost her balance, and fell into the water. Lewis swam to her and pulled the woman aboard.

In life, Lewis was called "the bravest woman alive," and her exploits were chronicled in the national press. Thousands of people came to the island to meet her. In one summer, Ida's father counted nine thousand guests. She also received numerous gifts, letters, and even marriage proposals, but she remained forever loyal to her lighthouse.



Ida Lewis died in 1911 after suffering a stroke. As Ida's body left the Lime Rock Lighthouse for the last time, her brother Rudolph said, "That's how poor Ida wanted to go; she didn't want to leave the lighthouse until she was over the line."

In 1924, the Rhode Island Legislature officially renamed Lime Rock to Ida Lewis Rock. Three years later, the lighthouse was automated, and finally deactivated in 1963.