Who is ida lewis

Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Jone Johnson Lewis. Women's History Writer. Jone Johnson Lewis is a women's history writer who has been involved with the women's movement since the late s.

She is a former faculty member of the Humanist Institute. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Lewis, Jone Johnson. Biography of Ida B. Biography of Edmonia Lewis, American Sculptor. Celebrities Who Attended Private School. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo. Yes and do it too, when the sea is breaking over her! Ida, who was suffering from a cold, sprang from her feet, leaving a cozy fire, and rushed from the dwelling without grabbing a coat.

Two soldiers had started from Newport to Fort Adams under the guidance of a small boy, when their craft was swamped in the harbor. The boy perished soon after the vessel capsized, but the soldiers clung to the upset boat until they were rescued by Ida. The grateful soldiers sent her a gold watch, and the townspeople of Newport gave her a boat, christened Rescue , the following Independence Day, which was declared Ida Lewis Day.

Grace Darling was a famous English heroine who helped her father rescue nine people from a shipwreck in the North Sea. Susan B. Anthony, who dedicated her life to woman suffrage, twice praised the contemporary Ida in her journal. Grant in In , she became the first female to receive the gold medal for heroism from the Carnegie Foundation. In , she was awarded a gold medal from the United States Lifesaving Service for saving two soldiers from Fort Adams.

The two men had been walking across the frozen harbor back to Fort Adams from town when they broke through the ice. Hearing their calls for help, Ida ran across the ice and pulled them to safety with a clothesline. He can do anything you know. Besides medals and a gold watch, Ida was also the recipient of a flag, a sewing machine, a silver teapot, and numerous marriage proposals.

Ida married Captain William Wilson in , but they separated after a short time. Ida Lewis remained keeper until , when her brother Rudolph found the seventy-two-year-old Ida lying on the floor in her bedroom. A doctor was summoned to the station from Newport, but Ida passed away two days later.

Jansen, who had previously been keeper of the North Hook Beacon at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, arrived in Newport with his wife, who shortly thereafter gave birth to a baby girl. She then returned and hauled the frightened, wet sheep into her boat. Again, little recognition came to her. Finally, a rescue in brought Ida widespread attention.

It was not uncommon for Fort Adams solders on liberty to seek an easier way back to their quarters than hoofing it from Thames Street all the way to the fort to the west. A 14 year old boy joined them in the boat, guiding them across the harbor. The boat capsized, tossing the boy into the water. The soldiers fell out too, but clung to the overturned skiff. The U. Coast Guard 21 KB.

She called for her daughter. Ida had a bad cold, but that did not stop her. Failing to even put on a coat or shoes, she and her brother Hosey launched the lighthouse boat. With considerable effort, they reached the struggling soldiers and Ida managed to pull them aboard. The boy, sadly, had drowned. One of the grateful men presented her with a gold watch. Other tributes arrived. He expressed the thanks of his men. General Hunt added that his officers and men had taken up a collection to make her a gift.

Young women began to copy the style of the scarf. She started to receive awards. VIPs clamored to see her. American now had her own heroine to compare to the internationally famous Grace Darling in England.

In , Grace Darling, the daughter of the keeper of Longstone Light, spotted a steamship that was breaking up within sight of the lighthouse. The paddle steamer had run aground on the Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland in northeast England. Grace and her father, risking dangerous seas, rescued five survivors. The daring event earned Grace international fame. Sadly, she died of tuberculosis in at the age of She received a number of medals for her heroism over the years, often accompanied by a cash award.

Never one to bask in fame, she put the awards away in a box in her room. Although Ida was a member of the working class and in no way an equal of the wealthy elites of Newport, the city did the year old heroine proud. It had been purchased with funds raised from donors, large and small, including President Ulysses Grant.

Surrounded by dignitaries, the dory boat, named Rescue , was paraded through the streets. Everyone marveled at its beauty: feet long and made of cedar, black walnut and oak, it also sported plush dark red cushions and four oars made from walnut.

All the fittings were polished copper. This was not the kind of working boat that Ida would use and it must have been overwhelming for her to see it. Ida Lewis Day was a hot and humid. The flowery speeches from dignitaries droned on. Ida had no intention of herself speaking in front of an audience. She had never done it and she never would.

When it came time for her to accept the dory, Ida asked Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson to speak on her behalf. After the war, he had made Newport his home. Higginson said in part:. I am requested by Miss Lewis to return thanks in her name to the donors, and to the citizens of Newport. She receives the boat with pleasure not alone as an earnest representation of the good feeling of her fellow citizens, but also as a means of doing a little more hereafter, if the occasion should come….

Mercifully, around 3 p. With cannon saluting her, she rowed back across the harbor to Lime Rock. Once on her small island, Ida quickly realized she had no place to shelter her new boat. Steamship magnate and financial speculator, Jim Fisk, donated the cost of a small boathouse.

They ranged from the rich and famous to everyday people. Tributes and gifts poured in, along with numerous offers of marriage. When he came to Newport, his schedule was very crowded. Still, he insisted on meeting Ida.

He was reputedly warned that he might get wet if he visited Lime Rock. Ida came to him. Dutifully, Ida boarded her beautiful dory Rescue and rowed across to Long Wharf, where she met both the president and his wife, Julia Grant. But, she must have figured, the president would want to look at Rescue. Witnesses said the meeting was brief, but sincere.

That same summer, Vice President Schuyler Colfax paid a surprise visit. The vice-president and Ida had a pleasant conversation. Oddly, as he was leaving, Colfax asked Ida if she was engaged. His point was that if she married, she would lose her maiden name and likely her fame.

As it happens, she had been quietly engaged about three years. Wilson became smitten with the local light keeper and pressed his courtship; Ida obliged. They were married on October 23, , in Newport. William was off at sea much of the time. Ida spent her days alone looking wistfully at nearby Fayerweather lighthouse and thinking of Lime Rock. Ida was miserable. After barely two years, she returned to Lime Rock Light, never to have another residence. She had become a devout Christian and, consistent with her views, never divorced William.

But she returned to her maiden name although she kept Wilson as her middle name. She never spoke publicly of her husband again. He was 68 years old. Ida diligently took up her duties. Visitors arrived, mostly to meet a celebrity.

In , Ida saved three soldiers whose boat had run on the rocks between the light and Fort Adams. This time, Ida became quite ill after the rescue. It took several months of rest before she regained her strength.

Ida began both caring for her ailing sister and assisting her mother more in her duties.. Her mother was being paid to tend the lighthouse, although she was never formally appointed.

The elder Ida died of cancer the following year, in In , her younger brother Hosey, married and spent the rest of his life as a teamster in Newport.

The government let things ride, simply paying Ida for her work. The news media took note that the government had not formally recognized Ida as keeper. Two drunken Fort Adams soldiers taking a short cut across the ice-covered harbor hit a thin patch and the ice gave way.

On her way out, she called to her brother Rud to help her.