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Ida Lewis: The Heroine
Death of Ida Lewis
(October 24, 1911)
Fatal Illness Probably Due to Worry Over Department Reports
Story of the Life and Daring Deeds of
a Heroine known the world over
Ida Lewis is dead, the end coming peacefully about 8 o'clock Tuesday evening, without a return of consciousness after the first few moments of the stroke. The funeral will be from the Thames Street Methodist Episcopal Church, where Mrs. Wilson had been a member for many years and was formerly a regular attendant upon its services. Recently she had been unable often to attend church.
That the present methods of the lighthouse department were in a large measure responsible for the shock there is no question in the minds of her most intimate friends. For months she has been troubled over the return of reports with some little notation from a department clerk that she was not following strictly the new order of things, and with it a circular censure. Her friends and some of those versed in department methods tried to convince her that the error was a slight one and the censure impersonal, forwarded by some minor clerk. She could not look at these printed forms in that way, but felt that she had made grave errors and that the stamped name of the high department officials meant that she was neglectful in her duties and in disgrace. She brooded over the return of documents from the department and for months had been in a highly nervous state because of her worrying. For one who had received praise for her deeds in years gone by it seemed only natural to those who knew her that anything which suggested censure would greatly disturb her.
She tried to do her full duty to the last and in the minds of those who knew the history of her service it was realized that really to censure her or to discharge her from the service would require more than the act of a minor department clerk, or in fact much higher officials. Because of her heroic deeds Congress made her the highest salaried light keeper in this part of the country, and it is say to say that Congress would not permit her displacement by a board to stand so long as it could be proved that under her care the light was kept burning as required.
It is understood that the deceased has not left a will and that what she had of late years she held much in common with her brother. It is a quarter of a century since her husband has been heard from and whether he is living or dead appears to be unknown. So far as she expressed desires regarding her property from time to time, and they can be remembered by her brother, they will be carry out to the letter unless complications arise to prevent. Mrs. Wilson had a long expressed a desire that upon her death her medals, letters, boat and keepsakes should go to the Newport Historical Society and such disposition will probably be made of them.
Mrs. Wilson was the second of four children of Captain Hosea and Ida-Walley Zorada (Willey) Lewis and was born in this city February 25, 1842. Her father was a native of Hingham, Mass and her mother the daughter of Dr. Aaron C. Willey of Block Island. Captain Lewis, bred to the sea, served for a long period as marine and coast pilot, being for 12 years pilot of the revenue cutter stationed at Newport. He was later appointed keeper of the light beacon on Lime Rock, then a mere sentry box. Residing on the corner of Brewer and Spring Streets in the City, for three years he went to the Beacon twice a day to set and extinguish the light. When the present house was build, Capt. Lewis took his family to reside there.
Ida was then 15 years old, and she had little schooling after that. Her father within four months was prostrated by a paralytic stroke, which left him a helpless invalid and a mere wreck of his former self. A large share of the work of the household and the care of the lighthouse fell upon the shoulders of the mother and the elder daughter. While the mother tended the light and performed all the duties of keeper and of her household, the daughter, Ida rowed daily to and from the city to secure provisions, to carry her sister and brother to school, and thus acquired a skill in the use of the boat and oars which stood her in good stead in her work of saving nearly a score of persons from drowning in Newport harbor.
Captain Lewis, although a paralytic, was retained as keeper of Lime Rock Light 25 years dying in 1872. The widow was then appointed keeper and in 1879 Ida was made assistant, by special act of Congress, and in 1887 succeeded her mother as keeper. During these past 24 years she has had sole charge of the light. She was assisted by her brother, but the entire responsibility was in her hands and never did she fail in the performances of her duties until stricken by her fatal illness, then falling as she was about the extinguish the light in the morning.
Amid all the honors and attentions given her was modest and little inclined to talk of her deeds, and rarely did so except when drawn into it through conversation. A writer, speaking of a visit to her home, in October, 1869, said "Ida met us at the door, as different a being from what our expectations of a possibly over flattered and consequently spoiled girl might be imagined. There was neither assumption nor affectation in her manner. She apologized simply for the everyday working garb, of plainest fashion and material, in which she was clothed, saying frankly that she was trying to help mother and get a little washing done. She talked pleasantly and without constraint, but, unlike the world in general, seemed more fluent upon any theme than herself."
In 1879 Miss Lewis married William H. Wilson of Black Rock, Conn., but her married life was not a happy one and soon returing to her home here she had not heard of her husband for more than 25 years.
Ida Lewis's rescues date back to September, 1859, when she saved from drowning four sons of summer residents who had been capsize from their boat in the harbor. In February, 1866, a soldier from Fort Adams was rescued. the following January she brought ashore three sheep herders, who had followed their sheep into the water from the shore opposite the lighthouse. In November, 1867 two soldiers were saved and in March 1869, Sergeant Adams of Private McLoughlin were saved.
This was the most daring rescue of all. Sergeant Adams and his companion had started in a small boat from Newport and when hear Fort Adams the craft was struck by a squall and overturned. The sea was heavy, the weather extremely cold and snow was falling. The cries of the men clinging to the boat were heard at the lighthouse and Ida Lewis, then 28 years old, started in her rowboat alone to the rescue. It was a long pull, but the brave woman kept at her task and after a struggle reached the boat, took the men from the water, almost exhausted and frozen, and returned to the lighthouse, where they were nursed back to life.
The news of the rescue was sent to all parts of the world and Newport became famous because of its famous heroine, who was soon known as the 'Grace Darling of America.' Not only in the Newspapers and illustrated weeklies were printed accounts of the rescue, but public recognition came from various sources.
First the Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York sent, May 5, through its president, Royal Phelps, the society's silver medal and a check for $100.00 "to mark its appreciation of your humanity and heroism."
May 31 the General Assembly of Rhode Island adopted resolutions stating that "this General Assembly desires to recognize officially the heroism of Ida Lewis of Newport, in repeatedly saving the lives of drowning men, at the risk of her own, and we are proud that one of our citizens, by her courage and humanity has won the admiration of the whole country."
Next came a letter from Major General Henry J. Hunt, commanding the Fifth regiment, United States Artillery, and the garrison of Fort Adams, which read as follows: "Will you please accept the enclosed amount ($218) contributed by the officers and soldiers stationed at Fort Adams, as a token of their appreciation of you conduct in rescuing from drowning Sergeant Adams and Private McLoughlin of the Fifth regiment, U.S. Artillery, on the twenty-ninth of March 1869."
Soon a movement was started in the city to make a public recognition of Miss Lewis's heroism. A subscription was opened and in a short time enough money was subscribed to purchase a new boat. Thomas D. Stoddard built it as he well knew how to build boats, and the presentation took place Saturday, July 4, 1869, and was a prominent feature of the municipal Forth of July celebration, the boat having a prominent place in the parade in the morning. A great number of persons were present to witness the ceremony and listen to the address.
Francis Brinley made the presentation in behalf of the donors, in which he said: "This boat has none of the glitter and pretense of the silver-oared barge of Cleopatra which floated on the Cydnus like a burnished throne, but it comes to you rich in artistic skill and freighted with the kindest wishes of the inhabitants of Newport. On behalf of the donors, and as their honored representative I commit it to your care, knowing who well and wisely it will be used and managed by the Heroine of Lime Rock, whose name and exploits will be preserved by tradition so long as any portion of the shores of Rhode Island shall be washed by the waters of Narragansett."
Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, in behalf of Miss Lewis, responded, saying in the course of his speech: " Miss Lewis desires me to say that she has never made a speech in her life and does not expect to begin now. She has worked out the problem of woman's rights in a different manner. She has been accustomed to assuming the right of helping her fellow-men without asking any question. She receives this boat with pleasure, not alone as an earnest of the good feeling of her fellow citizens, but also as a means of doing a little more hereafter, if occasion should come in the same direction. Miss Lewis is grateful to you for your acknowledgment of what seemed to her a simple act of duty, and she is more grateful to the Divine Providence which enabled her to do what she hopes never to have to do again."
William P. Sheffield then presented a silver rudder yoke from the Narragansett Boat Club of Providence, and a set of colors from the officers of Steamer City of Newport was presented by Captain Kenny, the pilot of the boat.
The crowd gave three cheers for Ida Lewis, and later in the afternoon the boat was launched at Long Wharf. Probably 1,000 people were present to witness the affair and the enthusiasm manifested was equal to anything of the kind during the day. The boat was brought forward and placed on the platform, when the heroine of Lime Rock took her place in it and had her photograph taken. This over, the boat was place upon the water, when Miss Lewis sprang in and started for her home on Lime Rock amid the cheers of the spectators, who occupied every inch of available space. A salute was also fired in honor of the event.
"Miss Lewis struck out with bold and yet easy strokes of her oars, making her way through the numerous boats that covered the waters in a manner that showed her to be master of the situation. When she had gone a little way she waved her handkerchief in response to the demonstrations on shore, and then quietly proceeded on her way. The whole was a very pleasant affair and passed off to the satisfaction of everybody concerned."
On the Monday following this presentation James Fisk, Jr. president of the Narragansett Steamboat Company and Jay Gould of New York visited Lime Rock and were introduced by Collector Seth W. Macy to Miss Lewis as Mr. Fisk expressed a desire to have a boathouse erected for the protection of the beautiful lately presented her, the offer was accepted and Mr. Fisk asked Collector Macy to attend to the construction of the building, the former paying the entire expense.
There were other rescues, but none which attracted the attention of the world as had that of March, 1869. In November, 1877, two more soldiers were saved; in February, 1881, again two soldiers, and in August, 1906, a woman. Honors now came thick and fast upon the heroine. She was made a member of the American Legion of Honor, and was given the signal distinction of an election to membership in the American Cross of Honor and awarded the first gold cross of that organization. The New York Humane Society gave her it medal, and the Massachusetts Humane Society also awarded its medal to her, the first person for a long time the only person outside the state to receive that distinction. Congress gave her a gold medal and Andrew Carnegie a pension of $30 a month from his private fund, to be continued during her life. The Sorosis Society, the leading Women's Organization in the Country, made her an honorary member.
When the Congressional medal was presented Lieutenant Commander, now Rear Admiral French E. Chadwick, U.S.N. so a report reads "In a happy speech, may the presentation of the highest token of merit of this kind which can be given in the country, the life saving medal of the first class, conferred by the United States government "for extreme heroic daring, involving imminent personal danger." After a simple and eloquent recital of the circumstances in which Mrs. Wilson had, at the risk of her own life and in circumstances requiring the utmost skill and daring, saved from a watery grave on six occasions 13 persons. Commander Chadwick paid a glowing tribute to the heroism of Mrs. Wilson and concluded by reading the letter of Secretary of the Treasury Windom conferring the medal awarded to her under the law of June 20, 1874." Lieutenant Governor Fay responded on behalf of Mrs. Wilson.
Speaking once of her greatest rescue that of Sergeant Adams and his companion, in March 1869, Miss Lewis said: "I remember one twilight in 1869 I heard the cries of two men during an awful storm. I put for them in my boat. Through the mist and spray I could see them clinging to their frail boat. I managed to pull them in, but they were nearly gone when I reached the shore. Yes, they both lived. This is home to me, and I hope the good Lord will take my away when I have to leave it. The light is my child, and I know when it needs me, even if I sleep."
One of her most treasured trophies is a silver tea pot given to her by the soldiers of Fort Adams in recognition of her bravery in saving their companions.
During the summer of 1869 Vice President Schuyler Colfax visited Ida Lewis at Lime Rock. President Grant on a later visit to Newport, met her and personally congratulated her on her heroism. Admiral David D. Porter was among her caller, and Admiral George Dewey, Susan B. Anthony, General W.T. Sherman, Mrs. William Astor, Jay Gould and a host of others have visited her in her home. Many of the most prominent summer residents made annual calls at the little light house and among the successive younger generations down to the present she was held in high esteem.
Presented as a public service by Federico Santi. Above information taken from an old scrap book in the John and Rico Private Library located in Newport Rhode Island 02840. The information though not notated is believed from The Newport Daily News of the era when Ida Lewis died and this is her obituary.
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