Idawalley 'Ida' Zorada Lewis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Lewis_%28lighthouse_keeper%29
https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/ida-lewis-bravest-woman-ame...
Idawalley Zorada Lewis (later Lewis-Wilson) (February 25, 1842 – October 24, 1911) was an American lighthouse keeper noted for her heroism in rescuing people from the sea.

Ida Lewis was born in Newport, Rhode Island, the oldest of four children of Captain Hosea Lewis of the Revenue Cutter Service (later the US Coast Guard). Her father was transferred to the Lighthouse Service and appointed keeper of Lime Rock Light on Lime Rock in Newport in 1854. When he had been at Lime Rock for less than four months, he had a stroke and became disabled. Ida expanded her domestic duties to include caring for him and a seriously ill sister and also, with her mother's assistance, tending the light: filling the lamp with oil at sundown and again at midnight, trimming the wick, polishing carbon off the reflectors, and extinguishing the light at dawn.

Since Lime Rock was completely surrounded by water, the only way to reach the mainland was by boat. By the age of 15 Ida had become known as the best swimmer in Newport. She rowed her younger siblings to school every weekday and fetched supplies from town as they were needed. She became very skilful at handling the heavy rowboat. An article in Harper's Weekly after Ida had rescued several people debated whether it was "feminine" for women to row boats, but concluded that none but a "donkey" would consider it "unfeminine" to save lives.

da and her mother tended the Lime Rock Light for her father from 1853 until 1873, when he died. Her mother was then appointed keeper, although Ida continued to do the keeper's work. By 1877, her mother's health was failing, leaving Ida with increased housekeeping and care-giving responsibilities. Her mother eventually died of cancer in 1887. Ida finally received the official appointment as keeper in 1879, largely through the efforts of an admirer, General Ambrose Everett Burnside, a Civil War hero who became a Rhode Island governor and United States senator. With a salary of $750 per year, Ida was for a time the highest-paid lighthouse keeper in the nation. The extra pay was given "in consideration of the remarkable services of Mrs. Wilson in the saving of lives".

Her first rescue was in the fall of 1858, when she was only 17. On a cold, dreary day, four local youths were sailing back and forth between nearby Fort Adams and the Lime Rocks. Ida watched from a window as one climbed the mast and began deliberately rocking the boat back and forth. The sailboat capsized and was soon keel up, with the four young men struggling to stay afloat alongside. Ida rushed to the scene in her small boat and hauled them aboard one at a time, then took them to the lighthouse, where they soon recovered. The incident received no attention at the time. Ida later said that she "did not think the matter worth talking about and never gave it a second thought". Illustration of Ida Lewis rowing

Her most famous rescue occurred on March 29, 1869. Two soldiers, Sgt. James Adams and Pvt. John McLaughlin, were passing through Newport Harbor toward Fort Adams in a small boat, guided by a 14-year-old boy who claimed to know his way through the harbor. A snowstorm was churning the harbor's waters, and the boat overturned. The two soldiers clung to it, while the boy was lost in the icy water. Ida's mother saw the two in the water and called to Ida, who was suffering from a cold. Ida ran to her boat without taking the time to put on a coat or shoes. With the help of her younger brother, she was able to haul the two men into her boat and bring them to the lighthouse. One of them later gave a gold watch to Ida, and for her heroism she became the first woman to receive a gold Congressional medal for lifesaving. The soldiers at Fort Adams showed their appreciation by collecting $218 for Ida.

http://www.riheritagehalloffame.org/inductees_detail.cfm?iid=522

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