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Ida Lewis
Idawally Zorada Lewis moved to Lime Rock Lighthouse, Newport, Rhode Island, at the age of fifteen. Her father, Captain Hosea Lewis, was in poor health and relied on Ida as the oldest child to help with the lighthouse keeper's duties. After only four months at Lime Rock,  | Ida Lewis at Home
1869
From Harper's Weekly, July 31, 1869
The Mariners' Museum Research Library and Archives
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Captain Lewis suffered a stroke and could no longer perform the job. Rather than lose a good income, Ida carried out all his duties. She also cared for her sick father and, at a time when it was considered improper for a woman to row a boat, Ida rowed to the mainland every weekday to bring her siblings to school and pick up supplies.
 | Miss Ida Lewis, The Heroine of Newport
1869
From Harper's Weekly,
July 31, 1869
The Mariners' Museum Research Library and Archives
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After her father died, Ida received the appointment as lighthouse
keeper, earning $500 a year. During her thirty-nine years at the lighthouse,
she is believed to have saved eighteen people from drowning. Her heroics
earned her celebrity status and a good deal of media attention. Even
President Ulysses S. Grant went to meet her. In 1924, the Lime Rock
Lighthouse was renamed the Ida Lewis Lighthouse--the only lighthouse
named for a keeper. Today it serves as a yacht club.
 | The Heroic Action of Miss Ida Lewis
1869
From Harper's Weekly,
April 17, 1869
The Mariners' Museum Research Library and Archives
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