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her with a lifeboat
carved from oak,
cedar, and walnut
as part of their
Independence Day
celebration. It had
copper oarlocks
and red velvet seat
cushions.
Ida was too shy
to make a speech.
Afriendthanked
everyone on her
behalf. Though Ida
kept the boat pol-
ished and on exhibition for visitors to admire,
shecontinuedtouseherlittleskiffforwork.It
waslighterandeasierforonepersontooperate.
AttentionannoyedIda.CaptainLewis,
confined to a wheelchair, took charge of
entertaining guests. He kept a log book list-
ingvisitorsandtoldanyonewhowouldlisten
aboutIda’sadventures.Onesummer9,000
people came to meet Ida.
CaptainLewisdiedin1872.Ida’smother
was named lighthouse keeper, but it was Ida
whoperformedtheduties.WhenMrs.Lewis
passed away in 1879, Ida was officially recog-
nized as keeper at a salary of $750 per year.
In 1881, Ida crawled across thin ice to
save two men who had fallen through. That
heroic deed earned her a silver medal from
the Humane Society of Massachusetts and
agoldmedalfromtheUnitedStatesLife
Saving Service. In 1890, Andrew Carnegie,
oneofthewealthiestmeninAmerica,

awarded Ida thirty
dollars a month
for life in recogni-
tion of her service.
Ida deposited the
money in a bank
as a legacy for her
brother, Rud, who
sometimes worked
as her assistant. In
1907 the United
States Congress pre-
sented Ida with the
American Cross of
Honor. She was the
first woman to win the award.
Ida’s last rescue came in 1909, when she
was sixty-seven years old. Four girls were sail-
ing in the bay when a steamship named The
Commonwealth passed by. The wake from
the large ship washed over the sailboat and
swamped it. Ida was able to drag the pan-
icky girls into her skiff and bring them safely
ashore. Over her career, Ida was credited with
saving eighteen lives. She may have saved
more, as she never sought publicity.
Ida was at work in the lighthouse on
October 21, 1911, when she suffered a stroke.
Rud found her and brought a doctor, but
nothing could be done. They put Ida to bed
where she died a few days later.
Ida was buried in a simple grave in the
Common Burying Ground in Newport.
A local high school student, fifteen-year-
oldMaryJaneDewick,thoughtIda
one of the wealthiest men in America, deserved b ttd better. She collected money froSh collecll t dmo f m

A young Ida Lewis strikes a pose.

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