Stranger Than Fiction: The Heroine of Lime Rock

Ida Lewis

Being the “keeper of the flame” or a lighthouse keeper was once a very difficult job. Before computers and modern conveniences made the job more automated, keeping a lighthouse required almost constant attention, long hours and hard labor.

The job of the lighthouse keeper was to warn ships that are passing too close to land. In the past ships frequently got lost in thick fog and sailed into the shoreline. Sometimes the ships would sink. Other times they simply ran aground and were unable to get back to sea.

Lighthouses burned large lights that warned passing ships they were getting close to the shoreline.

The lighthouse keeper first had to light a flame using coal gas or acetylene gas. The towering lighthouse was equipped with bells and horns to alert passing ships. Lighthouses are towers that come equipped with a spiraling stairwell for access. Keepers had to carry supplies up these many stairs as they had no elevators.

Many lighthouse keepers went out on shore while the fire burned and prepared to perform rescues of sailors on ships that were in trouble. At night they slept near the flame so they would be nearby if it should go out and they could quickly relight it.

Indeed, being a lighthouse keeper was a difficult and often dangerous job.

Ida Lewis was the daughter of a lighthouse keeper, Hosea Lewis, who kept the flame burning in the Lime Rock, Rhode Island lighthouse. She was born in 1841. By the time she was 14 she had become known as the best swimmer in Newport and had developed skills at rowing. In the mid-19th century, it was unusual for woman to handle a boat.

Her father accepted the job as keeper of the Lime Rock Lighthouse in 1857 when Ida was 16. Because Lime Rock was surrounded by water, it became Ida’s responsibility to row her siblings across the channel to shore each day so they could attend school. Then she had to pick up supplies needed at the lighthouse and row back to Lime Rock.

Four months after accepting the job as keeper of the lighthouse, Hosea suffered a stroke which left him disabled. Ida’s mother took the responsibility of caring for her husband and taking care of the lighthouse. Not long afterwards, Ida’s younger brother became ill and required much of his mother’s attention. Caring for the lighthouse now became the sole responsibility of 16-year-old Ida.

A few months later Ida watched from the tower as four young boys sailed into the channel in a small sail boat. One of the boys, attempting to frighten his friends, climbed up the mast and began rocking the small vessel. Suddenly, the boat capsized and the four young occupants fell into the sea.

Ida quickly sprang into action. She ran onto the shore and pushed her sail row boat into the water, climbed in and began sailing toward the boys. She arrived just as their small boat sank into the depths and pulled the four boys to safety in her boat. She rowed them back to shore. The incident received no attention at the time and the boys were probably quite embarrassed. This was the first of many rescues.

In 1869, three drunken sailors fell into the water during a raging storm. Ida came to their rescue. She saved one but the other two drowned. The grateful sailor later told his story to a newspaper. The reporter wrote a story about Ida and she became a heroine, the heroine of Lime Rock. Her fame grew as she rescued more people. She received visits from famous people including the President of the United States Ulysses Grant.

Ida’s father died in 1872 and her mother was named keeper of the lighthouse. Though the job officially belonged to her mother, it was Ida who continued keeping the flame lit and watching for drowning sailors.

Her mother died in 1879 and Ida was officially appointed keeper of the lighthouse.

Ida continued keeping the lighthouse until 1911 when she retired at the age of 69 for health reasons. During that time it is estimated she rescued no less than 18 people from drowning often at great personal risk to herself. By some estimates she has been credited with 35 rescues.

She died just a few months later on October 25, 1911. On the night she died, the bells on the vessels docked in Newport harbor tolled for Ida.

Her lighthouse has now been replaced with a yacht club bearing her name. Her dedication and courage has never been forgotten nor will her immortal words about the light she once kept burning for traveling seafarers: “It is my child and I know when it needs me even if I sleep.”