Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter

This is the absorbing, painstakingly researched story of Ida Lewis, born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1842, and the fearless rescues she made at Lime Rock Lighthouse. Her father, Captain Hosea Lewis, became the first keeper of Lime Rock Lighthouse in 1853. But after he was disabled by stroke, then-fifteen-year-old Ida and her mother took over the tending of the Lime Rock Light from 1857 until 1872, when her father died. Her mother was appointed lighthouse keeper and remained in this position until she died in 1879, even though Ida continued to do the work. In 1879, Ida was officially appointed to the job, which she remained in until her death in 1911. Ida is credited with saving at least eighteen lives during her nearly forty years on the tiny island in Newport Harbor. She became famous nationwide in the late 1860s after one of her daring rescues, and the town of Newport celebrated her on Independence Day 1869. In 1924 the Rhode Island legislature officially changed the name of Lime Rock to Ida Lewis Rock. In 1995, a new class of Coast Guard buoy tenders was named for her.