Page:Woman of the Century.djvu/467

462 exhibited in the Centennial Exposition, a wax model along with her chart of the Animal Kingdom. Here Prof. Huxley and other prominent naturalists found opportunity of examining her productions, and they were highly commended. Fortified by the encouragement of the best zoologists of England and America, her confidence was now assured, and she was ready to apply the same principles to the construction of a Chart of the Vegetable Kingdom." By 1880, she had outlined the latter, and had completed it by 1885. Since then, all her charts are revised in accordance with the progress of scientific knowledge. Prof. Maria Mitchell, then of Vassar College, elected president of the fourth congress of the Association for the Advancement of Women, having urged Miss Lewis to prepare a scientific paper for reading before the meeting, the latter responded by choosing for her subject "The Development of the Animal Kingdom." Prof. Mitchell published that paper in pamphlet form, and circulated it widely amongst scientists. In 1870 Miss Lewis was elected a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. She is at present an honorary member of the Rochester Academy of Science, Rochester, N. Y.; of the Philosophical Society of West Chester, Chester County, Pa.; of the New Century Club of Philadelphia; of the Women's Anthropological Society of America, Washington, D. C. ; and recently, has been elected a life member of the Delaware County Institute of Science, in Media, where she now resides. Miss Lewis continues to lead a busy life, and in addition to her scientific studies, finds time for many diverse social duties. At home, she is secretary of the Media Woman's Christian Temperance Union, secretary of the Media Woman Suffrage Association, secretary of the Delaware County Forestry Association, superintendent of scientific temperance instruction of the Delaware County Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and chief of the cultural department of the Media Flower Mission.

LEWIS, Miss Ida, heroine and life-saver, born in Newport, R. I., in 1841. Her father, Captain Hosea Lewis, was keeper of the Lime Rock lighthouse in the Newport harbor, and she became in early youth a skilled swimmer and oarsman. Much of her time was spent in the boat which was the only means of communication between the lighthouse and the mainland. Her free outdoor lite gave her great strength and powers of endurance, and she was at home on the water, in calm or storm. Her first notable deed in life-saving was in 1859, when she rescued four men, whose boat had capsized in the harbor. Since that event she has saved many lives. Her fame as a heroine grew, and thousands of visitors thronged her humble home to make her acquaintance. Captain Lewis became a paralytic, and Ida was made custodian-for-life of the Lime Rock lighthouse. The appointment was conferred upon her in 1879 by General Sherman, who paid her a signal compliment for her bravery. In July, 1880, the Secretary of the Treasury, William Windom, awarded the gold life-saving medal to her, and she is the only woman in America who has received that tribute. Besides these, she has received three silver medals, one from the State of Rhode Island, one from the Humane Society of Massachusetts, and a third from the New York Life Saving Association. In the Custom House in Newport, in 1869, before hundreds of its citizens, Miss Lewis received from General Grant the life-boat "Rescue," which she now has. It was a gift from the people of the city in recognition of her acts of bravery. For it James Fisk, jr., ordered a boat-house built. Mr. Fisk sent the heroine a silk flag, painted by Mrs. McFarland, of New York. After being made a memberof Sorosis, Miss Lewis received from that body a brooch. It is a large gold S, with a band of blue enamel around it. Across is the name of the club in Greek letters, and engraved on the main part of the pin, "Sorosis to Ida I-ewis, the Heroine." From the two soldiers from the fort, whom she rescued, she received a gold watch, and from the officers and men a silver teapot worth $150. Presents of all sorts, from large sums of money to oatmeal and maple-sugar, have flowed in to her from all parts of the country. She retains and is known by her maiden name, but she was married, in 1870, to William H. Wilson, of Black Rock, Conn.

LINCOLN, Mrs. Martha D., author and journalist, widely known by her pen-name, "Bessie Beech," born near Richfield Springs, N. Y., in 1838. She was educated in Whitestown Seminary, N. Y. When she was sixteen years old she began her

literary career in numerous contributions to the Dover, N. H., "Morning Star," now published in Boston, Mass She became the wife of H. M. Lincoln, a medical student of Canandaigua, N. Y., in 1858. Soon after her marriage she became a regular contributor to "Moore's Rural New Yorker," the "Morning Star" and the "Northern Christian Advocate." Her husband's health became impaired, and in 1871 they moved to Washington, D. C., to secure a warmer climate. The financial crisis of 1871 and 1872 wrecked his fortune. Then Mrs. Lincoln took up journalistic work in earnest. She became the correspondent of the old "Daily Chronicle," the "Republican," the "Union," the "Republic," and several Sunday journals, and retained her connection with papers outside of Washington. In January, 1878, she contributed to the New York "Times" a description of President Haves' silver wedding, and, 20th June, 1878, she described the Hastings-Platt wedding in the White House for the New