Abigail Becker

Abigail Becker (1830-1905), known as the Angel of Long Point, was a Canadian woman credited with saving the lives of numerous sailors caught in storms along the shores of Long Point. When the storms had past, she would wade in the water as far as she could to rescue trapped seamen from their doomed ships.

After marrying a widower and taking on the care of his six children, she settled in a trapper's cabin on Long Point, Lake Erie. On the 23rd of November, 1854, with her husband away, she single-handedly rescued the 7 man crew of the Buffalo based schooner Conductor, which had run aground in a storm during the night. The crew had clung to the frozen rigging in the darkness and, despite her inability to swim, she waded chin-high into the water after dawn to help the stricken sailors reach shore.

She was awarded several medals for her heroism and the people of Buffalo collected $350 for her by public conscription. Queen Victoria sent her a handwritten letter of congratulations and £50 as a reward. She put the money towards buying her own farm. After losing her husband to a storm on the lake, she raised 17 children alone.

References

* [http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/ItemRecord?id=58ea402e0e169e8d Details of the book "The story of Abigail Becker, the heroine of Long Point, as told by her step-daughter, Mrs. Henry Wheeler"]
* http://www.kwic.com/~pagodavista/abigail.html