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THE SCENE: The treacherous shoals of Long Point, long known as 'the graveyard of Lake Erie.' THE TIME: A cruel November night in the year 1854. THE CIRCUMSTANCES: A terrific gale lashing Erie's waters into a blinding fury; a small schooner manned by eight sailors, being driven nearer and nearer, swiftly and surely, to destruction on the Long Point reef. A lone woman, mother of several small children, occupying a trappers cabin close by the shore where gigantic waves were breaking with ruthless force. THE DENOUEMENT: The heroic woman bravely plunging into the waves and rescuing the entire crew as one by one they leaped into the icy waters and struggled towards shore; the building of a huge bonfire where the half-frozen men were resuscitated, then taken to the cabin where shelter and food restored them. THE AFTERMATH: Presentation to the heroine of a handsomely inscribed gold medal by the New York Life Saving Association; a personal letter of congratulations from Queen Victoria; and a reward of five hundred dollars from merchants of the city of Buffalo, N.Y.
Such was the drama that enrolled the name of ABIGAIL BECKER in imperishable letters in the hall of Canada's immortals and that gave her recognition as the Canadian Grace Darling, British heroine of a similar epic. More than a century has passed since that gallant feat was performed and Abigail Becker has long since gone to her reward. But her name is still revered in her home County of Norfolk. A ward in Norfolk General Hospital enshrines the name of Abigail Becker, as does a plaque at Port Rowan overlooking the waters of Long Point Bay and inscribing the story of her exploit; as well as the Abigail Becker Conservation Area in the township of Walsingham where she made her home for many years. Abigail Becker was the daughter of a United Empire Loyalist, Elijah Jackson, a Dutchman, who came from New York State and settled in the County of Frontenac, Ontario, during the exodus of British sympathizers after the American Revolutionary War. He married a French-Canadian, Marie Grozaine. To them was born on March 14th, 1831, this daughter who was to emulate the gallant heroism of Florence Nightingale, Laura Secord and other valiant women whose memory the world reveres. The baby girl was given the good scriptural name of Abigail and worthily did she bear it through a life of more than three score years and ten. When eleven years of age, she removed with her parents to Townsend Township in Norfolk County, and within this county she lived the remainder of her life. Abigail Jackson married Jeremiah Becker, a widower, a resident of South Norfolk and a trapper by vocation. At that time she was a slender girl of only seventeen years, but she was inured to hardship and at once devoted herself wholeheartedly to the task of raising six young stepchildren, one girl and five boys. Owing to the nature of his work Jeremiah Becker was compelled to be away on Long Point Island, a great part of the time. It was finally decided that his wife and children should move to the Point and make their home in his cabin, which was located on the south shore of the Island, about seven miles across the Bay from Port Rowan and fifteen miles from the east-end lighthouse.
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