Abigail Becker, the heroine of Long Point, 1857
Artist: Unknown Photographer
Engraver: Lewis, Charles E. (active ca. 1857)
Medium: lithograph with tint stone
Dimensions: 4307 *33.4 cm (sheet)
W.H. Coverdale Collection of Canadiana

In 1854, Abigail Becker (1831-1905) single-handedly rescued seven men from the Conductor which had gone aground off Long Point during one of Lake Erie's infamous November hales. Mrs. Becker received many honours for her heroic act, including a gold medal from the Benevolent Life Saving Association of New York (three of those rescued were Americans). This print is copied from a photograph that shows her holding the medal. She was the daughter of an American Loyalist settler, and was married twice. She raised nineteen children (thirteen of them her own) and lived a frugal life on her farm on the shores of Lake Erie.