Local Heroine Abigail Becker One brutal
night in 1854, the Conduc - tor, a wooden cargo ship, was wrecked off Long Point Beach, only its masts
remained above the surface of the water.
The late November storm that sank the ship also prevented the crew from swimming to shore. They clung to the rigging in despair. Abigail Becker's husband was away from their cottage hunting, so with only the help of her children, Ab - igail saved the entire 8-man crew. She was quite a tall woman, and without that height, she may not have been able to wade out into the frigid lake and drag each ex - hausted sailor to shore, one by one, next warming them in her cottage by a large fire. She became known as "the Angel of Long Point" and lived to around 70 years old, work - ing a farm in Port Rowan that she purchased with money raised to reward her by the merchants and sailors of Buffalo NY, where the Conductor was launched.
Experience Norfolk • 99
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