Exactly 125 years ago today was a Thursday. It was a quiet rainy day in Plymouth, Pennsylvania. In the evening, the storm became fierce.

Annie Driscoll was a 13-year-old girl who lived on Beade Street next to the Susquehanna River. Late in the evening, over the sound of pouring rain, Annie heard the sound of frantic cries. Squinting through the rain, she detected two men in the river. Their boat had capsized in the rough waters.

Annie was a remarkable girl! She could have called for help, but it likely would have come too late to save the men. Instead, she ran to the shore, pulled an old skiff into the water and pushed out into the storm-tossed river.

Rowing in a storm would be hard work even for a man, but Annie did not give up. At last she managed to reach the men, who were fighting to keep their heads above the water. With the girl’s help, one man managed to get into the skiff with her.  The other man was too exhausted to even keep his head above water, let alone work with Annie to get into the skiff. His friend was in no condition to help.

Lucky for the second man, this girl was as quick-thinking and resourceful as she was brave. She seized a chain in the bow of the boat and wrapped it around him to keep him from sinking.

By then, help was on the way. Happily for everyone, both men were rescued and Annie Driscoll was rightly credited with saving their lives.

I was curious to see if Annie went on performing daring rescues, but I couldn’t find another confirmed mention of her. I also wondered about the men. Though newspapers from Washington D.C. to South Carolina covered the story, not one of them mentioned the names of the men!

I was a little suspicious that it might be a hoax but I found a census record for Annie Driscoll made that same year. She was the oldest of five children, living with her parents on Beade Street in Plymouth, Pennsylvania!