until his death in 1975 Elsie Ferguson (1883–1961), actress Ella T. Grasso (1919–1981), first female governor of Connecticut, first woman to be elected governor in the United States who was not the wife or widow of a governor, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993 Childe Hassam (1859–1935), American Impressionist, stayed in the Florence Griswold House as part of the Old Lyme Art Colony Wilson Irvine (1869–1936), American Impressionist, stayed in the Florence Griswold House as part of the Old Lyme Art Colony Peter Karter (1922–2010), founder of early recycling company Susanne Katherina Langer (1895–1985), philosopher, writer, and educator, one of the first female academic philosophers Ezra Lee (1749–1821), American colonial soldier known for commanding the Turtle submarine, is buried in Duck River Cemetery in Old Lyme Willard Metcalf (1858–1925), American Impressionist, stayed in the Florence Griswold House as part of the Old Lyme Art Colony Diana Muir, writer and historian Roger Tory Peterson (1908–1996), naturalist, ornithologist, artist, and educator Henry Ward Ranger (1858–1916), American Impressionist, stayed in the Florence Griswold House as part of the Old Lyme Art Colony Luanne Rice (born 1955), novelist Edwin J. Roland (1905–1985), Coast Guard admiral Elizabeth Tashjian (1912–2007), artist and founder of the Nut Museum in Old Lyme Edward Charles Volkert (1871–1935), American Impressionist, stayed in the Florence Griswold House as part of the Old Lyme Art Colony Clark Voorhees (1871–1933), American Impressionist, stayed in the Florence Griswold House as part of the Old Lyme Art Colony Morrison Waite (1816–1888), Chief Justice of the United States appointed by Ulysses S. Grant, was born and lived in Old Lyme until leaving for college at Yale. Ellen Axson Wilson (1860–1914), first wife of president Woodrow Wilson, came as an art student to the Florence Griswold House. Geography and climate According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which , or 19.85%, is water. The southern section of Old Lyme has a mostly flat topography, intersected with tidal marsh and swamp, while the northern sections of the town have a rocky and hilly terrain. Old Lyme lies in the Köppen climate classification zone known mild temperate climate. The summers have highs in the 80s °F (in the 90s) and the winters have highs in the upper 30s to low 40s °F. The average