Henry G. Ludlow (1797–1867) was an American minister and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, and one of those who worked with the New York Amistad Committee. He was a divinity student at Yale and then minister of the First Congregational Church in Oswego. From 1828–1837 he was the minister of the Spring Street Presbyterian Church in New York City. That church, and Ludlow's home, were partially demolished in July 1834 in one of several nights of anti-abolitionist rioting prompted in part by rumors that Ludlow had presided over a mixed-race marriage. His son, the author

Fitz Hugh Ludlow Fitz Hugh Ludlow, sometimes seen as Fitzhugh Ludlow (September 11, 1836 – September 12, 1870), was an American author, journalist, and explorer; best known for his autobiographical book ''The Hasheesh Eater'' (1857). Ludlow also wrote about hi ...

, later wrote:

my father, mother, and sister were driven from their house in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
by a furious mob. When they came cautiously back, their home was quiet as a fortress the day after it has been blown up. The front-parlor was full of paving-stones; the carpets were cut to pieces; the pictures, the furniture, and the chandelier lay in one common wreck; and the walls were covered with inscriptions of mingled insult and glory. Over the mantel-piece had been charcoaled 'Rascal'; over the pier-table, 'Abolitionist.'

Henry Ludlow wrote that on another occasion he was "mobbed and egged… in broad day light… in the presence of approving & assenting justices of the peace and other officers of the town…" Fitz Hugh also reports that his father was a "ticket-agency on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

." Henry Ludlow's father was a pioneer temperance advocate, according to one source "adopting and advocating its principles before any general and organized effort for them." Henry himself, in one of his few preserved sermons, attacked

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

for "her cruel oppression of her East India subjects, often starving... and forced to cultivate

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

on land they need to supply themselves with bread…" and defended

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

"for resisting a traffick which was sapping, by its terrible effects upon her citizens, the very foundation of her empire…"

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Letter to Martin Van Buren, 28 November 1839
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludlow, Henry 1797 births 1867 deaths People from Oswego, New York American Christian clergy American abolitionists Activists from New York (state) 19th-century American clergy

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