Ludington family

The Ludington family was an American family active in the fields of business, banking, and politics. Members in the American Revolution were Henry Ludington and Sybil Ludington. Additionally, Lewis, James, Nelson, and Harrison Ludington were involved in the establishment and development of cities in the states of New York, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Henry founded Kent, New York, in 1775; Lewis founded Columbus, Wisconsin, in 1844; James founded Ludington, Michigan, in 1859; and Nelson founded Escanaba, Michigan, in 1862. Harrison was involved in the development of Milwaukee and was a governor of Wisconsin.

Origins

Author La Reiana Rule says the American name Ludington is of English origin from ''Luddington''. She believes ancestors of the American Ludingtons were in towns in England from the 10th century. Her research indicates the name "Leodingtun" signifies "estate of the compatriot's family".

Journalist Willis Fletcher Johnson says the American surname Ludington is also spelled Luddington, Ludinton, and Ludenton. He was told this family originated from the 16th-century Ludingtons of Shrawley and Worcester in England. Tradition has it that a Ludington was a follower of Richard the Lionheart in the Third Crusade and helped him plan a escape prison. This Ludington soldier received nobility status and a family coat of arms for his efforts. The coat of arms is colored in argent, azure, and gules, and emblazoned with a lion passant guardant and a crest featuring a palmer's staff. The motto reads: (Honor not penitence).

Historiography

According to Paula Hunt, writing in ''The New England Quarterly'' in 2015, Johnson's ''Colonel Henry Ludington: A Memoir'' was published privately by Ludington's grandchildren, Charles H. and Lavinia Elizabeth Ludington. The biography, according to Hunt, "offers a laudatory account" of the colonel's life; Hunt states that it "was certainly not of the order of Johnson’s usual projects", noting that it was omitted from his ''New York Times'' obituary. She writes that the '' New England Historical & Genealogical Register'' reviewed it as a "charming, simple memoir", which she says was intended to "remedy a belief that the Revolution-era militia and its officers had not received the recognition they deserved and to ensure the colonel's place in American history", citing page vii of the ''Memoirs''. She characterized the work as a "not wholly reliable source".

Doubts about the family's accounts had been raised before Hunt's report, and as early as 1956.

Genealogy

William Ludington

William Luddington and his wife Ellen are of unknown English origin, but are considered the base foundation of the American Ludingtons since there are confirmed history records on them. They were married about 1636. They immigrated to America about 1639 and settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which later became Malden, Massachusetts. Court records of 1640 show that William built his residence outside the city limits, which was illegal, and was issued a high fine for the infraction. The fine was rescinded because about this same time the law was repealed. William and Ellen raised seven children (the first born in England). After raising their children they moved to New Haven, Connecticut, around 1660, where William died shortly thereafter, as his widow remarried on May 5, 1663, to John Rose. William's will was probated May 25, 1663.

Thomas was their first child, born in 1637 in England and raised in Charlestown. In 1666 Thomas moved to Newark, New Jersey, in 1664. Their third child was Mary, born either on December 6, 1642, December 6, 1642–43, February 6, 1643, or February 6, 1642–43 – depending on whether the Gregorian calendar or the Julian calendar is used for recording (as the British colonies in America did in the eighteenth century). Their fourth child was Henry, birth date unknown, who was killed in King Philip's War of 1675–76. Their fifth child was Hannah, whose birth and death dates are unknown. Their sixth child was William II, born about 1655 and had two wives. William and Ellen's seventh child was Matthew, who died as a baby within 30 days.

William II was a businessman and married twice. His first wife was Martha Rose, daughter of John Rose and granddaughter of Robert Rose. Their children were: Henry, born 1679; Eleanor, birth date unknown (circa 1683) and married in 1714. His second wife was Mercy Whitehead and their children were: twins Mary and Mercy, born 1691; Hannah, born 1693; John, born 1694; Eliphalet, born 1697; Elizabeth, born 1699; Dorothy, born 1702; and Doreas, born 1704.

The second son of Henry (b. 1679) was William III, born at Branford, Connecticut on September 6, 1702. He married Mary Knowles, of Branford, Connecticut, on November 5, 1730. They had eight children, Submit, Mary, Henry, Lydia, Samuel, Rebecca, Anne, and Stephen. Mary Knowles died on April 16, 1759 and William III married his second wife, Mary Wilkinson, just a day after the year of mourning ended, on April 17, 1760.

Henry Ludington II

Henry Ludington was the third child of William III and Mary (Knowles) Ludington. He was born at Branford, Connecticut, on May 25, 1739. He built his home and a grist mill around 1775 in the area known as the hamlet of Ludingtonville, named for his namesake; this later became the town of Kent, Putnam County, New York. He was made Colonel during the American Revolution and was aide-de-camp to George Washington.

Sybil Ludington

Sybil Ludington was the first child of Henry Ludington II and his wife Abigail Ludington. Sybil has received widespread recognition as the female Paul Revere; a report in ''The New England Quarterly'' says there is little evidence backing the story, and whether the ride occurred is questioned by modern scholars. In 1777, at the age of 16, she is said to have ridden a horse through the night to warn militiamen under the direction of her father that British troops had attacked Danbury, Connecticut.

The American poet Berton Braley wrote a poem about Sybil. Sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington made a statue of Sybil Ludington that is displayed at the Danbury Library grounds in Connecticut. Huntington also made a life-size statue depicting her ride that is at Lake Gleneida in Carmel, New York. There is a replica in Memorial Continental Hall of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Washington, D.C. In 1996, the DAR said that the evidence was not strong enough to support their criteria for a war heroine, and added a note to an exhibition saying of the ride, "It's a great story, but there is no way to know whether or not it is true." The DAR chapter near her home says that her exploit was documented, and it continues to honor her.Hunt 2015, p
218
A commemorative stamp was issued in 1975.

Frederick Ludington

Frederick Ludington was the tenth child of Henry Ludington II (aka Colonial Ludington). He is associated with the development of the towns of Kent, New York, and Dover Plains, New York.

Harrison Ludington and Nelson Ludington were sons of Frederick, and Colonel Ludington was their grandfather. Harrison is identified with the development of the city of Milwaukee and was its alderman for two terms and its mayor from 1872 to 1875. He served as a Governor of Wisconsin from 1876 to 1878.

Nelson was a pioneer of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and an early territorial developer. He established a sawmill and laid out the city of Escanaba, Michigan, in 1862. Nelson provided the name for the city. Escanaba street names were originally named after the wives and daughters of the partners of the Nelson Ludington Company.

Lewis Ludington

Lewis Ludington was the twelfth child and sixth son of Henry Ludington II. Lewis was the youngest of the children, born June 25, 1786.

Lewis had bought some land in Columbia County, Wisconsin, about 1843. According to Johnson, in July 1844 he designed a community layout for this land that was the founding of the city of Columbus, Wisconsin.

James Ludington

It was later renamed Ludington, Michigan, in his honor. Ludington never lived in the town that he founded. Many of the street names of Ludington, Michigan, are related to James in one way or another. The main downtown intersection is James Street and Ludington Ave.

Ludington family tree

References

Sources

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External links

''Ludington history lives in Oak Park'' - Ludington heirlooms

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludington family

American families of English ancestry
Business families of the United States
Political families of the United States
Families from Massachusetts
Families from Michigan
Families from New York (state)
Families from Wisconsin