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Ludington Family Papers

Call Number

MS 2962

Date

1761-1988 (bulk 1840s-1860s), inclusive

Creator

Extent

6 Linear feet (8 boxes, 9 volumes, 4 oversize folders)

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

This collection includes correspondence, journals, photographs, and ephemera relating to several generations of Ludington family members in New York City, Carmel, New York, and Wisconsin.

Biographical / Historical

This is a collection of family papers from the descendants of William Ludington, the patriarch of the Ludington family in America. William Ludington emigrated from England and settled in the Massachusetts Bay colony sometime around 1639. The first family member represented in these papers is Henry Ludington (1739-1817), who gained some renown for his involvement in the American Revolution. He served as Colonel of the 7th Regiment of the Dutchess County Militia and was aide to Washington at the Battle of White Plains. He also served as a member of the New York Assembly in the 1770's and 1780's.

Henry Ludington's oldest daughter, Sybil, also played a role in Revolutionary events, one that earned her fame as a female Paul Revere. According to a 1907 article by her great-nephew, Connecticut historian Louis S. Patrick, 16-year-old Sybil Ludington rode about forty miles through the night of 26 April 1777 to warn the militiamen under her father's command that the British were burning Danbury, Connecticut. Although Colonel Ludington's troops arrived too late to save Danbury, they fought with British troops as they left the area. After the war, Sybil Ludington married Edward Ogden and they had one child. There is a small amount of material relating to Sybil Ludington and the Ogden family included in the collection.

The bulk of the collection relates to the family of Lewis Ludington, Henry Ludington's sixth son and youngest child. Lewis Ludington was born in Fredericksburg, New York, on June 25, 1786. With his brother Frederick, Lewis ran a general store near their home. He married Polly Townsend and in 1816, they moved to the village of Carmel. Although Carmel remained the family homestead, in the 1830's Lewis and his nephew, Harrison Ludington, bought land in Wisconsin and formed in Milwaukee the general mercantile firm of Ludington, Burchard & Co. Harvey Burchard, also of Carmel, retired a year or two later, and the firm became Ludington & Company. One of the foremost businesses in Milwaukee, Ludington and Co. also owned docks there, and had lumber mills at Oconto. About 1843, Lewis bought a tract of land in Columbia County, which he subsequently laid out as the town of Columbia. He was prominently involved in the development of the city until his death in 1857.

Lewis and Polly had nine children. The most represented in this collection is their fifth child, Charles Ludington. Charles was born at Carmel, New York, on February 1, 1825. In 1842, he became a clerk in a wholesale dry-goods store in New York, and later was a partner in the firm of Lathrop, Ludington & Company. One of the leading dry-goods firms of New York, the business was located first on Cortlandt Street, and later on Park Row. Like others in its field, the firm did a considerable amount of business with the Southern states before the Civil War. A strong Union supporter, Charles contributed to recruiting and equipping troops in New York City and Putnam County, but hired a substitute to serve for him as a soldier. He was involved with many civic and cultural institutions in New York throughout his life.

Charles corresponded frequently with his younger brother, James Ludington. James was born at Carmel on April 18, 1827. In 1843, he went to Milwaukee to work in Ludington and Co., the firm founded by his father, Lewis Ludington. James also aided his father in founding the town of Columbus. He later acquired extensive sawmills on the Pere Marquette River, in Michigan, and founded the town of Ludington there.

The collection also includes some photograph albums of Charles' son, Charles Henry Ludington, Jr., and his wife Ethel Mildred Saltus.

More complete family history will be found in the Ludington-Saltus Records volume, which is part of the collection.

Scope and Contents

The Ludington Family Papers span several generations but relate chiefly to Lewis Ludington (1786-1857) and his family, in particular, his sons Charles (1825-1910) and James (1827-1891). Papers include correspondence relating to family and business matters, financial records of the family's assorted business interests, and family portraits and photograph albums. Family members were located in New York City, in Carmel, New York, and in Wisconsin, and their correspondence describes aspects of life in all three locations.

Of particular interest is a journal kept by Charles Ludington from 1842-1848, documenting his life in New York City, his visits to the family home in Carmel, New York, and his travels west to the family business established in Wisconsin. The collection also includes printed material and ephemera reflecting Charles' membership and participation in many of New York's leading cultural and civic institutions, in particular those relating to art. The collection includes invitations and tickets to various exhibitions, as well as correspondence between Charles and prominent American artists Sanford Gifford, Jervis McAntee, and Charles Wrey, from whom Charles apparently purchased original works of art. Other highlights include correspondence and ephemera relating to the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination.

The collection also contains a few business records, including two account books which appear to be from the store Lewis Ludington opened in 1817 with his older brother Frederick.

More detailed information about the contents will be found in the Scope and Contents notes for each series.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers. Portions of the collection that have been microfilmed will be brought to the researcher in that format and can be made available by Interlibrary loan. Researchers on site may print out unlimited copies from microfilm reader-printer machines at per-exposure rates. See guidelines in Reading Room for details. Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. (Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days.) Items that include presidential signatures will be presented to researchers in duplicate form.

Use Restrictions

This collection is owned by the New-York Historical Society. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the Ludington Family Papers, MS 2962, The New-York Historical Society.

Provenance

Gift of Jane Ludington, 2015.

Related Materials at Other Institutions

A collection of correspondence to and from George W. Ludington (brother of Charles Ludington) is held by the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

The papers of Harrison Ludington are held by The State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

Collection processed by

Susan Kriete

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:48:34 -0400.
Language: Description is in English

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024