Old gun used by Henry Ludington in the French and Indian War. Now owned by Frederick Ludington, son of the late Governor Harrison Ludington, of Wisconsin.(From sketch made by Miss Alice Ludington, great-great-granddaughter of Henry Ludington.)
Old gun used by Henry Ludington in the French and Indian War. Now owned by Frederick Ludington, son of the late Governor Harrison Ludington, of Wisconsin.
(From sketch made by Miss Alice Ludington, great-great-granddaughter of Henry Ludington.)
Henry Ludington was in the thickest of both parts of this battle, having been in the detachment which was sent forward in advance. He came off unscathed, but he had the heartrending experience of seeing both his uncle and his cousin shot dead at his side. These were probably his uncle Amos Ludington (called Asa in the “East Haven Register,” as already noted), son of Eliphalet Ludington, and his cousin Ezra, son of Daniel Ludington. The uncle fell first, pierced by a French bullet. The cousin sprang to his side and stooped to lift him, and in the act was himself shot, and a few moments later both died. Soon after this battle the term of enlistment of the Connecticut militia expired, but reënlistmentswere general. According to the French and Indian War Rolls, and the Connecticut Historical Collections as searched by Mr. Patrick, Henry Ludington again enlisted on April 19, 1756, served under Colonel Andrew Ward at Crown Point, and was discharged at the expiration of his term on November 13, 1756. Again, he was in Lieutenant Maltbie’s company, under Colonel Newton, at the time of the “general alarm” for the relief of Fort William Henry, in August, 1757, on which occasion his time of service was only fifteen days. Finally, he was in the campaign of 1759, in the Second Connecticut Regiment, under Colonel Nathan Whiting, being a member of David Baldwin’s Third Company. In this year he enlisted on April 14, and was duly discharged on December 21, 1759. During this memorable period of service the young soldier marched with the British and American troops to Canada, and participated in the crowning triumph at Quebec, on September 13, 1759, and a little later was intrusted with the charge of a company of sixty wounded or invalid soldiers, who were to return to New England. The march was made across country, from Quebec to Boston, in the dead of the very severe winter of 1759-60, and the labors and perils of the journey were sufficient to tax to the utmost the skill and resourcefulness of the youth of only twenty years. For many nights their camp consisted of caves or burrows in the snowdrifts, where they slept on beds of spruce boughs, wrapped in their blankets. Provisions failed, too,and some meals were made of the bark and twigs of birch trees and the berries of the juniper. Through all these hardships young Ludington led his comrades safely to their destination. Then, in the spring of 1760, he proceeded from Boston to Branford, and thus terminated for the time his active military career. In recognition of his services he received from King George II the commission of a lieutenant in the British Colonial Army, which he held until, in the succeeding reign, news came of the enactment of the Stamp Act, when he resigned it. Later, on February 13, 1773, he accepted a captain’s commission from William Tryon, the last British governor of New York, which he held until the beginning of the Revolution. This commission was in the regiment commanded by Beverly Robinson, that eminent British Loyalist who was the intermediary between Sir Henry Clinton and Benedict Arnold. It was at Robinson’s country mansion that much of Arnold’s plotting was done, and it was there, while at dinner, that the traitor received the news of the failure of his treason through the capture of his agent, Major André.
Reduced Fac-simile of the Commission of Henry Ludington as Captain in Col. Beverly Robinson’s Regiment.From William Tryon last British Governor of the Province of New York.(Original in possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City.)
Reduced Fac-simile of the Commission of Henry Ludington as Captain in Col. Beverly Robinson’s Regiment.
From William Tryon last British Governor of the Province of New York.
(Original in possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City.)
One other incident of Henry Ludington’s service demands passing attention. In one of the returns of his regiment, in connection with the fifteen days’ service in August, 1757, he is recorded as “Deserted.” Generally speaking, no worse blot than that can well be put upon a soldier’s record. But it is quite obvious that in this case it is devoid of its usual serioussignificance. It is certain that he did not actually desert in the ordinary present meaning of that term. This we know, because there is no record nor intimation of any steps ever being taken to punish him for what would have been regarded as a heinous crime; because soon after that entry against him he was serving with credit in the army and continued so to do; because thereafter he was intrusted with the important march to Boston which has been described; and because, after having honorably completed his service in the army, he received a royal commission as an officer. In those early days, when an army was campaigning in an almost trackless wilderness and warfare was largely of the most irregular description, it was not difficult for a soldier to become detached and practically lost from the rest of his army, and perhaps not be able to rejoin it for some time. Such a mishap might the more easily have befallen an impetuous and adventurous youth such as Henry Ludington was. And of course the record “Deserted” might naturally enough have been put against his name when he failed to respond to roll-call and no explanation of his absence was forthcoming.
In the French and Indian War the Colonial troops were paid for their services by the various Colonial governments, which latter were afterward reimbursed for such expenditures by the British Government. It was, however, with a view to compelling the Colonies to bear the cost of the war, by levying taxes upon them at the will of Parliament, that theBritish Government entered upon the fatal policy which a few years later cost it the major part of its American possessions. Because of that change of government, no pension system was ever created for the veterans of that war. In 1815, however, near the close of Henry Ludington’s life, such pensions were proposed, and with a view to establishing his eligibility to receive one, in the absence of the authoritative records of the Connecticut troops, he secured from two of his former comrades in arms the following affidavits—here reproducedverbatim et literatim:
State of New YorkPutnam CountyJehoidah Wheton, of the town of Carmell in said county, being duly sworn doth depose and say that he is now personally acquainted with Henry Ludington, who lives in the Town of Fredericks in said county and that the deponent has known him for many years past. The deponent knows that the above named Henry Ludington was in the service in the years 1756 and 1757 under the King’s pay, and belonged to the State troops of Connecticut, and that the deponent was personally acquainted with the said Henry Ludington during the service above stated, and the deponent was with him the two campaigns, and further the deponent saith that from certain information which he the deponent knows to be true from the above named Henry Ludington of certain transactions which took place in the year 1759 to me the deponent nowtold he verrily believes that the said Henry Ludington was in the service that year, and that the deponent places confidence in the truth and veracity of the said Henry Ludington, and the deponent saith that he together with the above named Henry Ludington was under Capt. Foot in Colonel Nathan Whiting’s Ridgement in the service aforesaid; and further this deponent saith not.XJehoidah Wheatonhis markSworn and subscribed the 14th day of September 1815 before me John Phillips, one of the masters in the cort of Chy. in and for sd. State.
State of New YorkPutnam County
Jehoidah Wheton, of the town of Carmell in said county, being duly sworn doth depose and say that he is now personally acquainted with Henry Ludington, who lives in the Town of Fredericks in said county and that the deponent has known him for many years past. The deponent knows that the above named Henry Ludington was in the service in the years 1756 and 1757 under the King’s pay, and belonged to the State troops of Connecticut, and that the deponent was personally acquainted with the said Henry Ludington during the service above stated, and the deponent was with him the two campaigns, and further the deponent saith that from certain information which he the deponent knows to be true from the above named Henry Ludington of certain transactions which took place in the year 1759 to me the deponent nowtold he verrily believes that the said Henry Ludington was in the service that year, and that the deponent places confidence in the truth and veracity of the said Henry Ludington, and the deponent saith that he together with the above named Henry Ludington was under Capt. Foot in Colonel Nathan Whiting’s Ridgement in the service aforesaid; and further this deponent saith not.
X
Jehoidah Wheaton
his mark
Sworn and subscribed the 14th day of September 1815 before me John Phillips, one of the masters in the cort of Chy. in and for sd. State.
I, John Byington, of Redding in Fairfield County and State Connecticut, of lawful age depose and saythat I am well acquainted with Henry Ludington of Fredericks, state of New York, that he enlisted under the King’s proclamation and served with the Connecticut troops in the war with France, three campaigns, in the company of Capt. Foot, under whom I also served; that he rendered the above service between the year 1756 & 1764, and further say not.John Byington.State Connecticut, County Fairfield, Ss. Redding the 15th day of September 1815 personally apperd John Byington the above deponent & made oath to the truth of the above deposition.Lemuel Sanford,Justice Peace.
I, John Byington, of Redding in Fairfield County and State Connecticut, of lawful age depose and say
that I am well acquainted with Henry Ludington of Fredericks, state of New York, that he enlisted under the King’s proclamation and served with the Connecticut troops in the war with France, three campaigns, in the company of Capt. Foot, under whom I also served; that he rendered the above service between the year 1756 & 1764, and further say not.
John Byington.
State Connecticut, County Fairfield, Ss. Redding the 15th day of September 1815 personally apperd John Byington the above deponent & made oath to the truth of the above deposition.
Lemuel Sanford,Justice Peace.
Both of the foregoing affidavits or depositions are taken from copies of the originals, made by Lewis Ludington, son of Henry Ludington, on September 19, 1815, and now in possession of Lewis Ludington’s son.
We have seen that Henry Ludington, at the age of twenty-one, escorted a company of invalided soldiers from Quebec to Boston in the winter of 1759-60, and thereafter returned to civil life. One of his first acts was to get married, his bride being his cousin, Abigail Ludington, daughter of his father’s younger brother, Elisha Ludington. As already noted, Elisha Ludington upon his marriage had removed from Connecticut to Dutchess County, New York, and had settled in what was known as the Phillipse Patent. The exact date of that migration is not recorded, but it was probably some years before the French and Indian war. As the Connecticut troops on their way to that war marched across Dutchess County, through Dover and Amenia, it is to be presumed that Henry Ludington on that momentous journey called at his uncle’s home, and saw his cousin, afterward to be his wife, who had been born on May 8, 1745, and was at that time consequently a child of about ten years. Whether they met again until his return from Quebec is not surely known, but we may easily imagine the boy soldier’s carrying with him into the northern wilderness an affectionate memory of his little cousin, perhaps the last of his kin to bid him good-by, and also her cherishinga romantic regard for the lad whom she had seen march away with his comrades. At any rate, their marriage followed close upon his return, taking place on May 1, 1760, when he was not yet quite twenty-one and she just under fifteen. Soon afterward the young couple, apparently accompanied by the rest of Henry Ludington’s immediate family, removed to Dutchess County, New York, to be thereafter identified with that historic region.
Old Phillipse Manor House at Carmel, N. Y.(From sketch made in 1846 by Charles Henry Ludington)
Old Phillipse Manor House at Carmel, N. Y.
(From sketch made in 1846 by Charles Henry Ludington)
Dutchess County was one of the twelve counties into which the Province of New York was divided on November 1, 1683, the others being Albany, Cornwall (now a part of the State of Maine), Duke’s (now a part of Massachusetts), King’s, New York, Orange, Queen’s, Richmond, Suffolk, Ulster, and Westchester. Dutchess then comprised what is now Putnam County, which was set off as a separate county in 1812 and was named for General Israel Putnam, who was in command of the forces there during much of the Revolutionary War. In 1719 Dutchess County was divided into three wards, known as Northern, Middle, and Southern, each extending from the Hudson River to the Connecticut line. Again, in 1737, these wards were subdivided into seven precincts, called Beekman, Charlotte, Crom Elbow, North, Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, and Southeast; and at later dates other precincts, or towns, were formed, to wit: North East in 1746; Amenia in 1762; Pawlings in 1768; and Frederickstown in 1772. Fishkill and Rombout were also constitutedin colonial times. Frederickstown, where the Ludingtons settled and with which we have most to do, was a part of the Phillipse Patent, in the Southern Ward of Dutchess County, now Putnam County. It derived its name from Frederick Phillipse, a kinsman of Adolphe Phillipse, the patentee of Phillipse Manor or Patent. It has now been divided and renamed, its old boundaries comprising the present towns of Kent, Carmel, and Patterson, and a part of Southeast, the present village of Patterson occupying the site of the former Fredericksburgh. The name of Kent was taken from the family of that name, of which James Kent, the illustrious jurist and chancellor of the State of New York, was a member. It may be of interest to recall at this point, also, that a certain strip of land at the eastern side of Dutchess County was in dispute between New York and Connecticut. This was known as The Oblong, or the Oblong Patent, from its configuration, and comprised 61,440 acres, in a strip about two miles wide, now forming parts of Dutchess, Putnam, and Westchester counties and including part of the Westchester town of Bedford, and also Quaker Hill, near Pawling, in Dutchess County, which was once suggested as the capital of the State, and which gets its name from having been first settled by Quakers. The dispute over the New York-Connecticut boundary and the consequent ownership of this land arose before 1650, when the Dutch were still owners of New York, or New Netherlands as the latter wasthen called, and it was continued between the two Colonies when they were both under British rule. The settlement was effected by confirming New York in possession of The Oblong, and granting to Connecticut in return a tract of land on Long Island Sound, eight miles by twelve in extent, which was long called the “Equivalent Land,” and which is now occupied by Greenwich, Stamford, and other towns. The final demarcation of the boundary was not, however, effected until as late as 1880.
CARMEL, PUTNAM COUNTY, NEW YORK.From a Painting by Jamee M. Hart, 1858.(In possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City.)
CARMEL, PUTNAM COUNTY, NEW YORK.
From a Painting by Jamee M. Hart, 1858.
(In possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City.)
The precise date of Henry Ludington’s settlement in Dutchess County is not now known. Neither his nor his father’s name appears in the 1762 survey of Lot No. 6 of the Phillipse Patent, and it has been assumed that therefore his arrival there must have been at a later date than that. This reasoning must, however, be challenged on the ground that—as we shall presently see—on March 12, 1763, he was officially recorded as a sub-sheriff of Dutchess County. It is scarcely likely that he would have been appointed to that office immediately upon his arrival in the county, and we must therefore conclude that he settled there at least early in 1762, if not before that year. He made his home on a tract of 229 acres of land in Frederickstown, at the north end of Lot No. 6 of the Phillipse Patent, on the site of what was afterward appropriately, though with awkward etymology, called Ludingtonville. This land he was not able to purchase outright, but leased for many years from owners who clung to the old feudal notions of tenure;but at last, on July 15, 1812, he effected actual purchase and received title deeds from Samuel Gouverneur and his wife. On that property he built the first grist- and saw-mills in that region, there being no others nearer than the “Red Mills” at Lake Mahopac and those built by John Jay on the Cross River, in the town of Bedford, Westchester County—which latter, by the way, remained in continuous operation, with much of the original framework and sheathing, until 1906, when they were destroyed to make room for one of the Croton reservoirs. Ludington’s mills were of course operated by water power, generated by a huge “overshot” wheel, supplied with water conveyed from a neighboring stream in a channel or mill-race made of timber.
Near-by stood the house, which was several times enlarged. The main building was two stories in height, with an attic above. Through the center ran a broad hall, with a stairway broken with a landing and turn. At one side was a parlor and at the other a sitting or living room, and back of each of these was a bedroom. The parlor was wainscoted and ceiled with planks of the fragrant and beautiful red cedar. Beyond the sitting room, at the side of this main building, was the “weaving room,” an apartment unknown to our modern domestic economy, but essential in colonial days. It was a large room, fitted with a hand-loom, and a number of spinning wheels, reels, swifts, and the other paraphernalia for the manufacture of homespun fabrics of different kinds.This room also contained a huge stone fireplace. Beyond it, at the extreme east of the house, was the kitchen, with its great fireplace and brick or stone oven. The house fronted toward the south, and commanded a fine outlook over one of the picturesque landscapes for which that region is famed. Years ago the original house was demolished, and a new one was built on the same site by a grandson, George Ludington. The location was a somewhat isolated one, neighbors being few and not near, and the nearest village, Fredericksburgh, on the present site of Patterson, being some miles distant. The location was, however, important, being on the principal route from Northern Connecticut to the lower Hudson Valley, the road leading from Hartford and New Milford, Connecticut, through Fredericksburgh, past Colonel Ludington’s, to Fishkill and West Point—a circumstance which was of much interest and importance to Colonel Ludington in the Revolution, as we shall see. The population of the county at that time was small and scattered. In 1746, or about the time when Elisha Ludington went thither and Abigail Ludington was born, the census showed a population of 8,806, including 500 negro slaves. By 1749 the numbers had actually diminished to 7,912, of whom only 421 were negroes. In 1756, however, there were 14,148 inhabitants, including 859 negroes, and Dutchess was the most populous county in the colony, excepting Albany, which had 17,424 inhabitants. The county was at that time able to contributeto the army about 2,500 men. It had enjoyed exemption from the Indian wars which had ravaged other parts of the colony, and its situation and natural resources gave it the advantages of varied industries. It had the Hudson River at one side for commerce, it was well watered and wooded, its open fields were exceptionally fertile, it had abundant water-power for mills, and it had—though this was not realized until after the colonial period—much mineral wealth.
Such was the community in which Henry Ludington established himself at the beginning of his manhood and married life, and in which he quickly rose to prominence. The extent of his holdings of land, and the fact of his proprietorship of important mills, made him a leading factor in business affairs, while his bent for public business soon led him into both the civil and the military service. At that time, from 1761 to 1769, James Livingston was sheriff of Dutchess County, and early in 1763 Henry Ludington became one of his lieutenants, as sub-sheriff. The Protestant dynasty in England was so newly established that elaborate oaths of abjuration and fealty were still required of all office-holders, of whatever rank or capacity, and on March 12, 1763, Henry Ludington, as sub-sheriff, took and subscribed to them, as follows:
I, Henry Ludington, Do Solemnly and Sincerely, in the Presence of God, Profess, Testify,and Declare, That I do Believe, that in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, there is not any Transubstantiation, of the Elements of Bread and Wine, in the Body and Blood of Christ at or after the Consecration Thereof, by any Person whatsoever. And that the Invocation, or Adoration, of the Virgin Mary, or Any other Saint, and the Sacrifice of the Mass, as they are now Used in the Church of Rome, are Superstitious and Idolatrous, and I do Solemnly in the presence of God, Profess, Testify, and Declare, that I make this Declaration, and Every Part thereof, in the plain and Ordinary Sence of the Words read to me, as they are Commonly Understood by English Protestants, Without any Evasion, Equivocation, or Mental Reservation whatsoever, and Without any Dispensation Already Granted to me for this purpose by the Pope, or any other Authority Whatsoever, or Without Thinking that I am Acquitted, before God or Man, or Absolved of this Declaration, or any Part thereof, Although the Pope, or any Person or Persons, or Power Whatsoever, Should Dispence with or Annul the same and Declare that it was Null or Void, from the Beginning.
I, Henry Ludington, Do Solemnly and Sincerely, in the Presence of God, Profess, Testify,and Declare, That I do Believe, that in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, there is not any Transubstantiation, of the Elements of Bread and Wine, in the Body and Blood of Christ at or after the Consecration Thereof, by any Person whatsoever. And that the Invocation, or Adoration, of the Virgin Mary, or Any other Saint, and the Sacrifice of the Mass, as they are now Used in the Church of Rome, are Superstitious and Idolatrous, and I do Solemnly in the presence of God, Profess, Testify, and Declare, that I make this Declaration, and Every Part thereof, in the plain and Ordinary Sence of the Words read to me, as they are Commonly Understood by English Protestants, Without any Evasion, Equivocation, or Mental Reservation whatsoever, and Without any Dispensation Already Granted to me for this purpose by the Pope, or any other Authority Whatsoever, or Without Thinking that I am Acquitted, before God or Man, or Absolved of this Declaration, or any Part thereof, Although the Pope, or any Person or Persons, or Power Whatsoever, Should Dispence with or Annul the same and Declare that it was Null or Void, from the Beginning.
I, Henry Ludington, do Sincerely Promise & Swear, that I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third, and I do Swear that I do from my heart Abhor, Detest, and Abjure, as Impious and Heretical, that Damnable Doctrine and Position, that Princes Excommunicated and Deprived by the Pope, or Any Authority of the See of Rome, May Be Deposed by Their Subjects or any otherWhatsoever, and I do Declare that no Foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State or Potentate hath or ought to have, any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Pre-eminence, or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, Within this Realm, and I do Truly and Sincerely acknowledge and profess, Testify and Declare, in my conscience before God and the World, That Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third of this Realm, and all other Dominions and Countrys Thereunto Belonging, and I do Solemnly and Sincerely Declare, that I do believe in my conscience that the person pretended to be Prince of Wales During the Life of the Late King James the Second, and since his Decease, Pretending to be and Taking upon himself the Stile and Title of King of England, by the Name of James the Third, or of Scotland by the name of James the Eighth, or Stile and Title of the King of Great Britain, hath not any right or Title whatsoever, to the Crown of this Realm, or any other Dominions Thereunto Belonging, and I do Renounce, Refuse, and Abjure, any Allegiance or Obedience to him, and I do Swear, that I will bear Faith, and True Allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third and him will defend, to the utmost of my Power, against all Traiterous Conspiracies and Attempts Whatsoever, which shall be made Against his Person, Crown or Dignity, and I will do my Utmost Endeavors to Disclose and Make Known to his Majesty and his Successors all Treasons and Traiterous Conspiracies which I shall know to be against him, or any of them, and I faithfully promise to the Utmost of my Power to Support, Maintain and Defend the Successors of theCrown against him the said James and all other Persons Whatsoever, Which Succession by an Act entitled An Act for the further Limitation of the Crown Limited to the Late Princess Sophia, Electress and Dowager of Hanover, and the Heirs of Her Body, being Protestants, and all these things I do plainly and Sincerely Acknowledge and Swear according to the Express words by me spoken and according to the Plain and Common Sence and Understanding of the same Words Without any Equivocation, Mental Evasion, or Sinister Reservation Whatsoever, and I do make this Recognition, Acknowledgement, Abjuration, Renunciation and Promise heartily, Willingly and Truly, upon the True Faith of a Christian. So help me, God!
I, Henry Ludington, do Sincerely Promise & Swear, that I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third, and I do Swear that I do from my heart Abhor, Detest, and Abjure, as Impious and Heretical, that Damnable Doctrine and Position, that Princes Excommunicated and Deprived by the Pope, or Any Authority of the See of Rome, May Be Deposed by Their Subjects or any otherWhatsoever, and I do Declare that no Foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State or Potentate hath or ought to have, any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Pre-eminence, or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, Within this Realm, and I do Truly and Sincerely acknowledge and profess, Testify and Declare, in my conscience before God and the World, That Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third of this Realm, and all other Dominions and Countrys Thereunto Belonging, and I do Solemnly and Sincerely Declare, that I do believe in my conscience that the person pretended to be Prince of Wales During the Life of the Late King James the Second, and since his Decease, Pretending to be and Taking upon himself the Stile and Title of King of England, by the Name of James the Third, or of Scotland by the name of James the Eighth, or Stile and Title of the King of Great Britain, hath not any right or Title whatsoever, to the Crown of this Realm, or any other Dominions Thereunto Belonging, and I do Renounce, Refuse, and Abjure, any Allegiance or Obedience to him, and I do Swear, that I will bear Faith, and True Allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third and him will defend, to the utmost of my Power, against all Traiterous Conspiracies and Attempts Whatsoever, which shall be made Against his Person, Crown or Dignity, and I will do my Utmost Endeavors to Disclose and Make Known to his Majesty and his Successors all Treasons and Traiterous Conspiracies which I shall know to be against him, or any of them, and I faithfully promise to the Utmost of my Power to Support, Maintain and Defend the Successors of theCrown against him the said James and all other Persons Whatsoever, Which Succession by an Act entitled An Act for the further Limitation of the Crown Limited to the Late Princess Sophia, Electress and Dowager of Hanover, and the Heirs of Her Body, being Protestants, and all these things I do plainly and Sincerely Acknowledge and Swear according to the Express words by me spoken and according to the Plain and Common Sence and Understanding of the same Words Without any Equivocation, Mental Evasion, or Sinister Reservation Whatsoever, and I do make this Recognition, Acknowledgement, Abjuration, Renunciation and Promise heartily, Willingly and Truly, upon the True Faith of a Christian. So help me, God!
Thus qualified by the taking of these oaths, Henry Ludington began public services which lasted, in one capacity and another, for more than a generation in the Colony and State of New York. The first entry in his ledger bears date of “May, A.D. 1763,” and runs as follows: “James Livingston Sheriff Dr to Serving county writs (seven in number) the price for serving each writ being from 11s. 9d. to £1—10—9.” There follow, under dates of October, 1763, and May, 1764, entries for serving other writs. Among the names of attorneys in the suits appear those of Cromwell, Livingston, Jones, Snedeker, Ludlow, Snook, and Kent; and among those of parties to suits, etc., are those of Joseph Weeks, Jacob Ellis, Uriah Hill, Jacob Griffen, George Hughson,Ebenezer Bennett, and Joseph Crane. In 1764 first appears the name of Beverly Robinson, as the plaintiff in a suit against one Nathan Birdsall. There is also mention of a suit brought in the name of the “Earl of Starling” as plaintiff before the Supreme Court of the colony—probably William Alexander, or Lord Stirling, the patriot soldier of the Revolution.
At this home in Frederickstown the children of Henry and Abigail Ludington, or all of them but the eldest, were born. These children, with the dates of their births, were as follows, as recorded by Henry Ludington in his Family Register, which was inscribed on a fly-leaf of the ledger already quoted:
Of these it is further recorded in the same register that Sibyl was married to Edward Ogden (the name is elsewhere given as Edmund or Henry Ogden) onOctober 21, 1784; that Mary was married to David Travis on September 12, 1785; that Archibald was married to Elizabeth ⸺ on September 23, 1790; and that Rebecca was married to Harry Pratt on May 7, 1794.
In order justly to appreciate the circumstances in which Henry Ludington and his young family found themselves about fifteen years after his return from the French and Indian war, it will be desirable to recall briefly the political and social conditions generally prevailing throughout the Colonies at that time, which were nowhere more marked than in New York City and the rural counties lying just north of it. During the two or three years before the actual declaration of American independence, or secession from England, the people of the Colonies were divided into two parties, the Patriots and the Loyalists or Tories. The latter maintained the right of England to govern the Colonies as she pleased, and regarded even a protest against the maladministration of George III’s ministers as little short of sacrilege. The former were by no means as yet committed to the idea of American separation from the mother country, but they were most resolute in their demand for local self-government, and for government according to the needs of the Colonies rather than the caprices of English ministers. When they first placed the legend “Liberty and Union” upon their colonial flag, and called it the “Grand Union Flag,” they had inmind liberty under the British constitution and continued union with England. Nevertheless, antagonism between the two parties became as bitter as ever it was between Roundhead and Cavalier in Stuart days; and while in some respects Boston and Philadelphia figured more conspicuously in the pre-revolutionary agitation and operations than did New York, there was probably no place in all the Colonies where the people were more evenly and generally divided between the two parties, or where passions rose higher or were more strongly maintained, than in and about the last-named city. No ties of neighborliness, friendship, or even family relationship sufficed to prevent or to quell the animosities which arose over the political interests of the Colonies. Nowhere had the Patriots a more ardent or persuasive leader than young Alexander Hamilton, or the Tories a more uncompromising champion than Rivington, the printer, whose office was at last sacked and gutted by wrathful Patriots. An illuminating side-light is thrown upon the New York state of mind by an item in the New York “Journal” of February 9, 1775, as follows:
A company of gentlemen were dining at a house in New York. One of them used the word Tory several times. His host asked him, “Pray, Mr. ⸺, what is a Tory?” He replied, “A Tory is a thing whose head is in England, and its body in America, and its neck ought to be stretched!”
A company of gentlemen were dining at a house in New York. One of them used the word Tory several times. His host asked him, “Pray, Mr. ⸺, what is a Tory?” He replied, “A Tory is a thing whose head is in England, and its body in America, and its neck ought to be stretched!”
Nor were these passions by any means confined to the urban but not always urbane community onManhattan Island. They prevailed with equal force in the rural regions of Westchester and Dutchess counties. During the Revolutionary War that border region, between the British garrison on Manhattan Island and the American strongholds in the Highlands of the Hudson, was the fighting ground of the belligerents, and was also unmercifully harried and ravaged by the irregular succors of both sides, the “Cow Boys” and “Skinners,” and others, celebrated in the unhappy André’s whimsical ballad of “The Cow Chase.” Patriots from Westchester County were foremost among those who wrecked Rivington’s Tory printing shop, and an aggravated sequel to the item just cited from the New York “Journal” is provided in the annals of Dutchess County a little later in the same year. At that time a County Committee, or Committee of Safety—of which we shall presently hear much more—had been formed in that county, for the purpose of holding the Tories in check, and it had forcibly deprived some men of their arms and ammunition. The despoiled Tories made appeal to the Court of Common Pleas for redress, and James Smith, a justice of that court, according to a contemporary narrative, “undertook to sue for and recover the arms taken from the Tories by order of said committee, and actually committed one of the committee who assisted at disarming the Tories; which enraged the people so much that they rose and rescued the prisoner, and poured out their resentment on this villanous retailer of the law.” The“resentment” seems to have been poured out of buckets and pillows, for we are told that Justice Smith and his relative, Coen Smith, were “very handsomely tarred and feathered, for acting in open contempt of the resolves of the County Committee!”
In or near that part of Dutchess County in which Henry Ludington lived a third small but not insignificant factor was involved in the problem. This was provided by the members of the Society of Friends, who were settled at Quaker Hill, near Pawling, in The Oblong. This was the first community in America to abolish negro slavery, in 1775, and on that account it was probably regarded with some suspicion. But worse still was the regard given to it in the strife between Patriots and Tories. There can be little doubt that the sentiments and wishes of the Quakers were largely with the Patriots. Yet their religious principle of non-resistance forbade them to take up arms or to engage in forcible conflict of any kind. They were therefore generally looked upon by the Patriots as Tories, and were on that account sometimes fined and otherwise punished, while on the other hand, the Tories made themselves free to quarter troops upon them and to demand aid of them at will. On the whole, however, they appear to have commanded the respect of the Patriots, for their sincerity, and thus to have been far more leniently dealt with than were the more militant Tories outside the Society of Friends.
Map of Quaker Hill and Vicinity, 1778-80, showing location of Colonel Ludington’s place at Fredericksburgh
Map of Quaker Hill and Vicinity, 1778-80, showing location of Colonel Ludington’s place at Fredericksburgh
The earliest organization of the Patriots in andabout New York was a Committee of Vigilance, the chief functions of which were to watch for oppressive acts of the British Government and incite colonial protests against them. This was in 1774 superseded by a Committee of Fifty-One, and it in turn in the same year gave place to a Committee of Inspection, of sixty members. In both of these latter John Jay, who was a neighbor and friend of Henry Ludington, was conspicuous, and it is to be presumed that Henry Ludington himself was either a member of the committees or at least was in active sympathy with their work. In April, 1775, came a crisis and the turning point in the movement for independence. The old Colonial Assembly of New York went out of existence on April 3. Then came the news of the first clash of arms at Lexington and Concord, acting as a spark in a powder-magazine. “Astonished by accounts of acts of hostility in the moment of expectation of terms of reconciliation,” said the lieutenant-governor of New York in his account of the occurrence, “and now filled with distrust, the inhabitants of the city burst through all restraint on the arrival of the intelligence from Boston, and instantly emptied the vessels laden with provisions for that place, and then seized the city arms and in the course of a few days distributed them among the multitude, formed themselves into companies and trained openly in the streets; increased the number and power of the committee before appointed to execute the association of the Continental Congress, convened themselves bybeat of the drum for popular resolutions, have taken the keys of the custom house by military force; shut up the port, drawn a small number of cannon into the country; called all parts of the country to a Provincial Convention; chosen twenty delegates for this city, formed an association now signing by all ranks, engaging submission to committees and congresses, in firm union with the rest of the continent, and openly avow a resolution not only to resist the acts of Parliament complained as grievances, but to withhold succors of all kinds from the troops and to repel every species of force, wherever it may be exerted, for enforcing the taxing claims of Parliament at the risk of their lives and fortunes.” This only half coherent but wholly intelligible and graphic narrative tells admirably how the Patriot sentiment of New York startled into life and action. A year later it was forcibly repressed by the British garrison on Manhattan Island, but in the counties at the north it continued dominant and triumphant.
The “association now signing by all ranks” was promptly entered into by Henry Ludington and his neighbors in Dutchess County, as the following transcript, from the MS. collection of Mr. Patrick, shows, the date of the original being April 29, 1775:
A General Association agreed to and subscribed by the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County of Dutchess:Persuaded: That the Salvation of the Rights & Liberties of America depends, under God, on thefirm Union of its Inhabitants in a Vigorous Prosecution of the Measures necessary for its Safety; and Convinced of the Necessity of preventing the Anarchy & Confusion which attend the Dissolution of the Powers of Government, We, the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County of Dutchess, being greatly alarmed at the avowed Design of the Ministry to raise a Revenue in America, and shocked by the bloody Scene now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, Do, in the most solemn Manner, Resolve, never to become Slaves; and do associate under all the Ties of Religion, Honour and Love to our Country, to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution, whatever Measures may be recommended by the Continental Congress, or resolved upon by our Provincial Conventions, for the Purpose of preserving our Constitution and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and oppressive Acts of the British Parliament, until a Reconciliation between Great Britain and America, on Constitutional Principles (which we most ardently desire) can be obtained: And that we will in all things, follow the Advice of our General Committee, respecting the Purposes aforesaid: the Preservation of peace and good Order and the Safety of Individuals, and private property.Mathew PatersonJoseph ChandlerComfort LudintonRuben MiersJames Dickinson Junr.Isaiah BennettMalcolm MorisonAlexr. KiddHenry LudintonElijah OakleyWilliam Alkin.David AtkinsStephen Baxter.
A General Association agreed to and subscribed by the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County of Dutchess:
Persuaded: That the Salvation of the Rights & Liberties of America depends, under God, on thefirm Union of its Inhabitants in a Vigorous Prosecution of the Measures necessary for its Safety; and Convinced of the Necessity of preventing the Anarchy & Confusion which attend the Dissolution of the Powers of Government, We, the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County of Dutchess, being greatly alarmed at the avowed Design of the Ministry to raise a Revenue in America, and shocked by the bloody Scene now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, Do, in the most solemn Manner, Resolve, never to become Slaves; and do associate under all the Ties of Religion, Honour and Love to our Country, to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution, whatever Measures may be recommended by the Continental Congress, or resolved upon by our Provincial Conventions, for the Purpose of preserving our Constitution and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and oppressive Acts of the British Parliament, until a Reconciliation between Great Britain and America, on Constitutional Principles (which we most ardently desire) can be obtained: And that we will in all things, follow the Advice of our General Committee, respecting the Purposes aforesaid: the Preservation of peace and good Order and the Safety of Individuals, and private property.
Mathew PatersonJoseph ChandlerComfort LudintonRuben MiersJames Dickinson Junr.Isaiah BennettMalcolm MorisonAlexr. KiddHenry LudintonElijah OakleyWilliam Alkin.David AtkinsStephen Baxter.
One other signature is illegible. Those of the two Ludingtons are clear and firm.
The new Provincial Congress of New York met in the New York City Hall on May 22, 1775, and remained in session until May 29, its most important act being the adoption of the following resolution:
Resolved, That it be and hereby is recommended to all counties in this colony (who have not already done it) to appoint County Committees and also sub-committees for their respective townships and districts without delay, in order to carry into execution the resolutions of the Continental and this Provincial Congress; And that it is also recommended to every inhabitant of this colony who has neglected to sign the general association to do it with all convenient speed, and for this purpose that the committees in the respective counties do tender the said association to every inhabitant within the several districts in each county; And that the said committees and persons respectfully do return the said associations and the names of those who shall refuse to sign the same to this Congress by the 15th day of June next, or sooner if possible.
Resolved, That it be and hereby is recommended to all counties in this colony (who have not already done it) to appoint County Committees and also sub-committees for their respective townships and districts without delay, in order to carry into execution the resolutions of the Continental and this Provincial Congress; And that it is also recommended to every inhabitant of this colony who has neglected to sign the general association to do it with all convenient speed, and for this purpose that the committees in the respective counties do tender the said association to every inhabitant within the several districts in each county; And that the said committees and persons respectfully do return the said associations and the names of those who shall refuse to sign the same to this Congress by the 15th day of June next, or sooner if possible.
This obviously “meant business.” It compelled every inhabitant of the colony to align himself, either with the Patriots or with the Loyalists; with a certainty that if he chose the former, he would be held as a traitor by the British Government, and if he chose the latter, he would be subject to whatever pains and penalties his incensed Patriot neighbors might seefit to impose upon him. Into the work thus recommended by the Congress, Henry Ludington entered with zeal and ardor. He was at the head of the local committee, in Fredericksburgh Precinct, and also a member of the Dutchess County Committee, among his colleagues being John Jay, William Duer, Jacobus Swartwout, and other eminent Patriots.
How vigorously and unsparingly these committees went to work will appear if we anticipate for a moment the chronological record by a year. On a motion offered by John Jay on June 16, 1776, the Provincial Congress of New York declared guilty of treason, with the penalty of death, all persons inhabiting or passing through the colony, or state, as it then began to be called, who should give aid or comfort to the enemy. A week later the Continental Congress adopted a similar resolution. It does not appear that this penalty was ever actually imposed, but the terror of it was held as a powerful measure of restraint over the Tories. Again, at Conner’s tavern, at Fishkill, Dutchess County, on October 8, 1776, there was organized a secret committee “for inquiring into, detecting and defeating conspiracies … against the liberties of America,” with full power to send for persons and papers, call out the militia, and arrest or expel persons regarded as dangerous to the state, apparently without any judicial process. Thereafter numerous parties of suspects were sent in by the various local committees, including men, women, and children. All who consented to sign anoath of allegiance to Congress were dismissed. The others were variously dealt with. Some were exiled from the State, some were imprisoned, and some released on parole, to remain near Fishkill within call and surveillance of the committee. The chairman of this committee was William Duer, and if Henry Ludington was not actually among its members he was certainly one of its most trusted and efficient agents. It continued in existence and action until February 27, 1777, when it was dissolved by the State Convention and was replaced by a Board of Commissioners. Two minutes of the proceedings of this committee will serve the double purpose of showing the character of its activities and the part which Henry Ludington played in executing its decrees. The first is dated only four days after the organization of the committee:
In Committee appointed by a Resolution of the Convention of the State of New York for enquiring into, detecting and defeating all Conspiracies which may be form’d in the said State against the Liberties of America. Fish Kill Octr. 12. 1776.This Committee taking into Consideration Coll. Ludington’s Letter respecting Thomas Menzes Esqr. received yesterday—Ordered that Coll. Ludington carry into Execution the former Orders of this Committee respecting Thomas Menzes Esqr. in such manner as to him shall appear most prudent.—Ordered that the Secretary transmit to Coll.Ludington by Express a Copy of the above Order.Extract from the Minutes,A. W. D. PeysterSecry.
In Committee appointed by a Resolution of the Convention of the State of New York for enquiring into, detecting and defeating all Conspiracies which may be form’d in the said State against the Liberties of America. Fish Kill Octr. 12. 1776.
This Committee taking into Consideration Coll. Ludington’s Letter respecting Thomas Menzes Esqr. received yesterday—
Ordered that Coll. Ludington carry into Execution the former Orders of this Committee respecting Thomas Menzes Esqr. in such manner as to him shall appear most prudent.—
Ordered that the Secretary transmit to Coll.Ludington by Express a Copy of the above Order.
Extract from the Minutes,
A. W. D. PeysterSecry.
Reduced Fac-simile of Letter, from Committee on Conspiracies, to Col. Henry Ludington.(Original in possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City)
Reduced Fac-simile of Letter, from Committee on Conspiracies, to Col. Henry Ludington.
(Original in possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City)
The second is dated eight days later:
warrant from commite to aprhend sundry personsIn Committee of the Convention of the State of New York appointed for enquiring into, detecting and defeating all Conspiracies which may be form’d in the said State against the Liberties of America. Fish Kill Octr. 20, 1776.Whereas this Committee did on the 17th inst. resolve that the following persons, Inhabitants of South East and Frederick Precincts in the County of Dutchess, should forthwith be disarm’d apprehended and secured, to witt, Uriah Townsend, Ebenezer Rider, Charles Cullen*, Barns Hatfield, Uriah Wright, Joseph Hitchcock, Eli Crosby, Dr. Daniel Bull*, Charles Theal, and Gilbert Dickeson—⦿Ordered that Coll. Luddington do forthwith apprehend and bring before this Committee the above mentioned Persons and that he secure the Papers of such whose Names are mark’d with an Asterisk in order that the same be examined by this Committee.—Ordered that Capt. Clarke detach Leut. Haight with a Party of 15 Men, to repair to Coll. Luddington and to follow such orders as they may receive from him.Signed by Order of the Committee,Wm. DuerChairman.
warrant from commite to aprhend sundry persons
In Committee of the Convention of the State of New York appointed for enquiring into, detecting and defeating all Conspiracies which may be form’d in the said State against the Liberties of America. Fish Kill Octr. 20, 1776.
Whereas this Committee did on the 17th inst. resolve that the following persons, Inhabitants of South East and Frederick Precincts in the County of Dutchess, should forthwith be disarm’d apprehended and secured, to witt, Uriah Townsend, Ebenezer Rider, Charles Cullen*, Barns Hatfield, Uriah Wright, Joseph Hitchcock, Eli Crosby, Dr. Daniel Bull*, Charles Theal, and Gilbert Dickeson—⦿
Ordered that Coll. Luddington do forthwith apprehend and bring before this Committee the above mentioned Persons and that he secure the Papers of such whose Names are mark’d with an Asterisk in order that the same be examined by this Committee.—
Ordered that Capt. Clarke detach Leut. Haight with a Party of 15 Men, to repair to Coll. Luddington and to follow such orders as they may receive from him.
Signed by Order of the Committee,
Wm. DuerChairman.
In the margin of this warrant, which is here copied from the original in the possession of Charles H. Ludington, are these additional names:
⦿ Daniel Babbit Jeremiah Birch Junr. David Nash Samuel Towner William Merrit Thomas Carl* Daniel Brundage Moses Fowler.
⦿ Daniel Babbit Jeremiah Birch Junr. David Nash Samuel Towner William Merrit Thomas Carl* Daniel Brundage Moses Fowler.
The Charles Cullen mentioned in the warrant was a brother-in-law of the distinguished jurist, Chancellor Kent.
Reduced Fac-simile of Order of arrest issued, by Wm. Duer, Chairman of Committee on Conspiracies, of the “Provincial Congress of the State of New York” to Col. Henry Ludington.(Original paper in possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City.)
Reduced Fac-simile of Order of arrest issued, by Wm. Duer, Chairman of Committee on Conspiracies, of the “Provincial Congress of the State of New York” to Col. Henry Ludington.
(Original paper in possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City.)
In order to understand clearly the geographical scope of the operations already and hereafter credited to Henry Ludington, the division of that part of Dutchess County into precincts should here be explained, with the aid of a map. The reference is to that southern part of Dutchess County which was afterward set off, as at present, into Putnam County. From 1737 down to March 24, 1772, it was known as the South Precinct. On the latter date it was divided into three longitudinal strips, that along the Hudson being called Phillipse, or Philipsburgh Precinct; that in the central and east central part being called Fredericksburgh Precinct; and the smallest strip at the extreme east, consisting of part of The Oblong hitherto mentioned, being known as South East Precinct. It may be added, in anticipation of the narrative, that on March 17, 1788, these names were changed to Philipstown, Frederickstown, and South East, respectively; that on March 17, 1795, the towns of Carmel and Franklin were formed from Frederickstown,and the remainder of the last named was called Fredericks; that on April 6, 1808, Franklin was changed to Patterson, and on April 15, 1817, Fredericks was changed to Kent. It may further be explained that the Philipsburgh Precinct was subdivided into two nearly equal longitudinal strips, and the one along the Hudson River was again divided laterally into three parts, making four lots in all, which were numbered from 1 to 4, and which in the partition of the original Phillipse Patent were apportioned as follows: No. 1, at the extreme southwest, Susannah Robinson; No. 2, next at the west center, Philip Phillipse; No. 3, at the northwest, Mary Phillipse; and No. 4, the long strip inland from the river, Susannah Robinson. The Fredericksburgh Precinct was likewise divided into three longitudinal strips, and the easternmost of them into three laterally, making five lots in all, numbered from 5 to 9, and these were apportioned as follows: No. 5, the long strip next to No. 4 of Philipsburg, to Mary Phillipse; No. 6, a long strip next to No. 5, to Philip Phillipse; No. 7, a “short lot” at the northeast, to Susannah Robinson; No. 8, a short lot at the east center, to Philip Phillipse; and No. 9, a short lot at the southeast, to Mary Phillipse. When, as we shall presently see, Henry Ludington became colonel commanding a militia regiment, his territorial command included all of these nine lots excepting Nos. 7 and 8. He was thus of all the militia commanders nearest to the seat of government when it was atFishkill, and was brought much into contact with state officials there.