Incidents in which imminent defeat was turned to glorious victory—Suppressing the Ravagers of property on the outskirts of the Army—Heroism of the Daughter of Colonel Ludington—Narrative
By Louis S. Patrick, who has made an extended study of this phase of the American Revolution.
There was a band of lurking miscreants, not properly enrolled, who stayed chiefly at Westchester, from whence they infested the country between the two armies, pillaged the cattle and carried off the peaceful inhabitants. The Whig inhabitants on the edge of our lines, and still lower down, who had been plundered in a merciless manner, delayed not to strip the Tories in return. People, most nearly connected, allied frequently, became the most exasperated and inveterate in malice. Then the ties of friendship were broken, then friendship itself being soured to enmity, the mind readily gave way to private revenge, uncontrolled retaliation and all the deforming passions that disgrace humanity. Enormities almost without name, were perpetrated, at the description of which, the bosom, not frozen to apathy, must glow with a mixture of pity and indignation.-Humphrey’s Life of General Putnam
The American Revolution brought forth many’ strong men—daring fighters who were willing to lay clown their lives for their cause. There is another type of strong manhood that took an important part in the American triumph—men whose wit and invention thwarted the plans of the enemy and turned imminent defeat into glorious victory.
This is a true story of what might be termed the “secret service.” It relates the life of a man of whom little is recorded but whose services to his country were such that justice should be done his character.
Colonel Henry Ludington was the oldest son of William and Mary (Knowles) Ludington of Branford, ‘:Connecticut where he was born May twenty-fifth, 1739. His ancestor, William Ludington and his wife Ellen were of English origin and settled in Charlestown Massachusetts, about 1632, afterwards removing to New Haven about 1660, and it is recorded that he died at the East Haven Iron Works in 1663. His grandfather, William Ludington, was a prominent and an influential man among the New Haven colonists, both in church and political affairs. His parents were of the intelligent farmers of the New Haven Colony.
Whether his early life brought him any material advantages over his associates, or that he enjoyed greater privileges or opportunities more than parents of ordinary means and culture could give, there appears to be no substantial evidence. However, traits of character indicative of the future men became manifest at an early age. The beginning of the French and Indian War found him ready and willing to enter the military service of the Colony of Connecticut, and inspired by the love of adventure, having a fear-less and independent nature, a resolute character coupled with a military spirit, at the age of seventeen, he en-listed under the King’s proclamation in Captain Foote’s company of Elizur Goodrich’s Regiment of Connecticut troops. Marching to the frontier, he saw service and gallantly and creditably participated in three campaigns and remained in the service until nearly the close of the war. He was present and took part in the battle of Lake George, where he saw his uncle killed and a cousin mortally wounded.
While a mere boy, he was detailed to escort a company of invalid soldiers from Canada to Boston. This perilous duty and journey through the wilderness, undertaken in the dead of winter was one of almost incredible hardship and suffering. At times, compelled to subsist upon the twigs of the trees and with no protection at night but their blankets to shelter them from the inclemency of the weather, the gallant young leader braved the dangers and privations of the march and successfully accomplished the duty assigned.
The young soldier possessed a genial and a companionable disposition. Military life and discipline, and the toil and hardship of the campaign were not sufficient to hold in check his buoyant nature or to repress his indomitable spirit. He loved practical jokes and was always fond of putting them into execution. On the march to Canada. he was ordered with other men under the command of a sergeant to proceed to cut out a road for the army through the wilderness, a task not to his liking. In order to avoid this duty, he cautiously sought his tent, disguised himself and soon after joined the company, which had already taken up the line of march. As he came up with them, he ordered the sergeant into the ranks and took command himself. The sergeant was inclined to dispute his authority and to resist, but of no avail. The self-constituted officer threatened to report him if he did not obey and promptly and quietly yield. The ruse and the disguise was so complete that no one recognized him or even suspected his authority. When the detail returned to the camp, quickly and unobserved he reached his tent, resumed his ordinary dress, having to all intents and purposes obeyed the order of his superior officer and performed his full share of the work ordered. Not so with the yielding sergeant; he was court-martialled and punished. The young soldier’s superior tact and naivete saved him.
Soon after his Canadian campaigns, young Ludington married his cousin, Abigail Ludington, a daughter of Elisha Ludington of Branford Connecticut. This event occurred May first, 1760. The young couple, with their parents and the members of their families, left Branford and sought a new home to the westward. This they found within the limits of. the Phillips Patent which afterwards became Fredericksburgh Precinct, Dutchess County, New York, and later by enactment in 1812, the town. of Kent, Putnam County, New York. The location of their home was on the north end of Lot Number Six of the Phillips Patent. Only one other settler had preceded them, and the whole country about them was a dense wilderness. Family tradition alone explains why this selection was made. The lands were fertile and cheap, the pasture for the stock abundant and easily obtained, the water good, the place healthy and pleasant and free from many of the ills pertaining to new settlements. However encouraging and alluring the inducements were for settlement, the rocky and rugged hills and the valleys of this region had obstacles not so easily overcome. To till them and to bring them into cultivation required patience and industry. The young pioneer was neither discouraged nor dismayed by his surroundings. He planned and wrought on a broad scale. Fertile acres were developed and his enterprise and industry were rewarded by large possessions. Nor was this all his address, capability and integrity brought him influence and authority.
Soon after Ludington’s entry into Dutchess County in the Providence of New York, he was appointed a subsheriff. He took the oaths of office March twelfth, 1763; one of abjuration and the other of fealty to the Sovereign, which were prescribed for officers on the accession of George the rd to the throne of England. These oaths are quaint relics of a by-custom and authority.
His oath of abjuration declared his “that there was no transubstann of the elements of the bread wine into the body and blood of Christ at or after the consecration by any person whatsoever.” His declaration of loyalty to the King by the second oath was of no uncertain character. By it he pledged himself to remain faithful to the King and to defend him against all traitorous conspiracies and attempts against his per-son, crown and dignity to the utmost of his power, and particularly to up-hold the succession of the crown against the claims of the pretended Prince of Wales, who had styled him-self King of England tinder the name of James the Third.
At this time, the ominous signs of the coming storm, the American Revolution, were visible. Events, particularly, in the New England colonies, were such as to give strength and power to sentiment of open rebellion, yet it is evident that his loyalty to the government had not been disturbed, nor had the culminating events
swerved him from his adhesion to his oath, neither had his obligations weakened to his Sovereign from the character and nature of these oaths. His fidelity remained unquestioned and William Tryon, the captain-general and governor of the Province of New York under the forms of issuing commissions, “reposing especial trust and confidence, as well in the care and diligence, as in the loyalty and readiness to do his Majesty good and faithful service, appointed him captain of the fifth company of the second battallion of the Frederickburg Regiment of Militia in Dutchess County.
Captain Ludington’s commission was given in the city of New York on the thirteenth day of February, 1773, and on the second day of April, 1773, Henry Rosenkranz certified: “that the within Henry Ludington had taken the oaths as by law appointed and the oaths of his office.” He retained this command until the commencement of the Revolution.
However loyal Sheriff Ludington may have been in his allegiance to the authority of George the Third, when the fires of patriotism were awakened by the signal guns at Lexington, then self-interest and fidelity to the King was forgotten. He espoused the cause of the colonists with alacrity. The time for action found him vigilant, aggressive, ready to meet arbitrary power and armed operations. His patriotic zeal made him an unhesitating, energetic, open patriot. Once within the patriots’ ranks, his ardor, military experience and judgment gave the cause of independence a zealous defender and a conspicuous advocate. He recognized the importance of prompt action, believing that de-lays were fraught with danger. Early in the struggle, he took decisive and vigorous measures to sustain the Provincial authorities of New York. In conjunction with Joseph Crane, Jr., Jonathan Paddock and Elisha Townsend, Jr., who were leading men and influential persons in his county, he addressed a letter to the Honorable Council of Safety of the State, defining the action they had taken at the universal call of the people to prevent the removal of flour from that part of the state and to effect the detention of one Helmes who had been purchasing wheat and flour and was then moving it from Fishkill towards Newark. This man’s presence with them was of doubtful character and his conversation was of a “disaffected nature.” “Our invaded state,” they said, “has not only been an object of special designs of our common enemy but was obnoxious to the wicked mercenary intrigues of a number of jockies, who had drained that part of the State of the article of bread to that extent that they had reasons to fear there was not enough left to support the people.”
In the organization of the Dutchess County Militia for the Revolutionary service, previous training and services gave Colonel Ludington conspicuous prominence. During the winter of 1775-6 he was appointed a second major in Colonel Jacobus Swartout’s Regiment of minute-men in Dutchess County, and when its first major, Malcolm Morrison, resigned, Ludington was appointed in his place March tenth, 1776.
The next command to which he was nominated was that of lieutenant colonel. The general committee of the county decided on May sixth, 1776, to divide and reorganize the southern regiment of militia into two regiments. The regiment of which he was to be the lieutenant colonel included all the militia in the Fredericksburgh Precinct (except the middle and north short lots), and all the militia in the Phillips Precinct in Dutchess County. The regiment was to remain unregimented until the officers received their commissions, but the Provincial Congress of the Colony of New York commissioned him colonel in June, 1776, his command being as already described.
The locality in New York in which-Colonel Ludington lived, and to which his regiment belonged, was in close proximity to the Neutral Ground of New York. It was the shortest,. route to New York and the most direct line to Connecticut and other points in the farther East. The important post of West Point was only twenty miles away, while to the west three miles, rose the crest of the Highlands of the Hudson, overlooking Fishkill and Newburg in the valley below. Owing to the directness of the route, this locality became strategic and advantageous to direct, the movement and concentration of troops in any direction whenever an’ emergency required. The ease an readiness by which his command could be diverted and concentrated brought Colonel Ludington’s Regiment into active and constant service in the counties of Dutchess and Westchester, either to assist the regular troops or to quell the turbulent Tory spirit of that section, or to repress the vicious and exasperating conduct of the “Cowboys and Skinners,” who infested the Neutral Ground.
“In this section,” says one record “the condition of affairs was truly deplorable. Small parties of volunteers on the one side, and parties of Royalists and Tories on the other, constantly harassed the inhabitants and plundered without mercy friend and foe, alike. To guard against surprise required the utmost vigilance. Within this territory resided many friends o the American cause, whose situation exposed them to continual ravages by the Tories, horse-thieves and cow-boys, who robbed them indiscriminately and mercilessly, while the personal abuse and punishment we almost incredible.”
Colonel Ludington’s activity and vigilance frequently thwarted the designs of these foes, broke up their combinations, secured the capture of their leaders and his continual activity and effective operations against these ,marauders and their allies incurred the displeasure of General Howe who aroused an energetic hostility towards Colonel Ludington. To effect the capture of the untiring and zealous officer, dead or alive, a large reward as offered by the British officer. Inspired by this incentive, many attempts were made to capture Colonel Ludington. None were, however, successful.
The most signal attempt to capture e brave colonel and the nearest to success, was undertaken by a notorious Tory named Prosser, whose headquarters were in the vicinity of Quaker Hill, Dutchess County, New York. This leader, while on his way to New York with a large band of his followers to join the British forces, marching in the night time, surrounded Colonel Ludington’s house and but for their timely discovery by his daughters, Sibbell and Rebecca, would have captured him. These fearless
girls, with guns in their hands, were acting as sentinels, pacing the piazza to and fro in true military style and spirit to guard their father against surprise and to give him warning of any approaching danger. They discovered Prosser and his men and gave the alarm. In a flash, candles were lighted in every room, of the house, and then the few occupants marched and counter-marched before the windows and from this simple and clever ruse Prosser was led to believe that the house was strongly guarded and not dare to make an attack. A peculiar incident in later years is that after Prosser escaped banishment he returned at the close of the war and settled near Colonel Ludington.
Colonel Ludington’s life was in danger at another time and by the merest incident he narrowly escaped instant death. A slight noise attracted attention, while he was eating his evening meal, and this slight warning was the means of saving his life. The open shutters were instantly closed and protected him from his assassins. This incident was related to him after the war by one of his neighbors, who was a member of the party, and re-marked: “Oh, it is too bad to shoot him while he is eating.”
The colonel’s most vigilant and watchful companion was his sentinel daughter, Sibbell. Her constant care and thoughtfulness, combined with fortuitous circumstances, prevented the fruition of many an intrigue against his life and his capture.
As unremitting as Colonel Ludington’s efforts were, the Tories remained diligent in collecting and drilling bands of men for actual service in the Royal Army. Captain Joshua Nickerson, a noted Tory, collected a large force of men over the swamp in the eastern part of the precinct for this purpose and thorough preparations were made to take them to New York. Colonel Ludington, having been apprised of Captain Nickerson’s intention and having obtained accurate information as to the place of rendezvous and their numbers, through a tenant who had enlisted with Nickerson, marched a sufficient force at night and captured the entire number and lodged them in jail at Poughkeepsie. The tenant was subsequently released.
John Holmes was another captain and was the most wary of them all. The British authorities supplied him with money to use as a bounty for recruits. He gathered privately a large number of men and concealed them in a scrub oak field in Fishkill Plain. Colonel Ludington, learning of the secret gathering, moved at night with a strong attachment of men, surrounded Holmes and succeeded in capturing him and his troop after a severe struggle. They were taken to Poughkeepsie and imprisoned. Holmes would have been hanged for his traitorous conduct but for the personal exertions of his captor who pleaded in his be-half with Governor Clinton.
Colonel Ludington was closely identified with the first secret service. The home and the labors of the famous Revolutionary spy, Enoch Crosby, the original of Cooper’s “Harvey Birch,” were in the territory commanded by Colonel Ludington. This humble individual, a shoemaker by occupation, while traveling about the country pursuing his occupation among the people, obtained information of the utmost importance to Washington. Colonel Ludington knew his secret and his object and aided him and sheltered him in the performance of his delicate and hazardous mission. To further prose-cute this service, Colonel Ludington furnished numerous successful spies from his own regiment, and with Washington planned many enter-prises to obtain definite and trustworthy information concerning the movements, numbers and intentions of the British forces. His services also ex-tended to the Commissary Department in purchasing supplies for the use of the Army. Entries in an old account book show transactions at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and also at Annapolis, Maryland.
New York was slow to formulate a state and it was among the last to act. Every department was admirably officered and every possible precaution was taken to enforce and execute the laws and to punish the enemies of the state. The legislature appointed commissioners to quell and subdue insurrection and disaffection in the counties of Dutchess and Westchester. These commissioners, Colonel Henry Ludington, John Jay and Colonel Thomas, were directed to cooperate with a similar one in the Manor of Livingston and were authorized to call in the aid of the militia if necessary, and commanded to use every reasonable means to effect the detection and capture of spies and the secret agents of the enemy.
An instance of Colonel Ludington’s experiences is the case of Malcolm Morrison, at one time a first major in a regiment of minute-men, who was charged with accepting the protection of the British government and with raising a company of soldiers for its service. The charge was sustained by the oaths of several witnesses. The committee resolved to commit him to the Ulster County jail January fourth, 1777, there to remain, awaiting the pleasure of the commit-tee or such order as the future legislature of the state might make concerning him. While in Kingston jail, Morrison on February nineteenth, 1777, petitioned the representatives of the state in convention assembled, stating that he had always been ready in advising and assisting both officers and soldiers in the public business, and in a most generous manner had advanced them cash for their relief and was a considerable amount out of pocket on that account, none of which had been paid back, except the 16 lent Colonel Ludington and William Griffin to enable them to find out the pernicious plot of John Miller and Constant Nickerson.
Washington selected Colonel Ludington as an aid-de-camp at the battle of White Plains and afterwards complimented him for his meritorious service, gallant conduct and soldierly bearing. The expedition, consisting of two thousand men, sent out to destroy the stores and munitions of war collected at Danbury, Connecticut, under the command of General Tryon, reached that place Saturday, April twenty-sixth, 1777. The guard, too small for protection and too weak for effective resistance, withdrew. Preparations were immediately made to harass the enemy. A messenger was dispatched to Colonel Ludington to summon him to aid in the defence of the place. He arrived in the evening of that day. The members of Colonel Ludington’s regiment were at their homes which were miles apart and scattered over a wide territory. To summon them was no easy task. There was no one ready to do it. Sibbell, the young daughter of Colonel Ludington, a girl of sixteen, volunteered to do this service. She mounted her horse, equipped with a man’s saddle (some members of the family say without saddle or bridle), and galloped off on the road in the dead of night to perform this courageous service. The next morning by break-fast time, the regiment had taken up the line of march and was in rapid motion towards Danbury, twenty miles distant.
The British in the campaign of 1777 had a grand object in view. They intended to penetrate New York and to dismember the colonies. To execute this plan, Burgoyne and others were to proceed from the northward and westward to meet at Albany and proceed down the river until they formed a junction with the forces under Clinton from the south-ward, and by this masterly stroke to obtain possession of the commanding points of the state and to effect the isolation of the New England Colonies. Unexpected difficulties, numerous delays and the rapid augumentation of the American Army prevented Burgoyne from accomplishing his part of the project. Messengers were dispatched to Sir Henry Clinton to in-form him of the circumstances of Burgoyne and to urge him to make a diversion in his favor and with such force as to scatter the half disciplined provincials. Clinton, eager to comply, was waiting reinforcements. Washington had drawn a large force from Putnam in the Highlands to aid operations elsewhere and left him with a force composed principally of militia from New York and Connecticut. Putnam, apprehending no movement up the river, had discharged nearly ten hundred of these, leaving his effective force only fifteen hundred men. Clinton, on the arrival of reinforcements, organized an expedition, the chief object of which was to create a diversion in favor of Burgoyne. On Saturday, October fourth, 1777, the expedition proceeded up the river with a force of fifty hundred men and landed at Tarry-town. At this point, under orders from Putnam, Colonel Ludington was stationed with five hundred men.
While parleying with the flag, the enemy endeavored to surround the militia and effect their capture, but Colonel Ludington, perceiving the object of Clinton, ordered a retreat and withdrew to a place of safety. The British then Withdrew.
Colonel Ludington’s report of this affair to General Putnam was made during the afternoon of the fourth of October, and after detailing the conditions in the vicinity and describing the arrival, landing and force of the British in this undertaking, he rereported :
That under command of Governor Tryon, they immediately took the heights above Tarrytown, and from thence kept the heights until they thought they had got above our little party, but luckily we had got above them and paused at Mr. Young’s, where we thought best to move towards them, where we were in open view of them, and found them to be vastly superior to us in numbers, and moved off to Wright’s Mills. Having no assistance more than our little party belonging to our regiment, I found on our retreat, before we got back to Young’s, they had sent for-ward a flag, but found it was in view of trapping us, as they had flanking parties, who we discovered, in order to surround us, but after clearing the regiment, I rode back and met the flag within a quarter of a mile of their main body. The purport of his errand was that Governor Tryon had sent him to acquaint me, if we would give up our arms and submit, they would show us mercy or otherways, they were deter-mined to take us and strip the country. Sent in answer : That as long as I had a man alive, I was determined to oppose them and they might come on as soon as they pleased. We have not lost a man and the last move of the enemy was from Young’s towards the Plains.
The exigencies of the situation brought Colonel Ludington into services other than the purely military. The Continental Army had purchased large supplies of grain and hay in Eastern Dutchess County, New York, and Western Connecticut. The committee, acting promptly on this matter, ordered the repairs to be made and directed that Colonel Ludington should detach one hundred men from his command and assign them to this duty. It was also important that the roads and bridges should be in good condition on account of the movements of the British from the north-ward. Washington also had these matters under his personal attention, and to meet any emergency that might arise, he ordered three brigades of troops into the Fredericksburgh precinct. On their march these troops encamped on the meadow near Colonel Ludington’s house and remained over night.
While Washington was in the Fredericksburgh precinct in 1778, he was on several occasions a guest at the house of Colonel Ludington and once in the company of Count Rochambeau. Other distinguished men of the period enjoyed the hospitality. of Colonel Ludington. Among these were William Ellery, a member of Congress from Massachusetts, who on the twentieth day of October mounted his horse at Dighton, pro-posing to ride to York, Pennsylvania, five hundred miles distant, where he was to resume his congressional du-ties. He was accompanied by Fran cis Dana and his servant. A sketch of his trip has been preserved, relating the incidents of his journey. On the fifth of November they left Litchfield, Connecticut, intending to reach Peekskill, but when they arrived at Danbury they were persuaded to abandon the route because of the Tories and horse thieves and the impossibility of reaching Peekskill that night.
Ellery describes his experience at this place and the state of affairs in the immediate vicinity :
“Here, mens meminisse horret,” we were told by our landlady that the Colonel had gone to New Windsor, that there was a guard on the road between Fishkill and Peeksskill and one of the guard had been killed about 6 miles off, and that a man not long before had been shot on the road to Fishkill not more than three miles from their house and a guard had been placed there for sometime past and had been dismissed only three days. We were in a doleful pickle, not a male in the house but Francis Dana’ and his man and William Ellery, and no lodging for the first and the last but in a lower room, without shutters to the windows or locks to the door. What was to be done? In the first place, we fortified our stomachs with beefsteak and strong drink (grogg) and then went to work to fortify ourselves against attack. Dana asked whether there were any guns in the house, two were produced. One of these in good order. Nails were fixed over the windows, the gun placed in the corner, a pistol under each of our pillows and the hanger against the bed-post. Thus accoutred and prepared at all points, our heroes went to bed. Whether Francis Dana slept William Ellery cannot say for he was so overcomed with fatigue and his animal spirits with beef etc., that every trace of fear was utterly erased from his imagination and he slept soundly until morning without any interruption save that at mid-night as he fancieth, he was awakened by his companion with the interesting question. deliverd in a tremulous voice, “what noise is that?” He listened and soon discovered that the noise was occassioned by some rats gnawing the head of a bread cask. After satisfying the knight about the noise, he took his second and finishing nap. The day it snowed and rained. We continued at Colonel Ludington’s until afternoon, when the fire-wood being gone, we mounted and set off.
Colonel Ludington’s residence was built prior to the Revolution and in style similar to almost every house of the period, two stories in front and one in the rear. Huge doors divided in the middle with ponderous latches gave entrance. The front was ornamented by a piazza, within large and spacious rooms, their ceilings low and the floors nicely sanded. Immense chimneys rose within the structures, each with wide fire-places and large ovens. While many happy incidents are inseparately connected with this house, it possessed historic interest from its associations and for the many plans pro-posed and developed to bring success to the patriots’ cause and arms. Its good cheer to the way-faring man and the hospitality to its guests made it famous far and wide during the early period of the country’s history. Long after its owners had passed from life, it was remembered by those who had been sheltered within its walls. It remained standing until 1838 when it was torn down.
Many places of trust and honor in civil life, both public and private, were held by Colonel Ludington. In 1772, he was the assessor of the Fredricksburgh. precinct and was the supervisor in 1777-1778. He was a member of the legislature of New York, having been chosen for the third session, meeting at Kingston first, then at Albany, and closing its proceedings at its third meeting at Kingston, ending July second, 1780. He was also a member of the fourth session, meeting at Poughkeepsie, September seventh, 1780, and ending its second meeting at Albany, March thirty-first, 1781; and afterwards a member of the ninth session convening in New York, January twelfth, and adjourning May fifth, 1786. He was elected the fourth and last time as a member of the legislature for the tenth session, which body met in New York, January twelfth, and finished its labors April twenty-first, 1787. His votes are recorded with the majority vote. By a commission dated March twenty-sixth, 1804, he was appointed a justice-of-the-peace for the town of Frederick, Dutchess County. This office he held for many years and administered its duties with dignity. The idea of holding courts without the statutes was considered preposterous by his neighbors and at length he was prevailed upon to send to Poughkeepsie to make a purchase of a set of books in order to make his decisions in accordance with the statutes. The books were purchased and judgment rendered, but it was not long before an appeal was taken and his decision was not upheld by the higher court. The reversal settled the question of books with him conclusively. From this time he laid them aside and declared he would never make another decision from them—and he did not.
Multifarious and constant as were his public and private duties, his interest in other affairs was not obscured nor lessened. When the first academy was erected in Patterson, Putnam County, New York, a school which obtained considerable importance during its time, he contributed the timber for its construction. He built and operated a saw and a grist mill,—the first one built in that section. It was erected during the Revolution and was known as the “Luddinton Mill.” Its reputation gave it great custom and it enjoyed a unique reputation from the fact that the structure was raised almost solely by women, the men being absent in the military service of the country. The building is yet standing and with some alterations and improvements the wheels go merrily round as in the days of yore, but the old saw mill has long since passed cot of existence, hardly a memory of it remaining.
Colonel Ludington in personal appearance was a man of commanding presence. He was above the medium height, erect of figure, with prominent features and had blue eyes. His convictions were sincere and resolute. He was irreproachable in character and determined in purpose, His buisness capacity was evidenced by the successful manner by which conducted his private affairs. The farm, the mills and the inn, while demanding a a large share of his attention, did not prevent him giving thoughtful care towards the performance of his public duties.
His children were:
Sibbell, born April 5th, 1761. Rebecca, born January 21St, 1753. Mary, born July 31St, 1765, Archibald, born July 5th, 1767. Henry, born March 28th, 1769. Derrick, born February 17th, 1771. Tartullus, born April 19th, 1773. Abigail, born February 26th, 1776 Anne, born March 14th, 1778. Frederick, born June loth, 1782. Sophia, born May 16th, 1784. Lewis, born June 25th, 1786.
Colonel Ludington died January twenty-fourth, 1817. The end came suddenly—almost without warning. In the village churchyard adjacent to the Presbyterian church at Patterson, Putnam County, New York, lies his remains, suitably marked and where also are interred several members of his family.
