Lewis Ludington

Lewis Ludington
Lewis Ludington, ca 1855
Born	(1786-06-25)June 25, 1786 Kent, New York
Died	September 10, 1857(1857-09-10) (aged 71) Keshena, Wisconsin
Nationality	American
Occupation	Businessman, lumber baron
Known for	founder of Columbus, Wisconsin

Lewis Ludington (June 25, 1786 – September 10, 1857) was an American businessman, lumber baron, and real estate developer. He operated general merchandising stores in New York and Milwaukee and is the founder of Columbus, Wisconsin. Among his businesses were lumber mills and docks.

Ludington's father, Henry Ludington, was a soldier in the French and Indian War. Records show that when twenty-one years old, he assisted a company of wounded soldiers from Quebec to Boston in the winter of 1759–60, and after that duty returned to civilian life. Henry married his cousin Abigail on May 1, 1760, a week before her fifteenth birthday. They had six children, all born in Kent, New York (then known as Fredericksburgh). Lewis was youngest, born on June 25, 1786. His eldest sister was Sybil Ludington.

Ludington was twenty when he partnered with his elder brother Frederick to operate a general merchandising store near their home in Kent, New York. He visited Milwaukee in 1838 with his nephew Harrison Ludington and Harvey Birchard of Carmel, New York. They explored the interior of Wisconsin with the idea of purchasing extensive tracts of land from the government for timber. In 1839 the brothers formed a general merchandising store in Milwaukee called Ludington, Burchard & Company. A year or so later Burchard retired and the firm became Ludington and Company with Harrison's younger brother Nelson being brought into the partnership. Ludington was the general manager of the company for nearly twenty years. It had a more wide-ranging business compared to other companies in Wisconsin at the time; among its holdings and activities were docks in Milwaukee and lumber mills in Oconto as part of the firm.

Ludington also became involved in real estate development in Wisconsin. His connections there were extensive, and he would travel to the state on the schooner Lewis Ludington, which he used to transport harvested lumber across Lake Michigan from Wisconsin and ultimately back to New York state by train and wagon.