Summary Information
Harrison Ludington Papers
1848-1890
- Ludington, Harrison, 1812-1891
Milwaukee Mss J
2.0 c.f. (5 archives boxes)
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of Ludington, a Milwaukee businessman and Republican, who was mayor of that city, 1871-1876, and governor of Wisconsin, 1876-1878. The collection relates only to Ludington's business activities, particularly to his partnership with Daniel Wells, Jr., of Milwaukee and Anthony Van Schaick of Chicago in the lumber industry. Included are many letters from Van Schaick concerning the land investments and lumber production of the Ludington, Wells and Van Schaick Company which operated near Menominee, Michigan. An additional group of papers concerns Ludington's financial responsibilities as executor of the estate of his early mercantile partner in Milwaukee, Harvey Birchard, and as guardian of Birchard's two minor heirs.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil0000j ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Harrison Ludington, governor of Wisconsin from 1876-1878, was born in Ludingtonville, New York on July 31, 1812. He moved to Milwaukee in 1838 and in the following year formed a partnership with his uncle, Lewis Ludington, and Harvey Birchard in a general merchandising business. Ludington withdrew from this enterprise in 1851 and turned his attention to the lumber industry, forming a partnership with Daniel Wells, Jr. of Milwaukee and Anthony G. Van Schaick of Chicago. During the next forty years, the Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick Company became one of the leading producers of lumber in the Northwest, with large land holdings in Menominee, Michigan.
Ludington, a Republican, served as mayor of Milwaukee from 1871 to 1872 and again from 1873 to 1876, when he resigned to serve a two-year term as governor. In 1878 he retired from public life and devoted himself to his business affairs until his death on June 17, 1891.
Scope and Content Note
The Harrison Ludington Papers are divided into two sections. The first section relates specifically to Ludington's business activities. The correspondence (1848, 1855-1890) is mainly business letters from Anthony C. Van Schaick and falls mainly within the period of July 1884 to June 1885, and the year 1890. There is one folder of maps relating to the various land holdings of the Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick Company, in addition to Ludington's miscellaneous unsorted business papers.
The second section of the Harrison Ludington Papers concerns Ludington's financial responsibilities as executor of the estate of Harvey Birchard and guardian of Birchard's two minor heirs, Harvey Birchard, Jr., and Cordelia Ann Birchard Hennessy. Birchard's an early mercantile partner of Harrison Ludington, died in Milwaukee in 1864 and left an estate estimated at 300,000. The Birchard estate papers are comprised mainly of bills and receipts against the estate, including the financial records for the reconstruction of the Birchard Block in Milwaukee, circa 1866. Also included are Ludington's yearly financial reports as guardian for the Birchard minor heirs.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Joseph Patton of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 16, 1959.
Processed by Jack T. Ericson, October 1, 1964. Charles Kempker reprocessed the collection in February 2002.
Contents List
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Box
1
Folder
1-5
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Correspondence, 1848-1890, undated
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Land Holdings Maps, undated
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Box
2
Folder
2-6
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Business Papers, 1836-1891, undated
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Box
2
Folder
4-6
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Cancelled Checks, 1856-1886, 1890, 1891
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Birchard Estate
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Box
3
Folder
1-6
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1839-1867
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Box
4
Folder
1-4
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1868-1876
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Box
5
Folder
1-3
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1877-1890, undated
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