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.
