ANCESTOR NO. 24: WILLIAM TODD LUDLOW (1841-1905)

 My grandfather’s grandfather, William Todd Ludlow, was born on 15 February 1841, almost certainly at 89 Clinton Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.[1] His father, Matthias Ludlow, was a mason, and William’s mother was born Sarah Ann Todd in Manhattan.[2] They lived at the same address as William’s maternal grandfather, William Todd, an immigrant cartman (similar to today’s delivery truck drivers). He is one of the few nineteenth century ancestors of mine for which I have a photo.

Inscribed "Uncle Billy Ludlow" on the back.

By 1850, William was living with his family in Rahway Township, New Jersey, just west of Staten Island, New York. The family included his older sisters Sarah Ann and Eliza.[3] The Ludlows had deep roots in Rahway, going back at least a century, so they would have been surrounded by relatives. William’s father bought land in Rahway and Manhattan and gave up masonry for farming. Another brother, Ebenezer, was born in 1852. They were still in Rahway at the beginning of the Civil War.[4] No record found shows that William enlisted or was drafted into the Union Army. For those who could afford it, paying a substitute to join the military was legal and acceptable at that time. William’s father was wealthy, and it appears that he did not join the military.

Near the end of the war, on 15 March 1865, William married Sarah Eizabeth Laing, probably in Manhattan. Their marriage was reported in the New York Daily Herald on 18 March 1865, noting that the ceremony had been performed by Rev. Dr. Armitage.[5] Although William lived in Rahway and Sarah lived in New York City, the two families were connected: Sarah’s grandmother was Sally Ludlow, a sister of William’s grandfather Ebenezer Ludlow, so William and Sarah were second cousins.[6] Shortly after their marriage, William and Sarah lived with his parents. They had their first child, Matthias, in New Jersey in 1866.

William tried life in Manhattan and took out a five-year lease on a bakery. In 1867, he was a baker, first at 115 Spring Street and then at the corner of Second Avenue and Nineteenth Street. But by May 1868, he was already trying to get someone to take over the lease for his bakery.[7] In July 1868, Sarah gave birth to twins Frank and Hattie, but they died within a few days.[8]

By 1870, William had returned to Rahway and was again farming, living with his wife Sarah E. and two young sons, Matthias and baby Lewis.[9] On 18 November 1872, our ancestor Laura Eloise Ludlow joined the family.[10]

In 1872, William acquired land through his wife’s family. A Union County deed shows George P. Suydam conveying property to William T. Ludlow, as part of the settlement and division of Laing family property.[11] This suggests that William and Sarah were consolidating a place of their own in Rahway, likely on or near land inherited from Sarah’s side of the family.

William was also active in church life. In 1874, he and Sarah joined the Second Presbyterian Church of Rahway.[12] At some point before 1887, William served as the ninth president of the church’s Young People’s League.[13]

Matthias Ludlow died in 1879, leaving a substantial estate, but unusually, his sons William and Ebenezer were not the executors.[14] Probate lasted for years, and much of the inheritance involved Rahway city bonds that turned out to be of doubtful value or worthless. I remember my grandfather telling me that his family had loaned a lot of money, and never gotten it back. That family story passed down for several generations shows how great the loss was. Newspaper items from the early 1880s show William and other family members purchasing or dealing in these bonds, while settling the estate.[15]

In 1880, William was thirty-nine years old, a farmer, living on New Brunswick Avenue in Rahway with his wife Sarah and four children: Matthias, Lewis, Laura Eloise, and Ida Victoria, born in 1877.[16] His widowed mother and his brother Ebenezer lived nearby.

Inscribed "Grandpa and Grandma Ludlow" on the back.

By the mid-1880s, William was still in Rahway, appearing in the 1885 state census, but by 1887 he may have been under economic pressure: newspaper advertisements in New York show William Ludlow seeking work as a porter in a “wholesale house.”[17] He was 46 years old, and that job does not seem physically easier than farming.

Between 1889 and 1891, William and his family left Rahway for Brooklyn, living at 96 Madison Ave. Son Matthias Ludlow married Lizzie Downs in Newark in 1889, and daughter Laura Eloise Ludlow married Eugene L. Downs in Brooklyn in July 1891, with William and Sarah as witnesses.[18] In 1892 William was living in Brooklyn and working as an agent. Most of his children were still living with him.[19]

After moving to Brooklyn, he kept his Rahway property, until he decided to sell it: advertisements in 1894 and 1896 show him offering a house and eight-acre farm there.[20] Instead of farming, he now worked selling trees, shrubs and plants, traveling all over Long Island for a Pennsylvania firm.[21]

In 1900 he and Sarah were living at 535 Gates Avenue in Brooklyn, renting rooms in a multi-family house. He was then employed as a flower salesman. They were empty nesters and the census recorded that Sarah had borne six children, four of whom were still living.[22] Their son Matthias lived with his family in Newark, N.J., as did their daughter Laura, and their son Lewis lived in Brooklyn. Their daughter Ida Victoria, still single,  was not in the household because she was at the Long Island State Hospital, where she died on 15 June 1900 at age twenty-two. Her death certificate gave the cause as “exhaustion of acute mental disease.” She was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.[23] The loss must have been a painful one for the family; back then it was believed that mental illness was hereditary and people were prejudiced against all the family members, so it was usually kept secret as much as possible. When the afflicted one was the eldest, it could even be hard for younger siblings to find a marriage partner.

On 7 June 1905, William died at home. His death certificate states that he was 64 years, 3 months, and 11 days old, and identifies his parents as Matthias Ludlow and Sarah A. Todd. The cause of death was “nephritis with diabetes coma,” indicating kidney disease associated with diabetes. He was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery, next to Ida, on 11 June 1905.[24]

Newspaper obituaries remembered him as a longtime member of Classon Avenue Presbyterian Church and noted funeral services involving both the minister of that church and the Marcy Avenue Baptist minister, which is unusual, in my experience.[25]

By the time of his death, William had lived a life that bridged rural New Jersey and urban New York, manual and commercial labor, modest prosperity, and probable financial disappointment. He had been, at different times, a farmer, baker, florist, and plant salesman. His life was not one of public prominence, but it reflects the mobility, instability, family interconnectedness, and religious commitment of many nineteenth-century Americans.

---

[1] Longworth’s American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory ... (New York: Thomas Longworth, 1841), 449; images, “New York City Directory, 1841/1842,” New York Public Library Digital Collections (https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/3d4349b0-4735-0136-39de-3584d3da32cb/book#page/455/mode/2up:accessed 13 Nov. 2020), Matthias Ludlow, image 454. Note: the birth date is in our family Bible, in my possession.

[2] New York City, New York, death certificate no. 10741, (8 June 1905) William T. Ludlow; New York City Department of Records and Information Services, Municipal Archives, New York City.

[3] “1850 United States Federal Census,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com:accessed 13 Nov. 2020); entry for William Ludlow in household of Matthias Ludlow, Rahway Township, Essex County, New Jersey, p. 60 (penned), line 27, dwelling 364, family 477, image 61 of 81; from NARA M432, Roll 450, RG 29.

[4] “1860 United States Federal Census,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com:accessed 13 Nov. 2020); entry for William T. Ludlow in household of Matthias Ludlow, Rahway Township, Union County, New Jersey, p. 178 (penned), line 9, dwelling 1109, family 1331, image 179 of 180; from NARA M653, FHL film 803710.

[5] “Marriages and Deaths,” New York Daily Herald (New York, N.Y.), 18 Mar. 1865, p. 2, col. 5; images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com: accessed 14 Nov. 2020).

[6] Proof of these relationships will be made in future blog posts.

[7] “For Sale,” The New York Herald, 21 May 1868, p. 1, col. 6; image, Old Fulton New York Postcards (https://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html)

[8] Per family Bible.

[9] “1870 United States Federal Census,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com:accessed 14 Nov. 2020); entry for William T. Ludlow, 4th Ward, Rahway, Union County, New Jersey, p. 27 (penned), sheet 753 A (stamped), line 8, dwelling 214, family 216, image 27 of 30; from NARA M593, Roll 891, FHL film 552390.

[10] Per family Bible.

[11] Union County, New Jersey, Deeds, 66: 158-159, George P. Suydam to Wm. T. Ludlow, 26 Feb. 1872; “Deeds, 1857-1935,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-V3DZ-HQC9?i=666&cat=222831: accessed 2 May 2021) > IGN 8715588> image 667.

[12] George P. Edgar, Second Presbyterian Church of Rahway, N.J. 1849-1887, (Rahway, N. J.: W. L. Mershon & Co., 1887), 27; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99ZM-9ZQF?view=explore&keywords=William%20T.%20Ludlow&lang=en&groupId=M99K-889: accessed 8 July 2026) > IGN 7433514 > item 5 of 17 > image 16 of 67.

[13] Ibid, p. 47.

[14] Surrogate of Union County, New Jersey, Applications for Probate of Wills, A:57; “New Jersey, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1739-1991,” images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 11 Nov. 2022) > Union > Applications for Probate of Will, Vol A-B, 1878-1890 > image 61 of 589; estate of Matthias Ludlow, 16 Oct. 1879.

[15] “Sale of Rahway and Elizabeth Bonds,” Rahway Advocate (Rahway, N.J.), 19 August 1882, p. 3, col. 1; image, Rahway Public Library Newspaper Collection (http://www.digifind-it.com/rahway/data/rahway-ad/1882/1882-08-19.pdf#search=%22wm%20t%20ludlow%22:  accessed 15 Nov. 2020). “Won’t Take 25 Per Cent,” The Jersey Journal (Jersey City, N. J.), 29 Mar. 1882, p. 4, col. 1; image, Newpapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1189189942/: accessed 17 July 2026). “Local News,” Rahway Advocate (Rahway, N.J.), 19 August 1882, p. 3, col. 1; image, Rahway Public Library Newspaper Collection (http://www.digifind-it.com/rahway/data/rahway-ad/1882/1882-08-19.pdf#search=%22wm%20t%20ludlow%22:  accessed 15 Nov. 2020).

[16] “1880 United States Federal Census,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com:

accessed 14 Nov. 2020); entry for William T. Ludlow, 4th Ward, Rahway, Union County, New Jersey, p. 27 (penned), sheet 548C (stamped), line 1, dwelling 261, family 285, image 27 of 28; from NARA T9, RG 29, Roll 801.

[17] “Situations Wanted – Males,” New York Tribune (New York, N.Y.), 24 Sep. 1887, p. 7, col. 4; image, GenealogyBank (https://www.genealogybank.com: accessed 17 Nov. 2020).

[18] “Wedding Bells in Newark” National Democrat (Rahway, N.J.), 26 April 1889, p. 3, col. 4; image, Rahway Public Library Newspaper Collection (https://www.digifind-it.com/IDIViewer/web/viewer.html?file=https://www.digifind-it.com/rahway/data/national-dem/1889/1889-04-26.pdf:  accessed 31 Jul. 2026). Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, marriage certificate no. 3096 (1891), Eugene L. Downs and Laura Eloise Ludlow, (front); New York City Municipal Archives.

[19] “New York, State Census, 1892,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/3212: accessed 1 Aug. 2026); entry for William T. Ludlow, 7th Ward, ED 29, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, p. 4 (penned), image 2 of 11; from NY State Library.

[20] “For Sale – Country Property,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 19 May 1894, p. 7, col. 2; images, Old Fulton NY Post Cards (https://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html:  accessed 20 Nov. 2020). “For Sale – Country Property,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 8 Apr. 1896, p. 9, col. 5; images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63333640/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/: accessed 1 Aug. 2026).

[21] “William Todd Ludlow,” Brooklyn Times Union (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 12 June 1905, p. 12, col. 4; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/555950760/?terms=Ludlow&match=1: accessed 19 Nov. 2020). “New York. News Notes,” The Florists' exchange: a weekly medium of interchange for florists, nurserymen, seedsmen and the trade in general, 17 June 1905, p. 790, col. 2; image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/floristsexchange14newy/page/790/mode/2up?q=%22William+Todd+Ludlow%22: accessed 19 Nov. 2020).

[22] “1900 United States Federal Census,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com:accessed 16 Nov. 2020); entry for William T. Ludlow, 23rd Ward, Borough of Brooklyn, New York City, Kings County, New York, ED 391, p. 7 B (penned), line 77, 535 Gates Avenue, dwelling 75, family 161, image 18 of 37; from NARA T623, RG 29, FHL film 1241061.

[23] "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6WSQ-6R1?i=110: accessed 18 Nov. 2020) > Brooklyn death certificates > Death certificates no. 11401-13700 1900 > image 111; Ida V. Ludlow, 15 Jun 1900, certificate 11501.

[24] New York City, New York, death certificate no. 10741, (8 June 1905) William T. Ludlow; New York City Department of Records and Information Services, Municipal Archives, New York City.

[25] “William Todd Ludlow,” Brooklyn Times Union (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 12 June 1905, p. 12, col. 4; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/555950760/?terms=Ludlow&match=1: accessed 19 Nov. 2020)