American politician
This article is about the Michigan politician. For his son, the soldier and businessman, see
Henry B. Ledyard Jr.
Henry Brockholst Ledyard Sr.
(March 5, 1812 – June 7, 1880) was the mayor of
Detroit
, Michigan, and a state senator, briefly served as assistant secretary under
Secretary of State
Lewis Cass
, and was the president of the
Newport Hospital
and the
Redwood Library
in
Newport, Rhode Island
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Ledyard was born in New York City on March 5, 1812, the son of prominent New York lawyer Benjamin Ledyard (1779?1812) and Susan French Livingston (1789?1864). His mother was the daughter of Revolutionary War Colonel and
US Supreme Court
justice
Henry Brockholst Livingston
(1757?1823) and granddaughter of
New Jersey
governor
William Livingston
.
[1]
Ledyard graduated from
Columbia College
in 1830, and began practicing law in New York. When
Lewis Cass
was appointed Minister to France in 1836, Ledyard accompanied him to Paris, eventually becoming
charge d’affaires
of the embassy.
[1]
Career
[
edit
]
Ledyard returned to the United States in 1844 and moved to Detroit, where he was active in the city and managed Cass's property holdings.
[2]
He was one of the founders of the State Savings Bank, one of the original promoters of the
Elmwood Cemetery
, and was a member of the Board of Education.
[1]
He organized and promoted the first
plank road
company in
Michigan
, and was involved in a number of other ventures that promoted communication between Detroit and the interior of the state.
[3]
In 1849?1850 he was an alderman of the city, and served as mayor in 1855 and was one of the original commissioners on the Board of Water Commissioners.
[1]
Ledyard was a
Democrat
, and was elected as a state senator in 1857.
[1]
However, when Lewis Cass was appointed
Secretary of State
under
James Buchanan
, Ledyard resigned his post in the legislature
[3]
and accompanied him to Washington, DC, and remained there until 1861,
[1]
briefly serving as assistant secretary of state.
[2]
Afterwards, he moved to
Newport, Rhode Island
, where he lived for the rest of his life. He raised funds for and was the first president of the
Newport Hospital
, and was the president of the
Redwood Library
in Newport.
[1]
Personal life
[
edit
]
In 1839, Ledyard married Cass's daughter Matilda Frances Cass (1808?1898).
[1]
The couple had five children:
[4]
[3]
[5]
Henry Ledyard died June 7, 1880, in London, England, during a brief European visit.
[1]
Descendants
[
edit
]
Through his eldest son Henry, he was the grandfather of Matilda Cass Ledyard (1871?1960), who married Baron
Clemens von Ketteler
(1853?1900), a German diplomat,
[13]
[14]
Henry B. Ledyard III (1875?1932), Augustus Canfield Ledyard (1877?1899), and Hugh Ledyard (1885?1951).
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Silas Farmer (1889),
THE HISTORY OF DETROIT AND MICHIGAN
, pp. 1041?1043
- ^
a
b
Stephen D. Bingham (1888),
Early history of Michigan: with biographies of state officers, members of Congress, judges and legislators
, Thorp & Godfrey, state printers, pp. 410?411
- ^
a
b
c
Compendium of History and Biography of the City of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan
, Henry Taylor & Co, 1908, pp. 251?254
- ^
The Magazine of American history with notes and queries
, vol. 7, A. S. Barnes, 1881, p. 195
- ^
a
b
Ledyard, Henry.
"Guide to the Henry Ledyard collection 1726-1899 and undated (bulk 1840-1859)"
(PDF)
.
library.brown.edu
.
Redwood Library and Athenaeum
. Retrieved
April 26,
2017
.
- ^
Island, National Society of the Colonial Dames of America Rhode (1897).
First record book of the Society of Colonial Dames in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Ending August 31, 1896
. Snow & Farnham, printers
. Retrieved
April 26,
2017
.
- ^
Clarence Monroe Burton; William Stocking; Gordon K. Miller (1922),
The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922; Volume 4
, The S. J. Clarke publishing company, pp. 5?6
- ^
"Ledyard Given Quiet Funeral,"
Detroit Free Press,
May 28, 1921, p. 11.
- ^
Tompkins, Hamilton Bullock (1877).
Biographical Record of the Class of 1865, of Hamilton College
.
Hamilton College
. p.
73
. Retrieved
April 26,
2017
.
- ^
"Mrs. Lewis Cass Ledyard, Sr. (1851-1905)"
.
www.nyhistory.org
.
New-York Historical Society
. Retrieved
April 26,
2017
.
- ^
Psi Upsilon (1932),
The diamond of Psi Upsilon
, vol. 18, Psi Upsilon Fraternity, pp. 170?171
- ^
Marquis, Albert Nelson (1911).
Who's Who in America | A Biographical Directory of Notable Living Men and Women of The United States | Vol VI 1910-1911
. London: A. N. Marquis & Co. p. 1134
. Retrieved
April 26,
2017
.
- ^
Michigan, University of (1960).
The President's Report to the Board of Regents for the Academic Year ... Financial Statement for the Fiscal Year
. UM Libraries
. Retrieved
April 26,
2017
.
- ^
Bragg, Amy Elliott (October 20, 2011).
Hidden History of Detroit
. Arcadia Publishing.
ISBN
9781614233459
. Retrieved
April 26,
2017
.
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