Sybil Ludington

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Sybil Ludington (1761–1839) was the daughter of Colonel Henry Ludington, the commander of the local militia near Fredericksburg, New York (Later renamed Ludingtonville, now part of the town of Kent) during the American Revolution. She was born and raised in Putnam County, New York. The eldest of 12, she was often responsible for looking after her younger siblings. At the time of the ride she had 11 siblings, named Rebecca, Mary, Abigail, Archibald, Henry, Derick,Tertullus, Anna, Fredrick, Sophia and Lewis. She was putting her 7 younger siblings to bed on the night of April 26, 1777, when her family received word that British troops had begun burning Danbury, Connecticut, which was only 25 miles away. Her father's troops were scattered over a large area around the house, and Sybil convinced her father to let her ride to warn them. At the time of the ride she was 15 years old. For the time this actually was not a child; her mother got married at 15. Her ride started at 9:00 and ended around dawn. She rode some 40 miles to spread the alarm, running through Carmel, on to Mahopac, thence to Kent Cliffs, from there to Farmers Mills and back home. She had only a stick to guide her and her horse, named Star, and managed to successfully avoid both British troops and highway robbers. Gathered by her call, the men arrived too late to save Danbury; they were, however just in time to drive General William Tryon (then governor of the colony of New York) and his men to Long Island Sound.

After the war, in 1784, Sybil married a lawyer from Catskill named Edmund Ogden; they had one child, Henry, who founded Fort Riley, Kansas. Sybil lived in Unadilla until her death in February, 1839; she was buried near her father in the Maple Avenue Cemetery in Patterson, New York. If you look at the accompanying photograph of her headstone, you will see that her first name is spelled "Sibbell" instead of "Sybil." This spelling error was never corrected on the grave marker. There are also many signs posted along her historic route; some of the signs spell her first name "Sibyl" instead of "Sybil."

A statue of Sybil, sculpted by Anna Hyatt Huntington, was erected along her route near Carmel in 1961 to commemorate her ride; a smaller copy of the statue is located on the grounds of the DAR Headquarters in Washington, DC and one in Danbury, Connecticut. In 1975 she was honored with a stamp in the "Contributors to the Cause" United States Bicentennial series.

Each April since 1979, the Sybil Ludington 50-kilometer footrace has been held in Carmel, NY. The course of this hilly road race approximates Sybil's historic ride, and finishes near her statue on the shore of Lake Gleneida.

[edit] Publications

• "Sybil Ludington: The Call To Arms" by Vincent T. Dacquino