Appomattox: Our Links to a Major Historic Event

Surrender at the Appomattox, Palm Sunday, Apr 9, 1865 (Image in public domain)

Well, it’s almost a year ago that I was posting Civil War letters written by the Trowbridge brothers, Uzal (Company A, 1st New Jersey Volunteer Regiment) and his older brother Henry. Uzal did not make it; he was killed early on during the Battle of Gaines’ Mill in June of 1862, a brutal event that shook those present that day to the core of their beings. The loss of Uzal must have been a major blow to the Trowbridge family. Brother Henry entered service shortly after Uzal was killed, in August 1862, serving in the 14th NJ Volunteer Infantry. Somehow he made it through to the end, and went on to marry and have children. I’ll never forget that one letter of his in particular, from February 1864, in which he spoke of wanting to get home for what may be his last chance to see his loved ones. He equated going into battle with being part of a flock of birds under fire. Who lived and who died was all so random:

I am sorrow you cannot give me some excuse to get home. for this winter may be my last chance. if I do not get home this winter, I may never get home.  It is all chance. it is the same as if you shoot into a flock of birds and those you hapen to hit must fall and the rest go on untill the next time and leave you behind. they may bury you and they may not just as it happens and how much time they have to do it. but there is no use in talking we may as well laugh as to cry and base it as we have done so far.

Imagine being my great grandfather William Woodruff, to whom the letter was written. He was only 15 at the time. I know when I was that age, a letter like that would have made a huge impression on me. Without a doubt, such frank talk would have lingered in William’s mind for a long time. Thankfully Henry had a happy ending, though who knows what terrifying scenes must have stayed with him until his passing in 1898 at 63.

Well, why am I bringing this up again? Well, I discovered something very interesting recently. I subscribe to Genealogy Bank and was doing some digging in a Jersey City newspaper called The Jersey Journal. My great grandfather William Trewin lived in Jersey City as did his sister Emma. William met his wife Elizabeth Sargent in Jersey City, and that may well be where Emma met her future husband Francis C. (FC) Ludey. Emma and Francis made their home in nearby Bayonne. William and Elizabeth settled in Elizabeth, a bit further away. Genealogy Bank does not have many New Jersey newspapers, unfortunately. I had been hoping I could access the old Elizabeth Daily Journal, but that’s not on there. But, there is a ton of stuff from the The Jersey Journal, so I was trolling for articles on the Trewins, Sargents, and Ludeys. In the process, I stumbled on an obituary notice for FC Ludey (published 19 Jan 1918) and it mentions that he was present at the Appomattox Courthouse for Lee’s surrender to Grant.  And, as Francis served in the 14th NJ Volunteer Regiment with Henry Trowbridge, something I discovered a while ago and mentioned in this blog at that time, that means (of course!) that Henry was present for the surrender, too. And I thought that was pretty amazing. Talk about having a front row seat to history. Uzal could not be there to witness the end; but at least Henry got to do that for him. So this great historic connection has been there all along, and I am only putting two and two together now. Shame on me, but better late than never I suppose. Still, I cannot help hearing the words of my old high school physics teacher who used to say in response to such a statement: “Better never late.” But that is neither here nor there.

The text of Francis’ obituary reads as follows:
Funeral services for Francis C. Ludey, 73 years old were held at his late home, 75 West 42nd Street last night. Rev. M.Y. Bovard, pastor of the First M.E. Church, officiated. There were present delegations from Bayonne Council, Royal Arcanum, Odd Fellows, and a number of C.A.R. men. Mr. Ludey, being a veteran of the Civil War and present when Gen. Lee surrendered to Gen. Grant at Appomattox. James S. Coward, who was closely associated with Mr. Ludey in affairs of the First M.E. Church Sunday School, was among the mourners.

Francis C. Ludey; this may well have been taken for the Memorial Day event of 1917 at which he was a speaker (Personal Collection of Ruth Kirby Dean)

Included here is a photo of F.C. Ludey, courtesy of his 2nd great granddaughter Ruth Dean. I found an article describing Memorial Day celebrations in Bayonne in May 1917, and Francis was a featured speaker at that event. It may well be that this photo was taken on that very day.

For details of service for the 14th NJ Volunteer Regiment, click here.
For a list of NJ Civil War units, click here.
For the monument to the 14th NJ Regiment at Monocacy, click here.

The Pre-1900s Weekday Wedding – Past Wedding Traditions

Dress, Evening; 1850-1855; silk, cotton; Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession no. 2009.300.921a, b); visit http://www.metmuseum.org

A while back I read an article on pre-twentieth-century weddings and how the bride would not wear white or have a special dress made, but would appear in her very best dress, whatever color of dress that may have been–black, brown, dark green, and so on. Black would have been handy because it could do double duty as mourning attire. Plaids and florals were also very popular at one time. The idea of purchasing a dress that would only be worn once would have seemed very wasteful, apart from probably being prohibitively expensive (a white dress even more so–imagine trying to clean it without today’s technologies).

Wedding Ensemble, 1878, American, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession no. 2009.300.18a, b); visit http://www.metmuseum.org

It was only when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840 in a white satin gown specially made for the occasion, that brides began clamoring for white gowns, but a trend did not really come about until the late 1800s when such dresses could be better produced, transported, and marketed to the public, and were more affordable for the everyday woman.

Weddings often took place in the evening at the home of the bride, often on weekdays, particularly on Thursday evenings. This allowed the work of the day (weekends included), whether on the farm or elsewhere, to be accomplished and livelihoods thus maintained.

Honeymoon photo, Frank M. Brodhead and Fannie Bishop Woodruff, married June 6, 1908

A handy day of week calendar allows you to take any date in history and find out what day of the week it was.  I decided to randomly check on some wedding dates I have in my database to see on which days weddings most often fell. As you can see, at least in my little random sample, they fell on all days of the week apart from Friday, with Thursday edging out the other days. And, while June is now the most popular month for weddings, I only found three ceremonies that fell in that month.

Sunday
John Woodruff and Mary Ogden Earl, 2/16/1817
Thomas Trewin and Mary Anne Phillips, 1/27/1839
James W. Angus and Anna Carpenter, 2/27/1870

Monday
John Woodruff and Sarah Cooper, 10/25/1683

Tuesday
George Wills and Mary Pitt Capon, 4/14/1812
Capt. Daniel Brodhead and Hester Wyngart, 9/19/1719
Calvin Easton Brodhead and Laura Leisenring, 12/6/1870
James Easton Brodhead and Harriet Boyd, 5/1/1877
Sampson Wills and Ann Gadsden, 9/22/1789

Wednesday
Francis Woodruff and Mary Jane Trowbridge, 11/12/1845
AJ Brodhead and Ophelia Easton, 12/31/1845
Austin F. Knowles and Mary M. Angus, 9/4/1867

Thursday
Henry Jaques, Sr. and Anna Knight, 10/8/1648
Henry Jaques, Jr. and Hannah Trueman, 4/10/1670
Lt. Garret Brodhead and Jane Davis, 3/15/1759
Garret Brodhead and Cornelia Dingman, 11/25/1813
William Earl Woodruff and Wealthy Ann Angus, 6/20/1872
Robert Packer Brodhead and Frances Loveland, 5/23/1889
Frank Ludey and Metta Ryman, 6/18/1896
Minnie Ludey and Herbert Duryea Crane, 9/24/1897

Saturday
Capt. Richard Brodhead and Magdalena Jansen, 4/19/1692
Timothy Woodruff and Elizabeth Parsons, 9/25/1739
James Winans Angus and Wealthy Ann Jaques, 1/26/1839
Frank Brodhead and Fannie Woodruff, 6/6/1908

For an interesting article on wedding fashions, visit the Monroe County [PA] Historical Society’s site.

I’ll close by including some wedding announcements of various family members. Two have appeared in previous posts, but the other two (of the Ludey siblings) are appearing in this blog for the first time. Wish we had some photos!

Brodhead-Woodruff Wedding Announcement (Probably clipped from the Elizabeth Daily Journal) – from our family’s private archives

Brodhead-Loveland Marriage Announcement, 1889

Frank T. Ludey Jr. (1871-1900), age 21 (Courtesy of Ruth Kirby Dean, great granddaughter)

Ludey-Ryman Wedding, The New York Times, 6/19/1896

Mary (“Minnie”) Emma Ludey (1873-1938), age 21 (Courtesy of Ruth Kirby Dean, great granddaughter)

Herbert Duryea Crane (Courtesy of Ruth Kirby Dean, great granddaughter)

Ludey-Crane Marriage, Jersey City, The Evening Journal, 9/24/1897

Cemetery Reveals New Mysteries about Sargent Family

This past week I received notification from a Find a Grave volunteer, Jessica Thomas, that she had been in Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside, NJ, and had photographed all the graves in the plot in which the Ludeys and Trewins were laid to rest. [Note: William Trewin married Elizabeth Sargent so there are Sargents there as well.]

There was one big surprise. I had known that William Sargent Jr. (b. 1861) was buried there and that presumably the Sarah there was his sister (b. 1858). Curiously the photos revealed that the Sarah buried there was actually William Sargent Jr.’s wife: Sarah Jane Bowley. I’d no idea he had married for one thing, so that was quite a revelation. Now what was even more interesting to me were the following:
1) Sarah Jane was seventeen years older than William Jr.
2) The couple was married in 1890 when William was 29 and she was 46.
3) William died in 1896, of what I do not yet know, but it will be interesting to find out. Sarah died eight years later, at the age of 60.
4) Sarah Jane Bowley (b. about 1844) shared the same surname with William Sargent Sr.’s second wife Mary Bowley Pitt (b. 1839, widow of Pitt). Did father and son marry sisters?!

The Trewin-Ludey plot was purchased by William Trewin and Francis Ludey in 1886, yet Thomas Trewin Sr. (d. 1875) and his wife Mary Anne Phillips (d. 1878) are buried there. Perhaps they were moved there from elsewhere?

William Jr.’s sister Sarah is obviously buried elsewhere, I presume with a spouse. The photographs confirm that William Sr. and his first wife Mary Wills (d. 1877) and second wife Mary Bowley Pitt are definitely buried elsewhere. Perhaps there is a Sargent plot in Evergreen holding Wm Sr. and spouses, and even Sarah. (Update 4/29/12: see newer post about Sarah a.k.a. Sadie.) (Update: See Button hook post)

Sargent Family

1-William Sargent b. 2 Sep 1828, Weedon Beck, Northamptonshire, c. 10 Dec
1829, Weedon and Flore, Northamptonshire, England
+Mary Wills b. 11 Nov 1829, Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, England, d. 6 Dec
1877, Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey
|–2-Rev. Samuel Sargent b. 1852, Blisworth, Northamptonshire, England, d. 3
| Nov 1926, New Jersey
| +Ella Tunison b. Abt 1854, United States
| |–3-Vivian T. Sargent b. 7 Aug 1891, Camden, New Jersey
| | +Packard
| |–3-Rev. Norman Vincent Sargent b. Feb 1889, Kansas
|–2-Elizabeth Sargent b. 15 Sep 1854, St. Sepulchre, Northampton,
| Northamptonshire, England, d. 1926, Elizabeth, Union Co, NJ, bur. 6 Feb
| 1926, Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside, Union, NJ
| +William Trewin b. 21 Mar 1847, Hardin Street, Woolwich Dockyard, Co. Kent
| (now Greater London), England, d. 4 Dec 1916, Elizabeth General Hospital,
| Elizabeth, Union Co., NJ, bur. 7 Dec 1916, Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside,
| Union, NJ
| |–3-Zillah May Trewin b. 11 Jun 1882, Elizabeth, Union Co., NJ, d. 11 May
| | 1955, Elizabeth, Union Co., NJ, bur. Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside,
| | Union, NJ
|–2-Sargent b. 15 Sep 1854, d. 1854
|–2-Sarah Sargent b. 1858, St. Sepulchre, Northampton, Northamptonshire,
| England
|–2-William Sargent b. 1861, St. Sepulchre, Northampton, Northamptonshire,
| England, d. 24 Jul 1896, Elizabeth, Union Co, NJ, bur. 27 Jul 1896,
| Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside, Union Co., NJ
| +Sarah Jane Bowley b. Abt 1844, United States, d. 3 Jan 1904, bur. 6 Jan
| 1904, Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside, Union Co., NJ
|–2-Sargent
|–2-Sargent
|–2-Sargent
|–2-Sargent
|–2-Sargent
|–2-Sargent
|–2-Sargent
+Mary Bowley Pitt b. 1839, England

Typhoid Fever Claimed Frank T. Ludey

Frank T. Ludey Jr. (1871-1900), photo taken in 1892 at age 29

Typhoid fever–that was the cause of death of Frank T. Ludey, who died in Summit, NJ, on January 11, 1900, after a sixteen-day illness. The death certificate arrived in the mail on Tuesday from the New Jersey Department of Health Archives and solves the mystery as to what took Frank at such a young age. Sadly he was affected before a vaccine appeared nine years later that, combined with improvements in sanitation, drastically reduced the number of typhoid cases in the US.

Per the CDC website, while there are relatively few cases these days here, in the developing world, over twenty million are affected annually with a 10-30 percent mortality rate. Where Frank may have contracted the bacteria Salmonella enterica, of course, we don’t know. The death certificate lists his occupation as “Commercial Traveler” (a.k.a. salesman); I can’t imagine that his travels took him outside the country but one never knows. According to the CDC, in 1900, “the incidence of typhoid fever was approximately 100 per 100,000 population; by 1920, it had decreased to 33.8…”

This image is a work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the US Dept.of Health and Human Services. As a work of the US federal government, the image is in the public domain.

“Typhoid Fever And Its Prevention In Town and Country” Virginia Health Bulletin vol. 3, #6, June 1911 (VCU Tompkins-McCaw Special Collections; used with permission under Creative Commons 2.0 Generic license) 

Typhoid can only be transmitted from human to human. According to Wikipedia, “the bacteria which causes typhoid fever may be spread through poor hygiene habits and public sanitation conditions, and sometimes also by flying insects feeding on feces.”

If left to run its course, the illness develops in four stages, each one lasting about a week. That Frank died in just over two, one can only imagine what sort of suffering he must have gone through. How horrible for his family and young wife to have to stand by helplessly as he suffered. It’s so tragic, and though he has been gone for 112 years now (hard to believe!), I can’t help but feel sad for him and his family.

I noticed on Wikipedia that typhoid fever has claimed a number of famous victims including Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams; William Wallace Lincoln, third son of President Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln; and Wilbur Wright of the famed Wright Brothers. It’s thought that typhoid fever may have wiped out the colony of Jamestown.

Illustration from The New York American, 1909  (Public Domain)

Not everyone who contracted it died, however. Some people were carriers of the disease without being affected themselves–the most notorious arguably being Typhoid Mary, a New York chef, who transmitted the bacteria to fifty-three, resulting in three deaths. Carriers were often institutionalized and many went mad from their confinement. At one point, Mary was released if she promised never again to work as a cook, which she did. Some time later, however, another outbreak occurred and it was traced back to her again (she had been working under a pseudonym). She spent the last 24 years of her life in quarantine on an island before succumbing to pneumonia.

So travelers today to the developing world are wise to get vaccinated beforehand.

Some tips from the CDC website under the heading “Boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it”:

• “If you drink water, buy it bottled or bring it to a rolling boil for 1 minute before you drink it. Bottled carbonated water is safer than uncarbonated water.”
• “Ask for drinks without ice unless the ice is made from bottled or boiled water. Avoid popsicles and flavored ices that may have been made with contaminated water.”
• “Eat foods that have been thoroughly cooked and that are still hot and steaming.”
• “Avoid raw vegetables and fruits that cannot be peeled. Vegetables like lettuce are easily contaminated and are very hard to wash well.”
• “When you eat raw fruit or vegetables that can be peeled, peel them yourself. (Wash your hands with soap first.) Do not eat the peelings.”
• “Avoid foods and beverages from street vendors. It is difficult for food to be kept clean on the street, and many travelers get sick from food bought from street vendors.”

Oh dear, that last one reminds me of a disastrous few days spent in Paris in 1985. No doubt everyone has one story or another on the subject. Perhaps, it’s best to leave the topic behind.

Back to Frank, I wish we knew more about him and his young wife Metta who survived him by many years (she died in 1952). Perhaps in time, we’ll discover more clues. May they both rest in peace.

Ludey Family Photos

Here is a group of wonderful photos of the Ludey family courtesy of descendant Ruth Dean. It is especially fabulous to see the photo of Frank Jr. who was mentioned in a previous post. How sad to think that he passed away just eight years after this photo was taken and two years after he was married. He was a very good-looking young man. I recently sent off for a copy of his death certificate to learn the cause of death–I have long wondered what took him so early. For more on the Ludey family, click on “Ludey” under surnames in the Categories column on the right side of the blog.

Francis C. Ludey (1845-1918)

Emma Trewin Ludey (1850-1933)

Mary ("Minnie") Emma Ludey (1873-1938), age 21

Frank T. Ludey Jr. (1871-1900), age 21

John Phillips, father of Mary Anne Phillips

I can’t tell you how excited I was to see this silhouette of John Phillips, father of Mary Anne Phillips who married Thomas Trewin and sailed with him and their three children on the ship Ion to Quebec City in 1857. The silhouette is quite small, just 3 x 4 inches or so. Someone has done a bit of embellishing with pencil. This copy of the silhouette was sent to me by Ruth Dean, a descendant of one of Mary Anne (Phillips) and Thomas Trewin’s children, Emma Trewin Ludey. Ruth has also sent along some great new (to me) photos from that family line, for which I am most grateful. I will post them soon.

With luck we will eventually find out more about the Phillips family. Did Mary Anne have any siblings, for example. We believe the Phillips lived in the Greenwich/Woolwich area which was once in the County of Kent but is now part of Greater London. Ruth discovered evidence of a John Phillips working as a tin plate worker on Wellington Street. Anyone out there with more information, we’d love to hear from you!

John Phillips silhouette from personal collection of Ruth K. Dean family. Used with permission.

Trewins, Ludeys, Bonneys, and Cranes

Wonderful Group Photo of the Trewins and Ludeys (note: it is Francis Bonney in the photo, not Harold Bonney as listed)

In this post I am sharing some more photos kindly shared with me by a new found distant cousin, Ruth Dean, a direct descendant of Emma and Francis C. Ludey via their daughter Minnie Ludey Crane and her daughter Metta Beryl Crane. You may remember reading about Thomas Trewin Jr., the bookbinder, in a previous post. He lived for many years with his sister and brother-in-law (Emma and Francis Ludey). Well, finally we have a photo of him! We also have photos of Minnie Ludey Crane with her daughter, Beryl, and Francis and Emma’s other daughter Louise Beryl Ludey Bonney with several of her children–all of these also mentioned in a past post. It is extraordinary to put faces to names. I’m not sure of the dates; the best guideline seems to be to go by how old Metta appears to be. She was born in 1899, so the group shots may be from around 1906-1910. Thomas passed away in 1913 at 73, Francis in 1918 at 72, and Emma in 1933 at 83. They appear to be a very happy, close-knit group.

Thomas Trewin, Emma Trewin Ludey, and Emma's granddaughter Metta Beryl Crane

Mary Ludey Crane and Louise Beryl Ludey Bonney with some of their children, circa 1916 (note: it is Francis Bonney in the photo, not Harold Bonney)

Mary (Minnie) Ludey Crane with daughter Metta Beryl, circa 1900

Metta Beryl Crane, daughter of Mary (Minnie) Crane and Herbert Crane, circa 1906

Francis C. Ludey — new photos

Francis Chetwood Ludey

A recently discovered distant cousin, Ruth Dean, who is a direct descendant of Francis Ludey and Emma Trewin, has kindly provided some wonderful photographs of the family. For this post, I am including two photos of Francis. The first appears to have been taken in his twenties, perhaps shortly after his service in the Union Army ended. The second photo was taken at a much later point in life. He appears to be dressed at least partly in his old Union Army uniform. Those look like a couple medals on his chest. I did find evidence that he was actively involved in activities related to his past service as a soldier in NJ’s 14th Regiment, Company C. The book, Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual Encampment of the Department of New Jersey, G.A.R., published in 1904, shows that he was involved with Mansfield Post, No. 22, Bayonne (see p. 12).

Francis C. Ludey

We are still searching for information on Francis’s parents, Jacob and Eliza, and any siblings he may have had. The parents were born in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and emigrated to the US sometime before Francis’s birth in 1845. A search of ship records has thus far been unfruitful. Most likely, the original spelling of “Lüdy” was changed to Ludey here in the US. Sometimes I have seen the name spelled as “Ludy”. Perhaps to differentiate from the Irish surname Luddy, the spelling Ludey became more dominant. I find it interesting that Francis’s middle name is “Chetwood” given his German-Swiss ancestry. Chetwood sounds very English to me.

Civil War: Shared Experience

Call it a “junior moment” but I just realized the other day that both Francis C. Ludey (b. 1845)  and Henry A. Trowbridge (b. 1835) served together in the Civil War. Both were in Company C, 14th Infantry New Jersey Volunteers. Francis began his service at age 17, while Henry began his service at age 27. Francis is a great great uncle by marriage via my maternal line and Henry is a great great great uncle via my paternal line. They certainly must have been acquainted with each other, having spent three years together in service. This is fascinating to think about. It would be very interesting to discover old photographs of either of them in uniform either individually or together with other men from their company.  If anyone reading this has any such photos to share, I would be very interested to see them.

F.C. Ludey and the End of a Family Line

Emma Trewin had married Francis C. Ludey on 15 February 1871 in Elizabeth, NJ. Born in May 1845, Francis would have been 25. Emma, born in May 1850, would have been 20.

F.C. Ludey, age 70

Francis was the son of German immigrants, Jacob and Eliza, whose names I found on the marriage record. If Francis had any siblings, I have yet to find them. I have seen the surname spelled a variety of ways: Ludy, Ludey, Luddy, etc., and this tends to make searches complicated.

Francis served in the Civil War Union Army in New Jersey’s Company C, 14th Regiment, from 26 August 1862 – 18 June 1865. His Civil War Pension Index Card spelled his name “Ludy.” The Find a Grave website has documented his resting place with a photograph of the memorial. The interment took place in January 1918 in the family’s Evergreen Cemetery plot.

It appears that Francis and Emma started out residing in Elizabeth, but moved to Bayonne, NJ, sometime between 1880-1900.

Sunday School March, 7 Jun 1908

Francis was evidently a very devout Christian given his involvement with the Methodist Episcopal Church in Bayonne, NJ, where he served as Sunday School superintendent and head of a Missionary Society. As for Francis Ludey’s everyday life, it appears from the 1880 census that he worked as a gas fitter. The 1910 census described him as a mechanic.

I can only imagine how sad it must have been for Francis and Emma Ludey to lose so many of their children so young. And the loss of son Frank, whose school notebook we found amidst family papers, must have been a particularly devastating blow given he’d made it to adulthood, was just married, and appeared to have his whole life ahead of him. His death eliminated the possibility that the Ludey name would be carried on by a male descendent.

Photo found in Ludey Family Bible; Reverse says either “1886” or “1866” and then “age 47”. Was this the church pastor?

Auxillary Missionary Society certificate with Ludey signature

Ludey Family Bible

Ludey Family Bible Title Page

Date of printing of Ludey Family Bible

Bookmark in Ludey Family Bible: Mrs. FC Ludey “Mery Christmas” in a child’s handwriting