Henry Brockholst Ledyard, I, 28th Mayor of Detroit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ledyard

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.

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HENRY LEDYARD

Senator from Wayne county in 1857-8, was born in New York city, March 3 (sic), 1812, and his early life was passed there. He was a graduate of Columbia college and was admitted to practice as an attorney. His first official position was as secretary of legation at the French court under the ministry of Gen. Cass, and from this position sprang an intimacy with the Cass family which resulted in his marriage in 1839 to Matilda C., a daughter of Gen. Cass. On the return of the latter from Europe in 1844 he came to Detroit and assumed the management of the large property interests of his father-in-law. He was alderman of his ward, 1849-50, was one of the first members of the board of water commissioners of the city, organized in 1853, and was mayor of the city in 1855. He also served as a member of the school board, 1846-7, and his name appears in various business and philanthropic enterprises. He removed to Washington and resided there during Gen. Cass' service as secretary of state. He removed to Newport, R. I., in 1861. He was a Democrat in politics. Died in London, England, in 1880.

[S. D. Bingham, "Early History of Michigan, with Biographies of State Officers, Members of Congress, Judges and Legislators" (1888), pp. 410-411]

Senator from Wayne county in 1857-8, was born in New York city, March 3 (sic), 1812, and his early life was passed there. He was a graduate of Columbia college and was admitted to practice as an attorney. His first official position was as secretary of legation at the French court under the ministry of Gen. Cass, and from this position sprang an intimacy with the Cass family which resulted in his marriage in 1839 to Matilda C., a daughter of Gen. Cass. On the return of the latter from Europe in 1844 he came to Detroit and assumed the management of the large property interests of his father-in-law. He was alderman of his ward, 1849-50, was one of the first members of the board of water commissioners of the city, organized in 1853, and was mayor of the city in 1855. He also served as a member of the school board, 1846-7, and his name appears in various business and philanthropic enterprises. He removed to Washington and resided there during Gen. Cass' service as secretary of state. He removed to Newport, R. I., in 1861. He was a Democrat in politics. Died in London, England, in 1880.

[S. D. Bingham, "Early History of Michigan, with Biographies of State Officers, Members of Congress, Judges and Legislators" (1888), pp. 410-411]

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, Ledyard accompanied him to Paris, eventually becoming chargé 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]

n 1839, Ledyard married Cass's daughter Matilda Frances Cass (1808–1898).[1] The couple had five children:[4][3][5]

Elizabeth Cass Ledyard (1840–1918), who married to Francis Wayland Goddard (1833–1889) in 1862.[6] Henry Brockholst Ledyard, Jr. (1844–1921), a twin, who married to Mary R. L'Hommedieu (1847–1895). He was president of the Michigan Central Railroad and the Union Trust Company.[7][8] Susan Livingston Ledyard (1844–1877), a twin, who married to Hamilton Bullock Tompkins (1843–1921) in 1876, and she died the next year.[9] Lewis Cass Ledyard (1851–1932), who married to Gertrude Prince (1851–1905) in 1878.[10] After Gertrude's death in 1905, Lewis married Isabelle Henning Morris in 1906. He was a prominent New York lawyer in the firm Carter Ledyard & Milburn, president of the New York Public Library, and personal counsel to J. Pierpont Morgan.[11][12] Matilda Spancer Ledyard (b. 1860).[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).