Israel Ludlow (1765 – January 1804) was a government surveyor who helped found

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

in southwest

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Early life

Israel Ludlow was born near

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Greve 1904 : 165 In 1786, each of the thirteen states was to appoint a man to help survey the

Seven Ranges The Seven Ranges (also known as the Old Seven Ranges) was a land tract in eastern Ohio that was the first tract to be surveyed in what became the Public Land Survey System. The tract is across the northern edge, on the western edge, with the sou ...

in the easternmost portion of the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

under the

Land Ordinance of 1785 The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress of the Confederation on May 20, 1785. It set up a standardized system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped west. Congress at the time did not have ...

. Ludlow was appointed to fill the vacant

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

surveyorship. Pattison 1959 : 127 Ludlow was one of two surveyors to stay in settlements near the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

the winter of 1786–1787, and completed the survey of the seventh range, plats, and notes by August 1787.

Career

Later in 1787, a land company called the

Ohio Company of Associates The Ohio Company of Associates, also known as the Ohio Company, was a land company whose members are today credited with becoming the first non- Native American group to permanently settle west of the Allegheny mountains. In 1788 they establis ...

contracted with the

Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Mar ...

to buy a 1,500,000-acre tract along the Ohio River to the west of the Seven Ranges. Ludlow surveyed the north line of this tract that is known as Israel Ludlow's Survey. Virginia was granted lands between the

Scioto River The Scioto River ( ) is a river in central and southern Ohio more than in length. It rises in Hardin County just north of Roundhead, Ohio, flows through Columbus, Ohio, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olentangy River, and meets t ...

and

Little Miami River The Little Miami River ( sjw, Cakimiyamithiipi) is a Class I tributary of the Ohio River that flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 26, 2011 through five counties ...

in Ohio for bounties for its war veterans in a tract called the

Virginia Military District The Virginia Military District was an approximately 4.2 million acre (17,000 km²) area of land in what is now the state of Ohio that was reserved by Virginia to use as payment in lieu of cash for its veterans of the American Revolutionary ...

John Cleves Symmes John Cleves Symmes (July 21, 1742February 26, 1814) was a delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey, and later a pioneer in the Northwest Territory. He was also the father-in-law of President William Henry Harrison and, thereby, t ...

purchased a large tract between the Little Miami River and the

Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...

called the

Symmes Purchase The Symmes Purchase, also known as the Miami Purchase, was an area of land totaling roughly in what is now Hamilton, Butler, and Warren counties of southwestern Ohio, purchased by Judge John Cleves Symmes of New Jersey in 1788 from the Conti ...

. Symmes had Ludlow survey a line between the sources of the Scioto and Little Miami to determine the boundary between the tracts, afterwards known as the Ludlow Line, the subject of decades of legislation and court action due to the difficulty in determining the source of the Scioto River. On August 25, 1788, Matthias Denman,

Robert Patterson Robert Patterson (January 12, 1792 – August 7, 1881) was an Irish-born United States major general during the American Civil War, chiefly remembered for inflicting an early defeat on Stonewall Jackson, but crucially failing to stop Confed ...

, and

John Filson John Filson (c. 1747 – October 1788) was an American author, historian of Kentucky, pioneer, surveyor and one of the founders of Cincinnati, Ohio. Early life John Filson was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, around 1747. He was the son o ...

entered an agreement to found Cincinnati, with Ludlow taking Filson's place upon his death. The town was settled December 28, 1788 by Ludlow and twenty-six other people. He surveyed the town by January 1789. Ludlow Mansion, Cincinnati

When

Hamilton County, Ohio Hamilton County is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 830,639, making it the third-most populous county in Ohio. The county seat and largest city is Cincinnati. The county ...

was formed January 2, 1790, Ludlow was named clerk. In 1790, Ludlow established the community of Ludlow's Station. In 1794, as proprietor, he laid out

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Ohio, United States. Located north of Cincinnati, Hamilton is the second largest city in the Greater Cincinnati area and the 10th largest city in Ohio. The population was 63,399 at ...

, and in 1795, with Governor

Arthur St. Clair Arthur St. Clair ( – August 31, 1818) was a Scottish-American soldier and politician. Born in Thurso, Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office. During ...

Jonathan Dayton Jonathan Dayton (October 16, 1760October 9, 1824) was an American Founding Father and politician from the U.S. state of New Jersey. He was the youngest person to sign the Constitution of the United States and a member of the United States Hou ...

, and William McMillan, he planned

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County, Ohio, Greene County. The 2020 United S ...

Personal life

In 1796, Ludlow married Charlotte Chambers of

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the ...

. That year he built the largest house in Cincinnati, known as the "Ludlow mansion". Goss 1912 : 74 Israel and Charlotte had four children: James Chambers Ludlow (1797–1841), Martha Catharine Ludlow (1799–1834), Sarah Bella Ludlow (1802–1882), and Israel L. Ludlow (1804–1846). One of Ludlow's granddaughters married

Salmon P. Chase Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...

, another married Randall Hunt, and his daughter, Sarah Bella Ludlow married

John McLean John McLean (March 11, 1785 – April 4, 1861) was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice of the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts. He was often discussed for t ...

Death

He died on January 21, 1804, after a 4 day illness and was buried with Masonic honors in the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

Graveyard in Cincinnati.

Legacy

One historian said: "By the time of his death in the early 1800s he had surveyed more land in the Ohio Country than any other federal surveyor." His remains were later moved to Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery. Hamilton, Dayton, and Cincinnati each have a street named after Ludlow. Ludlow Falls near

is also named after him. Two streams named Ludlow Creek are in Miami County, Ohio and

Greene County, Ohio Greene County is located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 167,966. Its county seat is Xenia. The county was established on March 24, 1803 and named for General Nathanael Greene ...

Ludlow, Kentucky Ludlow is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 4,385 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It received its greatest period of early growth a ...

, directly across from

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, also bears his name.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ludlow, Israel People from Cincinnati People from Morristown, New Jersey American surveyors Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery 1765 births 1804 deaths