Ludlow, Gabriel

LUDLOW, GABRIEL. (1736–1808). Loyalist. Born on Long Island, New York, on 16 April 1736 to a wealthy merchant family, Ludlow, whose brother George sat on New York's supreme court, became governor of King's College in 1760. In 1775 he was appointed colonel of the Queens County militia and became immediately embroiled in revolutionary politics. At the beginning of the Revolution, the Ludlow brothers sought to unite the Loyalists to contest the Patriots for control of Long Island, but they realized that that the latter had the upper hand. The Ludlows and most other Long Island Loyalists went into hiding, emerging a year later, in 1776, when the British landed. Gabriel Ludlow recruited and commanded seven hundred men who were formed into the Third Battalion of Oliver De Lancey's New York Volunteers. He spent the rest of the war defending Long Island from Patriot raiding parties and entertaining British officers and officials. In 1779 the New York state assembly declared Ludlow a traitor and confiscated his estate, though it was not able to claim most of Ludlow's property until after the war. Ludlow left with the British in 1783, spending the next year in London lobbying for recompense for his personal losses of £2,500 (he received £1,450) and for the creation of New Brunswick as a Loyalist province. Ludlow crossed to New Brunswick in 1784, having been appointed a member of its council. The following year he was named judge of the vice admiralty court and mayor of St. John. Over the ensuing years he became one of the province's most prosperous merchants and political leaders, as well as brigadier general of militia. He died at his home on 12 February 1808.

SEE ALSO Ludlow, George.