Henry Ledyard collection (RLC.Ms.565)

Biographical note

Henry Ledyard (1812-1880) was born in New York City on May 5, 1812. He graduated from Columbia College in 1830 and soon after began practicing law in New York. When Lewis Cass (1782-1866), a military officer and politician of Michigan, served as an Ambassador to France from 1836-1846, Ledyard accompanied him to Paris as one of his chargé d’affaires. In 1844, Ledyard returned to the United States and moved to Detroit where he played an active role in the local government and the development of the city. Ledyard was instrumental in establishing the State Savings Bank, the Elwood Cemetery, the Board of Water Commissioners, and was a member of the Board of Education. He also served as alderman of the city from 1849-1850, and was the mayor in 1855. In 1857, he was elected Senator, but resigned his seat when Lewis Cass was appointed Secretary of State under President James Buchanan. Ledyard accompanied Cass to Washington, D.C., and remained there until 1861. At that point, Ledyard moved to Newport, Rhode Island, where he lived until his death. In Newport, he served as the first president of the Newport Hospital, and was the president of the Redwood Library from 1872-1874.

In 1839, Henry Ledyard married Matilda Frances Cass (1808-1898) with whom he had five children: Elizabeth (1840-1918), Henry Brockholst Ledyard (1844-1921), Susan Livingston (1844-1877), Lewis Cass (1851-1932), and Matilda Spencer (b. 1860). Ledyard passed away on June 7, 1880, in London, England, during a brief visit to Europe.