barrettroots.com

Captain Comfort Ludington is my great, great, great, great, grandfather. He was the father of Ann Ludington Eastwood, who was the mother of Olive Eastwood Fraser, who was the mother of Flora Fraser Barrett, who, of course, was the mother of Percy Barrett.

Below is a copy of the Minuteman Comfort Ludington’s will. It might be the toughest document I’ve ever tried to read. I did read it though, but, explain it, I cannot! Be my guest if you want to read it. If not, skip to the paragraph that starts after the end of the will.

In the name of God Amen. I Comfort Ludington of the township of Fishkill in Dutchess County and State of New York, Farmer, being weak in body but of sound mind and memory blessed be God forever, do this day of the twelfth of September in the year of our Lord, Christ, one thousand eight hundred and five, make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say,

Imprimis. I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it me and my body to the earth from whence it came to be buried in a Christian like manner and as for that worldly estate wherewith it has pleased God to bless me dispose thereof as follows , First, I order that my Executors , should sell all the land lying in Fishkill to our own belonging to me south of the road leading from Miriah Perks’ shop to Joseph White’s. Also, the two lots of land belonging to me lying in Fredericks town, containing upwards of Forty acres to pay off all my just debts, funeral charges and the charges for settling my estate the remainder of my estate both real and personal I order and it’s my will shall be divided among my five sons and six daughters or their heirs. As often as the sons draw three dollars, daughters shall draw two dollars on their heirs and so on through my whole estate both real and personal, notwithstanding it is my will there should be equality in the distribution of my estate as Thomas Ludington, Zalmon Ludington, Comfort Ludington, my Daughters Mary Carly, Elinor Dab, Elizabeth Marry, Charlotte Dab, and Anne Smith has had more or less (turn over for the remainder) given to them I order that after my sons De la Fayette Ludington, Ziba Ludington and my daughter Senith Ludington shall have given to them of my estate according to the foregoing proportion, my daughter Senith Ludington according to the proportion five dollars and my sons De la Fayette Ludington and Ziba Ludington according to the proportion of the sons that is for this shares shall have seven dollars and one half each. Charlotte Ludington shall draw her proportion and Anne Smith after they, the daughters have drawn thirteen dollars and twenty cents according their proportions she shall have a share and after the boys proportion shall amount to twenty five dollars he, Comfort Ludington shall come in for his proportion after twenty nine dollars and seventy five cents. Zalman Ludington shall draw his proportion after it shall amount to fifty dollars to as hereafter shall draw for his proportion after the daughters’ proportion shall amount to sixty two dollars and one half then Mary Carly, shall draw her proportion after they amount to sixty seven and one half, Elinor Dab shall draw her proportion and after they amount to one hundred dollars. Elizabeth Moony shall draw her proportion, I order and it is my will the proportion that is allotted to De la Fayette Ludington shall be kept in hands of the Executors for to bring up his two children that he had by his wife Elizabeth Ludington and likewise the proportion that falls to Charlotte Dab it is my will that it should be kept by my executors for the support of her and her children when she is done with it, it is my will that what remains should go to her children – I constitute and ordain my living friend Stephen Hayes and my son Zalmon Ludington my Executors to this my last will and testament – In witness whereof, I, the said Comfort Ludington have here unto set my hand and seal the day and year first above written — Signed , sealed published and declared by the said Comfort Ludington as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us whose names are here under written who did each of us subscribe our names as witness is at his request and in his presence in the room when he was – Comfort Ludington, S. Hezekiah Peck C & Mill Griffin Benjaman Hopkins – Dutchess County , ss : Be it remembered that on the first day of October one thousand eight hundred and five, personally appeared before me James Talmadge pow Surrogate of the said County Hezekiah Peck who on his oath declared that he did see Comfort Ludington sign and seal the annexed written instrument, purporting to be the will of said Comfort Ludington the first day of October One thousand eight hundred and five and heard him publish and declare the same as and for his last will and testament, that at the time thereof he the said Comfort Ludington was sound posing mind and memory to the best of the knowledge and of him the deponent — And that this deponent while in and Benjamin Hopkins severally subscribed the as witnesses thereto in the station presence M James Talmadge Surrogate”

The paragraph that starts after the end of the will.

This Ludington family, as prominent as they were, is a very difficult family to track down, genealogically speaking. Many of them, like their patriarch, Captain Comfort Ludington, it seems, lived on the Ludington farm all their lives and were buried there. There were no birth records, no marriage records and no death or burial records to be found on most of them. In short, any information about Comfort’s children is impossible to find.

One exception to the “impossible to find” is Zalmon Ludington. He left quite a trail! Though he moved to and died in Genesee County, NY and his son, Zalmon Henry Ludington, moved to and died in Fayette County, PA. Those two did leave lots of tracks!

Zalmon Henry Ludington had a large family. One of his sons was the highly esteemed Major Horace Ludington M.D.

The following is an AI generated article about Major Horace Ludington, M.D.

Major Horace Ludington MD (1832–1917) was a Union Army surgeon during the American Civil War who served with the 100th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, known as the “Roundheads”. He achieved the rank of Major.

Key Details

Education: He received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania (class of 1855).

Military Service: During the Civil War, he served as a surgeon with the 100th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Post-War Career:

After the war, he practiced medicine in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and later in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1878, he moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where he worked for the Quartermaster’s Department of the Army.

Family: He was the son of Zalmon Henry Ludington (a War of 1812 veteran) and the brother of several other military personnel, including a Union General.

Death: He died in 1917 in Nebraska.”

So, Major Horace Ludington M.D.’s great grandfather was Captain Comfort Ludington. Flora Fraser’s great grandfather was also, Captain Comfort Ludington. Therefore, Flora and Horace were second cousins. The Civil War General referenced in the AI article was General Marshall Independence Ludington. Of course, he was also Flora’s second cousin. His picture is below:

General Marshall Independence Ludington
(July 4, 1838 – July 26, 1919)

As we have seen, most of Comfort Ludington’s sons are hard to find but not all of them are. However, his daughters are just about impossible to find or even to find out who they actually are. The one exception to this is Ann or Anne. She is referred to in Comfort Ludington’s will as Anne Smith. There was nothing at all known about her until about the middle of 2024. It took autosomal DNA to unearth her! The problem was there was absolutely no information about Ann or Anne Ludington, daughter Comfort Ludington. Fortunately, we knew a lot about Ann Eastwood, wife of John Eastwood of Patterson, New York. It was matching DNA that led us to the conclusion that Ann Ludington and Ann Eastwood were the same person. This DNA was matched between members of the Barrett family of Danbury and members of Nellie Nickerson’s family. Nellie Nickerson was Ann Ludington’s mother and descendants of Ann Eastwood were related her. Once this was known, much more collaborating evidence was found.

In Comfort’s will her name was said to be Anne Smith. She had a grandmother named Mary Smith, so it is possible Ann’s middle name was Smith. Even that may not be true as Comfort seemed to give all his daughters nicknames. It doesn’t matter however, because DNA has made the family connection between Ann Eastwood and Nellie Nickerson.

Nicknames are not used in wills too much anymore but a couple hundred years ago they were used quite a bit. We are used to the person writing the will saying things like, “My daughter Sarah, wife of Ebenezer Barrett” or “my daughter Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Lathrop. In some wills many years ago though, they just used the married name, or even worse just the daughter’s first name or even worse, a nickname, like, “My first daughter.” Or “my little son” without mentioning names. The rule was, if the executor knew who the will was referring to, that’s all that mattered. In Comfort Ludington’s will he gave 5 of his 6 daughters first names and what I think were nicknames. The names he listed his daughters as are below.

Senith Ludington
Mary Carly
Elinor Dab
Elizabeth, he called her Elizabeth Marry once and Elizabeth Moony once
Anne Smith
Charlotte, he called her Charlotte Dab twice and Charlotte Ludington once.

Interestingly, Senith may have been single or she might have been married to a man who was also named ”Ludington.” We have no evidence she was single. She was 33 at the time and there were other distant and not so distant relatives in the area who were names Ludington. So, ewe can’t tell if she was married or not.

There might have been some meaning to the other daughters’ assigned names too:

“Carly” is often interpreted to mean “free woman.”

The word Moony could mean dreamy or absent-minded: By the mid-19th century, the figurative sense of being dreamy, listless, or bewildered developed. This sense likely existed informally earlier and could apply to either gender.

Though I’m quite sure he didn’t mean it this way, “Marry” was used exactly the way “Indeed” is used today. This is as in the archaic version of Baa Baa Sheep,

Baa, baa, black sheep,

Have you any wool?

Yes, marry, have I,

Three bags full.

The phrase “to dab” was slang for cohabiting with someone.
So, the daughters who are “Dab” might still be living at home. Or, unfortunately, dab can refer to deaf and blind. There were families back then that had more than one child who was deaf and blind. Though this isn’t my favorite explanation, I really don’t think there were 2 daughters whose last names were “Dab,” especially since one of them was also referred to as Ludington and because the website howmanyofme.tool4geeks.com shows there is nobody living today who has the last or even the first name, ”Dab.” I doubt there was anybody who had that name in 1805 either.

These things, coupled with the fact that the way Captain Ludington asked for his money to be split up was complete convoluted, leads me to believe none of the surnames he assigned to his daughters in his will were accurate. I believe if a genealogist uses these names in his pursuit to find these women, he will be misled.

Comfort Ludington was an American hero. He was the leader of the Minutemen in the state of New York. However, he had his will written on September 12, 1805 and it was executed on October 1^st. This means when he went to his lawyer, or his lawyer came to him on September 12^th, he was on his last legs. His will did the job of passing along his belongings to his family but, through no fault if his own, his will was not a genealogical cornucopia. Using it for genealogy will certainly disappoint. Still, as more and more genealogists use DNA, the lives of some of his daughters will be revealed to us. The key is if any of them had children who have offspring who have had their DNA taken, then matches will very likely be found. For now, however, the lives of most of Comfort Ludington’s daughters, and sons as well, remain a mystery.

The name of this post, as you know is “Who was Comfort Ludington.” This is meant as in the context of whom he is in relation to the Barrett family of Danbury, CT. Explaining who Comfort Ludington was in relation to the United States of America, would take a whole book. Though, I don’t know of any specially written about him at this time, many have been written about his brother-in-law (and first cousin) Col Henry Ludington and his niece, Sybil Ludington. Comfort worked very closely with the Colonel and his niece. Comfort Ludington was the head of the Minutemen in New York State and Connecticut. It was a job that history tells us he did very well.

Comfort Ludington was an important part of American history, for sure, and we need to thank him for his work in handing us our free country! Still, by the time he wrote his will, he was in his final days, He was distraught, tired and, it sounds like, bedridden. He was, probably, in a lot of pain as well. This means, though we can learn a lot from his life, there is not very much we can learn, in a genealogical sense, from his will. RIP Comfort Ludington, a true American hero!

Comfort Ludington (1740 – 1805)
Born in East Hampton, Connecticut
Died in Fishkill, New York

Lathrop Genealogy

The Family of Robert and Flora Barrett

Percy Barrett’s Parents, Robert and Flora Barrett, were the parents of seven children. When I first discovered this fact, I was very surprised. Until just a few years ago, the only 2 offspring of Robert and Flora Barrett I had known of were my grandfather Percy and his sister, Aunt Lottie. At least, that’s what my mother called her. As far as I had known there were no more children in the family until I found out Percy had an older brother named Maltby. His full name was Maltby Wilbur Barrett. Maltby was born on September 15, 1875 and died on October 4, 1942. That’s why I didn’t know about him. He was gone before I got here.

Yes, Maltby is a very unusual name. In fact, according to “howmanyofme.tool4geeks.com,” there is currently no one alive in the world at this time, whose first name is Maltby. I found this out after this same website told me there were more than 1,230,000 Edwards! So, Maltby is an extremely rare first name! There are, though, 17,776 people whose last name is Maltby. It is believed that Robert Barrett’s father Isaac, had a friend who fit right into that demographic. It is also believed Isaac served in the Civil war with this man. His full name was Charles M. Maltby. Charles M. Maltby was listed as a “Sharpshooter.” Perhaps he became a friend of the family and Robert named his firstborn after this sharpshooting Civil War veteran. The reason why Robert just didn’t name his first son Charles is anybody’s guess but it could be nobody ever called the man Charles and he just went by “Maltby.” In any event, it is speculation in its truest form, but perhaps Robert named his son after this friend of his father.

Maltby was born in 1875 and Grandpa Percy was born in 1885. My mom’s Aunt Lottie Barrett, was born in 1887. I remember her well! I remember her as a very kind and friendly woman. I knew her as Lottie Vanwert, sometimes spelled Van Wert. She was married to George Vanwert. The wedding of George and Lottie took place on September 18, 1909.

Aside from Maltby, another one of Percy’s siblings whom I had never met was his sister Leta Sarah Barrett. Leta Sarah Barrett would become Leta Lefevre after she married Augustus Lefevre on November 17, 1900. She was born in 1881, July 7, 1881, to be exact and died on June 7,1946. So, she, like her big brother Maltby, she was gone before any of us still living members of the Barrett family tree had arrived. Not to get bogged down with a rather insignificant detail, but I believe her name was pronounced Lee-tuh. Her birth certificate reads “Lita.” Lee-tuh would be the proper pronunciation for that spelling too.

Now, get ready for the saddest paragraph of the story, or maybe the saddest paragraph of any story! On May 28, 1877, Flora Barrett gave birth Mary Esther Barrett. “Esther” was a family name. It was Mary Esther’s grandmother’s name as Robert Barrett was the son of Isaac and Esther Tompkins Barrett. On March 19, 1880, Flora gave birth to Flossy Barrett. I don’t know if her name was actually Florence, for which Flossy is a common nickname, or if she was just plain Flossy, sometimes spelled “Flossie.” Then, less than a year after she gave birth to Leta Sarah in 1881, both Mary Esther and Flossie passed away, Flossy on June 13, 1882 and Mary Esther on June 27, 1882. Unfortunately, the tragedy didn’t end there! On August 7, 1882, 6 weeks after 2 of her 3 daughters had passed away, Flora gave birth to a son she and Robert named Ernest. At this point in her life, Flora had an almost 7-year-old son, Maltby and a 1-year-old daughter, Leta Sarah and now a little baby son, Ernest and she had lost 2 daughters. Then, in 1883, Robert and Flora’s terrible run of misfortune continued as on March 22, 1883 at just 7½ months of age, Ernest passed away. There were no causes of deaths given for Mary Esther, Flossy or Ernest, however, by checking the death records for Danbury, Ct in 1882 and 1883, you could easily see that Diphtheria was in the neighborhood. Diphtheria was a very contagious and dangerous illness that took the lives of many youngsters in the years between 1880 and 1896. In fact, it is amazing Maltby escaped it and Leta Sarah, who might well have caught this terrible disease, lived through it!

Because Mary Esther, Flossy and Ernest were so young, it is very difficult to realize the girls were my great aunts and Ernest was my great uncle. If I ever had the chance to meet them, I’ll bet I would have really liked all 3! Ernest probably would have been my favorite! For sure, he would have loved beer and refused to ever go to a doctor!!! It also would have been an unlikely coincidence that even if he only lived to be 47 years old, Ernest would have gone to a wedding where he would have seen his niece Edwina marry a guy named Ernest! (Ernest Birch 1905 – 1977) ((Small world!))

R.I.P. Mary Esther, Flossy and Ernest! You 3 are heroes! In the 1880s, we had no way to combat so many of these killer diseases that preyed on the most innocent amongst us. It is because of you and others like you; antivirals and vaccines were developed. We don’t worry too much about Diphtheria anymore, because of you. You are the martyrs that brought about a wonderful new world. It’s been more than 140 years since your deaths, but because you helped bring about a universal awareness of Diphtheria and other diseases, you will never be forgotten. Nor will your parents, who went through this unbearable time with you ever be forgotten!

Below are the birth records for all 7 of Robert and Flora Barrett’s children:

It is interesting that in some of these records there is a box that says 1-1 or 4-2 as two examples. The information this box is giving us is “Number of Children mother has given birth to – Number of children still alive. If you look at Percival’s record you will see 6-2. Even though they had lost 3 children, Mary Esther, Flossy and Ernest, and have Maltby and Leta and now Percival alive, it is as if after all their tough luck they aren’t yet ready to give little Percy “still alive” status. It is the same in Lottie’s birth record in which that box says 7-3. It’s like they are now counting Percy, Leta and Maltby as alive but not yet ready to say Lottie is “still alive.”.

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In the birth records above, Flora consistently said she was born in Patterson, New York.  No one disputes this fact. However, in all but one of the records above, Robert states he was born in just plain old New York. While there is no dispute over this either, in Flossie’s birth record, Robert says he was born in Boyd’s Corner, New York. Boyd’s Corner was and actually still is a part Kent, New York in the same way Great Plain or Mill Plain are parts of Danbury, CT.

Robert’s father Isaac Barrett’s records consistently say he was from Kent Cliffs, New York.  Because of this, lots of genealogists, amateurs and professionals alike, have concluded he was from Carmel, New York.  The reason they are inclined to conclude so is because if you Google Kent Cliffs, it will tell you Kent Cliffs is in Carmel.  However, the Kent Cliffs this Google result is referring to is a large development that was built in Carmel in the 1960’s. We can be very sure neither Isaac, nor Robert Barrett, for that matter, grew up in a modern development.  The Kent Cliffs Isaac was from is entirely different from Kent Cliffs in Carmel. When people refer to the Kent Cliffs of Kent they are referring a topography of a particular part of Kent.  It is more of a natural landmark than a village or a section of town.  Still, people have used it for years to describe a location of a particular part of Kent, New York. Also, it is noteworthy that the Kent Cliffs of Kent is located in Boyd’s Corner. Boyd’s Corner, at one time, even had its own post office.  So, the confusion about where Kent Cliffs is located started because we have a relatively new Kent Cliffs in Carmel and a Kent Cliffs that is a God created phenomenon, which has been there probably thousands of years, and it is in Kent. So, to say Kent Cliffs in Kent is where Isaac Barrett was form is a true statement but by being from Kent Cliffs in Kent, he was, in reality, from Boyd’s Corner. It is interesting that Boyd’s Corner is now mostly a reservoir and it is a quite historical one at that.  The story of this reservoir involves some faulty construction and the evil doings a tycoon named “Boss” Tweed! However, that’s a compete story all on its own!

For the story at hand though, I am very grateful to great grandfather Robert Barrett for telling us he was born in Boyd’s Corner, New York!  Since he was born in Boyd’s Coner, it is very, very likely it is the same place where Isaac Barrett and the rest of his family hailed. So, now we know that in all probability, our Barrett family, before it relocated to Danbury, was from Kent, New York.  This is very important to know because there was another Isaac Barrett who lived during the same time frame and this other Isaac Barrett lived in Carmel. To muddy the waters a little bit more, we are related to him too!  Once again, this can, and surely will ignite another story all of its own!

A rare piece of documented evidence we have that Isaac Barrett was a native of Kent, New York is his Army induction record where he says he is from Kent. They record his birthplace as Putnam, New York. For place of birth, the army entered, “Putnam.” I believe they meant the county of Putnam because all the soldiers in this section of the registration book were registered as born in Putnam and they all were residents of towns in Putnam County.

The translation of above is: Name: Isaac Barrett, Residence: Kent Putnam NY, Time and Place of Birth:1829 Putnam NY, Rank: Private, Battalion: 6, Company: G, Enlisted: August 30, 1862, Mustered In: September 20, 1862, Rank: Private, Married, Father: James, Mother: Martha Barrett, Occupation: Farmer.

Oh, by the way, he is buried in Barrett Cemetery which just happens to be in Carmel. It is a 12-minute drive from where Isaac is buried to Boyd’s Corner, where he lived all his life.  Robert, as are most of his immediate and extended family, is buried in Wooster Cemetery in Danbury, CT.

Robert and Flora Barrett’s Children’s Death Records

Mary Esther Barrett Death June 27, 1882

Flossy Barrett Death June 13, 1882

Ernest Barrett Death March 22, 1883

Lathrop Genealogy

Ann Eastwood was also sometimes said to be Avah Eastwood. I believe the name “Avah” comes from the 1850 census which is a very difficult to read document. The entry in this census could be Avah or Anah or it could possibly be a terribly written, “Ann.”

For many years we have seen Ann Eastwood (1788-1860) buried in Maple Ave Cemetery in Patterson, NY. We have also seen a different person whose name was Ann Ludington (1781 -). She was the daughter of the Minuteman Comfort Ludington and Elizabeth “Nellie” Nickerson Ludington. There is very little known about her. She has no burial record. We sometimes see her as Ann Smith but there are no records of a husband whose last name is Smith either.

We believe that in the year 2024 we have discovered that this Ann Eastwood and this Ann Ludington are the same person.

The evidence we have is:
1) The people Ann and John Eastwood and buried amongst. This is circumstantial evidence and of course, wouldn’t stand up by itself.
2) The death record of her daughter, Olive Eastwood Fraser. And,
3) Shared DNA between descendants of Olive Eastwood and Elizabeth Nickerson’s family tree.

It is in the will of Ann Ludington’s father, Comfort Ludington, which was read in 1805, that we see his daughter mentioned as Ann Smith. This is the only indication Ann might have had a husband whose last name was Smith.

It is possible Ann was married before she married John Eastwood. This could be true because it appears her first child was born around 1808 – 1810. Ann would have been 27 – 29 years old at this time. Though there is absolutely no information on a potential husband named “Smith,” Ann’s grandmother’s name was Mary Smith Nickerson. So, Ann’s middle name could have been Smith because she was named in honor of her grandmother. Therefore, Ann’s maiden name could possibly have been Ann Smith Ludington. Or Ann possibly was married to a man named Smith but he passed away after 1805 but before Ann started her family with John Eastwood around 1808.

We believe Ann Ludington, daughter of Comfort Ludington and Elizabeth Nickerson was the wife of John Eastwood (1786 – 1851) and their children were Olive Eastwood Fraser (1809 – 1904), Rachel Eastwood (1823 -) and William H Eastwood. (1826 -1911). She had more children, probably 2 more but as of yet, we don’t know their names.

In Maple Ave Cemetery, Patterson, NY, Ann and John Eastwood are buried in close proximity to the following:

Henry Ludington – This is Col Henry Ludington of Revolutionary War fame, and we believe he is Ann’s uncle.
Sibbell Ludington wife of Edmond Ogden – She is better known as Sybil Ludington.

There is a lot more that could be said about Sybil Ludington, and indeed, much more has been said about her. In fact, books have been written about her. She is the female Paul Revere of the American Revolution. Today, children are taught about her in schools. Ann Ludington Eastwood and Sybil Ludington Ogden were first cousins.

Sybil Ludington on her horse “Star” warning of the British attack on Danbury, CT

Abigail Ludington (1776 – 1816) – Daughter of Henry Ludington. We believe she is fist cousin to Ann Ludington.
Sophia Caverly (1784 – 1860) – We believe she is the daughter of Henry Ludington and first cousin to Ann Ludington Eastwood.
Derrick Ludington – We believe is a son of Henry Ludington and first cousin of Ann Ludington Eastwood.

There are many more relatives of Ann Ludington Eastwood buried in Maple Ave Cemetery including George Eastwood who was John’s father, members of Olive Eastwood Fraser’s family and grandchildren of Seth and Mary Smith Nickerson. We believe Ann is a granddaughter of Seth and Mary Smith Nickerson as well.

In the 1810 Fishkill, NY census, both Zalmon and De Lafayette Ludington who are sons of Comfort and Elizabeth Nickerson Ludington and therefore brothers of Ann Ludington Eastwood, live close by the John and Ann Eastwood family.

In the 1850 census, it says Ann Eastwood is 68 years old. This is the same age as Ann Ludington, born in 1781, daughter of Comfort and Elizabeth Nickerson Ludington. In the 1860 census, it is recorded that she is 72 years old. However, it is common for ages to be incorrect in censuses, especially older ones, and this particular census happened to be taken after she passed away.  A person still has to be counted in the census if he or she passed away on or after April 1^st of a census year.  This is true, even though most censuses are usually taken in July or August.  It is also true, someone else fills out the census for the dead person in this instance. Probably, this is overstating the obvious.  Often times though, this person doesn’t know the dead person’s age or isn’t really interested in making sure he or she gets the age right.  

The interesting thing about An Eastwood being registered as 72 in her death year census is that it looks like her gravestone also says she died at 72 years of age. However, look at what happens when you take a closer look at her gravestone. (Below)

Closer look (below)

The fact is it looks like, at first glance, her gravestone is telling us Ann Eastwood was 72 years of age at death but upon closer inspection, you can see, her gravestone is actually telling us she was 78. If we assume her birthday was later in the year than June 30^th, which is the date she passed, we can be certain she was born in 1781. This is the same year that is recorded as Ann Ludington’s birth year. By the way, the picture above of Ann Eastwood’s gravestone was taken on November 14, 2025. The bottom picture is just a blown up version of the first.

Comfort Ludington was born in Connecticut but by the time the Revolutionary War started in 1776, he was living in Fishkill, NY. This is the town where Ann Ludington was born and we see the John Eastwood family also living in this town in the 1810 census.

We also have Ann Eastwood’s daughter Olive’s death record:

It could be Olive Eastwood Fraser’s birth date on her death record is not accurate. In the 1860 census she said she was 44 and in the 1830 census the oldest daughter living in this Eastwood household was 14 years old. It does make sense Olive was born in 1816 instead of 1809 due to the fact the 2 girls less than 10 years old in the 1810 census could have been no longer living in the household in 1830. Also, in the 1850 census Olive says she was 35 and in the next decade she mothered 4 children. If she was born in 1809, she would have turned 41 in December of 1850. In spite of this, my best guess is her true birth year was 1809. For sure, this is a guess but Olive’s death record seems to be particularly accurate! Olive’s son or daughter or whomever filled it out seemed to have known exactly how many years, months and days Olive lived and he or she has provided us with the only paper trail we have that tells us Ann Eastwood’s maiden name was actually Ludington.

In any event, we know Ann Ludington Eastwood’s Daughter is Olive Eastwood Fraser and we also know Ann Ludington’s mother was Elizabeth Nickerson Ludington. However, probably our biggest clue that Ann Ludington and Ann Eastwood is the same person is that there is shared DNA between descendants of Olive Eastwood Fraser and Elizabeth Nickerson’s family tree. There is no way possible for these two families to share DNA unless Olive Eastwood Fraser is a part of this Nickerson family and the only way for this to be possible is for her mother, Ann Eastwood to be the daughter of Elizabeth “Nellie” Nickerson Ludington.

In total, we feel we have very solidly proven that Ann Ludington, daughter of Comfort and Elizabeth Nickerson Ludington is Ann Eastwood, wife of John Eastwood who is buried in Maple Ave Cemetery in Patterson, NY.

Edward J Lathrop

Lathrop Genealogy