(HOST) With the 4th of July just around the corner, commentator Edith Hunter has been thinking about an unexpected history lesson and what it taught her about a lesser known Revolutionary War figure.
(HUNTER) We were having lunch, Will, Sammy, our guest, Alison, and I.
Will asked Alison where she grew up, and she answered “Danbury, Connecticut.”
Alison is the new president of the Weathersfield Historical Society, but her love of history began back in her home town. She told us that Danbury was once the hat-making capital of the United States. She added that it was also the home of Sybil Ludington.
“The Female Paul Revere,” Sammy chimed in.
“That’s right,” said Alison. “Back in Revolutionary times, she rode around warning the people that the British were setting Danbury on fire.”
Will explained that Sammy knew about Sybil Ludington, “because there was a great program on public television called ‘Liberty’s Kids’ that he used to watch. It told the story of many of the heroes and heroines of the American Revolution, and she was one of them.”
Now I’m supposed to be the historian, and I had never heard of Sybil Ludington. In order to advance my education I sent Sammy off to get a couple of reference books, and Will went off to get another one.
Sybil Ludington was not in any of these books.
Then Sammy disappeared into the other room and turned on my computer. Within five minutes he was back with two print-outs. One was from the DAR, and the other was from “Wikipedia”.
“So much for books,” said Sammy, as he handed me the print-outs.
I read the two accounts aloud to the gathering. Only the Wikipedia account gave her dates (1761-1839). And it had the added advantage of a picture of the statue of sixteen-year old Sybil riding her father’s horse. The horse is rearing up and she is brandishing a stick, the instrument she used for controling the horse, and for banging on doors to arouse the sleeping militia men. The statue is in Carmel, New York.
Sybil’s father, Col. Henry Ludington was the commander of the local militia. The family lived in Fredericksburg (now Ludington), New York, twenty-five miles from Danbury, Connecticut. When word reached the Ludington family that the British were burning Danbury, Sybil started out, at nine pm that rainy night, April 26, 1777, to rally the militia.
Soon a body of four hundred soldiers had gathered, and although too late to save the burning Danbury, they ultimately were able to drive the British back to Long Island Sound.
I know that it’s important to check the information from Wikipedia, and I also know, that in spite of Sammy’s expressed disdain for books as a source of information in this day of instant gratification, ultimately all this material came from books.
I just didn’t have the right books.
Writer and historian Edith Hunter lives in Weathersfield Center.