The Ludlow name is a familiar one to those who have lived in the area for several decades. The Ludlow Idle Hour mansion still stands, the Ludlow Memorial Library still stands even though it now houses the Chamber of Commerce and the Ludlow Hotel was razed in 1955. Arabut Ludlow (1818-1896) was another man who was instrumental in forming Monroe. Much has been printed about him in books like the county histories, and The Story of Monroe. I will share some news clippings today from the Monroe Sentinel in the 1860s to provide more information about him. 

On Feb. 5, 1862 the friends of the family were invited to the funeral of their daughter at 1 p.m. that afternoon at their residence. A look at the tombstones shows that Nettie was almost 27 months old and that another daughter, Nellie, was born later that year.

The attention of the farmers, and anyone else who had custom milling done, was directed to advertisement of Messrs. Ludlow and Cotherman on Jan. 14, 1863. The men had thoroughly overhauled and furnished the old Shuey Mill [Clarno township] at an expense of several thousand dollars. The names of the owners were a sufficient guarantee that no expense would be spared to ensure the fullest satisfaction. Ludlow was known to be a thorough man at anything he did and Reub Cotherman had been engaged in flouring mills in Monroe and Juda for several years. Cotherman was too well known as a first class miller to need any notice from the Sentinel. They would only say that all work would be done under his immediate supervision. Flour manufactured at these mills were available for purchase at the City Bakery in Monroe, with William Sykes as proprietor. 

It was announced on April 13, 1864 that the banking firm of Ludlow, Bingham & Co. was dissolved as John A. Bingham withdrew. The business was continued by Ludlow and Richardson, brokers, and the Bank of Monroe. Asa Richardson was the president and J. B. Galusha was cashier.

Ludlow was a large farmer before dairy was big in the area. The Sentinel shared on August 3, 1864 that he sold 509 sheep fleeces that weighed just more than 3,791 pounds, which were sold at $1 a pound for $3,791.37. The average fleece weighed 7 pounds 7.2 ounces. He sold the fleece from 454 sheep the previous year for $0.65 per pound. The newspaper wanted “it understood that Mr. Ludlow is a farmer of the town of Monroe, and if our exchanges in any part of the State knew of a farmer who beats him in wool growing we should be pleased to have him ‘trot him out.’”

There was a meeting of the county fair board on the Saturday previous to July 19, 1865 to discuss the question of fitting up or changing the fairgrounds. The meeting was quite respectable, both in numbers and character. The committee appointed at the preceding meeting to examine the grounds offered to the Society by Mr. Ludlow in exchange for the old ones (10 acres east of the residence of E. E. Carr), reported in favor of such change. Some opposition was made to it by a portion of the members present, and no positive decision was arrived at. The sum of $360 was subscribed toward fitting up the grounds, and a committee was appointed to solicit further subscriptions. The meeting adjourned until the afternoon of Aug. 5th.

The firm of Ludlow, Treat & Co. had shipped, during the week ending Aug. 23, 1865, 19,000 pounds of wool and another 12,000 pounds the previous week. The wool was nearly all No. 1 and the highest market price was paid for it.

Mr. Ludlow offered to pay the highest market price for 10,000 bushels of corn on Nov. 22, 1865. It was to be delivered to his farm one mile north of the Public Square. The ad finished with, “Bring on your corn immediately.”

On Feb. 20, 1867 the Sentinel shared a clipping from a Newton County (Missouri) newspaper. They had a call from Messrs. Ludlow, Smock, Mack and Hurlburt who were in search of a good country and a mild climate in which to settle. “They seemed highly pleased with southwest Missouri, and we should not be surprised if they were numbered amongst our citizens, a short time hence.”  

A month later, on March 20, the Sentinel reported, “Another party of our citizens, consisting of Messrs. Ludlow, Chadwick, Wm. Brown, and Asa Richardson, started for Missouri last Wednesday to look at the country. As the mercury stood at 15 degrees below zero, it was a good time to strike out for a warmer climate.”

At a meeting of the fair society in early Aug. 1867, A. Ludlow and four other men were appointed to a committee to solicit funds for the erection of new buildings on the fairgrounds. It was necessary to have a “larger building for the ladies’ department and manufactures, and a larger shed for farm products, small machinery, &c.” With new buildings Green County was expected to have a fairground unsurpassed by any local society in the state.

Mr. Ludlow sold his brick block on the northeast corner of the square (photo on page 23 in the Pictorial History of Monroe) to Henry and Samuel Hoesly in February 1868. The Monroe Sentinel was printed in this building at that time. Hoeslys planned to operate a dry goods store on the first floor.

I hope these few tidbits help people understand what was important to Mr. Ludlow and how important he was to the development of the area. He was a great businessman who also realized how important Monroe was to his businesses. More information about Mr. Ludlow earlier than this can be found in Becoming a Village, Monroe, Wisconsin in the 1850s, available from me for $15 or at the Monroe Public Library.

— Matt Figi is a Monroe resident and a local historian. His column will appear periodically on Saturdays in the Times. He can be reached at mfigi48@tds.net or at 608-325-6503.