lumberman, b. Kent (now Ludingtonville), N.Y. He moved to Milwaukee in 1839 where he joined his brother, Harrison Ludington (q.v.), and his uncle, Lewis Ludington, in the mercantile business. Withdrawing from that enterprise in 1848, he formed N. Ludington and Co. and embarked in the lumber industry. This firm, dominated by Nelson Ludington, Daniel Wells, Jr. (q.v.) and Isaac Stephenson (q.v.), maintained headquarters in Chicago, and became one of the largest sawmills at Marinette, Wis., and Escanaba, Mich. It controlled large tracts of timber lands in Michigan's upper peninsula, and in Marinette and Oconto counties. Originally a partnership, in 1868 the enterprise was incorporated in Wisconsin as the N. Ludington Co., with Ludington as president (1868-1883). In 1851 or 1852 Ludington moved to Chicago. G. W. Hotchkiss, Mist. of the Lumber and Forest Industry of the Northwest (Chicago, 1898); Chicago Tribune, Jan. 16, 1883; Milwaukee Evening Wis., Jan. 15, 1883.Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
