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"The essential service he rendered to the army ...

"
Christopher Ludwick, Superintendent of Bakers

John U. Rees
(Published in Food History News, vol. 9, no. 1 (Summer 1997), and vol. 17, no. 1 (Summer 2005))
_________________
Excerpted from:
"’Give us day by day our daily bread.’:
Continental Army Bread, Ovens, and Bakers”
John U. Rees
http://www.scribd.com/doc/125174710/Give-us-day-by-day-our-daily-bread-
Continental-Army-Bread-Ovens-and-Bakers
_________________

"Of the articles of subsistence bread is the most essential"; so wrote Maj. Gen. Henry
Knox in March 1781. In the same letter Knox also admitted that, after six years of war, the
Continental Army was still "most deficient" in converting the flour ration into bread "arising
from the want of some general, invariable system to govern the whole Army ..." In light of
this admission, it is appropriate to look at one man's role in supplying bread to Washington's
troops, but for the efforts of whom the soldiers would have fared worse than they did.57
In any era Christopher Ludwick would have been considered remarkable. Born in the
town of Giessen, Hesse (Germany), in 1720, he was taught to be a baker by his father. At
seventeen, Ludwick enlisted to fight against the Turks, took part in the siege of Prague, and,
in 1741, joined the Prussian army. Discharged at war's end, he soon went to London, where
he signed on as a baker aboard an East India Company ship. After almost four years in
India, Ludwick returned to London, then traveled home to Giessen to find his father had
died. Back in London, having spent his inheritance, he returned to sea as a common sailor.
From 1745 to 1752, according to one biographer, "he made voyages to the West Indies and
European ports. Desiring to quit the sea, he invested [25 pounds] in ready–made English
clothing and in 1753 embarked for Philadelphia." Selling the clothing at a considerable
profit, Ludwick went back to London, "where he spent nine months learning to bake
gingerbread and make confectionery." He returned to Philadelphia in 1754, "taking with him
implements for the bakery which he soon started in Laetitia Court ..." He married,
prospered, and was well–respected, being known as "The Governor of Laetitia Court." By
the time of the Revolution he owned nine houses, a farm in Germantown, and a large
fortune in Pennsylvania currency.58
Ludwick functioned in several roles when he first entered United States service in 1776.
Initially he volunteered for the Flying Camp, a militia force with Washington's Army in
New Jersey and New York. Later that year he further proved his commitment to the cause
by becoming involved in a plan to encourage desertion among German soldiers serving with
the British. Of this period, he later wrote he acted "as a Volunteer finding himself & Horse
without fee or reward."59
Because of this service, and his prewar occupation and reputation for civic activity in
Philadelphia, on 3 May 1777, the Continental Congress appointed 57 year old Christopher
Ludwick "superintendent of bakers, and director of baking, in the grand army of the United
States." Their resolve stipulated "That no person be permitted to exercise the trade of a
baker in the said army without" his license, with the mandate "to rectify all abuses in the
article of bread," by reorganizing that commodity's production and distribution. Little did
Ludwick know that he would struggle to feed the army and fulfill his mission over the
ensuing five years.60
The Continental army's logistical organization underwent many changes during the
Superintendent's term of service; unfortunately, the country's lack of proper support for the
army remained a constant theme throughout. This was echoed in Ludwick's experience, and
the difficulties encountered in 1777 were to recur throughout his tenure, such that by 1781
he was still able to remark, "the Baking Department, tho' far ... more beneficial than the
Doctor or Surgeon's Department, hath been too much neglected ..."61
Christopher Ludwick's first year as superintendent was arguably his most demanding.
Applying himself to the task at hand he immediately encountered what would prove to be
a chronic problem, finding and keeping workers. In July 1777 the Superintendent
informed Congress that having tried "to procure a number of journeymen bakers" in
Philadelphia, they were not to be had, "by reason that they are most of them engaged in
the militia." These men were soon recalled to bake bread, but manpower shortages
continued. An undated list of army bakeries, probably made in summer 1777, contained
the comment, "Only one Oven at Morris Town and one at Pitts Town [New Jersey, are] at
work for want of hands. If hands could be procured they would bake double the ...
Quantity."62
As the war continued, the Superintendent's diligence concerning his employees’ well–
being proved a boon to the army. In January 1781 he recorded that "Hands are most
wanted to bake bread for the Soldiers," but "no proper Encouragement [is] given to the
Bakers and Workmen to induce and enable them to continue in the Service." To rectify
this Ludwick noted having "sold a part of his Real Estate at a Disadvantage in order to
obtain Money to pay the Mens Wages, and ... [during] almost the whole time of Service
advanced and paid their Wages out of his own Monies before he could receive any of the
public ..." In an army where soldiers' pay was months or years in arrears, he paid his
"Bakers every two Months their Wages ... from time to time adding a few Dollars more
as the money grew worse ..." Of course, not all his workers were content. In May 1780,
Lawrence Powell, baker, was fined and jailed in Philadelphia for "defrauding the States."
Powell seemed to be "an open countenanced [truthful] man" who said he had "been very
ill used by Christopher Lodowick & that there is much [money] due to him."63
Baking for a mobile army was a difficult proposition. In July 1777, two months after
taking office, Ludwick was faced with the task of providing bread to an army on the move,
its regiments and brigades dispersed and marching over portions of three states. In this
situation he found it "impossible for one Man to review and direct the Business of baking
from the Van [the front of the army] to the Rear ..." All the while he continued to organize
the baking department, confronted by such problems as a lack of wagons to transport baked
bread, and the need for sites to store "the Bread that it comes under a good Roof and not
remain in the open fields." All the while the commander in chief entreated him to "continue
baking as fast as you can," to supply the army’s needs.64
A number of specialized implements were needed to bake bread, especially on a
large scale. Here are some examples of 18th century French bake ovens, tools, mixing
troughs and dough boxes. Among these items are:
Fig. 6. fire rake
Fig. 8. swabber or scuffle
Fig. 10. wooden peel
Fig. 11. scraper
Fig. 12. iron shovel to draw out coals
Charles Coulston Gillispie, ed., A Diderot Pictorial Encyclopedia of Trades and
Industry: Manufacturing and the Technical Arts in Plates Selected from
“L’Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers” of
Denis Diderot (in two volumes), vol. 2 (New York: Dover Publications, 1959), “The
Bakery,” plate 449.
___________________________
Christopher Ludwick’s activity in the years following are not well recorded, but he
seems to have been everywhere trying to provide sustenance for the soldiery. The
Superintendent was noted to be in York, Pennsylvania, in late March 1778, probably
concerning an administrative matter as that city was then temporary capitol of the United
States. In July 1779 Rev. William Rogers noted Ludwick’s role in building a “bake–
house” for troops at Wyoming, on the Susquehanna. Twice in 1780 (June and October)
General Washington mentioned Ludwick's involvement in constructing new ovens, finally
noting that the "Baker Genl. ... is instructed ... to repair to West Point and erect as many
ovens at that Post as are equal to a daily supply of Six or eight thousand pounds of Bread ...
he is also ordered to erect one oven at Stoney Point for the supply of the Troops there and at
Verplanks." Ludwick himself wrote early in 1781 that "at West Point ... [I have] erected two
excellent new Ovens and a Bakehouse ..."65
In a January 1781 "Memorial" to Congress, Ludwick wrote that having "served his
Country honestly from the Commencement of the War ... [he had] built the greatest part of
the Bakehouses for the Use of the Army; [and] ventur'd his Life on several Occasions for the
Cause ... [he] is now willing and desirous to retire from the Service in the 61st. Year of his
Age, with the loss of his right Eye and a ruined Constitution." Despite this wish to retire,
Superintendent Ludwick continued producing bread at least until the end of 1781. At
Williamsburg, Virginia, on 15 September, while the armies were gathering to besiege the
British in Yorktown, Washington wrote that the troops for a period "experienced a Want of
Provisions, especially of the Bread kind ..." Two weeks later he informed the army, "It is
expected that bread of a good quality will be furnished by Mr. Ludwick, superintendent of
the Bakers, nearly sufficient for the Army ..."66
Ludwick probably left the army before the end of hostilities. In 1782 a system of supply
by contractors was put in place and it seems that the Superintendent of Baker's role became
obsolete; in any event there is no record of services rendered by him during that time.67
Christopher Ludwick's devotion to his adopted country's fight for independence is easily
understood in light of the success he enjoyed in America and his community ties. But what
was at the heart of Ludwick's willingness to undertake the formidable responsibility of
providing bread for the army and to persevere in that task? The answer may be found in a
temperament determined to see a job through in the face of repeated hardship and frustration
(stereotypically attributed to "hard–headed" Germans), combined with empathy for workers
and soldiers, and supported by his business acumen and long experience in the craft of
baking.
Historian Edward Channing noted, "An anecdote of a man is worth a volume of
biography." Three may shed further light on Ludwick's character. A Pennsylvania officer
related the story that the "Bakermaster–General of the army ... made a vow never to shave
his beard until ... we regained possession of Philadelphia," after the British occupation of
that city in September 1777. This at a time when purposefully grown and cultivated beards
were not common and thought to be uncivilized. (If true then Mr. Ludwick probably wore
his beard until June 1778.) Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote of his reply when informed by
Congress of their expectation that he produce one pound of bread for every pound of flour
received: "Not so: I must not be so enriched by the war. I shall return 135 lbs. of bread for
every 100 lbs. of flour." (One pound of flour will in fact produce a larger amount of bread.)
Another account, probably originating with Dr. Rush, noted the respect he engendered
within the army: "Washington was very fond of him, addressed him as 'old gentleman,' and
called him 'my honest friend.'"68
By his own testimony, Christopher Ludwick's sacrifices for his country included having
"had his Property ruined by the Enemy," and the loss of the "private fortune earned by his
Industry before the War." According to Benjamin Rush, at war's end "he had scarcely any
ready cash; but he would neither borrow money nor buy on credit." A biographical
compilation recounted his life after the Revolution. His first wife died in 1795 and he
remarried in 1798. "During the yellow–fever epidemic in Philadelphia, in 1797, he
volunteered his services to bake bread for the stricken." Having rebuilt his fortune, he
donated large amounts to various causes during his lifetime, bequeathing his estate to
churches and charities, the residue "to be used in providing free education for poor
children." He died on 17 June 1801 and was "buried in the grave–yard of St. Michael's
[Trinity] (Lutheran) Church, at the upper end of Germantown," now part of the city of
Philadelphia.69
A 1785 Memorial by the former Superintendent of Bakers was endorsed by such notables
as Generals Arthur St. Clair, William Irvine, Anthony Wayne, former Q.M. Gen. Timothy
Pickering, and Thomas Mifflin, a prominent Philadelphian. In his endorsement Pickering
noted Ludwick's "disinterested zeal, his indefatigable industry in the duties of his
department, his unsullied integrity, [and] the essential service he rendered to the army ..."
No one could ask for a finer epitaph.70
* * * * * *
The Superintendent Bakes for the General, 1778 and 1780. Christopher Ludwick’s
military legacy included some small contribution to the American commander–in–chief’s
sustenance. The first known instance occurred in April 1778 (the bill was not paid till the
following year):

His Excellency General Washington to Cristopher Ludwick.

1778. To 2 bbs. beer @ L 4 10 £9


April 1st. To butter for rusk 3
To 1 Cullender 1 10

Head Quarters Raritan [New Jersey] 9th. Feby 1779

[On reverse] Feby. 9th 1779 Chrisr. Ludwick Acct. for Sundries when at V[alley]. Forge71

The Oxford English Dictionary describes rusk as “Bread in the form of small pieces
which have been re–fired so as to render them hard and crisp.” Sometimes sweetened,
rusk was used to dip in coffee or tea, similar to biscotti. As for the beer, although it is
unknown whether Ludwick brewed it himself or purchased it elsewhere, the reference is
interesting because of the age–old tie between bakers and brewers.72
In 1780 Ludwick tendered another invoice to the General. Reimbursement this time
seems to have been prompt.
His Excellcy Geo Washington Esqr C. Chief
To Christr Ludwick
To making two barrels of rusk [*] two barrels
of buttered bisquit and Ginger Bread
with the following Engredience Viz

Dollars
9 lb. Butter 78
Milk 42
Allspice 8 Dollars
1 lb. Careway seed 4 144
Ginger 8
Potash 4

HeadQuarters
Morristown 28th. March 1780
Recd. ye above in full from of Major Gibbs
Christoffar Ludwick 73

Notably, the “Major Gibbs” referred to above, was Caleb Gibbs, commander of
Washington’s Life Guard, who also handled the household accounts after the
commander–in–chief’s housekeeper Mrs. Mary Smith left his service in spring 1776.
Superintendent Ludwick’s recipes for “buttered bisquit and Ginger Bread” are unknown,
but given his 27 years in the baking business, they were probably stored in his head. Here
are sample recipes from Eliza Smith’s The Compleat Housewife (1758):74

To make Biskits. Take a pound of loaf–sugar beaten and sifted, and half a pound of
almonds blanch’d and beat in a mortar, with the whites of five or six eggs, when they are
both mingled, strew in your almonds; then put in a quarter of a pound of flour, and fill
your pans fast; butter them and put them into the oven; strew sugar over them, bake them
quick, and then turn them on a paper, and put them again into the oven to harden.

To make the thin Dutch Bisket. Take five pounds of flour, two ounces of carraway–seeds,
half a pound of sugar, and something more than a pint of milk; warm the milk, and put
into it three quarters of a pound of butter; then make a hole in the middle of your flour,
and put in a full pint of good ale yeast; then pour in the butter and milk, and make these
into a paste, letting it stand a quarter of an hour by the fire to rise; then mould it, and roll
it into cakes pretty thin; prick them all over pretty much, or they will blister; bake them a
quarter of an hour.

Several of Smith’s gingerbread recipes call for candied orange peel, “orange–peel dried,”
“orange–flower water,” “candied citron,” cinnamon, mace, and nutmeg. The simplest is
as follows:

Take a pound and a half of treacle, two eggs beaten, a pound of butter melted, half a
pound of brown sugar, and ounce of beaten ginger, and of cloves, mace, coriander–seeds
and caraway–seeds, of each a half an ounce; mix all these together with as much flour as
will knead it into a paste; roll it out, and cut it into what form you please; bake it in a
quick oven on tin plates; a little time will bake it.75
Afterword. On April 15 1953 the popular TV show Cavalcade of America aired an episode
called “The Gingerbread Man,” described as a “true story about Christopher Ludwick, the
baker, who came to America in 1776 from Germany … A comedy–drama about an
elderly German baker who persuades 123 Hessian soldiers to desert the British Army
during the American Revolution.”76
Ludwick was a strong believer in community service and, two centuries after his death,
his legacy lives on in the guise of The Christopher Ludwick Foundation Grants, funded to
support and advance "the schooling and education gratis, of poor children of all
denominations, in the city and liberties of Philadelphia, without exception to the country,
extraction, or religious principles of their parents and friends...." The original bequest of
$13,000 “has grown to over $5,000,000, and grants amounting to approximately
$250,000 are awarded each year.”77 (For more information see, The Christopher Ludwick
Foundation Grants, The Athenaeum of Philadelphia,
http://www.philaathenaeum.org/grants.html)

Endnotes

57. Henry Knox to Washington, 24 March 1781, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 76.
58. Dumas Malone, ed., Dictionary of American Biography, vol. VI (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1961), 497–498. One source cited in this work is, Benjamin Rush, M.D. An
Account of the Life and Character of Christopher Ludwick, late citizen of Philadelphia, and
baker–general of the Army of the United States during the Revolutionary War, first published in
the year 1801; revised and republished by direction of the Philadelphia Society for the
Establishment and Support of Charity Schools (Philadelphia: Garden and Thompson, c. 1831;
New York: Garrett Press, Inc., 1969).
59. Malone, Dictionary of American Biography, vol. VI, 497–498. "The Memorial of Christopher
Ludwick Baker Master for the Army of the United States" to the Continental Congress, 27
January 1781, Papers of Continental Congress, Natl. Archives, reel 50: 230–231.
60. Ford, Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. VII (1907), 323–324, 574–575.
61. E. Wayne Carp, To Starve the Army at Pleasure: Continental Army Administration and
American Political Culture, 1775–1783 (Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina
Press, 1984), 19–25, 35–51, 77, 175–181. "The Memorial of Christopher Ludwick Baker Master
for the Army of the United States" to the Continental Congress, 27 January 1781, Papers of
Continental Congress, Natl. Archives, reel 50: 230–231.
62. Ford, Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. VIII (1907), 575. Return of ovens on
Bakermaster's Department, undated, Papers of Continental Congress, Natl. Archives, reel 199:
449. Christopher Ludwick to the Continental Congress, 4 August 1777, ibid., reel 50: 193–194.
63. "The Memorial of Christopher Ludwick Baker Master for the Army of the United States" to
the Continental Congress, 27 January 1781, "The Memorial of Christopher Ludwick late
Superintendant of the Baking Department in the Army of the United States" to Congress, March
1785, Papers of Continental Congress, Natl. Archives, reel 50: 230–231, 411–412. "Journal of
Samuel Rowland Fisher, of Philadelphia, 1779–1781," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History
and Biography, vol. 41 (1917), 292.
64. Christopher Ludwick to the Continental Congress, 4 August 1777, Papers of Continental
Congress, Natl. Archives, reel 50: 193–194. Washington to Christopher Ludwick, 25 July 1777,
Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, vol. 8 (1933), 475.
65. "Items of History of York, Penna., During the Revolution," Pennsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography, vol. 44 (1920), 313. Journal of Reverend William Rogers, 24 June 1779,
Journals of the Military Expedition of Major General John Sullivan, 248. Washington to Udny
Hay, 30 June 1780, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, vol. 19 (1937), 103–104.
Washington to Nathanael Greene, 12 October 1780, ibid., vol. 20 (1937), 169. "The Memorial of
Christopher Ludwick Baker Master for the Army of the United States" to the Continental
Congress, 27 January 1781, Papers of Continental Congress, Natl. Archives, reel 50: 230–231.
66. "The Memorial of Christopher Ludwick Baker Master for the Army of the United States" to
the Continental Congress, 27 January 1781, ibid., reel 50: 230–231. Washington to James
Hendricks, 15 September 1781, General orders, 1 and 8 October 1781, Fitzpatrick, Writings of
George Washington, vol. 23 (1937), 120–121, 165–166, 198–199. In his 1781 "Memorial," dated
Philadelphia, 27 January 1781, Ludwick wrote:.
"To the Honorable the Congress
The Memorial of Christopher Ludwick Baker Master for the Army of the United States"
... the Bakers heretofore inlisted by him have most all left him (their Term of Inlistment being
expired) except three whom he inlisted from the first of September last for two shillings specie, or
the Exchange [in paper money], and a Gill of Rum per day and a Suit of Cloaths, and twenty two
who are drafted from the different Regiments (tho' with great reluctance of the Officers) and are to
have three Dollars Continl: money per day ... Your Memorialist hath hitherto with great Trouble and
Expence to himself procured and kept a number of hands in the service of his Department but finds it
impossible to retain them any longer unless intitled to receive Pay, Cloathing & other Necessaries,
equal, if not more than, the Artificers or any other Corps in the Army –
... at West Point ... your Memorialist hath erected two excellent new Ovens and a Bakehouse, Hands
are most wanted to bake bread for the Soldiers –
That the Baking Department, tho' far preferable to and more beneficial than the Doctor or Surgeon's
Department, hath been too much neglected, and no proper Encouragement given to the Bakers and
Workmen to induce and enable them to continue in the Service ...
Ludwick wrote that he had "served his Country honestly from the Commencement of the War (the
first Months as a Volunteer finding himself & Horse without fee or reward) built the greatest part of
the Bakehouses for the Use of the Army; – ventur'd his Life on several Occasions for the Cause; –
had his Property ruined by the Enemy;– expended his private fortune earned by his Industry before
the War; and by his Assiduity and Vigilance in his Department saved great sums of money to the
States, is now willing and desirous to retire from the Service in the 61st. Year of his Age, with the
loss of his right Eye and a ruined Constitution."
"Your Memorialist begs leave further to represent That his Department for the year 1780 during
which he had 25 Men at least in the service did not cost the United States above Three thousand
Pounds Cash Continental Currency exclusive of his own Pay – Your Memorialist having employed
the Sweepings and empty Barrels towards making up the Deficiency"
"The Memorial of Christopher Ludwick Baker Master for the Army of the United States" to the
Continental Congress, 27 January 1781, Papers of Continental Congress, Natl. Archives, reel 50:
230–231.
67. Carp, To Starve the Army at Pleasure, 213–215.
68. George Seldes, Witness to a Century (New York: Ballantine Books, 1987), introduction.
Alexander Graydon, Memoirs of His Own Time: With Reminiscences of the Men and Events of
the Revolution (Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1846), 161–162, see also footnote, 162. John
Fanning Watson and Willis P. Hazard, eds., Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in the
Olden Time, 3 vols. (Philadelphia: Edwin S. Stuart, 1884), vol. II, 44. Malone, Dictionary of
American Biography, vol. VI, 497–498.
69. Graydon, Memoirs of My Own Times, 161–162, see also footnote, 162. Malone, Dictionary of
American Biography, vol. VI, 497–498.
70. Endorsement by Timothy Pickering, "The Memorial of Christopher Ludwick late
Superintendant of the Baking Department in the Army of the United States" to Congress, March
1785, Papers of Continental Congress, Natl. Archives, reel 50: 411–412. In this March 1785
memorial, Ludwick (then 65 years of age) stated that "by his Skill & Knowledge in the Baking
Business and strict Care and Attention to prevent fraud is confident that he saved vast Sums to the
public, but at the same time greatly diminished and injured his own private Property as well as his
Constitution – That being Paymaster as well as Director of the Bakers employed in said Department
[he] ... sold a part of his Real Estate at a Disadvantage in order to obtain Money to pay the Mens
Wages, and has almost the whole time of Service advanced and paid their Wages out of his own
Monies before he could receive any of the public, so that by the Depreciation of the Money he was
continually losing, but for want of Knowledge in Accounts and book keeping he cannot justily
ascertain his loss.
That his own honest Principles and Confidence in those whom he took to be good Whigs laid him
open to their Views and he became a Victim to their Wiles and Deceit, – that having employed Mr.
Moore Furman to pay some of the Bakers, and Your Memorialist repaying him, was duped by said
Furman out of a french Bill of fifteen hundred Dollars Specie instead of so many Current Dollars –
That Your Memorialist paying the Bakers every two Months their Wages and from time to time
adding a few Dollars more as the money grew worse, he saved no trifling Sum to the Public as these
Men got no Depreciation of Pay like Soldiers in the Army ... That having faithfully served the States
and been a great Loser by it Your Memorialist with due submission conceives himself intitled to a
Compensation or Bounty in Land or otherwise equal with other Officers who have served in the
American Army."
Ludwick's 1785 memorial was endorsed by such notables as Generals Arthur St. Clair, William
Irvine, Anthony Wayne, former quartermaster general Timothy Pickering, and Thomas Mifflin, a
prominent Philadelphian. In his endorsement Pickering noted Ludwick's "disinterested zeal, his
indefatigable industry in the duties of his department, his unsullied integrity, [and] the essential
service he rendered to the army ..."
Endorsement by Timothy Pickering, "The Memorial of Christopher Ludwick late Superintendant of
the Baking Department in the Army of the United States" to Congress, March 1785, Papers of
Continental Congress, Natl. Archives, reel 50: 411–412.
71. Christopher Ludwick to George Washington, 9 February 1779, Revolutionary War Accounts,
Vouchers, and Receipted Accounts 1, George Washington Papers, series 5 (Financial Papers).
72. Rusk is also defined as “U.S. ‘Bread or cake dried or browned in the oven, and reduced to
crumbs by pounding.’” “A piece of bread hardened or browned by re–firing and sometimes
sweetened.” Oxford English Dictionary, Compact Edition, two vols. (Glasgow, New York, and
Toronto, 1971), II, 2609.
73. Christopher Ludwick to George Washington, 28 March 1780, Revolutionary War Accounts,
Vouchers, and Receipted Accounts 1, George Washington Papers, series 5.
74. Eliza Smith, The Compleat Housewife (originally published 1758; reprinted London: Studio
Editions Ltd., 1994), gingerbread and Dutch gingerbread, 174, 179.
75. Ibid., 181.
76. “The Gingerbread Man,” Cavalcade of America, American Broadcasting Corporation
(television, episode 15, 15 April 1953; repeated 21 December 1954), World Wide Web,
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid–4151/epid–224219
77. “How to Apply for a Christopher Ludwick Foundation Grant: For two centuries the trustees
have fulfilled Christopher Ludwick's mandate, and applications for projects that advance the
education of poor children in the City of Philadelphia are accepted annually between February 1st
and March 31st. The City of Philadelphia limitation is strictly followed; no grants will be given
for programs not specifically targeted at children resident within the city limits.
A special application form must be used which should be requested from the Foundation at The
Athenaeum of Philadelphia (telephone 215–925–2688). As a general rule, the Foundation makes
no grants for building campaigns, endowment drives, equipment purchases, or general operating
support. Nor does it make direct grants to individuals. Current funding priorities target secondary
school children; no grants are given for pre–school or primary school age children or for
programs targeted at children with disabilities for which other funding sources exist. The Board
of Trustees meets in May and awards are usually announced on or about June 1.
World Wide Web, http://www.philaathenaeum.org/grants.html
For more on Ludwick, see the biography by his close friend Benjamin Rush, M.D., An Account
of the Life and Character of Christopher Ludwick, late citizen of Philadelphia, and baker–
general of the Army of the United States during the Revolutionary War (First published in the
year 1801; revised and republished by direction of the Philadelphia Society for the Establishment
and Support of Charity Schools, Philadelphia, c.1931 Garden and Thompson, c. 1831: New York,
Garrett Press, Inc., 1969) Copy in the collections of the David Library of the American
Revolution, Washington Crossing, Pa.

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