Henry Brockholst Ledyard

Henry Brockholst Ledyard Jr. (February 20, 1844 – May 25, 1921

His paternal grandparents were Benjamin Ledyard, a prominent New York attorney, and Susan French (née Livingston) Ledyard. His grandmother was the daughter of Revolutionary War Col. and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Henry Brockholst Livingston and granddaughter of the first governor of New Jersey, William Livingston. His maternal grandfather, Gen. Lewis Cass, had been governor of the Michigan Territory and a United States senator from the state of Michigan, and served as secretary of state under President James Buchanan. His maternal grandmother, Elizabeth (née Spencer) Cass, was the granddaughter of Maj.-Gen. Joseph Spencer, who served in the American Revolution under George Washington. His aunt, Isabella Cass, married Theodorus Marinus Roest van Limburg, Baron van Limburg, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Ledyard was a student at the Washington A. Bacon's school for boys in Detroit before he was appointed as a cadet to the United States Military Academy at West Point by President Buchanan while his grandfather was serving as Secretary of State. He graduated in 1865, and among his classmates who later attained general officer rank were Charles W. Raymond, Alfred E. Bates, John Patten Story, George H. Burton, and Samuel Meyers Mills Jr.

Career Upon graduation in 1865, Ledyard was commissioned as a second lieutenant, and he was promoted to first lieutenant on the same day. He was then assigned to duty with the 19th Infantry, serving successively as Quartermaster, Brigade Quartermaster and Chief of the Commissary officers of the Department of Arkansas. He was later transferred to the 37th Infantry as Quartermaster and later to the 4th Artillery and was detailed Chief of Subsistence on the staff of General Winfield Scott Hancock of the Department of Missouri. After the Civil War, he was involved in battles with Native Americans in 1867 and, for a year, was Assistant Professor of French at West Point.

Railroad career Following the reorganization of the U.S. Army in 1870, Ledyard obtained a six months leave to learn about railroads, becoming involved with the engineering department of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

In 1874, Ledyard was appointed assistant to William Barstow Strong, the General Superintendent of the Michigan Central Railroad Company. The next year he was made Chief Engineer and Assistant General Superintendent. Two years later, he succeeded Strong as General Superintendent and the following year, he became General Manager of the road. but remained president of the road until 1905, when he resigned and became chairman of the board.

In 1916, Ledyard purchased the Detroit Belt Line Railroad which bordered many large factories, including the Ford Motor Company. a daughter of Stephen Satterly L'Hommedieu (president of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad) and Alma ( Hammond) L'Hommedieu. Together, they were the parents of:

Matilda Cass Ledyard (1871–1960), who married Baron Clemens von Ketteler, a German diplomat. Henry Brockholst Ledyard III (1875–1932), who married Mary Alice Maude Hendrie (1877–1928), daughter of William Hendrie of Hamilton, Ontario, in 1900. Augustus Canfield Ledyard (1877–1899), a First lieutenant with the 6th U.S. Infantry who died during the Philippine–American War. Hugh Ledyard (1885–1951), the secretary and treasurer of the Art Stove Company of Detroit. Ledyard died on May 25, 1921, at his home in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. After a quiet funeral at Grace Episcopal Church, he was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.