Ann Eastwood was also sometimes said to be Avah Eastwood. I believe the name “Avah” comes from the 1850 census which is a very difficult to read document. The entry in this census could be Avah or Anah or it could possibly be a terribly written, “Ann.”
For many years we have seen Ann Eastwood (1788-1860) buried in Maple Ave Cemetery in Patterson, NY. We have also seen a different person whose name was Ann Ludington (1781 -). She was the daughter of the Minuteman Comfort Ludington and Elizabeth “Nellie” Nickerson Ludington. There is very little known about her. She has no burial record. We sometimes see her as Ann Smith but there are no records of a husband whose last name is Smith either.
We believe that in the year 2024 we have discovered that this Ann Eastwood and this Ann Ludington are the same person. She is actually Ann Ludington Eastwood (1781 – 1860). She is buried in Maple Ave Cemetery in Patterson, Putnam County, New York. This cemetery was formerly known as Presbyterian-Episcopalian Cemetery, Patterson, Putnam, New York. In 1909 it was described simply as the cemetery in the village of Patterson, New York.
It is in the will of Ann Ludington’s father, Comfort Ludington, which was read in 1805, that we see his daughter mentioned as Ann Smith. This is the only indication Ann might have had a husband whose last name was Smith.
It is possible Ann was married before she married John Eastwood. This could be true because it appears her first child was born around 1808 – 1810. Ann would have been 27 – 29 years old at this time. Though there is absolutely no information on a potential husband named “Smith,” Ann’s grandmother’s name was Mary Smith Nickerson. So, Ann’s middle name could have been Smith because she was named in honor of her grandmother. Therefore, Ann’s maiden name could possibly have been Ann Smith Ludington. Or Ann possibly was married to a man named Smith but he passed away after 1805 but before Ann started her family with John Eastwood around 1807 – 1808.
We believe Ann Ludington was the wife of John Eastwood (1786 – 1851) and their children were Olive Eastwood Fraser (1809 – 1904), Rachel Eastwood (1823 -) and William H Eastwood. (1826 -1911). She had more children, probably 2 more but as of yet, we don’t know their names. In John Eastwood’s 1830 census there were 2 males under 5 years old, 1 female 5 – 9 years old and 2 females 10 – 14. If this census was accurate, though many of them are not, perhaps one of these 2, 10 – 14-year-old females was Olive Eastwood, the eldest child at that time living in the household. However, since the 1810 census shows 2 daughter less than 10 years old, one of them could have been Olive and, as we will see soon, she could have been born in 1809. Obviously, the 2 young males don’t show up in John’s 1820 census because they are not yet born. In 1820, the 3 young females are 2, under 10 years and 1, 10 – 14. This makes it look like the family gained 2 daughters and lost one between 1810 and 1820.
It is more likely though they gained one daughter and one of the older daughters was a brand-new baby in 1810 and 10 years old in 1820. In any event, the oldest is likely Olive and she could be 11 in the year 1820.
The bottom line is the censuses from 1790 to 1840 are impossible to gain a lot of information from. This is especially true when a brother or sister of the head of household moves into and out of the home bringing other children with them.
In Maple Ave Cemetery, Patterson, NY, Ann and John Eastwood are buried in the close proximity to the following:
Henry Ludington – This is Col Henry Ludington of Revolutionary War fame, and we believe he is Ann’s uncle.
Sibell Ludington wife of Edmond Ogden – She is better known as Sybil Ludington and we believe she is first cousin to Ann Ludington Eastwood.
Abigail Ludington (1776 – 1816) – Daughter of Henry Ludington. We believe she is fist cousin to Ann Ludington.
Sophia Caverly (1784 – 1860) – We believe she is the daughter of Henry Ludington and first cousin to Ann Ludington Eastwood.
Derrick Ludington – We believe is a son of Henry Ludington and first cousin of Ann Ludington Eastwood.
There are many more relatives of Ann Ludington Eastwood buried in Maple Ave Cemetery including George Eastwood who was John’s father, members of Olive Eastwood Fraser’s family and grandchildren of Seth and Mary Nickerson. We believe Ann is a granddaughter of Seth and Mary Nickerson as well.
In the 1810 Fishkill, NY census, both Zalmon and De Lafayette Ludington who are sons of Comfort and Elizabeth Nickerson Ludington and therefore brothers of Ann Ludington Eastwood, live close by the John Eastwood family.
In the 1850 census, it says Ann Eastwood is 68 years old. This is the same age as Ann Ludington, born in 1781, daughter of Comfort and Elizabeth Nickerson Ludington.
Comfort Ludington was born in Connecticut but by the time the Revolutionary War started in 1776, he was living in Fishkill, NY. This is the town where Ann Ludington was born and we see the John Eastwood family living in this town in the 1810.
We also have Ann Eastwood’s daughter Olive’s death record:
It could be Olive Eastwood Fraser’s birth date on her death record is not accurate. In the 1860 census she said she was 44 and in the 1830 census the oldest daughter living in this Eastwood household was 14 years old. It does make sense Olive was born in 1816 instead of 1809 due to the fact the 2 girls less than 10 years old in the 1810 census could have been no longer living in the household in 1830. Also, in the 1850 census Olive says she was 35 and in the next decade she mothered 4 children. If she was born in 1809, she would have turned 41 in December of 1850. In spite of this, my best guess is her true birth year was 1809. For sure, this is a guess but Olive’s death record seems to be particularly accurate! Olive’s son or daughter or whomever filled it out seemed to have known exactly how many years, months and days Olive lived and he or she has provided us with the only paper trail we have that tells us Ann Eastwood’s maiden name was actually Ludington.
Also, in the death record of her daughter, Olive Eastwood Fraser in 1904, it has the “name of mother” recorded as Ann. Ludington. The dot after Ann either means Ann is an abbreviation of some longer name or the dot after “Ann” was simply errant spot. Such spots were quite common occurrences that happened with the fountain or dip pens used in this time period. I believe Ann Eastwood’s real name was nothing fancier than just “Ann.”
In any event, we know Ann Ludington Eastwood’s Daughter is Olive Eastwood Fraser and we also know Ann Ludington’s mother was Elizabeth Nickerson Ludington. However, probably our biggest clue that Ann Ludington and Ann Eastwood is the same person is that there is shared DNA between descendants of Olive Eastwood Fraser and Elizabeth Nickerson’s family tree. There is no way possible for these two families to share DNA unless Olive Eastwood Fraser is a part of this Nickerson family and the only way for this to be possible is for her mother, Ann Ludington Eastwood to be the daughter of Elizabeth Nellie Nickerson.
In total, we feel we have very solidly proven that Ann Ludington, daughter of Comfort and Elizabeth Nickerson Ludington is Ann Eastwood, wife of John Eastwood who is buried in Maple Ave Cemetery in Patterson, NY.
Edward J Lathrop
Lathrop Genealogy