In 1994,
Mariners' Church
of Detroit
established the LEWIS LUDINGTON
AWARD, in
honor of Captain Lewis
Ludington. Lewis
Ludington was born July 9,
1858 in Euclid, Ohio, and came
to Detroit with his parents in
1860. His grandfather,
Jeremiah Ludington, was a
lumberman and his father,
Philo Ludington, was Captain
of a lumber schooner. As
a young man, Lewis Ludington
moved to Harbor Beach and
entered the lumber
business. In 1878, he
married Fandira Hemenger of
Algonac, and the couple became
the parents of three sons and
three daughters. Lewis
Ludington continued in the
lumber business until 1881,
when the Great Fire of 1881
destroyed his business.
In 1882, he moved to Alpena
and began his sailing career;
obtaining his Masters' license
by 1887. In the
following years, he owned a
fleet of vessels engaged in
the lumber trade, including
the lumber hooker Alaska,
a model of which is on display
at Mariners' Church. In
1904, the Ludingtons moved to
Detroit and Captain Ludington
became a member of Detroit
Lodge No. 7. He was
assigned pennant number
1644.

Captain
Ludington retired from sailing
at the end of the 1909
season. He then founded
the Ludington News Company, a
wholesale magazine distribution
agency in Detroit. He
operated this business until
1928, when he turned management
of the company over to his
sons.

Captain
Ludington died on August 14,
1934 at his country estate near
Harbor Beach.

The Ludington
Award Program is under the
auspices of the Rector and
Board of Trustees of Mariners'
Church, and the Ludington
Family, with the nominations
and election of the honorees
by Detroit Lodge No. 7 of the
International Ship Masters'
Association.

The honorees
must be members of the ISMA
and licensed Masters or
Engineers who have been active
in a career-long commercial
practice of their professions.

Primary
consideration for the Award is
given first to the active
members of the Detroit Lodge,
but the Board of Governors may
also consider all other active
members of the ISMA.

The criteria
used for the appraisal of the
candidates are:

a) The
virtues promoted by the ISMA.

b) The values
lived by Captain Ludington as
described in the poem written
about him by Edgar Guest (see
below).

The Award is
presented at the Annual Great
Lakes Memorial Service with
the Blessing of the Fleet held
in Mariners' Church on the
Second Sunday in March at
11:00 a.m.

A member of the
Ludington Family makes the
Presentation.

The award
consists of a gold Mariners’
shield lapel pin (shown above)
with an accompanying and
appropriate certificate.

The design of
the certificate is germane to
the layouts of official
documents of the ISMA.

A copy of
Captain Ludington's license
with ISMA Pennant No. 1644,
the Guest Poem, and the
Criteria are also presented to
each honoree.

PAST RECIPIENTS
OF THE CAPTAIN LEWIS LUDINGTON
AWARD:

Unless otherwise noted, all recipients of
the award are from Detroit Lodge No. 7

Holds the
blessed hope of 'casting
anchor in the haven of eternal
rest.

William
Lyon Phelps (1865-1945) was a Professor at Yale
University and foremost Shakespearean Scholar of
his day. He wrote the following about
Captain Lewis Ludington:

"I have never
known a man who had lived an outdoor active life
on sea and land for so many years, and yet was so
well-read. He read only the best books: he
cared nothing for trashy reading, or even for
light fiction. He read works on philosophy,
theology, religion, economics, history, sociology,
and mediated deeply on everything he read.
Above all, he was a fine conversationalist.
He had a genius for friendship, was a hearty lover
of his fellow-men, and enjoyed congenial company.

He had a truly
original mind; and everyone who talked with him
always learned something interesting and
valuable. He was brought up as a child on
the Bible, knew it thoroughly, and his comments
and interpretations were acute and penetrating and
full of wisdom. His mind was so interesting,
so full of thought, that during the last year of
his life, when for most of the time, he was
confined to his bed, he entertained himself by his
memories and reflections and made no
complaints. He was extremely fortunate in
having his loving and devoted wife with him, as
well as his sons and daughters and their wives and
husbands and his grandchildren. He was the
head of a great family.

Captain
Ludington was a sincere and devoted and convinced
Christian; he fully believed in the life after
death; and his calm and serene demeanor during the
last 14 months of sickness made a sermon more
effective than rhetorical eloquence."

A Scripture
Lesson by Captain Ludington, entitled 'Moral
Navigation,' can be found HERE.