Text Version of Audio Story: Sybil Ludington - copyright 2007 Nelson Lauver - May not be reprinted, reproduced or published without permission

Well, they say George Washington is the father of our country. Okay, I�ll buy that, he seems deserving. Did you know that George was six feet two inches tall at a time when the average man was five-five or so, not that that matters. But anyhow, if George is our symbolic papa, then who�s the mother? Martha? No, she was a nice enough lady � Andy Rooney told me so. He knew her personally. What about Betsey Ross? Now, there�s a woman with name recognition, but you know, there�s no hard evidence behind the story that she sewed the first flag. A few other women in history have come to mind, but never anyone who really stood out to me.

I had asked myself this question since I was a boy, and finally one day a few years ago, I decided to take it upon myself to fill this missing distinction in American history, to appoint myself to find the mother of our country.

I leafed through my modest collection of American history books and just really couldn�t find anything compelling. So, I jumped in my truck and went to the place with all the answers, the Juniata County Library. I looked and I looked and I looked. I was about ready to give up, and then I found her. There she was, buried deep in an obscure history manual � her name, Sybil Ludington.

Sybil was just a girl of sixteen on that April night in the spring of 1777. Her father, Colonel Henry Ludington had just received word from an exhausted messenger on horseback. The British, in a surprise attack, had just burned the city of Danbury, Connecticut and were advancing on the countryside. Every farmer and his son would be needed to stop the pillage, plunder and murder by the enemy. Young Sybil volunteered � she would make the ride and spread the word.

Before anyone could say no, she galloped off into the cold darkness on her horse Star. She knew, as a young woman, what the redcoats would do to her should she be captured. If she was lucky, they would just hang her.

She and Star galloped across the falling bogs and treacherous paths through the New England forests with nothing but the heavens to light there way. She rode all night, stopping at each farmhouse only long enough to crash her stick against the door and cry, �The British are coming, fall out and fight.�

To put it all into perspective, let�s look at the famous ride of Paul Revere. He did about ten miles. Sybil, at a furious pace, covered more than forty miles. Moreover, she was able to muster enough men with the call of her young voice to send the British back to Long Island Sound and into their boats in utter defeat. If had not been for her courage, the course of American history would have been changed forever.

If they had not been thwarted by a fearless young woman riding through the night on horseback, the British would have captured the military arsenal in Connecticut that served as the continental war chest. They would have gained the position they so desperately needed to retake control of the colonies.

Sybil Ludington would later marry and have a family of her own. She lived the simple way of a wife in Colonial America, going about her days and growing old. She left for the spirit world in 1839 at the age of 77. Her body was laid to rest on that cold winter day with very few folks knowing that as a young girl, she had saved a nation and earned the right to the title, mother of our country. God bless you Sybil Ludington.