CARMEL – For the first time in 65 years, the Lake Gleneida shoreline in the Putnam County seat is missing Sybil Ludington.
Crews from a Fishkill company carefully removed the statue of the Revolutionary War heroine on Monday and transported it for restoration. The process will include refreshing the patina and polish on the statue’s surface, as well as refurbishing its base.
One of the less-known figures of the American Revolution, Sybil Ludington was all of 16 years old in April of 1777, when she rode on horseback from Danbury to Carmel, to warn of an imminent British attack. Ludington’s heroic efforts have earned her comparisons to Paul Revere—though she rode 40 miles, twice the distance of Revere.
Historians mapped out the likely route she rode that night to alert her father’s militia that began from the family homestead at Ludington’s Mill in what today is the Town of Kent through Carmel, Mahopac and into Stormville before returning home.
Anna Hyatt Huntington sculpted the bronze statue in Ludington’s honor, which was dedicated in 1961. It depicts Ludington holding a stick and shouting a warning while sitting astride on her horse.
Cast in bronze and mounted on the fieldstone pedestal the statue is one and one third times life size. Over the years the monument was subjected to graffiti and vandalism making cleaning and restoration essential to preserve its appearance and honor its significance.
Jennifer Cassidy, Putnam County Historian, was amazed when the statue was taken away, playfully referring to its brief absence as “Sybil’s Day at the spa.”
County Executive Kevin Byrne stopped by and reminisced about his youth. “I remember first learning about Sybil Ludington in grade school during what was referred to as the traditional Walk Through Carmel,” he said. “Watching the crew carefully lift her was truly special. As we prepared for the move, we were able to see an angle of Sybil that has not been visible in over 60 years.”
Byrne said he was grateful to “everyone who helped make this possible. Philanthropist George Whipple and the Daughters of the American Revolution for their generous support, the County Legislature for backing the restoration through our capital plan, and the taxpayers of Putnam County for their continued commitment to preserving our local history.”
Cassidy predicted that the statue would be brought back in six to eight weeks, just in time for the county’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary of independence.
Vincent Dacquino, a Putnam author who has written many books about Sybil, said he was “happy for her. She earned the makeover sitting there patiently for all these years.”
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