
On a recent Sunday before worship, the United Church of Ludlow received a visit from Rev. Peter Read, first pastor of the Ludlow Congregational Church. Read was important in the history of Ludlow and its first church. Born in Massachusetts in 1751, in 1776 he married Mary Pitcher, who died in child birth. He married Lydia Gilbert in 1786. In 1792, the year after Vermont became the 14th state, the Reads moved with three children from New Haven, CT to Ludlow. Upon arrival, Read immediately took up activity in organizing the town and religious affairs. He served as selectman in 1793 and 1795-1799 and in 1795 was Ludlow’s first Representative to the Vermont Legislature. Pictured above is Rev. Read (aka Bob Kottkamp) holding 1806 book describing church origin in his handwriting.