This Day In Founding Fathers History – 3 May

This Day In Founding Fathers History – 3 May

On this day in 1802, the city of Washington (DC) was incorporated, with an elected council and a mayor appointed by the president. ₁

In 1777 on this day, the Continental Congress was brought a report by the Board of War. The board “Resolved, That Christopher Ludwick be appointed superintendent of bakers, and director of baking, in the grand army of the United States.” Ludwick was a gingerbread baker in Philadelphia at the time and was very involved in the Revolution. As Washington’s Baker General, Ludwick was in charge of all bakers for the army, included the regulation of their pay and reporting of any abuses. ₂

On this day in 1654, Thurlow’s Bridge in Newbury, Massachusetts became a toll bridge. The early roads were winding Indian trails passable only on foot. Roads began to develop, which allowed carts drawn by oxen to pass very slowly. Thurlow’s Bridge was the first bridge in Newbury, which spanned the Parker River. The General Court voted “that Richard Thurlow, having built a bridge at his owne cost, over Newbury River, hath liberty to take 2d [2 pence] for every horse, cow, oxe…that shall pass over said bridge…provided that passengers shall be free.” Thurlow’s Bridge was the only bridge across the Parker River for 104 years. Four different bridges have been built on the spot of the original bridge, they’ve all been named Thurlow’s Bridge, and the bridge has been used continuously for over three centuries, the third longest of any bridge in the U.S. ₃

_{1 “District of Columbia – History,” www.city-data.com/states/District-of-Columbia-History.html
2 “Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 – Saturday, May 3, 1777,” Library of Congress Online, memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc00796)); “Christopher Ludwick,” Central Bucks School District, www.cbsd.org/curriculum/library/papeople/Pages/2_Ludwick.aspx
3 “Roads and Travel,” Newbury 375, www.newbury375.org/roads-and-travel.html; Famous First Facts: A Record of First Happenings, Discoveries and Inventions in American History,” Joseph Nathan Kane}

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