Christopher Ludlam
sea captain, Coast Guard keeper, fish-pound pioneer, and mayor of Ocean City · 1846–1926
Ocean City councilman elected on the Waggaman ticket in August 1902 — the county paper calls him "Captain Ludlum" — and mayor of Ocean City from 1903 to 1908 according to the Maryland Manual, succeeding Waggaman and preceding W. Lee Carey. A Samuel Ludlum was among the first confirmation class at St. Paul's by-the-Sea in May 1902. In July 1900 he bought the old St. Paul's by-the-Sea church and its ground at Ocean City, intending to build a residence on the site; the sale price went toward the new Episcopal church then rising on the Waggaman lots. He served as mayor of Ocean City from 1903 to 1908, the longest term of the period, succeeding John F. Waggaman. Born in New Jersey about 1846, and at one time keeper of the Anglesea, N.J., station before he came south. His obituary makes a claim the registry had nowhere else: he built THE FIRST OCEAN FISH TRAP, OR POUND, ON THE MARYLAND COAST off Ocean City, 'over thirty years ago' as of 1926 — so the early-to-mid 1890s — 'marking the beginning of the fishing industry for Ocean City.' He retired from business about 1921 and died at his son Charles's house in Ocean City in early September 1926, aged eighty, and was buried at St. Paul's, Berlin.
In the record (12)
1900 · 1900-07-10
The old St. Paul's by-the-Sea is sold to Capt. Ludlam and its price put into the new church up the beach.
"The old Church of St. Paul's by the Sea and the ground attached have been sold," the town's column reported on 10 July 1900. "Capt. Ludlam, the purchaser, will shortly build a residence there, and the proceeds of the property will be used toward the building of the Episcopal Church a mile further up the beach." The buyer was Christopher Ludlam, who would be mayor of Ocean City from 1903 to 1908. The new church — on the two lots John F. Waggaman had given in 1899, with its cornerstone laid on 6 June 1900 — was "rapidly nearing completion" by early August, when an entertainment was given for its benefit in the Plimhimmon Casino: "pretty young women from Baltimore and Washington will pose for the Gibson pictures and Professor Solmson's pupils will present a series of fancy and amusing" turns. It was expected to be dedicated in August 1900; the first public service was in fact held on 7 June 1901.
St. Paul's by-the-Sea Episcopal ChurchPlimhimmon Hotel / Plim PlazaJohn F. Waggaman
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1902 · 1902-08-04
The council seated in 1902 was Ludlam, Powell, Showell, Reverdy J. Dennis and Thomas J. Cropper — not the ticket the county paper printed.
The Democratic Messenger of 26 July 1902 announced a Waggaman ticket of Ludlum, James Z. Powell, John D. Showell, Calvin B. Taylor and a fifth man whose name the OCR destroyed as "Thomas Crow-". Two Washington papers give the council as actually elected, and Calvin B. Taylor is not on it. The Washington Times of 10 August 1902 names "Capt. Christopher Ludlaw, Reverdy J. Dennis, Thomas J. Copper, John D. Showell, and James Z. Powell" — read off the page image, which prints "Copper". The Evening Star's vote table of 5 August spells the same man "Thomas J. Cropper" and separately lists a Gilbert B. Cropper among the defeated citizens'-ticket candidates. Cropper is the reading this campaign should carry: it is a standing Ocean City surname, it appears twice in the same return, and Gilbert Cropper of Ocean City is independently documented in the year.
A name the county paper lost and a name the Washington papers spelled two ways, resolved by the fact that two Croppers ran on opposite tickets in the same election.
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1902 · 1902-08-04
The 4 August 1902 election was contested — "Regular" against "Citizens" — and Waggaman beat William T. Taber 74 votes to 60.
A telegram from Ocean City printed in the Washington Evening Star of 5 August 1902 gives the whole return, which the county paper reduced to a single line. Waggaman's ticket was known as the "regular," the opposing one as the "citizens." For mayor: John F. Waggaman 74, William T. Taber 60. For council: Capt. Christopher Ludlam 99, James Z. Powell 73, Reverdy J. Dennis 73, John D. Showell 70, Thomas J. Cropper 69, Lambert P. Ayres 34, Gilbert B. Cropper 34, Samuel J. Massey 30, Willard B. Buell 30. Ludlam stood on both tickets, which is why his vote is half again the next man's. The Star's own summary that the regulars won "by about 2½ to 1" fits the council figures but not the mayoral ones. Roughly 134 votes were cast in all — the first measurement the campaign has of the electorate Chapter 569 created. Read from the page image on 6 August 2026; the OCR had dropped two of the vote totals and mangled Cropper's surname.
Ocean City's most consequential election of the decade turned on 134 votes, and fourteen of them decided who owned the town and governed it at the same time.
John F. WaggamanJohn D. Showell
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1902 · 1902-08-04
On 4 August 1902 Ocean City elected John F. Waggaman — owner of the Atlantic Hotel and most of the plat — mayor of the town he already owned.
The Democratic Messenger's Ocean City column of 26 July announced the first election under the new charter: "On Monday, the 4th of August, we will have an election for Mayor and City Council, and there is already considerable interest and feeling being manifested in the matter. One ticket has been placed in the field headed by John F. Waggaman, for Mayor, with Captain Ludlum, James Z. Powell, John D. Showell, Calvin B. Taylor and Thomas Crow[ell] ..." — five councilmen, exactly as Ch. 569 required. The paper's state-news column of 9 August reported the result in one line: "An election for mayor and city council of Ocean City was carried by the ticket headed by Mr. John F. Waggaman for mayor." The Maryland Manual dates his term 1902-1903 and gives Clayton J. Purnell 1900-1902; Purnell was still being called mayor in the county paper in late May 1902, which fits.
A proprietor-mayor. Waggaman had owned the ocean front since 1897, driven the town's first jetties in 1898 and been credited with beautifying the place in 1901; in 1902 the legislature widened the franchise to non-resident property owners and the property owner took the chair.
John F. WaggamanClayton J. PurnellJames Z. PowellJohn D. ShowellCalvin B. Taylor
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1904 · 1904-08-01
Two tickets, one warm but good-natured fight: Capt. Christopher Ludlam is re-elected mayor and the People's ticket loses.
'The election for Mayor and City Council of Ocean City was held Monday afternoon. Two tickets were in the field, and the fight was a warm but good natured one, resulting in a victory for the regulars who represent the faction already in power, over the people's ticket, which was headed by Wm. T. Taber. Capt. Christopher Ludlam was re-elected Mayor and the following councilmen were also elected: James Z. Powell, Reverdy J. Dennis, Thomas J. Cropper, John D. Showell and John L. Johnson.' The paper adds that the Mayor and City Council 'will enter upon their new terms on September 1st'; the charter as re-enacted the same spring (Ch. 457 of 1904) says the term runs from the second Monday in September, which in 1904 was 12 September.
This is the first Ocean City municipal election this campaign has been able to read as an election — two slates, a named challenger, and a full council. The town's own books had been stolen in 1896 and the eleven-year blank that followed is the reason a one-paragraph item in a Snow Hill weekly is the best surviving record of who governed the beach.
The Commissioners of Ocean CityJames Z. PowellReverdy J. DennisThomas J. CropperJohn D. ShowellJohn L. JohnsonWilliam T. Taber
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1904 · 1904-08-25
Ocean City puts five $1,000 coupon bonds on the market — the first municipal borrowing this campaign has caught the town actually doing.
Over the names of 'CHRISTOPHER C. LUDLAM, Mayor' and 'JAMES Z. POWELL, Treasurer,' the town advertised in the county paper that on or before Thursday 25 August 1904 at 3 p.m. sealed proposals would be received by the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City for the purchase of five coupon bonds of $1,000 each, dated 1 July 1904, the first maturing 1 January 1920 and one each succeeding year until all were due; interest payable semi-annually in January and July at the Exchange and Savings Bank of Berlin, Md.; the bonds free from all taxation; the right reserved to reject any and all bids. The notice cites 'chapter 501 of Act of 1904'; the act actually authorising the issue is Chapter 561 (see conflicts). The interest rate is illegible in the OCR of the notice and is not asserted here.
The Commissioners of Ocean CityJames Z. Powell
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1905 · 1905-05-12
A crowded meeting at the railroad depot organises the Ocean City Pier and Improvement Company to build an ocean pier — the third such company since 1896, and the first to build one.
"A New Pier for Ocean City. A company was organized last Friday to erect an ocean pier out from the beach at Ocean City — a project long contemplated. A largely attended meeting was held at the railroad depot." R. Lee Purnell of Snow Hill chaired and J. E. Ijams of Baltimore was secretary. Officers of the Ocean City Pier and Improvement Company of Ocean City, Maryland: president Christopher Ludlam of Ocean City (the town's mayor); vice-president L. L. Dirickson, Jr., of Berlin; treasurer D. J. Adkins of Berlin; secretary R. L. Purnell of Snow Hill; assistant secretary J. E. Ijams of Baltimore. A board of directors was elected to serve one year, and it was proposed "to erect the pier at once and to capitalize the company at $20,000." By 8 July R. Lee Purnell reported plans to build "just below the Atlantic Hotel, extending [900] feet into the Ocean."
capitalised at $10,000–$20,000 — the two Messenger reports disagree
Ocean City Pier and Improvement CompanySteel Pier and Railway Company of Ocean CityOcean City Steel Pier Railway and Amusement CompanyCol. L. L. DiricksonDavid J. AdkinsRobert Lee PurnellJ. Edgar Ijams
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1905 · 1905-07-22
The City Council of Ocean City grants a charter for the long-projected iron pier, to stand midway between the Atlantic Hotel and the Myers Cottage.
"The City Council of Ocean City has granted a charter for the iron pier which has been projected for Ocean City for many years. It will begin at a point midway between the Atlantic Hotel and the Myers Cottage, which is now occupied as a restaurant by William McKew. The company which will erect the structure is incorporated for $10,000. An architect will visit Atlantic City this week to secure drawings for the projected improvement." This is one of the few documented acts of the Ocean City mayor and council in a year with no municipal election, and it fixes the pier's site — the block that has carried an amusement pier ever since.
Ocean City Pier and Improvement Company
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1905 · 1905-10-16
Pile-driving for the Ocean City pier starts on 16 October 1905 — 900 feet of hickory piles, a 120-by-70-foot convention and dancing hall at the shore end, and a pavilion at the far end.
"Building Ocean City Pier. Active operations began Monday, the 16th instant, on the construction of the pier at Ocean City, giving employment to a great number of workmen. The beach in the neighborhood of the [locality] where the pier is being constructed is strewn with stout timbers, including hickory piles for the structure. The builders claim that hickory trees cut at the season of the year when the bark will remain are more durable than iron or steel in salt water. The building of the pier will be continued throughout the winter … The plans call for a pier 900 feet long and 130 feet wide. At the shore end there will be a hall for conventions and dancing, 120 feet long by 70 feet wide. At the other end of the pier will be another pavilion. From the shore the pier will extend over the outer bar into deep water." Robert Lee Purnell was promoter and general manager. At the company's annual stockholders' meeting, reported 16 December, Capt. Christopher Ludlam was re-elected president, Calvin B. Taylor treasurer and R. Lee Purnell secretary, with Taylor and John W. Staton as counsel, and "the pier will be completed for the opening of the coming season."
Ocean City Pier and Improvement CompanyRobert Lee PurnellCalvin B. TaylorWilliam T. TaberThomas J. CropperJohn L. JohnsonJoseph SchaeferCapt. Joshua J. DuntonDavid J. AdkinsCol. L. L. Dirickson
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1918 · 1918-08-05
Edward M. Scott is elected mayor of Ocean City, and W. B. S. Powell -- mayor since 1912 -- goes onto the council.
The Messenger of 27 July 1918: "New Mayor And Council For Ocean City. Last Tuesday night a Citizens' meeting held at Ocean City [nominated the] following ticket to be voted for at the election to be held Monday, August 5th. For Mayor, Edward M. Scott. For Councilmen: William B. S. Powell, Christopher Ludlum, E. E. Collins, Dr. Frank Harmonson, L. D. Lynch." Two weeks later the paper's page-five headline: "Scott Elected Mayor Of Ocean City, Md." This matters beyond the town: the campaign's registry has carried W. B. S. Powell as mayor of Ocean City from 1912 to 1921, and the 1918 election ends that. Powell did not leave public life -- he stood on the same ticket for councilman, and won -- but from August 1918 the mayor of Ocean City is Edward M. Scott. Note also that the whole thing is settled by a single "Citizens' meeting" nominating one uncontested ticket: this is a town of a few hundred winter residents running itself by acclamation.
W. B. S. Powell was mayor from 1912; in August 1918 Edward M. Scott was elected mayor and Powell became a councilman
The Commissioners of Ocean CityEdward M. ScottWilliam B. S. PowellDr. Frank J. Harmonson
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1926 · 1926-09-11
Captain Christopher Ludlam, mayor of Ocean City and the man who set the first ocean fish pound on the Maryland coast, dies at eighty.
Worcester Democrat, 11 September 1926, 'FROM OUR EXCHANGES': 'Funeral services for Captain Christopher Ludlam, former Ocean City Mayor and Pioneer of the Ocean City fishing industry, were held last week at St. Paul's by the Sea Church at Ocean City, Rev. Lewis B. Sheen, rector of the church, conducting the services. Captain Ludlam died at the home of his son, Charles Ludlam, in Ocean City from a complication of diseases. He was 80 years of age. The first ocean fish trap, or pound, on the Maryland coast was constructed by Captain Ludlam off Ocean City over thirty years ago, marking the beginning of the fishing industry for Ocean City. Captain Ludlam was born in New Jersey and at one time was keeper of the Anglesea Coast Guard Station. He retired from business in Ocean City over five years ago. The deceased is survived by six children, four sons: Harry C. Ludlam, Samuel S. Ludlam, Charles Ludlam, of Ocean City; Ansley Ludlam of Florida; two daughters, Mrs. Anna V. Long, of Wachapreague, Va., and Mrs. Clara Hackney of Millville, New Jersey. Interment was made in St. Paul's Episcopal Church cemetery at Berlin, Maryland.' Three details are new to the registry: his birth in New Jersey, his earlier service as keeper of the Anglesea (N.J.) station, and the attribution to him of the first ocean fish pound on the Maryland coast, 'over thirty years ago' — that is, in the early to mid 1890s. His daughter-in-law Mrs Chas. Ludlam was running the Hastings Hotel on the boardwalk the same summer.
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1926 · 1926-10-02
A month of heavy seas keeps the Ocean City fish boats off their nets and the men who live by them out of work.
Worcester Democrat, 2 October 1926: 'Stormy weather and rough seas have made the Ocean City fishermen suffer through lack of trade during the last few weeks, it was revealed following a visit to the fish camps at the resort last week. During the last four weeks the fish boats have been [un]able to reach their nets more than two or three times. The remainder of the time the heavy seas made it impossible to launch the boats. Several of the fishermen, depending on the fishing trade for their living have felt the inactivity.' The pound-net fishery Christopher Ludlam started in the 1890s is still, thirty years on, a beach-launched business at the mercy of the surf — three weeks after Ludlam's funeral.
Source · checked 2026-08-06