When considering the history of Christianity in America, most individuals immediately associate it with the Puritans of Plymouth Rock, who fled to the New World in 1620 to escape persecution following their schism from the Protestant Church of England. This separation, in turn, originated from the Church of England’s break with the Roman Catholic Church in 1534, prompted by the marital and political ambitions of King Henry VIII. Alternatively, one might think of the various other Protestant denominations that established themselves in early America, such as the Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists—some of which counted the Founding Fathers among their adherents. However, what is less commonly known is that, prior to the formation of the United States, while still under British rule, there was an individual in the Virginia Colony who was not affiliated with any of these Protestant traditions but was instead a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church—specifically, the Russian Orthodox Church.
This relatively obscure figure was Colonel Philip Ludwell III, a native of Virginia, born in 1718 at Green Spring Plantation, located five miles west of Williamsburg. Ludwell pursued his education at the prestigious College of William & Mary in the 1730s and was a relative of President George Washington, either by blood or marriage. A prominent figure in colonial Virginia, Ludwell served as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Royal Governor’s Council, where he “became a member of the Council in 1752” [1].
The story of Philip Ludwell’s conversion to Eastern Orthodox Christianity begins in London following his marriage in 1737 to Frances Grymes, the granddaughter of a former governor of Virginia [2]. Available historical records indicate that Ludwell traveled to London, where he resided for approximately two years. During this period, he became acquainted with Russian Orthodoxy, which had maintained a longstanding presence in England due to the Russian Imperial Embassy in London.
Evidence of Ludwell’s conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy is found in a letter preserved in the archives of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church in Saint Petersburg. This letter, written by a Russian priest named Father Stephen Ivanovsky, details Ludwell’s reception into the Orthodox Church:
“In 1738, during the incumbency of the late Hieromonk Bartholomew Cassano at this holy Church, an English gentleman named Ludwell, born in the American lands and living there in the province of Virginia, came to London seeking the True Faith, which he, with God’s help, has swiftly found in the Holy Graeco-Russian Church. And so on the 31st of December of the same year he was confirmed in the same with the holy Chrism” [3].
Following his conversion, Ludwell returned to the Virginia Colony in 1740, where he continued practicing Orthodox Christianity in secret [4]. This clandestine observance was necessitated by the colony’s officially established religion, Anglicanism, which rendered all other religious traditions legally prohibited [5]. Ludwell’s unique spiritual journey and his connections to the early founders of the American Republic extend beyond his own conversion, as his children were also later received into the Russian Orthodox Church.
In his later years, Ludwell returned to London, where he passed away in 1760. He was given an Orthodox Christian funeral but was ultimately interred in the Anglican Church of St. Mary Stratford Bow [6]. His life and religious convictions stand as a testament to the diverse and often overlooked religious landscape of colonial America.
References
[1]. McIlwaine, Henry Read, John Pendleton Kennedy, Virginia General Assembly, House of Burgesses, and Virginia State Library. Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1758–1761. Vol. 9. Richmond, VA: [Colonial Press, E. Waddey Co.], 1908. Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500–1926. Accessed January 29, 2025.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CY0112374681/SABN?u=vic_liberty&sid=bookmark-SABN&xid=c244f6e4&pg=313.
[2]. “The First Known American Convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.” Associates of Colonel Philip Ludwell III. Accessed January 28th, 2025. https://www.ludwell.org/philip-ludwell-iii/
[3]. “The Righteous Shall Be in Everlasting Remembrance: Further Reflections on Colonel Philip Ludwell III.” Orthodox History. Accessed January 28th, 2025.
https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2013/03/22/the-righteous-shall-be-in-everlasting-remembrance-further-reflections-on-colonel-philip-ludwell-iii/
[4]. “The First Known American Convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.” Associates of Colonel Philip Ludwell III. Accessed January 28th, 2025. https://www.ludwell.org/philip-ludwell-iii/
[5]. Rasor, Paul, and Bond, Richard E., eds. From Jamestown to Jefferson: The Evolution of Religious Freedom in Virginia. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011. Accessed January 29, 2025.
[6]. “The First Known American Convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.” Associates of Colonel Philip Ludwell III. Accessed January 28th, 2025. https://www.ludwell.org/philip-ludwell-iii/
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