12 Facts About John Ledyard

John Ledyard was an American explorer and adventurer.

John Ledyard was the first child of Abigail Youngs Ledyard and Capt.

Three years later John Ledyard joined his grandfather in Hartford, Connecticut, where he attended school.

John Ledyard's grandfather died just before Ledyard turned 20.

John Ledyard shipped as a common seaman on a year-long trading voyage to Gibraltar, the Barbary Coast, and the Caribbean.

John Ledyard attempted to climb from Kealakekua Bay to Mokuaweoweo, the summit of Mauna Loa, but had to turn back.

Still a marine in the British Navy, John Ledyard was sent to Canada to fight in the American Revolution.

John Ledyard suggested trading furs for Chinese silk and porcelain, which could then be sold in the United States.

Jefferson suggested that John Ledyard explore the American continent by proceeding overland through Russia, crossing at the Bering Strait, and heading south through Alaska and then across the American West to Virginia.

Back in London, John Ledyard came across the African Association, then recruiting explorers for Africa.

John Ledyard proposed an expedition from the Red Sea to the Atlantic.

John Ledyard was buried in the sand dunes lining the Nile in a modestly marked grave, the location of which is unknown today.