John Theodore Ludeling (January 17, 1827 – January 27, 1891) was chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from November 1, 1868 to January 9, 1877.^[1][2]

Born in Monroe, Louisiana,^[3] Ludeling entered Saint Louis University at the age of 12, but did receive a degree. He read law in Monroe to gain admission to the bar in Louisiana.^[1] He was a lifelong Republican,^[4] opposing secession at the outset of the American Civil War, and refusing to take up arms against either side.^[1] His principled neutrality won him political support, and after the war he was called to serve in the 1867 Constitutional Convention.^[1]

In 1868, Governor Henry C. Warmoth appointed Ludeling Chief Justice of the state supreme court, making him the fifth person to hold that office,^[3] but the first Louisiana native to do so.^[1] Ludeling served until 1877, when Governor Francis T. Nicholls appointed an entirely new court.^[1]

Ludeling thereafter attained great wealth as president of Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railway.^[4]

In 1855, Ludeling married Maria Copley Larkin, with whom he had four children.^[1] Later in life, he retired to a plantation home near Monroe called Killeden Plantation. He died there at the age of 68, following a period of heart disease.^[4]