PIONEER COLLECTIONS
REPOKT
or THE
PIONEEK SOCIETY
OF THE
STATE OF MICHIGAN,
TOGETHER WITH
BEPORTS OF COUNTY, TOWN, AND DISTRICT PIONEER SOCIETIES.
VOL. III.
LANSING, MICHIGAN
ROBERT SMITH PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS
1903
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by the
"PIONEER SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,"
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
(Reprint 1903.)
DETROIT INI 796.
[ See page 202. ]
PREFACE.
Michigan, as a Territory and as a State, has continuously sought, and all the
while acquired, advantages for educating the young. Its Pioneer people were
ever alive to the benefits resulting from efforts to give the masses all the instruc-
tion which their resources would allow. This grand, ennobling desire, having its
inception in the early day, has culminated in the permanent establishment of the
University, the Agricultural College, the Normal School and our Primary School
System; all of which, at the "Centennial International Exhibition" was com-
mended by people of every nation as "Well done." With such a record, the
"Pioneers" may claim that their acts, leading to such results, shall be held in
remembrance for the benefit of after ages. We therefore, in presenting the third
Volume of "Pioneer Collections," desire especially to urge upon our fellow citi-
zens the necessity of continued effort in furnishing to the "Committee of Histo-
rians," facts and incidents connected with the early history of the Territory and
State and the several counties and localities therein; thus strengthening the hope
that material so gathered and preserved, will give to the future historian of our
Peninsula, all that may be necessary in making up a record that, here in the past,
has dwelt a people to be praised for their intelligence and industry, and com-
mended for their virtues.
H. G. WELLS,
M. SHOEMAKER,
M. H. GOODRICH,
Publishing Committee Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan.
LANSING, July 12, A. D. 1881.
CONTENTS.
PAQH.
Address of President John J. Adam at annual meeting Feb. 5th, 1879 1
Report of Recording Secretary 2
Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer 8
Committee of Historians 9
The Northwest during the Revolution C. I. Walker 12
Members of Constitutional Conventions of 1835 and 1850 H. G. Wells 37
Mound-builders in Michigan H. H. Riley 41
Paper by O. A. Jenison, Lansing 48
Robert Stuart, Sketch of life of C. C. Trowbridge 52
Incidents in life of Martin Heydenburk 56
Sermon at funeral of Dr. George Duffield 61
Lines on the death of D. B. Duffield 66
Climate of Detroit Bela Hubbard 67
Gen. Hugh Brady, Biographical Sketch of by himself 84
Sermon at funeral of Dr. George Duffield 87
Lines on the death of D. B. Duffield 91
Death of father of Hugh Brady 92
James Brady, Death of Hugh Brady 92
John Brady, Notice of " " 93
Captain Samuel Brady " " 93
Detroit in 1796 Detroit Post and Tribune 96
Loss of the Griffin Levi Bishop 98
Officers of Pioneer Society, 1879 xi
Officers of Pioneer Society, 1880 100
Address of Pres. Michael Shoemaker at annual meeting Feb. 4th and 5th, 1880 101
Report of Recording Secretary 106
Corresponding Secretary Ill
Treasurer 112
Historians 112
Donations to Society in 1879 109
Governors and Judges of Michigan J. V. Campbell 114
Attorney Generals 117
Governors of Michigan Territory Wm. Jenney 119
Sec. Wm. M. Evarts 121
Governors of the State . . 120
Territorial Judges and Attorneys 122
Territorial Delegates in Congress 122
Senators and Representatives in Congress 123
Journey from Montreal to Chicago in 1818 G. S. Hubbard 125
Administration of Indian Justice G. S. Hubbard 127
Law and the Legal Profession H. G. Wells 129
Death of Zachariah Chandler, Memorial H. G. Wells 139
History and Times of Hon. John Norvell Freeman Norvell 140
A Sketch of Pioneer Life Abraham Edwards 148
Martin Heydenburk O. C. Comstock 152
CONTENTS.
PA.GH.
Indian Missions Martin Heydenburk 154
Old Church and Mission house at Mackinac Martin Heydenburk 157
Autobiography of Rev. Wm. Brockway 158
The Builders of States Henry W. Lord 161
War sketch, Capture and Release Col. M. Shoemaker 166
A Michigan Geological Expedition Bela Hubbard 189
The Mound-builders in Michigan Henry Gillman 202
The Episcopal Church in Michigan C. C. Trowbridge 213
Biographical sketch of John Roberts . . . 222
History of Methodism in Detroit Rev. J. M. Arnold 225
Letter from Hon. Geo. C. Bates, Colorado 244
First State Fair in Michigan Henry Raymond 245
The Upper Peninsula Alex Campbell 247
A Michigan Emigrant Song Detroit Post and Tribune 265
Members of Pioneer Society uniting in 1878, 1879 266
ALLEGAN COUNTY:
History of Don Henderson 270
Township, History of G. A. Morgan 276
Pine Plains G. A. Morgan 293
Rabbit River Mounds and Circles H. D. Post 296
An Incident of Pioneer Life Mrs. J. V. Rogers 299
Saugatuck, Notes on D. C. Henderson 301
Death of Judge F. J. Littlejohn D. C. Henderson 310
Action of Kalamazoo Bar 315
BAY COUNTY:
History of B. F. Partridge 316
Memorial Report Judge Albert Miller 339
BRANCH COUNTY:
Early Banking in C. D. Randall . % 339
CALHOUN COUNTY:
History of Battle Creek Detroit Post and Tribune 347
Memorial Report of Charles Dickey O. C. Comstock 371
EATON COUNTY:
Pioneer History O. C. Comstock 378
Early days of E. A. Foote 379
Settlement of Bellevue E. A. Foote 386
Kalamo 403
Walton 405
Death of I. E. C. Hickok 407
Olivet College 408
Charlotte 414
Vermontville , 425
Eaton Rapids 427
GENESEE COUNTY:
The City of Flint E. H. Thompson 431
HILLSDALE COUNTY:
Memorial Report E. O. Grosvenor 468
INGHAM COUNTY:
Memorial Report O. M. Barnes 468
,!ONIA COUNTY:
City of Ionia Detroit Post and Tribune 470
Memorial Report H. H. Rich 490
CONTENTS.
JACKSON COUNTY: PAGE.
Meeting of State and County Societies 421
The Brave Pioneer Mrs. N. H. Pierce 496
A Chapter of Pioneer History Samuel Prescott 503
Reminiscences in Rhyme J. A. Robinson 504
Fifty Years Ago Henry Little 509
The Long Ago Mrs. M. W. Clapp 514
One of the Early Settlers Mrs. Lory Wilbur 515
KALAMAZOO COUNTY:
The Ninth Annual Reunion of Pioneers 517
Tenth " 536
Biography of Mrs. D. B. Webster Mrs. L. H. Stone 532
The Old Pioneer E. Lakin Brown 542
Memorial Report H. G. Wells. 543
KENT COUNTY:
The Holden Family Mr. & Mrs. J. R. Holden 544
Meeting of Old Residents' Association 544
Memorial Report Robert Hilton 546
LAPEER COUNTY:
Pioneer Sketches H. H. Hart 548
LENAWEE COUNTY:
Early Settlers in F. A. Dewey 552
Memoir of Wm. N. Lyster F. A. Dewey , 557
LIVINGSTON COUNTY:
Memorial Report R. Fowler 558
OAKLAND COUNTY:
History of Thomas J. Drake 559
Reminiscences Hervey Parke 572
Jonathan Hubbard and Family Diodate Hubbard 593
History of Amasa Bagley Mrs. N. G. Davis 596
Memorial Report E. S. Woodman 601
SAGINAW COUNTY:
Pioneer Life W. R. McCormick 602
Memorial Report Wm. A. Clark. , 605
Memorial Report C. W. Grant ; ; 607
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY:
Semi-centennial Anniversary of Settlement 609
Poem I. D. Toll 612
Memorial Report I. D. Toll . . 614
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY:
Memorial Reports B. O. Williams 616
TUSCOLA COUNTY:
Memorial Report Wm. Johnson 623
The Champion Wolf Trap . . 623
VAN BUREN COUNTY:
Historical Sketch Geo. W. Lawton '. . 625
WASHTENAW COUNTY :
Memorial Report E. D. Lay 637
WAYNE COUNTY:
The Naming of Lake St. Clair: Second Centennial Anniversary. . 643
The Yacht Regatta 645
Historical Address Bela Hubbard . * . ! 647
Legend of L'Anse Creuse Judge Campbell 656
2
AN ACT
TO PROVIDE AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE
PIONEER SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN
FOR THE YEARS 1881 AND 1882.
SECTION 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact. That there is hereby
appropriated from the general fund for each of the years eighteen hundred and
eighty-one and eighteen hundred and eighty-two to the Pioneer Society of the State
of Michigan, the sum of five hundred dollars to be expended from time to time
whenever needed, for the purposes of said Society, In collecting, embodying, ar-
ranging and preserving in authentic form, a library of books, pamphlets, maps,
charts, and manuscripts, papers, paintings, statuary, and other materials, illustra-
tive of the history of Michigan, to rescue from oblivion the memory of its early
pioneers, to obtain and preserve narratives of their early exploits, perils and hardy
adventures; to secure facts and statements relative to the history, genius, progress
or decay of our Indian tribes; to exhibit faithfully the antiquities and the past and
present resources of Michigan, but no part of such annual appropriation shall ever
be paid for service rendered by its officers to the society.
SEC. 2. There is hereby further appropriated from the general fund for each of
the years eighteen hundred and eighty-one and eighteen hundred and eighty-two
the sum of two thousand dollars or as much thereof as may be necessary for the
publishing by the State printer in each of the years eighteen hundred and eighty-
one and eighteen hundred and eighty-two, under the direction of the Pioneer Soci-
ety of the State of Michigan, one volume of matter prepared and selected by the
officers of said society, said volume in each year not to exceed seven hundred and
twenty pages, and to be in type, style of printing and binding similar to the "Pio-
neer Collections" heretofore published by said Society; the number of copies so to
be published under the direction of said pioneer society not to exceed in each year
three thousand volumes.
SEC. 3. Five hundred copies of each volume to be published as heretofore in this
act provided for, shall be deposited in the State Library of Michigan for exchange
with the pioneer and historical societies of other States, governments and coun-
tries; a further distribution of said volume's to be made by the officers of said
Pioneer Society, to each of the duly incorporated public libraries in the State of
Michigan, when demanded by the proper officers of said libraries, and the balance
to be placed in the hands of the State librarian to be sold at a price not less than
seventy-five cents per volume, the proceeds to be deposited in the State treasury to
the credit of the general fund.
SEC. 4. The money appropriated by this act may be drawn from the State treas-
ury from time to time, on warrant of the Auditor General, based on the requisition
of the proper officer of the society, subject to the requirements of law in regard to
filing vouchers and accounts.
Ordered to take immediate effect.
Approved April llth, 1881.
OFFICERS
OF THE
PIONEER SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN.
ELECTED FEBRUARY STH, 1879.
PRESIDENT.
MICHAEL SHOEMAKER,
VICE PRESIDENTS.
J. FISK, --- - Allegan.
H. A. GOODYEAR, - - Barry.
ALBERT MILLER, - Bay.
D. A. WINSLOW, - - Berrien.
H. WARNER, - - Branch.
WILLIAM R. MCCALL, Calhoun.
WILLIAM BESLEY, - Clinton.
H. A. SHAW, - - - Eaton.
E. H. THOMSON, - Genesee.
J. G. RAMSDELL, - G'dTrVrse.
RALPH ELY, - Gratiot.
E. O. GROSVENOR, - - Hillsdale.
D. M. MCROBERTS, - Ingham.
HAMPTON RICH, - - Ionia.
J. B. EATON, - - Jackson.
H. G. WELLS, - Kalamazoo.
ROBERT HILTON, -
F. A. DEWEY, -
RALPH FOWLER,
DANIEL B. BRIGS, -
PETER WHITE, -
GOUVERNEUR MORRIS,
W. DEVINE, -
H. H. HOLT,
A. C. BALDWIN, -
WILLIAM M. FERRY,
B. O. WILLIAMS, -
ISAAC D. TOLL, -
WM. L. WEBBER, -
J. R. HENDRYX,
E. D. LAY,
EDWIN JEROME,
JACKSON.
Kent.
Lenawee.
Living's ton.
Macomb.
Marquette.
Monroe.
Montcalm.
Muskegon.
Oakland.
Ottawa.
Shiawassee.
St. Joseph.
Saginaw.
Van Buren.
Washtenaw.
Wayne.
RECORDING SECRETARY.
MRS. HARRIET A. TENNEY, -
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
GEORGE H. GREENE,
EPHRAIM LONGYEAR,
TREASURER.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
LANSING.
LANSING.
LANSING.
M. SHOEMAKER, ex-officio Chairman, JACKSON.
ALBERT MILLER, - BAY CITY.
T. D. GILBERT, ... GRAND RAPIDS.
F. A. DEWEY, CAMBRIDGE.
COMMITTEE OF HISTORIANS.
J. C. HOLMES, Chairman,
H. G. WELLS, -
O. C. COMSTOCK, -
M. H. GOODRICH,
HARRIET A. TENNEY,
DETROIT.
- KALAMAZOO.
MARSHALL,
- ANN ARBOR.
LANSING.
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN,
PROCEEDINGS.
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, HON. JOHN J. ADAM, OF
TECUMSEH, FEBRUARY STH, 1879.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan:
Having unexpectedly been selected a year ago as president of your society,
it becomes my duty, under the constitution and by-laws, to present on this
occasion an address in writing.
When I look back upon what Michigan Territory was some forty-seven years
ago, or a little more, when I first landed on its shores, and compare it with the
present rank of the State in population, wealth, and resources, the change seems
almost incredible. At that time the territory of Michigan embraced not only
what now constitutes the State, but what is now embraced in the States of Wis-
consin, Iowa, Minnesota, and a t large portion of the territory of Dakota, the
whole comprising, by the United States census of 1830, a little over 30,000
people. Now, the State of Michigan alone contains about '1,500,000 of as in-
telligent and industrious people as can anywhere be found; to say nothing of
the other two almost equally populous and flourishing States, and a third
following close behind.
Surely, the pioneers of Michigan have not been idle. They have redeemed
the land from the wild beasts of the forest and the almost equally wild and
savage red man, and fitted it for the happy and peaceful homes of a thickly
settled, civilized community.
I ought. not to pass over without mention, the great social reunion of the
State Pioneer Society, held in connection with the Lenawee County Society on
the 12th of June last, at the village of Tecumseh. It was the greatest out-
pouring of the people at any such reunion yet held in the State. .They came
from all the adjoining towns by hundreds, and many from adjoining counties,
at quite a distance. Judging from what could be learned as to prior, gather-
ings, the ladies who superintended the tables had calculated to wait upon 300
or more at a time, and then reset the tables, until all were waited on. But
when 3,000 'or 4,000 hungry people saw a prospect of waiting for some hours
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
for their dinner,, they began to help themselves without ceremony, hy passing
things outside until all were fed in short meter. Still everything passed off
pleasantly and harmoniously, and all returned to their homes, after a day of
much enjoyment.
The enterprising proprietor of the Tecumseh Herald engaged two steno-
graphers to report the speeches and proceedings in full, and their work was
well done, except a few errors in names. But corrected copies of the paper
have been sent to the committee of Historians, and are on file to appear in a
volume of "Pioneer Collections."
I have collected some material to be found only in the letter-book of the
Auditor General in 1848, when I last held that office, relative to the final settle-
ment of the part-paid $5,000,000 loan bonds. Last spring H. R. Pratt (well-
known for many years as the active and diligent deputy auditor) kindly
furnished me with copies of some old letters on that subject, which I may on
some future occasion, prepare for publication, with appropriate notes and
remarks. I found also, that Mr. Pratt had written a letter, about a year ago,
of which he furnished me a copy at my request, answering some charges, class-
ing Michigan with Minnesota as in part a repudiating State. We used to be
classed along with Mississippi and Arkansas in that category; but time and a
proper setting forth of the facts in our case had nearly corrected all the misap-
prehensions of the matter in minds willing to understand the truth. To be
sure, the London Times, in 1861, as a faithful reflector of British prejudices
and open sympathy with the South in the late rebellion, went so far as to turn
apologist for Mississippi repudiation, and to express its admiration for the
"frank style" of Col. Jefferson Davis in dealing with such questions.
But the collapse of the rebellion, and the vanishing of , all hopes of aiding
to bring about a disruption of the union, has rather altered the tone of British
journalists and politicians. Even Mr. Gladstone, the leader of the liberal
party in Great Britain, in an article lately written for, and published in one of
our leading reviews, takes very different ground, and expresses a very different
feeling toward the United States from what he did during the civil war.
REPORT OF THE RECORDING SECRETARY.
OFFICE OP THE )
"PIONEER SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN."
Lansing, Felyruai-y, 5th, 1879. }
Pursuant to the provision of Article 7 of the Constitution of the "Pioneer
Society of the State of Michigan," I have the honor to transmit in writing,
my fifth annual report as follows :
.ANNUAL MEETING 1878.
The fourth annual meeting of the society was held in Representative Hall,
commencing at 7 o'clock on the evening of Wednesday, February 6th, 1878.
OFFICERS PRESENT.
President Witter J. Baxter.
Vice Prexidcnlx Judge Albert Miller, H. Warner, H. A. Shaw, A. M.
PROCEEDINGS.
Chapin, Hampton Rich, Michael Shoemaker, H. G. Wells, P. A. Dewey, B. 0.
Williams, Isaac D. Toll, E. D. Lay, Edwin Jerome, Daniel B. Harrington.
Recording Secretary Harriet A. Tenney.
Executive Committee Witter J. Baxter, ex-officio, Judge Albert Miller, P.
A. Dewey.
Committee of H'mlonunx .1. C. Holmes, Chairman, M. H. Goodrich, 0. C.
Comstock, H. G. Wells, Harriet A. Tenney.
The President, Hon. Witter J. Baxter, of Jonesville, took the chair.
Prayer by the Rev. Francis B. Bangs, of Lansing.
The president then delivered his address, in which he congratulated the
society on its efforts in collecting historical matter, and the publication of Vol.
I. of "Michigan Pioneer Collections," so replete with valuable information.
On motion of Isaac D. Toll, a vote of thanks was tendered to the president
for his very able address.
The report of the Recording Secretary was read, accepted and adopted.
The Treasurer, Hon. 0. M. Barnes, being absent, his report was read by H.
Crawford and referred to the Executive Committee.
The Memorial Committee, as Vice Presidents from the counties of Branch,
Calhoun, Clinton, Saginaw, Shiawassee and Wayne, reported the deaths of
several old pioneers, and reports were promised for the counties of Allegan,
Ionia, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Lenawee, Livingston, St. Clair and St.
Joseph.
The Committee of Historians through their chairman, J. C. Holmes, made
their report, which was accepted.
The thanks of the society were, on motion of Dr. 0. C. Comstock, tendered
to W. S. George & Co. for their very generous bequest of $59.44, being the
amount charged for extra labor involved in furnishing Vol. I. of Pioneer
Collections with a good index.
On motion of Judge Albert Miller, a vote of thanks was tendered the Com-
mittee of Historians for the faithful performance of their duties.
On motion of H. G. Wells, the president appointed a committee of five
consisting of H. G. Wells, Hampton Rich, T. G. Gilbert, Michael Shoemaker,
Albert Miller, to nominate officers and committees for the ensuing year.
The committee reported the following named persons, who were unani-
mously elected:
For President, Hon. John J. Adam, of Tecumseh.
For Vice Presidents, one from each county, as follows : Allegan J. Pisk ;
Barry H. A. Goodyear; Bay Judge Albert Miller; Berrien D. A. Wins-
low; Branch H. Warner; Calhoun Col. Charles Dickey; Clinton Win.
Besley; Eaton H. A. Shaw; Genesee E. H. Thomson; Grand Traverse
J. G. Ramsdell; Gratiot Ralph Ely; Hillsdale E. 0. Grosvenor; Ingham
A. M. Chapin; Ionia Hampton Rich; Jackson Michael Shoemaker; Kala-
mazoo H. G. Wells; Kent Robert Hilton; Lenawee P. A. Dewey; Living-
ston Ralph Fowler; Macomb D. B. Briggs; Marquette Peter White;
Monroe Gouverneur Morris ; Montcalm W. Divine ; Muskegon H. H. Holt ;
Oakland A. C. Baldwin; Ottawa Win. M. Ferry; Shiawassee B. 0. Wil-
liams; St. Clair D. B. Harrington; St. Joseph Issac D. Toll; Van Buren
J. R. Hendryx; Washtenaw E. D. Lay; Wayne Edwin Jerome.
For Recording Secretary, Harriet A. Tenney; Treasurer, E. Long} r ear; Cor-
responding Secretary, John J. Bush, all of Lansing.
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
For Executive Committee, John J. Adam, ex-officw, Judge Albert Miller, of
Bay City ; Bela Hubbard, of Detroit, and F. A. Dewey, of Cambridge.
For Committee of Historians, J. C. Holiaes, of Detroit, Chairman; M. H.
Goodrich, of Ann Arbor; 0. C. Comstock, of Marshall; H. G-. Wells, of Kal-
amazoo, and Harriet A. Tenney, of Lansing.
Mr. A. Harrison being called upon, recited an original poem entitled, "Our
Mothers Seventy Years Ago."
A letter was read, received from Gen. Egbert Brown, of Missouri, in which
he recounted many reminiscences of early times, in Lenawee county.
Col. Isaac D. Toll, of Fawn Eiver, gave a brief sketch of the military career
of John T. Brown of Mexican war fame.
Hon. H. G. Wells offered the following resolution, which was adopted :
Resolved, That all papers presented and to be introduced in succeeding volumes of
"Pioneer Collections of the State of Michigan," be filed with the secretary, and that
the same be treated as the property of the State Pioneer Society of the State of
Michigan, and not to be withdrawn except for correction and with the assent of the
proper officers of the society.
On invitation from A. L. Bours, Secretary of the Building Commissioners,
the pioneers arranged for a visit to the new State capitol at 7-| o'clock the fol-
lowing morning.
The society then, at 10 o'clock P. M., adjourned to meet at 9 o'clock the
next morning.
The society met pursuant to adjournment, the President in the chair.
Beading of the Scriptures from II. Samuel, vii. 21, 22, 23, 24, and I. Chroni-
cles, xvii. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and prayer by Rev. L. B. Potter, of Lansing.
A paper by Henry Bishop, of Kalamazoo, being a continuation of the "Early
History of New Buffalo," was read by H. G. Wells.
Mr. Shoemaker read a paper on the "Early History of the City of Jackson."
A paper by Judge James V. Campbell, on the "Early French Settlements
in Michigan/' was read by J. E. Tenney.
Singing of "Auld Lang Syne" by the audience.
A paper by S. C. Cofnnberry, of Constantine, on the "Early Settlement of
Nottawa Sippi Prairie," was read by Witter J. Baxter.
Hon. John J. Adam read a paper on the "Early Settlement of Lenawee
County."
Gen. Joseph W. Brown, of Tecumseh, who commanded the Michigan militia
during the Black Hawk and Toledo wars, was called to the platform and
received with the greatest enthusiasm, and related many interesting incidents
connected with his official life. *
The society then adjourned at 1 o'clock P. M. to meet again at 2 o'clock.
The society met pursuant to adjournment, the President in the chair.
Prayer by Rev. Wm. H. Brockway, of Albion.
0. A. Jenison, of Lansing, read a sketch of the "Early Times in Lansing,"
and presented the society with a large and valuable collection of newspapers,
circulars, handbills, pamphlets, books, pictures, household implements, etc.,
the most of which have some connection with the earlier or later history of
Michigan.
On motion of J. C. Holmes, a vote of thanks was tendered to Mr. Jenison
for the valuable presentation made by him.
A paper by J. H. Lawrence, giving a "History of California Township,"
was read by H. N. Lawrence, of Lansing.
PROCEEDINGS.
Kev. Geo. Duffield, of Lansing, read a paper on the "Kecent Discovery of
the long lost grave of Pere Marquette, at St. Ignace."
Hon. M. Shoemaker offered the following amendment to the constitution,
which was laid over until the next annual meeting : To amend section seven,
by inserting after the work "year" in the third line, "or such other time as
the society may determine at an annual meeting."
A, memoir of the life of Hon. A. N. Hart, prepared by his daughter, Mrs.
Belle Hamilton, was read by J. E. Tenney.
A paper by B. 0. Williams, of Owosso, "The Survey of -a State Eoad from
Saginaw to Mackinac," was read by J. C. Holmes.
A paper by Judge Flavius J. Littlejohn, of Allegan, "The Pioneers of
Michigan, Their Devotion to Educational Interests, Historically Illus-
trated," was read by W. J. Baxter.
Biographical notes and incidents in the pioneer life of Mrs. E. B. Norris,
prepared by her granddaughter, Maria M. Norris, daughter of Hon. L. B.
Norris, of Grand Eapids, was read by N". B. Jones, of Lansing.
The society then adjourned at about 6 o'clock P. M. to meet again at 7
o'clock the same evening.
The society met pursuant to adjournment, the President in the chair.
Prayer by President T. C. Abbot, of the Agricultural College.
The "Life and Times of Eev. Abel Bingham," missionary to the Sault
Ste. Marie, prepared by his daughter, was read by Hon. T. D. Gilbert.
On motion, the Eev. Win. H. Brockway was requested to write his recollec-
tions of his labors among the Indians of Michigan.
Ex-Governor Alpheus Felch, of Ann Arbor, read a paper on "Early Michi-
gan Banking," in which he graphically portrayed the wild-cat scenes of 1837-8.
A paper was read by Hon. H. G. Wells, being biographical sketches of the
governors of the Territory and State of Michigan; also of the judicial officers
of the State who are now numbered with the dead; also alluding to the men
of the first constitutional convention held in Michigan.
F. A. Dewey gave a history of the rise and progress of the Lenawee County
Pioneer Society.
Hon. Geo. C. Bates, of Detroit, was then called out, and entertained the
audience with reminiscences of the "By-gones" of Michigan.
About 200 of the pioneer men and women were in attendance during the
sessions.
The President called each of the sessions to order with a gavel made from a
log taken from the first school-house erected in Washtenaw county, in the
town of Pittsfield, and which was presented to the society by the Washtenaw
County Pioneer Society.
The business of the society being completed, the audience was dismissed
after singing the doxology.
SOCIAL REUNION.
Upon invitation of the Lenawee County Pioneer Society, the semi-annual
meeting of the State Society was held at Tecumseh, on Wednesday, June 12,
1878. A large number of pioneers were in attendance; addresses were made
by Levi Bishop and J. C. Holmes of Detroit, H. H. Eiley of Constantine,
Eev. H. 0. Bancroft of Saginaw, and several others.
3
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
OBITUARY.
We have to record the death of several members of our society during the
past year: Daniel B. Harrington, Isaac Carl, Eev. TV Merrill, Col. Charles
Dickey, A. M. Chapin. Memorials are expected from the Memorial Committee.
Records of the deaths of many old pioneers, who were not members of the
society have been received.
COUNTY SOCIETIES.
A report has been received from the Recording Secretary of the Allegan
Pioneer Society, dated January 18th. The society has an enrolled member-
ship of 198. Seven of the members have died, leaving the present member-
ship of the society 191. The society was organized February 16, 1876.
Twenty of the members are over 70 years of age ; the rest are between 40 and
70 years of age. All are residents of Allegan county for over twenty-five
years.
DONATIONS.
The donations made to the society during the past year, have been large and
valuable. They have all been carefully recorded upon the record-book, and
properly filed. The names of the donors, with the number of articles donated
are as follows:
0. A. JENISON, Lansing:
One hundred and five articles.
Gov. ALPHEUS FELCH, Ann Arbor:
Eight bank bills of the wild-cat banks of Michigan.
MRS. MARY E. FOSTER, Ann Arbor :
Four cabinet pictures of early pioneers of Washtenaw county.
DR. H. A. ATKINS, Locke:
Fourteen articles.
GEN. J. W. BROWN, Tecumseh.
Five manuscripts relating to the laying out of the Grand river road.
REV. , GEORGE DUFFIELD, Lansing:
Five articles relating to the burial place of Pere Marquette.
H. A. SHAW, Eaton Rapids :
Hatchet found in Springport, Jackson county, in 1875, near the head
waters of Spring Brook.
F. A. KINGSBURY, Marshall:
A ruler made from a piece of a board placed in the branches of the oak
tree, standing in the center of Mansion street, Marshall, in the year 1831.
The board was used as a seat, upon which persons sat when shooting^
bears and wolves. The tree was cut down June 16, 1875.
GEO. W. KEYES, Olivet :
A collection of catalogues and pamphlets relating to Olivet College.
J. LTJDINGTON, Verona:
Copy of the Huron County News containing an account of the organization
of the Huron County Pioneer Society.
CAPT. HENRY M. HOWGATE, of the IT. S. Army:
A pamphlet entitled "Polar Colonization."
PROCEEDINGS.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington:
Senate and House Journals of the 2d Session of the 44th, and 1st Session
of the 45th Congress.
W. H. NEWTON, St. George's, Delaware:
Pamphlet. The Last Will and Testament of George Washington.
ROBERT HILTON, Grand Rapids :
Newspaper clippings containing notices of the death and funeral of Robert
S. Parks.
L. ORMSBY:
Three copies of a pamphlet, being a historical lecture delivered at the semi-
centennial celebration of the pioneers of Lenawee and Monroe counties,
August 25, 1876.
A. J. KELLOGG:
Three bank bills.
JUDGE J. V. CAMPBELL, Detroit :
Digest of the rules of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Michigan, 1821.
WISCONSIN STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
Twenty-fourth annual report of the society, submitted January 2, 1878.
CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
Three pamphlets. Father Marquette at Mackinaw and Chicago. Biographi-
cal sketch of the late Gen, B. J. Sweet. History of Camp Douglas.
Second Annual Report of the Illinois Association of the Sons of Vermont,
S. H. Row, Lansing:
Address delivered at the 6th annual picnic of the farmers of Sharon, Wash-
tenaw county.
DETROIT FREE PRESS COMPANY:
Copy of the Free Press, June 2, 1878, being an octuple sheet with supple-
ment.
WESTERN RESERVE AND NORTHERN OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
One volume of Historical Tracts, Nos. 1-36, 1870-77.
KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
Three books and one newspaper.
MISCELLANEOUS :
Twenty-five newspapers containing historical articles relating to early
Michigan history.
Twenty historical manuscripts.
MEMBERSHIP.
There has been an addition of sixty-one members since the last annual
meeting, making a total of four hundred and thirty names now enrolled upon
the membership book of the society:
Ebenezer F. Wade, J. B. Wheeler, Win. W. Murphy, J. Q. A. Sessions, A.
B. Chipman, E. G. Fuller/ Harvey Haynes, Henry E. Blackman, James R.
Rockwell, Japheth Cross, Alex. Adrien, John J. Adam, C. B. Stebbins, James
W. Brown, Charles T. Gorham, Cornelia M. Smith, Thomas D. Gilbert, Robert
Hilton, Francis B. Bangs, David'B. Hale, E. F. Blood, Harriet Row, Samuel
H. Row, Nelson B. Jones, John H. Forster, J. W. Post, Josiah R. Holden,
Joanna R, Holden, J. D. Reeves, George Foote, Henry Ousterhout, Peter Lowe,
D. B. Briggs; S. F. Drury, H. A. Atkins, Harvey Morehouse, Mrs. Catherine
Morehouse, Mrs. Chas. P. Bush, George C. Bates, Henry N. Lawrence, A. J.
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Kellogg, L. G. Blanchard, Norman Bailey, John Hull, David G. Robinson,
William A. Whitney, F. K. Stebbins, John E. Swick, Kev. E. N. Nichols, H.
M. Russell, W. H. Montgomery, Mars Howard, Stephen H. Aldrich, Andrew
Wilson, Kev. J. 0. Bancroft, Charles I. Walker, Albert E. Cowles, J. P.
Cowles, K.-C. Kedzie, Melvin D. Champe, Laurens B. Potter, Hervey Parke.
CONCLUSION.
The Board of State Auditors have assigned for the use and accommodation
of this society two rooms in the fourth story of the new capitol. One of
these will be fitted up for the audience room where the pioneers of the State
may meet at any and all times. The other room will be used for a business
office, and will contain the library and museum, in which will be arranged in
proper order the donations that have been and will be made to the society. It
is to be hoped that donations of every kind and character which have a tend-
ency to illustrate the natural and civil history of Michigan, will be sent to
your secretary. They will be duly receipted, labeled and placed in the society's
museum.
Our society is yet in its infancy, but it has made commendable progress. Its
growth has been steady and healthful, and it is destined, under the unflagging
efforts of its managers, and the constant encouragement and zeal of its mem-
bers, to become one of the most honored institutions of our State.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
HARRIET A. TENNEY,
Recording Secretary.
REPORT OF THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
To the President of the State Pioneer Society of Michigan:
I have the pleasure to report, that my duties as Corresponding Secretary for
the past year have not been very arduous; having received but few commu-
nications," all of which I have responded to with promptness.
Very respectfully,
JOHN J. BUSH,
February 5, 1879. Corresponding Secretary.
REPORT OF THE TREASURER FOR THE YEAR ENDING FEB-
RUARY 5TH, 1879.
RECEIPTS.
Cash on hand at date of last report, February (>, 1878 $54 56
Received for memberships
Received for sale of Vol. I. Pioneer Collections 175 50
Received from donations 10 85
$421 91
PROCEEDINGS.
DISBURSEMENTS.
Paid for postage $6 55
Paid for traveling and hotel expenses of Committee of Historians. . 65 30
Paid for traveling and hotel expenses of Executive Committee 35 41
Paid for printing 22 50
Paid express charges 25
Amount disbursed $130 01
Balance on hand $291 90
The above balance of cash on hand is deposited in the State Treasury to the
credit of the Eecording Secretary of this society. As the law requires all
papers, etc., belonging to this society to be kept at the State Library, and it
being in the capitol, where is also located the State Treasury, it has been found
convenient and expedient to keep the money received by the society on deposit
with the State Treasurer, to be drawn as occasion may require by the Eecording
Secretary, .who is the State Librarian. This has accordingly been done the
past year, vouchers and accounts being rendered and placed on file as required
by the laws of the State.
E. LONGYEAE,
Treasurer.
EEPOET OF THE COMMITTEE OF HISTOEIANS.
To the President and Directors of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan:
Your Committee of Historians beg leave to report that they have collected,
and have nearly ready for publication, an amount of material 'for the second
volume of "Pioneer Collections," sufficient to make a book of about six
hundred pages.
It has been the desire of the committee to procure pioneer history from as
many of the counties in the State as possible; hoping that in the course of
time the society may be able to say that it has gathered up and published in
book form the pioneer history of every county and town in the State. They
find that the work of gathering up and preparing this matter for publication
is somewhat tedious and laborious, yet they have not shrunk from the endeavor
to accomplish the work assigned them, for they know that as time passes on,
their gatherings will become more and more valuable, and their labors will be
more fully appreciated than they now are.
Your committee have noticed with much pleasure that County Pioneer
Societies have been organized in several of the counties of the State, and that
at their annual meetings many papers of great local and general historical
interest have been prepared and read by pioneers themselves.
Your committee have made some effort at correspondence with the county
societies, for the purpose of procuring these papers-to be placed in the archives
of the State society, that they may be ready for use in making up the future
volumes of "Pioneer Collections"; they have met with some success in this
direction, but not to the extent that is desirable; yet they think that as the
10 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
State society and its proceedings become better known, and its publications
more widely distributed and read, the officers of the county societies will not
need 'to be asked to furnish their pioneer reminiscences to the State society,
but they will do it voluntarily and cheerfully; thus lessening the labors of the
Committee of Historians, and furthering one of the principal objects had in
view by both the State and county societies, viz. : to collect and place in perma-
nent form the pioneer history of the State, written by the pioneers themselves.
Your committee think it would be beneficial to all parties, if the secretary
of each county, town, and district pioneer society would notify the secretary
of the State society a few days prior to the holding of their annual meetings,
of the time and place where said meetings are to be held, and then to make as
full a report of the proceedings as possible; the report to be accompanied by
as many of the papers as can be procured, that were prepared for and read at
their meetings.
When Vol. I. of the Pioneer Collections was ready for the printer, the Com-
mittee of Historians, composed of the same persons then as now, at their own
risk, procured the printing of the volume, and then the society petitioned the
Legislature to appropriate the sum of five hundred dollars a year for each of
the years 1877 and 1878.
The appropriation was made, and applied to the payment of publishing the
volume and other expenses of the society. The contract for printing and
binding 1,500 copies of Vol. I. was $1,800.00.
It will now be necessary to ask for an appropriation for the years 1879 and
1880, and a committee should be appointed to prepare a petition for that pur-
pose and present it to the Legislature, unless it is a matter that belongs to the
Executive Committee to attend to; for Vol. II. cannot be printed without an
appropriation from the Legislature. Although the work of the officers has
been done voluntarily, none of them receiving pay for their services the
expends attending the collecting of material for the history, and articles for
the museum, absorb something of the society's income derived from the
annual dues of members, and the sale of the books.
Of Vol. I. there were printed 1,500 copies, at a cost of about one dollar and
fifty cents per copy, which includes expenses of collecting material. Copies
have been sold at $1.50 each. Your committee think it would be good policy
to withdraw from sale one or two hundred copies for the present, as in the
course of time, when the supposition will be that Vol. I. is out of print, it will
be much sought for, and a few copies should be kept to supply such demand.
Among the objects of interest procured by your committee are the canopy
and desk from the Senate Chamber of the old capitol. They were built for
the old capitol in Detroit, the corner stone of which was laid October 22, 1823.
That old capitol is still standing, and is now part of the high school building
in Detroit.
When the State government, in 1847, took its departure from Detroit, and
located in Lansing, these articles were taken from there and placed in what
was then the new, but is now an old State-house. Your committee, think-
ing it their duty to secure some r'elic of the first and second State-houses,
requested the secretary of the furnishing board to have the canopy, desk, and
chair from the old Senate chamber placed in the audience room of the State
Pioneer Society. In compliance with that request these articles were placed
there, where they now stand not only as relics, but to be occupied by the pre-
siding officer of the Michigan State Pioneer Society. It having been stated
PROCEEDINGS. 11
that either the canopy over the chair of the President of the Senate, or the
one over the chair of the Speaker of the House of Eepresentatives was "brought
from Virginia to Detroit, to be placed in the first capitol, and afterward moved
to Lansing, the chairman of your committee addressed a note to the Hon. C.
C. Trowbridge, at Detroit, asking for information on this point, and received
a note in reply, saying that no part of the furniture came from Virginia or
any other State. The canopies, desks, chairs, and all things of that sort were
made or furnished by William Dunnell of Detroit.
We did not forget to take from the old house into the new the old basswood
eagle of which George C. Bates made mention in his eloquent speech on Thurs-
day evening, . February 7, 1878, just before the close of our last annual
meeting. The old bird was introduced to the meeting at that time minus one
wing. Thanks to Mr. Strahan, the designer of the furnishings in the various
rooms in the new capitol, the bird now appears full-winged, and in golden
costume, x and as good as new.
In closing this report, your committee would call your attention to the fact
that the society owes its acknowledgments to the board that assigned to it the
rooms we are to occupy in the capitol ; one for a business room, and one as an
audience room for the meetings of the society; also to Mr. Bours, their gentle-
manly secretary, for his services in giving attention to the furnishing of the
rooms, and to Mr. Strahan for his endeavor to have the rooms put in order for
our use.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
J. C. HOLMES,
M. H. GOODEICH,
0. C. COMSTOCK, }- Committee.
H. G. WELLS,
HAEEIET A. TENNEY.
12 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION.
BY HON. CHARLES I. WALKER, OF DETROIT, MICH.
Read before the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, January 31, 1871.
"The Northwest" has had in our history no fixed locality. It has been
constantly receding from the Atlantic coast with each advancing wave of the
great tide of emigration, and has in succession crossed the Alleghanies, passed
beyond the great lakes, the Mississippi, the desert plains of the West and the
Eocky Mountains ; and its onward march has only been stayed by the waters
of the Pacific.
But the Northwest of which I shall speak has a well defined locality and
fixed boundaries. It comprises the region encompassed by the Ohio, the Mis-
sissippi and the great lakes, and embraces the territory now occupied by the
five great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, with a
population of over 9,000,000, and rich with the productions of human industry
and human art. No other section of the Union of the same area, comprises
so many advantages or is capable of sustaining so dense a population. With
scenery of great and diversified beauty, a climate varied and delightful, a soil
of surpassing richness and fertility, sustaining a wealth of timber that the
energies of man cannot destroy for generations to come, with exhaustless mines
of lead, iron, coal, copper and salt, and traversed and environed by noble
rivers and great lakes, the equal of which are not to be found upon the face of
the earth, it is not surprising that its growth in population and wealth is
without a parallel in the history of the world.
At the commencement of the American Revolution, there was not a settle-
ment of English origin within this whole territory, and its entire population,
other than Indians, did not probably exceed 5,000.
From the time the flag of Great Britain was raised at Jamestown, in 1607,
and that of France had been unfurled from the heights of Quebec the follow-
ing year, for a century and a half the mighty struggle had been going on
between these two great nations for the dominion of a continent. The com-
batants were worthy, and the prize well worth the combat. The contest was
determined by the victory of Wolfe, upon the plains of Abram, on the 17th
day of September, 1759; and by the treaty of Paris, of 1763, when France
ceded to Great Britain her American dominions, from the Gulf of St. Law-
rence to the Mississippi.
Previous to this period some of the English colonies had laid claims, and
sometimes conflicting claims, to portions of the territory of which we speak,
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 13
but they had in fact exercised no jurisdiction over it. The whole territory
was in the occupation of France, and in her grand design of hemming in the
English colonies and connecting Canada with Louisiana, she had dotted it
with trading posts, missionary stations, settlements and forts.
THE NORTHWEST IN 1763.
To understand this period of history, it is essential that we obtain a clear
idea of the settlements and forts existing at the time of this conquest, their
locality, strength and character.
Detroit was founded in 1701, and a fort called Pontchartrain erected upon
the high bank of the river. This had long since gone to decay. The town
proper occupied only about three acres, and was enclosed by pickets, variously
stated to be from 15 to 25 feet highland pierced by four gates defended by
block-house and guns. There were, within the pickets, from 80 to 100 dwell-
ings, all of logs, except the house of the governor or commandant, and the
enclosure contained a population of about 600. The settlement extended from
the fort up and down the river on both sides about eight miles; and when
Major Rogers took possession for the British Government, in November, 1769,
he estimated the entire population of town and settlement, at about 2,500, of
which number 500 were capable of bearing arms. They were all French.
Their farms were all narrow and deep, with a frontage on the river, so that
the houses were near together. They were kept neatly whitewashed, and pre-
sented, especially from the water, a very picturesque appearance. The great
importance of this point sprang from its position, which enabled it to com-
mand largely Indian trade and influence.
At Mackinaw, Father Marquette established a mission as early as 1671. A
fort was erected on the point of the lower peninsula in 1686. There was at
this time, within the pickets, about 30 families, and as many more without,
numbering, perhaps, a population of about 400. This, too, was an important
point with reference to the Indian trade.
Sault Ste. Mary had been visited by missionaries as early as 1641, and a
permanent mission was established in 1668, but it was now a very insignificant
military post, surrounded by a small cluster of French houses.
Green Bay was occupied as a missionary station in 1669. At this period it
had a small stockade fort, and probably not to exceed 50 inhabitants besides
soldiers and their families.
Fort St. Joseph was a small stockade near the mouth of the river St.
Joseph, and, like the others, had around it a small cluster of French settlers
and traders.
The same may be said of Fort Miami, (Fort Wayne).
Fort Sandusky was not a permanent post, and had no settlement around it.
SETTLEMENTS UPON THE WABASH.
The two principal settlements on the Wabash were Vincennes then called
Fort St. Vincent, and Waw-ca-ta-non, near Lafayette. According to Croghan,
there were at Vincennes in 1765 about 80 or 90 French families, and at Waw-
ca-ta-non 14 families living within the fort, and there were doubtless some
small intervening settlements. These settlements on the Wabash were com-
menced probably as early as 1710-11, and seem at one time to have been
rich in agricultural productions, which found a market down the Mississippi.
4
14 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
SETTLEMENTS IN ILLINOIS.
The largest settlements in the Northwest were those of Illinois of which
Kaskaskia was the oldest and the principal. In 1766 it has 65 permanent
families. There were, besides, Cahokia with 45 families; St. Philip with 16
families; Prairie dn Rocher with 12 families; Fort Chartres with 40 families.
This fort was erected at great expense by the French in 1720, rebuilt in 1756,
and was for a long time the seat of government of the country of Illinois : but
this fort was undermined by the river about 1772, and was abandoned. There
was also a fort at Kaskaskia, upon a rock on the other side of the river from
the village. There were agricultural settlements in the vicinity of these places,
and the entire white population in Illinois was probably about 3,000. There
were also many slaves in the country; one farm kept 80. These were all the
settlements existing in the Northwest at the treaty of Paris in 1763, and the
entire white population did not exceed 10,000, and were exclusively of French
origin, and of the Roman Catholic religion.
If we were to trust to contemporaneous English accounts, we should find the
inhabitants not only a very worthless people, but positively unworthy. Thus,
Col. George (Voghaii. deputy of Sir Wm. Johnson, who visited these settle-
ments in 176-"), says of the inhabitants of Yincennes, that "they are an idle,
lazy people, a parcel of renegades from Canada, and are much worse than the
Indians;* 7 and of those of Detroit, "they are generally poor wretches, a lazy,
idle people, depending chiefly on the savages for subsistence," "whose
manners and customs they have entirely adopted."
That this description was applicable to many of the voyageurs and coureurs
de bois, as seen about the towns, is undoubtedly true; but as a description of
the inhabitants generally it is most unjust.
There were two distinct classes of these licibitans; both, however, having the
same general and national characteristics. One was the class of active, intel-
ligent, gentlemanly traders and farmers; many of them of respectable., and
some of noble birth and connections. The other class were the voyageurs,
coureurs de bois and peasants. Here, side by side, these two classes planted
their residences, and lived in perfect harmony; yet each in his own sphere
each contented with his place.
The royfiflpur and peasant indulged in no dreams of the equality of man,
and ambition never embittered his heart, while the gentleman, jealous of no
encroachment, was the indulgent and kind-hearted employer and patron. On
the banks of these western rivers they built their simple, cheerful homes, and
surrounded them with fruits and flowers. The} r were a light-hearted, gay
people, full of vivacity and graceful hilarity; honest among themselves,
generous and hospitable. Surrounded by danger, they were of undoubted
courage, but when the pressure of a present peril was passed, their habitual
gayety returned. No memory of the past or fear of the future was permitted
to mar the happiness of the present hour. Sorrow and suffering were soon
forgotten, and privations laughed at, or cheerfully endured. Simple and
frugal in their habits, contented with their lot, they renewed in their forest
recesses of 'the new world the life of the old. They were free from ambition
and its cares, and without aims. While they enjoyed much personal license,
they had no conception of municipal freedom and of self-government of
liberty regulated by law, originating from the will of the governed themselves.
They received with equal and unquestioned submissiveness their law from the
king and his subordinates, and their religion from their priests.
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 15
By a proclamation of George the Third, October 7, 1763, the government of
Quebec was established for. the Canadas, but this distant region was not
included within its boundaries, and until the passage of the famous Quebec
act, in Parliament in 1774, it was without a civil government, and exclusively
under military control. Magistrates derived both their appointment and their
powers solely from the military commandants, and soldiers were the only
executive officers of the law. Mutual distrust and dislike existed between the
people and the British officers placed over them, and this was greatly increased
by the Pontiac war, in which mam r of the inhabitants sympathized with the
savages in their attack upon the English power. The result was, that a very
large emigration took place, especially frm the Illinois settlements, to the
western side of the Mississippi river and to Louisiana.
The treaty of peace and cession was signed at Paris in March, 1763. On the
27th of September of the same year, Neyon de Yilliers, French commandant
of Illinois, dispatched couriers from Fort Chartres with a written invitation
addressed to "Mr's les habitans du Detroit,'' cordially inviting such as chose
to emigrate .to St. Genevieve, Arkansas or New Orleans, and pledging his pro-
tection and assistance to such as should go.
In 1764 Laclede founded St. Louis, and persuaded thither many emigrants
from Illinois, and some from Detroit. Kaskaskia, which under French rule
had at one time numbered 1,500 or 2,000 inhabitants, was reduced to a popula-
tion of less than 500. Detroit, which had probably numbered more than 600
inhabitants in 1763, had but about 300 at the commencement of the Bevolu-
tion. The whole Detroit settlement did not then exceed 700 or 800, in the
place of 2,500, as estimated by Eogers in 1760.
The emigration of original British subjects to the Canadas, after the con-
quest, had been very limited. In 1770 there were less than 400 Protestant
men in the whole new dominion. In Detroit, in 1778, there were 30 Scotch-
men, 15 Irishmen and 2 Englishmen, mostly traders, and without families.
No new settlements had been formed, and I am satisfied that at the commence-
ment of the Eevolution, exclusive of officers and soldiers and their families,
the entire white population of the Northwest did not exceed 5,000 souls.
By the Quebec act of 1774, the Northwest became a part of the Province of
Quebec, and was brought nominally under civil government. While this act
was uner discussion, Sir Guy Carleton, who was then governor of Canada,
and had been since 1768, was called as a witness before the House. His exami-
nation is full of curious interest. He is asked whether Detroit and Michigan
were under the government. He replies, "Detroit is not under the govern-
ment; Michigan is." He was asked, "Do you look upon Illinois as a part of
old Canada !" He replies, "I believe so. New Orleans was under the gov-
ernment of Quebec, but where the precise district ends, I really do not know;"
and he confesses that he has no idea of the distance that Illinois is from
Quebec.
In connection with this specimen of official ignorance, it may not be uninter-
dividing Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada was under discussion in Parlia-
ment, a leading merchant of Quebec, Mr. Lyneburner, was heard in opposition
to the act. He contended that "Niagara was the utmost extent westward
of the cultivable part of the province;" that while it was true that there was
16 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
a small settlement at Detroit, and it was of great importance as a post for
the Indian trade, it could never become of great importance as a settlement;
that the Falls of Niagara presented a harrier to the transportation of produce,
which "must greatly impede the progress of settlement and cultivation for
ages to come/'
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
Under this Quebec act Col. Henry Hamilton, formerly a captain in the 15th
regiment, was appointed by Governor Carleton, in 1775, Lieut. Governor,
Superintendent of Detroit, and its dependencies, including the entire North-
west. He had doubtless been selected because of his capacity, energy and
zeal, and with reference to the impending difficulties between the Colonies and
the mother country. Henceforth, and during the entire Revolution, Detroit
became the centre of British power in the Northwest. The relentless and
cruel Indian warfare, that was carried on against the border settlements of
Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky, received its inspiration and direction
from this point. The Indian power of the Northwest was at this period fear-
fully great. It was mainly under the control of British influence and British
gold, and it was used without scruple to harrass, cripple and destroy the strug-
gling Colonies, and in its cruel ferocity it spared neither sex, infancy or age.
In 1763, Sir Wm. Johnson, than whom there is no better authority, makes
the following estimate of the number of the Indian warriors of the North-
west:
Wyandotts, at Detroit and Sandusky 450
Pottawatamies, at Detroit and St. Joseph 350
Ottawas and Chippewas, at Detroit and Mackinaw 1,350
Ottawas and Chippewas, elsewhere 4,000
Sacs, Foxes and Menominees, west of Green Bay 1,170
Menominees, Kickapoos and Piankashaus, on the Wabash 800
Shawnees, Scioto Valley 300
Delawares, Muskingum Valley 600
This does not include the Illinois Indians, of whose numbers he gives no
estimate. The use made of -this power, supported by British gold and wielded
by British skill, we shall have occasion to notice.
Under Governor Hamilton were various subordinates at the different sta-
tions. Thus Captain (afterwards Major) Arent Schuyler de Peyster an hon-
ored name a native of New York, was in command at Mackinac from 1774
Until 1779, when, on Hamilton's capture, he succeeded him at Detroit. Sir De
Rocheblave, who had. been a Lieutenant of Marines in the French service in
Illinois as early as 1760, was Governor'of Kaskaskia and its dependencies;
and a Mr. Abbott, an Irish civilian of Detroit, was Governor of Vincennes.
Although civil government was nominally established, justice was administered
very much as under the preceding military regime. Thus Governor Hamilton
acted as migistrate, and took cognizance of all civil cases under 10 York
currency. An orderly sergeant acted as constable. No process was issued, but
the orderly -commanded the debtor to appear when a hearing was summarily
had, and if the case was found against the debtor, he was ordered to pay the
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 17
claim; and if he could, yet refused, he was sent to the guard-house until
he did.
Judge May gives a curious instance, of this summary justice:
"One Grauchin owed me a debt. I complained to Governor Hamilton, who
sent for him. He came, and being asked if he had anything to say against
the debt, he said no" He then ordered him to give me an old negro wench in
payment, and she served me twenty-five years."
Criminal justice was amdinistered by a justice of the Governor's appoint-
ment, and a jury, which was provided for in criminal cases by the Quebec act;
and the sentence of death was more than once inflicted for theft and other
like offenses. A contemporary record shows what was in fact three trials
before a jury at one time, and disposed of at one verdict. A Frenchman % was
found guilty of stealing some furs from Messrs. Abbott & Finchley; and Ann
Wyley, a former slave, of stealing a purse containing six guineas, from the
same firm; and the two were tried for attempting to set fire to the house of
the same firm ; but the jury found the proof on this point not sufficient, though
as they said, "the circumstances were very much against them." Philip
Dejean the justice, of whom we shall hereafter hear more, sentenced them to
be hanged upon the King's domain or public common, and they were hanged
accordingly. 1
No sooner had the war commenced, than efforts were made to enlist both the
whites and the Indians of the Northwest, against the Colonies. In the fall
of 1775, Dr. John Conolly, of Pittsburg, after visiting General Gage at
Boston, was appointed by Governor Dunmore, of Virginia, to proceed to Detroit
and enlist a regiment of Canadians there and elsewhere, -which was to rendez-
vous there, and which he was to command, and also a force of Indians; and
to return to Virginia with the force thus raised, and join Governor Dunmore.
He and two traveling companions were arrested in Maryland, while on their
way, and his papers, carefully concealed in his saddle, revealed the plot.
The importance of Detroit to the British interest, and the desirableness of
capturing this center and stronghold of British power in the Northwest,
became apparent to General Washington and to Congress at an early day in
the fearful struggle, and it was never for a moment lost sight of, although
effective efforts for the accomplishment of this purpose were deferred from
time to time from sheer necessity the utter want of men and means. As
early as April, 1776, the Committee on Indian Affairs was instructed to
enquire as to the possibility of taking Detroit.
Early in this year, Captain De Peyster, commanding at Mackinaw, by his
persuasions, enlisted in the British service Captain Charles De Langlade, of
Green Bay, a gentleman of extensive influence among the Indians, and who
had distinguished himself as a French officer in the war with Great Britain,
which resulted in the conquest of Canada. He soon raised a large force of
Indians from the several nations of the Northwest, and together with some
Canadian volunteers, proceeded with them to the neighborhood of Montreal,
there to render aid to the King's forces in attacking the rebels, and defending
Lower Canada against them. These forces rendezvoused at Mackinaw, and
the orders for their marching- thence were issued on the day of the Declaration
of Independence, July 4, 1776. Captain De Langlade is charged with the
duty on the way of "annoying the rebels wherever you meet with them."
This force received a most cordial reception at Montreal, where on its arrival a
1 The man was hung, but the wench was permitted to go free upon condition that she act
as executioner, which she did.
18 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
grand council was held, at which KII ox was roasted whole, and served up to
the Indians; and subsequently they rendered valuable service in the cause of
the crown.
The audacity of the American rebellion against the mighty power of Great
Britain stung to the quick the sensitive and haughty pride of her ruling states-
men,, and aroused to bitterness and unrelenting hate the narrow, obstinate
mind of the King; and the subsequent Declaration of Independence produced
a degree of exasperation which it is difficult for us to fully appreciate. Under
the influence of these feelings, the British King and Ministry resolved (in the
language of Secretary Germaine "that every means should be employed that
Providence had put in his Majesty's hands for crushing the rebellion." Every
possible effort was to be employed, and was employed, not only to enlist the
Indians in legitimate warfare against the Colonies, but to turn loose upon
peaceable settlements, upon unarmed men and helpless women and children,
what Chatham called "the horrible hell-hounds of savage war." This ruth-
less and dastardly policy met with a cold support from Sir Guy Carleton and
General Howe; but it found a ready, active, zealous supporter in Governor
Hamilton, of Detroit, who, as early as September of this year, 1776, promised
the ministry 'that he would send parties of the savages "to fall on the scat-
tered settlers on the Ohio and its branches;" and to encourage the enforce-
ment of this policy towards the rebels, adds : "their arrogance, disloyalty and
impudence had justly drawn upon them this deplorable sort of war."
In the execution of this policy, Governor Hamilton exhibited great energy
and an embittered zeal. His first effort was to enlist in the British interest,
by the power of British gold, such men as could best influence the Indians, and
lead them on in their work of destruction. For this purpose a large number of
traders and others familiar with the Indian language and Indian character
were regularly employed and paid by the Indian Department of Detroit, and
among these were five men who became infamously conspicuous, and whose
very names became a terror to the border settlements of Pennsylvania, Virginia
and Kentucky these were Matthew Elliott, for many years a trader among
the Ohio Indians; Alexander McKee, who had been an Indian Agent; and the
three brothers, Simon, George and James Girty. The father of the Girtys was
a drunkard, and their mother a bawd. They had been taken prisoners while
young, and adopted by the Indians, and they honored alike their parentage
and their education, and united in themselves the vices of civilization and the
cruel perfidy and ferocity of the savage. Simon, the most capable of the three,
had been an Indian interpreter for the Americans, but, like the others, was
seduced to British interests by British gold. He was a drunken, blustering
ruffian, but of great force of character and unquestionable courage. Each of
these men received a regular compensation from Detroit. McKee received 20
shillings sterling; the others 16 York shillings per day.
Then too, the Indians themselves were subsidized by rich and valuable
presents, not only of blankets, other clothing and provisions, but of those
articles so attractive to the savage vermilion to give the proper war color,
and articles of personal adornment, such as brooches, ear-rings, bracelets, etc.,
etc. By these and other means most of the Northwestern Indians were early
secured to British interests. Through the influence of the Moravian mission-
aries on the Muskingum most of the Dela wares remained neutral.
The results of their efforts were not seriously felt upon the border settlements
until 1777. In the latter part of winter, or early in the spring of that year,
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 19
Governor Hamilton sent a war hatchet, wrapped in a belt of red and white
beads, to the Ohio Indians. It was accepted by the Wyandotts and Shawnees,
but rejected by the Delawares. Its effect was at once apparent. On the 6th of
March a large party of Indians appeared before Harrodsburgh, in Kentucky.
On the 24th of April Boonsborough was attacked, and again on the 23d of
May; and on the 30th of Ma}^ Logan's Fort. None of these attacks were suc-
cessful, but several persons were killed, others wounded, and cattle and other
property destroyed.
These stations or settlements on the border were all very much after the same
pattern. A company of settlers selected farms adjacent to each other. At
some convenient point they for the most part congregated their houses as in a
village, and surrounded them with pickets, usually from 12 to 15 feet high;
the log houses of the settlers frequently formed a part of the outer wall of the
enclosure, with pickets extending from house to house, where gaps occurred.
Through these pickets were gate openings, and the. houses were pierced with
holes to enable those within to fire upon a surrounding foe. For a space out-
side the forest was completely cleared away, so that an enemy could neither
find a lurking place for an attack, or conceal his approach. During the day the
settlers cultivated their lands around, and in times of peril, often with arms
by their side. These defences, rude as they were, proved a great protection
against Indians and their still ruder weapons.
The failure of these expeditions against the Kentucky settlements, gave little
security to the border. Bands of marauding Indians were constantly engaged
in their works of plunder and blood. On the 27th of July, Hamilton reports
to Secretary Germaine that he had already sent out fifteen several parties of
Indians, consisting of 289 braves, with 30 white officers and rangers, to prowl
on the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. But the great effort of this
year was the attack upon Fort Henry, at Wheeling, on the 1st of September,
by a force of about 400 Indians, fully armed by Governor Hamilton. The
effects of this siege the gallant defence the brave conduct of Elizabeth Zane
in securing powder for the garrison, in the face of the Indian foe the narrow
escape of Major McCulloch the severe loss the opportune reinforcement
are all recorded in general history, and make this one of the most thrilling
incidents of the border ; but it does not belong to my purpose to describe such
incidents in detail.
In February of 1778, the famous Kentucky partisan, Daniel Boone, was,
with 27 men, taken prisoner while making salt at the Blue Licks. In March,
Boone was brought to Detroit, where he received much attention from English
gentlemen, and Governor Hamilton offered to ransom him of the Indians at
100, but they were greatly attached to him and refused the offer. They took
him back to Chillicothe, and here, in June following, on learning of a pro-
posed attack upon Boonesborough, he escaped, traveling 160 miles in four days,
with but one meal. His wife, supposing him dead, had, with their children,
gone back to North Carolina. Boonsborough was immediately prepared for
defence, but the escape, the warning and the preparation, delayed the attack
until September 7th, when the whole Indian force of over 400, with 11 Canadi-
ans, led by Captain Chene, of Detroit, appeared and surrounded the little post.
After some delay, negotiation, and an attempt at treachery, an attack was
commenced, which lasted about ten days, when the Indians, having lost thirty-
seven of their number, retired. Only two of the garrison were killed.
In the early spring of this year (1778) the Moravian mission upon the Mus-
20 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
kingum was thrown into great consternation by a letter bearing an official seal,
purporting to be from Governor Hamilton,, commanding them to put them-
selves at the head of their Indians and march against the "rebels," whom
they were to attack on their farms and in their settlements, slaying them with-
out mercy, and bringing their scalps to Detroit. They did not at the time
suspect a forgery, but it was probably the work of some miscreant in the
British service, plotting mischief, for it is difficult to believe that such a paper
could have issued from a British officer. This letter was followed up by a visit
from Elliott, McKee, and some deserters from Pittsburgh, who, by persuasions
and falsehoods, sought to induce the Delawares to take up the hatchet; but
the effect failed, through the wise intrepidity of the missionary Heckewelder.
In the meantime great preparations were being made by Congress for an
expedition into the Indian country, and perhaps against Detroit itself, with a
force of 3,000 men; but the men and munitions were both wanting. General
Mclntosh came to Pittsburgh in the spring with 500 troops. Soon after he
built Fort Mclntosh near the mouth of the Big Beaver, where in October he
assembled 1,000 men, and marched to the Tuscarawas river, and erected Fort
Laurens, and garrisoning it with 150 men, in command of Colonel Gibson,
returned to Fort Pitt ; thus leaving this garrison in the Indian country beyond
the reach of succor too weak for aggressive or even defensive warfare.
But the most notable event of this year in the west, and one of the most
notable events of the war, was the conquest of Kaskaskia and the other British
posts in Illinois and on the Wabash by George Eogers Clark. The circum-
stances attending this conquest are full of stirring and romantic interest,
while the consequences flowing from it were most momentous. The events of
the campaign are so fully narrated in every local and general history, that it
would be inexcusable in me, to do more than state results, and that in the
most general way.
Major Clark, an emigrant to Kentucky, although a man of limited culture,
had the grasp of mind, and the energy of character, which fitted him for great
events. Kentucky had suffered greatly from the Indians during the year 1777.
Clark made up his mind that the best mode of defending Kentucky was to
give employment to the enemy elsewhere. He sent spies to visit the posts upon
the Wabash and in Illinois. In December, 1777, he laid open his plan of
capturing these posts to Patrick Henry, the Governor of Virginia, who at once
fell in with it, especially as Virginia laid claim to this western territory as far
north as the 40th degree of north latitude. Clark was commissioned a Colonel
m the service of Virginia, and was authorized at the expense of that State to
raise a sufficient force, was furnished with 1,200 currency, and by secret
instructions was directed to carry out the plan conceived by him.
On the 24th of June, 1778, he left the falls of the Ohio (Louisville) in
barges, with his force of less than 200 men, and descended the Ohio to Old
*ort Massac, within sixty miles of its mouth, and then marched north to Kas-
kaskia, which he captured by surprise on the night of July 4th, taking its
commandant, Rocheblave, and its inhabitants prisoners. The other posts were
ken before any opposition could be made. With great skill, and by a wise
mingling of kindness and severity, he gained the good will of the French, and
commanded the respect of the surrounding Indians. The then recent treaty
between the Colonies and France aided greatly in his success with the French.
Governor Abbott, of Vincennes, was at that time absent in Detroit, and
e were no troops stationed there. Father Gibault, of Kaskaskia, Vicar
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 21
General, etc., undertook to get the French at that point to side with the
Americans, and immediately started upon his mission, which was entirely suc-
cessful, and the American flag waved over the place. Waw-ca-ta-non was
captured by a small force, and thus without the loss of a man, the conquest of
Illinois and the Wabash settlements was complete; and, in October, Virginia
organized this territory into the county of Illinois, and the next year Colonel
John Todd was, at Clark's request, sent out as civil Governor.
The news of this disaster to British interests aroused Governor Hamilton to
the most vigorous effort to retrieve it. It was obvious that this conquest had
panic-stricken the Indians, and threatened the whole British power in the
Northwest. In the spring of 1777, Colonel Morgan, at Pittsburgh, wrote to
Governor Henry that there were only 66 soldiers at Detroit; but there were at
this time about 500 troops there. There were four companies of the Eighth
or King's regiment, commanded by Major Lernoult; two companies of Butler's
Hangers, commanded by Captain Caldwell, and one of the Fourth regiment,
commanded by Captain Aubey.* The British also had a small navy that com-
manded the lakes. There were usually several hundred Indians gathered about
the fort at Detroit ; but never more than twenty-five were permitted within the
gates at one time, and these were unarmed. At the very time when Hamilton
received the news of Clark's success, there was a large gathering of Indians
there with whom he was holding negotiations. He gave them the hatchet anew,
and urged them to more general and violent assaults upon the frontier,
and to hold themselves in readiness to join him in proposed movements against
the Americans. He sent, by some Delawares present, a menacing letter to the
Council of the Delawares, calling upon them "for the last time" to take up
the hatchet, and was greatly infuriated at their firm refusal, and at once
ordered an expedition against them, consisting of Indians and a few soldiers,
commanded by two captains, with orders to return* with the scalps of both
chiefs and missionaries, but the sudden death of the two officers frustrated the
expectation. Hamilton immediately planned an expedition for the recovery of
the Illinois, to be commanded by himself. It was composed of 30 regulars,
50 volunteers, and 400 or 500 Indians. The volunteers were subsequently paid
for their services from the 17th of September, but the expedition did not leave
Detroit until the 7th of October. It is evident that his first purpose was to
proceed at once to Kaskaskia, where Clark's forces were stationed, for he
urges Major De Peyster to send him assistance. De Peyster had also received
special orders from General Haldimand, commanding at Quebec, to do all in
his power to assist Hamilton in his enterprise.
In compliance with these orders, De Peyster, on the 26th of October, dis-
patched Captain De Langlade, and Lieutenant Gautius to arouse the Indians
around Lake Michigan, assemble them at St. Joseph, and to join Hamilton
with all the force they could raise, or to descend the Illinois, if that was better
calculated to promote the success of Hamilton's operations. These officers
are exhorted to use economy, "as the nations in general have already had
many presents from his Majesty." and to exhort the warriors to "use human-
ity towards the prisoners," who "will be ransomed."
Hamilton was greatly delayed by storms and bad weather, and did not reach
Vincennes until the 17th of December. This point, as we have seen, had
h M s t a . tei ents, C. I. W. It may be added, that the Captain Aubey alluded to,
& Am b l y i Cap + ai i Thomas . Au ^ ey of Sir Gu y Carleton's, or the 47th British Regiment serv-
i?mn. ? erlc . at i th l\. pe ^ d :- ^ The F my list of 178 Sives no other officer of that or any
similar name then in the British service. L. C. Draper, Wisconsin.
5
22 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
yielded to the Americans without other force than the moral suasion of Father
Gibault, and it was now held by Captain Helm and one American. As Helm
saw this terrific force gathered about the fort, he placed a loaded cannon in
the gateway and stood by it with a lighted match; and as the enemy approached,
called out with a loud voice, "Halt!" Hamilton demanded a surrender.
Helm replied, "No man shall enter here until I know the terms." The
"honors of war" were granted, and Captain Helm with his garrison of one
received the customary honors.
Hamilton at once dismissed his Indian allies to prowl upon the frontiers or
return to their homes, with the purpose in the .early spring of re-assembling
them, with a largely increased force both from the north and the south, and
then, after re-establishing the British power in Illinois, of marching to Fort
Pitt, sweeping Kentucky and Western Virginia on the way, and thus complet-'
ing the conquest of the frontier. Nor did this plan seem visionary to the
coolest judgment, and nothing but the genius and intrepidity of Clark frus-
t rated it. On the 29th of January, 1779, he received the news of Hamilton's
occupation of Vincennes, and the condition of his forces. His determination
was at once taken. In speaking of Hamilton he says, "I knew if I did not
take him, he would take me."
On the 7th of February, with a force of 176 men, partly composed of volun-
teers, he started for Yincennes. Forty-six of these went by water in a keel
boat with some small guns, ammunition, stores, etc., and 130 marched with
Clark across the country. On the 23d, Clark was before Vincennes, and on
the 25th, Hamilton surrendered himself and his force as prisoners of war.
This wonderful march of 240 miles through a flat country, over a soft
soil, deluged by constant rains the men wading for days through low, wet
prairies, exhausted and benumbed by fatigue, fasting and cold; the intrepid
bearing of the noble leader in his utterly desperate and exhausted condition ;
the gallant attack upon the fort; the unique correspondence between the com-
paratively illiterate back-woodsman and proud British officer, and the final
capture of the post and the defending force, with all the stirring and romantic
details, are known to every reader of history, and need not be recounted.
On the 9th of February previous, a company of about 40 men under the
charge of Mr. Adhemar, a commissary, left Detroit with a large amount of
supplu-s for Governor Hamilton. By the urgent request of Justice Dejean he
was permitted to accompany the expedition, in order to obtain from Governor
Hamilton his warrant or authority to justify his own conduct as magistrate,
and especially as to the executions already noticed. On the 5th of March the
itire expedition was captured while descending the Wabash with seven boats,
1 in all the letters to Governor Hamilton, Dejean is called bv the captors,
"Grand Judge of Detroit."
On the 7th of March, (Mark dispatched Captain Williams and Lieutenant
^vrs, with 25 privates, to conduct Governor Hamilton, "Grand Judge
in, .Major Hay,Captain La Mothe and Lieutenant Scheifflein, and twentv
'there, as prisoners of war, to Virginia. The rest of the captured force, being
principally Frenchmen, were discharged on taking the oath of neutrality.
ior Hamilton, Dejean and La Mothe were for a while ironed and
' imprisoned in a dungeon at Williamsburg, were prohibited the use of
k and paper, and from all intercourse, by order of the Council of Vir-
I 1 1 1 j )01 Y' Xamining ! the 6vidence before them > found that Hamilton
guilty o! , n,n eruelties to American prisoners at Detroit ; that he had
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 23
offered rewards for scalps, but none for prisoners, thus inciting the Indians to
murder the defenceless, that Dejean was the willing instrument of his cruelty,
and that La Mothe had himself led scalping parties, who spared neither men,
women nor children. This imprisonment led to a notable correspondence be-
tween Washington and Jefferson, the Governor of Virginia and others as to
whether, as prisoners of war, Hamilton and his companions were not entitled
to different treatment. They were subsequently released and paroled.
Hamilton was afterwards, for one year, Governor of Canada, and was then
appointed Governor of Dominica, and not long after died. While Governor
of Canada he did not entirely forget his subordinates at Detroit. On the 9th
of November, 1785, he issued an order that no one should disturb Matthew
Elliott in the possession of a lot near the dock yard by the water side, without
producing titles.
The conquest of Illinois and the subsequent capture of Hamilton constituted
a turning point in the history of the Northwest. By these events, and by these
alone wafc the northwestern boundary of the new American Union removed
from the Ohio to the great lakes. Nowhere else did the Americans have a
foothold in the territory comprising these great States, and except for George
Rogers Clark and his victories, the Northwest would have been to-day a British
Canadian Colony. Just this result was anticipated by Jefferson, who wrote to-
Clark expressing his interest in the proposed expedition, and predicting that,
if successful, it would have an important bearing ultimately in establishing
our northwestern boundary.
No sooner was Hamilton captured than Clark turned his eyes toward Detroit,
but his force was quite inconsiderable, and he exclaims with mortification:
"Detroit lost for want of a few men I" Previous to the reception of the news
of Hamilton's capture, there was no little uneasiness in Detroit. Mclntosh's
expedition, so fruitless in good results, had created no little apprehension, and
the letters written to Hamilton at Vincennes clearly indicate that the loyalty
of the French and Indians to the British cause was distrusted, and the early
return of Hamilton was strongly urged. Major Lernoult, who was in com-
mand during Hamilton's absence, commenced the erection of a strong fort,
which was completed the following season, -and which bore his name, until
re-christened Fort Shelby in the war of 1812. The Major, in his correspon-
dence with Hamilton, complains that, while the merchants freely aided in the
work of defence, the French only did so on compulsion.
The news of the capture of Hamilton produced great consternation in
Detroit among the adherents of the crown, and no little gratification to
many of the French. The fort (Laurens) which had been established by
General Mclntosh the fall before, was besieged in January of this year, 1779,
and its inmates were reduced to the greatest distress and almost to starvation.
Many were killed. They were finally, after a siege of six weeks, relieved by
General Mclntosh, who with 700 men brought supplies. Colonel Gibson was
succeeded in the command of the garrison by Major Vernon. In 'the summer
of the same year there was another siege by a small Indian force, but by 'the
interposition of the friendly Delawares, it was relieved, and soon after, in
August, the fort was abandoned, its establishment having accomplished no
good, while it had greatly irritated without overawing the Indians.
In July of this year, Colonel Bowman headed an expedition of 160 men
from Kentucky, against the Shawnees at Chillicothe. After some fighting, in
which nine men were killed and a few wounded, they retreated without accom-
24 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
plishing any decisive results. In October of this year, Major Rogers, who was
in command of some keel boats and 100 men, while ascending the Ohio with
supplies from New Orleans, was surprised and attacked near where Cincinnati
now is, by a large Indian force. Major Rogers and 45 of his men were killed
almost instantly, and only a few finally escaped. These events were well
calculated to excite and encourage Indian hostilities, and unprotected families
and settlements were continually suffering all the horrors of savage war. The
conviction was strong, and growing stronger, that there could be no safety as
long as Detroit was in possession of the British, who from that point directed
and controlled the Indians and supplied them with munitions of war.
On the 12th of January of this year (1779), Washington, in a letter to a
committee of Congress, discusses the importance of an expedition against
Detroit. He suggests that security to the border is only to be obtained by
offensive measures. On the 21st of April he writes to Colonel Brodhead, at
Pittsburgh, to ascertain the best season for such an enterprise, and in Novem-
ber Brodhead suggests a winter expedition. Clark had again considered,
during the summer, the possibility of raising a sufficient force to march upon
Detroit, and had been promised 300 volunteers from Kentucky, but owing to
the repulse of Bowman and other circumstances, only 30 appeared, and he was
forced to abandon the enterprise.
The news of this proposed expedition reached Detroit, and to create a diver-
sion in favor of the British, Lieutenant Bennett, of the Eighth regiment, was
sent on an expedition against the Illinois settlements, by way of Chicago. On
the 1st of July, Major De Peyster, at Mackinaw, issued instructions to Captain
De Langlade to do his utmost to raise "the people of the Milwaukee Fork,
the Indian tribe of Stinkards" (around Green Bay), "and others bordering
on Lake Michigan," and with tjiem hurry to join Mr. Bennett at Chicago, and
to follow him by forced marches if he had }eft.
On the 30th of July, Bennett was at Chicago with 100 whites and 200 Indians,
but nothing further is known of the expedition. When the failure of Clark's
intended enterprise was ascertained, this was doubtless abandoned. An abor-
tive effort was also made about this time to incite an Indian expedition against
Vincennes, but it was found that the Indians in that, vicinity has espoused the
cause of the "Bostonians," as they called the Americans, and proposed to
defend them, and nothing was done.
Major De Peyster had long sought to be transferred from Mackinaw to some
other command. General Haldimand, expressing a high appreciation of his
services there, transferred him to Detroit, where he was in command as early
as October, 1779. He was succeeded at Mackinaw by Major St. Clair, who
remained in command until the close of the war. In 1781 the British held a
treaty with the Indians by which the Island of Mackinaw and Prairie du
Chien were ceded by the Indians, and both points were soon after occupied by
the British as military posts.
The conquest of Illinois, the utter defeat of all the magnificent plans of
Hamilton, of whom the Indians had the highest opinion, and his capture had
greatly lessened the prestige of the British name among the Indians, and
increased that of the Americans. Savages, quite as much as civilized men,
respect and believe in success, and the British officers at Detroit felt the neces-
sity of striking some great blow to restore and retain the confidence of the
Indians. Disaffection was too rapidly spreading among the French, who never
loved the British, and who, since the treaty between France and the United
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 25
States, began to express in various ways their sympathy with the Colonies.
Under the direction of General Haldimand, in command at Quebec,, who was
to furnish funds therefor, ample arrangements were to be made for the most
imposing, extensive and destructive Indian expedition against the border that
had ever been organized; to be accompanied and aided by Canadian volunteers,
and led by British officers of the regular army. To give eclat to the expedition
and make it irresistible, cannon were to accompany it.
Preparations of the most extensive character were commenced in the winter
of 1779 and '80, and were kept up without intermission until the expedition-
was upon the war path the following spring. A large corps of agents and
interpreters was at work among the Indians, arousing their cupidity, exciting
their passions, embittering their zeal, and enlisting their energies. They were
largely and freely furnished with those articles which increased their comfort,
attracted their fancy, or added to their murderous efficiency.
One single mercantile firm in Detroit, "Macomb, Edgar & Macomb,"
charged to the Indian Department from December 29, 1779, to May 16, 1780,
for goods furnished thereto, 42,989 8s 8Jd sterling, or about $215,000; and
12,185 15s 6d for provisions, which account was paid by Major De Peyster by
draft on General Haldimand.
The first charge on this account is for
s. d.
3,972 blankets. . 2,625 5 4
The second:
750 pounds vermillion 750
Other items of the account may not be without interest :
MUNITIONS OF WAR.
4,574 blankets 9,381 6
14,975 pounds ball, lead and shot 1,123 2 6
11,925 flints
8,000 pounds powder 2,000
476 dozen scalping knives 428 8
204 dozen red-haft knives 183 12
4H dozen other knives 37 7
188" tomahawks 119
3,363 pounds of brass and copper kettles 1,198 13 4
6,894^ pounds tobacco, 10s 2,502 9
ORNAMENTAL SUPPLIES.
1,206 pounds vermilion 1,206
21,063 yards tinsel lace . 456 16
301 dozen looking glasses 424 10
120 gross Morris bells 120
8,811 silver buckles 3,343 3 3
8,200 ear bobs 1,640
36 stone necklaces 6 6
280 pounds beads 49
522 gross brass rings ; 77 1,1 4
142 wristbands, 7s ....; .....;.... 49 14
135 arm bands, 30s 212 10
26 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
S. d.
147 gorgets, *:>s 183 15
>><) ear wheels, 12s ^
36 watch chains for the ears, 60s. per doz
:>!> hair pipes, 10s "
15 hair plates, 29s
51 large double crosses, 16s
13 Christs, (silver crosses ?) 14s
151 pieces flowered broad ribon, 30s
129 laced hats, 20s
(5 yards scarlet cloth, 40s
Besides these items furnished at Detroit, goods were distributed to the Indi-
ans in their own country by emissaries, who used every artifice to arouse them
to take up the hatchet :
> s. d.
Tin is, Charles Beaubien furnished goods to Indians at Miami
Town 1,603 8
Matthew Elliott, in Indian country
Captain Me Kee, " " 835
George Girty ? 5 I 7
The latter was also furnished with a gun, three horses, a saddle and bridle,
for the Indian country, doubtless to aid him in subsidizing the Indians to
British interests. At Detroit there were usually at this time several hundred
Indians gathered around the fort; and these were doubtless largely fed at the
public expense, and occasionally some were received within the pickets, and
there entertained. Thus bills like these are found:
s. d.
Fontcnov Dequindre lodging, etc., Indians 11
Charles Guion, " 13
Pierre Drouillard. " 95 2
Andrews & Meldruin " Wabash Indians, 11
On one occasion two Indian chiefs, a Shawnee and a Miami, are furnished
with horses. It cannot be wondered at, that such efforts and such largesses as
these, skillfully addressed to the strongest passions of the savage character,
enlisted them so generally in the British interests. If the inhabitants of the
border had any inkling- of the prodigious efforts which were thus making to
hurl upon them a force at once so murderous and so overwhelming, they must
have looked forward with dread and foreboding to the coming season.
But in the meantime, mirth and gayety reigned and held high festival at
Detroit. Without were the congregated Indians sporting their ornaments and
gay attire, indulging in savage games and dances, making day and night
hideous with coarse and noisy hilarity. The population of the town had very
largely increased since the commencement of the war. Besides those con-
nected with the military and naval service, there were a large number of
government employes, and the large expenditure of public money had drawn
together many enterprising traders. Some of these were men of mark: John
Askin, the grandfather of Mr. Brush, James Abbott, the brothers Alexander
and Wm. Macomb, Wm. Edgar, a partner of these men, the firm of Andrews
& Meldrum and Thos. Williams were among the number. Dr. George Chris-
tian Anthon. a man of considerable eminence, was then a surgeon in the army
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 27
here. He twice married here, first a Navarre and then a Jadot. Some of his
children were born here, and two of them obtained eminence in New York,
Rev. Dr. Henry Anthon, a learned divine, and John Anthon, a lawyer.
There was no Protestant minister. Justices of the Peace performed mar-
riage ceremonies and attended funerals, and sometimes baptized the children.
The only Catholic priest was Father Semple, a kind-hearted and excellent
man, but too old to preach.
The most of the population were, of course, French. Many of these were
intelligent, cultivated and agreeable, and mingled upon terms of perfect social
equality with the officers of the army and navy here congregated and their
families. Altogether, officers, traders and French families, they were too few
to be divided into classes, and they formed but one social circle, shut out for a
long winter from all intercourse with the rest of the world, dependent upon
themselves, secure from the actual presence of the war which prevailed else-
where, gave themselves up to social pleasures with a joyous zeal. Dancing
assemblies were held usually every week, or in the language of Captain Grant,
in a letter of an earlier date, "we hop and bob every Monday night at the
Council House/' The ladies dressed richly and always in silks. Silk petticoats,
costing from 3 12s to 5 are frequently charged to officers and citizens in
merchants' accounts. I find two pairs of silk slippers charged to Major De
Peyster at 26s 8d each. The gentlemen wore silk hose and the short breeches
of the time. Silk hose are charged at 33s to 36s per pair.
In other respects these dancing assemblies were most expensive. The caterer,
and perhaps the landlord on these occasions was Wm. Forsyth, and the amount
of liquors charged to him is quite startling. His dancing bills for this winter,
1780, were 566 6s 2d. The following are some of the dancing bills of indi-
viduals :
s. d.
Duperon Baby 20 12 7
Jacques Campau 20 12 7
Antoine Adhemar 17 19 11
Gregor McGregor 17 19 11
The following paid 14 19s lid each: Major De Peyster, Captains Grant
and Burnett, Lieutenants MacDougal and Banbury, Ensigns Fray and Thomas
Finchley, Thomas Williams, Isadore Chene, and George Lyons, while others
paid as low as 11 11s 3d.
Dinner parties were also frequent, at which choice wines were freely drank.
Prices are indicated by the following charges:
s. d.
Pork, per bbl 10
Flour, per bbl. of 166 Ibs 8 6
Indian corn, per bu 32
Rum, per gal 30
Vinegar, per gal 16
Green tea, per Ib 20
Coffee, per Ib 5
Chocolate, per Ib 7
Castile soap, per Ib 5
Cinnamon, per Ib 40
Nutmegs, per Ib 40
28 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
S. d.
Cloves, per oz 4
Salt, per keg 4
Candles, per Ib 3 6
Snuff, per Ib 12
In one instance a slave is charged at 100.
A somewhat unique currency or measure of values prevailed among those
who traded with the Indians, viz. : "bucks" and "does" meaning buckskins
and doeskins, instead of pounds and dollars. Thus Colonel Gibson, command-
ing at Forrt Laurens, acknowledges himself indebted to "Captain Johnny"
for pork furnished the garrison, "seven bucks and one doe."
I find a contemporaneous charge to George Girty, as follows :
Bucks.
To salt, at Shawny towns 4
To 116 Ibs. flour 14
To one bag with do 2
Tobacco . 3
23
A "buck" was equivalent to about $1.
The expedition for which such ample preparations were made, was organized
in the spring of 1780. An attempt was made to get up a volunteer force to
accompany the Indians. For this purpose a popular and influential French-
man, Louis Chabert de Joncaire, was commissioned as captain, and an English-
man, afterwards a leading and influential merchant, Jonathan Scheifflein, as
lieutenant. These with two sergeants and a corporal, all Frenchmen, under-
took to organize a company. Twenty-five men, of whom 21 bore French
names, did volunteer, but no more. Then follows in the record a list of 32
names, under the significant heading "ordered to go." Of these, all but four
are French names. And under the same heading, follow the names of 23, all
French but one, who were "ordered to go" with Captain Chene. This
irregular force thus consisted of 80 privates and six officers.
The Indians who joined the expedition are variously estimated from 500 to
1,000. Whether any regular soldiers accompanied it, I have not been able to
ascertain ; but it is probable that there were at least sufficient to man the six
small cannon that were to make the attacks against the stockades of the fron-
tiers irresistible. The expedition was under the command of Captain Bird, of
the Eighth or King's regiment. When it left Detroit, I do not know, but the
militia force was completely organized by the 24th of March, from which day
they were paid privates receiving four shillings per day. It doubtless passed
up the Maumee, or Miami of the lakes, and crossed to the head waters of the
Great Miami, which it descended in canoes. I find twenty- two pirogues or
canoes charged to the Indian Department at this time, two of which were
delivered to Captain Bird while on the way.
The expedition aimed its first and only blow at two small stations on the
Licking river. It must have moved very slowly. It appeared before Eud-.
dell's Station (Harrison county), on a branch of the Licking river, a small
settlement of the previous year, on the 23d of June. It had been twelve days
marching from the Ohio, some forty or fifty miles distant. The inhabitants
were taken by surprise; resistance was hopeless, and they surrendered. One
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 29
man and two women were killed; the rest became Indian rather than British
prisoners. The settlement was plundered, families were separated, and the
inhabitants laden like pack-horses with their own effects ; and those who sank
under their burdens were mercilessly tomahawked.
A similar scene took place at Martin's Station, a few miles above. These
successes, small as they were, sharpened the Indian appetite for murder and
pillage, and they urged Captain Bird to attack the older and more important
settlements; but he refused, and precipitately retired with his whole force.
Thus ingloriously ended the expedition from which so much had been antici-
pated. Two small stations had been captured and some prisoners taken. It
is believed that Captain Bird, found himself unable to control the treacherous
cruelty of the Indians, and that his course was dictated by the noblest feelings
of humanity. Most of the captives were brought to Detroit, where the expe-
dition arrived early in August, probably on the 4th, as the militia were paid to
that time.
This expedition aroused the Kentuckians to retaliation, and on the first of
August, nearly 1,000 men under General Clark, gathered at the site of Cincin-
nati, and marched into the Indian country on Mad river, where, after a battle
with the Indians, they burned their villages and destroyed their crops, thus
greatly crippling their resources and power of mischief. The IQSS of the invad-
ers was seventeen men. These were the principal events of this year, 1780,
but it is interesting to note the constant reference to the great importance of
capturing Detroit.
On the 10th of February, Governor Jefferson writes to Washington, suggest-
ing an expedition against Detroit, to be commanded by Clark, rather than
Brodhead. On the llth of February, Brodhead writes to Washington, inform-
ing him of the new fort at Detroit and its situation, great strength, and that
its garrison is 450 regulars. On the 24th of April, the same officer writes that
the expedition against Detroit must be given up, unless Clark's troops can be
united with his. On the 30th of May he writes that the contradictory state-
ments as to the garrison at Detroit had determined him to send Captain Brady
with five whites and two Delaware Indians to Sandusky, to take a British
prisoner, and that he had promised to other Delaware warriors fifty hard
dollars worth of goods for one British soldier. He hopes for success, and if an
intelligent prisoner is obtained, he proposes to grant him some indulgence for
intelligence. On the 25th of August, he writes that the British treat the
French at Detroit with great severity, and the latter are ready to welcome
American troops.
On the 25th of September;, Governor Jefferson writes that the exposed state
of the Virginia frontier makes it necessary to keep from 500 to 800 men on
duty, to defend them against northern Indians, acting under the influence of
the British post at Detroit. He suggests an expedition against Detroit under
Clark, at the general expense, estimating its cost at $2,000,000. On the 15th
of December, he writes that they have reason to expect that the ensuing spring
a force of 2,000 British and Indians will descend upon the border, and that
Virginia has determined to undertake the destruction of Detroit, and asks the
loan of arms and munitions of war for the expedition. On the 19th of Decem-
ber, Washington writes to Colonel Brodhead, at Pittsburgh, to furnish the
required arms and munitions, and to aid the expedition of Colonel Clark to the
extent of his power. He states that the inability of the continent to undertake
the reduction of Detroit "has imposed the task upon the State of Virginia."
6
30 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
The invasion of Virginia in 1781, by the British under Cornwallis, prevented
that State from furnishing the proposed aid to this expedition; still Clark
made a great effort to secure the necessary force. He visited Fort Pitt in May
of this year, and not getting all the aid in men that he had expected, he writes
to Washington on the 26th of that month, soliciting orders for such aid. He
says, "the Indian war is now more general than ever, and any attempt to
appease them except by the sword will be fruitless." He predicts fatal conse-
quences to the whole frontier should the expedition fail. But, like many
another well planned expedition for the cause of the Colonies, it did fail for
want of means and men.
Clark attempted to rendezvous' a force at the mouth of the Licking, which,
when organized, was to ascend the Miami, but instead of gathering 2,000 men,
as he hoped, only 750 came, "and the buffalo meat was all rotten." A force
of over 100 men, coming to his aid from Western Pennsylvania, was waylaid
and nearly exterminated. To the great chagrin of Clark, the expedition was
abandoned.
General Irvine, then in command at Pittsburgh, writes to General Washing-
ton on the 2d day of December, 1781, announcing the failure of the expedition,
and predicts the most disastrous results. The Indians and perhaps the British
from Detroit, will fall on the country with double fury. Fort Pitt is indefen-
sible, and the inhabitants on the frontier talk of flying east of the mountain.
He says, Clark "is apprehensive of a visit from Detroit," in Kentucky; and
that the Indians are so numerous there, "that all the inhabitants have been
obliged to keep close in forts." He believes "if Detroit was demolished," it
would give "at least temporary ease to this country."
On the 7th of February, 1782, he writes, that it would take 2,000 men and
three months' time to reduce Detroit, and that August is the best time for the
expedition. He estimates the garrison to consist of 300 regulars, from 700 to
1,000 militia (Canadians) and that 1,000 Indians could be assembled in ten
days' time.
This was the last of all the projects for the taking of Detroit. The long
deferred hope of the capture of this nest, where were hatched all the projects
for carrying devastation and murder to our borders, and from whence these
projects received their support, made the settlers of the border sick at heart,
and led to cold-blooded, cowardly acts of murderous revenge, which have left
a dark and indelible stain upon our annals, that we may not read without
indignant and burning shame. I allude to the Moravian massacre.
THE MORAVIAN INDIANS
I have already adverted to the fact that, for the most part, the Delawares,
through the influence of the Moravian missionaries on the Muskingum and its
branches, remained neutral. These missions were established by the famous
David Zeisberger in 1772, and afterwards there were associated with him the
scarcely less famous Heckewelder and other co-laborers.
They had met with remarkable success among the Delawares a most intel-
ligent tribe and had gathered around them some four or five hundred con-
verts, including some powerful chiefs, and were rapidly introducing amongst
them the custims and habits of civilized life, and especially were thev becoming
Buccessfttl cultivators of the soil. On the breaking out of 'the Revolution, their
d policy was one of peace and neutrality. This policy, as well as their
oH, exposed them to the suspicions of both of the contending parties.
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 31
They were 011 the shortest and best route for the northern Indians to the Vir-
ginia border, and from necessity, as well as by the force of Indian customs,
they treated these Indians with hospitality. On the other hand, they persuaded
many an Indian band to abandon some murderous design, and warned the
frontier settlers of many another. The fierce passions of the hour made no
allowance for this apparently contradictory conduct, and they were looked
upon with undisguised jealousy from both sides. That infamous trio of British
emissaries, McKee, Elliott and Simon Girty, were especially inimical to the
missionaries. More than once had the last named of them planned the murder
of Zeisberger, but his plans seemed frustrated by a divine interposition. In
April, 1781, Colonel Brodhead, in command at Pittsburgh, organized an expe-
dition of about 300 men and marched to the Tus-ca-ra-was, and attacked some
pagan Delaware's, who had espoused the British cause, and succeeded in killing
15 and taking "30 prisoners. He treated the missionaries and their converts
with kindness. This excited the suspicion and the ire of those in British
interests, and it was determined that the mission should be destroyed. Early
in August a large company of Indians, led by Elliott, and accompanied by six
other white men, appeared at one of the missions, bearing the British flag.
After many days of attempted negotiation, and of menace, it was determined
to remove the missionaries to Detroit. They were seized by force, and on the
llth of September, they with their families, and the whole body of Christian
Indians, left their plundered homes, and on the 1st of October reached San-
dusky river. The story of these meek, brave, noble men; their cruel treatment
by Girty; their compulsory march on foot to Detroit through the horrors of
the Black Swamp, leaving their families and converts ; their arrival, and manly
bearing at Detroit, tattered, weary, hungry and friendless as they were; their
reception and courteous treatment by the commandant, Major De Peyster; the
permission to return to Sandusky; their sufferings there from cold and famine,
in the midst of unfriendly Indians inspired by Girty, form one of the most
thrilling narratives of our Revolutionary history.
In the course of the winter, so intense was the famine, that about 150 of the
Christian Indians were permitted to return to the Tus-ca-ra-was to gather the
corn left there the fall before, and they were there the March following.
In February of this year, 1782, a party of Indians from the region of San-
dusky penetrated the settlements of Western Pennsylvania, and committed
their customary depredations. The family of one Wallace .fell beneath their
murderous stroke, under circumstances well calculated to arouse the most
intense feeling, and a deep thirst for revenge. Suspicion, though without
cause, rested upon the Moravian Indians. An expedition was at once organized
of about 90 men, mainly from the settlements of the Monongahela, of which
Colonel Williamson was commander.
They marched to the 'Moravian towns early in March, where they found a
portion of the Christian Indians who had been sent back from Sandusky,
dwelling in peace and unsuspecting security. They received Williamson's party
as friends, treated them with hospitality, and cheerfully delivered to them their
arms. They were then driven together, bound and thrust into some huts. It
was then voted that the whole body, men, women and children, should be put
to death. The details of the cold-blooded butchery which followed, are too
horrid for repetition. Twenty-nine men, twenty-seven women and thirty
children, twelve of whom were babes, were thus shamefully murdered. The
victims died like Christian martyrs, praising God.
32 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
This atrocious slaughter fills us- with such horror and indignation, that it is
difficult for us to conceive the state of mind which led to it. But we should
remember, that for years, the border had .suffered all the terrible murderous
atrocities of an Indian war; that the settlers did not, and could not, fully dis-
tinguish between the perpetrators of these deeds of blood, and those innocent
of them; that with them an Indian was but an Indian, and that the passion
for revenge had been roused to deepest fury.
This expedition gave birth to another and a much more formidable one,
organized with a like intent to spare no Indian, friend or foe. Four hundred
and eighty men, well mounted and armed, rendezvoused at the Mingo Bottom
of the Ohio, above Wheeling, on the 25th of May, 1782, and Colonel Craw-
ford was elected commander. They reached Sandusky river, June 6th. On
the 7th the Indians gave them battle without decisive results, but the savages
were evidently gathering a large force, and on the 9th a retreat was ordered.
Colonel Crawford, and several others, got separated from the main force, and
were taken prisoners. Several of them were tomahawked, but to Crawford, in
retaliation for the Moravian massacre, was reserved the doom of death at the
stake, aggravated for three hours by the more than devilish ingenuity of his
savage tormentors, and the derisive taunts of Simon Girt} r . Thus ended this
disastrous campaign, commenced in cruelty and crime.
While these terrible events had been transpiring by the intrigues of Simon
Girty, the Moravians had again been ordered to Detroit, which they reached
April 15th. They were treated with great kindness by Major De Peyster, who
informed them, however, that owing to the complaint of the Half-King, the
Wyandott chief, they could not remain at Sandusky. They then concluded to
establish their mission on what was then the Huron river of the north (now
the Clinton), near Mount Clemens, where they remained for some years.
On this occasion Zeisberger preached the gospel at Detroit. The only
Eoman Catholic priest, Father Semple, was an old man, who at that time
never preached. The protestants had no minister nor service of any kind.
Justices of the peace attended their weddings and funerals, and sometimes
baptized their children.
A somewhat notable character, the. famous Mohawk Indian chief, Captain
Brant, was probably in Detroit in the spring of this year, as eight gallons of
"best port" are there charged to him, at 32s per gallon.
The capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown, in October, 1781, was virtually a
triumph of the American Eevolution, and although the final treaty of peace
was not signed until 1783, the war had practically ceased except upon the
frontier. In the beginning of August, 1782, Sir Guy Carleton wrote to General
Washington that negotiations for peace had commenced at Paris, and that the
independence of the United States would be conceded as a preliminary step.
But in the same month a most formidable force of Northern Indians, led by
Simon Girty and McKee, invaded Kentucky. On the 16th of August they
appeared at Bryan's Station, invested it for two days, when they retired, after
the loss of thirty warriors.
The Krntuekians, aroused by this invasion, gathered in small force; and
then followed, on the 19th, the'short and disastrous battle of the Blue Licks,
in which, out of about 180 men, 60 were killed and seven taken prisoners;
among the killed was Colonel Todd, the civil Governor of the Illinois country.
To avenge this disaster, Clark assembled about 1,000 mounted riflemen, and
invaded the Indian towns of Ohio; but the alarm had been given, and he
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 33
found them empty of inhabitants. The villages were fired, and the cornfields
laid waste. Seven prisoners were taken and ten of the enemy killed, and two
white captives re-taken.
The last event of this border war was the investment of Fort Henry, at
Wheeling, by a force of 350 Indians under George Girty, and a company of
Queen's rangers, commanded by Captain Pratt. An attempt was made to
storm the fort, but by the aid of a small cannon, it was repulsed. On the
second day of the seige, Captain Williamson with 70 mounted men, came to
the relief of the little garrison, and the Indians quickly disappeared. A
portion of them appeared before Kice's Fort, some fourteen miles distant, but
they were repulsed by its garrison of six men, with a loss of four warriors.
This is the last effort of Indian hostility which we have to notice.
Peace was not formally proclaimed until April, 1783, but a state of quietude
had existed for months before. By the terms of the treaty, the Northwest,
although never completely conquered by American arms, became a part of the
American Union. Detroit and its dependencies continued to be occupied by
the British until July, 1796, when for the first time this whole' Northwest
came under the dominion of the American flag.
Of its progress, of its great w r ealth and unprecedented growth, both in popu-
lation and all the elements of a Christian civilization, I have spoken. It has
no grim, war-worn battlements, telling us, in their mute and expressive lan-
guage, of an iron age an iron race long since passed away. It has no ruined
temples and columns no broken statues no exhumed cities left as monu-
ments of a civilization which no longer exists. Its greatness is 'in the future,
yet clear to those who look through the vista of coming years with an intelli-
gent and steady gaze.
But even here we have a past, and one of no small interest a past that
reaches back beyond the clearly defined regions of fact, into the dim and
shadowy regions of romance. We have the history of the gay and happy
Frenchman leaving his storied, native land its vine-clad hills and sunny val-
leys, and with a passive heroism, that defies every danger, and endures every
trial, here cheerfully nay, joyously struggling with nature in her obscurest,
wildest depths, and meeting upon his own ground, and around his own camp-
fires, the still wilder savage; lure planting the footsteps of an advancing
civilization, and in the midst of every peril and every privation, creating an
Arcadia of simple happiness amid the green prairies and the sombre forests
that lined the banks of our noble lakes and beautiful rivers.
The author, who with a genial spirit and an artist's eye, looking through
the dim transparency of the past, shall reproduce to us a true and lively
picture of the first century of the French occupation of the Northwest, will
deserve and receive the warmest gratitude.
Tlien comes in our history the stirring events connected with the conquest of
Canada by Great Britain the surrender of the Northwest to the conquering
power the conspiracy of Pontiac the siege of Detroit the capture or aban-
donment of other posts so graphically described by Parkman; and finally the
American Eevolution, some of the incidents of which I have sought to trace.
Nor is our later history without its absorbing interest. During the war of
1812, the Northwest was the scene of stirring and tragic events; and when
armed rebellion raised its bloody hands against the TJnion, the Northwest
poured forth its hardy sons in one generous, mighty and continuous stream,
34 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
and where there was danger to be met, suffering to be endured, or glory to be
won, they were among the foremost. Stalwart blows they dealt, and their
blood has enriched, and their bones whitened, every battle-field.
Xor in the glorious victories of peace does it stand second to any portion of
our common country. It becomes us in the spirit of filial devotion, to know
and to record this history to gather up even the minute threads thereof, and
to weave them with a bright and natural coloring into one beautiful, harmo-
nious whole.
LIST OF OFFICERS, INSPECTORS, SMITHS, ETC., IN THE INDIAN DEPARTMENT AT
DETROIT, OCTOBER 24TH, 1779 :
(From Mss. Michigan Historical Society. These names are as in the original, but no doubt
many of them are incorrectly spelled.)
Duperoii Baby, Isadore Chesne,
Alexander McKee, Charles Braubin.
(Each under pay at ten shilling sterling per day.)
Matthew Elliott, William Tucker,
Simon Girthy, Robert Surphlit,
James Girthy, Fontenoy Dequender,
Piere Drouillard,
(Each sixteen shillings, York currency, per day.)
Nicholas Lorajne.
(Ten shillings, York Currency.)
Jeancaire Chabert.
(Eight shillings, York currency, and ten shillings sterling from 24th March.)
Claud Lubute, Gregor McGregor,
Henry Baby, Sampson Fleming,
Francis Diel, Charles Gouin, '
Duplessis, Thomas McCarty,
La Seuexe,
24th June-
Francis L'Coellie, D. Duquinder.
(Each eight shillings, York, per day.)
John Mackay.
(Four shillings, York.)
LIST OF VOLUNTEERS, ETC., ON THE EXPEDITION OF CAPTAIN BIRD, WITH THEIR
PAY FROM 24TH MARCH TO 24TH MAY, 1780 :
Captain Chabert, sixty-one days, at ten shillings, sterling, per day; Lieuten-
ant Jonathan Seheiffelin, eight shillings, York currency; Anton Charon and
Francis Babant, Sergeants, each six shillings, York; Joseph Carrie, Corporal,
five shillings, York: and the following privates, each four shillings, York
currency :
Louis Somlers, Pierre Loson,
I"s Trudelle, Andrew Bertiaume,
Antoine Truttie, Joseph Lapont,
(Maude Richard, Guillaume Mallet,
Ha/il Moran, J. B . Baazau,
Jean Mary Plante, John Jones,
Jean Marie Marion, Edward Shehe,
Pierre Tessier, John Flurrv,
THE NORTHWEST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 35
Francois Tessier, John Stockwell,
Antoine Martell, Joseph Reagh,
Joseph Longuiel, John Murray,
Joseph Laliberte, James Tussy,
William Greg.
" ORDERED TO GO "EACH POUR SHILLINGS, YORK, PER DAY :
Jean Marie Le Cerp, Francois Bylair,
Jacques Chartier, Etienne Tramblay,
Amable Jitter, Caleb Reynolds,
Joseph Bergeron, J. B. Tavuan,
Paul Lasaline, Jacques Loson,
Bonavanture Lariviere, Joseph Cote,
Pierre Demerk, Charles Campau,
Jacques Prudhomme, Amable St. Etienne,
Pierre Labutte, Benja. Chapu,
J. B. Labady, Pierre Misee,
Louis Desaunier, Louis Moine,
J. B. Lajeunesse, Simon Bergeron,
Pierre St. Louis, Joseph Drouilliart,
J. B. Ledaux, Alex'r Johnson,
Charleboy, Julien Labutte,
J. B. Peltier, J. B. Tramblay.
Th<> amount paid to the above was 823 18s 8d.
THE FOLLOWING PERSONS WERE "ORDERED TO GO" WITH CAPTAIN CHENB :
Joseph Blay, Joseph Degagne, Charles Leblanc, Pierre Robert, and James
McPhee, eight shillings each, York currency; and the following each four
shillings, York:
Pierre Miney, Andre Maw,
Charles Roseau, Etienne Lebeau,
Simon Yax, Jean B. Lajeunesse,
Michel Tramblay, Francois Prudhomme,
Chrisostome St. Louis, ' J. P. Yax,
Ignace Billette, J. B. Labady, Jr.,
J. B. Mouinerel, Jacques Chauvin,
Joseph Grimard, Pierre Clenchette, CFk,
Andre Viger, J. B. Ledue.
The total pay of the above, added to Captain Chabert's company, amounted
to 1,165 10s 8Jd.
PAY-ROLL OF VOLUNTEERS WITH CAPTAIN BIRD, FROM MAY 25TH TO AUGUST 4TH,
178072 DAYS.
Louis Jeancaire Chabert, Captain, ten shillings, sterling, per day; Jonathan
Sniffling, Lieutenant, eight shillings; Baubautt Chanon, Wm. Gregg and
James McAphie, Sergeants, six shillings; Joseph Carrier, Joseph Trouillier
and Joseph Rough, Corporals, five shillings; and the following privates at
four shillings each:
36 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Francis Trudell, Joseph Laliberty,
Guillianie Mellet, J- B. Labadee,
Babt. Brazau, J. M. L'Lerf,
Claud Richard, Joseph Bergeron,
Bazil Moran, Bonaventure Larivier,
Jean Marie Plant, Jacque Prudhomme,
Antoine Trottier, Pierre Laluette,
John Fleury, Louis Dezonier,
Pierre Lazon, Etienne Tromble,
Andre Berthiaume, J. B. Faverau,
, Joseph Laforest, Jacque Lozen,
Joseph Longite, Benjamin Chapue,
Edward Shehe, Pierre Mizie,
John Stockwell, Louis Morran,
John Johnes, Bapt. Laduke,
John Murry, Touissant Charleboy,
James Tressey, Bapt. Piltier,
Jean Marie Marion, Julian Labute,
Pierre Tizier, Jean B. Tramble June,
Francis Tizier, Alex. Johnson,
Antoine Martelle.
Daniel Whaler, from the 25th May to 20th June, 27 days; Joseph Guilbeaux,
from 25th May to 1st July, 38 days; Henry Aunger, from 25th May to 18th
June, 25 days; John Rix, from 2 5th May to 23d June, 30 days; Roger Welsh,
do., 30 days ; Caleb Reynolds and Pierre Chinchett, volunteers, each 72 days,
four shillings per day; Captain Morran, one lieutenant, one sergeant, and
forty men, for 21 days on survey, with provisions for Captain Bird's party.
Captain Morran's pay-roll amounting to 199 10s, and the total of this pay-
roll, including Morran's, 1,079 12s 3Jd.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS OF 1835 AND 1850. 37
A SKETCH OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CON
STITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS OF
1835 AND 1850.
BY JUDGE HEZEKIAH G. WELLS, OF KALAMAZOO.
Read February 5th, 1879.
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : In the month of May, A. D.
1835, a body of men, in number eighty-four, met in the old capitol building
at Detroit, for the purpose of preparing a Constitution for a proposd new
State. The power delegated to these men came from the people of the then
Territory of Michigan, who had held their election pursuant to law in the pre-
ceding month of April. Within and without this State, all of these men have
gone to their graves, except eight; and of this number, two only are present
here to-night, your honored President, and he who now addresses you. We
were of the youngest members of the convention, elected, possibly, for the mere
purpose of contrast, for in the assemblage were men with whitened locks and
large experience in life; men of almost every avocation were there; the largest
proportion of the farming class; mechanics, millers, and editors; also clergy-
men without any of the sensational about them, lovers of the truth as drawn
from the plain precepts of the Bible; some of the medical profession, all of
the old school, big dose men, for seemingly the infinitesimal doses were not
then in vogue. In our assemblage we had another class of men, whom I had
almost forgotten, patient, quiet workers for other people's interests, modest
men; I mean of course the lawyers. Such was the composition of the conven-
tion, the largest proportion of them eminently practical men; they were
trying to work out the problem in a new country as pioneers, how to live; and
this by observing the axiom, "earn your money before you spend it;" earn
it by industry, earn it honestly.
The President of the convention possessed a quick, active mind, had been a
delegate in Congress, of good stock, had several brothers, all distinguished, one
located in the early history of Territorial Michigan at Mackinaw, known widely
to the Indians from Detroit river to the Mississippi, a fair man and successful
trader; another went to his death by a musket ball in a fight at St. Louis
under the "code of honor" as termed at the South; and the third, able as a
financier; Nicholas Biddle as president of the United States Bank was known
in all the cities and commercial centres of Europe and America. When John
Biddle, in the convention as its presiding officer, laid down a principle of par-
7
38 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
liamentary law and practice, it staid laid down, for he was generally right,
and always firm and positive.
There was another man in that convention, whose peer in one respect I
never met in Michigan. Eoss Wilkins, for sparkling intellectual brilliancy,,
stood alone. Whoever heard one of Judge Wilkins' charges to the Grand Jury
in the District Court of the United States at Detroit, although he might have
forgotten last Sunday's sermon, every word of it, would never forget the
manner of the judge, on the matter of the charge.
Wayne county had on its list of delegates, General John R. \Villiams, pos-
sessed of remarkable social qualities, a gentleman who always enlisted your
esteem in behalf of himself, and when you parted with him you thought better
of yourself, because he seemingly recognized your good qualities.
William Woodbridge, also of Wayne county, few persons in Michigan but
that knew of the kind qualities and great ability of this learned lawyer.
Other delegates from Wayne county were men of note, and in various ways.
It will be remembered that Detroit was well towards the west in the early
day, and then it was the practice of the people of that city to accord to them- -
selves the highest type of civilization; outsiders, many of them, made the
same estimate. Remember I am speaking of the past. If the present genera-
tion in that beautiful town, located on a river filled with white fish, and having
much beauty of water surface, are modest people, that is much to their credit.
It was said of Captain John Clark, of St. Clair county, that he was
never forgotten by any one who had ever known him. General Andrew Jack-
son recognized Captain John Clark as a good man, of good ability. His
sterling qualities in this respect were known and recognized by people in all
the walks of life, and by none more so, than those in low estate. In positions
of public trust his name was only another name for integrity.
John S. Barry made his first entry in public life in that convention, and
afterwards distinguished himself for several terms as one of the economical
Governors of Michigan ; such was the estimate in which he was held, that there
may be some old men in this State who would rather vote for Barry dead or
alive than for any other man; they had faith in him because he always
wanted the State Treasurer to examine both sides of a voucher before a dollar
was taken from the treasury. His views as to a Governor's salary differed
from those expressed by leading men to-day; he knew that one thousand
dollars could be divided into ten parts, and that two-tenths could be set apart
for house rent, five-tenths for current expenses, and that three-tenths would
be left for the savings bank; he would tell you, wait for better times before
you replenish the family wardrobe. A Governor's house at Lansing! Yes,,
he would have said, rather buy the Governor a pair of Percheron horses and a
strong wagon, and let him drive out of the State and stay there. The Gover-
nor's ideas of economy were peculiar; they were extreme; they would not
have been tolerated ten years ago, and yet, the stringency of the times for
three years past puts our minds in the same channel. If, however, we con-
demn the Governor's ideas of economy, let us give him credit for fair intelli-
gence. When he replied to a member of the Legislature who complained of
the acoustic qualities of the old Hall of the House of Representatives by sug-
gesting, that he "talk slow, always talk good common sense, and talk little.""
There were other men in the Constitutional Convention of 1835, who have
gone from among us, who ought to be kindly remembered -by the pioneers,
but time prevents further notice of individuals. In the votes and discussions-
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS OF 1835 AND 1850. 39
of the convention no particular feeling was exhibited, although, we were divided
politically, seventy-four Democrats and ten Whigs. This Constitution
remained in force until 1st of January, A. D. 1851, when the present Consti-
tution was adopted, which had been prepared by a convention assembled at
Lansing, June 3, 1850, holding its sessions to August 15, 185(h
This second Constitutional Convention consisted of one hundred members,
eighty Democrats and twenty Whigs : all of the latter under the order of the
presiding officer went to the tail end of the several committees, not a chair-
manship to one of them, although somebody thought, if it was not said, that
the Whigs brought more of brains into the convention than in tke proportion
of twent}' to eighty. I do not mention this with the intent to disparage the
presiding officer, Judge Daniel Goodwin, for in all other matters he performed
his duties with fidelity and ability. Of the members of this convention many
are dead, after having left a record which entitles them to the grateful recol-
lection of the people of our State: Charles W. Whipple, a courteous gentle-
man who for many years filled well his position of Circuit and Supreme Judge ;
Nathan Pierce, oftentimes a member of the Legislature, from Washtenaw and
Calhoun counties, a heavy, slow moving man, who emigrated to Michigan
from some region of country where the people thought more of a good stock of
sound common sense than they did of a high degree of educational polish.
His neighbors and those who knew him best would have had him here as a
legislator, in the new Capitol, if he had lived; they believed him to be an
honest man, with a large capacity to get at the merits or demerits of proposed
legislation. He was a great economist and delighted in limited public expen-
diture and low taxation.
Samuel Clark, of Kalamazoo county, made the first move in the convention
for the establishment of the Agricultural College, in presenting the following
resolution :
"Resolved, That the Committee on Education be instructed to inquire into the
expediency of providing for the establishment of an Agricultural School and Model
Farm connected therewith."
He was a lawyer of eminence, a member of Congress from the State of New
York and afterwards from Michigan, and well known for his social qualities
and generous hospitality.
Joseph R. Williams, of St. Joseph county, an active member of the Commit-
tee on Education, who, with his associate on the committee, John D. Pierce,
did very much toward the advancement of Michigan in popular education.
Article XIII., in the Constitution of 1850, entitled "Education," is liberal
in all of its povisions; it cares for every child in the State by its primary
schools : as a result of its provisions, there is no necessity to go beyond Michi-
gan for opportunities of the highest mental culture. Has this Article of our
Constitution, any defects ? Yes, it fails to make it imperative on the Legisla-
ture to provide for first class advantages for the education of women; and fail-
ing to make it imperative, the Legislature hesitates and doubts the propriety.
Will the better* opportunity for women, in an educational way, improve
women's opportunity for honorable and profitable employment? Yes, and I
coulc^ cite many instances to sustain my assertion, when the liberality and
means of the parent has enabled the daughter to acquire an education fitting
her for a business position. I name one : an unmarried lady holds the position
of Pension Agent in Chicago, for the State of Illinois. 'She had first-class
opportunities for obtaining a finished business education. During the year
40 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
1878 she disbursed two million, two hundred and fifty-eight thousand, eight
hundred and five dollars and forty-two cents to eighteen thousand two hun-
dred and seventy-two pensioners, and the proper department at Washington
certified that her accounts were correct. With like opportunities to qualify,
more than 1,000 women in Michigan would exhibit like qualifications.
I have digressed somewhat from my text, but that is the privilege of
preachers, and possibly, pioneers. 1 note further of the members of the con-
vention of 1850: Eix Eobinson, of Kent county; he was a resident trader in
both Kent and Kalamazoo counties some years before any other white settlers.
His judgment in matters of business was greatly relied upon by those who
knew him, and great was the regret of the Indian when he was compelled to
leave the valley of the Grand river, that he should lose the kindly offices of
Rix Eobinson in whom he had unbounded confidence.
Alexander E. Tiffany, a member of this convention from Lenawee county,
prepared and published a book for the enlightenment of justices of the peace;
his labor on Tiffany's Justice's Guide put ideas on the subject of the law in
the heads of justices of the peace in Michigan that never would have found
lodgment there unless he had written the book. He was a sound lawyer and
most estimable man.
William Norman McLeod (a well rounded Scotch name) represented in the
convention the county of Mackinac. He had been in his early day a Presby-
terian clergyman, but in moving along the path of life he came to a point
where there were two paths, and by accident or otherwise, he took the path
which diverged from the right line. He quit the ministry, or the ministry quit
him, he never told me which. Strange man, he was the most brilliant man of
the one hundred men of that convention. It seemed as though he had read
all of the best books and some of the worst; his memory was wonderful, and
he had stored his knowledge with so much of system that he had it for use
whenever required. While with us in the convention he was a useful member.
In parliamentary practice he was always able to give the correct rule, and
whenever required, the reason on which this rule was founded; in sarcasm
and invective his adversary generally preferred not to encounter him more
than once. In his social talks, in his efforts at the bar, in his discussions in
convention and in the Legislature he always commanded the attention of his
auditors, because his ideas were distinct and well formed, and his language
remarkable for its clearness. Poor Mac! He was kind-hearted and a good
fellow, but a bad friend to himself. If he had only held the power to put and
hold an iron hand on the monster that overpowered him, he might have been
with us now; and if so, he would have held this audience silent, and you
would have carried his eloquent words to your homes as words of wisdom.
The 29th year since the convention of 1850 has been reached; and although
the law-making power has given two opportunities to the people to set aside
the Constitution under which we are now living, yet the people seem to think
that it is a safe rule to let well enough alone. They say, we want the old and
not the new. Let us nraise their action as a compliment to the pioneer.
THE MOUND BUILDERS AND THEIR WORK. 41
THE MOUND BUILDERS AND THEIR WORK
IN MICHIGAN.
BY HENRY H. RILEY, OF CONSTANTINE.
Read February 5th, 1879.
History taught me to believe that Christopher Columbus discovered America;
that he was the first white man who set a foot or raised a flag on its soil.
Beyond him, the depths of the past were crowded with generations of Indians.
I did not try to know just how they originated, how long they had existed, or
how many millions of them had lived and died: but the Indian was the only
link in my mind between Columbus and Adam; and all the tribes and nations
of red men, who had so long roamed over the wild wastes of the western wilder-
ness were regarded as a kind of military force, set on foot by the Almighty to
hold the country until civilization ishould take possession and subdue it.
I once thought it heresy to doubt the geographical books and schools of
the day. Our fathers had lived and died in the faith of what was written
about our history and why should not I also?
As I grew older and my credulity sobered down into facts, and strange
shafts of light began to flash around and illuminate the world, theories began
to dissolve and my opinions swerved the other way, and like the swinging pen-
dulum, too far at first and beyond the centre; and at last I found mv^elf
becoming a skeptic on the subject of the history of man and his origin. I felt
that we had been moving among doubts and shadows, and I am not yet
restored to faith on this subject.
My belief in the existence of the so-called mound builders of our continent
increases from year to year. There is a witchery about the subject that inflames
the imagination and warps the judgment. I never look upon the remains of a
people which stand so silently and so solemnly around us what people I do not
know without feeling myself stretching away into the past, with my head in
a whirl, and my brain exhausting itself among the phantoms of antiquity.
The mound builders seem to belong to a race who finished up their work on
earth before the real life-work of men and nations began, and who just left
their monuments behind them when they passed away, to puzzle us with
curious investigations and strange questions never perhaps to be answered.
It may not be out of place for me to stir the dust of the mound builder to
wonder and speculate, as many persons have done and are doing, over their
PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
remains, and if possible, clothe their dry bones with flesh and breathe life
into the old carcass once more. The mound builders have built their forti-
fications and erected their monuments on our principal rivers, particularly the
Ohio and Mississippi, and their tributaries. They look down solemnly upon
the civilization of to-day, pointing backwards to oblivion ; not a word not a
sign nothing to betray their origin nothing to wring from them the terrible
secret of a great people long vanished from 'the earth.
There is a mound at Grave creek, in West Virginia, seventy-five feet high
and a thousand feet at the base; one at Miamisburg, Ohio, sixty-eight feet
high and eight hundred feet at the base; the great truncated pyramid at
Cahokia, Illinois, seven hundred feet long and five hundred wide ; and in Ohio
alone, ten thousand mounds are found and fifteen hundred ramparts and
inclosures. These wonderful works of past generations of men extend along
the rivers throughout the Southern States, and away up in the northwestern
part of our continent, marking the existence and departure of a great people
who have left nothing behind them to tell us from whence they came or
whither they went.
The inclosures referred to are protected by heavy embankments, formed of
earth and stone, with buttresses and gateways, and they are a most interesting
subject of study. Inside, they are laid out into squares, circles, parallelograms
into figures of serpents, birds, and beasts; others in mathematical lines, and
they exhibit a good deal of art. An enclosure in Adams county, Ohio, contains
a huge relievo, in the shape of a serpent, a thousand feet in length, in graceful
curves, the mouth wide open in the act of swallowing an egg-like figure, the
tail coiled. In Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and on the upper lakes, many
inclosures are found in the form of animals, birds, serpents and men ; but the
mound builder has left no track in New England.
It is curious to know, however, that he seems to be actuated by the same
motives and governed by the same passions that his successors have been in
locating their cities. He saw, as we have since seen, the commercial value of
such points as St. Louis and Cincinnati. He probably had trade and specula-
tion in his eye. Agriculture and commerce were evidently important considera-
tions in his calculations. He appropriated rich valleys, like the Scioto, for life
and business. His works were not all a mere labor of defense his occupa-
tion not merely that of a soldier, as has been supposed by some writers who
have exploded the twilight that covers their remains.
The works of art which these mounds contain perplex and instruct us. We
examine them, theorize over them, solve the mystery to-day, upset our theory
to-morrow, believe and disbelieve, and finally retreat into darkness again, and
almost fancy we hear a chuckle from the old mound builder at our disappoint-
ment and distress.
Ornaments and implements made of copper, silver, obsidian, porphyry and
green stone, finely wrought, are found. There are copper and stone axes,
chisels, knives and bracelets, pendants and beads, toys of bone and mica,
elegant patterns of pottery, all showing a people not deficient in art and
mechanical ingenuity, and found in a style and finish beyond anything
furnished by the modern tribes of Indians on our continent, within our
knowledge.
Porphyry is a hard material to work and required a hard tool to cut it. Did
the mound builder know how to temper his copper tool as the Egyptian did ?
Obsidian is a volcanic product used by the Mexicans and Peruvians for arrows
THE MOUND BUILDERS AND THEIR WORK. 43
and instruments, and has not been found north of the mountains of Cerre
Gordo, in Mexico,,* which indicates a communication and reciprocity between
people wide apart between that mysterious nation, whoever they were, who
erected those wonderful buildings in Central America ages ago, who built
Palenque, Copan and Uxmal, raised up so many strange monuments, now
buried in a wilderness, and gave the key of their history to oblivion and van-
ished from the earth.
The mound builder was an early pioneer in Michigan; he was the first miner
in the Upper Peninsula; how he worked, whether as a member of a joint
stock company on a per centage, or every man for himself, we do not know;
but he went deep down into the copper ore, and dug, and raised, and probably
transported vast amounts of it, but just how or where we cannot say, but as
we shall see, some of the ore found its way into the mounds on the Mississippi
and Ohio.
Specimens of Lake Superior copper have been discovered in the mounds, and
the chain of evidence by which this is determined is the fact that the copper
so found, or some of it, has little globules or slivers of silver attached to it,
which, it is said, distinguishes no other copper in the world. The silver found
in other ore is throughout the whole, and brought out only by fire.
The ancient mining at Isle Koyal, near the northern line^of'Lake Superior
has excited amazement. The island is about fifty miles long, from five to nine
in breadth, with a ragged, rocky shore, and cut up into deep gorges and is
covered with a growth of timber. The pits are from ten to thirty feet in
diameter, from twenty to sixty feet in depth, and are scattered throughout the
island. They follow the richest veins of ore with great knowledge and skill in
the art of* mining. They were connected underground, and drains are cut to
carry off the water; there is one deep cut in the rock, covered its entire length
by timbers that are now decayed, and the whole is a mass of rotten wood. At
McCargoe's Cove there are nearly two miles of pits very closely connected;
quantities of stone hammers and mauls, weighing from ten to thirty pounds,
have been found, some broken from use and some in good condition; copper
chisels, knives and arrow-heads have been discovered. The copper tools
seemed to be hardened by fire. It is difficult to determine their original work-
manship owing to corrosion, but there is evidence going to show that they were
originally polished and of good workmanship.
The working out the ore was no doubt by heating and pouring on water
very slow and tedious, and yet it is said that although two hundred men with
their rude way of mining could not accomplish any more work than two
skilled miners can at the present day; and that at one point alone, on Isle
Royal, the amount of labor performed exceeds that done on one of the oldest
mines on the south shore, which has been operated with a large force for more
than twenty years.
When were these pits opened? By whom? Who can tell? Forests have
grown up and fallen and mouldered over them, and great trees, three hundred
and four hundred years old, stand around them to-day, counting so much, and
only so much time for us in our efforts to fix the age of these mines.
* Colonel P. W. Norris, Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park, in his report to
the Secretary of the Interior, for the year 3879, says: "I this year traced the mountain of
obsidian or volcanic glass from where I discovered it last year, at Beaver Lake, to a branch of
the Gibbon, below the Lake of the Woods, a distance of some eight miles, proving that it is
there the true divide of the waters of the Missouri and the Yellowstone, and also a vast
weapon and implement quarry for the ancient hermit sheep-eaters." ED.
44 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
How and where was the ore removed ? Why and for what purpose was so
much of it consumed? Where did the provisions come from to support the
laborers in their work ? There are no bones of mound builders found there
no evidence of commerce no remains of vessels, or wharves, or houses and
yet vast amounts of copper have been taken out, not only there, but through-
out portions of the Upper Peninsula, the work of men who must have been
fed, and to some extent clothed, and whose treasure was no doubt exported to
the central and southern portions of our continent.
Mounds have been discovered on the borders of the Detroit river, at the head
of the St. Clair, on the Black river, the Rouge, on the Grand river and at the
foot of Lake Huron, and in many other portions of the State. Those at the
head of the St. Clair are said to be very remarkable, and were discovered by
Mr. Gillman in 1872. They are not as gigantic as some of the others herein
described, and were once regarded as of Indian origin.*
The mound builder was an early pioneer. The banks and streams upon
which he built declare this to be true. Their channels have been cut deeper
since he laid out his grounds by their sides and erected his cities thereon.
Terraces have been evidently formed below his work since he passed away ; for
it may still be seen where the same stream has destroyed a portion of his
inclosures higher up where they now stand.
Skulls are found at the bottom, showing that mounds were raised over them
and that the body was not afterward buried in them, although the subsequent
burial remains of Indians are found nearer the top, and almost always there
is the evidence of an altar having been erected, upon which the body was laid
and consumed by fire, the rites and ceremonies over some great chieftain,
perhaps, who is now forever forgotten.
It is through these skulls, more than in any other way, that physiologists
have been able to determine that the mound builders, whoever they were, were
not Indians; the shape and outlines of the head being different and indicating
an entirely different race of people. We frequently hear of the discovery of
the skeletons of a gigantic race, and we are therefore the more puzzled to
know to what race the mound builders belonged, for although we are called a
'new country, comparatively speaking, we may be the very oldest.
A few years ago an article appeared in the Toronto Telegraph stating that
in the township of Cayuga in the Grand river, on the farm of Daniel Freden-
burg, five or six feet below the surface, were found two hundred skeletons
nearly perfect, a string of beads around the neck of each, stone pipes in the
jaws of several of them, and many stone axes and skinners scattered around
in the dirt. The skeletons were gigantic, some of them measuring nine feet,
and few of them less than seven. Some of the thigh bones were six inches
longer than any now known. The farm had been cultivated a century and
was originally covered with a growth of pine. There was evidence from the
crushed bones that a battle had been fought and these were some of the slain.
Decayed houses had been found near this spot before, and there were indica-
tions that the region had at some time been inhabited. Were these the
remains of Indians or some other race ? Who and what filled this ghastly pit ?
Is there any clue to the people who built these mounds ? Can we find any
track running back into the past, leading us to any foundation upon which
we can stand ? Is there any evidence to the point which may be regarded as
* Mr. Henry Gillman read an interesting paper before the Detroit Scientific Association on
this subject, from which some of the facts about Isle Royal are taken.
THE MOUND BUILDERS AND THEIR WORK. 45
reliable, or is everything about them forever buried ? Perhaps we may grope
our way amid mists and shadows to some purpose; and if we cannot demon-
strate our position we can start the reader by strange suggestions and plausi-
ble theories.
When Cortez captured Mexico in 1020, little was known by him of the
wonders of Central America. He found a wilderness around him filled with
architecture which has since been to some extent explored. The Aztecs were
then in power and had built a city of magnitude and even splendor. They had
their laws and their literature. Books were then in existence, but how old we
do not know, in which we are satisfied were to be found records of races of
men that will be found nowhere else. But the books not being Catholic,
Cortez destroyed them or intended to do so. Fires were kindled, volumes con-
sumed and the world thereby saved from the heresy they contained. Bishop
Zyumarraga especially made one great conflagration of them. But there was
found, here and there, a curious sly old Spanish ecclesiastic, who understood
their value, who quietly hid a few away at the peril of his soul for the good of
mankind, and thus here and there one was preserved in this way and some
were not found.
Can we here show any connection between a pre-historic race, of any kind,
who built the mounds, dug out the copper on Lake Superior, and who once
held dominion in our State ?
Before answering this question, let me look into some of the theories on the
subject, promulgated by different persons, and found in "Baldwin's Ancient
America." and "Foster's Pre-Historic Races."
1st. "The Lost Tribes, 'The Mound Builders,' were the descendants of the lost
tribes of Israel. The Spanish monks supported this theory, and also Lord Kins-
borough. It is said the ten tribes left Palestine, crossed Behring Straits, and finally
established themselves, about seven hundred years before Christ^ on this continent.
There is little to support the claim. Identity of language even fails and antiqua-
rians generally have abandoned that field of study."
2d. "The Malay Theory. In prehistoric times the Malays were a great people
and ruled a great empire. This empire was described by travelers six hundred years
before the first voyage to India by the Cape of Good Hope. It had ships, and its islands
were so numerous that the fastest vessel, it was said, 'was unable to go round them
in two years.' Its metropolis was in the Island of Java, where the ruins still show
great architectural beauty, and even splendor. Wallace says, 'they surpass those of
Central America, and even India.' The remains of a city called Modjo-pahit are
very wonderful. The ships of the Malays, it is supposed, sailed as far as Central
America, and the old books already referred to, as well as the traditions of the
Aztecs, say that centuries before, they were visited by a foreign people who came
in ships. But Baldwin says, 'the theory does not hold out, as there is nothing Ma-
layan in cither the antiquities or speech of the early Americans.' "
3d. "The Phoenician Theory was also very popular. Those maritime rovers, who
spread their sails in the face of the Greek philosophers (who despised commerce),
planted colonies on the shores of the Mediterranean, and were supposed to have
explored that 'extensive ocean, so much talked about by the people of their day/
and to have visited that 'great Saturnian continent,' which in some way had been
brought to their notice, and in the existence of which they fully believed. The
Phoenicians were bold navigators, and may have sailed up and down our great rivers
when the kings of Egypt were building the pyramids; but it has always been possi-
ble to track them and their works by their language, and there is not a Phoenician
letter or word to be found or a monument in Central America, or a sign or symbol
remaining there which points in any way to that nation as its origin."
4th. "The Atlantic Theory. One of the most romantic and yet probable theories
is the 'Atlantic' theory. There is just enough mist hanging over it to render it
bewitching, and to stimulate the explorer into a wild enthusiasm. This attributes
the civilization of ancient America to the Atlantides or Atlantic race who once occu-
pied the lost 'Island of Atlantis.' It is supposed, and there is very much tradition
8
46 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
and history to be found among the older nations of the earth to confirm the suppo-
sition, that this continet of ours once extended from New Granada to Central
America and Mexico in a long peninsula partly across the Atlantic, and was a part
of what is now known as the Canary, Maderia, and Western Islands, and on beyond
these islands was still a large tract of fertile country. It is supposed that the whole
was sunk by earthquakes, and that the West Indies and other islands were moun-
tains whose peaks were never submerged, and are still out of water, and stand as
monuments of the destruction around them."
"There is a considerable evidence to be found corroborating this theory, wild and
poetical as it seems. The old Central American books allude to the tradition of a
catastrophe of this kind, and it was maintained among the Central Americans when
Cortez first overran the country. One of their festivals, celebrated in the north
Izcalli, commemorated this terrible destruction. The tradition declares the conti-
nent was once extended as stated, and was destroyed by a succession of frightful
convulsions. To use the language of this tradition: 'The land was shaken by fright-
ful earthquakes, and the waters of the sea combined with volcanic fires to overwhelm
and engulf it.' Most of the inhabitants were destroyed, some escaped in ships, and
some fled to the mountains."
"This history of Atlantis is also found in the annals of Egypt. It is stated in
Plutarch's 'Life of Solon, that while in Egypt, he conferred with the priests of
Psenophis, Sonchis, Heliopolis and Sais, and learned from them the story of Atlantis.'
Plato makes a record of it; speaks of a great army which came across the Atlantic
sea, and invaded Europe and Asia; speaks of the Island of Atlantis; that 'three
kings reigned there with great and marvelous power;' says 'their power at one
time extended into Lybia and into Europe as far as Tyrrhenum.' Afterwards, says
Plato, 'in one day and one fatal night, there came mighty earthquakes and inunda-
tions which engulfed that warlike people. Atlantis disappeared beneath the sea,
and then that sea became inaccessible, so that navigation on it ceased on account of
the quantity of mud which the engulfed islands left in its place.' It is supposed that
Atlantis was destroyed before Athens became a city, and therefore it is only as
groping amid shadows, but still not without a considerable evidence, traditionary
and otherwise, tending to establish this strange and startling theory."
"And so it is suggested that the survivors of this catastrophe fled inland, planted
themselves upon the isthmus now known as Central America; that they were distin-
guished in arts and sciences, that they built mighty works there, and that they are
the mound builders whose remains are strewn far and wide up and down our
streams and valleys."
I will now return to the first proposition. Can we connect the mound build-
ers with any people within the historic period? We must be confined to the
ancient records in Mexico and tradition, to furnish us light on the subject.
^ Torquemada, Boturini, Clavigero, Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, among the
Spanish, and Prescott, Squier, Catherwood and Stevens, among the American
explorers, may be consulted with profit. The old records are of great value.
One having made extracts from another when the language was better under-
stood, what is now beyond the reach of the scholar has been thus preserved
for our use.
^ These records show that the very earliest people in Mexico were called
Colhuas, the next Nahuas or Toltecs, the next Aztecs. They, the Aztecs,
were found in possession of the country in 1520, as has been stated, when
Cortez invaded and captured their capital. The Colhuas reach back to a time
beyond computation, and the Toltecs, who succeeded them, to a period nine
hundred and fifty-five years before Christ. The Abbe Brasseur, says he has a
certain date in their language as old as that. It is certain also, that the
Aztecs had held possession of Mexico only about three hundred years before
the invasion by Cortez. They came from the northwestern or southwestern
portion of our continent, and the adobe houses of their forefathers may be
found to-day in ruins scattered through the valleys in those regions.
But who were the Toltecs, their predecessors ? It is claimed that they were a
people identical with the mound builders. These ancient records declare that
THE MOUND BUILDERS AND THEIR WORK. 47
an empire once existed in the northeast, known as Huehue Tlapalan, and that
owing to insurrection or an invasion they were driven away, and finally, after
many years came to Mexico and conquered the country of the Colhuas, it may
be. Huehue, means old, it is said Old Tlaplan to distinguish it from three
other places of the same name, founded by them on their way to and in Mexico.
One company settled near the Tampico river. It was conducted by twenty
chiefs and they were followed by a large number of people. Torquemada
says, that an old record describes this people as of fine appearance, intelligent,
industrious and orderly, and skilled in working metals and stones.
, Another record informs us that the emigration of the Toltecs was forced
that they were assailed by the Chichimecs, who were savages, and under one
great leader a terrible struggle ensued, lasting thirteen years, and the Toltecs,
being no longer able to hold out, abandoned their country to escape destruc-
tion that two chiefs led the march until they finally reached a region near
the sea named Tlapalan Conco, where they remained several years. They
emigrated again and reached Mexico, where they built a town called Tallan-
zinco, and later the city of Tullan, which became their seat of government.
It will be remembered that a portion of the country was held by a people
called Tlascalans, when Cortez came on with his army, who were hostile to
the Aztecs, and he formed an alliance with them and they were of great
service to him in his conquest. Stevens thinks they belonged to a dismem-
bered part of the Tolcan empire. The Colhuas, the records say, "came from
the east in ships/'
As we have said, the older ruins exhibit the greatest skill, and there is
evidence in these ruins of a higher civilization before the Toltec dominion;
that is, according to the Abbe Brasseur, prior to nine hundred and fifty-five
years before Christ. The present condition and decay of the ruins show their
age, and the greater their age the more elaborate, skillful and beautiful is the
work. And yet the picture writing on the Aztec monuments furnishes the
scholar with no key to interpret the inscriptions on the temples and monu-
ments of Palenque and Capan.
The Colhuas, then, came from the east in ships the Toltecs from the
northeastern, and the Aztecs from the northwestern or southwestern portion
of our continent. The first from an early civilization, the last two from a
semi-barbarian land, with no history of their own for our instruction, and who
survive mostly in tradition, in their monuments and in the records of a suc-
ceeding and different race more highly cultivated.
These nations have scattered their temples, monuments, statuary and in-
scriptions over Mexico, and with the exception of the work of the Aztecs, their
work and records have thus far defied the explorer, mocked the inquisitive,
and they have held their secrets with an assurance and success that is dis-
couraging to the antiquarian and scholar.
The mounds built by the Toltecs, if they were the builders, are found from
Michigan to Mexico, particularly on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. They
were erected for devotional, sacrificial, defensive and monumental purposes.
And the same mound may be found to-day in Mexico, evidently the work of
the same people or their descendants. If the art is higher in its construction,
the form and design seem to be the same.
Is it too much to say, then, that the Toltecs were the people who left their
remains in our northern peninsula and on Isle Royal who dug out the copper
there who built our mounds, and who were, as the ancient records say, driven
48 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
out by a savage people, called Chichimecs, and who in turn, conquered the
Colhuas in Mexico, adopted their high civilization and built the cities scattered
over that country, which have excited the wonder of travelers and historians ?
It is time to bring this article to a close. I regret that after so much specu-
lation around which thick clouds rest, after such an effort to resurrect the
buried remains of the past, after listening to the echoes which faintly die away
as the explorer of these mounds turns his ear to catch their significance, after
peering into 1 the skulls and handling the implements of this strange people, I
have afforded so little information to my reader. Strange that time, omnipo-
tent as it is, can utterly destroy the history of a nation turn its language into
a mysterious collection of characters which may never be read; its monuments
into puzzles to perplex antiquarians, so that not one reliable link between the
present and its past can be found to determine from whence its people came
and whither they went.
PAPER BY O. A. JENI3ON, LANSING.
Read February 5th, 1879.
Officers and Members of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : In making this, my second annual bow to your
society, I congratulate you on its now permanent organization, and assure you
that I take great pleasure in being able to add my mite which helps to swell
the great, interesting, and valuable collection of relics and historical facts
pertaining to our State; and on this occasion, present you with the following
articles, viz.:
First, An ambrotype of the old Lansing House, erected by Henry Jipson.
This picture was taken expressly for me in 1857, from the cupola of the old
capitol, and there is not, nor ever was, its like in existence. In front of the
main entrance on Washington avenue can be seen the old time honored sign-
post ; as we cast our eyes to the right, a small building with a wooden awning
in front can be seen, which at that time was used and occupied as the great
stage office between Lansing and Jackson; the next building to the right was
used in part as the Lansing postofnce; and still further to the right is the
Edgar House as it appeared in those days; at the left of the Lansing House,
barns, sheds, etc., can be plainly seen. (The Lansing House was destroyed by
fire on Sunday night, June 2, 1861.) One peculiar feature of this interesting
picture is the fact that it was taken on a bright, sun-shining afternoon, and
not a human being or animal of any name or nature was seen upon the streets.
Such was Lansing in 1857. In making this declaration, I assure you that we
old settlers who fought the mosquitoes and entertained the Indians, now
rejoice in the present growth, prosperity, and beautiful appearance of our city.
PAPER BY O. A. JENISON. 49
Second) I have to present you with one of the first posters ever issued from
the printing press in Lansing. My friend John J. Adam will undoubtedly
recognize it as an official document, showing the necessity of the times. When
the First Presbyterian Church was erected in this city, doors were attached to
all the pews, and after serving their purpose for a few years, they were finally
discarded; and from one of these doors was made the frame which now sur-
rounds the document in question; two backs are attached to the frame, the
inside one being manufactured from a clapboard taken from the first printing
office erected in Lansing, and the outside one from a clapboard taken from
one of the first dwelling houses erected in Lansing; the glass is one of the
original full size 8x10 taken from the front window of the first dry goods store
in Lansing, owned by Bush & Thomas.
Third) I present you with a piece of iron punched from one of the plates of
the original Monitor, built at Freeport, opposite New York, under the super-
vision of and commanded by Commander Worden; this was presented to me
by J. T. Whiting, Esq., of Detroit, who saw it punched and secured it at the
time.
Fourth, I present you with a full set of posters put out by the Central
Michigan Agricultural Society from 1866 to 1878, both inclusive; and I ven-
ture to say that another similar set cannot be produced in the country, as I
am well informed that the officers of the society never have taken the trouble
to save them.
Fifth) I present you with another scrap-book as a companion to the one
presented to you by me one year ago. This book contains the charter of two
different temperance societies that once had an existence in this city, and by
the precept and example of its members restrained many a man from continu-
ing in the downward path, and for a while fought manfully for the right ; but
adverse winds finally drove them to the beach and their frail bark was
stranded -let their charters be preserved and their names remembered for their
many good deeds. It also contains a list of all the voters of Lansing for
1875-6-7-8. The Governor's Thanksgiving Proclamation for the four last
years. A stage ticket from Lansing to Jackson, by Dan Hibbard's line of
stages. A bill of goods, probably the first ever brought to Lansing, the owner
living in the back part of his store and selling from a small room in front.
Also the original draft of the First Presbyterian Church of this city. A rough
draft of this city in 1849, showing the location of all the important buildings
at that time; but aside from the four corners of Michigan and Washington
avenues, and thence south to the Lansing House, our draughtsman says,
"woods, forests, woods." In this book are also many bills of the early wild-
cat banks of Michigan, the original yeas and nays or vote of the Legislature
of this State which placed Mr. Christiancy in the United States Senate. The
Lansing Republican for 1875-6-7-8 containing a lengthy notice of the meet-
ings of this society for those years, and hundreds of bills, posters, programmes,
etc., put out by our business men and different city societies.
Finally, I present you with an ambrotype likeness of the old Indian Chief
Okemos, in doing which, I wish to say that I know it to be genuine ; it is not a
copy, neither does it come to you second-handed. Okemos sat for this very
picture, to my certain knowledge, in 1857, and it has never been out of my
possession from that day to this.
Within the last year, since having concluded to present you with this likeness,
50 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
I have thought it not inappropriate to compile and rewrite a few incidents in
his life, in the undertaking of which I was not unmindful of the fact that
sketches of his life had already been written by much abler biographers than
myself, and to them I am somewhat indebted for portions of the life and char-
acter of this noted Indian Chief; but the principal part of this biography I
obtained from gentlemen who were personally acquainted with him, could
speak the Indian tongue, and who traded and bought furs of the tribe for
many years. The date of the birth of Okemos is shrouded in mystery, but our
researches disclose the fact that he was born at or near Knaggs Station, on
the Shiawassee river, where the Port Huron and Lansing Railroad now crosses
said river.
I wish to say right here, that in writing up the biography of this man, I
have carefully read his history as portrayed by Campbell in his Political
History of Michigan, Tuttle's History of Michigan, F. J. Littlejohn's Legends
of "Michigan and the old Northwest," together with many newspaper accounts
of his heroism and bravery.
From all this information I might have lengthened this article to an almost
unlimited extent, but have chosen rather to give such facts as I have been able
to obtain, and although some portions of my remarks may not be new, still
they throw new light on an old story. The great event in the life of Okemos
was his battle at Sandusky, in regard to which I think I have secured facts
that were never before committed to paper.
Okemos, at the time of his death, was said to be a centenarian, but a century
contains a number of years that but few out of the many are permitted to see.
In a sketch of his life given in the Lansing Eepublican under date of April 6,
1871, it is said that he probably took the war path in 1791; this is the earliest
account I find of him in any written history. Judge Littlejohn in his Legends
of "Michigan and the old Northwest" introduces him to the reader in 1803,
and expressly says, "In our data, local delineations, and topographical out-
lines, the reader may trust to our general accuracy."
The battle of Sandusky, in which Okemos took such an active part, was the
great event of his life, and this it was that gave him his chieftainship and
caused him to be revered by his tribe; for a detailed description of that
memorable and bloody fight, I am indebted to B. 0. Williams, Esq., of Owosso,
who for many years was an Indian trader, spoke the Indian language and
received the story direct from the lips of the old chief. In relating the story,
Okemos says, "Mvself and cousin Man-a-to-corb-way with sixteen other
braves enlisted under the British flag, formed a scouting or war party, and
leaving the upper Raisin made our rendezvous at Sandusky, where, one morn-
ing while lying in ambush near a road lately cut for the passage of the Ameri-
can army and supply wagons, we observed twenty cavalrymen approaching us.
Our ambush was located on a slight ridge with brush directly in our front.
We immediately decided to attack the Americans although outnumbered by
two, concluding that we could effectually cripple them at the first fire, which
followed by a dash with the tomahawk would accomplish our design; accord-
ingly we waited until they had approached so near that we could count the
buttons on their coats, when firing commenced at close quarters." The
cavalrymen with drawn sabres immediately charged upon Okemos and his
followers, and then commenced the bloodiest and most decisive battle in which
Okemos was ever engaged. In fact, from all that I can learn, it was his last
battle. Okemos says that he and his cousin fought side bv side through this.
PAPER BY O. A. JENISON. 51
conflict, and their experience was about the same throughout the engagement;
each one firing from two to three times while dodging from one cover to
another. But to return to the beginning of the fight. In less than ten minutes
after the first fire of the Indians, the sound of a bugle was heard, and casting
their eyes in the direction of the sound they saw the road and woods filled with
cavalry, in describing which, Okemos says, "The plumes on their hats looked
like a flock of thousands of pigeons just hovering for a flight."
The small party of Indians were immediately surrounded and cut down to a
man ; not one escaped the sabres of this dashing charge, and all were left for
dead on the fteld. Okemos and his cousin each had their skulls cloven and
their bodies gashed in a fearful manner; and as a finale, in order to be sure
that life was extinct upon leaving the field, the cavalrymen would lean forward
from their horses and with their sabres pierce the chests of the Indians, even
into their lungs; thus they were left prostrate upon their backs, entirely
unconscious from the first heavy blows that crushed through their skulls.
The last that Okemos remembered was after emptying one saddle and spring-
ing toward another with clubbed rifle raised in the act of striking, his head
felt as if being pierced with a red hot iron, and he went down from a heavy
sabre cut. All knowledge ceased from this time until many moons afterward,
when he found himself being nursed by squaws of their friends, who with
others had found them some two or three days after the battle.
The squaws thought all were dead, but upon being moved signs of life were
discovered in Okemos and his cousin, who were at once taken on litters to a
place of safety, and by careful and untiring nursing finally restored to partial
health. The cousin always remained a cripple, his sufferings having induced
chronic rheumatism which distorted the joints of his hands and feet. The
iron constitution with which Okemos was endowed by nature restored him to
comparative health; but he never took an active part in another battle, this
last one having satisfied him that "white man was a heap powerful," and
shortly afterward he solicited Colonel Godfrey to intercede with General Cass,
and he, with other chiefs, executed a treaty with the Americans which was
faithfully adhered to the remainder of their days.
Okemos did not obtain his chieftainship by hereditary descent, but this
honor was conferred upon him after having passed through the battle just
described for his bravery and endurance his tribe considered him a favorite
of the Great Spirit who had preserved his life through such a terrible and
trying ordeal.
The next we hear of Okemos, he had settled with his tribe on the banks of
the Shiawassee, near the place of his birth, where for many years, up to 1837-8,
he was engaged in the peaceful avocation of hunting, fishing, and trading with
the white men. About this time the small-pox broke out in his tribe, which,
together with the influx of white settlers, destroyed their hunting grounds
and scattered the bands.
The plaintive, soft notes of the wooing young hunter's flute, made of red
alder wood, and the sound of the tom-tom at council fires and village feasts
was heard no more along the banks of *our inland streams ; for years before,
the tomahawk had been effectually buried, and upon the final breaking up and
scattering of the bands, Okemos became a mendicant, and many a hearty meal
has the old man received from the old settlers of Lansing with a grateful heart.
In his palmy days, I should think his greatest height never exceeded five feet
four inches ; he was lithe, wiry, active, intelligent, and possessed of undoubted
52 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
bravery; he was not however, an eloquent speaker, either in council or priyate
conversation, always mumbling his words and speaking with some hesitation.
Previous to the breaking up of his band in 1837-8, his usual dress consisted of
a blanket coat with belt, steel pipe hatchet or tomahawk, and heavy long
English hunting or scalping knife stuck in his belt in front with large bone
handle prominent outside the sheath, his face painted with vermilion, on his
cheeks and forehead and over his eyes, a shawl wound around his head turban
fashion, together with the leggins usually worn by Indians, completed his
outfit, which during his lifetime he never discarded.
None of his biographers have ever attempted to fix the date of his birth,
contenting themselves with the general conviction that he was an hundred
years old. In this respect I most respectfully beg leave to differ from them,
for the following reasons, viz. : Physically endowed with a strong constitu-
tion, naturally brave and impetuous, and inured to the hardships of an Indian
life, we are led to believe that he took the war path early in life, and his first
introduction to our notice is in 1791. I reason from this, that he was born
about the year 1775, in which case, he lived about eighty-three years; again,
the old settlers of Lansing well remember that up to the latest period of his
having been seen on our streets, his step was short, quick, and elastic, to a
degree that is seldom enjoyed by men of that age. He died at his wigwam a
few miles from this city, and was buried December 5, 1858, at Shimnicon, an
Indian settlement in Ionia county; his coffin was rude in the extreme, and in
it were placed a pipe, tobacco, hunting knife, bird's wings, provisions, etc. He
surrendered his chieftainship a few years previous to his death to his son
John, but he never forgot that he was Okemos, once the chief of a powerful
tribe of the Chippewas, and nephew of Pontiac.
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF HON. ROBERT
STUART.
Robert Stuart, son of John and Mary Buchanan Stuart, was born at Gal-
lander, Perthshire, Scotland, in 1785.
I have copied the following interesting and graphic letter of Hon. Charles
C. Trowbridge to Hon. B. 0. Williams, dated March 23, 1880. Mr. Williams
sought information from Mr. Trowbridge of his reccollections of Robert
Stuart, knowing, as he said,, there is no man living so well fitted to give reli-
able facts in the history of David and Robert Stuart, who stand out in such
bold relief in the pioneer history of Michigan.
This letter that I have copied for publication in Vol. III. "Pioneer Collec-
tions/' together with other papers relating to the life of Robert Stuart, now
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF ROBERT STUART. 53
on file in the Archives of the State Pioneer Society, will do something towards
reviving the fading remembrances of his great deeds and great virtues.
Marshall, Mich., December 1, 1880.
0. C. COMSTOCK, M. D.
COPY OF MR. TROWBRIDGE'S LETTER.
I do not recollect to have seen anything beyond the ephemeral notices of the
daily press, at the time of the decease of Mr. Stuart and Governor Cass, yet,
if we could rescue these, we might find them quite worthy of being repeated
and embalmed in the collections of our State Pioneer Society. I knew both
of these gentlemen intimately, and take great pleasure in responding to your
inquiries.
I first met Mr. Eobert Stuart at the Astor Fur Company's headquarters at
Mackinac (or as we used to write it in those days, Michilimackinac), in the
summer of 1820, when, as attache to the suite of Governor Cass, I accom-
panied him in his great canoe voyage around Lakes Huron and Superior, to
the head of the Mississippi and down that river to Prairie du Chien, and from
the Prairie up the Wisconsin, down the Fox, around Lake Michigan via
Chicago to Mackinac and thence home.
You will recollect that this voyage of four thousand five hundred miles was
authorized by the War Department (Mr. Calhoun then being Secretary of War),
at the suggestion of Governor Cass, in order to carry the United States flag
through the Indian country, and thus give the natives a palpable notion of the
intent of the great father of the Kitcha-mo-ko-man nation to possess and
govern the same, as against their first great father the Wamet-a-goshe (the
French monarch) or their other .and best loved, because their most generous,
the Sage-enaster (the English King), whom they had so faithfully served
during the then recent war between England and the United States.
I presume Governor Cass was moved to make this suggestion to Mr. Calhoun
by the representations of Eobert Stuart and Ramsey Crooks, who were the ad-
ministrators of Mr. Astor's power on the great lakes. The Stuart, uncle and
nephew, were very uncommon men. David, the uncle, had been a hardy adven-
turer along the coast of Labrador, and in 1810 he and his nephew Eobert were
found in New York. Whether Mr. Astor had sent for tnem to take part in his
grand scheme of securing the fur trade of the Pacific Coast about the mouth
of Columbia river and its tributaries, or whether they had heard of his plans
and had proposed themselves for service, I know not, nor do I know whether
the fact could now be ascertained, nor is it material. There they were, and in
1810 they entered into an agreement to become proprietares, as Mons.
Franchera calls them, together with John Jacob Astor, Alexander McKay,
Duncan McDonald and Jas. Lewis, and to go to the mouth of the Columbia
river and embark in the fur trade on the Pacific Coast and its rivers. Among
the clerks, of whom there were eleven, were Eussel Farnham, of Vermont; W.
W. Mathews, of England; Gabriel Franchere, of Montreal; and Wm. Wallace,
of New York. I knew all these men, saw them often at Mackinaw, and heard
their after-dinner stories. The Stuarts and other proprietors, with the eleven
clerks, nineteen officers and sailors, thirteen Canadian voyageurs for canoe
work, and five mechanics, in all fifty-one persons, sailed in the ship Tonquin
from New York, September 6, 1810, for the mouth of the Columbia river, and
the expedition was broken up in 1814, after the establishment of several large
trading posts on the Columbia and its tributaries.
9
54 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
The war between England and the United States compelled Mr. Astor to
sell his outfit to the Northwest Fur Co., a British institution, and the
inventories which were to form the basis of an adjustment of accounts, were
made in quadruple. One copy was placed in charge of Mr. Benjamin Clapp,
who had come around in a vessel from New York, and was bound for Canton,
China. Mr. Clapp reached New York in two years. One copy was given to
Farnham, who went up the coast, crossed Behring Straits, traveled through
Kamtsehatka with a dog train, arrived in St. Petersburg safely, and thence
made his way to London and New York in two years. The third copy was
given to Franchere, who remained at the post until the Northwest Fur Co/s
furs were sent in, and returned with the agent by way of the Saskatchawan
and Lake Winnepec and the Ottawa river route to Montreal and thence to
New York in two years; and the fourth was taken by Eobert Stuart, who
returned across the country, after having suffered indescribable hardships and
"the loss of all things." He arrived in about two years. This is a remarka-
'ble story, and it has the merit of freshness. I have heard it from the lips of
the parties concerned.
Mr. Astor having been foiled on the Pacific, turned his attention to the
development of the trade on the lakes, the Mississippi and the Missouri. You
knew Mackinac in the days of the power of the trade. Eobert Stuart was then
an imperious man. Before he started from New Y r ork in 1810, he was privately
married to a Brooklyn lass, who had stolen his heart. The marriage, which
took place in one of the churches of that city, was not divulged until Mr.
Stuart's return from the Pacific. I dare say you knew Mrs. Stuart. She was
a brave, gifted woman who was loved by her husband with a devotion beautiful
to behold, until his death.
In 1835-6, Mr. Stuart bought land and built a house in Detroit, and in that
year or early in 1836, he brought his family to this city, which was thereafter
their home. Uncle David, who was old and feeble, accompanied his nephew,
from whom and from Mrs. Stuart, he received the kindest attention as long as
he lived. Mr. Robert Stuart used to take pleasure in recounting anecdotes of
Uncle David, during their sojourn on the Pacific. The old gentleman was
one of those intrepid souls who are born without fear.
When the party first went to the Columbia, the Indians were restive; and
when Uncle David and Robert were ascending the river to establish an out-
post, they were warned that a body of hostile Indians had assembled just above
the Dalles to intercept them. They encamped below the Dalles and extin-
guished their fires, expecting a rencounter next morning. Uncle David was
the last watch of the night. His time would expire at day break. At that
time Robert discovered that Uncle David was not in camp. It was still dark.
They tracked him cautiously to the Indian camp, where they found the warriors
all asleep in a circle with their feet toward the central fire, and Uncle David
sitting quietly in their midst, smoking his pipe, waiting for his enemies to
awake. When they did so, he apologized for coming without leave, and very
soon they were warm friends. I have said that Mr. Robert Stuart was very
imperious. So he was. He at one time knocked down an engage with an
ebony rule because he came, half drunk, too near his desk. But a change
came over him. Through the instrumentality of the late Rev. Wm. M. Ferry,
father of our distinguished senator, he was led to look deep into the mysteries
of revelation, and after due deliberation he took service on the Lord's side.
John Agnew, a good natured, roystering ferryman, collector of the port, was
SKETCH OP THE LIFE OF ROBERT STUART. 55
much attached to Mr. and Mrs. Stuart. He watched Mr. 'Stuart's conduct
very closely after his declared conversion, and when he saw an employe drop a
package of furs into the lake, and heard Mr. Stuart tell him in a compara-
tively subdued tone, to fish it out, instead of knocking him from the little
wharf into the lake, he turned about and said, "no doubt Eobert Stuart is a
converted man." When Mr. Stuart came to Detroit to reside, he and his
family at once assumed a conspicuous place. In all matters relating to religious
development they were in the front rank. He took office as a director in the
old bank of Michigan, became treasurer of the State in the troublous days
when the wild-cat banking system was inaugurated upon the principle that
nothing but land was worth considering as a sure source of redemption for the
notes issued, and when, after flooding the State with two millions of promises
to pay, the Supreme Court toppled the whole overboard by declaring the
Banking Act unconstitutional and all bargains made under it absolutely void.
In 1848 Mr. Stuart went to Chicago in behalf of the eastern holders of
Illinois Canal bonds, and there while attending to his duties took cold, and
died suddenly while sitting in his chair, October 29th of that year, universally
regretted by the whole community. I have often spoken of an interview which
took place at my house, between Mr. Stuart, General Henry Whiting, of the
army, and my brother, S. V. E. Towbridge. They were conversing about
death. All wished it might be God's will that they might die suddenly. After
Mr. Stuart's death, General Whiting was at St. Louis with Mrs. Whiting. He
wrote me that they were on their way to make my family a promised visit.
They were packing their trunks when General Whiting fell dead. His remains
were brought to Detroit and laid in our beautiful Elmwood, and his wife made
her visit as a widow. My brother had been riding out with an old friend.
They returned to dinner. My brother took a book and laid down upon a sofa
to read. He fell into a slumber from which he never awoke. Mr. Stuart left
five children three sons and two daughters, all deceased.
It would be a work of supererogation to attempt to add to the charm of Mr.
Trowbridge's letter, and no such thing will be undertaken by me. I may say
however, that there are some exceedingly interesting incidents recorded by
Washington Irving in his "Astoria/' too valuable to pass by in this connection.
The vessel engaged by Mr. Astor to convey stores for the American Fur Co.,
as before mentioned, came to a tragic end in June following her arrival at the
mouth of the Columbia river. The Tonquin being on a trading expedition,
anchored in the harbor of Neweetee, Vancouvers Island. Soon the ship was
boarded by a large number of Indians, and an attempt to trade made by her
brusk commander. The wily Indians asked exorbitant prices for their furs,
and exhausted the patience of the captain, who cleared the deck in a summary
way. The Indians retired to their canoes in a great rage. The day following,
with well concealed anger and apparently unarmed, they came to trade, and
when a large number was on shipboard, they ran upon the captain and his
men, nearly all of whom were killed outright. Lewis, the ship's clerk, the only
surviving officer, being badly, if not fatally wounded, decoyed a still larger
number of Indians on board, then fired the powder magazine, thus wrecking
vengeance upon his enemies, who were killed in great numbers, together with
himself, and the loss of the ship.
Eobert Stuart was detailed with a small party of men to carry supplies to
David Stuart who had established a trading post on the Oakinagon river. Upon
reaching a place then known as the Long Narrows, they were surrounded by a
56 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
large party of thievish Indians, who robbed and wounded,, and indeed killed
some of the party; Mr. Stuart escaping personal injury, though in great peril
and foremost in the fight. On the 29th of June 1812, Robert Stuart and four
men started on the perilous journey across the mountains, to carry dispatches
to Mr. Astor. Within a few days thereafter, their most valuable hunter
became insane and had to be sent back. They continued their journey how-
ever, among hostile Indians, by turns starving, then feasting, suffering from
cold and uncertainty of their route, until they pitched their camp for the
winter on some supposed tributary of the Missouri. This was on the 2d of
November. At this place they erected a very comfortable lodge and furnished
themselves with abundant supplies of meat, vainly imagining that they could
safely rest from their toil and uncertainty until the opening of spring. But on
the 13th of December they were compelled to break camp, and again to face
the winds and storms and Indians of that inhospitable latitude. With almost
indescribable suffering they wandered on until about the 1st of January, 1813;
when a halt was ordered, and thev set about constructing a winter camp, and
which proved to be a favorable location as regards all creature comforts, and
especially safe from the cruel depredation of Indians. Meeting an Otto Indian
some 140 miles from the Missouri, they learned of the existance of war between
England and the United States, which had existed in fact more than a year.
About this time the party met two white men, Indian traders from St. Louis,
who confirmed the war news received of the Indian. One of the traders
furnished Mr. Stuart and party with a skin canoe, in which they started on the
16th of April for the land of civilization. They made a short but delightful
stay at Fort Osage, then in command of Lieutenant Brownson. On the 30th
of the month, in good health and spirits, they reached the city of St. Louis.
Throughout this long, winter journey, Mr. Stuart exhibited the most cour-
ageous, and at the same time the most kind and considerate traits of charac-
ter, which endeared him to his companions in toil, suffering, and dangers.
INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT STUART.
BY MARTIN HEYDENBURK, NOW OF MARSHALL, MICH.
In another paper presented to the State Pioneer Society I gave a sketch of
the Mackinaw Mission, superintended by the late Rev. William Ferry, father
of U. S. Senator T. W. Ferry. Any history of that mission would be incom-
plete without reference to Robert Stuart and the fur trade.
Mr. Stuart was the general agent of the American Fur Company's interest
in all this region, and his intimate relation with John Jacob Astor gave him a
wide influence, and that influence was always used in every good cause. Mr.
Stuart was from the first, a warm friend and liberal supporter of the Mackinac
Mission. He was a wise counselor, and in times of difficulty and doubt we
never sought his aid in vain. After the mission closed, and the fur trade was
transferred to another place, Mr. Stuart retired to private life. He removed
to Detroit and invested largely there and in other places in real estate. His per-
sonal interests occupied most of his time, but he never lost sight of his duties
to God, or his obligations to his fellow men. His influence was largely felt at
home, through the new settlements, and afterwards in Chicago. He did much
to shape the moral, social and political status of our new and coming State.
INCIDENTS IN LIFE OF ROBERT STUART. 57
Mr. Stuart left his home in Scotland when he was quite young, hut he had
received a good common school education before he left. He went to Canada
and studied the French language with a Catholic priest, and then went to
New York and joined an expedition fitted out by John Jacob Astor to estab-
lish a trading post on the Pacific Coast. They started in the year 1810. They
doubled Cape Horn and sailed up the Pacific Coast to the mouth of the Colum-
bia river; there the captain landed the company destined for that place and
then proceeded northward to Nootka Sound on a trading expedition. A diffi-
culty arose between the captain and the natives which resulted in the massacre
of the crew and the blowing up of the ship. As writing a history of that expe-
dition is no part of mv present purpose, I omit the details. The Indians from
that region brought the account of the disaster to the company at the Colum-
bia. This company named this post Astoria; they then built a fort and
mounted a regular guard for their protection, but soon found that they were
left without the means of support, or chance of escape. After some delibera-
tion they determined to send five or six of their number across the country
to New York to report. They were fully equipped for their* hazardous
journey. Each man had his horse or pony to ride, and another for a pack
horse to carry provisions; also some goods to trade with the natives for
provisions when their supply should be exhausted. Young Stuart was ap-
pointed leader of this perilous expedition.
When all was ready they started up the Columbia river. Nothing of special
note occurred till they began to ascend the mountain. There they found a
tribe of Indians who were very savage in their appearance, but put on friendly
airs and used flattering words to deceive. The chief said to Mr. Stuart, it was
always their custom when chiefs met to change horses in token of friendship.
He had a poor little pony and Stuart a large elegant horse. Stuart told him
that was not the custom of w T hite men. He took hold of Stuart's bridle to
take his horse by force; Stuart ordered his men to level their rifles at him.
He turned away with a laugh and said he was only in fun. They started on,
but the Indians could frequently be seen on the distant heights watching their
course and their progress. After the third day they saw no more of them and
supposed they had ceased to follow them, but they kept a strong guard till
the seventh night, when they became so much exhausted that they spanceled
their horses and set one man to watch, and the rest lay down to sleep. When
all was quiet the man on the watch heard a well-known whistle that all the
horses in the country would follow. He gave the alarm, but before they could
reach the horses the Indians had cut their fetters and were running them off
at full speed. The next morning they were seen posted on the overlooking
mountains watching to see what they would do with their goods. They made
up a pack for each man and then burned the rest and started on foot to make
the rest of their perilous journey.
They wandered a long time in the mountains, but finally reached the plains
on this side. But even that afforded them but little relief. They came upon
a sandy desert where they traveled six days without finding any water or any
living 'thing ; neither beast nor bird, tree nor plant was anywhere visible.
They became so near famished that the stronger had to help the weaker.
Many interesting incidents occurred that might be related, but as this is not
intended as a history of that expedition, I only mention what is necessary to
show the training Mr. Stuart had to fit him for the position he was afterward
to fill. They started in the spring or early summer and reached St. Louis in
58 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
midwinter, and from thence they made their way to Xew York the best way
they could.
When Mr. Stuart arrived in New York and made his report the war of 1812
was raging, and the further prosecution of that enterprise was abandoned. Mr.
Stuart was then appointed general agent for the American Fur Company. He
was married to Miss Catherine Sullivan and was soon established at Mackinac,
which became the seat and centre of the fur trade for all the northwest, from
Canada to the Kocky Mountains. These facts were gathered from a statement
by Mr. Stuart, condensed from his journal and^ delivered before the lyceivm
connected with my school for an evening entertainment.
The first thing after Mr. Stuart arrived at Mackinac was to map out the
entire Indian country with the location of every tribe and band, and the
boundaries were defined with almost as much definiteness as could be done
with compass and chain. Trading posts were established at every important
point with a pricipal trader to manage each centre, and out-stations well
manned to head off the French trader who was already in the field.
When M? Ferry arrived at Mackinac in 1822, he found the company's
arrangements complete and their business at high tide. He was cordially
invited to make Mr. Stuart's house his home, with the promise and with the
assurance of all the assistance his position and influence could render in this
most difficult undertaking. Missionary work had no sooner commenced than
bitter opposition was manifested against it. There was a lawyer there who was
ready to oppose every step of progress. He had the ability and all the bitter-
ness of Bob Ingersoll, and all the subtleness of the prince of darkness; and
he headed a gang of lewd fellows of the baser sort who were always ready to
do his bidding. He could always find laws in the statute book that he could
torture into compliance with any scheme he chose to set on foot, and always
find tools enough to carry these schemes into effect. When the mission com-
menced he used every device to hinder or stop it. Sometimes by raising evil
reports, sometimes by enticing children away, and sometimes by some legal
process. Mr. Stuart was always ready with counsel and influence to thwart his
malicious designs and usually they recoiled upon his own head. There were a
number of acts passed by the legislative council to protect missionaries and
their property, and to enable missionary societies to hold or retake their mis-
sion children when enticed away, and to punish those enticing or harboring
them. These laws were all made to meet and counteract interruptions set on
foot by this man Bailey, and helped on by those under his control. These
laws would be hardly intelligible if these facts and circumstances were un-
known. These laws were all secured to the mission by the personal efforts and
influence of Mr. Stuart. His position gave him acknowledge of the whole
country, and all the men of influence in all the northwest; and his business
relations gave him an influence almost unbounded. If your case was just you
need only to secure his aid in order to succeed.
The laws relative to public flogging were very convenient for this class of
men. They could carry any point they wished' by their use and make them
suit any case they wished to carry. I incidentally referred to these laws in my
former paper, but they need a more extended notice. I was incidentally
brought in contact with the subject. One of our mission boys was drawn into
some irregularity by one who should have been in better business. They were
arrested, convicted, and sentenced to be publicly flogged. My boy was so "young
that it was at my option whether the punishment should be by a public officer
INCIDENTS IN LIFE OF ROBERT STUART. 59
or by my own hands in private. I chose the latter. The other party was
stripped and flogged in the public street, and the "cat" was officially sent to
me to be used on my boy. It was a horrid instrument of torture. It had a
wooden handle about two feet long, highly ornamented with six lashes with
iron hooks like cat's claws ingeniously twisted in to make it effective. I threw
the horrid thing aside, but had to substitute the switch to answer the demands
of the law. There was one other instance in which I came in contact with the
same subject. A trader wanted a gang of men to man his boat for a trading
voyage around the lake, but was short one man. We had a hired man who
had previously had some talk of going, but all was left indefinite. That
indefinite talk was construed into an engagement, and a refusal was a crime
punishable at the whipping post. The man asked me what he should do; I
told him to refuse positively. He said they would whip him. I told him I
would stand between him and the "cat," and if they touched him it would
be the dearest flogging they ever undertook. I never heard anything more
about flogging.
In all these trying scenes Mr. Stuart stood by us unflinchingly, but up to
this time the basis of all his acts was worldly policy, natural benevolence, or a
high sense of honor. He had never made the will of God the controlling prin-
ciple of his life, nor the law of God the rule of his actions. He needed one
other qualification to fit him for the position he was afterwards to fill.
In 1829 or 1830 there was a deep religious awakening. Men were brought
face to face with conscience, with God and the future world. He and many
others were brought to see their own unfitness to meet a Holy God. He strug-
gled hard and long to resist. Sometimes he would try to shake, it off; some-
times to think it a delusion, and sometimes to postpone it to a future time.
But all to no purpose; conscience upbraided, the law thundered, and a life
misspent stood before him in fearful array. He was out of harmony with him-
self, with God, and the universe. He did not want to yield, but was afraid
longer to resist. He sat up till late at night, and then went to his room and
told his wife he had resolved to begin a new life. When this resolution was
made he felt that he had entered upon a new state of existence. He came into
harmony with himself and all the world around him. The glory of the upper
world seemed to flash upon him with all its splendor. In simplicity and
humility he was like a little child; but in resisting sin and all kinds of wicked-
ness he was a giant. Here began the moral power by which he accomplished so
much in Detroit and through all the new settlements of this State and in Chi-
cago, to hold intemperance in check and to correct many of the abuses and
evils of society. Whisky was one of the pricipal articles of exchange in the fur
trade. Before his conversion, Mr. Stuart had joined the temperance society
and was trying to do something to suppress the evil. But after this change his
conscience troubled him. He felt that it was inconsistent for a temperance
man and Christian to send whisky by the barrel to the Indians. The company
would put this branch of the trade into other hands and relieve him; but then
the evil would be increased four-fold. His best friends persuaded him to hold
his position, eveA if he was reproached, and lessen the evil he could not cure.
He finally consented, but not till he had obtained the opinion and advice of
the most eminent men in the country.
Another trying point in his experience was the Sabbath question. After his
conversion every hour of that day was to him sacred time ; and for weeks after
he had no interruption. But when the boats began to come in loaded with fur,
60 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
there was danger that they miffht encounter storms and be lost. It had become
the law of that trade, if the trader could get his boat to the wharf and anything
happened to it after that, the loss fell on the company; but if the boat did not
touch the wharf the trader lost it, One Sabbath as they returned from church
a messenger came and reported that the Mississippi boats would be in about
three o'clock. The wind was blowing strong from the east and the waves were
rolling in from Lake Huron, and everything looked threatening. Mr. Stuart
walked the house and groaned. If he .should unload the boat it would be a
violation of holy time; if he did not unload it and it was lost, it would be a
betrayal of trust reposed in him. Either way the cause of religion would suf-
fer. After a little time his wife looked up to him and said, playfully: Bobbie,
how much do you think vou are worth ? He said, perhaps $20,000. How
much is that load of fur 'worth? Perhaps $5,000 or $6,000. Well, then, I
would stop groaning, and if the boat comes in, tell them to tie her up, and if
she goes to pieces pay the company, and tell them you would rather do that
than violate the Sabbath. The boat came in. He said tie her up and let her
stay till morning. He went to bed and slept till twelve o'clock and then called
the men, and before light all was safely stored away. These are little things,
but they show the principle that governed him in all his after life; and also
the difference between Christian principle and the principle that governs the
world.
In 1835 Astor closed out their business at Mackinac and Mr. Stuart removed
to Detroit and invested largely in real estate there and elsewhere, which occu-
pied most of his time ! but he was identified with the temperance reform and
other moral and social improvements, and his voice was always heard and
influence felt where any good was to be accomplished or evil opposed. He was
appointed State Treasurer by Governor Woodbridge in 1841 on account of his
financial skill, to correct some abuses under a former administration; and he
would have held many other positions of honor and trust if his private interests
and personal matters had given him the time. Not long after he closed his
public duties as State Treasurer, he was called to Chicago to attend to some
important public business which occupied him till the time of his death, which
came suddenly and in a peculiar manner. He was apparently in perfect health.
In the evening a few friends called in and the conversation was cheerful and
animated. Some allusion was made to a death that had occurred, and then to
death in general, and to the manner of dying. One said he would like to go
this way and another that way. Some one asked how he would like to go out
of this world? He said, "as Elijah did." At a reasonable time the company
left, and Mrs. Stuart retired and left him sitting in his chair. After a time
she called to him and asked if he was not coming to bed ? He did not answer.
She got up and found him sitting as she had left him, but lifeless. His spirit
had gone to its reward. Thus closed on the 29th of October, 1848, in the full
vigor of a noble manhood, a life full of high and noble purposes, and left a
faithful wife who had stood by him in all the difficult and trying scenes
through which they passed, prompting him when he hesitated, and encourag-
ing him when his zeal seemed to abate. She long survived him to carry out
many of his benevolent designs and purposes. Their house was always open to
ministers and for all benevolent purposes. She told me about the last time I
saw her in Detroit, that her house would always be my home when in Detroit,
and that my chair and plate would be unoccupied till I came.
After Mr. Stuart's death she was frequently called to pass through deep
CHRISTIAN LIFE OF ROBERT STUART. 61
waters, and it seemed often, that another wave would engulf her; but she
stood like a rock in the storm. The rolling flood only carried away the rub-
bish and made her Christian graces shine the brighter. The great want of the
present age is more of such men and women. Their benevolence, their ster-
ling inii'gnt y and their high Christian principles make them an ornament to
any society, and a blessing to the community.
EXTRACTS FROM A FUNERAL DISCOURSE ON THE OCCASION
OF THE DEATH OF ROBERT STUART, ESQ.
BY REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D.,
Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Detroit, of which church Mr. Stuart was a ruling
elder. Delivered November 12, 1848.
Mr. Robert Stuart was the son of upright parents, who dwelt in Perthshire
in the north of Scotland, where in 1784 he was born, with whom he spent his
minority, and was educated according to the usages of the Presbyterian Church
in its doctrinal belief and in a religious regard for the Sabbath, a reverence
for the Sacred Scriptures as the word of God, and a respect for the ministry of
that word as a divine ordinance. It is worthy of particular attention, that in
the earlier period of her history, long before his heart was subdued by the love
of Christ these three things operated as habits of action, and threw an influ-
ence around him which followed him into the wilderness, and forsook him not
throughout all the scenes of an eventful life. Although at that time an
unconverted man, such was the influence of his early education and his con-
viction of the wisdom and necessity of the Sabbath, that during his journey
from the Pacific to the Atlantic, he invariably rested on that sacred day, nor
suffered his company to do else. And he has often been heard to say when
commending the Sabbath, "That mainly owing to that circumstance did he
attribute his rapid and successful transit, in twelve months, from the mouth
of the river Oregon to the city of New York.
At the age of twenty-two, being minded to leave his parental abode for the
East Indies, at the request of our worthy and venerable friend and brother,
his uncle, Mr. David Stuart, then an agent of the Northwest Company in
Lower Canada, he came to Montreal; but finding that ere his arrival his
respected relative had gone to the coast of Labrador, he followed the counsel
he had left for him, and became associated with his friends in connection
with the same company; and under the tutorage of a Roman Catholic priest
made himself master of the French language, the better to qualify himself for
the commercial life to which he had devoted himself.
Subsequently he entered the office of the Attorney General of the province,
and continued in Canada till Mr. John Jacob Astor, having formed the design
of establishing trading posts along the Missouri and Columbia rivers, and
especially, of planting a colonial establishment at the mouth of the latter, and
of extending similar posts along the Pacific Coast, organized "The Pacific
Fur Company/' when Mr. Stuart, with his uncle as partner of the firm, sailed
in September, 1810; and having doubled Cape Horn and touched at the
Sandwich Islands, reached the place of destination, and aided in laying the
foundation of a city in the remote Northwest, which has since become con-
10
62 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
nected with the public history, and well known to the people of the United
States; the perils and disasters of which enterprise have been recorded by the
pen of our honored and gifted countryman, the author of "Astoria/ 7
We refer to but one circumstance in this period of his life; and that, because
it affords an illustration of the kind and watchful care of the providence of
that God of whom he then was ignorant, but whose designs of mercy guarded
him; and because it subsequently afforded to his own grateful conviction of
its truth, the verification in himself of that wonderful restraining grace which
He extends, as he did to Ephraim, to those whom He intends to subdue to
Himself. "I taught Ephriam also to go, taking them by their arms but they
knew not that I healed them." Hos. xi. 3.
Soon after their arrival at Astoria, it was arranged that the "Tonquin,"
the vessel that carried them out, should coast towards the north, and having
traded for peltry at the different harbors, touch at Astoria on her return home
in the autumn. Mr. Stuart was to form one of the company on board, and
had his baggage already on the quay to embark, when some difference having
occurred between him and the captain, he ordered it back to the factory,
refused to sail with him, and gave place to another. She sailed on the 5th of
June, 1811, with a company of twenty-three, including crew, and in a few
days arrived at Vancouver's Island, and anchored in the harbor of Xeweetee.
Through the petulance and obstinacy of the captain, the wrath of the savages,
who came to trade with them, was quickly and powerfully excited. He had
neglected the instructions given on the subject of admitting them on board,
and though warned by the interpreter and besought by the partner, who had
taken Mr. Stuart's place, to weigh anchor and speedily to sail from the place,
he replied by pointing to his guns. The result was, that the Indians in large
numbers, having been admitted on deck, having carried on a deceitful trade,
till they had all armed themselves with knives thus purchased; and having
distributed themselves conveniently, at a signal given, uttered the savage yell,
and rushed, each one upon his marked victim. A bloody engagement followed,
till the savages withdrew from the ship leaving but five of the company alive,
who had retreated and fortified themselves in the cabin. Four of these left
the ship in the life-boat, but falling into the hands of the savages suffered a
protracted and torturing death. One wounded man alone remained on the
vessel meditating revenge. The savages returned the next day in immense
numbers for pillage, when the only survivor of the company seizing his oppor-
tunity and setting fire to the magazine, blew up himself and ship and Indians
with a tremendous explosion. The providence of God, who foresees all things,
preserved Mr. Stuart, when he knew it not, from perishing with this unfortu-
nate crew.
The loss of this vessel and other causes, rendered it necessary for the Colony
to send an expedition by land, which was confieded to him, who started with six
others, and having through a dreary and painful journey traversed the vast
howling wilderness amid perils and privations surpassing the wildest scenes of
romance arrived in twelve months thereafter in the city of New York. The
war with Great Britain at that time existing, and the blocade of that city
and of the whole Atlantic Coast, frustrated the enterprise at Astoria and
threw Mr. Stuart into different scenes.
Having been united in marriage with our beloved sister, who now mourns
her irreparable loss, and having formed new business relations, he removed in
1817 to the island of Mackinac: where, for eighteen years he engaged in con-
CHRISTIAN LIFE OP ROBERT STUART. 63
ducting the commercial enterprise of the American Fur Company, then prose-
cuting an extensive trade with the Aborigines of our forests, from the lakes to
the Rocky Mountains.
The firmness of his natural disposition, which had not been mellowed by the
grace of God; his sternness, decision, and energy; and the degraded charac-
ter of the Indians and voyageurs and coureurs de bois, with whom he was
constantly brought in contact; and withal his native sense of justice, honor,
and integrity, rendered him efficient and invaluable as a business man, and
gave him a name and influence that commanded general respect and awe. Of
the religion which has its seat in the heart, and commences in the regeneration
of the man, he had no experimental knowledge. As a lofty man of the world
he cared not to seek it, but rather disdained it ; regarding it either as a proof
of weakness of character, or as the merest enthusiasm. Nevertheless, edu-
cated as he had been, in the forms and doctrines of the church of Scotland,
he honored and valued the ordinances and rites of Christian worship, as pre-
served and practiced in their simplicity by his ancestors and countrymen. His
religion, however, like that of multitudes, if not of most who have never been
renewed in heart by the Spirit of God, and who live after the fashion and
manners of the world, was wholly ritual. Its elements were external morality,
doctrinal orthodoxy, prevalent convictions of the truth of Christianity as a
system of valuable ethics, historical faith, demonstrations of respect for its
institutions and consistent professors, and conformity to its general ritual.
There were, however, at that time on the island no religious persons or insti-
tutions of the Protestant character, which only he had been wont to respect.
But like Manoah, who valued the ordinances of divine worship, and sought to
have a man of God "to teach (him) what to do unto the child that should be
born/' he procured, through the aid of the United Foreign Missionary Society,
a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, to labor as teacher of the youth
and preacher of the gospel, among a population reckless and wild, and wholly
devoid of the fear of God in- their hearts. After the example of the great
woman of Shunem, who said to her husband concerning Elisha, "I perceive
that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually, let us make
I pray thee, a little chamber on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed,
and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, and it shall be when he cometh to
us he shall turn in hither." II. Kings, iv. 9, 10. He took the minister of
Christ to his own house, and welcomed him in it as one of his household. But
being a man of the world, and devoted to business, strongly characterized by
the bold and lofty spirit of the Highlander, and familiar with the gorgeous
scenes of the hospitable tables of "the mighty northwesters/' who, in the
feudal state of Fort William, imitated the old feasts in the Highland castles,
the minister of God was denied all other influence than what was conceded
to him on the Sabbath, on which day only of the seven, was he allowed to
gather the family for domestic worship. The wisdom, prudence, and fidelity
of this man of God, quietly and conscientiously discharging his duty, without
ostentatious intermeddling and sanctimonious dictation, gradually made its
impression. Mr. Stuart became the friend and advocate of temperance and
every measure of reform, especially for the welfare of the Indian tribes, and
cheerfully assumed much of the labor incident to the subsequent establish-
ment of the Mackinac Mission, under the care of the American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions, after the United Foreign Missionary Society
relinquished its stations to them. How much his services in these respects was
64 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
prized, may be inferred from the honor conferred upon him by the Dutch
Reformed Church for the kindness he had shown to their missionary.
God blessed the labors of his missionary servant, and in process of time
poured out his spirit upon the mission. The humbler class were first converted,
the men of lofty mien stood aloof, and fortified themselves against the power
of the truth. For a time Mr. Stuart was of their number. But the stout
hearts, in the progress of that gracious work, began to relent; and, what
deserves particular notice, the men that like him, had welcomed the minister
of God, and rallied to his support, and who in like respect both honored God
and His ordinance, although at first ignorant of divine grace, were themselves
honored by being made partakers of His grace, and their families being pre-
served, while those that rejected and despised the minister of God and his
preaching, were left unblessed, and their families, becoming the victims of
dissipation, were scattered.
During the season of special divine influence in 1828, with which that mis-
sionary station was favored, the spirit of God gave power to His preached
gospel and convinced Mr. Stuart of "sin and righteousness and judgment."
He felt that something more than ritual holiness was needed in order to become
a true Christian. It was a fearful struggle, which, as in the moments of
Christian communion he has related to me, then commenced between the pride
of his natural heart and an awakened and guilty conscience. He saw the
enmity of his heart against God,, and was overwhelmed by the view of his
inward, deep and total depravity. He felt that he had all his life abused the
mercy of God and been rebellious against Him. He owned the justice of that
sentence of God's righteous law, which condemned him to eternal death. He
saw that he had no plea to make but that of guilt, that his life had been wholly
selfish, uninfluenced by any supreme regard for the honor and glory of God,
and that he lay at the feet of his adorable sovereignty helpless, hopeless,
ruined forever, if God, for Christ's sake, did not extend mercy to him. The
offers of that mercy through Jesus Christ, though once so mortifying and
humiliating to his pride, he gratefully accepted. The truth and spirit of God
prevailed, and the lion became a lamb. Prostrate at the feet of Jesus Christ,
he renounced his selfishness and sin; and, in the deep flo wings of repentance,
cordially accepting pardoning mercy through His atoning blood, he conse-
crated himself to God for time and eternity, to be his servant to serve him
faithfully, whatever others might think, or say, or do. Thenceforth the cause
of God became the object of his highest attachment. The labor of his hands,
the contributions of his purse, were ever ready to advance its interests. The
worship of God he established in his house; and the Sabbath was wholly
devoted to the interests of religion, in his own soul and in his family, in the
Sunday school and in the church. Although exposed to the influence of much
worldly company, and thrown of necessity into the society of the gay, and the
lovers of wine and strong drink, he became the decided, zealous and consistent
advocate of temperance, practicing and urging total abstinence from all intox-
icating drinks. The poor, neglected and desolate Indians awakened his sympa-
thies. They were amazed at the change they saw, and thenceforth honored
and loved him as a father.
The zealous friend and advocate of liberty, he felt keenly the oppression
practiced 011 the slave, and ever took especial delight in teaching and helping
in every way the poor fugitives that fled for freedom. And while opposed to
all partisan, unconstitutional, and factious methods to rid the country of the
CHRISTIAN LIFE OF ROBERT STUART. 65
awful curse of slavery, he firmly and warmly testified against the evils and sins
of this wretched system of oppression. He was ever ready to give counsel to
those that were in distress, whatever their grade and condition in life. His
charity extended beyond the communion of his own church. His heart and
hand were ever open to aid and encourage those whom he believed to be
embarked in a good cause.
In 1835 he removed to Detroit, and in 1837 was elected and installed ruling
elder in the church. You have known his going out and coming in; and his
history among you need not to be detailed. The circumstances of his decease
were as strongly marked as were the great outlines of his life. He was trans-
lated without having been made to taste the pains of death. After a week of
especial enjoyment in domestic and religious scenes, and without the least
apprehension of disease approaching, he retired, on Saturday night, to rest at
a late hour. Sleep not invading his frame, and restlessness coming on, he rose
on the morning of the Sabbath very early, and seated himself in his chair
before the fire. Shortly after, his afflicted widow waking, rose and approached
him. Supposing him to be asleep, she sought to rouse him, but it was the
sleep of death. "Blessed are the pure in heart/ 7 The hour of his blessedness
had come, and he ceased to be with us.
With us! We wrong thee by the earthly thought;
Could our fond gaze but follow where thou art,
Well might the glories of this world seem naught,
To the one promise given the pure in heart.
Yet wert thou blest e'en here oh! ever blest
In thine own sunny thoughts and tranquil faith;
The silent joy that still o'erflowed thy breast;
Needed but guarding from all change by death.
Farewell! thy life hath left surviving love
A wealth of records and "sweet feelings given,"
From sorrow's heart the faintness to remove,
By whispers breathing "less of earth than heaven.
Thus rests thy spirit still on those with whom
Thy step the path of joyous duty trod,
Bidding them make an altar of thy tomb,
Where chastened thought may offer praise to God.
God called him home,
And he, of whom I speak, stood up alone,
And in his firm fidelity wrought on
Until his master called him.
Oh, is it not a noble thing to die
As dies the Christian with his armor on?
What is the hero's clarion, though its blast
Ring with the mastery of a world, to this?
What are the searching victories of mind
The love of vanished ages? What are all
The trumpetings of proud humanity
To the short history of him who made
His sepulchre beside the King of Kings?
66 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
L1XKS OX THE DEATH OF ROBERT STUART, ESQ.
Hush'd be each note of gladness!
Let sorrow have her way
For manly hearts are swelling
With bitter grief to-day.
A righteous man has fall'n
While yet in mellow years,
And overwhelmed with sadness,
A city mourns in tears.
The poor man, still lamenting
That he should now survive
The hand, whose constant bounty
Enabled him to live.
The trembling sons of bondage
Who lurk round freedom's shore,*
In bitter strains complaining,
Their steadfast friend deplore.
The virtuous man, hard struggling
With life's afflictive woes,
Now falls despairing in his path,
And yields him to his foes.
And the man of timid faith,
Who by his counsel stood:
Sinks down in stormy waters,
By fatal doubt subdued
For every drooping spirit
He had some word of cheer;
And the head was gladly lifted,
His soothing voice to hear.
Like summer rill, his bounty
A quiet pathway found;
And, though unseen by many,
Shed blessings all around.
Nature endowed him nobly;
But grace in holier plan,
Retouched with heavenly colors,
The glories of the man.
The virtues all united,
Here ever shone the same;
And now a cherished memory
Embalms his honored name!
Then hush each note of gladness;
Let sorrow have her way
For manly hearts are swelling
With bitter grief to-day.
DETROIT, Nov. 6, 1848. D. B. DUFFIELD.
Detroit Fugitive Slave Law was then ln force - and slaves were escaping to Canada through
THE CLIMATE OF DETROIT. 67
THE CLIMATE OF DETROIT.
BY BBLA HUBBARD, ESQ., OF DETROIT.
Read before the Detroit Scientific Association, October, 1874.
Within a few years the science of meteorology has made great progress
under organized corps of observers. It is fair to state that while I make use
of all the resources within my reach, in the preparation of this paper, its con-
clusions are based mainly upon independent observations, drawn from my
records of the last thirty-nine years. Little of merit as these may claim, com-
pared with the more strict deductions of the scientist, they may, like the
observations of almost any lover of nature, serve to set facts in some new
light, or new combination, and thus have a practical value.
That the immense bodies of water known as the Great Lakes affect the
climate of this region is well known; but the nature and extent of their influ-
ence are yet but little familiar to the popular mind. Indeed, with all the
advance in the science of weather, the data for scientific determinations have
been and still are very scanty.
TEMPERATURE.
The controlling element in all climates is temperature. The direction and
strength of winds, and the amount of moisture descending in rain, mist and
snow, are sources of modification, or results, rather than chief causes. Though
the temperature of any locality depends mainly upon the general astronomical
causes, felt all around the globe, it is also known that local causes have a very
considerable share in the production of climate. Thus, the seasons on this
continent differ greatly from those of the same latitudes in Europe, being
hotter in summer and colder in winter. Our spring and autumn also differ
from theirs in duration, and in other characteristics.
General facts like these, I assume without going into the wide field of
explanation. They and their causes are familiar to you.
I shall also assume, as well known, the fact, that isothermal lines, or lines
drawn through places of equal temperature over the United States, by no
means conform to the latitude, but are deflected north or south by local
causes, and that among these the great lakes have a prominent importance.
The winter isothermal lines are deflected northerly, and the summer lines
southerly, in approaching these bodies of water. In other words, their vicinity
68 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
is warmer in winter and cooler in summer than places in the same parallel
removed from them,, except in the immediate vicinity of the ocean.
SUMMER AND WINTER ISOTHERMAL LINES.
These general facts I shall endeavor to render more clear by means of a
chart. [This chart is not furnished for insertion in this volume.] Instead
of the usual method of delineating the isotherms in a regular series of
degrees of temperature, I have taken only the means, in summer and in
winter, of certain places specially important to my purpose, and carry the
isotherms of these degrees across the region of the lakes, from the Atlantic to
the Mississippi. For instance, Detroit has a mean summer temperature of 67
and a mean winter temperature of 26.
You will notice the summer isothermal of 67, drawn in red, commencing at
the sea coast at Cape Cod. It passes a few miles up the coast and thence inland
to a lower latitude in central Massachusetts. From thence it rises rather sud-
denly into and along the valley of Lake Champlain, almost to Montreal. Here
it divides, passing southerly. One branch between Albany and Utica is carried
into the high lands of Pennsylvania, whence it rises again toward Buffalo, and
west through Lake Erie. The other follows Montreal river and south shore of
Lake Ontario and north shore of Lake Erie, uniting with the former at Detroit
From here it bears northerly into the Peninsula almost 2 of latitude, until,
feeling the cool waters of Lake Michigan, it loops suddenly down toward
Chicago. Curving thence upward along the western coast, it leaves the lake
at a point some miles north of Milwaukee, but at a lower point than on the
eastern coast. Its course is now rapidly northward, until it reaches the
parallel of 46, in longitude 95, a little north and west of St. Paul.
From the parallel of 42 on the Atlantic it has passed through 4 of lati-
tude, or about 280 miles, in its approach to the western plains. Over these,
passing westward, it rises to a much higher parallel.
The cooling effect of the lakes upon the summer heats is here strikingly
shown. Detroit has a lower mean summer temperature than Montreal and
Quebec, although the latter is nearly 5 further north.
St. Paul is hotter than Chicago, 3 south.
The isothermal of the mean winter temperature of Detroit exhibits equal
aberrations. Commencing at the sea coast about latitude 43, and coursing
first south and then up the Hudson to Albany, it is thence pressed rapidly
to the south and along the Alleghanies, down to the parallel of 40. Thence
it sweeps northerly to Buffalo, whence it passes west across Lake Erie,
loops up into Lake Huron, down to Detroit, and thence rapidly southwest
into Indiana. It thence again loops upward and far into Lake Michigan,
sweeping the easterly coast. Turning sharply thence to Chicago it trends
rapidly to the southwest, and strikes the Missouri at about the parallel of 40.
From its lowest depression, at this point, to its highest at the lakes, it has
passed through 4 of latitude, showing admirably the warming influence of the
lakes upon the winter cold of this zone.
Let us now take a more northerly point and follow the isotherms of Sault
Ste. Marie and Marquette, which have each a summer mean of 62 and a
winter of 18.
You see by the chart how the line of 62 bends south from its high lati-
tude, north of Quebec, well down into Lake Huron, and that passing thence
THE CLIMATE OF DETROIT. 69
into Lake Superior it trends still more rapidly to the north. Between the
meridians of 70 and 95 it has ranged through 5 of latitude, or 350 miles.
The winter mean of 18 shows still more complicated irregularities, though
not so wide a divergence. It has its most southerly deflections in Massachu-
setts and Minnesota, about latitude 44, and its most northerly at the coast of
Lake Superior, in latitude 47, a range of 3.
Take now some points south of Michigan, say the city of New York, which
has a summer mean of 72, and a winter of 31.
The isotherm of 72 follows down the Alleghanies as far south as the paral-
lel of 38 ; thence bears rapidly northwest to Dubuque, ranging through nearly
5 of latitude. You cannot fail to observe how it loops up into the peninsula
of Michigan as far north as Detroit, but bears away from the near vicinity of
the lakes, where the summer means are cooler by 4 or 5.
The winter isotherm of 32, commencing at the sea coast near New York,
flanks the Alleghanies through several degrees of latitude, southerly, thence
curves upwards towards the lakes as far north as Columbus, Ohio, and thence
again bends southerly, until it strikes the Missouri, west of, and about the lati-
tude of St. Louis, a range of less than 3. Both these isotherms are too dis-
tant to be as much affected by the lakes as those first noticed.
These few observations perhaps sufficiently illustrate, though they by no
means show all the divergences and irregularities to which many of the iso-
thermals of this latitude are subject.
THE LAKE REGION A PLATEAU.
Our locality, though so greatly modified in several aspects of its climate by
the presence of the great lakes, falls within the general system which prevails
throughout the temperate zone on this continent.
It will be remembered that the lakes do not occupy valleys, as many suppose,
nor do they fill gorges among mountains. On the contrary, there are no very
elevated lands on or near their borders, but the region is rather a vast plain
than a valley. The plans of ascent from their surfaces are very moderate;
the levels which separate the streams that discharge into the lakes from those
which discharge into the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico being broad and low,
rather plateaus than hills.
Were these bodies of water dry land, of the same elevation, there would
exist no conditions tending to deflect the isothermal lines from their regular
curves from the great plains to the Atlantic. But so large a surface of water
warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the land does very sensibly
affect the temperature of the atmosphere which passes over them, and as tem-
perature is the governing element of climate, the character of the seasons is
essentially modified through their influence. The effect is to equalize the tem-
perature over a considerable area, and to soften the extremes.
' . . . , EFFECT OF THE LAKES UPON THE TEMPERATURE.
This modification of the climate may be made 'further apparent, by . r a com-
parison of the mean range of temperature of the months, for a series >oi years,
at different posts of observation in this latitude 1 ; ' > ; . -
Thiis, while the mean temperature of the year does not vary 'greatly for the
lake borders and places 500 miles distant, east and west, on the same parallel,
the temperature at the 'latter falls to a lower mean in v; winter,' or rises to a
higher one in summer, or both. The mean of the' year at Detroit 'and -through
New York and New England, on the same parallel, 47 to 48, differs only
11
70 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
about 1; but the mean range, that is, the increase from February, when the
rising scale begins, until it commencs to decline, in July, is at Albany and
Amherst 4.5 greater; the means raising from a range of 43 during that
period at Detroit, to 47.5 at the other places.
Westward, this feature is still more conspicuous. At Battle Creek, due
west from Detroit, and about equi-distant from Lakes Erie and Michigan, we
find a mean range 10 greater than in Detroit; the mean of the year being
only a little more than 1 higher. At Dubuque the difference is 12. At St.
Paul (2 of latitude further north) it is 16. The mean of the year being at
Dubuque 2 higher, and at St. Paul 3 lower than here, while the winter at
Dubuque is 4 colder, and the summer 4.5 warmer than Detroit.
The mean temperature of December and January at Detroit is quite uni-
formly the same, and varies but little from the general winter mean of 27.
At the other places named, on the lowest parallel, the lowest mean is not
reached until some time in January; but the temperature begins to rise from
that month onward, and merges more rapidly into the heats of summer.
The difference between the means of January and March at Detroit is 8.
At other places east, in the same latitude, it is 9 to 10. The same difference
is found at Battle Creek; scarcely less at Chicago; while at Dubuque it rises
to 15, and at St. Paul to 18.
Equally marked is the rapid increase of temperature from March to May.
At Detroit the advance does not exceed 20. At Utica, Albany and Amherst
it exceeds 24. A like increase obtains at Battle Creek and Chicago, and at
Dubuque and St. Paul it reaches 27.
The maximum summer heat is attained in July, in this latitude, the mean
of the months being about 2 above the summer mean at Detroit and east-
ward, and about 3 at places westward.
Thence the decline into autumn is very gradual until September, the tem-
perature of August corresponding nearly with the means of summer through-
out, and that of September ranging from 6 to 8 below.
From September the decline is more rapid, but regular to October, which
represents the means of the autumn quite closely.
The decline from the means of summer to those of autumn varies, from 18
to 20, being a difference of about 2 only for the different places named on
this parallel. But the decline from autumn to winter, which is but 20 at
Lake Erie, ranges to 24 at the interior stations east and to 30 at Dubuque,
and at Battle Creek to 27.
EFFECT OF THE LAKES.
These results show the effect of the lakes : First, In a modification of the
extremes, causing a difference of several degrees in the means of both summer
and winter near their borders.
Second, In a prolongation of spring on the lake borders. Here the tempera-
ture of April represents nearly the mean of spring. At Battle Creek, April is
about 4 above the means of spring, and at Dubuque April has nearly reached
the mean of May at Detroit.
Third, In a prolongation of autumn or more gradual descent into winter.
In December places on this parallel in New York, Massachusetts and Central
Michigan have reached the winter mean of Detroit, but still want 2 or 3 of
their own winter mean. Dubuque in December has reached a point 2 lower
than the winter mean of Detroit.
THE CLIMATE OF DETROIT. 71
Fourth, In a modification of single extremes. The maximum, noted by me
in thirty years' observation, at and near Detroit, is 94, the minimum, 18..
Very rarely does the mercury fall below 10 in any winter, the above extreme-
of 18 having occurred only twice during the period.
During the same period in central New York and Massachusetts the maxi-
mum has reached above 100 and the minimum 34; the Detroit minimum of
18 having occurred on an average once in every two winters.
Such severe extremes are often sudden and very temporary, and afford little-
indication of the general character of the seasons. Nevertheless, they are an
important element in our estimate, and often attest the capability, or other-
wise, of any given climate for the growing of the more tender plants.
WESTERLY WINDS AS MODIFYING CAUSES.
These favorable modifications of the prevailing climate of this region are
still more strongly impressed upon the eastern than the western borders of the
lakes, in consequence of the prevailing westerly winds, which distribute over
the land the more equable temperature of the water.
The mean of summer at Grand Haven is 2 lower, and that of winter 3
higher than at Milwaukee. The summer temperature is also carried farther
on into the autumn, and the winter mean falls a month later.
Still more marked is the situation in regard to single extremes. It is claimed
that the thermometer never falls below 16, as an extreme mean at any point
on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan (Prof. Winchell), even as far north as
Traverse Bay, a latitude in which elsewhere, both east and west, the tempera-
ture has at periods of extreme cold fallen as low as 40.
The wonderful advantages possessed by this favored coast of our peninsula
are fast procuring for it an envied celebrity. It is destined to become the most
noted fruit region of the United States, having all the advantages of the;
climate of the Ohio, Missouri and California without their drawbacks.
It will be seen that Detroit, though so favorably affected by the vicinity of
the lakes, cannot claim all the extraordinary benefits they confer in so high a
degree, and why the palm is borne from her by the locations on Lake Michi-
gan and by the southern coast and the islands of Lake Erie.
That delicate foreigner, the peach, is with us liable to loss of the crop by
May frosts, and even the tree itself often suffers from the winter extremes - f
but no such mishaps occur on the western coast of the peninsula. The native
grape frequently suffers here, both in fruit and vine, but the crop almost
never fails upon the islands in Lake Erie. These have a climate peculiarly
favorable, both from the retarded spring and the prolonged autumn of their
locality. In these respects they contrast most favorably with the much more
southerly climates where the grape is cultivated.
An evidence of this came under my observation in the spring of 1860. Being-
at Lexington, Kentucky, on the night of the 25th of April, I was desirous to
visit the most promising vineyard in that neighborhood, the vines of which
were set full in fruit. The morning brought a black frost, and when I visited
the yard not a bunch was found unspared; the whole crop was destroyed.
Ke turning north, I reached Lake Erie on the 1st of May. There a winter
temperature still reigned, and not a bud had put forth. In due time the
island vines set fruit and produced an abundant crop.
72 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
COMPARATIVE CHARACTER OF THE SEASONS AS AFFECTED BY THE LAKES.
The character of our seasons as shown by these comparisons of temperature
may be stated thus, in general terms:
The winter of Detroit is warmer than that of places in the same latitude in
central New York, Massachusetts and Michigan, by at least 2, and is 4.5
warmer than the mean 500 miles west.
Spring has nearly the same mean temperature as the central positions men-
tioned, but is 4 colder than the latter, and the increase from March to May
is more gradual.
Summer is cooler than on the parallel east by 1 to 2, than central Michi-
gan by 3, and the more westerly positions by 4.5.
Autumn is cooler by 1 than the points east; by 2 than central Michigan,
and by 4 than the westerly ^posts ; and the decline of heat is less rapid
through the autumn months.
PREVAILING WINDS.
The prevailing winds of this locality are in winter west, or those directions
into which west enters. They vary from southwest to northwest, are often
north and northwest, but seldom east or southeast.
In the spring east and northeast winds prevail nearly half the time. They
-vary from east to west and northeast to south, but seldom northwest. In some
of the spring months, usually March or April, east and northeast winds are
the prevailing ones. In others westerly.
In summer southwest winds prevail, varying from south to west. East and
west winds are frequent, but very few northwest or southeast.
In autumn westerly winds are prevalent, varying to southwest and south,
but a westerly direction enters into two-thirds of the winds of this season.
Taking the yearly average, probably two-thirds of the winds are southwest,
west and northwest.
Light showers or falls of snow come with westerly winds, as also the summer
thunder-storms, but the long rains and snow storms are attended by an easterly
wind. The severe and cold wind storms, however, are from the west, and it is
from this direction that the winds come with greatest force, and we receive the
storms that are so destructive to vessels on the lakes. This prevalence of sur-
face winds from the west is only a necessary result of that majestic atmos-
pheric current, which, in this temperate zone, is ever silently but unceasing-
ly sweeping round the globe.
RAINFALL.
As the amount of precipitation of moisture, in the form of rain and snow,
depends upon the vicinity of large water surfaces, it would naturally be sup-
posed that the climate of Michigan should be a moist one. But the contrary
is the case. In fact, the peninsula climate is exceedingly dry, if we consider
the total amount of rainfall. The cause will be apparent when we consider
the source from which our rains come, and the relation that subsists between
the rainfall and the temperature.
The Gulf of Mexico undoubtedly furnishes the great source of supply to the
atmosphere east of the plains. The vapor-laden trade winds, coming from, the
warm tropic seas carry their volumes of moisture over the Gulf States, where
large quantities are precipitated. As it is borne further inland this supply
jneets the great current of southwesterly winds and is carried north and east,
THE CLIMATE OF DETROIT. 7S
with, a constantly diminishing amount of precipitation. From the gulf coast,
where it is greatest, to the lakes, the rainfall has gradually diminished from
the large mean annual amount of sixty inches to twenty-eight inches.
This result would probably be quite uniform were there no diversities of
surface to cause local differences.
The same effect is visible, to a less extent, along the Atlantic Coast, where
the easterly winds contribute to the supply.
To a still less extent this effect is apparent in the. vicinity of the lakes.
The total rainfall is two to four inches greater in the interior of the penin-
sula than on the immediate borders.
The law which prevails in Europe, of an excess of precipitation upon the
mountain summits and elevated plains, does not hold generally in the United
States, where rather a contrary law obtains. The high plateaus even the
elevated chain of the Alleghanies have less of both summer and annual pre-
cipitation than the lower lands on either side. Our peninsula, which is a
plateau not exceeding 1,000 feet above the ocean, is no excption to the rule.
This phenomenon is doubtless due to the lower temperature of the higher
lands, during the season- of greatest precipitation, and shows, that general
rather than local causes govern the rainfall throughout the whole country.
The cooler summer atmosphere which we have seen to be the effect of the near
vicinity of the lakes, contributes to this result, and will explain in part, no
doubt, the comparative dryness of the Michigan cliniate.
1 . . .
OUR RAINS NON-PERIODIC.
With the exception of the gulf coast this portion of the United States
belongs to the great area of equally distributed rains, one that has no defined
rainy seasons.
We have, consequently, no periodic rains, although the periods of most
abundant rains are looked for quite regularly in the summer and the early
autumn months. It is usual to expect the "equinoctial storm," as it is called
a rainy period of several days about the end of September; but even this is
quite uncertain, both as to its duration and even its occurrence.
During the heat of summer our rains occasionally assume a character suited
to the tropical vehemence of the temperature, and pour down with great pro-
fusion, though their duration is short.
A peculiar phenomenon of the rain storms in this locality is that they occur
so frequently under the cool shades of the night, preceded and followed by
cloudless days.
Although the amount of rainfall is so. small in this district, I think it will
be found, were the records sufficiently extended, that the number of days on
which some rain or snow falls is as great as in more southerly districts, where
the annual amount is twofold.
ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY, AS AFFECTED BY THE LAKES.
That our atmosphere is little, if at all, affected by the diffuse evaporation
from the surrounding water surfaces is evident from its great clearness, the
intense azure of its sky, and the brilliancy of its moonlight and star canopy.
The region of the lakes is noted also for its beautiful sunsets. In this, as
well as in the transparency of its atmosphere; it excels the Eastern States, and
more than rivals far-famed Southern Europe. Talk of the blue skies of Italy f
74 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
We have more clear firmament,, and of a deeper depth of blue, in one month
than Italy in half the year.
To exhibit clearly our relation to the surrounding territory would require
charts of' the isohyetal lines. In the absence of these, a brief statement may
serve to convey a proximate idea.
THE RAINFALL AS CONTROLLED BY THE SEASONS.
In broad terms, the area of eight to nine inches spring rainfall includes the
whole Michigan peninsula. The central and western portions have nearly one
inch more than the eastern, and at Mackinaw and St. Mary's the total has
diminished to about five inches.
The area of nine to ten inches, summer rainfall, includes all the lakes and
Lower Canada. There is but little variation throughout the peninsula; nine
inches representing fairly the eastern side, and ten inches the central and
western.
The autumn rainfall has about the same general average, but diminishes to
about eight and one-half inches at the north, or to the same mean as Wis-
consin.
The average winter precipitation is about five inches ; somewhat less on the
east side of the State, and about one and one-half inches more in the interior
and west.
The total annual precipitation is thirty to thirty-one inches on the east side,
increasing south and west to thirty-four inches, and diminishing to twenty-five
inches at Mackinaw. The average for the whole peninsula is thirty-three
inches.
OTHER LOCALITIES COMPARED.
Comparing these means with those which obtain at a small remove we find
that a summer rainfall of from ten to twelve inches (or two to three inches in
excess of Detroit) crowds closely up Lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario, and
sweeps over the lower half of Wisconsin, and as far north and west at St. Paul.
The winter precipitation increases rapidly as we advance south from Lake
Erie, being fully seven inches through the north part of Ohio and Indiana (or
more than two inches above the mean of Michigan), and increases to eleven
inches at Cincinnati.
Proceeding south from Michigan the total annual precipitation increases at
the rate of about three inches for every degree of latitude to the Ohio river,
where it is forty-eight inches, or fifteen inches more than the mean of Michigan.
At 95 longitude the mean annual precipitation is about the same as at
Detroit. But'thence westward the diminution is rapid, and at the meridian of
100 it is scarcely more than half that amount.
From the lakes to the Atlantic we find a gradual increase from an annual
mean of thirty-two inches to forty-four inches.
Thus, notwithstanding our insular position, the climate of this region
proves to be the dryest in the United States east of the head-waters of the
Mississippi. But the rains are very equally distributed, through all but the
winter months, which have only one-sixth of the entire precipitation. Crops,
therefore, seldom suffer from the want of moisture, even in the dry periods.
South of the Ohio the winters have one-third of the whole precipitation
equal to that of the summer.
THE CLIMATE OF DETROIT. 75
MONTHLY FLUCTUATIONS.
Having considered the character of the seasons and our relation to neighbor-
ing parts of the continent, as regards the average measures of precipitation,
let us notice and compare the monthly fluctuations.
At Detroit the smallest quantities fall in the months of December and Feb-
ruary; the mean of thirty-eight years being 1.3 and 1.4 inches, respectively,
and that of the three winter months being 1.7 inches.
From February to June appears a gradual increase, largest for March and
April, when it rises to 2.9, the mean of the spring being 2.8 inches.
In June, which is the month of largest precipitation, there is an increase to
3.9 inches, the mean of the summer being 3.10. From June there is a falling
off during the remaining summer months.
The mean for September rises to 3.3 inches, that of the autumn being 2.4,
and falls again through the remainder of the year.
These results show a tendency to two minima, in December and February,
and to two maxima, in June and September.
The June freshet is looked for quite uniformly, and with more certainty
than the floods which attend the melting of the snow in the spring, although
the latter often exceed in temporary height and violence.
COMPARISON OF MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM PERIODS.
A table of the average precipitation for the seasons and months, for different
places, from the Gulf to the coast of New England, exhibits very considerable
contrasts. It would be interesting to examine them if we had the time.
For my present purpose I wift advert to the fact only, that there exists a
general tendency to minima of precipitation about the middle or end of
winter, and of maxima about midsummer.
Grouping the results, it may be stated that on or near the coast of New Eng-
land the tendency is to one minimum in February of about three inches, and
three maxima in May, four inches, August and November 4.5 to four inches.
Through central New York one minimum, February, of 1.4 inches, and one
maximum, June or July, 3.5 inches.
In the lake region, west of Lake Erie, one minimum in February of 1.4
inches, and one maximum, in June, 3.5 inches.
In the Ohio Valley one minimum, January and February, of three inches,
and one maximum about June, 4.5 inches.
On the Gulf coast two minima, Apill 1.7 inches, and November, three
inches, and one maximum in July, eight to twelve inches.
The minimum of February at Detroit is less than one-twentieth, and the
maximum of June nearly one-eighth of the whole average annual rainfall. In
other words, the mean of February is 1.1 inches below the average mean of
the months; that of June is one inch above the average mean.
MONTHLY PRECIPITATION FOR THE UNITED STATES.
On this diagram is shown the annual precipitation running through the
mean of the several months, at representative stations within the group re-
ferred to, including also the upper Mississippi. These few curved lines repre-
sent very closely, and as far as may be done from so few data, the rainfall
through the year, over the whole United States, east of the great plains.
76
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
POPULAR AND SCIENTIFIC OPINIONS COMPARED.
The remark is frequently made that our climate is undergoing a permanent
change. Many think it is becoming dryer, which is by some attributed to the
destruction of the forests.; according to others it is becoming permanently
colder also.
These popular opinions suggest a very interesting inquiry. For the present
it may be a sufficient answer that the statistics of the rainfall, as well as those
of the temperature, do not verify such conclusions.
Throughout this region, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, north of the
Ohio, the fluctations, both annual and for a series of years, are very great,
and they show a tendency to an irregular grouping of years in which the rain-
fall is in excess, and of those in which it is in diminution of the mean. This
is governed by no known or apparent law, and though in the main there is a
THE CLIMATE OF DETROIT.
77
general agreement throughout the region, yet considerable and remarkable
differences occur, even at points not widely separated.
Diagrams for all this region indicate an average increase of the rainfall
from about 1840 until about 1862, and this fact contradicts the prevalent
opinion of increasing dryness. Since that period a general decrease is observ-
able in this region. This was the case until 1873, from which year until now a
large increase is apparent, December 1880.
Within this first series of years occurs one period of greatly diminished rain-
fall, common to the diagram for New England, New York, Southern Michi-
gan and Ohio, viz., from 1835 to 1845, averaging 10 to 15 per cent below the
mean for each district, and one period of increased rainfall, viz., from 1848 to
1862, which averages 10 to 20 per cent above the mean.
Successive years, however, frequently show great irregularity in the amounts,
sometimes falling from 20 to 30 per cent above the mean in the place to as
much below, within a period of two or three years, breaking in so violently
upon the averages as to render any generalization very difficult.
For the sake of comparison I 'select from each of the districts named three
years of greatest and of least rainfall, and bring them together, exhibiting the
percentage which each attains above and below the yearly mean of i;he district.
A TABLE OF PERCENTAGES OP RAINFALL IN MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM YEARS.
Years of Greatest Maximum.
Pel 1 Cent. Above Me an
New England Coast ' ,
1841
1842
1849
' 1847
1850
1850
1855
1855
1868
.- 1857
186L
. - 1858
15.
}2
13
16
23
17
30?
16
21
20
26
26
New York .
Southern Michigan. ...,..
Ohio
i ,
Years^of .Greatest MinJmunu .
Per Cent. Below Mean.
New England Coast.
1837'
1844 '
1845
1838-
' 1849
1856
1850
,1853-
1856
1861
'18165
1856
15
15
26
23
12
13
16
16
12
16
28
28
New York
Southern Michigan. . . . .V. 1
Ohio.. . i
A comparison of these maxima and minima serves to show how extremely
local are the causes -of the differenqes; how small is the .correspondence be-
tween the locations for the same years, while it does not indicate any decided
differences in the variability in the different districts.
The range at Detroit (between the highest maximum and lowest minimum)
is fully 55 per cent of the annual mean,, which does not differ greatly from
that of the other districts, . though in excess of: the eastern ones, .but at St.
Paul the range is much greater. There the mean of the year is only twenty-
five inches, while the range m nineteen years' observation is from forty-one to
eighteen inches, or over 100 per cent. '
ANNUAL FLUCTUATIONS IN THff RAINFALL.
The accompany ing. diagram will exhibit at a'glance the annual fluctuations
in the rainfall a;t Detroit since 1834. Each column represents a year, and the
amount in inches is shown by the figures at the side.. The curved line is an
attempt at a generalization of. the several means. These data are here brought
12
78
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
down to the present time, December, 1880. The diagram makes very apparent
two groups of dry years, since the high water of 1837, viz. : 1837 to 1846, inclu-
sive (ten years), and 1863 to 1872, inclusive (ten years); and two of wet, viz.:
1847 to 1862, inclusive (sixteen years), and 1873^ to the present year (1880),
which exhibits the largest downpour of the whole series, 50+ inches. The
divergencies of excessive years, both wet and dry, are very great; the range
nearly equals the annual mean, 31+ inches.
1835
THE CLIMATE OF DETROIT. 79
Could a diagram be constructed for the whole region embraced by the
drainage into the lakes there can be no doubt that a proper correspondence
would appear between the rainfall and their periods of high and low water,
succeeding series of wet and dry years.
FREEDOM OF OUR LOCALITY FROM FLOODS AND DEEP SNOWS.
To the facts we have been considering, and which have relation to our situa-
tion relative to the great sources of supply, as well as to the plateau character
of the country, is due our comparative exemption from destructive flooding
rains and deep snows. Neither the lakes nor the peninsula streams overflow
their banks, causing such devastations as are common in the States east and
south of us. And in winter railroad trains are seldom blocked by snow, as
frequently happens in this latitude elsewhere.
The same cause which frees this locality from the inconveniences of deep
snow also deprives us in many winters of sufficient snow for the ordinary win-
ter sledding. The increased temperature, due to the extensive and open water
surfaces around us, causes the snow to melt almost as it falls, so that it seldom
lasts long as a covering to the soil. The lower atmosphere, at such times,
gathers increased humidity, which occasions a sensible chill that is more
uncomfortable in its effect than a steady cold below the freezing point.
Yet it is a noticeable fact that fogs are rare with us, at any season.
Our deepest snow and of longest continuance usually occurs in February,
which is the month of greatest cold.
DROUGHTS.
The droughts which prevail often disastrously in autumn throughout Mich-
igan are not peculiar to this district, although the less quantity of rain at that
season that falls over the country east and south no doubt contributes to this
result.
The still dryer climate west of Lake Michigan, extending with increased
severity to the great plains, exhibits this phenomenon in vastly enhanced pro-
portions.
Yet to the same cause is due that peculiar and delightful phenomenon the
Indian summer which is comparatively little known to the Atlantic States,
but which constitutes so pleasing a feature in the lake region.
GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE SEASONS WINTER.
In a general survey of our seasons the winters at Detroit may, as a rule, be
classed as "mild and open."
My notes show nearly two-thirds of the winters for the last thirty-eight years
to be of this character. This kind of winters may be thus described. A
temperature seldom below 0, and frequently above the freezing point ; an aver-
age temperature 1 above the winter mean of 27 ; a few weeks at most often
a few days only of snow sufficient to make sleighing; many cloudless days,
though the cloudy ones are in excess; constant alternations ^of frosty nights
and days, with warm and damp or rainy ones, yet with a large number of days
of clear, bracing atmosphere, when the thermometer falls below freezing at
night, and rises a little above it by day ; prevailing west and southwest winds,
an occasional storm that leaves its mantle of snow followed almost immedi-
ately, or within a few days at most, by the prevailing openness.
As a rule, only the "cold" winters are snowy ones winters whose tempera-
80 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
below the mean when it continues to freeze for several days
successively. At such periods the local influences are overborne by the general
causes which prevail in this latitude, and the cold storms, with their freight of
heavy snows, sweep over and involve our district in the prevailing frigidity.
At such times the ground freezes hard, if bare, to the depth of two or three
feet. Streams are frozen over, our broad river included and no longer lend
their influence to soften the temperature. Winter gathers strength by its own
progress, and forgets its ordinary relaxations.
SPRING.
Of the advance of spring-time my notebooks furnish a few items which may
serve for useful comparison with other localities.
The first of the forest trees to be animated by the genial breath are the
poplar, willow, elm and maple. These are in flower from April 1 to 20, the
average for the two latter being April 7. The earliest period on my records is
in 1845, March 11.
Wild flowers make their appearance about 10th of April to 1st of May.
Those cultivated fruits, peach and cherry, come into bloom about a month
later than the forest maple and elm 20th of April to middle of May the
average being May 8. Pear and apple follow, 1st to 20th of May; average
about May 12.
The forests now begin to show a green tint, but the perfection of the leaf
is not attained until late in June.
SUMMER AND WINTER EXTREMES.
We have seen how much the heats of summer are moderated by our situa-
tion. Yet, notwithstanding, our climate, like that of the whole temperate
zone,. is one of fierce extremes, indeed at times most fitfully intemperate, and
making us acquainted, under the same sky, with the winter of the Arctic
regions and the summer of the tropics. There are days in our short summers
that fairly belong to the equator, which blaze and quiver with sunshine like a
furnace,, and when vegetable growth may actually be measured in its hourly
increase.
There are days in our rigorous winters when the frosted air cuts like a knife;
when storm so follows storm, in all the grandeur of the season, that for a time
the landscape is obliterated, every familiar object buried out of sight beneath
the congealed and hoary breath of the storm god.
"No cloud above, no earth below,
A universe of sky and snow."
But neither heated nor frozen "terms" ordinarily last many days at a time.
Changes are sudden and violent, from one extreme of temperature to the
opposite.
"Dry" seasons are often accompanied by flooding rains. Frosts follow' a
period of hot days ; and they have been known to occur though very rarely,
as in 1859 in every month of the year.
AUTUMN,
Between the spring and the autumn of our climate there is a striking con-
trast. For while the spring of the English poets, so familiar to our early
literature breathing balm, and leading by slow graduations into summer
scarcely exists here, (where often winter lingers into May, and spring leaps at
THE CLIMATE OF DETROIT. 81
a "bound into the arms of summer, or cheats us with successive storm, cold and
wet,) the autumn time is the most enjoyable of the year, and is in grateful
contrast to the dull, wet season of Europe.
As a rule, our first two autumn months are pleasant, cool and dry, and
sometimes this agreeable weather is protracted into the first month of the
winter. But this season, too, is changeable, and nearly one-fourth of the
years on my calendar are classed as mild and wet or wet and cold.
WEATHER PREDICATES.
This great and constantly recurring irregularity of the seasons gives disap-
pointment to those who seek to form predictions of the weather, based upon
the observations of previous years.
My own notes' are so general in character that they meet ill the strict
demands of science. Yet some of the conclusions drawn from them may be
worthy of record.
Winters which, in popular language, are called "mild and open," are ordi-
narily succeeded by "warm and early" springs, the proportion to those which
are "cold and late" being about two to one.
Cold and snowy winters are certain to be followed by cold and backward
springs. To this law my records show no exception.
Warm and pleasant summers, if succeeded by dry and pleasant autumns,
are followed, as a rule (not without exceptions), by mild and open winters.
Cold summers and autumns are ordinarily succeeded by cold winters, the
exceptions being as about one to two.
Warm and early springs are, as a rule, followed by warm and pleasant sum-
mers, the proportion of such to cold and wet summers being nearly four to one.
Cold and late springs, it may be expected, will be followed by cold or wet
summers, but they are almost as frequently succeeded by warm and dry.
Though there is an approach to some measure of regularity in the character
of the seasons for a succession 'or group of years, no certain law is apparent,
but a warm or cold, a wet or a dry year is likely to be succeeded by one or
more of like character before the character is reversed.
Upon the whole, notwithstanding the great range of climatic phenomena,
and the extreme diversity of certain seasons and years, the observations of
even the last thirty-nine years short as is that period for scientific deduc-
tions show our climate to be constant and uniform, returning always to the
average standard of heat and moisture.
Popular opinion pronounces some extraordinary extreme to be "unprece-
dented" within the memory of that very unreliable character, "the oldest
inhabitant." But science, from whose stern decrees there is no .appeal,
declares it to be but local and temporary, and part of those ever recurring
features, which, in. the cycle of the years, only furnish proof of the stability
and uniformity of nature.
THE ARTIFICIAL AND THE NATURAL DIVISIONS. OF OUR YEAR.
In the natural divisions of the seasons another contrast appears. between our
climate and that of Europe, which, though less marked in the vicinity of the
lakes, is yet a noted difference throughout the temperate zones of .America.
': The divisions of the calendar year appear much more arbitrary , as -applied
to our circumstances, 'and show that they were: meant for 'another, hemisphere.
82 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
In attempting a classification better suited to our climate, if we define
"winter" as the period of hard frosts and completely dormant vegetation,
that season will embrace not merely a fourth part, but nearly half of the
entire year, or from November to the middle of April inclusive, five and a
half months.
If we call "spring" the period between the flowering of the earliest trees
and shrubs or the first opening buds and the full development of the leaves,
that season will have its average beginning about the middle of April and its
end the middle of June, two months.
Th'e reign of -"summer," the season of the full perfection of vegetable
growth, holds from the middle of June to the middle of September, three
months.
"Autumn," the season of the ripening of the fruits of the earth and the
gradual decadence of vegetable life, lasts from the middle of September to
November, one and a half months.
In the more genial atmosphere of the lakes, as I have already noted, the
autumnal season is often much more protracted, and cheats the colder months
of a portion of their supremacy. The bland airs of the Indian summer help to
prolong the illusion; but it is only an interloper, and, in general, by Novem-
ber the hard frosts have set in, and
"Winter comes to rule the varied year."
CONCLUSION.
I cannot close these remarks without adverting to the substantial advan-
tages which our climate possesses, especially that of the lake region, over most
others on the globe.
If it is often excessive in its extremes, it has not the great daily range
which in arid climates is so severely felt, causing a benumbing coldness to the
nights after the oppressive heat of the day.
If we have sometimes droughts, to the injury^ of the crops, we have not those
periodic seasons of completely dry weather, when no rain falls for many weeks,
or even months ; when vegetation can be sustained only by irrigation, and the
atmosphere is charged with dust, features that so greatly detract from the
excellences of California.
And if occasional drenching rains flood the growing crops, they bring, at
rare intervals, to our doors only slight intimations of these deluges which de-
form the winters and the rainy seasons of the South and the Pacific Coast, or
which, in the hill countries, often fill the valleys with the debris of ruined
homes.
If severe gales sometimes cause destruction among our lake craft, and even,
though rarely, uproot our orchards, no tornado ever visits upon us its terrific
fury, and our locality is remarkably free from the sudden and fierce storms,
which are an incident even close to our borders.
The disagreeable features are but exceptions to the general rule, of moderate
but sufficient rains for all needs, equally distributed throughout the year; a
summer temperature, which rapidly quickens into active life the hibernating
earth, and in its fervors gives to our zone some of the productive power of the
tropics, enabling it to bring to perfection the bountiful maize -and other tropi-
cal plants, and especially those various and valuable fruits, that attain their
perfection only in our clime the apple, pear, cherry, peach, plum and grape.
THE CLIMATE OF DETROIT. 83
"Whatever fruits in different climes are found,
That proudly rise or humbly seek the ground;
Whatever blooms in torrid tracts appear,
Whose bright succession decks the varied year;
Whatever sweets salute the northern sky,
With vernal lives that blossom but to die;
These here disporting own the kindred soil."
It must be acknowledged that our climate, like that of this continent gener-
ally, is a very trying one to the average American constitution. Its dryness
and its frequent and excessive changes seem to sap from the body that juiciness
of the blood which, under the moist and equable skies of England, blooms
into ruddy complexions and swells into plump outlines.
Perhaps the climate is not alone responsible for the evil. Much is attribu-
table to our mode of life ; the incessant application to business, in the haste to
be rich ; or too much of indoor life and want of proper exercise in the open air.
Our boys cannot be said to be pale and sickly, and they brave the weather in
all its rudeness.
Though the climate of Detroit partakes of the general character, it does so
to a modified degree. I believe it is admitted that our locality is remarkable
for its healthfulness and freedom from endemic diseases. I put the question
to our professional and well-informed President, whether Detroit is not even
abominably healthy ?
Nature is full of compensations. The perpetual summer of torrid climes is
enervating to mind and body. Even in our southern States, agriculture, the
basis of wealth, must be carried on by an inferior race.
Do the people who have been brought up in a clime where summer is eternal
appreciate in their full measure those gifts of bountiful nature, whose enjoy-
ment is not enhanced by their occasional loss ? Does the never-ending succes-
sion of flowers and fruits compensate for the absence of the "seasons," the
return of spring, summer and autumn, after the dearth of winter, for that
period of biting cold and storm without, and "blazing hearths within ?
" King of intimate delights,
Fireside enjoyments, home-born happiness,"
enhancing even by its bitter contrast the enjoyableness and bloom of sum-
mer.
Where but in such a clime as ours, marked so emphatically by the revolu-
tions of the seasons, with their cold and heat, and all their pleasing variety
and change,
"Forever charming, and forever new,"
do the arts flourish best and man attain his highest perfection ?
84 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
GENERAL HUGH BRADY.
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GENERAL HUGH BRADY, BY HIMSELF.
I was born on the 29th day of July, 1768, at the Standing Stone, in Hunt-
ington county, Pennsylvania, and was the fifth son (they had six sons and four
daughters) of John and Mary Brady. My brothers all lived to be men, in
every sense of the term ; and at a period when the qualities of men were put to
the most severe and enduring tests. While I was yet a child, my father moved
onto the west branch of the Susquehanna river, and pitched his tent about eight
miles above the town of Northumberland. At this time (as well as in later
periods) titles to wild lands could be obtained by erecting a log house and by
girdling a few trees, by way of improvement, or cultivation. In this way, my
father, John Brady, took up a vast quantity of land ; and had he not fallen in
the war of 1776, would have been one of the greatest land-holders in the State.
But, owing to the dishonesty and mismanagement of those connected with him,
his family received but little benefit from his exertions. Soon after the com-
mencement of the war of 1776^ he was appointed a captain in the twelfh
Pennsylvania Kegiment, and in a few weeks, having recruited his company,
he joined the army with which he remained until after the battle of the
Brandy wine.
At this time, the Indians had become very troublesome in the settlements on
the Susquehanna so much so, that application was made to General Wash-
ington for regular troops to protect the frontier. Not being in a condition to
spare any troops at that moment, he. ordered home Captain John Brady, Cap-
tain Boone, and Lieutenants John and Samuel Dougherty, to use their influ-
ence in inducing the people to sustain themselves until he could afford them
other relief. And nobly did they execute his design. A.11 that brave and expe-
rienced men could do was done by them, even to sacrificing their lives in the
defence of their country ; for in less than two years from- that date, Captains
Brady and Boone, and Lieutenant Samuel Dougherty, had fallen by the hands
of the savages. Ten months before the death of Captain John Brady, his son
James had fallen (in 1778) by the Indians. Another son, Samuel, was then
an officer in the U. S. army. John was then at home in charge of the family
and in his 16th year.
After the fall of Captain Brady, my mother removed with her family to her
father's place in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, where she arrived in May,
1779, and where she remained till October of that year. She then removed to
Buffalo Valley, about twenty miles below our former residence, and settled on
GENERAL HUGH BRADY. 85
one of our own farms. We found the tenant had left our portion of the hay
and grain, which was a most fortunate circumstance. The winter following
(1779 and '80) was a very severe one, and the depth of snow interdicted all
traveling. Neighbors were few and the settlement scattered so that the
winter was solitary and dreary to a most painful degree. But while the depth
of the snow kept us confined at home it had also the effect to protect us from
the inroads of the savages. But with the opening of the spring the Indians
returned, and killed some people not very remote from our residence. This
induced Mrs. Brady to take shelter with some ten or twelve families on the west
branch, about three miles from our home. Pickets were placed around the
houses, and the old men, women, and children, remained within during the
day; while all who could work and carry arms returned to their farms for the
purpose of raising something to subsist upon. Many a day have I walked by
the side of my brother John while he was plowing, and carried my rifle in one
hand and a forked stick in the other to clear the plowshare.
Sometimes my mother would go with us to prepare our dinner. This was
contrary to our wishes; but she said that while she shared the dangers that
surrounded us, she was more contented than when left at the fort. Thus we
continued till the end of the war, when peace happy peace again invited
the people to return to their homes.
In 1783 our mother was taken from us. In 1784 my brother John married,
and soon after my eldest sister followed his example. All the children younger
than myself lived with them. I went to the western country with my brother,
Captain Samuel Brady. He had been recently disbanded, and had married a
Miss Swearingen, in Washington county, Pennsylvania. He took me to his
house at that place, and I made it my home until 1792, when I was appointed
an ensign in General Wayne's army. Previous to this, my brother had moved
into Ohio county, Virginia, and settled a short distance above Charlestown. At
that day the Indians were continually committing depredations along the
frontier. t West of the Ohio, the settlements were very sparse, and the people
from the east side went frequently in pursuit of parties of marauding Indians
who visited the neighborhood. I joined with several in purusit of Indians, but
only met them once in action. This was, I think, on the 22d of May, 1791,
Our spies in front had discovered a trail of Indians about eight miles up Indian
cross-cut, making for the settlements. The next morning, ten citizens were
met by Lieutenant Buskirk with twelve State Eangers, at the old Mingo Town,
and from there we went in pursuit. After following their trail till nearly
sunset, we were fied on by the enemy who lay concealed in a thicket. Lieu-
tenant Buskirk was killed and three men were wounded. After a fight of
about ten minutes, the Indians retreated, leaving one gun on the ground and
much blood on the bushes. We pursued them till dark but did not overtake
them. The next day we returned to the field with a large party, and about
,one hundred yards up the stream which had divided the combatants we found
twenty-two Indian packs, showing that our party of twenty-two men had
fought the same number of Indians. It was afterward ascertained that eight
of them died of wounds received, before they reached their towns. I had a
fair shot at the bare back of one of them. I do not know whether I hit him
or not. He did not fall ; and I think I was somewhat excited.
On the 5th of March following, 1792, I was appointed an ensign in a rifle
company commanded by Captain John Crawford, a soldier of 1776. Wm.
Clarke, of Kentucky, was the First Lieutenant. I reported to my captain, and
13
86 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
was put on the recruiting service. But as the pay of a soldier was only three
dollars per month, I met with little success. Our clothing was also indifferent
and the people generally adverse to enlisting. They did not consider regular
soldiers exactly the thing to fight Indians. I then joined the headquarters of
the army, at Legionville the spot where Harmony now stands, twenty miles
below Pittsburgh. The first duty I performed was on Christmas day, 1792,
when I commanded a picket guard. The officer of the day, Major Mills, saw
at guard-mounting that I was green, and when he visited my guard at twelve
o'clock, he took much pains to instruct me. He also let me know at what
hour at night the Grand Eounds would visit me. I had Baron Steuben's
Tactics, and a good old sergeant, and was pretty well prepared to receive the
rounds when they approached.
The major complimented me and remained with me for some time. His
treatment had the effect to inspire me with that confidence which is indispensa-
ble in a young officer, to enable him to perform any duty in a suitable manner.
I then thought Steuben had nothing with which I was not familiar, and the
confidence it gave me has unquestionably been of service to me up to the present
day. The history and movements of that army are before the world; but its
sufferings and privations are only known to those who shared them, of which I
had my full proportion. Our campaign in Canada during the war of 1812,
was by no means interesting, and its privations, etc., were the subject of much
discussion. Compared with the campaign of General Wayne, it was all sun-
shine. At its close, I was left under the command of Colonel Hamtramck, at
Fort Wayne. The force consisted of Captain Porter's company of artillery,
Captains Kingsbury's, Grattan's, and Keed's companies of infantry; and Cap-
tain Preston's company of riflemen, to which I was attached.
During that winter, 1794-5, we lived very poorly. Our beef came to us on
the hoof, and poor, and we had little or nothing to fatten them with. Having
no salt to cure it, it was slaughtered and hung up under a shed, where by
exposure it became perfectly weatherbeaten, and as tough as an old hide. Of
course it made a miserable soup. At the same time our men received but half
rations of flour, and were working like beavers, to complete our quarters.
Thus we lived until about the middle of February, when a brigade of pack-
horses arrived loaded with flour and salt, and with them came a drove of hogs.
From this time forward, we considered ourselves as living on the "fat of the
land." An early spring followed, and with it came ducks, geese, and trout, to
improve our living; and the Indians, soon after, came in with their flags to
sue for peace; and our time passed away pleasantly. The treaty was opened
at Greenville, on the 4th of July, 1795, on which day I arrived at that place.
I had been ordered there as a witness in the case of Captain Preston, who was
tried for disobeying orders of Colonel Hamtramck. The court sentenced
him to be reprimanded, and the general laid it on pretty heavy.
I remained at headquarters till the treaty was concluded, and then returned^
to Fort Wayne. I received many letters from my brothers urging me to resign.
I had not seen them for ten years. Those letters held out the idea that they
would make mv fortune. That (and a desire to return to the land of my early
habits, and to see my brothers and sisters, who had grown from children to be
men and women, and most of them married) decided me to leave the service.
I resigned my commission and left Fort Wayne on the 20th of November, 1795,
and passed the next winter in Lexington, Kentucky. About the first of March
following, I rode through to Limestone (Maysville). I there got into a quar-
GENERAL HUGH BRADY. 87
termaster's boat, and in about three weeks landed at Wheeling, Virginia. I
spent a few days with the widow of my brother Samuel, who had died on the
Christmas previous. I then purchased a horse and reached home about the-
20th of July. I went first to Captain William Gray's, my brother-in-law. My
sister, Mrs. Gray, came to the door, and as I inquired for Mr. Gray, she put;
on rather an important look and replied: "I presume you will find him at
the store," and turned into the parlor. I was about turning on my heel, when
I heard steps in the entry, and turning round I saw my sister Hannah. She
immediately raised her hands and exclaimed, "My brother Hugh!" and flew
into my arms. This was not a little surprising, as when she saw me last,
she could not have been more than eight years old. She knew me by my
resemblance to my twin sister Jane. I found my connections all living hap-
pily and moving at the head of society. I passed a happy three or four months
with them, when I became weary of an idle life and began to look for my
promised fortune; but, up to this day, have never been able to find it. I
remained out of business until the winter of 1798 and '99, when I was appointed
a captain in Adams' army, and in less than two years was disbanded. My
brother William, who had been most urgent for me to resign, now requested
me to assist him to improve some wild lands he owned on the Mahoning river
about fifty miles from Pittsburgh. We commenced this settlement in the
spring of 1802, and that summer built a grist-mill and a saw-mill. All our
breadstuffs had to be carried about thirty miles on horseback. Meat I pro-
cured with my rifle, deer being plenty, and I could kill them without much
loss of time from other business.
I married in 1805, and took my wife to our place in 1806, where Sarah and
Preston were born. During the time we were there, we were happy and had a
plenty of such things as the country afforded. All being on an equality as
regarded our resources, were not annoyed by the insolence of wealth; still I
saw that my fortune could not be made there, and in 1810 I returned with my
family to Northumberland and got along as well as I could until 1812, when
the war again called me into service ; since which time the Government has
provided for me. I have returned her some service, and with my brother
officers have kept my shoulder to the wheel. This was no more than our duty
to a country which supports us, and of which we are justly proud.
Thus I have given a sketch of my life, containing nothing unusual or
strange among those of my day and generation. But what a wonderful genera-
tion it has been the most wonderful of any since the days of our Savior !
EXTKACTS FROM A FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
BY REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD.
On the 18th of April, 1851. at the interment of the remains of the late Hugh Brady, Brevet
Major General, of the United States Army.
II. Samuel, Chapter xiv, 14th verse. "For we must die, and are as water spilt on
the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Neither does God respect per-
sons; yet doth He devise means that His banished be not expelled from Him."
Another, and a veteran hero has fallen! Death has numbered with hia
victims the gallant soldier, the honorable citizen, the lofty minded patriot. We
88 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
gather round his mortal remains to deplore our loss. Both in his social rela-
tions as the affectionate father, the warm-hearted friend, the kind and pleas-
ant neighbor, and the generous helper of the needy and distressed; and in his
public as the ornament and pride of our city, the boast and delight of the
army, his country's treasure, and a bright jewel in her fame- we have much in
this loss to mourn. Tears become us when we approach the tomb, especially
when we convey "the mighty man and man of war" to the house appointed
for all living.
It was near the cemetery of Bethlehem, where two sorrowing sisters went to
weep over the grave of a brother beloved, the blessed Eedeemer met them, and
mingling his tears with theirs, preached that memorable discourse in which
He spake words of consolation and of hope to their afflicted hearts. We would
follow this divine precedent; and here, assembled to weep by the bier of one
so deeply, universally, and justly beloved, would extract from the text a few
thoughts appropriate to the scene, and prefatory to a short sketch of his his-
tory and character.
*******
The thought, that the warm and generous heart, which once glowed with such
.gallant zeal and love for his country's honor, had felt the pulsations of a still
more vigorous affection for the Friend and Savior of sinners, sweetly comforts
us on this sad occasion, and sheds a richer perfume around the name and mem-
ory of General Hugh Brady, than all the laurels which were ever wreathed or
blossomed on his manly brow. Modest, humble, and adverse from seeking his
own praise, his spirit would be grieved should it have cognizance of any un-
founded or extravagant attempt at panegyric. Yet would we do violence to
our own and your feelings alike, beloved hearers, should we refrain, wholly,
from some tribute to his personal and social worth.
His life and history form one of the few remaining links that connect the
present generation now dwelling at ease, in the enjoyment of the liberty,
prosperity, and greatness of our glorious confederacy with the olden times
that tried men's souls.
The greatest portion of his extended life was spent upon the borders of our
wide and rapidly spreading country. Familiar with Indian warfare and perils
from his very infancy, when called into his country's service he had been
schooled and trained for courageous deeds.
* * t * * * * *
His gallant behavior on the field of battle, both at Bridgewater and Lundy's
Lane, the wounds he received and the manner in which a kind providence pre-
served his life, are too well known to need comment. His history since that
war is public property. His name stands indelibly recorded in the annals of
his country's fame. With his vigilance and untiring energy, and the wisdom
he displayed in preventing the outbursts of wild and ruinous excitement, to
some extent proving contagious among many of our own citizens, during the
disturbance in Canada in 1837-8, we are all familiar. Every one will bear
testimony, as well to his respects for the rights and liberties of his fellow-
citizens, as to the fidelity and success with which he executed the trust reposed
in him by the Government of his country. With scarcely any supply of regu-
lar troops sustained and aided mainly by the gallant and faithful band that
bore his honored name, whose remaining members here this day appear among
the chief mourners he watched and guarded this frontier so efficiently in that
perplexing period, that he not only obtained the gratitude and praise of our
GENERAL HUGH BRADY. 89
citizens, but the plaudit of the chief commanding officer, General Scott, who,
after his visit to this State, reported to the President that all had been here
quieted. We leave to others a fuller sketch of his pursuit of the Indian chief,
his removal of the Indians from this State, and of his military life in general,
and close with a few remarks touching his character.
Naturally, he was a man of noble soul, who could not brook a mean and
dishonorable action. Sincere and honest himself, he held in utter contempt
everything like duplicity and falsehood. Never lavish or flattering in his pro-
fessions of regard and friendship for others, he was ever prompt in his sympa-
thies, and firm in his attachments. A truer heart ne'er beat in motal breast.
The happiness of others ever gave him delight. Devoid of envy or ambition
that would sacrifice whatever stood in the way of self-aggrandizement, he
made not complaint if even less deserving attained to what was his due. He
took peculiar delight in the circle of his friends, and cherished for all the live-
liest affection. His private notes breathe the most benignant regards, and the
yearnings of the fondest heart for his children, and his children's children.
In their griefs, he fully shared when called, as he was frequently, to mourn
with them the loss of early blossoms, nipped by the severe frosts of death.
He was the ardent friend of his brethren in military service; nor could he
endure the least reproach against the army, which he loved with almost a
father's affection. The soldier's claims he never despised; nor did he ever
exalt or press them to the injury and injustice of a fellow-citizen.
His sense of justice was exceedingly strong; and none would be more sure
to forfeit his esteem, than they whose selfishness would dictate injury or
wrong to others.
His personal influence was on the side of good morals. He was the
ardent lover of his country, and of his country's flag. Although warmly
attached to his native State, yet were his local attachments all merged in his
more devoted affection for the glorious union of these free United States. Nor
did anything more quickly rouse him, or more deeply wound him, than what
tended to rend the bonds of this noble confederacy. He was the friend of
what he thought tended to promote the public good.
He was respected by the aged and loved by the young. His heart had not
in the least been rendered callous by age to the society and enjoyments of
youth. Simple in his manners hating all hypocrisy, and the false parade of
fashionable regard he was never indifferent to the social delight of familiar
converse with old and young of either sex.
For female worth, and especially unpretending and consistent female piety,
he entertained the highest regard. Soldier as he was, he ever acknowledged
and felt the charms of female excellence. Great had been its influence in the
formation of his own character, and we doubt not, in moulding his eternal
destiny.
The partner of his bosom was in every respect worthy of him; and the
bright radiance of her pure, humble, and uniform piety, which made her house
the sphere of its loveliest and most attractive influence, so commended the
grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and so illustrated its power, as to
banish all skepticism from his mind, as to the reality and value of evangelical
religion. Long and truly did his widowed heart mourn her loss; and, again
and again, as he saw developed in his daughters, the piety of the mother, and
witnessed their happy and triumphant exits from this vain and fleeting world,
90 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
he felt his heart upward drawn, and impressed with a sense of the sweetness
and value, the importance and necessity of an interest in Jesus Christ.
Deprived of the benefit of a preached gospel by reason of his utter inability
to hear a public speaker, the ordinary public means of grace were unavailing
to him; yet did he, religiously, and with as much pleasure as punctiliousness
liberally contribute to the support of religion. Shut out from the house of
God, of late years he made the Bible more especially his study, and conscien-
tiously devoted the Sabbath to its perusal. "Is it not remarkable/'writes he,
near the close of his life, after recounting the history of his brothers for the
benefit of his children, "that I, who was considered the most feeble of all,
should outlive all my brothers, after having been exposed to more dangers and
vicissitudes than any, except Samuel? Is it not a proof, that there is from
the beginning, 'a day appointed for man to die?' It is said, The race is
not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; but safety is of the Lord/ That
is my belief."
That providence he recognized, not only in his own personal historv, but in
that of others, and especially of his country; and most of all, in that of Wash-
ington, of whim he was ever a passionate admirer, and to whom he has borne
such a strong and religious testimony, that we cannot deny ourselves the
pleasure of extracting it from his diary, being illustrative of his own charac-
ter, as true of the merited object of his admiration.
"Washington! It matters not by whom, how, or where, that name is pro-
nounced; provided it refers to the man,.it has a most astonishing effect on me.
My heart melts; my eyes fill; and I am thankful that I am one of the genera-
tion in which he took so conspicuous a part! Such a generation as his the
world has not witnessed since the days of our Savior. No doubt but that he
was a chosen instrument in the hands of God to loosen the bonds of them that
were bound, and to give liberty to the sons of men. In studying his character,
and reviewing the great things he did, and after reading Spark's life of him,
I have come to the conclusion that there never was given to any one, so much
wisdom as he had throughout his life. It strikes me that he was finished from
above. At the time he was in need he not only led the army but the congress,
and the whole country. And one of the best evidences that could be produced,
that the Almighty was at all times by his side, is that the minds of men, both
public and private, of high and low degree, were obedient to his call and
advice."
It was General Brady's study of the Bible that made him such a believer in
the providence of God. And it is a matter of thankfulness from all his friends,
that we have good reason to hope the study of that blessed book had led him
to a still higher knowledge and belief. He had not been a stranger to the
thought of his own death, nor had he, as we received the assurance from his
own lips, left the matter of his own soul's salvation to a dying hour. Although
stunned and terribly injured by the fatal and violent fall from his vehicle, and
weakened by great loss of blood, he survived long enough to converse freely
with his children and friends. His first wish, expressed to his son, when
returning to consciousness, was to die. But he lived to profess in the bosom
of his family, his utter destitution of all confidence in himself; his renuncia-
tion of his own righteousness and good deeds ; and his confident trust in the
merits and mediation, the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ "the
only name given under heaven, among men, whereby we must bo saved."
GENERAL HUGH BRADY. 91
The promises of God's word, on which he rested, were "too plain," he said,
"to be mistaken," and they were the foundation of his hope. "His time,"
he believed, "had come" and he was "ready to go." Nor did he breathe a
murmur, or display at any time the least impatience; but calmly and quietly
breathed his soul out into the hands of God.
And now lay his sword on his breast that time-honored sword, whose
scabbard, all bruised and battered by many a bullet on the field of battle, oft
warded off the stroke of death. Yes
Lay (that) sword on his breast! There's no spot on its blade,
In whose cankering breath his bright laurels will fade!
'Twas the first to lead on at humanity's call
It was stayed with sweet mercy, when "glory" was all!
As calm in the council, as gallant in war,
He fought for his country, and not its "hurrah!"
In the path of the hero, with pity, he trod
Let him pass, with his (hope) to the presence of God.
* * ** * * * *
For the stars on our banner, grown suddenly dim,
Let us weep in our darkness but weep not for him.
LINES ON THE DEATH OF BREVET MAJOR GENERAL
HUGH BRADY.
BY D. BETHUNE DUFFIELD, OP DETROIT.
A woe is on the Nation's soul,
And soldier hearts are sad and sore,
As through the land the tidings roll
"Our gallant Brady is no more!"
Upon his strong and noble frame,
The hand of Time had gently pressed,
And vigorous Youth still seemed enthroned,
In all her pride, upon his breast.
Through twice a score of weary years,
His sword hung ever on his thigh;
And down to life's last tranquil hour,
He never passed a duty by.
In the red battle's fiercest blaze,
He bravely bathed his conquering blade,
And, fearless, dashed against the foe,
While war's fierce hail around him played.
His virtues, shining clear and bright,
Have long adorned his honored life,
And all his private walks and ways,
With generous deeds, were ever rife.
The eyes of all who knew the Man,
Read virtue in his very name;
And 'neath his bold and scorching glance,
Dishonor hid her head in shame.
92 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
But fife, nor drum, no more shall wake
The Warrior from his dreamless sleep;
Life's battle fought the victory won
His feet now press Fame's highest steep.
Then kindly wrap the Nation's Flag
Around the Hero's honored clay
Fit shroud for Soldier such as he,
Who knew no joy, save in its ray!
And manly eyes may weep to-day,
As sinks the patriot to his rest;
The Nation held no truer heart
Than that which beat in BRADY'S breast.
DETROIT, April 15, 1851.
DEATH OF THE FATHEK OF GENERAL HUGH BRADY.
My father was killed on the llth of April, 1779, not more than half a mile
from his own house. He had left that morning at the head of a party of men,
to move in a family that had wintered at their farm about ten miles from my
father's place. Having seen no sign of Indians, my father stopped at Wallis*
Fort, and let the party go on with the family. He was the only person
mounted, and intended soon to overtake the party ; but unfortunately for him,
his family and the settlement, he overtook a man who had fallen behind, and
remained with him till the Indians shot him dead. The man escaped by
mounting my father's horse, after he had fallen. It is a remarkable fact
that this man, Peter Smith, was in the field where my brother was killed ; and
afterwards his own family was mostly destroyed by Indians and he escaped.
After the war he settled in the Genesee country and became a wealthy man.
Some men are born to luck.
NOTE. It is worthy of notice, that, although General Brady frequently sought,
but was ever unsuccessful in finding the spot where his father was interred, one of
his surviving daughters, Mrs. Backus, wife of Major Backus, was providentially made
acquainted with the spot, during a visit last summer to the place of her grand-
father's residence. An old revolutionary soldier who was with the father of General
Brady when he fell, and had known and marked the place of his interment, a short
time before her visit, had, on his death-bed, requested to be buried beside his old
captain, and designated the spot. His request was granted; and there lie together,
in the woods, the captain and the private of his company, in a place where the
inhabitants of the neighborhood intend, it is said, to erect an appropriate monu-
ment.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE DEATH OF JAMES BRADY.
BY GENERAL HUGH BRADY.
I have already stated that my brother James fell by the Indians, in 1778.
It was in this manner : With ten or twelve others he went to help a neighbor
harvest his wheat, about ten miles from the nearest station. On entering the
field they placed a sentinel at the most exposed point, and their arms conven-
JAMES, JOHN, AND SAMUEL BRADY. 93
lent to their work. They had worked but a short time when the sentinel gave
an alarm. They all ran to their arms; but it proved to be a false alarm.
After reprimanding the sentinel for his unsoldierly conduct, they returned to
their work; but they had not long been reaping, when they heard the report
of a rifle, and their sentinel was killed. Without noticing the conduct of
others, my brother ran to his rifle, and as he stooped to pick it up he received
a shot which broke his arm. This caused him to fall forwards, and before he
could recover, a stout Indian was upon him tomahawked him scalped him
and left him for dead. After the Indians left the field, my brother re-
covered, and went to the house, where he found the rest of the reapers, who
had run from the field without their arms and without making any attempt to
defend or rescue him. They sent James to his parents, at Sunbury, forty miles
from the spot where he received his wound, which was on Saturday. He lived
until the Thursday following, retained his senses, and related what is stated
above.
James Brady was a remarkable man. Nature had done much for him. His
person was fine. He lacked but a quarter of an inch of six feet, and his mind
was as well finished as his person. I have ever placed him by the side of
Jonathan, son of Saul, for beauty of person and nobleness of soul, and like
him he fell bv the hands of the Philistines.
NOTICE OF JOHN BRADY, BROTHER OF GEN. HUGH BRADY.
My brother John, in his 15th year, was in the battle of Brandy wine, and
was wounded. On the retreat he would have been captured, had not his
colonel taken him up hehind him.
John had gone to the army with my father, in order to take home the horses
ridden out, and was' directed by my father to return. But John heard from
Ensign Boyd, that a battle was to be fought soon. He therefore remained to
see the fun; and when my father took command of his company, on the
morning of the battle, he found John in the ranks with a big rifle by his side.
My father was wounded in the battle; Ensign Boyd was killed; and John
received a wound during the retreat.
As one good turn deserves another, two of my brothers, many years after,
married two of the colonel's daughters.
NOTICE OF CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY.
Captain Samuel Brady entered the army as a volunteer when he was nine-
teen years of age and joined General Washington in Boston. A year after, he
was appointed a lieutenant and returned home to recruit. He did not remain
long. He belonged to Captain John Doyle's company, Hand's regiment,
Wayne's brigade, and was with him at the surprise of Paoli, and most of the
affairs in which that gallant general was engaged. In 1779, his regiment, the
9th Pennsylvania, was ordered to Pittsburgh. It was then commanded by
Colonel Brodhead. Soon after, my brother heard of his brother's death, and
he waited with impatience for an opportunity to avenge it on the Indians.
Nor was the opportunity long delayed. The Indians had attacked a family,
14
94 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
and killed all of it except a boy aged twelve and his sister ten. These were
taken prisoners, and their father was absent from home at the time it occurred.
The place was thirty miles east of Pittsburgh, and it so happened, Samuel
was out in that direction ; and hearing of it he started in pursuit having with
him a friendly Indian, very useful as a guide. The second evening of the
pursuit the party stopped on the top of a high hill and the Indian guide
pointed with his wiping stick to the foot of the hill and said, "The Red Bank
runs there !" The men sat down while the captain consulted with the Indian
about his future movements. Suddenly the Indian sprang to his feet and said
he smelt fire; and soon after, they saw the smoke curling above the trees on
the opposite side of the Red Bank.
The Indian said, "They will sleep by that fire to-night." And I will
awaken them in a voice of thunder in the morning, replied the captain. The
Indian also said, "After they smoke and eat, and the sun has gone to sleep,
they will give the scalp halloo/'
With breathless impatience the party watched the setting of the sun, and as
its light disappeared from the tops of the trees in the east, they heard seven
distinct scalp halloos with the usual whoop between each. After it was over,
Cole, the Indian, observed, "There are fourteen warriors and they have five
scalps and two prisoners." The night being clear and the weather mild, the
captain remained in his position till near morning, when he forded the stream
above the Indians and posted his men, to await the crack of his rifle, as the
signal of attack. As day broke an Indian rose up and stirred the fire. The
signal was given. The Indian, standing, pitched into the fire. The attack
continued; and resulted in eight of the warriors being deprived of the pleasure
of ever again giving the scalp halloo. When the captain got to the fire he
found the children much alarmed. After quieting their fears, the boy asked
for the captain's tomahawk, and commenced cutting off the head of the Indian
that fell in the fire, observing that this was the leader of the party and the
man that killed and scalped his mother. The boy was permitted to finish the
job he had commenced.
Three easy days' march brought the captain back to Pittsburgh. The father
of the children was sent for to receive his lost ones. He showed much affec-
tion on meeting his children, and thanked the captain for having restored
them; and then asked the captain what had become of his "big basin." It
appeared that the Indians had carried off or destroyed, a big basin, from which
Henry and his numerous family ate their sour-krout. The honest Dutchman
thought there could be no impropriety in asking for it of the man who had
the best chance to know.
In 1804, the writer met Henry (the boy) at a friend's house in Greensburgh,
Pa. Henry had stopped with a wagon before the door, and had a barrel of
cider for my friend, who, pointing to me said, "This gentleman is a brother
of Captain Brady, who took you from the Indians." Henry was assisting to
remove the cider, and he gave me a side look for a moment, and then contin-
ued his work. I felt hurt at the coldness he showed towards the brother of a
man who had risked his life to rescue him from death or bondage, and to
avenge the murder of his family. My friend informed me that Henry owned
the farm from which he was captured, and was as rich as any farmer in the
county. I thought, then, if his circumstances were as easy as his manners,
he probably had at home in the old family chest as many dollars as would fill
his father's big basin.
CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY. 95
At the request of his colonel, Captain Brady visited the Sandusky towns at
the head of four or five men, and lay concealed over ten days so that he
could see all their movements. It was a time for horse-racing among the
Indians, and men, women, children and dogs, were all in attendance. A gray
horse was the winner until the evening of the second day, when they compelled
him to carry two riders, when he was finally beaten. The Indians then retired
from the field. That evening, Captain Brady took two squaws prisoners and
started for home. On the second day of their journey they were overtaken by
a frightful thunder-storm which destroyed their provisions and most of their
powder, having but three or four loads of good powder left in a priming horn.
The stormy weather continued several days. After it cleared away, the cap-
tain, just before night, went ahead of his party hoping to kill some game, as
they were without provisions. The party was then traveling on an Indian trail.
He had not gone far when he met a party of Indians returning from the set-
tlements with a woman and child prisoners. The captain shot the leader of
the party, rescued the woman, and endeavored to obtain the child, that was
strapped to the back of the Indian he had shot. But he had not time to do
so, as the Indians had ascertained that he was alone, and had returned to their
leader. He was therefore compelled to fall back, and he took the woman with
him. His men seeing the Indians, and supposing the captain was killed, made
their way to the nearest fort, and let the squaw run away. The other squaw
had escaped during the great thunder-storm. The next day he met a party
coming from Fort Mclntosh to bury him, his men having reported him killed.
A few days after, he returned with a party to the battle-ground and found the
dead Indian.
In 1835, the writer met at the town of Detroit a son of the boy that was
strapped to the back of the Indian. He informed me that after Wayne's
treaty his father was delivered up at Pittsburgh by the Indians. When the
land west of the Ohio came into market, his father bought the lot on which
the affair took place, and built his house, as near as he could ascertain, on
the spot where the Indian fell, and lived there till eighteen months prior to
our conversation, when he was killed by a falling tree. His name was Stupps,
and he was a fine looking man. I remember his grandmother's name was
Jane Stupps ; and I have often heard my brother relate the above story.
On the Beaver river is a place known as Brady's Bend, where he had a hard
fight and killed many of the enemy, with small loss on his own side. His
enterprising disposition and his skill in stratagems, in which he equaled any
Indian, enabled him to do more towards protecting the frontier than all his
regiment besides. Indeed, he was looked upon by the whole country as their
surest protector; and all the recompense he ever received was in a reward of
$500 being offered by Governor McKain for his person, for having, in 1791,
killed a party of Indians on Brady's Eun, thirty miles below Pittsburgh. He
surrendered himself for trial, and was honorably acquitted he having proved
to the satisfaction of the court and jury, that these Indians had killed a
family on the head of Wheeling creek, Ohio county, Va. That, on receiving
notice of the murder, he suspected those Indians had come out of Pennsyl-
vania. He therefore crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Wheeling, and by
steering west, came on the trail and pursued it to where he attacked them.
When General Wayne arrived at Pittsburgh in 1792, he sent for Captain
Brady, who lived in Ohio county, Va., and gave him command of all the spies
then in the employ of the government, amounting to sixty or seventy men.
96 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
The captain so disposed of them that not a depredation was committed on
the frontier. On the contrary, three or four times the Indians were surprised
in their own country, thirty or forty miles in advance of the white settlements.
His plan of carrying the war into the Indian country put a stop to all murders
on that frontier. He continued in command of these rangers until the period
of his death, which occurred on Christmas day, 1795, at his house, about two
miles west of West Liberty, Va., in the 39th year of his age. His disease was
pleurisy. He left a widow and two sons.
Xever was a man more devoted to his country, and few very few have
rendered more important services, if we consider the nature of the service, and
the part performed by him personally. He was 5 feet llf inches in height,
with a perfect form. He was rather light his weight exceeding, at no time,
168 pounds. As I have said before, there were six brothers, viz.: Samuel,
James, John, William P., Hugh, and Robert. There was but half an inch
difference in our heights. John was 6 feet and 1 inch, and I was the shortest
of them all. Is it not remarkable, that I, who was considered the most feeble
of them all, should outlive all my brothers, after having been exposed
to more dangers and vicissitudes than any, except Samuel ? Is it not a proof
that there is, from the beginning, "a day appointed for a man to die?" It
is said, "The race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong; but safety
is of the Lord." That has ever been my belief.
DETROIT IN 1796.
From the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune of September llth, 1871.
We publish a wood cut showing the town of Detroit as it existed in 1796, or
seventy-five years ago.* It speaks volumes of the vast progress which this city,
in common with the whole Northwest, has made within three-quarters of a
century. The sketch from which this cut was prepared was originally drafted
from an old map of the city by Thomas Smith, a surveyor well known here
in times past, and it was engraved for Ralph C. Smith, Esq., the well known
land dealer of this city. It represents the town as originally laid out by the
old French settlers, and the growth which it had attained up to the date of
the drawing. It was then hardly more than a frontier post, though it was
well known throughout the country from being one of the oldest French
settlements.
The town then extended from the river front back across the present Lamed
street, and from what is now known as Griswold street to the present Cass
*See frontispiece.
DETROIT IN 1796. 97
street, while north of the buildings lay the fort, as depicted in the cut. On
the sides a strong work of palisades defended the town, and there were several
gates at which access could be gained to the interior, four being the number
usually named. The river Savoyard ran across the future city, crossing what
is now Woodward avenue, somewhere near the line of Congress street. It was
always an insignificant stream and was easily dried up and filled in.
The line of the river then did not at all correspond to the line of the Detroit
now. The southern edge of the present city is all made ground, and in 1796
the river washed up as far as the present block between Atwater and Wood-
bridge streets, and Woodbridge street prolonged to the west would have ended
in the water before Cass street was reached. The streets of that time do not
correspond exactly to the line of any of our present streets, though the high-
way designated as St. Ann and that called St. Louis were not far away from
the present Lamed street and Jefferson avenue. It will be seen that much of
the space in the back part of the town was devoted to the uses of the garrison,
which was the main feature of the town, as the military gardens and parade
grounds shown upon the sketch indicate. The bulk of the business was done
near the river, and between Griswold and Wayne streets, as they exist now.
The population was very small, though the statistics of that period are not
full enough nor of sufficient reliability to furnish any very accurate knowl-
edge concerning this matter.
The town was surrounded at a very short distance away with a wood of
hickory, oak and other forest trees, which frequently swarmed with Indians
dnd in which an Indian encampment was almost always to be found.
On June 11, 1805, a fire broke out in Detroit, which destroyed the entire
city, with the exception of two buildings, and in 1807 a new plan of the place
was determined on by the Governor, William Hull, and the judges, Augustus
B. Woodward and James Witherell. They laid out a central park, a fraction
of which is now known as the Grand Circus, and proposed to have streets
radiate from this toward the river. They established three circles of streets,
entirely surrounding the Circus and prolonged Washington avenue until it
struck the present Jefferson avenue, and another open square being provided
for at the intersection. Monroe avenue was also prolonged until it reached the
same point. A part of this scheme was carried out, as witness the semi-circles
about the Circus, Washington, Macomb, Madison and Miami avenues and
Monroe and Michigan. The latter street was designed to be 200 feet in width,
the same as Washington and Madison, but it was speedily shorn of its fair pro-
portions and somewhat early became a quasi business street.
By 1850 the city had assumed substantially its present appearance, the use-
lessness of the governor and judges' system* having become evident. It was
retained only so far as it had actually been followed and streets established
upon it. In all other respects it was abandoned. The tendency to-day, not
only here, but throughout the country, is towards streets running at right
angles and others are voted nuisances both for business and residence purposes.
The old map, which is published in connection with this article, represents
the germ of Detroit of to-day, and yet its date is that of a year within the life-
time of many of our citizens. We turn from the Detroit of "Seventy-five
Years Ago" to the Detroit of "Seventy Years Hereafter." It is safe to say
that the child is now living in our city who in 1946 will look upon a cut of
Detroit, plan of 1871, with as much surprise as we of to-day glance at the map
of what it was three-quarters of a century ago.
98 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
LOSS OF THE GRIFFIN.
1679-1879.
BY LEVI BISHOP.
Read at the annual meeting of the State Pioneer Society at Lansing, Mich., Feb. 5th, 1879.
NOTE. In the year 1679, LaSalle made his voyage to the west by way of the lakes. At
Niagara he built a brig which he named the Griffin, in which he sailed for Mackinaw. There
he sent the vessel back for supplies, but she was never heard of after. In the following compo-
sition an aged Indian chief is supposed to be standing on Duck Island, in Lake Huron, and that
he sees the brig driven to destruction in a storm, by Michabou, the great Manitou of the
lakes. The rocks, caves and groves of Mackinaw were the home, the palace, and the capital of
this Manitou. The chief did not, of course, live to relate the loss of the Griffin, but in his
supposed language, as here given, I have endeavored to exhibit the spirit of the Indian
Mythology, as felt and expressed in Michigan, two hundred years ago.
The Manitou is angry. Fierce he raves.
His heaving breath that whirlwind roar.
The mighty waves he piles on mountain waves;
He hurls them to this rocky shore.
But what can thus his dreadful anger raise?
What sends him howling far and wide?
Great Michabou, thy name we ever praise,
But let thy fearful rage subside!
Behold him on the raging tempest sweep,
The spirit god of high renown;
The monsters flee, beneath the rolling deep;
Creation trembles at his frown.
See now he mounts the black and threatening cloud,
Swift arrows flashing from his eyes;
Hear now his voice, in crashing thunder loud,
Big tears are dropping from the skies.
Perhaps he would some goblin spirit chase,
From his proud home at Mackinaw;
Perhaps a Manitou of rival race,
Would bold invade his righteous law.
But what is that I see upon the foam,
That seems to labor as for life?
Small fleeting clouds, on poles, appear to roam,
And sink and rise amid the strife.
Yea, more; I there behold, or so they seem,
Of my own race the active form;
Despair and woe in human faces gleam.
Can men there struggle with the storm?
LOSS OF THE GRIFFIN. 99
Yes, men and fate are moving hand in hand;
No friend can reach them from the shore;
The Manitou forbids the distant land;
He strikes. They now are seen no more.
And will the evening star's resplendent beams
Invite the stranger souls to rest?
And will their spirits rise to Land of Dreams,
That future home in distant West?
The voice of Michabou no more is loud,
He now displays the victor smile;
His painted bow he hangs on yonder cloud,
His arrows now may rest awhile.
And back he quiet sweeps to Mackinaw,
His fatal vengeance fully told;
No sailing Imp will now contemn his law,
Nor Manitou however bold.
His anger past, serene reaction comes;
The sky and lake are calm again;
The hunters now may reach their distant homes,
But Michabou alone will reign.
100
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
OFFICERS
OF THE
PIONEER SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN
ELECTED FEBRUARY 5TH, 1880.
PRESIDENT.
HON. HEZEKIAH G. WELLS,
VICE PRESIDENTS.
KALAMAZOO.
.Allegan.
DAVID G. ROBINSON Barry.
WILLIAM CHAMBERLAIN. Berrien.
ALBERT MILLER Bay.
HARVEY HAYNES Branch.
EDWARD C. COX Calhoun.
RANDOLPH STRICKLAND.. Clinton.
JOSIAH W. BEGOLE Genesee.
J. G. RAMSDELL Gd. Trav.
RALPH ELY Gratiot.
E, O. GROSNEVOR Hillsdale.
O. M. BARNES Ingham.
HAMPTON RICH Ionia.
HENRY H. BINGHAM Jackson.
HENRY BISHOP '. . .Kala'azoo.
ROBERT HILTON Kent.
FRANCIS A . DE WE Y . . . . Lena wee.
RALPH C. FOWLER Livingston.
DANIEL B. BRIGGS Macomb.
PETER WHITE Marquette.
JOSEPH M. STERLING .... Monroe.
W. DIVINE Montcalm.
H. H. HOLT. . Muskegon.
PETER DOW Oakland:
O. K. WHITE. Oceana.
HENRY PENNO YER Ottawa.
CHARLES W. GRANT Saginaw.
E. F. WADE Shiawasee.
WILLIAM T. MITCHELL. .St. Clair.
ISAAC D. TOLL St. Joseph.
TOWNSEND NORTH Tuscola.
ALEXANDER B. COPLEY. Van Buren.
EZRA D. LAY . . Washte'w.
EDWIN JEROME Wayne.
RECORDING SECRETARY.
MRS. HARRIET A. TENNEY..
LANSING.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
GEORGE H. GREENE LANSING.
TREASURER.
EPHRAIM LONGYEAR , LANSING.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
HON. HEZEKIAH G. WELLS, ex-officio Chairman KALAMAZOO.
ALBERT MILLER BAY CITY .
F. A. DEWEY .* TECUMSEH.
T. D. GILBERT GRAND RAPIDS.
COMMITTEE OF HISTORIANS.
J. C. HOLMES, Chairman DETROIT.
M. H. GOODRICH ANN ARBOR.
M. SHOEMAKER JACKSON.
O. C. COMSTOCK MARSHALL.
HARRIET A. TENNEY.. ..LANSING.
ANNUAL MEETING. 101
ANNUAL MEETING.
HELD AT LANSING, FEBRUARY 4TH AND 5TH, 1880.
ADDKESS OF THE PRESIDENT, HON. MICHAEL SHOEMAKER,
Ladies and Gentlemen of the State Pioneer Society of Michigan:
At this, the recurrence of our annual meeting, we should be thankful to that
kind Providence, which has permitted so many of our members to avail them-
selves of this opportunity for that interchange of friendly greeting, and for
cultivating and improving those personal and social relations which are so
dear to the heart of every pioneer; but which the repose (so pleasant to us
in our declining years), if not the infirmities of age, prevent many from
enjoying as they would wish, except upon this and kindred occasions.
These, though secondary, are important ends attained by our annual meet-
ings, and those of our auxiliary county societies; but the primary object of our
association is the consideration of the papers submitted to us, in which are
embodied the history of the settlement of the State, and of pioneer life, as
given in detail by those who were actors, as well as witnesses, of that which
they relate.
The actual pioneers, the first settlers in the older counties, are rapidly
passing away, and with them we are losing much that is of interest to pioneer
life, and of history which it is important to preserve for the use of the future
historian of the State. The pioneers of whom I speak represent two genera-
tions of men, and two eras in the history of Michigan ; while, at the same time
many of these same men have been actors in all, and of all, that has made the
State what it now is. They have seen it emerge from a vast wilderness, as
some who first came thought it to be, and said, "fit only to be inhabited by
muskrat and Indians." Governor Tiffin, of Ohio, when Surveyor General of
the United States reported the lands in Michigan as being so worthless that
they would not pay the cost of survey.
The face of much of the country was not of a promising character, and it
required of those intending to make a home in Michigan, stout hearts to pass
without feelings of discouragement and dismay the low, wet lands between
Toledo and Adrian, and between Detroit and Ypsilanti. The sand-hills and
marshes of the interior presented an uninviting appearance to the hardy
farmers from New York and New England who were accustomed to smooth,
solid meadows, and a heavy soil.
This picture was not without its pleasant contrast. The beautiM oak open-
ings, and virgin prairies with which portions of the State were interspersed
were not only pleasant to look upon, but gave promise of such fertility that
they were speedily appropriated by those fortunate pioneers who were first to
discover them.
15
102 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
To the usual hardships and privations of pioneer life were added the more
trying ones of sickness and death. The all pervading fever and ague was for
many years more dreaded, and more of an obstacle to the improvement of the
country than all other causes combined. But all these discouraging circum-
stances were not only encountered, but overcome.
Those low, wet lands are now converted into teeming fields and extensive
gardens; the sand-hills and plains into farms, easily tilled, and uniformly
productive ; ancf Michigan has long since ceased to be a by- word or reproach
in the mouth of the inhabitants of neighboring States.
It is not only pertinent, but important, that we should contrast Michigan as
it then was, with the State as it now is; for if there is a remarkable change,
one greater than in other new States, and we find that this result is to be
attributed to the character of the pioneers of Michigan, then who so much as
this society, is interested in gathering and preserving the history which will
verify so important a state of facts?
It was the first generation which planted the germ from which has grown all
that the present generation possesses and enjoys. It is from the result of their
action, and their wisdom, that the present great prosperity of the State has
sprung, and to realize the extent and importance of the obligation of the State
to these early pioneers we need only to consider and comprehend what Michi-
gan is to-day, with her economical form of government; her well preserved
school fund; her all pervading but much abused system of common schools ; her
normal school and colleges ; her noble university ; her system of public institu-
tions for all classes of unfortunates, more comprehensive and complete than
those of most other States or Nations ; and last, but more important than all,
the fact that our State has to-day a population decidedly more energetic, bet-
ter educated, and as enterprising as that of any existing government.
This is claiming an enviable position for our adopted State, but I make the
assertion that Michigan now has a more intelligent population than any other
State in this, or any other country, after having well weighed its significance,
and as one susceptible of the clearest proof. It is not an opinion formed
to-day, or this year, but one I have carefully considered, and long held.
If it is wholly or measurably true that Michigan occupies a position so
proud, there must have been substantial causes to have produced a result so
desirable. These are to be found in the'intellectual, moral, and physical con-
stitution of those who founded the State ; in those noble pioneers who in their
wisdom, and by their industry and perseverance laid its foundations so deep
and so broad that the noble superstructure has grown to its present grand
proportions, as certainly, and as naturally, as the grain of her great staple,
wheat, springs from the seed which the husbandman, confident in the laws of
nature, plants in mother earth. As it is an immutable law of nature that like
produces like, so also is it that the first permanent population of any State or
country stamp its character and its future so indelibly that for all time their
influence guides and governs its course, and not only impresses itself upon, but
decides its history.
There is no truth in history more clearly established than that the future of
a State or nation is decided by the character of its founders. In Lower
Canada, notwithstanding the long rule of the English, we find the impress
made by the first settlers is so indelible that the form of its institutions, the
tone of its society, and the nature of its development, has been decided by the
French Jialitans. The Scotch and English have done the same for Upper
ANNUAL MEETING.
Canada. Mexico and South America will ever labor under the disadvantages-
arising from the conquest of those countries by the Spanish and Portuguese.
The old world presents more striking, because longer existing proofs of the
soundness of this proposition; of which Ireland, Brittany, and the Basque-
Provinces in Spain, are striking examples.
The organization of the government of Michigan, and the development
which has followed, are not only the natural, but the inevitable results of the
liberal and comprehensive nature of the people who were first to locate upon
its soil, and take into their hands the shaping of its destiny. All the best
elements of the civilization of New York and New England were represented
by these men, and served to form the germ from which our State has sprung.
When we review our brief history and recall to our minds who were the
f ramers of our constitution, and who for many years guided and directed their
course, we will more clearly understand the causes which have elevated it to
the high and honorable place it occupies among states and nations, for every
attribute in which its citizens can take pride.
The names of 'these men are worthy of more than a passing reference.
Among them were: General Lewis Cass, Stevens T. Mason, Augustus B.
Woodward, John Norvell, William Woodbridge, John Biddle, William A.
Fletcher, Elon Farnsworth, Solomon Sibley, Benjamin B. Kercheval, John R.
Williams, George Morell, Daniel Goodwin, Augustus S. Porter, Benjamin F.
H. Witherell, Jonathan Shearer, and Charles C. Trowbridge, of Wayne
county; Edward Mundy and James Kingsley, of Washtenaw county; Ross
Wilkins and John J. Adam, of Lenawee county; Alpheus Felch, Warner
Wing, Charles Noble, and Austin E. Wing, of Monroe county; Randolph
Manning, 0. D. Richardson, and James B. Hunt, of Oakland countyj Henry
R. Schoolcraft, of Chippewa county; Albert Miller, of the Saginaw* Valley;
John Stockton and Robert P. Eldridge, of Macomb county; Lucius Lyon,
Charles E. Stuart, Edwin H. Lothrop, Epaphroditus Ransom, and Hezekiah
G. Wells, of Kalamazoo county; Isaac E. Crary, John D. Pierce, and Oliver
C. Comstock, of Calhoun county; Kinsley S. Bingham. of Livingston county;.
John S. Barry, of St. Joseph county; Charles W. Whipple, Calvin Britain,,
and Thomas Fitzgerald, of Berrien county; and George Redfield, of Cass-
county.
Although the population of Michigan has increased from 212,267 in 1840,,
to over 1,500,000 in 1880, yet it is doubtful if in all this great number of the
present population there can be named as many men of distinguished talent,,
of as great force of character, of men of as great mark in their several callings
as were living in the State the first ten years after it was admitted into the
Union.
It was these men, and their compeers, who shaped the destiny of the State ;
it was they who decided what should be its future. They originated all, and
established most of the great institutions which are the evidence of the
advanced civilization of the State, and of which we are so justly proud. They
created our common schools, and provided for the preservation of the school
fund; they founded our university; they mapped out and commenced our
railroad system. In brief, they constructed and carried into effect all the
machinery of State, and most of the schemes of private enterprise, which the
present generation are improving and extending, and of which it is enjoying
tl\e benefits. With little thought of self they were building school-houses and
churches; making improvements of various and all kinds, and establishing the
104 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Institutions of the State on so sure, and so sound a basis, that there have been
but slight changes in its organic law since it was framed and established by
these pioneers, and their cotemporaries.
As a single though signal proof of the high standing of Michigan among her
sister States I give an extract from a paper read before the Social Science Con-
gress at Saratoga: "Mr. Porter adds figures to prove that the taxes in New
England States, Xew York, Xew Jersey, and Pennsylvania, average $10.09
per head; while in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Mis-
souri, Kansas, and Nebraska, the taxes average $6.89 per capita. Massachu-
setts, the oldest and best governed State in the Union, pays a tax of $17.10
per inhabitant; and Vermont the lowest, $6.50. Illinois, of the western
States, furnishes the highest tax, $8.50; and Michigan the lowest, $4.57."
Here we have Michigan standing in the midst of her sister States, and lead-
ing them all, in this, the most conclusive evidence as to which is "the best
governed State/ 7 With this showing, that the taxes in Massachusetts are
higher per capita than those of any other of the States named, and those of
Michigan the lowest, the statement that Massachusetts is "the best governed
State in the Union" cannot be allowed to pass unchallenged.
Most of the men to whom we are indebted for having done their duty so
wisely and so well have passed away; but the fruits of their labor, the result
of their intelligence, the benefit of their high moral tone, the works of their
noble lives, remain with us an ever present proof of the high character, the
;great integrity, the untiring industry, the indomitable perseverance of these,
the fathers of the State.
It is not only those named who are worthy of our admiration and gratitude.
They are but the type of the great body of hardy pioneers whose stout hearts,
strong h^nds, and clear, sensible, honest heads not only encountered and over-
came the hardships and privations of pioneer life, but who at the same time
as citizens and voters, laid the foundation upon which the goodly superstruc-
ture of our State is built.
These men have left to their descendants of the present generation the
benefit of their example, and to this society their memory and the duty of
preserving their history.
It is our duty, as it should be our greatest pleasure, to gather and preserve
the history of all the men who were first and foremost in the settlement of the
State. Narratives of the lives of those who made Michigan their home pre-
vious to 1840 should be collected and placed in our archives and published,
so far as of public interest, in the "Pioneer Collections."
Something has already been done in the two volumes already published by
this society, and the papers in its archives, towards preserving from oblivion
the history of the pioneers of Michigan, but more, vastly more, remains to be
accomplished; and to this end the efforts of this society should be directed
with a zeal and earnestness that should know no abatement until the end is
attained.
That this result may be obtained, the aid of the legislature of the State
should be invoked to a greater extent than heretofore, and State pride, if no
higher motive, should be appealed to, in order to induce a liberality commen-
surate with the importance of the end which can be accomplished.
The sale of the "Collections" is desirable, and should be made a leading
aim of this society, but the publication of its volumes is much more essential,
for their importance will be better understood, and their value increased with
the lapse of time.
ANNUAL MEETING. 105
The State of New York has employed learned and competent men to search
the archives of the Old World for material for the "Documentary History'^
of that State, at a great expense, most of which might have been avoided, had
a small outlay been made in the early times, to collect and preserve the cotem-
poraneous history and the biography of the then eminent men the men
whose lives made the history of their times. The most trivial papers which
have been preserved have been deemed of sufficient importance to justify their
publication in this "Documentary History."
It would certainly not only be wise, but also an economical proceeding for
the State of Michigan to avail itself of the greater and more correct knowledge
now extant and attainable, to secure the history of the settlement of the State.
No plea of false economy should be permitted to stand in the way of procuring
and preserving such an authentic history of its early times as can at this time
and not at any period much later, be obtained. If the opportunity is allowed
to pass, the State will undoubtedly hereafter, at a much greater expense,
attempt to remedy the evil, and then, at best, will be obliged to depend upon
sources of information which must make all such history to a great extent
apocryphal.
This society is no suppliant for alms; on the contrary it intends in the
future, as in the past, to perform the labor, which is great, of collecting and
preserving the material from which a truthful history of the State can be
compiled, and the extent to which it will do this will only be measured by
the means at its command.
The labor involved in this undertaking will be performed by the members of
this society, and should the State give its aid for five times the amount it has
heretofore granted, it will not then have contributed more than a tithe of the
amount it would have to expend to accomplish the work performed without
compensation by this society.
The second volume of the "Pioneer Collections" is now published, and
offered to the public at a price less than the cost of publication. It should
be placed in every public library in the State, and every pioneer, and all inter-
ested in pioneer life, or the early history of the State, should avail themselves
of the present opportunity for its purchase. There are also copies of volume
one for sale by the recording secretary. It will become more desirable as time
passes, for any library, to have on its shelves all the volumes of the "Pioneer
Collections" that are or may be published, and by making the purchase of the
volumes now for sale, two desirable objects are accomplished: first, the pur-
chaser has books that ought to be in every household, and again the sale
enables the society to extend its efforts in procuring and publishing other
historical matter.
I cannot close this address without calling the attention of the society to the
invaluable services of the chairman of the Committee of Historians, Professor
J. C. Holmes, of Detroit. Professor Holmes has not only been indefatigable
in procuring historical matter from all parts of the State, to be prepared and
presented at the meetings of the society, but he has personally examined and
corrected the proof of the second volume of "Pioneer Collections," its index,
and table of contents. He has done all this without further compensation
than that derived from love for the cause, and the satisfaction arising from
having forwarded its aims and ends. The value of the services of Professor
Holmes, so freely given, cannot be overestimated.
The duties of the Recording Secretary, Mrs. Harriet A.Tenney, of the Treas-
106 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
urer, Ephriam Longyear, and of the Corresponding Secretary, George H.
Greene, have been performed in a perfectly satisfactory manner; and their
reports will give full details of the transactions of the society.
One of the most pleasing features connected with the organization of this
society is the summer meetings held with, and on the invitation of County
Pioneer Societies. Heretofore these meetings have been held in connection
with the society of which the President, for the time being, of this society has
been a member. These meetings have been eminently successful and satis-
factory. It is very desirable that they be continued, and that the" members of
the State Society attend, if it is possible for them to do so. Certainly none
will regret the time spent in attending the meetings if they should be a source
of as much enjoyment in the future, as they have been in the past. Those
who met with the Pioneers of the County Societies at Bay City, at Marshall,
at Ann Arbor, at Tecumseh, or at Jackson, will not soon, if ever, forget the
cordial greetings, the pleasant intercourse, ana the intellectual as well as
personal entertainment, which served to make those reunions sources of such
unalloyed pleasure.
REPORT OP THE RECORDING SECRETARY.
OFFICE OF THE
"PIONEER SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN."
Lansing, February 4th, 1880.
In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the "Pioneer
Society of the State of Michigan," I herewith present my sixth annual report
as follows:
ANNUAL MEETING, 1879.
The sixth annual meeting of the society was held in Representative Hall
(new capitol), commencing at 2 o'clock Wednesday, February 5th.
OFFICERS PRESENT.
President John J. Adam.
Vice Presidents Wm. Besley, E. H. Thomson, Col. M. Shoemaker, H. G.
Wells, R. Hilton, F. A. Dewey, B. 0. Williams, E. D. Lay, E. Jerome.
Recording Secretary Harriet A. Tenney.
Corresponding Secretary John J. Bush.
Treasurer E. Longyear.
Executive Committee John J. Adam, ex-officio, F. A. Dewey.
Committee of Historians J. C. Holmes, Chairman, M. H. Goodrich, 0. C.
Comstock, H. G. Wells, Harriet A. Tenney.
The President, John J. Adam, took the chair. The exercises'of the after-
noon were opened with prayer by Rev. H. M. Joy. The president delivered a
short address and congratulated the pioneers upon the continued interest of
the members of the society.
The reports of the Recording and Corresponding Secretaries, the Treasurer
ANNUAL MEETING. 107
and the Committee of Historians, were read, and on motion of Mr. Baxter
were accepted and placed on file.
The reports of the Memorial Committee being then called for, Dr. 0. C.
Comstock presented a memorial of Deacon A. Lewis, of Homer, and of Col.
Charles Dickey, of Marshall. A fine tribute was also paid to the memory of
Col. C. Dickey by H. G. Wells.
F. A. Dewey presented a memorial on the death of Rev. Wm. N. Lyster.
The death of Daniel B. Harrington, Vice President of the society for St.
Clair county, and of A. M. Chapin, Vice President for Ingham county, was
reported by the Secretary. A memorial paper on the death of Mr. Chapin was
promised by 0. M. Barnes.
E. D. Lay, of Washtenaw, and Edwin Jerome, of Wayne counties, present-
ed memorials of the death of many old pioneers in their respective counties.
W. J. Baxter offered the following resolution, which was adopted:
Resolved, That the Vice Presidents in preparing memorials be requested to include
not only members of this society, but also of all early settlers who have made a valu-
able historical record in their respective counties.
Prof. A. Bradish, of Detroit, then read a paper on the life and death of
Douglass Houghton, the first geologist of Michigan.
On motion of H. G-. Wells, the president appointed a committee of three,
consisting of H. G. Wells, E. D. Lay and R. Hilton, to nominate officers for
the ensuing year.
Mr. Levi Bishop not being present, a poem entitled the "Loss of the
Griffin," prepared by him for this meeting was read by Mr. E. Longyear;
another paper entitled "Energy of Character of the Pioneers/' also prepared
by Mr. Bishop, was not read for want of time.
Mr. 0. A. Jenison read an interesting historical paper and presented many
valuable curiosities relating to the history of Michigan.
Mr. Baxter offered the following resolution, which was adopted :
Resolved, That the curiosities and valuable relics donated, to this society by Mr. O.
A. Jenison, be gladly received and placed in the museum of the society; and that the
thanks of the society be and they are hereby given to Mr. Jenison for this gift.
Resolved, That this society is unanimous and earnest in the expression of the hope
that the life of so valuable a collector of curiosities and relics may be prolonged for
many years, and that his energy and enthusiasm in this direction may never fail.
Mr. Baxter also offered the following, which was adopted:
Resolved, That the thanks of this society are hereby extended to Prof. A. Bradish,
for his valuable and very interesting paper on the life and services of Douglass
Houghton, and that he be requested to furnish a copy for publication with the pro-
ceedings of the society.
The society then adjourned to meet again at 7 o'clock in the evening.
The society met pursuant to adjournment, the president in the chair. The
exercises were opened with reading of the Scripture and prayer by Rev. Mr.
Franklin.
Historical papers were presented as follows :
The Mound Builders, by H. H. Riley, was read by W. J. Baxter.
Echoes of the Past, by Mrs. Mary E. Foster.
Sketches of the Members of the Constitutional Conventions of 1835 and
1850, by H. G. Wells.
Two papers, Early Banking in Branch County, by C. D. Randall; and A
Sketch of the Early History of Van Buren County, No. 1, by Geo. W. Lawton,
were placed on file without reading.
108 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
The following proposed amendment to the constitution of the society was
offered by Mr. Shoemaker:
Amend Article VII. by inserting after the word "year" in third line, the words,
"or such other time as the society may determine at an annual meeting," and was
laid upon the table in accordance with the provisions of Article IX. of the constitu-
tion.
Dr. 0. C. Comstock offered the following, which was adopted:
WHEREAS, The Honorable the House of Representatives, Did by resolution offer to
the State Pioneer Society the use of Representative Hall for the use of said society
for its annual meeting;
Resolved, That the society entertain a grateful sense of its courtesy and beg
respectfully to present their thanks herewith.
Resolved, That a copy of this preamble and resolution be forwarded to the Speaker
of the House, by the secretary of this society.
The committee on nomination of officers reported as follows, all of whom
were unanimously elected:
President, Col. M. Shoemaker, Jackson.
Recording Secretary, Harriet A. Tenney, Lansing.
Corresponding Secretary, Geo. H. Greene, Lansing.
Treasurer, E. Longyear, Lansing.
Executive Committee, Col. M. Shoemaker, ex-officio; Albert Miller, Bay
City; T. D. Gilbert, Grand Rapids; F. A. Dewey, Cambridge.
-Committee of Historians, J. C. Holmes, Detroit; M. H. Goodrich, Ann
Arbor; 0. C. Comstock, Marshall; H. G. Wells, Kalamazoo; Harriet A.
Tenney, Lansing.
Vice Presidents, one from each county, as follows : Allegan Joseph Fisk ;
Barry H. A. Goodyear; Bay Judge Albert Miller; Berrien D. A. Wins-
low; Branch H. Warner; Calhoun Wm. R. McCall; Clinton Wm. Bes-
ley; Eaton H. A. Shaw; Genesee E. H. Thomson; Grand Traverse
J. G. Ramsdell; Gratiot Ralph Ely; Hillsdale E. 0. Grosvenor; Hough-
ton E. J. Hulburt; Ingham Minos McRoberts; Ionia Hampton Rich;
Jackson Jerome B. Eaton; Kalamazoo H. G. Wells; Kent Robert Hilton;
Lenawee F. A. Dewey; Livingston Ralph Fowler; Macomb D. B. Briggs;
Marquette Peter White; Monroe Gouverneur Morris; Montcalm W.
Divine; Muskegon H. H. Holt; Oakland A. C. Baldwin; Oceana 0. K.
White; Ottawa Wm. M. Ferry; Saginaw Wm. L. Webber; Shiawassee B.
0. Williams; St. Joseph Isaac D. Toll; Tuscola T. North; Van Buren
J. R. Hendryx; Washtenaw Ezra D. Lay; Wayne Edwin Jerome.
There was a good attendance of pioneers at the meeting. The exercises of
the evening were enlivened with singing by a volunteer choir of some of
Lansing's best singers, led by W. L. Smith.
The business of the society being completed, the pioneers, aided by the
choir, sang Auld Lang Syne, and the benediction being pronounced by Rev.
L. B. Potter, the audience dispersed.
SOCIAL REUNION.
The semi-annual meeting of the State Society was held June 18, 1879, at
Jackson, by invitation of the Jackson County Pioneer Society. The attend-
ance was large and the meeting one of unusual interest.
OBITUARY.
A resolution was passed by the Executive Committee two years ago, directing
ANNUAL MEETING. 109
the Corresponding Secretary to take charge of all the records of the death of
all pioneers of the State, whether members of the society or not, and all such
records received by the Eecording Secretary during the past year have been
handed to Mr. Greene.
COUNTY SOCIETIES.
No report has been received from any county society during the past year.
DONATIONS.
The donations made during the year have been large and valuable, a list of
which is given as follows:
HON. A. C. BALDWIN, Pontiac:
Copy of the Pontiac Bill Poster of February 26, 1879, containing an histori-
cal article.
A. L. BOURS, Lansing:
Pamphlet copy of the proceedings at the dedication of the new capitol of
Michigan.
PRESIDENT T. C. ABBOT, Agricultural College:
A set of the catalogues of the Agricultural College.
KEV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, Lansing:
Twenty pamphlet copies of a Thanksgiving sermon, entitled "The New
Capitol."
DANIEL S. DURRIE, Madison, Wisconsin:
Index to American pedigrees.
DR. 0. C. COMSTOCK, Marshall:
Copies of the Commerical Expounder, Marshall, June 12 and 19, 1879; and
of the Marshall Statesman of April 10, 1879.
ALLEN GOODRICH, Washington City:
Map of the United States and Territories, 1877, compiled from official sur-
veys of the General Land Office, under direction of Hon. J. A. William-
son, Commissioner; also a copy of the Government Centennial Memorial,
of 1876, entitled "The Administrators of the United States Government
at the beginning of the 2nd Century," Washington, July 4, 1876.
PROF. J. C. HOLMES, Detroit:
A collection of papers relating to the death of Hon. Z. Chandler. Trans-
actions of the Michigan Agricultural Society for the years 1849 to 1858,
inclusive, except for 1852, 9 volumes; also 18 pamphlets.
Copy of the Detroit Post and Tribune of July 6, 1879.
DON. C. HENDERSON, Allegan:
A collection of manuscript letters and papers containing historical matter
used by Mr. Henderson in compiling the Legislative Manual of 1879.
HON. GEO. W. LAWTON, Lawton:
Historical Sketch, No. 2, of Van Buren County.
ADJ'T GEN. JNO. KOBERTSON:
Two copies of "The Flags of Michigan."
KEV. STEPHEN D. PEET, Clinton, Wisconsin :
Copies of the American Antiquarian, Vol. I., Nos. 2 and 4, 1879, and Vol.
II. No. 2, 1879.
J. C. WHEELER, Corunna:
A frog taken out of the Corunna Coal Mines, September 30, 1877, 80 feet
below the surface of the earth and back in the mine 150 feet.
16
110 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
B. 0. WILLIAMS, Owosso:
An Indian war club used by a Chippewa chief at the river Eaisin massacre.
HON. ALBERT WILLIAMS, Ionia:
Copy of the Eepresentative Men of Michigan.
HON. H. G. WELLS, Kalamazoo :
Copies of the Kalamazoo Evening Telegraph, July 12 and August 15, 1879.
EGBERT HILTON, Grand Eapids:
Copy of the Daily Morning Democrat, February 8, 1879.
COL. M. SHOEMAKER, Jackson:
Copies of Jackson Weekly Patriot, of June 25, 1879, and of the Jackson
Weekly Citizen, July 22, 1879.
0. A. JENISON, Lansing:
An ambrotype of the old Lansing House.
A copy of the first poster ever issued from the printing press in Lansing.
The frame and glass have also an historical interest.
A piece of iron from one of the plates of the original Monitor.
A full set of posters put out by the Central Michigan Agricultural Society
from 1866 to 1879, both inclusive.
A large folio scrap-book, No. 2, filled with papers of great historical value.
An ambrotype likeness of the Old Indian Chief Okemos.
CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY :
Pamphlet copy of the proceedings of the society November 19, 1868.
Pamphlet copy of an address entitled "Father Marquette at Mackinaw and
Chicago," by H. H. Hurlburt.
KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
First Biennial Eeport, January 26, 1879 pamphlet.
DELAWARE HISTORICAL SOCIETY :
One historical pamphlet.
MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY :
A collection of the catalogues of the University from 1860 to 1878-9, both
years inclusive 20 pamphlets.
OLD COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Taunton, Mass.:
Copy of the collections of the society for 1879, one pamphlet.
ONEIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Utica, N. Y. :
Three historical pamphlets.
WAYNE COUNTY PIONEER SOCIETY:
A file of the United States War Department Weather Maps; also a large
and valuable collection of historical manuscripts, books, pamphlets and
newspapers.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington :
Senate and House Journals, 3d Session 45th Congress, and 1st Session 46th
Congress, -4 volumes.
MISCELLANEOUS :
Copy of the Legislative Manual, 1879.
Copy of the Transactions of the Michigan Agricultural Society for 1852.
Copy of the Hartford Day Spring, Van Buren county, April 5, 1879.
Copy of the Detroit Evening News, August 12, 1879.
MEMBERSHIP.
There has been an addition of thirty-six members since the last annual
meeting, making a total of four hundred and sixty-six names enrolled upon
ANNUAL MEETING. Ill
the membership hook of the society. The actual present membership is much
less, as many of the pioneers have died since joining the society.
The following is the list of new members : Levi Loomis, Eoger Haviland,
Josiah L. Hawes, Noys L. Avery, Wm. D. Thompson, E. H. Whitney, Don
C. Henderson, Wright L. Coffinberry, Eugene Laible, Jane Olds, W. F. J^ni-
son, E. S. Woodman, John Ball, J. B. Eaton, J. W. Begole, Abiah Angell,
Fanny L. Avery, Harriet A. Begole, A. L. Davis, F. S. Clarke, G. B. Slocum,
H. H. Allen, Henry Pennoyer, C. D. Randall, R. S. Varnum, Henry H.
North, Mrs. Almira North, James Shearer, Alex. Chapoton, Henry W. Lord,
Wm. T. Mitchell, Oka Town, 0. D. Goodrich, Wm. Winegar, D. A. McMar-
tin, Maria T. McMartin.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
HARRIET A. TENNEY,
Recording Secretary State Pioneer Society.
REPORT OF THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
Lansing, February 4, 1880.
To the Officers and Members of the State Pioneer Society:
I herewith submit the file of letters and communications received during
the year ending this day, all of which have been promptly answered or
acknowledged, and none relate to any matters which need to come before this
meeting, except such as relate to memorials.
We have now a membership of about four hundred and fifty, scattered
promiscuously over the State, and from so large a number there must be more
or less changing of residences or removals by death, and in order that we
might obtain a corrected list of all such changes, I prepared a list of members
of several counties having the greater number of members and sent to the
vice presidents of these counties, requesting them to give present P. 0.
address, and in case of any deaths to give date and place of such death; the
most of whom responded promptly. A few however have not yet done so.
At a joint meeting of the Committee of Historians and Executive- Commit-
tee, January 5th last, they instructed me, in sending notices of this meeting,
to request the vice presidents from each county to prepare and bring, or send,
a writtten memorial of any pioneers in their counties, whether members of
this society or not, who had died during the year. I accordingly did so, and
have received several such lists which will be presented at the proper time
during this meeting.
I would recommend that the vice presidents (who constitute the. memorial
committee) make it a point whenever a pioneer of their county dies, whether
a member of this society or not, to obtain all the facts they can, relative to his
settlement in the State, history while here, date of death and age at time of
death, and report the same to the Corresponding Secretary, or bring it to be
read at the annual meeting; this plan will enable them to give a more extended
112 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
report than to wait until just before the meeting hefore preparing this memo-
rial report.
All of which is respectfully, submitted.
GEORGE H. GREENE,
Corresponding Secreta ry.
REPORT OF THE TREASURER
OF THE STATE PIONEER SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, AT THE ANNUAL
MEETING FEBRUARY 4, 1880.
E. Longyear, Treasurer, in account with the Society:
RECEIPTS.
To Amount on hand at last report $291 90
" received for fees 102 00
" sale of Pioneer Collections 75 25
" " from donations, etc 225
" " " State appropriation, act 34 of 1879 500 00
$971 40
DISBURSEMENTS.
By Expenses for Committee of Historians $155 10
" " Executive Committee 95 67
" Paid postage 11 75
" " express 60
" " pioneer picture 1 00
" " printing notices, etc 16 90
on 2d vol. Pioneer Collections 554 60
" " use of organ 2 00
" Cash on hand, deposited in State treasury 133 78
$971 40
E. LONGYEAR, Treasurer.
Per GEO. H. GREENE.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF HISTORIANS.
Your Committee of Historians, in pursuance of their duty as such commit-
tee, have copied from the records, the proceedings of the society for the years
1877 and 1878, and added thereto such pioneer history of counties and towns
ANNUAL MEETING. 113
as they were able to collect,, and now present to you this material in permanent
form as Vol. II. of the "Pioneer Collections/ 7
All of this material was carefully revised in the endeavor to have it as
correct as possible.
Your committee gave a great deal of time and labor in the preparation of
the manuscript for this volume, and a great deal more than would have been
necessary had the writers of some of the articles been more careful to write
plainly and spell names correctly. In some of the articles, where a name
occurred more than once, it was spelled in as many different ways as it was
mentioned; and in some cases your committee was puzzled to know which was
the correct way. Undoubtedly some errors of this kind will be found in the
book. As we are making, collecting, and preserving history, it is very desira-
ble that all articles prepared to be read before this association, or to be placed
in the archives or the volumes of the society should be very carefully prepared,
particularly as to dates and names, and correctly and legibly written. Not-
withstanding the lateness of the hour at which the last form of the book was
printed, the bookbinder assured us on Monday morning last that he would
deliver one hundred copies here in season for this meeting, so that persons
wishing to purchase will have an opportunity to do so. At a joint meeting of
the Executive Committee and the Committee of Historians held a short time
since, it was decided to sell Vol. I. and Vol. II. at $1.25 each. Vol. I. con-
tains 560 pages; Vol. II. contains 680 pages.
At the close of this meeting there will be nearly enough material on hand for
another volume of about 600 pages. It is the intention of the society to con-
tinue the publication of these volumes until the early history of every county,
city, town, and \iillage in the State has been gathered up and published. In
order to accomplish this, it would be well if persons in every town would inter-
est themselves in collecting the pioneer history of his town, put it in good shape
and send it to the Recording Secretary of the State Pioneer Society. The
County Pioneer Societies have it in their power to assist in this work by re-
porting their proceedings to the secretary, and transmitting their gatherings
of pioneer history so that all this material may be available in preparing
future volumes of Pioneer Collections. The society has rooms in the capitol
where all collections of the society can be safely kept, and all papers and arti-
cles systematically arranged by counties, so that they can be turned to at any
moment as they may be wanted for reference or publication.
Your committee would suggest that all persons present who are willing to
volunteer their services to collect and transmit to the State society as much
of the pioneer history of their town or county as possible for them to do, will,
before the close of this meeting, leave their address with, the secretary.
All of which is respecfully submitted.
J. C. HOLMES,
0. C. COMSTOCK,
M. H. GOODRICH,
H. G. WELLS,
HARRIET A. TENNEY.
114 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
GOVERNORS AND JUDGES OF MICHIGAN*
FROM THE FIRST CLAIM OF JURISDICTION BY FRANCEf UNDER
FRENCH DOMINION.
1. Samuel de Champlain, appointed in 1612.
2. Marc Antoine de Bras-de-fer de Chasteaufort, 1635.
3. Charles Huault de Montmagny, 1636.
4. Louis D'Aillebout de Coulonge, 1648.
5. Jean de Lauson, 1651.
6. Charles de Lauson-Charny, 1656.
7. The Chevalier Louis D'Ailleboust de Coulonge, 1657.
8. Pierre de Voyer, Viscount D'Argenson, 1658.
9. Pierre du Bois, Baron D'Avangour, 1661.
10. The Chevalier Augustin de Saffray-Mesy, 1663.
11. Alexandre de Prouville, Marquis de Tracy (Viceroy), 1663.
12. The Chevalier Daniel de Eemy de Courcelles, 1665.
13. Louis de Buade, Count de Palluan et de Frontenac, 1672.
14. Le Fevre Antoine de la Barre, 1682.
15. Jacques Eene de Brisay, Marquis de Denonville, 1685.
16. Counte de Frontenac (same as 13), 1689.
17. The Chevalier Louis Hector de Callieres, 1699.
18. Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, 1703.
19. Charles Le Moyne, Baron de Longueuil, 1725.
20. Charles, Marquis de Beauharnois, 1726.
21. Holland Michel Barrin, Count de la Galissonniere, 1747.
22. Jacques Pierre de Taffanel, Marquis de la Jonquiere, 1749.
23. Charles Le Moyne, Baron de Longueuil, 1752.
24. Le Marquis de Duquesne de Menneville, 1752.
25. Pierre Francois, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, 1755.
BRITISH GOVERNORS-GENERAL OF CANADA.
Gen. Sir James Murray, 1763.
Gen. Sir Guy Carleton, 1768.
*This paper was prepared by Judge James V. Campbell for Don C. Henderson, to be inserted
in the Legislative Manual for 1879, and donated by Mr. Henderson to the Pioneer Society to be
inserted in Vol. III. of the "Pioneer Collections."
fin the discussions concerning the date of French possession it was claimed by the French
government that the discovery was made by Champlain. Formal possession was first asserted
by De Lusson, many years later.
GOVERNORS AND JUDGES OP MICHIGAN. 115
Gen. Sir Frederick Haldimand, 1777.
Gen. Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester, 1786.
Henry Hamilton, Lieut. Gov. (acting), 1784.
Henry Hope, Lieut. Gov., 1785.
GOVERNOR OF UPPER CANADA.
Gen. John Graves Simcoe, 1792.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS.
Gen. Arthur St. Clair, (N. W. Territory) 1787.
Gen. William Henry Harrison, (Indiana) 1800.
Gen. William Hull, (Michigan) 1805.
Gen. Lewis Cass, (Michigan) 1813.
Gen. George B. Porter, (Michigan) 1832.
SECRETARIES ACTING AS GOVERNORS.
Gen. John T. Mason, 1831.
Stevens Thomson Mason, 1831-1834.
John S. Homer, 1835.
NOTE. From the organization of the State in November 1835 to July 4, 1836, the
Territory of Michigan continued in separate existence, embracing the Upper Penin-
sula, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and other unorganized country. Wisconsin was
organized July 4, 1836.
CHANCELLORS.
Elon Farnsworth, July, 1836 to 1842, when he resigned.
Eandolph Manning, 1842 to 1846, when he resigned.
Elon Farnsworth, 1846 to March, 1847, when court abolished.
SUPREME COURT JUDGES UNDER CONSTITUTION OF 1835.
Wm. A. Fletcher, Chief Justice, July, 1836 to 1842 resigned.
George Morell, Associate, from July, 1836 to 1842; Chief Justice vice
Fletcher, to July 18, 1843.
Epaphroditus Ransom, Associate Justice, July, 1836 to July, 1843; Chief
Justice, July, 1843 to January 1, 1848.
Charles W. Whipple, Associate Justice, 1838; Chief Justice, March, 1848 to
January 1, 1852.
Alpheus Felch, Associate Justice, July, 1842; re-appointed July 18, 1843.
Resigned November,, 1845.
Daniel Goodwin, Associate Justice, July 18, 1843, to 1846 resigned.
Warner Wing, Associate Justice, November, 1845 to January 1, 1852, vice
Felch.
George Miles, Associate Justice, October 1846 to 1850, vice Goodwin died,
1850.
Sanford M. Green, Associate Justice, March 2, 1848, to January 1, 1852.
Edward Mundy, (additional) Associate Justice, April 3, 1848, to October
1851 deceased.
Abner Pratt, Associate Justice, 1850 to January 1, 1852, vice Miles, deceased.
George Martin, Associate Justice, October, 1851 to January 1, 1852, vice
Mundy, deceased.
116 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
CONSTITUTION OF 1850.
Circuit Judges holding Supreme Court, January 1, 1852 to January 1, 1858:
(John S. Goodrich, elected April 1851, died before his term of office would
have begun.)
Warner Wing, resigned 1856.
George Martin.
Sanford M. Green, resigned 1857.
Joseph T. Copeland.
Samuel T. Douglass, resigned 1857.
David Johnson, resigned 1857.
Abner Pratt, resigned 1857.
Charles W. Whipple, died October, 1855.
Nathaniel Baron, October, 1855, vice Whipple.
E. H. C. Wilson, November, 1856, vice Wing.
Benjamin F. H. Witherell, May, 1857, vice Douglass.
Benjamin F. Graves, May, 1857, vice Pratt.
Josiah Turner, May, 1857, vice Green.
Edwin Lawrence, May, 1857, vice Johnson.
PRESENT SUPREME COURT, ORGANIZED JANUARY 1, 1858.
George Martin (re-elected April, 1859), to December, 1867 died.
Eandolph Manning, (re-elected April, 1861), died 1864.
Isaac P. Christiancy, (re-elected April, 1865 and 1873) resigned Jan., 1875.
James V. Campbell, (re-elected April, 1563, 1871 and 1879).
Thomas M. Cooley, (vice Manning), 1864, re-elected April, 1869 and 1877.
Benjamin F. Graves, 1868 (re-elected 1875), vice Martin.
Isaac Marston, April, 1875, vice Christiancy (re-elected 1881).
CHIEF JUSTICES.
Wm. A. Fletcher, 1837-1842, appointed July 18, 1836.
George Morell, 1842, July, 1843, appointed April 1, 1842.
Epaphroditus Eansom, July, 1843 to January, 1848; term commenced July
18, 1843.
Charles W. Whipple, January, 1848 to January, 1852; appointed March 2,
1848, to hold until April 16, 1853.
Warner Wing, 1852-1854.
S. M. Green, 1854-1856.
Abner Pratt, 1856-1857.
George Martin, 1858-1866 died December 15, 1867.
T. M. Cooley, 1868-1870, 1876-1878.
J. V. Campbell, 1870-1872, 1878-1880.
Isaac P. Christiancy, 1872-1874.
B. F. Graves, 1874-1876.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICES.
Randolph Manning, 1858-1864.
T. M. Cooley, 1864 .
Isaac P. Christiancy, 1858-1875.
Isaac Marston, 1875 .
FOREIGN GOVERNORS OP MICHIGAN. 117
ATTORNEY GENERALS STATE.
Daniel LeEoy, 1836-1837.
Peter Morey, 1837-1841.
Zephaniah Platt, 1841-1843.
Elon Farnsworth, 1843-1845.
Henry N. Walker, 1845-1847.
Edward Mundy, 1847-1849.
G. V. N. Lothrop, 1849-1851.
Wm. Hale, 1851-1855.
J. M. Howard, 1855-1861.
Charles Upson, 1861-1863.
Albert Williams, 1863-1867.
Wm. L. Stoughton, 1867-1869.
Dwight S. May, 1869-1873.
Byron D. Ball, 1873 to April 1, 1874.
Isaac Marston from April 1, 1874, to January 1, 1875.
Andrew J. Smith, 1875-1877.
Otto Kirchner, 1877-1881.
ANOTHEE LIST OF MICHIGAN GOVEENOES.
The following history of the early French and British Governors of Canada,
to which Michigan was then attached, was prepared by Mr. W. Leslie Thorn
for the Detroit Evening News, and appeared in that paper January 20, 1879.
Mr. Thorn is an expert in Canadian history, and shows great research in the
preparation of this list:
LIST OF GOVERNORS UNDER FRENCH DOMINATION.
1. Jean Francois de la Eoque, Chevalier, Seigneur de Eoberval, Lieutenant
and Governor for Francis I. of France. A. D. 1540.
2. Troilus de Mesgouats, Marquis de la Eoche and Koettermoal, Vicomte
de Trevarez, Lieutenant-General and Governor for Henry IV. of France,
1598.
3. Captain Chauvin de.
4. Commander de Chaste, Eyouard de.
5. Pierre de Guast, Sieur de Monts.
VICE-ROYALTY, FROM 1612 TO 1627.
6. Charles de Bourbon, Comte de Soissons.
7. Henry II. de Bourbon, Prince of Cond6.
8. Ponce de Lausiere Cardaillac de Themines, 1616.
It was Themines, who, in his capacity of Marshal of France, arrested the
Prince de Conde in the Louvre.
9. Henry II. de Bourbon, Prince of Cond6, (re-established).
10. The Marshal, Due de Montmorency, 1620.
11. Henry de Levy, Due de Ventadonr, 1624.
17
118 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
12. Le Due D'Ampville.
Some authorities add Cardinal Richelieu and the Due de Breze.
THE FEUDAL COMPANY OF THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES.
13. Samuel de Champlain, Governor.
14. Marc-Antoine de Bras de Fer, Sieur de Chasteaufort, 1635.
15. Charles Huault de Montmagny, Knight of St. John of Jerusalem,
Onodthio of the savage tribes, Governor for the company and Lieutenant-
General for the King.
16. Louis D'Ailleboust de Coulonge.
17. Jean de Lauson, Chevalier, member of the conseil d'Etat and consell
prive, 1651.
18. Charles de Lauson, Knight, Seigneur de Charny, grand master of
waters and forests.
M. de Charny, after a brief term, returned to France and entered the priest-
hood. He became canon and secretarv to Mgr de Laval de Montmorency, first
bishop of Quebec/
19. Pierre de Voyer, Vicomte D'Argenson, 1657.
20. Louis D'Aillebout de Coulonge, restored.
21. Pierre Dubois, Baron D'Avaugour.
D'Avaugour was killed in 1663 defending Fort de Serin against the Grand
Vizier Achmet Koprogli.
GRAND SENESCHALS OF NEW FRANCE.
22. Messire Jean de Lauson, Chevalier, 1640.
23. Charles Joseph de Lauson. Seigneur of Cote Lauson, 1661. (A minor,
succeeding his father by right of xurrie.)
ROYAL GOVERNMENT.
24. Augustin de Saffray, Sieur de Mesy, 1663.
25. Sieur Jacques Leneuf de la Poterie.
26. Alexandre de Prouville, Marquis de Tracy, 'Lieutenant-General of the
King in both Americas (1663), and Daniel de Remv, Seigneur de Courcelle,
Governor and Lieutenant-General, 1665.
27. Louis de Buade, Chevallier, Comte de Paluan, 1672.
28. Sieur Le Fevre de la Barre, 1682.
29. Jacques Rene de Brisay, Marquis de Denonville, 1685.
30. Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac, 1689.
31. Louis Hector, Chevalier de Calliere, 1698.
32. Phillippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, 1703.
33. M. de Ramezay, from 1714 to 1716, in the absence of Vaudreuil.
34. Charles Le Moyne, Baron de Longueuil I., Commandant-General from
the death of Vaudreuil till the arrival of
35. Charles Marquis de Beauharnois, 1726.
36. Michel Rolland Barrin, Comte de Galissonniere, 1747.
This is the naval commander who gained over Admiral Byng the battle of
Port Mahon, who was shot as a punishment for his defeat, and, as the French
said, "Pour encourager les autres."
37. Jacques de Taffanel, Marquis de la Jonquiere.
De la Jonquiere was defeated by Admiral Anson in the naval action off Cape
Finisterre. Being taken prisoner by Anson, he said to the latter, referring to
GOVERNORS OP MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 119
two captured French vessels, "You have vanquished the Invincible and La
Gloire follows you."
38. Charles Le Moyne, Baron de Longueuil II., from the death of De la
Jonquiere till the arrival of
39. Le Marquis Duquesne de Menneville, 1752.
40. Baron de Longueuil III., from the departure of Duquesne till the
arrival of
41. Pierre Francois Marquis de Vaudreuil Cavagnal, 1755.
Under Vaudreuil Canada and^New France passed into the hands of Great
Britain. The news of the subjugation was received very coolly by the court of
Louis XV.; shoulders were shrugged, and courtiers, echoing the King's mis-
tress, said that, after all, it was nothing much to lose "a few arpents of
UNDER ENGLISH DOMINATION.
42. Sir Jeffrey Amherst, Captain-General, 1760.
43. Major- General James Murray, 1763, (President).
44. Paulus ^Emilius Irving (President), 1767.
45. Brigadier-General Guy Carleton.
46. Henry T. Cramahe (President), 1770.
47. Major-General Guy Carleton, Captain-General, 1774. For a while in the
absence of Carleton, Col. Hamilton administered the government, and subse-
quently Brigadier Hope.
48. Sir Frederick Haldimand, 1778.
49. Lord Dorchester (Carleton).
50. Major-General Alfred Clark, 1791-3.
51. Sir Robert Prescott, 1795.
52. Sir Robert Shore Millies, 1795.
53. Lord Dorchester, 1798.
GOVERNORS OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY.*
WILLIAM HULL, came to Michigan in June, 1805 ; was appointed Governor
of Territory January 11, 1805, 1808 and 1811, and remained in office until
superseded by Lewis Cass. No other civil Governor intervened between his sur-
render of Detroit, August 16, 1812, and the time when Lewis Cass became
Governor. Governor Hull's last term would have expired in 1814.
LEWIS CASS, appointed October 29, 1813, resigned July 21, 1831; resigna-
tion took effect August 1, 1831.
JOHN T. MASON, appointed Secretary of Territory, May 20, 1830; quali-
iied and entered on the duties of the office July 21, 1830; was acting Governor
from April 4, 1831, at which time Lewis Cass left the seat of Government
until May 27, 1831, when Governor Cass returned.
120 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
GEORGE B. PORTER,, appointed Governor August 6, 1831; qualified Septem-
ber 17, 1831; died July 6 or 7, 1834.
STEVENS T. MASON, appointed Secretary of Territory July 12, 1831, by the
President during the recess of Congress; qualified July 25, 1831. When resig-
nation of Lewis Cass took effect, August 1, 1831, he assumed the duties of the
office of Governor, and continued to act until September 17, 1831, when Geo.
B. Porter qualified. October 30, 1831, Governor Porter left the seat of gov-
ernment and Mason acted from that date until June 11, 1832, when Governor
Porter returned. He was (again appointed) confirmed by the Senate May 23,
1833; Governor left seat of government and returned July 14, 1833; Secre-
tary of Territory June 21, 1832, and qualified July 26, 1832'. August 13, 1833,
Governor Porter left seat of government and returned August 28, 1833. Sep-
tember 5, 1833, Governor Porter again left the seat of government and returned
December 14, 1833, and Mason acted as Governor during his absence. February
1, 1834, left, and returned February 7, 1834. He again assumed the duties of
the office of Governor upon the death of Governor Porter, July 6, 1834.
JOHN S. HORNER, appointed Secretary of Territory September 8, 1835, and
entered on the duties of the office of secretary and acting Governor September
20, 1835. The Territory of Wisconsin was organized July 4, 1836, and Gov-
ernor Homer appointed Secretary of that Territory, which had been part of
Michigan.
GOVERNORS OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN.
STEVENS T. MASON declared Governor by the legislature in joint convention
November 3, 1835; took the oath of office on same day during the absence
of the Governor, Edward Mundy, the Lieutenant-Governor was acting Gover-
nor. Elected again in 1837, and took office January 1, 1838.
WILLIAM WOODBRIDGE, took the oath of office January 7, 1840, which was
filed on same day. Having been on the 3d day of February, 1841, elected U.
S. Senator, he resigned the office of Governor on the 23d of same month.
JAMES WRIGHT GORDON, Lieutenant-Governor, assumed the duties of the
office of Governor February 24, 1841.
JOHN S. BARRY, entered on the duties of the office of Governor January 3,
1842; his first act found in Executive Journal, is dated January llth.
ALPHEUS FELCH, entered on the duties of the office of Governor early in
January, 1846; elected U. S. Senator February 2, 1847, and resigned the
office of Governor March 3, 1847.
WILLIAM L. GREENLY, Lieutenant-Governor, assumed the duties of the
office of Governor March 4, 1847.
EPAPHRODITUS RANSOM, entered on the duties of the office of Governor Jan-
uary 3, 1848; resignation of the office of Chief Justice received same day.
JOHN S. BARRY, entered on the duties of the office of Governor January 7,
1850.
ROBERT MCCLELLAND, elected in November, 1851, for one year; entered on
the duties of the office January 1st, and served during the year 1852. Elected
again in November, 1852, for two years, and served until March 7, 1853, when
[PAC-SlMILE OF A LETTER OF GrOV. STEVENS T. MASON.]
:R OF Gov. STEVEXS T. MASON.]
TERRITORIAL OFFICERS. 121
he resigned for the purpose, it is said, of accepting the appointment as Sec-
retary of the Interior.
ANDREW PARSONS, Lieutenant-Governor, entered on the duties of the office
of Governor March 8, 1853, and continued to act until January 1, 1855.
KINSLEY S. BINGHAM, entered on the duties of the office of Governor Janu-
ary 1, 1855.
MOSES WISNER, entered on the "duties of the office of Governor January 1,
1859.
AUSTIN BLAIR, entered on the duties of the office of Governor January 1,
1861.
HENRY H. CRAPO, entered on the duties of the office of Governor January
3, 1865.
HENRY P. BALDWIN, entered on the duties of the office of Governor Janu-
ary 1, 1869.
JOHN J. BAGLEY, entered on the duties of the office of Governor January 1,
1873.
CHARLES M. CROSWELL, entered on the duties of the office of Governor
January 1, 1877.
SECEETARY EV ARTS' LIST OF TERRITORIAL OFFICERS.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, 31 January, 1879.
Hon. T. W. Ferry, U. 8. Senate:
SIR, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 25th inst.
addressed to the Secretary of the Interior, and by him referred to the department,
requesting to be furnished with a list of the Territorial officers of Michigan, for Mr.
D. C. Henderson, of Lansing, who is preparing a Manual for the use of the Michigan
Legislature. In reply, I enclose herewith, a list of the officers named in your letter,
together with the dates of appointment, except attorneys-general and clerks of the
courts, there being no record of such officers. The department is unable to furnish
the term of service of the officers named in the enclosed list.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
WM. M. EVARTS.
GOVERNORS.
1. William Hull, appointed 1st March, 1805.
2. William Hull, appointed 1st April, 1808.
3. William Hull, appointed 12th January, 1811.
4. Lewis Cass, appointed 29th October, 1813.
5. Lewis Cass, appointed 21st January, 1817.
6. Lewis Cass, appointed 24th January, 1820.
7. Lewis Cass, appointed 20th December, 1822.
8. Lewis Cass, appointed 22d December, 1825.
9. Lewis Cass, appointed 24th December, 1828.
10. George B. Porter, appointed 6th August, 1831.
11. Henry D. Gilpin, appointed 5th November, 1834.
SECRETARIES.
Stanley Griswold, appointed 1st March, 1805.
Reuben Atwater, appointed 18th March, 1808.
Reuben Atwater, appointed 31st December, 1811.
122 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
William Woodbridge, appointed 5th October, 1814.
William Woodbridge, appointed 25th August, 1818.
William Woodbridge, appointed 27th November, 1822.
William Woodbridge, appointed 26th May, 1824.
William Woodbridge, appointed 12th January, 1827.
James Witherell, appointed 15th January, 1828.
John T. Mason, appointed 20th May, 1830.
Stevens T. Mason, appointed 12th July, 1831.
Charles Shaler, appointed 29th August, 1835.
John S. Horner, appointed 8th September, 1835.
JUDGES.
Frederick Bates, appointed 3d March, 1805.
Samuel Huntington, appointed 1st March, 1805. (Did not serve.)
William Sprigg, appointed 28th June, 1805. (Did not serve.)
Augustus B. Woodward, appointed 2d March, 1805.
John Griffin, appointed 29th March, 1806.
Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., appointed 2d April, 1807. (Did not serve.)
John Coburn, appointed 2d March, 1807. (Did not serve.)
James Witherell, appointed by Jefferson, 23d April, 1808.
James Witherell, appointed by Monroe, 21st January, 1824.
James D. Doty, appointed by Monroe, 17th February, 1823.
James D. Doty, appointed by Adams, 9th January, 1828.
John Hunt, appointed by Monroe, 21st January, 1824.
Solomon Sibley, appointed by Monroe, 21st January, 1824.
Henry Chipman, appointed by Adams, 18th July, 1827.
William W T oodbridge, appointed by Adams, 15th January, 1828.
Solomon Sibley, appointed by Adams, 15th January, 1828.
Solomon Sibley, appointed by Jackson, 27th January, 1832.
Solomon Sibley, appointed by Jackson, 26th February, 1836.
David Irvin, appointed by Jackson, 26th April, 1832.
David Irvin, appointed by Jackson, 26th February, 1836.
George Morell, appointed by Jackson, 26th April, 1832.
George Morell, appointed by Jackson, 26th February, 1836.
Ross Wilkins, appointed by Jackson, 26th April, 1832.
Ross Wilkins, appointed by Jackson, 26th February, 1836.
ATTORNEYS.
Solomon Sibley, appointed 21st August, 1815.
Andrew G. Whitney, appointed 21st January, 1824.
Daniel LeRoy, appointed 22d December, 1826.
Daniel LeRoy, appointed 15th February, 1831.
Daniel Goodwin, appointed 28th May, 1834.
MICHIGAN CONGRESSMEN.
This list of congressmen was taken, mainly, from the Detroit Post and Tri-
bune.
TERRITORIAL DELEGATES.
Sixteenth Congress Wm. Woodbridge took his seat December 10, 1819;
MICHIGAN CONGRESSMEN. 123
resigned in 1820: Solomon Sibley took his seat .November 20, 1820, in place
of Woodbridge, resigned.
Seventeenth Solomon Sibley.
Eighteenth Gabriel Richard, elected 1823.
Nineteenth and Twentieth Austin E. Wing, elected in 1827.
Twenty-First John Biddle.
Twenty-Second Austin E. Wing.
Twenty-Third Lucius Lyon.
Twenty-FourthGeorge W. Jones, elected in 1835; was delegate till Michi-
gan became a State, with his residence in Wisconsin, then a portion of the
Territory of "Michigan.
UNITED STATES SENATORS FROM MICHIGAN TERMS OF SERVICE.
Lucius Lyon, 1836-1840.
John Norvell; 1836-1841.
Augustus S. Porter, 1840-1845.
William Woodbridge, 1841-1847.
'Lewis Cass, 1845-1848.
Thomas Fitzgerald, 1848-1849.
Lewis Cass, 1849-1857.
Alpheus Felch, 1847-185::.
Charles E. Stuart, 1853-1859.
Zachariah Chandler, 1857-1875.
"Kingsley S. Bingham, 1859-1861.
Jacob M. Howard, 1862-1871.
4 Thomas W. Ferry, 1871-1883.
B Tsaac P. Christiancy, 1875-1881.
'Zachariah Chandler, 1879 .
7 Honry P. Baldwin, 1879-1881.
MICHIGAN REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. .
Isaac E. Crary, 1836-1841.
Jacob M. Howard, 1841-1843.
Lucius Lyon, 1843-1845.
Eobert McClelland, 1843-1847.
James B. Hunt, 1843-1847.
John S. Chipman, 1845-1847.
Eobert McClelland, 1847-1849.
Edward Bradley, 1847.
Kinsley S. Bingham, 1847-1849.
'Charles E. Stuart, 1847-1849.
Kinsley S. Bingham, 1849-1851.
Alexander W. Buel, 1849-1851.
William Sprague, 1849-1851.
James L. Conger, 1851-1853.
Charles E. Stuart, 1851-1853.
Designed May 29, 1848.
B To fill vacancy of Lewis Cass.
8 Died October 5, 1861.
4 President pro tcmpore of the TJ. S. Senate from March 9, 1871, and acting Vice President
from the death of Vice President Wilson, November 22, 1875, to March 4, 1877.
"Resigned February 10, 1879 appointed Minister to Peru.
6 To fill unexpired term of Judge Christiancy. died November 1, 1879.
7 Appointed by Governor Croswell, November 17. 1879, vice Christiancy, resigned.
'Elected in 1847 to fill the vacancy of Edward Bradley, deceased, who never qualified.
124 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Ebenezer J. Penniman, 1851-1853.
Samuel Clark, 1853-1855.
David A. Noble, 1853-1855.
Hester L. Stevens, 1853-1855.
David Stuart, 1853-1855.
George W. Peck, 1855-1857.
Win. A. Howard, 1855-1859.
Henry Waldron, 1855-1861.
David S. Walbridge, 1855-1859.
Dewitt C. Leach, 1857-1861.
"George B. Cooper, 1859-1860.
10 Wm. A. Howard, 1860-1861.
Francis W. Kellogg, 1859-1865.
Bradley F. Granger, 1861-1863.
Fernando C. Beaman, 1861-1871.
Rowland E. Trowbridge, 1861-1863.
Charles Upson, 1863-1869.
John W. Lonsyear, 1863-1867.
Augustus C. Baldwin, 1863-1865.
John F. Driggs, 1863-1869.
Rowland E. Trowbridge, 1865-1869.
Thomas W. Ferry, 1865-1871.
Austin Blair, 1867-1873.
William L. Stougnton, 1869-1873.
Omer D. Conger, 1869-1881.
Randolph Strickland, 1869-1871.
Jabez G. Sutherland, 1871-1873.
Henry Waldron, 1871-1877.
Moses W. Field, 1873-1875.
George Willard, 1873-1877.
Julius C. Burrows, 1873-1875.
Wilder D. Foster, 1873.
Josiah W. Begole, 1873-1875.
Nathan B. Bradley, 1873-1877.
Jay A. Hubbell, 1873-1881.
"Win. B. Williams, 1874-1877.
12 Alpheus S. Williams, 1875-1878.
George H. Durand, 1875-1877.
Allen Potter, 1875-1877.
Edwin Willits, 1877-1881.
Jonas H. McGowan, 1877-1881.
Edwin W. Keightley, 1877-1879.
John W. Stone, 1877-1881.
Mark S. Brewer, 1877-1881.
Charles C. Ellsworth, 1877-1879.
John S. Newberry, 1879-1881.
Julius C. Burrows. 1879-1881.
Roswell G. Horr, 1879-1881.
B Lost his seat in election contest with Wm. A. Howard.
^Gained his seat May 15, 1860.
"Elected in 1873 to fill vacancy by death of Wilder D. Foster.
12 Died December 1878.
JOURNEY OF GURDON S. HUBBARD. 125
JOURNEY OF GURDON S. HUBBARD.
NOW OF CHICAGO, FROM MONTREAL TO MACKTNAC AND CHICAGO
IN 1818.
Read before the State Pioneer Society, February 4, 1880.
I was born at Windsor, Vermont, August 22, 1802. I first saw the Island of
Mackinac on the 4th day of July, 1818, then the headquarters of the American
Fur Company, under the management of Eamsay Crook and Robert Stuart.
In March, 1818, 1 engaged at Montreal as a clerk to the American Fur Com-
pany for the term of five years, on a salary of $120.00 per annum. We left
Lachine on the 13th of May, in twelve Canadian Batteaux and ascended the
St. Lawrence river to Lake Ontario, sailed along its coast to Toronto, at that
time called York, then we made a portage of eighteen miles to Lake Simcoe,
coasting it to its southern part, then making another portage into Nottawassaga
river. Our boat and effects were drawn to Lake Simcoe on wheels over what
was called Young street; it was a fair road. We took two yoke of cattle in
our Batteaux, with the aid of which we made the portage from Lake Simcoe
through a low, marshy country, without a road, being hauled over the ground
by the men and oxen, consuming about ten days of wretchedness in a swamp
and tormented by mosquitoes and gnats.
We descended Nottawassaga river to Georgian Bay, coasting thence to
Mackinac. This island was then in its gayest season. All the traders attached
to the American Fur Company were assembled there, having brought in their
furs, and were preparing to receive their outfits to depart again to their sev-
eral trading-posts.
The resident population of this island was about 500, principally Canadian,
French, and half-breeds; their occupation was fishing and trading with the
Indians; with few exceptions they were poor and improvident/ There was a
garrison composed of about three companies.
After spending two months on the island, I was detailed to the Illinois brig-
ade of traders, under the command of Antoine des Champs, a highly educated
gentleman who had been more than forty years an Indian trader on the Mis-
^sissippi, Illinois, and Ohio rivers.
Our brigade of traders left Mackinaw in September, coasting the eastern
shore of Lake Michigan to Chicago ; there we found Fort Dearborn garrisoned
by United States troops. John Kinzie and A. Ouilmett were the only white
inhabitants at that period in Chicago and northern Illinois. Here, three miles
up the south branch, our boats were unloaded, our merchandise was carried to
the Des Plains river on tho mens' backs, and the empty boats were hauled
18
126 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
through a ditch that was almost dry, to Mud Lake, half way, then through
a like ditch into the Des Plains (in high water this is good navigation), there
reloading, we descended the Des Plains river, having to partially unload our
boats and carry the goods on our backs over shallow places and passing the
boats over by means of rollers under them until reaching the Illinois river,
where, at different points, our trading posts were located sixty or seventy
miles apart. In the spring following we returned by the same route; the
rivers being full, we had no portage to make, passing the ditches and Mud
Lake under full head.
Near the head of Marquette river in the fall of 1818, I saw what was said to
be the original cross of red cedar which marked the spot where Marquette was
buried; it was about three feet above the ground and leaning over; our voy-
agers held it in veneration and were in the practice of resetting it when neces-
sary. For several years after, I saw the cross as I passed the place. The
voyagers had a tradition, which the most of them believed, that when Mar-
quette camped there in May, 1665, he was very sick. Knowing that he was
about to die he called his men around him, bidding them farewell, and instruct-
ing them to bury him at a place he designated, north of their camping place,
for, said he, this place will be the bed of the river, for it will change its outlet.
This did take place. After burying him they were to go back of a certain
sand hill where they would see two elks feeding, one of which they should kill.
and which would give them sufficient food to reach St. Ignaee Mission House;
that, following his instructions they found the elks and killed one (for they
were out of provisions), to last them for food till they arrived at the mission.
On our way to Mackinaw in the spring of 1819, Mr. Des Champs hearing
that the Indians on the eastern coast of Lake Michigan would hold a feast for
the dead at the mouth of Grand River at the full of the May moon, determined
to be present at the ceremonies.
This feast consisted: first in clearing away the ground around the graves,
putting them in perfect order, erecting slender poles at the head of each grave,
at the tops of which were attached strips of white cloth for streamers. At the
head of each grave a small place was staked off in which food was placed for
the souls of the dead; all except the young children blackened their faces and
fasted two days, eating nothing nor engaging in any amusement, spending
their time in silence, or lamentations for the loss of their friends. At the
expiration of two days of mourning, their faces were washed and painted, and
dressing in their best attire and decorations, they commenced feasting, enter-
tainments and visits, wishing their relatives to share with them the good
things they had prepared, they placed in the enclosures, at the head of the
graves, dishes of food. This feast is followed by their celebrated game of ball
which is intensely exciting; even the dogs become exhilarated and add to the
commotion by barking, racing, etc.
To witness this grand dance and to see and form the acquaintance of the
Indians, we went and camped there. There was another, act that we did not
know of at the time, but which proved so intensely thrilling that probably not
one of our companv ever forgot it, an account of which I will hand you.
From the time I left Mackinac in the autumn of 1818 till my return in the
following spring, I did not meet with a white man except at Chicago and just
above the mouth of the St. Joseph river where there was a trader. Between
the mouth of the Illinois river and Maekinac all was a wild country inhabited
bv Indians onlv.
ADMINISTRATION OF INDIAN JUSTICE. 127
The Indian name of Chicago was Cheecaqua, meaning "strong." The
place is first known to geography as the "Fort Chechagou." Cheecaqua was
also the Indian name of a kind of wild onion found on the shore of the lake in
old times.
INCIDENTS IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF INDIAN
JUSTICE.
BY GTJRUON S. HUBBAUD, OF CHICAGO.
Read February 5, 1880.
On the Manistee river of Lake Michigan lived an Indian chief who had a
large family, one of the sons heing notoriously wicked, and when intoxicated
very provoking and quarrelsome. This Indian, in a drunken quarrel was killed
by a Canada Indian who had married a girl belonging to the Manistee band of
Ottawa Indians, and living with them. He was a fair hunter, and a good trap-
per, but very poor. His family at this time consisted of a wife' and three or
four children. Not having any means to satisfy the chief for the loss of his
son, and knowing that his own life must pay the penalty, he proposed to his
wife that he should surrender himself. To this she was opposed, and would
not consent. He could have saved his life by abandoning his family and flee-
ing to his own tribe in Canada ; but in that event one of his wife's brothers
would be liable to be taken in his stead. There was no time to be lost, the
burial of the dead was about to take place, that being over he would be sought
after, and if found, put to death. Taking his wife's brother into consultation
it was decided that he should depart secretly and go to the head waters of the
Muskegon river in a secluded part of the country, and winter there, trapping
fine furs, hoping tQ gain enough to satisfy the chief and family for the loss of
their relative ; giving to this brother a particular description of his hiding place
and where he could be found when through the trapping season, with the
promise of secrecy. Gathering what he could of traps and amunition, he with
his family, departed at nightfall and made his way to his place of destina-
tion, with the understanding that if the chief, after search, should demand
re-venge of his wife's family he should be notified, when he would return and
surrender himself.
The old chief and his son in council knowing that the slayer had no means
of paying for the deceased, determined to kill him. After making diligent
search, gaining no information of his whereabouts, they concluded he had fled
128 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
with his family to his own tribe and relations in Canada. Finally they con-
cluded to slay one of his wife's brothers, and so announced. The brothers had
a consultation, and the younger, who knew where his brother-in-law was to be
found, said, "go to the chief and tell him I have gone to seek the man. If I
find him I will bring him; in default, I, being single, will give myself in his
stead." He started on his long and difficult journey in the winter season, and
on snow shoes. He was a stranger to the country, with no land marks to direct
him, except in general. After a long search he found the family.
The winter had been one of unusually deep snow, the spring brought great
floods of water inundating the country; he had been unsuccessful in his hunt,
and had almost starved. The bears, in consequence of deep snow, had not left
their dens, the martin and small game from the same cause could not get
about, and all hope of saving his life by payment was abandoned. The young
man returned in a small canoe and reported to the chief that he had found his
brother-in-law who would return in the May moon and deliver himself up ; this
satisfied the chief. One evening it was announced in our camp that on the
morrow an Indian would deliver himself up.
Early in the morning the chief made preparations ; the place selected was in
a valley surrounded by sand hills on which we traders and the Indians assem-
bled. The chief and his family were in the valley where all who were on the
hills had a full view of them and the surroundings. It was a beautiful May
morning, soon after sunrise we heard the monotonous beating of the Indian
drum, and the voice of the Indian singing his death song; emerging from the
lake beach he came in sight, his wife and children following in single file.
He came near the chief, still singing, and laid down his drum, his wife and
children seated themselves, then, in a clear voice he said: "I in a drunken
moment stabbed your son, provoked to it by his calling me an old woman and
coward; I escaped to the marshes at the head of the Muskegon, hoping the
Great Spirit would care for me and give me a good hunt that I might pay you
for your lost son. I was not successful; here is the knife that killed your son,
I desire to be killed by it, it is all I have to offer except my wife and children.
I am done."
The chief took the knife and nanded it to his oldest son saying, "kill him."
The son took the knife, approached the culprit, put his hand upon his shoulder,
made one or two motions to stab, and then drove the knife to the handle into
his breast. Not a word was heard from the assembled Indians or the whites ;
not a sound but the songs of the birds; every eye was upon the noble Indian
who stood without emotion looking upon his executioner. He received the
blow calmly, nor did he shrink when it was given. For a few seconds he stood
erect, the blood at every breath spirting from the wound, then his knees began
to quiver, his eyes and face to lose expression, he fell upon the sand.
All this time his wife and children sat motionless, gazing* upon the husband
and father, without a murmer or a sigh, till life was extinct; then throwing
themselves upon his dead body, they gave way to such grief and lamentations
as brought tears to the eyes of many, myself included. Turning to Mr. Des
Champs I saw that he also was deeply affected. ^ I said to him "why did you
not save that noble man ? A few blankets, shirts, and clothes would have sat-
isfied them." "Oh! my boy," he said, "we should have done so, it was very
wrong in us; what a scene we have passed through!"
Still the mother and children were hanging to the body in intense grief ; for
fifteen or twenty minutes the chief and his family sat motionless, evidently
LAW AND THE LEGAL PROFESSION. 129
feeling regret, when he rose and approaching the body, said in a trembling
voice, "woman, stop weeping! your husband was a brave man, and like a
brave he was not afraid to die in satisfaction for the life of my son, as the
rules of our nation demand. We adopt you and your children to be in the
place of my son; our lodges are open to you; live with us, we will treat you
like our sons and daughters, you shall have our protection and love."
"Gwy-uck" (that is right) was heard from many as the chief ended.
I subsequently saw this mother and her children in their lodges.
LAW AND THE LEGAL PROFESSION.
BY JUDGE H. G. WELLS, OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICH.
In the history of any portion of our country there is a manifest propriety in
giving place to the members of the legal profession. No one will deny but that
it has had among its members, wherever civilization has advanced, a large pro-
portion of active, well balanced minds, men who have given shape and force to
good government and who were the instrumentalities in laying broad and deep
the foundations for the welfare of their fellow men. Law is based on what is
true and right; the object of evidence is to find the truth,and without the legal
profession, no other body of men, now or heretofore existing, would in all
probability, have given to the world such a complete and systematic set of
rules of evidence as now ex^st, by which truth is to be reached and determined.
The doctrines and rules of evidence have been laid down in plain and perspicu-
ous language by an American, who has no superior as a law writer. Simon
Greenleaf as a professor in the law school of Harvard, at Cambridge, Massa-
chusetts, has given fame to that institution and has gained for himself position
as a law writer, in the English as well as American courts. Evidence accord-
ing to this practically educated lawyer, in legal acceptation, includes all the
means by which any alleged matter of fact, the truth of which is submitted to
investigation, is established or disproved; without the aid of the legal profes-
sion, doubt and uncertainty would have still clouded the moral atmosphere
and mental philosophy would yet be indulging in obstructions that held fast
the minds of men before America was discovered. The responsibility of the law-
yer, in every community is recognized because, as Professor Greenleaf expresses
it, "his profession leads him to explore the mazes of falsehood, to detect its
artifices, to pierce its thickest veils, to follow and expose its sophistries, to com-
pare the statements of its different witnesses with severity, to discover truth and
separate it from error." Our fellow men are well aware of this; and prob-
ably thev act upon this knowledge more generally and with a more profound
repose, than we are in the habit of considering. The influence too, of the legal
130 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
profession upon the community is unquestionably great ; conversant as it daily
is with all classes and grades of men, in their domestic and social relations
and in all the affairs of life, from the cradle to the grave.
I need not further attempt an argument to demonstrate the necessity of
holding in fair respect and giving prominence to the bar, as a body of men who
have greatly aided in sustaining virtuous conduct, in condemning vice, and in
making the world better. Without passing from our own country, whose
history is compassed bv a little more than a century, names might be men-
tioned that would be recognized as the highest type of ability wherever moral
excellence or mental greatness is recognized: Chief Justice John Marshal,
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, and Justice Joseph Story, of the Supreme Court
of the United States, may be named as the pillars on which the judicial
structure of our country rests; others may imitate, but none surpass them,
in originality of thought, power of argument, or clearness of expression. As
practicing lawyers distinguished in argument to their fellow men under our
jury system, the country has furnished a legion, possibly a score of this
number, above the others, in the ability that enabled them to master the
whole science of law and the possible greater ability to impart tneir learning
to others. What is necessary in the education of the lawyer? First, a sound
constitution; for what, as another has said, is a lawyer worth to his client or
how can he assist the court, if his digestion is impaired, or his activity of
mind or body controlled by excesses : a sound mind and a diseased body, the
latter always a hindrance to the former. The cup that intoxicates is not the
only enemy to advancement, in training the mind of the lawyer to accuracy
of thought, the ability to demonstrate and the power to control the minds of
others ; there are other vices, fatal always to advancement. Close application,
intense study, actual labor, to learn, and to learn well and accurately, are
always the essentials in reaching eminence at the bar. Much may be learned
by the scholar of to-day, in reading the biographies of those who have been
distinguished *is advocates: if the daily work of Luther Martin of Maryland,
John Sergeant of Philadelphia, William Wirt of Baltimore, and Rufus Choate
of Boston, could be carefully estimated and studied, the law student would
learn that constant, never ending labor is the price to be paid for eminence
at the bar. Not one of these great lawyers reached high positions at a single
bound; close careful study through a series of years; work, and much of it,
gave to each that power to reason and the appropriate language and line of
thought with which they swayed the minds of courts and juries.
A distinguished member of the bar in Philadelphia, thus writes of Charles
Cotesworth Pinkney, a Baltimore lawyer, who spent some years in England as
a commissioner under Jay's treaty : "That he attained the highest place in the
eye of the profession ever reached by any lawyer in the United States." Chief
Justice Taney, thus speaks of Pinkney, "He came to every case fully prepared
with his argument and authorities arranged; and no temptation could induce
him to speak in a case, great or small, unless he had time to prepare for it;
and he argued each one as carefully as if his reputation depended upon that
speech. I have heard almost all the great advocates of the United States,
both of the past and present generation, but I have seen none equal to Pink-
ney." This brief outline of a great advocate by as distinguished a jurist as
Chief Justice Taney, is well worth the contemplation and study of any one
who desires to hold good position at the bar.
I add another name to the list of distinguished advocates already mentioned:
LAW AND THE LEGAL PROFESSION. 131
Reverdy Johnson, of Baltimore. I quote the language of Judge William A.
Porter, of Pennsylvania : "When Great Britain paid to the United States the
fifteen and a half millions of dollars awarded at Geneva, Congress created a
court of five judges taken from as many different States in the Union for
hearing and deciding upon the claims to the fund. This court sat in Wash-
ington for two years and a half and entered judgments in 2,068 cases, amount-
ing to $9,316,120.25. It was an arduous work, but it had one great attrac-
tion that of bringing together in one court room leading lawyers from all our
seaboard cities, Portland, New Bedford, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Bal-
timore, New Orleans, and San Francisco; it has seldom, if ever, happened in
the history of the country, that so many lawyers were convened from so many
different parts of the Union. Some of the claims involved legal points of
sufficient interest to stimulate their advocates to the highest professional exer-
tions. It was specially instructive to observe from hour to hour the different
styles of speaking: they ranged from the extreme of coldness to the most
ardent oratory, and 1 must admit, that contrary to all my preconceived theo-
ries, it was difficult to tell, when both styles of speaking were displayed in the
same case by men of real ability, which told most on the result. One of the
ablest arguments was delivered by Mr. Johnson, in opposition to that of Mr. J.
A. J. Cresswell, from the same State, who ably represented the United States.
Mr. Johnson was then approaching his eightieth year. The sight of one of
his eyes had been impaired by an accident, and that of the other by long pro-
tracted study. His health appeared to be extremely vigorous. He stood erect,
and although rather under the middle size, his presence was very commanding.
He spoke without notes; occasionally his son-in-law, and colleague, read from
books and documents, passages which the speaker indicated. The whole
speech was bold, strong and manly; every word seemed to fall naturally into
its proper place. The facts were arranged in their most natural order, and
stated with admirable clearness. The authorities cited were all pertinent to
the question. The citations from the proceedings at Geneva were all direct to
the question before the court. The delivery was marked by an energy and
earnestness more commonly found in the speeches of younger men. Mr.
Johnson lost his case, but he lost none of his reputation. This was one of his
last efforts. Not long afterwards, while attending the Supreme Court at
Annapolis he died suddenly, from the effects of a fall. Thus went out one of
the great lights of the American bar."
It is not my province on this occasion to speak especially of the distin-
guished men who have held judicial position in the District, Supreme, or
Chancery Court, under Territorial and State rule here in Michigan and who
are now dead : Judges Woodward, Witherell, Sibley, Morell,Wilkins, Fletcher,
Ransom, Whipple, Wing, Miles, Mundy, Pratt, Martin, Farnsworth, Manning,
Bacon, and Longyear; all of these men were suited for their respective posi-
tions, and it might with truth be inscribed on a monument to their memories,
that each had the first quality of a judge integrity of character; they were
learned in the law, and had diligence and application to fill well the position
assigned them.
I pass to the lawyers of the county of Kalamazoo, and note among the pio-
neers of the profession, Lyman I. Daniels, Jeremiah Humphrey, John Hascall,
Elisha Belcher, and Cyrus Lovell. Lyman I. Daniels emigrated at the age of
twenty-five years from Otsego count}^ New York, and after a delay of a few
weeks in Detroit, ventured west in the fall of 1831 and located in Schoolcraft,
132 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
the then more important point in the county of Kalamazoo. Prairie Konde, in
the center of which this village is located, contained at that time, more than
one-third of the population of the county; its people had pioneered into the new
country and were possessed of limited means and the demand for the services
of able advocates, wise counselors and men learned in the law was not as great
as at the present day; few contracts had been made and little resort to the
courts for their violation; criminal accusations were limited, and the services
of the grand jury were frequently compassed in finding a single indictment for
the sale of whisky to the Indians, which if tried had its ordinary result in a
verdict of not guilty. The pioneer lawyers having then but limited profes-
sional business, found occupation to some extent, in examing the lands of
the country and recommending to eastern capitalists, particular localities for
investment. Mr. Daniels devoted much time to this business, and his judg-
ment gave profit to many who were fortunate in obtaining his services. The
old records of the court terms in Kalamazoo county, during Territorial days
and the first years of the State government, exhibit that he had a fair share of
practice : in presenting questions of law to the court, he always exhibited care-
ful research and received respectful attention, and his arguments to the jury
were often very strong, persuading "the twelve men good and true," that his
client personified injured innocence, and was entitled to a favorable verdict.
In 1832, an alarm prevailed throughout the county of Kalamazoo, during
what was called the "Black Hawk War;" troops were raised and a commission
was issued, as Lieutenant Colonel, to Mr. Daniels; he accompanied his regi-
ment in the short march that it made to the west, and thus secured for him-
self the military title of colonel, by which he was ever afterwards known.
Colonel Daniels was called on business to Cassville, Wisconsin, where he died
in A. D. 1838.
Jeremiah Humphrey located at Schoolcraft in the year 1832, removing from
Connecticut; during all his residence in the county of Kalamazoo, unlike all
other of his professional brethren, he did not speculate in land, he made no
horse trades, but devoted himself to the law, and with his professional breth-
ren acquired much of reputation as a critically accurate lawyer, well skilled
in all the elementary principles of the law and familiar, by a careful examina-
tion, witTi cases adjudicated in the courts. His memory was singularly reten-
tive as to volume and page and title of cases and points ruled in the reports;
and his professional brethren were often glad to obtain for him a retainer, as
associate counsel, and thus avail themselves of his more extensive and careful
reading. He removed west to the State of Iowa and died in A. D. 1849.
John Hascall, born in Connecticut, resided some years in Genesee county,
New York, where he devoted himself to the practice of law, serving as a
soldier in the war of 1812, and participating in several of its battles. In 1830
he came to Kalamazoo county and settled on what was subsequently known as
Genesee Prairie; in his earlier life he was an active politician, widely known
in western New York in the years 1826 and 1828, during the anti-masonic
excitement, receiving political position from his demonstrations through the
press against masonry. His success as a lawyer in Genesee county, New York,
until he ventured into political life was marked. In Michigan he gave a
limited attention to the practice of law, devoting much time to the process
of harvesting and threshing grain by machinery. It is claimed by those who
had the opportunity to observe, that with him, originated the machine inven-
tion of cutting grain, which has given to the prairies of the west the ability to
LAW AND THE LEGAL PROFESSION. 133
supply the world with bread. John Hascall died at Kalamazoo in A. D. 1853.
A wide circle of acquaintances testified that he possessed the qualities of
integrity and useful ability.
Hon. Cyrus Lovell, born in Windham county, Vermont, emigrated to Michi-
gan and settled in the village of Kalamazoo in A. D. 1832, building in that
year, as his place of residence, the first frame dwelling house; this building
was located near the corner of South and Church streets, on the lot now occu-
pied Us a place of residence by Joseph Perrin, Esq. While a resident of Kala-
mazoo he held the offices of supervisor, justice of the peace, and prosecuting
attorney. He was a soldier in the "Black Hawk War," and for his services
a grateful government rewarded him with 160 acres of bounty land. As" a
lawyer he had been well instructed and always maintained in the estimate of
the court and his professional brethren a character for ability. In 1836 he
removed to Ionia, Michigan, and has been honored by the people of that county
with an election as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850, that
presented to the people the constitution under which we are now living. In
the discussions of that convention he took an active part and always enlisted
the attention of his associates. If his counsel had been listened to and acted
upon it would have freed the people from some very obnoxious provisions in
that instrument. Mr. Lovell was subsequently, twice elected a member of the
House of Kepresentatives in the State Legislature, and during one session was
elected Speaker, and served with credit to himself and with the approbation of
his fellow members. He has also held the office of Eeceiver of the United
States Land office at Ionia, and now in his 75th year has a vigorous, active
mind, and expresses opinions upon important legal questions, with a per-
spicuity and clearness that would be creditable to a much younger man.
Elisha Belcher emigrated to Michigan from Ohio, locating at Ann Arbor in
1826 and thence removing to Ionia. He was employed in some of the limited
number of cases that were prosecuted among the early settlers of that sparsely
populated portion of the Territory. Mr. Belcher's primary education and his
knowledge of law were acquired in the evenings after the toil of the day in
field or shop was past. His industry was proverbial, and in his younger
days he had acquired a fair knowledge of all farm employment and had also
fitted himself for many kinds of mechanical labor. All these qualifications
made him a very useful man in the neighborhood of his residence. He came
to Kalamazoo in A. D. 1834, and soon was recognized as one of the leading
lawyers of western Michigan. His plain unostentatious appearance, his sym-
pathy with any of his neighbors in trouble or misfortune gave him a strong
hold on the affections of all the old settlers ; each one seemed to recognize him
as a member of his own family, and his counsel and advice was sought for in
many matters outside of his profession. He was peculiar in his efforts at the
bar; his address always exhibited respect for the court and his plain way of
talk and apparently sincere manner, gave him power with the jury. His prac-
tical knowledge of all employment in newly settled portions of the west often
gave him an advantage in his cases at the bar over the opposing attorney. His
facility in describing minute details, in every day matters, enabled him to reach
the comprehension of ordinary minds, and by this he held power with the jury.
His addresses were without oratorical effort ; they were talks, but he made his
audience believe as he professed to believe. Mr. Belcher, in manner, mind,
and peculiar ways as a lawyer and in form and face as a man, may have had
his peer and like or duplicate in some other part of the world, but never in
19
134 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
western Michigan. He removed to Otsego, Allegan county, Michigan, and
there soon acquired his old time influence as in Kalamazoo. He died A. D.
1852. If he had faults, they went to the grave with his remains and are to be
forgotten. All through his life he had an overflow of kindness for those who
were about him. When his character was assailed, his was the disposition to
forget and forgive.
Joseph Miller, born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, October 29, A. D.
1779, a graduate of Williams College, a practicing lawyer at Winsted, Con-
necticut, until A. D. 1834, when he removed with his family to Kichland,
Kalamazoo county, Michigan. He appeared in court A. D. 1835, at Kalama-
zoo, Judge William A. Fletcher presiding, and on motion, was admitted to the
bar, but never resumed his practice in the west. He died at Richland, June
29, 1864^ at the advanced age of 85 years. In his long life in the State of his
nativity and in his chosen home in the west, he was held in high esteem by all
who knew him.
James Miller, son of Joseph Miller, was admitted to the bar in Kalamazoo
and for a short time was in practice in the county, but subsequently removed
to Grand Rapids, where for many years he sustained himself as a leading mem-
ber of the bar and a useful citizen. He died in the latter part of the year 1879.
Joseph Miller, Jr., was born at*Winsted, Conn.; December 13, A. D. 1816,
completed his literary education at the academy of that place and commenced
his law reading in the office of his father at Winsted in 1833, and completed
his course and was admitted to the bar at Kalamazoo in 1837. For many
years he was associated in his law practice with Hon. Charles E. Stuart, and
subsequently with I. D. Burns, Esq. He held the office of prosecuting attorney
for the county of Kalamazoo several years, and subsequently during the admin-
istration of President Buchanan was appointed United States District Attor-
ney for the District of Michigan, which office he discharged the duties of until
some time after the incoming of President Lincoln's administration. Mr.
Miller's reputation as a well educated lawyer extended over a large portion of
Michigan; his marked capacity for the careful preparation of all the cases he
appeared in, was recognized by the courts and his professional brethren. When
he cited an authority from an elementary work or the reports, it was almost
invariably in point and sustained the position for which it was cited. In his
arguments to court and jury he had the power of condensation, and yet his
brief speeches were very effective. In the public offices which he held, no fault
was found in his action; it was a fearless and able discharge of duty. A host
of people now living in Kalamazoo and adjoining counties can testify that he
never encouraged litigation; his intervention was for peace and friendly adjust-
ment whenever it was practicable. He died at Kalamazoo April 9, A. D. 1864,
aged 48 years. On the day of his funeral, the buildings of the village were
draped in mourning, all business was suspended, and the sorrowing multitude
in the procession attested that a good man had gone down to his grave.
Hon. Samuel Clark was born in Cayuga county, New York, January, A. D.
1800. His earlier years were spent 'on a farm. He graduated at Hamilton
College, New York, and pursued his law reading at the office of Judge Hul-
burt of Auburn, and commenced practice as a lawyer at Waterloo, New York,
in A. D. 1828, and so continued with an increasing business until A. D. 1833,
when he was elected a representative from the 25th Congressional District of
the State of New York, serving one term. He resumed and continued his
practice of the law at Waterloo until A. D. 1842, when he removed to Kala-
LAW AND THE LEGAL PROFESSION. 135
mazoo. In his new home in Michigan he soon took good rank in the profession
and was recognized as one of the leading lawyers of the State. He was elected
a memher of the Constitutional Convention of Michigan in 1850, and was
prominent in the discussions upon the more important topics in that body. He
favored by a strong argument the establishment of an independent supreme
court, releasing its judges from circuit court duties. He was elected a member
of the House of Eepresentatives in Congress in A. D. 1853, serving one term,
and was recognized as one of the leaders of the Michigan delegation. The
pioneers in western Michigan have a well denned recollection of Mr. Clark's
ability as a lawyer, his generous hospitality at his own home, and his valuable
services to his country in every public position that he held. He died at
Kalamazoo, October 2, A. D. 1870, aged 70 years.
Hon. Epaphroditus Kansom was born in Hampshire county, Massachusetts,
in 1799, and moved with his father's family in his early childhood, to Wind-
ham county, Vermont. Was educated at Chester Academy, Windham county,
Vermont, an institution which has furnished educational advantages to many
leading men in Michigan, among them Governor Barry, Chancellor Farns-
worth, both well known by reputation to all the people of our State, and
Mitchell Hinsdill, and Isaac W. Willard, who will be remembered by people
of Kalamazoo county for many years to come. Mr. Eansom was educated,
professionally, in the law school at Northampton, Massachusetts, his law pre-
ceptor before attending this school being Peter R. Taf t of Townsend, Vermont,
father of Alphonso Taft of Cincinnati, late Attorney General of the United
States. He graduated at the law school in 1825, was successful in practice at
Townsend, Vermont, until 1834, when he removed to Kalamazoo, Michigan.
While a resident of Vermont he was twice elected a member of the Legislature.
On the 19th of November, 1834, he was* admitted to the bar at Kalamazoo,
and soon afterwards was associated with Hon. Charles E. Stuart in an exten-
sive law practice. He was appointed one of the Judges of the Supreme Court
of Michigan in 1836, and subsequently Chief Justice in 1843, and remained in
this position until 1848. In 1847 he was elected Governor of the State of
Michigan, which office he held for two years from 1st January, 1848. He was
a member of the House of Representatives in the Legislature of Michigan for
1853. Governor Ransom was a man of commanding presence; in height, over
six feet; in weight, exceeding two hundred pounds; massive head, with a voice
of power. As a judge, when off the bench, it was his pride to mingle with the
people and lead them into talks about their farm and mechanical employments,
and he carefully noted the details of their experience and made effort to profit
by it. He delighted in agriculture, and his home for many years was a well
cultivated farm with pleasant surroundings, forming now a part of the village
of Kalamazoo. His herds of improved cattle and carefully bred flocks of
sheep, won for him among the farmers and the mass of people accustomed to
manual labor, a popularity rarely attained by any other public man in Michi-
gan. A change came; he sold his comfortable farm home at a time of great
business depression; invested his means in banking and other enterprises, all
of which proved disastrous. His resources had vanished, but his energy of
character was yet with him. He removed to the Territory of Kansas, and there
received the appointment of receiver of public moneys in the United States
land office, and was encouraged to believe that he could still restore his broken
fortunes. His bright future was all destroyed by his death, which occurred at
Fort Scott, November 9, 1859. His remains were brought back to Michigan
136 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
and repose in "Mountain Home Cemetery," at Kalamazoo. I repeat, again,
no man ever held a stronger hold on the affections of the people in western
Michigan than Epaphroditus Eansom.
Walter Clark came to Kalamazoo from the State of New York in 1836, a
graduate of Union College, under the especial pupilage of Dr. Knott, its presi-
dent. Admitted to the bar at Kalamazoo 2d May, 1837. During most of his
practice was associated with Hon. N. A. Balch. Died at Kalamazoo, January,
1842; remarkable for his scholarship and literary acquirements; a very active
and successful business man.
Mitchell Hinsdill came to Kalamazoo from Vermont, and was admitted to
the bar November 19, 1834, and officiated as prosecuting attorney for Kala-
mazoo county in 1835; was elected and served as judge of probate from 1836
to 1844, sustaining himself officially, and in the profession with great credit.
In his later years he devoted his time to farming and had the reputation of
being one of the most skillful cultivators of the soil in Kalamazoo county.
He died in 1854.
Zephaniah Platt was admitted to the bar and commenced practice at Kala-
mazoo, 1st November, 1836. In his former practice in the State of New York
;Tie had sustained himself as an able lawyer, especially in chancery practice,
.and he lost none of his reputation during his residence in Michigan. He
.returned to New York City and there and in Washington City prosecuted a
successful business in this profession for many years.
Horace Mower, born in Vermont; a graduate of Dartmouth College; read
law with I. Tracy at Woodstock, Windsor county, Vermont; emigrated to
Michigan and was admitted to the bar at Kalamazoo, November, 1838. He
served one term as a member of the House of Representatives in the Legisla-
ture of Michigan in 1847; was subsequently appointed judge of the court in the
Territory of New Mexico, serving two years. Judge Mower, during his practice
in Kalamazoo, and while holding his official position in New Mexico, acquired
and held the reputation of being a critically accurate lawyer with all his pro-
fessional brethren. His fine collegiate attainments gave him notice wherever
he was known in Michigan, and his polished address made him a very effective
speaker in his efforts with the court and jury. He died at Kalamazoo, Decem-
ber 11, 1860, while yet a young man, and there are many persons in Kalama-
zoo and the adjoining counties, who remember with regret, when his brilliant
prospects were cut off by an untimely death.
Volney Hascall, born February 2, 1820, in Genesee county, New York, came
with his father's family to Kalamazoo in 1830, and was educated at the branch
of the University, then located at that place, and became a finished scholar in
Latin, English literature, and mathematics; read law with Elisha Belcher,
and was admitted to practice in 1843; mastered the art of printing in all its
branches; became an editor, and in this vocation had no superior in Michigan.
He edited a paper for the benefit of the people and not to serve his tfwn private
purposes. He visited Europe several times, and in his talks about his travels
always held the attention of his auditors. He served as a member of the Con-
stitutional Convention from Kalamazoo county in 1850. He held the position
of register of the United States land office for western Michigan during the
administration of President Buchanan. He died at Kalamazoo, in 1878, and
liis acquaintances remember him as an honest man and useful citizen.
Walter 0. Balch, born at Kalamazoo, April 9, 1843; educated in common
schools; graduated in law department of University of Michigan; was admit-
LAW AND THE LEGAL PROFESSION. 137
ted to the bar in 1866; was associated with his father, Hon. N. A. Balch, in
practice at Kalamazoo; but failing health compelled him to withdraw from
the more active duties of the profession. He died December, 1875. His kind
and courteous manners and his remarkable acquirements in a literary point of
view, gave him the friendship and admiration of a wide circle of acquaintances.
David B. Webster, born in Chittenden county, Vermont, received an aca-
demical education ; admitted to the bar at Essex, Chittenden county ; in prac-
tice at Montpelier; thence removed to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1836, and
was associated in practice with Hon. Charles E. Stuart. He served a term as
prosecuting attorney and was elected in 1845 as judge of probate for the county
of Kalamazoo, serving four years. He was appointed during the administra-
tion of President Taylor, receiver of public moneys in the United States land
office for the western district of Michigan, and served three years. He died
May 8, 1860, at Kalamazoo. Judge Webster was a genial, pleasant man; dis-
charging official duties faithfully and well, and holding the confidence of his
fellow citizens.
Hon. Marsh Giddings came to Richland, Kalamazoo county, Michigan, with
his father's family in 1830, from the State of Connecticut. His advantages
for education were confined mainly to the common schools of the Territory
and State as they existed during his minority. Read law with Judge Mitchell
Hinsdill at Richland. After his admission to the bar at Kalamazoo in 1841,
he was associated in practice with General Dwight May for several years. He
was elected a representative in the Legislature of Michigan for the year 1849,
and subsequently elected judge of probate for the county of Kalamazoo, serv-
ing from 1861 to 1868, inclusive. Judge Giddings was also elected and served
in the. Constitutional Convention of Michigan, which held its sessions at Lan-
sing in 1867. He was anpointed by President Grant, Governor of the Territory
of New Mexico, and served in that capacity until his death, which occurred at
Santa Fe in the month of September, 1875. His remains were brought to
Michigan and repose in "Mountain Home Cemetery" at Kalamazoo. As a
jury lawyer, Judge Giddings was eminently successful. As judge of probate
he satisfied the people of his county, tenderly caring for the interests of the
widow, the orphan, and those who were measurably without a protector. At
Washington it stands on record that the affairs of New Mexico were adminis-
tered during the term of Governor Giddings 5 service with ability and for the
best interests of the people of that Territory.
General Dwight May, born September 8, 1822, in Berkshire county, Massa-
chusetts; in June, 1834, removed with his father's family to Michigan. By
teaching, and farm labor, he prepared for college and entered an advanced class-
at the University of Michigan in September, 1846, and graduated in 1849.
Read law with Lothrop & Duffield at Detroit, and was admitted to the bar
July, 1850. Commenced practice at Battle Creek in 1850; removed to Kala-
mazoo in 1852, and was there associated in practice with Hon. Marsh Giddings.
While a resident of the village of Kalamazoo he was elected one of its trustees,,
twice its president, several times superintendent of its schools. In 1866 he was
elected Lieutenant Governor of Michigan; in 1868, Attorney General, holding
the office two terms. In April, 1861, his war record commenced in his election
as Captain of Company I, 2d Regiment Michigan Infantry; with this regiment
under an order of the War Department, he reached Washington in June, 1861,
and participated in the battle of Bull Run. In December, 1861, he resigned
his position in the army, resumed and closed up his law business at Kalamazoo.
138 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
October 8, 1862, he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the 12th Michigan
Infantry, and in June, 1865, he was promoted as Colonel of same regiment,
and with his regiment was mustered out of service February 15, 1866. Brevetted
Brigadier General, October, 1865, for meritorious services during the war of the
rebellion. General Dwight May, for years a sufferer from disease contracted
in camp life, died January 28, 1880, and his remains were placed in "Moun-
tain Home Cemetery," Kalamazoo, on last Saturday, a bleak and gloomy day.
A long line of his masonic brethren were in his funeral procession, judges of
the supreme court and members of the bar of Kalamazoo and adjoining coun-
ties, were present out of respect for one whose learning and legal character
they recognized and admired. Many of his old command in the army came
from far and near to honor the dead soldier. The citizens of the town and
county, young and old, were present to testify that death had stricken down
one who had lived among them and had not lived in vain. All agreed, in sad
look and word, that a man useful and patriotic in life had left for all time
his sorrowing family and friends.
Of the legal men of Kalamazoo county I have spoken of the dead, with a
single exception. Two of the pioneer lawyers of the county are yet with us,
well advanced in years, and it is proper that I should name them as pre-
eminent in ability and so recognized by all their old associates in the profes-
sion : Hon Nathaniel A. Balch and Hon. Charles E. Stuart.
Hon. Nathaniel A. Balch, born in Vermont in 1808, reaching his 72d year
last month. He read law, medicine, and some theology, in his native State;
was principal of Bennington Academy, Vt. He came to Kalamazoo in 1837.
He has been a college professor of mathematics. If you wish to find a more
accomplished Greek and Latin scholar, don't look for him among the priests,
lawyers, or medics of Kalamazoo county, for you can't find him. He is filled
with acquired knowledge, and he has worked like a Saginaw saw mill to get it.
He has been the prosecuting attorney of the counties of Barry and Kalamazoo,
and during his service he put bad men and rogues to a vast deal of trouble.
He was an able member of the Senate of Michigan in 1847, and to the utter
disgust of the good people of Detroit, he exerted all his power to move the
capital of the State from the commercial metropolis and set it down here in
the woods. He is a master in argument, and the opponent at the bar who has
attempted to push him off the bridge has often found himself in the water.
He is now president of the bar association in Kalamazoo county, and com-
mands the respect and friendship of his associates for his learning and great
excellence of character.
Hon. Charles E. Stuart, born in Columbia county, New York, in 1810, emi-
grated to Michigan in 1835, and commenced as a lawyer the same year in
Kalamazoo, obtaining a law business within a brief time greater than any other
lawyer in western Michigan. The court records in Kalamazoo and adjoining
counties show his name in connection with almost all the important cases
during 1836 and the fifteen succeeding years. He was elected a member of
the House of Representatives for 1842, in the Legislature of Michigan. For
two terms a member of the House of Representatives in Congress, and for six
years a member of the United States Senate. During his last term of service
in the House of Representatives in Congress he moved and made a persistent
effort and accomplished the passage of the law making a landed appropriation
for the construction of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, a work that has added
more to the wealth of Michigan than any other law that was ever enacted. An
DEATH OP HON. ZACHARIAH CHANDLER. 139
associate member of the United States Senate, himself greatly distinguished,
once said "That Mr. Stuart was the ablest presiding officer of a deliberative
assembly he had ever known; that his rulings on questions of parliamentary
law and practice were rarely at fault." Always at the bar and in every politi-
cal position he has held, he has evidenced ability. Now in his 71st year,
his mind is vigorous and active. His fluent conversational ability and remark-
able memory enables him to entertain you with rich stores of valuable facts
and abundance of anecdotes of men who have come within his knowledge.
DEATH OF HON. ZACHARIAH CHANDLER.
MEMORIAL PAPER PREPARED BY JUDGE H. G. WELLS, OF KALAMAZOO, MICH.
DIED At Chicago, November 1, A. D. 1879, Hon. Zachariah Chandler of Detroit,
Michigan, in the 66th year of his age.
Senator Zachariah Chandler was born in Bedford, New Hampshire, Decem-
ber 10, 1813; he received an academical education; was bred a merchant;
mayor of the city of Detroit in 1851; defeated as a candidate for Governor of
Michigan in 1852; elected Senator in Congress from Michigan, succeeding
Senator Cass, taking his seat in the Thirty-fifth Congress, and serving, with a
short intermission, until the time of his death, nearly nineteen years. During
his senatorial career, he served with marked ability as chairman of the com-
mittee on commerce, and on committees on the District of Columbia, revolu-
tionary claims, mines and mining, and on the special committee on the
conduct of the war. In October, 1875, during the administration of President
Grant, he was appointed Secretary of the Interior, a position which he filled
to the satisfaction of the entire country. He was faithful to every trust
reposed in him, public or private, with energy, industry, and a full determina-
tion to accomplish his purpose, without corrupt appliances. All these were his
characteristics in a marked degree. He was not a frequent speaker in the
United States Senate, but his every effort in that body was marked as a talk
that commended itself to the people : eminently practical and pertinent to the
subject under discussion. No shadow of doubt was ever cast over what he said.
He had a boldness and honesty of purpose which gave him the command of
language that was never misunderstood. One of his later efforts in the Senate,
in which he made allusion to remarks eulogistic of Jefferson Davis, the head
140 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
of the proposed confederate government, will continue in all time, to be read
and known as a model of forensic eloquence. No successful reply was ever
made to this speech; its historical truth could not be controverted. Senators
who disliked what Senator Chandler then said, "nursed their wrath to keep it
warm;" they sat in silence and took such damage as truth opposed to false-
hood will ever give. In this remarkable effort, condemning the motives and
the acts of the man who proposed the overthrow of our government, plain
words were used, but they came with a power recognized and approved by the
people of Michigan, and in accord with the best public sentiment all over the
United States.
As the death of Senator Chandler was announced throughout the land,
courts, legislative bodies and public assemblages were adjourned; grief rested
upon a stricken nation. The press throughout the entire country gave evidence
that the people mourned at the death of one who was fearless in the perform-
ance of public duties, and who never had been charged with corruption in any
public trust. Michigan holds within her borders the ashes of many great and
good men, but not one who, in the sphere assigned to him, better filled the
demands of his country, than Zachariah Chandler.
THE HISTORY AND TIMES OF THE HON. JOHN
NORVELL.
AS CONNECTED WITH THE CITY OF DETROIT, AND THE STATE OF
MICHIGAN.
PREPARED BY HIS SON, COL. FREEMAN NORVELL, OF DETROIT.
Read at the annual meeting of the Michigan State Pioneer Society, February 4, 1880.
In a record of the services to the city and State of his adoption, of one who
chiefly rendered those services in a political official capacity, his history and
times become more or less involved with theirs and make the record much
more diffuse than biographical. The subject and its title were dictated by
your honored president, and I accept the labor with the natural gratification
of a son, who, in examining the record after a generation and a half in time,
is proud of it, and who, in the generation since his father's death, has not
heard or read one word that has lessened the profound respect for him that
was felt at that period.
John Norvell was born in Garrard county, near Danville, Kentucky, on the
21st day of December, 1789. His father, Lipsocomb Norvell, was a Virginian
HISTORY AND TIMES OF JOHN NORVBLL. 141
and served during the war of the Revolution as an officer with distinction.
His services appear to have been recognized by the United States, in a pension
which he certainly lived to draw till over 90 years of age. John Norvell was
his eighth child.
On departing from the paternal roof he first went to Danville, Kentucky,
and subsequently to Baltimore, Md. It was in Danville, in 1804, that he
received a letter now in my possession from Thomas Jefferson, giving him
some opinions and advice in relation to preparations as to a course of life/ From
it I infer that Mr. Norvell had expressed some preference for journalism and
politics, as the gist of Mr. Jefferson's advice is to learn a trade which would
make him independent, acquire a profession which would insure a support,
and then resort to journalism or politics, or both, to the extent that he found
them congenial and practical. He also offered a great deal of advice in rela-
tion to journalism, which in its then condition, he stigmatized a good deal as"
Benjamin F. Butler did sixty-five years afterward in the House of Representa-
tives of the United States. It is evident that all of the newspapers of that day
did not see through Jefferson's spectacles and that he regarded all such as not
worthy to be read (although he evidently read them), and their editors as base
political prostitutes.
In fact, I am certainly brought to the belief from that letter that Thomas
Jefferson belonged to the noble army of martyrs, who think they could run
a newspaper altogether better than the proprietors who are most interested
in its reputation and success. But Mr. Jefferson was a great man and gave
good advice. Under it Mr. Norvell moved to Baltimore and learned the trade
of printer. He at the same time studied law. He was admitted to the bar
there, but became a journalist and politician. He was a friend and corres-
pondent of James Madison, giving him warm support in the columns of his
paper and on the stump, and earnestly sustaining his war measures in the
so-called war of 1812. He served in the battle of Bladensburg, and soon after
the close of the war, about 1816, he went to Philadelphia and became a leading
editor of the democratic organ in that city. He resided there sixteen years,
and married first a daughter of Spencer Cone, a celebrated Baptist minister,
by whom he had three sons. He subsequently married Isabella Hotchkiss, by
whom he had ten children. With her he moved in 1832 to Detroit, and fitted
as she was by nature and education to be the helpmate of any man in any
sphere of life, it is not strange that her memory in Detroit among its oldest
people should remain fresh and lovely as it was when as the wife of a leading
official of the State she led society and dispensed a warm hearted and genial
hospitality, while evincing a devoted and religious sympathy for the poor and
sick.
In May, 1832, Mr. Xorvell arrived with his family a wife, one daughter
and three sons in Detroit, having the appointment of postmaster for that
city, from President Jackson, as successor to James Abbott. He came to the
State and city after a wide and intimate acquaintance and correspondence with
the leading statesmen and politicians of his time. These embraced the presi-
dents from Jefferson to Jackson; and even after that time, he continued it, so
that I have now valuable letters from all of them down to the times of General
Taylor. It is not singular therefore, under all these circumstances, that he
should have immediately identified himself in his new sphere of action, with
the politics, politicians and local interests of the Territory.
In arriving in Detroit forty-eight years ago, he was by no means a pioneer.
20
142 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
Many others from the east had settled there years before. But he was an early
emigrant, and was soon intimate and identified with the most respected
natives and pioneers that then survived. Governor George B. Porter was the
Governor of the Territory, having succeeded General Cass in 1831; John
Thompson Mason was the secretary of the Territory; William Woodbridge
was the chief justice; James Abbott postmaster; Andrew Mack collector of
the port; and Stevens T. Mason secretary to the governor. The chief politi-
cal questions pending, were the threatened Indian complications, the difficulty
in regard to a boundary line between Ohio and Michigan, the contemplated
organization of a State government, and the early admission of Michigan into
the Union of States. The Indian question, so far as Michigan is concerned,
was settled and ended, for ever, shortly afterward. An expedition was ordered
under General Brown, to move toward Chicago, which military demonstra-
tion against the noted chief "Black Hawk" terminated hostilities* and gave
the name to the war. The Ohio boundary question was however more compli-
cated and difficult of settlement, involving great interests and political ques-
tions, and was rendered still more difficult of solution through the selfish
interests of a great enterprise for those days, known as the Wabash and Erie
Canal, which involved in its promotion and speculations most that were
wealthy and influential in Ohio, including its governor and many of the mem-
bers of its legislature.
There was also some doubt as to whether Michigan contained the necessary
60,000 population. The census of 1830 only showing about 30,000, while by
the ordinance of 1787 the larger number was necessary to authorize a State
constitution. In addition to all this the cholera in 1832 cast gloom and depres-
sion in the centres of population; and its recurrence in 1834, and the death of
Governor Porter, left the Territory without a governor, no other being after
him appointed; Secretary Stevens T. Mason acting as such, till the admission
of the State in 1837. It was at this time, 1834, that Ohio took higher
and bolder ground on the question of jurisdiction over the disputed territory
between Ohio and Michigan. It had passed a joint resolution in its legislature
that it ill became a million of free men to submit to the demands of those so
much weaker than they were; and Governor Lucas actually marched with
10,000 militia to take possession and protect some Ohio surveyors in running
a boundary line. But an opposing Michigan force under Governor Mason and
General Joseph W. Brown, marched to resist them. They never met. Gover-
nor Lucas and his buckeyes got the news in time and dispersed. The Toledo
war in a military sense was over, the fight was peacefully to be renewed on the
question of the admission of the State into the Union. Acting under the
opinion of Benjamin F. Butler, Attorney General of the United States, as to
the duty of General Jackson as President, Ashbury Dickens, Secretary of
State of the United States, informed Governor Lucas and his Ohio advisers
that Michigan was a Territory under the jurisdiction of the United States, and
that General Jackson would and could protect the Territory and execute the
laws of the United States against any agression.
An additional incentive to an early admission of Michigan into the Union
was undoubtedly the desire to participate in the pending distribution of the
surplus revenue of the federal government among the several States, and
unless Michigan was a State it could not do so. An act was therefore passed
in January, 1835, in the legislative council calling a convention to meet in
May, of that year, to form a State government and constitution "for all of that
HISTORY AND TIMES OF JOHN NORVELL. 143
territory that lies north of an east and west line drawn from the southern bend
of Lake Michigan till it intersects Lake Ere, and lies east of a line from said
southerly bend drawn north through the middle of said lake to its northern
extremity, and thence due north to the north boundary of the United States."
On the llth day of May the.convention met in Detroit, seventy- three delegates
being present. In the meantime, on the recommendation of Stevens T. Mason,
acting Governor, a territorial census had been taken developing a population
of over 80,000 within those boundaries. Major John Biddle, of Detroit, was
chosen president of the convention. Charles W. Whipple and Marshall J.
Bacon, secretaries. The convention in apportioning the duties assigned to
Mr. Norvell the chairmanship of the committees on elective franchise, on the
Ohio controversy, on printing the records, on prohibition of slavery, on ap-
proval of the acts of the executive and legislative council, in relation to the
disputed boundary, on expediency of daily prayer, and on the committee on
the change from territorial to State government. He was, in addition to these,
a member of the committee on accounts and expenditures, and of the com-
mittee to revise and examine whether there were to be found defects or omis-
sions in the constitution previous to its adoption. These various duties and
his well known confidential and influential relations with the acting governor,
who had not at that time attained the legal age of manhood, gave Mr. Norvell
great influence in the convention and in the subsequent management found
necessary to settle the Ohio matter and secure the recognition of the Territory
as a State. The records of the convention show how well he performed his
part, and that the most important and far-reaching of the provisions of the
first constitution of the State were the resuls of his careful revision and
supervision.
The Ohio controversy was the most important subject before the convention,
because it involved the whole question of the admission of Michigan as a State.
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, would certainly oppose it in congress, supported
by their friends and influence, unless some settlement could be arrived at.
Ohio and Indiana were a little uneasy as to the legality of their northern
boundary, and desired some recognition of the power of congress to establish
the same. They were disposed to use the emergency for this purpose, and
taking the entire matter into consideration, there was a complication that
must be unraveled and made right and satisfactory to all concerned, or Michi-
gan would have to wait. It was to this that Mr. Norvell devoted himself with
characteristic, astuteness and energy; and the comprehensive view taken by
him of it fully manifest in an address to the people of the United States,
called an appeal and which was drawn up by him under the order of conven-
tion.
Ohio, in 1802, demanded admission into the Union, asking that, if the east
and west boundary line from the southerly bend of Lake Michigan (which by
the ordinance of 1787 and subsequently in 1805, was declared the dividing line
between the three States south of it, and the Territory north of it,) should
extend so far south that it would intersect Lake Erie east of the Maumee
river then, and in that case, with the assent of the congress of the United
States, the north boundary of Ohio should be established by a direct line
running from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan to the north cape of
the Maumee river. The State of Ohio was admitted, but the congressional
committee unanimously reported in the bill for that admission, that the pro-
vision in its application, in relation to the rectificaton or changes in the
144 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
boundary line, was contingent upon facts not established or known, and it had
not therefore been taken in consideration. Subsequently in 1805, two years
after the admission of Ohio, an act of congress was passed to divide the Ter-
ritory, and in it the southern boundary of Michigan was again expressly
declared to be a line drawn due east from the southerly extreme of Lake Mich-
igan until it shall intersect Lake Erie.
Such was the boundary, and the jurisdiction of Michigan extended to it for
twenty-seven or more years, without protest or interference from Ohio, except
an occasional request to congress to establish that of Ohio in accordance with
the contingent provision included in the constitution under which admission
was asked for by that State. This request, fully recognized that congress was
the power to make the change, and it particularly was an acknowledgment
that a change of boundary was necessary to embrace Maumee bay within its
jurisdiction. Congress paid little attention to these requests except to provide
for a survey of the established boundary line. But Ohio gradually changed its
position, and began to claim that the act for the admission of Ohio fixed the
boundary under which it was admitted, and that it therefore had jurisdiction
over the disputed tract, and it sent surveyors to run its line. It grew more
bold, and in 1833 its legislature passed a law, or declaration, stating that "as
a proper degree of self respect demands that Ohio should firmly maintain her
rights, and promptly resist encroachments upon her territory, jurisdiction, or
privileges, let them come from what quarter they may ; so does it require that
she should not tamely submit "to innovations on either by those who have
neither the right nor the power to disturb her in the quiet enjoyment of her
constitutional sovereignty. It ill becomes a million of free men to humbly
petition year after year for what justly belongs to them, and is completely
within their control."
These were brave words to intimidate the 60,000 inhabitants of Michigan.
They were instigated by a stock company called the Cincinnati Company, which
was engaged in projecting the Wabash and Erie Canal, and who thought they
saw immense gains in a town site on the north of the Maumee river, and in
the use of the rapids of that creek for water-power. The town site gave the
name to the difficulty, and the "Toledo" controversy or the "Toledo war"
is what it was ever afterward known as. Ohio 'prepared to take possession;
Michigan sent troops to resist; no blood was shed; the Ohio forces fled before
ours got sight of them, and Michigan continued her jurisdiction for the time.
Referring to this attempt of Ohio, Mr. Norvell in the appeal says: "The
convention of the Territory of Michigan, assembled for the purpose of forming
a constitution preparatory to its application for admission into the Union are
constrained by the occurrence of recent circumstances on its southern borders,
and by the threatening prospect of their renewal, to address their fellow citi-
zens throughout the Union on a subject far more interesting to the confederacy,
in its principles and tendency, than it is to our constituents from any practical
results to them that can be apprehended. It is important indeed, to Michigan,
as a political communitv, that her territorial extent and jurisdiction should
not be reduced. But it is still more important to every citizen of .the republic
that a portion of our territory should not be forcibly wrested from us by a
powerful neighbor who assumes at the same time to be party, judge and
executioner.
"The experience of history has ^hown that ambition is not the infirmity of
monarchies alone, but that it frequently operates with decisive energy in repub-
HISTORY AND TIMES OF JOHN NORVELL. 145
lies. What security have the smaller States of this Union for their political
rights or even political existence, if the principle is attempted, that each
member of the confederacy may at any time advance pretentions to the terri-
tory of another and proceed to its forcible possession ? What security would
there be for State governments themselves ? It is not difficult to see that they
would fall in succession, one after another, and finally be absorbed by one.
We must be blind indeed, to all the lessons of experience if we doubt where
this state of things would lead to."
Mr. Norvell not only denied the right or power of Ohio in what was being
attempted, but denied also that congress without Michigan's consent could
change the compact of 1787. He claimed that congress had not power, other-
wise to act upon the subject; because the ordinance of 1787 and the act
establishing the Territory of Michigan prescribed its boundaries, and that these
acts committed in express terms the national faith, and placed the matter
beyond the reach of the federal legislature. If it was claimed that congress
might construe the acts, it had done so repeatedly. The parties presenting
themselves were Ohio and Michigan. The latter had possession and jurisdic-
tion, the former sought it through congress. The refusal of congress to con-
cur in the views of Ohio was a practical decision against her application.
Non-interference with Michigan was a declaration that her boundaries could
not be changed without her consent. He claimed distinctly, that it was the
duty of the president of the United States to order out a competent force to
support the law, should Ohio persist in her violent measures. He stated his
firm conviction that the president would not shrink from the performance of
that duty; but he looked at a contest of that kind as most deplorable and to
be avoided if possible by compromise or arbitration.
The entire address or appeal was a mignificent effort of statesmanship, con-
servatism and dignit} T , to the end that all might be accomplished for Michigan
that was most desirable then and for the future. It led to practical results.
The desire of Michigan was to. be admitted into the Union, to be represented
in congress bv two senators and a member, to have its controversy with Ohio
ended, and its jurisdiction determined without resort to civil war. It wanted
its share of the anticipated distribution among the States of the surplus reve-
nue in the federal treasury, as a means for internal improvements and for the
development of its resources. Its convention ordered the election of a gover-
nor and legislature. The first legislature elected John Norvell and Lucius
Lyon as its United States Senators. That first State election chose Isaac E.
Crary as its member of congress, and in 1836 these men, armed with the new
constitution of the State, which was republican in form, and from a territory
containing more than the necessary 60,000 inhabitants, asked of the president
the proclamation he was under the circumstances authorized to issue, declaring
Michigan a State on an equal footing with the original States in the Union.
The President referred the matter to congress. His Secretary of State, Ash-
bury Dickens, and his Attorney General, Benjamin F. Butler, had both advised
him, and admonished Ohio, of his duty in case Ohio did not cease from terri-
torial aggression; but he thought he saw a way out of the difficulty. If
Michigan would give up Toledo and receive other territory instead, and be
admitted as a State, it would close the controversy in accordance with correct
principles, that is, with the consent of the parties to the compact of 1787.
Congress agreed thereupon to admit Michigan into the Union as soon as a
convention, called for the purpose, should accept a large portion of the upper
146 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
peninsula, and yield that portion of its southern territory that was asked for
by Ohio; This was done in 1837, somewhat irregularly, but, as the event has
proved, most wisely; and Michigan was declared a State.
In September, 1836, a convention was called at Ann Arbor which rejected
the condition, or new boundary proposed, on the ground that it was beyond
the power of congress to change what had been contracted for by the compact
of 1787, and confirmed by the constitution of the United States in the clause
providing that all engagements entered into before the adoption of the consti-
tution should be as valid against the United States under the constitution as
they were under the articles of confederation.
Many however that agreed that this was the right of the matter, differed as
to the expediency of the rejection. With these Mr. Norvell was in sympathy,
strongly as he had advocated and set forth the right of Michigan to the dis-
puted territory he by no means considered it a waiver of that right to enter-
tain a proposition to sell it or exchange it for a due or proper equivalent. He
thought that congress had the right to make such a proposition, but not to
make it a condition of admission, the only conditions for which, were presented
in the ordinance of 1787, viz. : a constitution republican in form, and 60,000
inhabitants when the constitution was formed. But he was also in strong
sympathy with those who saw in the proposition or condition itself, an actual
admission that Michigan had right on its side and must be remunerated, and
must have the option of refusing to part with her rights. For this he was
willing to obscure the slight element of force involved, and to candidly investi-
gate the question as a bargain. All of which resulted in the assembling of a
part of the delegates in December, 1836, in Detroit, who accepted the condi-
tions on the ground of expediency alone. It was desirable to be admitted as a
State. It was desirable to end the controversy with our neighbors. It was
desirable to secure the benefits of union, and the division of the surplus reve-
nues of the United States. Lanman, in his history, thus broadly states the
motives, and I adopt them as those generally, believed in at that time;
although the light of subsequent history, development and experience has
shown much higher wisdom and more comprehensive statesmanship in that
action than the historian of 1838 was capable of understanding or foreseeing.
A curious coincidence in this controversy is that it was in congress probably
the first time that the principle of not going behind the returns or receiving
testimony "aliunde" was officially proclaimed. The irregularity in the accept- .
ance of the conditions imposed by congress upon which Michigan was to
be admitted, was the fact that the convention, called for that express purpose,
declined it and adjourned; but subsequently some of its -members met in
Detroit and concluded it ought to be accepted. They therefore accepted it,
and the signatures of the governor and secretary of State, and the great seal of
Michigan attested the acceptance. This was all well known in congress, and
was on one side, notably by John C. Calhoun, held as invalid, fraudulent and
wrong. On the other side, led by Thomas H. Benton, it was held that con-
gress could not go behind the signatures of the governor and the great seal of
the State. These attested the acceptance and could not be questioned. This
view was practically adopted by congress, and thus Michigan was admitted as
a State under a somewhat similar ruling that forty years afterwards in the
presidential count gave Eutherford B. Hayes the Presidency of the republic.
It is to be regretted that the history of those days with their interest for
Michigan people, and their excitement should thus be but epitomized. They
HISTORY AND TIMES OF JOHN NORVBLL. 14V
would most instructively fill up a very much larger space than I am allowed.
The documents in my possession to sustain and elaborate what I have thus
briefly brought before the society would of themselves make a volume. To
prove my impartiality I could cite Ohio senators and statesmen as coinciding
with Michigan in its claims. I could show up the history of the Cincinnati
company in its control over the Ohio legislature through its then considered
tremendous enterprise, the Wabash and Erie Canal. I could prove that Cleve-
land, Sandusky, Ashtabula, and other ports in Lake Brie belonging without
question or dispute to Ohio, were treated as utterly insignificant compared with
the great future of Toledo. I could describe the reluctance of Michigan to
part with it for the paltry wastes of Lake Superior, and show the depression
of Detroit at being about so soon to be eclipsed by so near a neighbor; and
comparing those doubts and fears with practical results after forty-five years
of experience and development, could then ask you who witness them, whether
the Michigan men of 1834, '35, '36 and '37, did not lay their foundation
wisely and well. But I have not the time, and we do not wish to laugh at
Toledo or the Wabash Canal, or the Cincinnati company.
The subjects most interesting to Detroit and Michigan which came up dur-
ing Mr. Norvell's senatorial career, were the financial panic of '37, and the pro-
positions for modifying or ameliorating the condition of affairs growing out of
it, and the so-called patriot war. On the former question Mr. Norvell went
for the most radical measures. He believed that paper was paper and not
coin, and that promises to pay were but promises. He believed the precious
metals the only proper or competent standard of values, and would overcome
the objections to them as weighty and bulky, by representatives of them which
could anywhere and everywhere in the country be converted on demand into
coin. He advocated a bankrupt act temporary in its life but intended to
relieve from their liability the victims of the convulsion who would honestly
give up all they had toward paying their creditors, and relying upon this for
present relief, and upon specie payments for permanent cure, he believed that
the convulsion would be attended with the least loss possible. These measures
were adopted and they proved all that was expected of them, the bankrupt act
had but a short life, but specie payments was not again suspended until 1862.
The Canadian insurrection known as the Patriot war, had in many of its
features the warm sympathy of Mr. Norvell, but this did not divert his mind
from the international duty of our government. While he would have liked
to see Canada freed and her people given a voice in the character of their own
government, he did not believe that our country should be made a base of
operations or supplies, so long as it was at peace with England.
Mr. Norvell's term of office as United States Senator expired in 1842, when
he was succeded by Augustus S. Porter, Governor William Woodb ridge having
succeeded Lucius Lyon two years previously. Mr. Norvell then resumed the
practice of law in Detroit, and was subsequently elected to the State Legisla-
ture. In 1845, after the inauguration of Mr. Polk as President, he was
appointed United States District Attorney for Michigan, Hon. Eoss Wilkins
being the United States Judge, Austin E. Wing United States Marshal, John
Winder Clerk of the Court, and John S. Bagg Postmaster, in Detroit. During
most of that administration the Mexican war overshadowed everything. Mr.
Norvell was a warm advocate of annexation, and three of his sons served in
the war with Mexico. He was succeeded as United States District Attorney
on the accession of Zachary Taylor to the Presidency in 1849, by George C.
Bates, and he died in 1850 at his home in Hamtramck, near Detroit.
148 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
It thus is seen, that in almost eighteen years of the history of Michigan,
both in the Federal and State government, except the late attempt at rebel-
lion, and in their relations to each other, Mr. Norvell took a prominent and
influential part. He was a far better thinker and writer than he was speaker
in any oratorical sense, but in argument and conversation he was particularly
strong and convincing. During those eighteen years his house was the resort
of all who were most distinguished in law, politics, and statesmanship. That
he was wise as a counselor, and had the highest interests of the State and of
his party in view during his entire career, is evident in the results. But none
can tell how laboriously these and other public duties were performed, or
what their recognized tendency in his day were, except those who have access
to his correspondence. The original of many most important ideas and pub-
lic documents, distinguishing in history the names of others may be found
among his papers.
I can not close this history without sincere thanks to those in the Pioneer
Society who have given opportunity to place, on record this epitome of John
NorvelPs connection with Michigan. He served in its most important official
positions ; the records of conventions, congress, the legislature, and the courts,
may show the fact, but do not and cannot show the labor and industry in-
volved. Those who knew him well have nearly all departed. Those who
remember him in their youth are now our old men. I am only aware of three of
his associates in the Territorial Constitutional Convention now alive. The
three surviving members of the convention of 1835 known to me in this State
are the Hon. Eobert McClelland of Detroit, Hon. John J. Adam of Tecumseh,
and the Hon. Hezekiah G. Wells of Kalamazoo. These can personally testify
to his ability and usefulness.
A SKETCH OF PIONEER LIFE.
BY MAJOR ABRAHAM EDWARDS, OF KALAMAZOO.
Read before the State Pioneer Society, February 5, 1880.
To Col. M. Shoemaker, President of the State Pioneer Society:
SIB, I send you herewith, a copy of a letter received by me from Major Abraham
Edwards, dated Kalamazoo, May 27, 1851.
Very respectfully,
MRS. E. M. S. STEWART.
MICHIGAN CENTRE, February 3, 1880.
In the month of August, 1828, 1 left Detroit with my wife and ten children
to seek a home in the western part of Michigan. We commenced our line of
travel with three covered wagons which screened the family and our baggage
from the weather and also made comfortable sleeping places for our teamsters.
SKETCH OF PIONEER LIFE. 149
We traveled on what was then called the Chicago trail (Indian path) after we
left Ypsilanti.
We left Detroit prepared to camp out every night, with provisions, cooking
utensils, and a canvas house. The first night from Detroit we slept at Ten
Eyck's tavern, at Dearborn; the second night at Sheldon's; and the third
night two miles west of Ypsilanti, where for the first time we used our tent and
cooked our own meals. From this encampment we left the settlements, except
a few scattered squatters on the public lands and Indian trading establish-
ments few and far between, and did not meet a white face for eighteen days,
the time spent in traveling from our first encampment to Beardsley's prairie,
now called Edwardsburg. Here, on the margin of a beautiful lake and in view
of the prairie, finding a log cabin vacant, that had oeen built by some adven-
turer and afterward abandoned, we took up our abode and I assure you the
first night's rest in that cabin, after that long and tedious journey over an
almost trackless wilderness was one of the most agreeable in my life. The next
morning a wagon was got up to ride out and show the children the prairie. It
was then one vast flower garden, and the astonished children were constantly
exclaiming as we passed along, oh ! how charming, what beautiful flowers !
I will now return to our first camp ground and endeavor to give you, from
that place to Niles, some idea of the settlements and state of the country on
the Chicago road at that time, August, 1828. The country, as I have before
stated, was almost a trackless wilderness, very few wagons having ever passed
over it. The Indian trial therefore had to be our guide, as it was very difficult
to keep the road track. There was no settlement from our first encampment
until we reached Allen's, on Sandy creek, five miles west of where Jonesville
now stands, a distance from Ypsilanti of about sixty miles. With Allen were
one or two other families, all of whom had removed from the eastern part of
the State, then Territorv of Michigan.
From Allen's to where the village of Coldwater is now situated, and near the
old Indian trading post of the Godfrey's, then in charge of Mr. Beaubien, is
about twenty miles. A large Indian settlement occupied the whole of Cold-
water prairie. About two miles from this Indian village we came to Coldwater
river; on the high banks of the river was another trading establishment in
charge of a Frenchman from Monroe. These traders furnished the Indians
with blankets and other articles of clothing, and it is presumed they also sold
them whisky; as we found many of them intoxicated and very troublesome.
The Indians paid for these sroods in furs, dressed skins, etc., always having
the worst of the bargain. The Indians who then lived at Coldwater, or rather
those left of them, are now living west of the State of Missouri on lands set
apart for them by the general government. About ten miles from Coldwater
we came to a small prairie on which a man resided who had preceded us by a
few months, whose name was Bronson. It was where the village of Bronson
now stands.
From Bronson we traveled thirteen miles to Sturgis' prairie, named after
the only man then residing on it, who had been there a few months. We had
a great' deal of difficulty in getting our teams over Hog river and marsh. On
the south side of the river, after finding dry ground, we encamped for the
night. The rain poured down on us all night; that, with the bowlings of a
camp of drunken Indians, made our night's rest one of the most unpleasant
we had on the road. This camp was three miles west of Bronson's prairie.
From Sturgis' prairie (now Sherman) to Pigeon prairie, is twelve miles. Three
21
150 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
families were living on Pigeon prairie, Cutler on the north side, Winchell on
the west side, and another family on the east. Part of this prairie was in a
state of nature, and never looked more beautiful, coated over as it was with a
covering of grass and beautiful flowers.
From Pigeon prairie to the crossing of the St. Joseph river (now Mottville)
is six miles, from Mottville to Beardsley's prairie (now Edwardsburg) is seven-
teen miles. This is a beautiful prairie and very productive with good cultiva-
tion; indeed this is true of all the prairies in Michigan. Edwardsburg on the
edge of the prairie as you enter it from the east ; on your right, near the village,
is a beautiful lake of clear water called Pleasant lake by some and Diamond
lake by others. It is well stored with fish, has a fine sandy beach, and covers
about fifty acres of land. I knew of fortyfive pan-fish taken with a hook and
line from the lake in thirty minutes. We found three families residing on the
prairie, and we made the fourth. Mr. Ezra Beardsley was the first settler; his
cabin was placed near the margin of the lake, on a beautiful rise of ground,
commanding a good view of the lake and prairie. Edwardsburg was laid out
into village lots by Alexander A. Edwards in the year 1829, when the village
took its present name.
Twelve miles west of Edwardsburg is now the village of Niles. In 1828,
Mr. Taylor and one or two others were the only residents of the place. In
1829, the village was laid out by Mr. Wallingford, and by him named Niles in
honor of the veteran editor of a periodical published at Baltimore for many
years. Niles is situated on the east bank of the St. Joseph river, is a beautiful
village and numbers its thousands of inhabitants, with a rich farming country
for many miles around it. At this time, 1851, from Niles to Ypsilanti, one
hundred and fifty miles on the direct traveled road, is one continuation of
farms interspersed with many thriving villages; among them may be named
Edwardsburg, Pigeon, Sherman, Bronson, Coldwater, and Jonesville.
In 1828, all the country west of the principal meridian was, by an act of the
legislative council divided into county limits, and Cass and St. Joseph counties
organized, and county officers appointed. Seven of the counties were named
after the then president, vice president, and heads of departments under the
general government. In 1830, Kalamazoo county was organized, and Calhoun,
Barry, Eaton, and all the country west of the meridian line and north of
Kalamazoo were attached to Kalamazoo county for judicial purposes.
During the winter of 1829 the first postoffices were established west of the
meridian, one at Niles and the other at Edwardsburg. Samuel Wallingford
was appointed postmaster at Niles, and T. A. H. Edwards at Edwardsburg.
Previous to the establishment of these offices the nearest postoffice to this sec-
tion of country was the one at Fort Wayne and the office at Tecumseh. I
have known letters sent from Washington via Fort Wayne, addressed to indi-
viduals at Edwardsburg, to be fifty days on the road.
The legislative council, by an act passed July 30, 1830, organized the county
of Jackson into a township under the name of Jacksonopolis ; it was attached
to Washtenaw county for judicial purposes. The county seats for the follow-
ing counties were established in 1830 and 1831: Cass, St. Joseph, Kalamazoo,
Calhoun, and I believe Jackson. In 1834, Kalamazoo, the county seat, con-
tained probably a dozen dwellings and numbered about one hundred inhabi-
tants; the population now, 1851, is over three thousand. The town occupies
the site of an ancient Indian village, bounded on the east by the Kalamazoo
and Portage rivers. A beautiful little stream of water called Arcadia runs
SKETCH OF PIONEER LIFE. 151
through the town, a large number of the native trees are standing along the
streets; indeed, Kalamazoo is one of the most beautiful towns in the State.
The county is well settled with emigrants from New York and Vermont. The
farming interests can vie, in point of beauty and fertility, with any county in
the State.'
During the winter of 1831, an act was passed by congress to remove the
land office located at Monroe to the Western District of Michigan, and the
president was authorized to locate the office. It was accordingly located at
White Pigeon, and the first public land sale took place on the 6th of June,
1831, by proclamation of the president, and under the direction of Abraham
Edwards, register, and T. C. Sheldon, receiver. This was the commencement
of the great sale of public lands in western Michigan. Previous to this sale,
all were squatters, except a few who had purchased at a public sale held at
Monroe in June, 1829, along the southern border of the State. On the first
day of May, 1834, the land office was removed from White Pigeon to the vil-
lage of Kalamazoo, where it still remains. In the years 1834, 1835, 1836
and 1837, the sales of public lands at this office amounted to about three mil-
lion dollars, nearly two millions being in 1836. Eighty-seven thousand dol-
lars worth was sold in a single day in 1836. From the first day of May, 1834,
may be considered the starting point of all the settlements in western Michi-
gan; and from that period to the present time, this country, then a wilder-
ness, has been by the labor of man, converted into beautiful farms, towns and
villages. Travel either east or west, north or south, new improvements are
constantly in view.
As I have before stated, when we left Detroit for the west in 1828, 1 had a
wife and ten children ; two of them died during our residence in Kalamazoo, a
son and daughter, two were married during our residence at White Pigeon,
one previously while at Edwardsburg, and four at our present residence, and
one in Detroit. Four of our children and their families are now living in.
Kalamazoo, and one unmarried; one in Detroit, two with families in Wis-
consin, and one with a family in Minnesota. Our grandchildren now number-
about fifty, so you will learn that the growth of our family has kept paca>
with the growth of the country.
152 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MARTIN HEYDENBURK.
BY DR. O. C. COMSTOCK, OP MARSHALL.
Read February 5, 1880.
Martin Hydenburk was the second son of John and Hannah Heydenburk,
and was born at Hempstead, Long Island, State of New York, September 19,
1798. The father of Martin was seized by the German authorities for the
British service against her North American Colonies, in the war of the revolu-
tion. This German contingent was known as the Hessian troops. At the close
of the war, when the time had arrived for the return to Germany of as many
of these troops as had survived the terrible strife, John Heydenburk deserted,
and continued in this country thereafter, and was always the implacable enemy
of both Germany and Great Britain. Great Britain paid the German govern-
ment ten pounds a head for all the missing Hessians at the final muster.
The family emigrated from Long Island to Spencer, Columbia county, in
1805. In 1816, Martin went to Skaneateles, Onondaga county, New York,
where he continued to reside, and where he acquired his education, and from
whence he was appointed school teacher to the Mission at Mackinac, Michigan
Territory, in 1824. After three years' service he returned to Skaneateles after
the girl he left behind him, to wit : Miss Huldah W. Warner, to whom he was
married and immediately thereafter returned to Mackinac and to his cher-
ished work among the Indians. Here he remained six years longer, making
the full period of nine years.
This school was under the patronage of the American Board of Commis-
sions for Foreign Missions. The superintendent of this mission was Eev.
William M. Ferry, the honored father of Senator Ferry. The remuneration
of Mr. Heydenburk for these nine years of faithful labor and sacrifice was
his selection of the second-hand clothing that was sent to the mission by
its generous friends, and as many potatoes as he and the Indian boys could
raise, and as many delicious whitefish as they could catch. Beyond this, he
received and expected nothing from man. He did however, enjoy the appro-
bation of his own conscience, and rested in joyful hope that his labor was
not in vain in the Lord. In his boyhood he indentured himself to a car-
penter, which trade he learned, and which was of much service to the mis-
sion at Mackinac, as he built the church and finished off the schoolhouse
while the school was in progress.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MARTIN HEYDENBURK. 153
In 1833, he stopped at White Pigeon on his way to Chicago, which was the
place of his destination. He left at Mackinaw his wife and two children and
the grave of one child. From thence he directed his wife and little ones to
proceed by schooner to the month of the St. Joseph river, Michigan Territory,
and then find her way up that river to Niles, where she had some Mackinac
acquaintances. Ascertaining that the fleetest and only mode of traveling on
the river was a three weeks' voyage in a long narrow boat, poled up stream
amidst mosquitoes and the malaria of a sluggish river in the month of July,
she wisely availed herself of the rare occurrence that offered of some men with
a team who were about to penetrate the wilderness towards Niles, and who
consented to give her conveyance. In due time she joined her husband at
White Pigeon. The following three years Mr.> Heydenburk was employed as a
carpenter, working on a Presbyterian Church at White Pigeon, at Kalama-
zoo and at Gull Prairie. He also built the receiver's office at Kalamazoo.
In 1834 he moved to the village of Kalamazoo, then containing but two or
three hundred inhabitants. At this place he built a dwelling house for
himself, sixteen by twenty-four feet, one and a half stories high. His family
then consisted of nine persons. For several years thereafter, in consequence
of the tide of emigration setting strongly through Kalamazoo, then the
seat of the land office, their house was nightly thronged with eager land-
lookers, to whom hospitality was due, and to whom it was cheerfully given,
although very often much to the discomfort of the family.
By his trade, which was very remunerative in those days, and by the observ-
ance of strict economy, Mr. Heydenburk had saved fifty dollars which he
wisely invested in land, two hundred acres, now within the corporate limits
of the beautiful village of Kalamazoo.
In 1867, Mrs. Heydenburk, who had been for more than fifty years the
invaluable helpmeet and sharer of all the trials and privations of her own and
her husband's missionary life, died in the triumphs of that gospel she had so
long commended by her example and instructions.
Mr. Heydenburk is now married to Mrs. Lucy Whittlesy Chisholm, the
widow of the late Peter Chisholm, who was one of the earliest settlers of the
now city of Marshall. Mr. Heydenburk united with the Presbyterian Church
in Skaneateles, New York, in 1820. At the present time he is a useful and
exemplary member of the Presbyterian Church in the city of Marshall. His
long life has been devoted to God and the good of his fellow man. When he
left farming in 1864 he seemed to take a new start in his zeal and effort in the
cause of Sabbath-school and Bible class work. The late Calvin Clark and he
were kindred spirits and co-workers in these grand auxiliaries of church work.
One has gone to his reward, and the other only waits for his reunion with his
friend.
154 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
INDIAN MISSIONS.
BY MARTIN H^YDBNBURK, OP MARSHALL.
Road February 5, 1880.
To the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan:
Many interesting papers have been written and read before your society at
previous meetings, giving valuable historic facts, and discussing men and
measures that have contributed to make Michigan what it is.
Protestant Indian Missions have contributed their share, but I do not
remember to have seen any notice of this work in any of the papers pre-
sented. Having been identified with this department for some time, and with
the religious interests of Michigan for more than fifty years, I thought it
would not be out of place to give a short outline of what has been done by
this agency and those who had the work in charge.
These missions and missionaries did much to change the social customs of
the people in localities where settlements were commenced, and to overturn the
semi-barbarous legal codes and practices that then prevailed. Up to that period
the general sentiment was, that "might made right." Contracts were enforced
by the use of the whipping-post. If a man of ff higher caste" declared that
a common laborer had promised to serve him and refused to meet his engage-
ment, he was taken out in the public street, stripped, and flogged into compli-
ance; but this soon faded away before the remonstrances of the missionaries,
and the better influences they brought to bear upon legal practice and common
justice. Many other practices prevailed that were equally unjust and absurd.
Detroit and Mackinac were the only places of much note in the State when
I came to Michigan, and the few families of any pretensions in either of those
places, were so identified with, and influenced by the missionaries, that a con-
trolling influence, and a high social and moral code was soon established, and
from these places many of the new settlements took their type.
In giving the history of these missions and those who managed them, and
the societies that sustained them, I do not pretend that all the dates are his-
torically accurate or that my statements embrace all the missionary work in
the State, or all the influences that helped to mould society, or give character
to it; I only speak of what I know.
There were two stations sustained by the Baptists ; one at Grand river, and
the Gary mission at St. Joseph. As I know but little of them I will pass them
without comment. Aside from these, the first, "Protestant Indian Mission"
INDIAN MISSIONS. 155
in the State was established at Fort Gratiot, in 1822. Dr. Andrew Yates, of
Union College, visited Michigan about the year 1820, and on his return home
organized a society in the region of Albany, N. Y., called the "Northern
Missionary Society," and sent John S. Hudson and wife, and Miss Eunice
Osmer to open a mission at the foot of Lake Huron. They embarked at
Buffalo late in the autumn on the "Walk-in-the-water," the first steamer that
floated on the lakes, and the boat was wrecked the first night out, near Buffalo.
They then bought a team and went by land through the wilderness of Canada,
which took them till late in the winter before they reached their destination.
This mission continued about two years, and was then transferred to the
Mackinac mission which was established in 1823.
In 1822, the Eev. William M. Ferry was sent to explore this region; and he
was deeply affected by the moral degradation that prevailed. The next year he
was commissioned by the United Foreign Missionary Society of New York, and
came with his wife and Miss Betsey McFarland, and commenced a mission for
the "Indians of the Northwest" at Mackinac. This location was not intended
to be permanent, but simply a boarding school to educate Indian children for
teachers and interpreters for future work of missions in the interior. This
location was chosen because it was the seat and center of the fur trade of all
the northwest. It was not owned or occupied by any one tribe, but it was
mutual ground on which all the tribes met as friends twice a year when they
went to the British trading-posts to receive their annual presents for services
rendered that government in the war of 1812. This mission was transferred
to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1826. This
mission had in it children from almost every tribe in the northwest, and their
friends always visited them on their annual excursions, and thus gained some
knowledge of civilized life. I joined the mission in 1824 as a teacher, and had
the control of the educational department, both in the mission and the town.
I spent nine years at Mackinac, and had from seventy to one hundred board-
ing scholars, and from thirty to fifty day scholars from town.
The mission was in operation about twelve years. In that time not less than
five hundred children of Indian blood and habits had received a good common
school education. They were trained in habits of industry, in cultivating the
soil, and many of them learned trades which they have practiced successfully
since. When they finished their education they returned to their friends and
were widely separated, but judging from the few that I have since been able to
keep track of, they have turned out as well, and been as successful as the same
number of white children would have been under more favorable circumstances.
The Mackinac mission was successful as far as it went, but it did not fully
meet the hopes and expectations of its friends. Before the experiment had
been fully tested the lands of Michigan were wanted for settlement and the
Indians h'ad no rights that could stand in the way. There was a pretense of a
"treaty" but probably not one Indian in a thousand consented to it, or knew
anything about it; but it was sufficient to take them by force and march them
off to the western wilderness; and that ended the possibility of carrying out
the plans and designs of the mission.
When the Mackinac mission closed, a number of families and individuals
that composed it, went to different places and tried to continue the work, but
the tribes were broken up and the constant interruption they met with soon
discouraged them and but little has been done since. There were many whom
I have not mentioned that were engaged in this work who deserve honorable
150 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
mention, but my object is simply to bring the subject to notice as a part of
the early history of Michigan.
When there was nothing more for the missionaries to do in that capacity
many of them settled as citizens and exerted their influence in favor of
morality and good order, and did much to elevate and adorn society. All will
appreciate the valuable services of the Ferry family at Grand Haven; those
services would probably never have been rendered in Michigan if the mission
work had not called them here; the same might be said of others to a very
large extent.
Another result of the mission work here has been to shed a ray of light on
the Indian question. That question is now forcing itself on the American
people as never before. While there was a vast wilderness unoccupied we could
drive the Indians back, and by the aid of the army hold them in check, but
that day has gone by, and now the question comes, what shall we do ? shall
we conquer and subdue them ? That process has been going on for a long time,
and it has proved very expensive and unsatisfactory, and frequently disastrous.
Some say exterminate them; but this nation is not yet prepared to stand up
before the world as murderers of the original inhabitants and owners of this
great country, simply because they will not peaceably surrender their rights to
us. Conquest and extermination will be found a very difficult problem to solve.
What then can be done with them ? Can they be civilized and made citizens ?
Our experience proves that they are as susceptible of improvement as any other
people, if proper instrumentalities are employed; but it requires favorable
circumstances and influences to accompany the efforts. We found the Indian
children as apt to learn as any other children, and habits of industry were
secured by the same means by which they are secured in others ; they must be
trained up in those habits until reached and made permanent.
Whisky is the bane of the red man, but it is easier for him to abstain from
the use of it after a life of intemperance, than it is for a white man who is
addicted to the same habit. I have known old Indians who were converted
after a long life of dissipation; they left their cups without any apparent
struggle; they had fewer barriers to break over to become drunkards, and
reform is less difficult when they resolve to leave it off; but with all these facts
before us the question, what shall we do with the Indians, still remains. I do
not pretend to be wise above other men, but from my experience and observa-
tion I would venture to say, deal with them as individuals and not as nations;
make each one responsible for his own acts; treat them like children, kindly
and justly, but firmly. Distribute to them what is necessary to sustain life
until they can get their living by their own efforts, but clothe the hand that
feeds them with ever present power to enforce obedience. Settle them on
fertile lands easy of cultivation, and furnish them with facilities for their
work and teach them how to cultivate the soil. Do not ask them to leave the
chase until you can furnish them a substitute better adapted to their condi-
tion, and guard them as far as possible from change or influences adverse to
their condition and future prosperity.
INDIAN MISSIONS. 157
THE OLD CHURCH AND MISSION IIOI'SK AT MACKINAC.
BY MARTIN HEYDENBURK, OF MARSHALL.
Marshall Mich., October 5, 1880.
Prof. J. C. Holmes:
DEAR SIR, In answer to your inquiry with regard to my work on the
church and the Mission House at Mackinac, I make the following statement:
In the year 1824, I was sent to Mackinac as a teacher in the mission school
at that place. The school was kept at first in the court-house; the next sea-
son we contracted with Detroit parties to erect the building that is now known
as the "Old Mission House" which is now precisely as it was originally, except
the center which at first was but one and a half stories high, and is now two
stories. The contractors put up the frame and inclosed it, but for some cause
they went away and left it unfinished. I was relieved from school duties to go
to work on the unfinished building and put it into a condition to be occupied.
I finished the upper part of the east wing with a moveable partition so as to be
occupied on week days for the school, and on the Sabbath as a cnapel. The rest
of the house was finished as circumstances permitted and necessity required.
Thomas White Ferry was born in the southwest corner of the west wing of
that house in the spring of 1826. This was the first birth in the new mission
house. Much of the wood-work of the house was finished by my own hands,
working mornings and evenings and other odd hours, when not teaching.
In the winter of 1830 there was an extensive revival of religion, and the
people wanted to build a tabernacle, but no one was found competent to make
out and prepare a bill of timber. I was again relieved from my school and
sent across the straits, nine miles south, to the main land. It was rather
rough to leave a warm school-room and bed to go out and lie on the snow at
night with the thermometer at zero; but in three -weeks' time we had all the
timber hewed, fifty pieces flattened to be made into scantling and joist by the
whip-saw, and three hundred saw logs hauled out of the woods to the shore
ready to be moved home or to the saw mill when the ice should prove favorable.
A few weeks afterward a heavy rain flooded the snow upon the ice and then
froze. Michael Dousman had a saw-mill about two miles from our logs and we
soon had them there; but the timber and flatted logs still remained. On the
eleventh day of April, with the thermometer at zero, and the wind blowing
strong from the east, all the horses and French trains on the island started at
daylight for the timber; we crossed safely, loaded up and started for home;
when about half way across the straits we were met by messengers and guides
who told us that the ice which was two feet thick had become porous and we
could not cross the channel. We left our loads on Round Island, then put
ropes on the necks of the horses and started across the treacherous channel.
If a horse fell through we would pull on the rope and choke him till he would
float and then we would get him out and go on. We all got home safe.
The next season we employed men to build the church ;. but when the frame
was up and partly enclosed, and the last vessel of the season was about to sail
for Detroit, the men made some exorbitant demands, supposing we must com-
22
158 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
ply or leave the building in that condition through the winter. I was consulted
and I said let them go. On the 28th of October, 1831, 1 again left the school-
room, this time for the top of the steeple, and before winter we had the build-
ing inclosed, and on the 4th of March, 1832, it was completed and dedicated.
The school was then moved to the basement of the church. In 1878 I visited
Mackinac and found the church as I had left it forty-seven years before, except
the pulpit had given place to a less rough stage for theatrical entertainments.
Nine years' confinement in a school-room for an average of twelve hours a
day, and five and a half days in a week, and forty-eight weeks in each year,
began to tell severely on my slender constitution, and made it necessary for
me to seek some more active employment. I left the mission intending to go
to Chicago, which was just emerging from an Indian trading-post into the
light of civilization; but I changed my plan and stopped at White Pigeon; and
by working from four o'clock in the morning till nine in the evening, I made
money enough the first year to pay for our bread and butter and a cow and
enter and pay for 120 acres of land. The next year I entered 40 acres more
and bought other 40 acres at twelve dollars an acre, all of which I paid for
within the two following years. My wife did the housework and washed for
the cabinet maker, and bought bedstead, table, chairs and crockery the first
year, and clothing and carpets the next year ; then we began to live like other
folks. We built a house on our land and moved into it in 1840, and continued
there twenty-four years. I plowed the land and while the team was resting I
dug out the grubs. I raised wheat, threshed it with horses, hauled it to St.
Joseph and sold it for twenty-nine cents per bushel. When I went on my
farm it was a wilderness; when I left it in 1864, it was in a high state of culti-
vation, with choice stock and good buildings ; but I was 66 years old and had
worked regularly sixty years. Since that time I have been standing on the
bank of the river waiting for orders to pass over ; but to keep from rusting out
I have visited all parts of our county and other places to do what I could in
encouraging Sabbath-school work and other moral and religious influences,
and now I feel thankful that I am still able to assist in the good work and to
see that my work has not been in vain.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF REV. WILLIAM H. BROCK WAY
OF ALBION.
Read before the Michigan State Pioneer Society, February 4, 1880.
At its session in Lansing in 1878, the Michigan Pioneer Society, by its vote,
invited the Eev. W. H. Brockway, at his convenience, to write some account
of his connection with the Indians and Indian Missions of Michigan. This he
purposes to do as soon as practicable, and preliminary thereto he will now
communicate some facts in connection with his own early personal history.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF REV. W. H. BROCKWAY. 159
The State of Vermont as it appears on the map of the Union, is small com-
pared with some of its younger sisters, but it may be said of it, as has been
said of another locality, that if it were flattened down and rolled out to a level
plain, it would make a more pretentious show in latitude and longitude than it
does in its present condition of mountains, hills and valleys. Just at the foot
of its grand old Green mountain, not far from the banks of the rushing, tumb-
ling Lamoile river, as it makes its way from its mountain springs towards the
beautiful Lake Champlain, there in Morristown, county of Orleans (now
Lamoile county), W. H. Brockway was born February 24, 1813. According
to the best of his recollection he spent the first year of his life in having the
whooping cough and measles, and learning to walk at the age of eight months,
and was constantly in the dairy business for the same period of time; after
which, he changed somewhat both his diet and manner of living. At the age
of four years he is believed to have learned his letters, and although his oppor-
tunities for education were at this time quite limited, at the age of six he had
learned to read and spell words of three or four syllables. Being naturally of
a restless turn of mind, when seven years old, being of the same opinion as
that subsequently expressed by Mr. Douglass, "that Vermont was a good State
to be born in, and a good State to emigrate from," he in company with the
other members of his father's numerous family concluded to go west.
In the month of February, 1820, with three double sleighs, they traveled
down the Lamoile valley and across Lake Champlain by way of Cumberland
Head, and through the noted Chataguay woods to the then wilderness of the
extreme northern New York. Here in the township of Westville were spent
several additional years of his childhood and youth in aiding to clear up a new
and heavily timbered farm and learning the trade of a blacksmith. He after-
wards spent three or four years in the adjoining town of Malone, working on
farms or at his trade by the month during the summer season, attending when
he could, the district schools in the winter. At the age of eighteen, having no
property and no one to whom he could look for pecuniary aid, he determined
single-handed and alone, to seek for such fortune and fame as might fall within
his reach by emigrating to what was then considered the very outside verge
and ragged edge of civilization. Three days on foot with his little pack on his
back, weary and footsore, brought him to the St. Lawrence river at Ogdens-
burg. From there he took passage on a small sail vessel for the mouth of the
Genesee river, passing through that beautiful river archipelago to the Thou-
sand Islands. A week brought him to the Genesee river, and five or six miles
above at the city of Rochester, which was then a very small town, where he
embarked on the "raging canal." Two days of this old time canal navigation
brought him to Buffalo, then a town of not more than three or four thousand
people. Lake navigation by means of steamboats was then in its very infancy.
He engaged passage to Detroit on the little old tub of a steamboat called the
William Penn. She had no cabins above her main deck and very poor accom-
modations for passengers in every respect. She could make about four miles
an hour on a smooth sea and in fair weather, but in case of a head wind would
be compelled to find shelter in the nearest harbor in the opposite direction;
but by great energy and perseverance, on the part of the captain and crew,
at the end of six days we were permitted to walk the plank from the deck of
the Penn to the mud bank of our landing place just below what is now the
foot of Woodard avenue, Detroit. This was on Sabbath morning, September,
1831.
Being the Sabbath, he inquired for and sought out the church of his choice.
160 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Far out of the common he found a small unfinished brick edifice in which the
services of the day had already commenced. This was at that time the only
tenable place of worship in the Territory of Michigan belonging to the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church. There had been, previous to this, a small log church
or meeting house near the banks of the river Kouge, seven miles from Detroit,
but this had already gone into disuse, and as he saw it the next day it was fast
going to decay. His first day's walk out of Detroit brought him to Torbert's
tavern, one of the best hostleries of the times, and occupying the exact spot
now occupied by the Wayne county poor-house. The second day, by a forced
march, brought' him to the little hamlet now the city of Ann Arbor. He spent
his first winter on the site of the present prosperous village of Dexter, and
worked at his trade of blacksmithing for and with ex-Judge A. D. Crane. A
large proportion of his work was shoeing oxen in the open air, without any
shelter whatever, even in- the depth of winter, Brockway making the most of
the shoes and nails during the long winter evenings, and they jointly nailing
them on the next day, Crane always taking the fore feet and Brockway the
hind feet, frequently doing as many as six pairs in a day. There was a third
individual who worked in this shop during that winter, whose name was
Barnes. He was a man of middle age, but without much culture of the schools.
A man had fallen from the upper story of the mill, and had fractured his
skull upon the tire of a wagon wheel. The doctor had to perform upon him
the operation of trepanning his skull. One of the neighbors, inquiring of Mr.
Barnes in regard to the condition of the injured man, was told by him that
the doctor had amputated his head and that he was in a fair way to a perfect
cure. The residents of Dexter were, at that time, Judge Dexter, Doctor
Nichols, Doctor Brigham, Mr. Kingsley the miller, Nelson H. Wing, Mr.
Barnes, Judge Crane and Mr. Brockway. It is believed that Judge Crane and
Mr. Brockway are the only survivors of these pioneers of that village, though
the writer is not sure in regard to Mr. Wing. Mr. B. procured the first preach-
ing of any kind which was had in the village of Dexter. This was in the then
residence of Judge Dexter, the present old red house adjoining the depot in
that village.
A society of ten was organized, of which Mr. Brockway was a member and
the first leader, and this was the first church organization of any kind in that
village. He also taught the first school in this village. Here also he was
licensed to preach by the late Eev. James Gilruth, then presiding elder of the
Michigan District of the Ohio Conference, and at the same time he was recom-
mended to the same conference for admission into the traveling connection,
by which he was received, and from which he received his first appointment
in the regular ministry. This was in the year 1833, he being at the time
twenty years of age.
Should he communicate anything further in regard to his subsequent his-
tory and labor, it will be left for another paper or papers.
THE BUILDERS OF STATES. 161
THE BUILDERS OF STATES.
BY HENRY W. LORD, OF DETROIT.
Read February 4, 1880.
America presents to the observation of mankind the only conspicuous and
continuous process by one people of the building of States. Kome, even, is not
an exception but within very narrow limits. She conquered States, simply
subjugated them, planting little therein except the standards of her eagles; or,
like Greece before her, sowing for seed the dragon's teeth, that she might reap
in harvest the armed soldier and march him onward to other fields of triumph,
until her generals wept that there were no more worlds to conquer.
Insects have built islands, and are building more, and on them States may
ultimately take their places. In the course of time, for aught we know, the
coral reefs and islands may blend into continents; and unions of States, by
builders of States, be reared upon them, rivaling or excelling the United
States of our day, which by that time may have lived out their many days,
each day, let us hope, as a thousand years.
Aside from our own country, so far as history discloses, there has been in
the past nothing like the building of States at all comparable, scarcely even
analogous, to the work in which you have been engrossed, from strong-handed
youth to white-bearded age, men of Michigan here assembled.
As the consideration takes us to the foundation of politics, such politics as
ours, the science of government, where the people make the laws or choose
those who legislate; and to the foundation of empire, such an one as ours,
where the owners of the State govern the State, and that by universal consent,
let us for a few moments contemplate such a primeval work as you have been
engaged in, the building of a State.
We will assume that in groups or single pairs you, with your wives whom
you had persuaded to accompany you into the wilderness, settled some forty
or fifty years ago in the interior of the territory.
Wherever it was, and whether afterwards known as part of Oakland or
Washtenaw or Kalamazoo is not material. You were at first almost alone.
Your several cabins in each neighborhood were separated by distances of a
mile or more, and each of you was the supreme governor of his own conduct
and that of his household.
The first interests you had in common with other men were probably con-
162 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
fined to a footpath between your several locations. By the time that had
become a trail over which a sled with oxen might be driven, the neigborhood
had increased by the accession of a few other families,and began to be called
a settlement. Children also accumulated, and were coming of school age.
You began to think of their education, and then of roads by which you might
transact business with each other and with more distant communities. Then
commenced your first political concern, and your first transactions for the
general welfare were discussed by the firesides of each other, involving the
project of a school-house, and a road and a bridge.
The scene is vividly before your eyes now, even before we can draw more
than a single line of the picture. These necessities involved school officers and
road masters, and as soon as a few years had passed, you had a supervisor and
indulged in the luxury of a justice of the peace and a constable, with fortu-
nately as to the two latter but very little use for them. By this time, and
progressing concurrently with yours, there was another settlement springing
up, perhaps across the river. You began to find that you had with its people
some common interests and business that required to be regulated by rules of
order binding on each community, and as the process of occupation went on
rapidly it was not long before there were a dozen such settlements within a
day's walk, and they respectively took on the names of townships and aspired
to organize as a county.
Then as it would be inconvenient for each man to keep in mind fully the
title and descriptions of his lands, and be able to give clear statements in case
of sale, or obtain clear information in case of purchase, you concluded to have
at mutual expense a register of land titles, and as your several justices of the
peace could not well do business except each in his immediate vicinity, or
possibly may not have had learning or ability to deal with the more complex
questions that might arise in a larger district, you decided to have a county
court. This implied a county judge, and a sheriff, and a clerk. You will
have agreed to pay in money, to defray the expenses of all this, and therefore
a county treasurer was needed, and as by that time some will have died
possessed of property, a judge of probate was necessary; and if any serious
fights or accidents occurred, at raisings or otherwise, a coroner had to be, as
he has been ever since, added at the tail of the ticket, when elections were
about to take place.
When you had proceeded so far, it is altogether probable that political
parties were formed among you, involving political preferences and dividing
political opinion; the germination of political platforms could have been dis-
cerned, and you kept yourselves warm in part in discussing them, with decided
expression and growing emphasis.
It will also have appeared that just such a series of settlements, the atomic
particles of which States are made, were at the same time crystallizing into
counties in all parts of the surrounding territory.
For mutual advantage it was then proposed to combine the whole, and erect
the State. Then political rights and duties were greatly extended, for political
duties always run with political rights among the free builders of States.
A constitution had to be considered and adopted, a governor proposed and
elected, the magistracy developed into the supreme court, a legislature was
chosen from the counties to deliberate on the interests of them all, and the
political edifice we call a State was complete.
Ultimately was erected this magnificent dome beneath which we are assem-
THE BUILDERS OP STATES. 163
bled, which, while it bends over us, also points upward and onward to that
still better country on the borders of which our steps are delayed but a little,
and into which the majority of our associate builders have already entered.
While in the older countries this process of the building of States has been
so slow that the traces of its progress are but barely legible on the pages of
history, and in a measure in formation analogous to the growth of the coral
islands referred to, it has been your distinguished privilege, within your own
individual lives and since the beginning of your sturdy manhood, to have
built up the State from its very foundations in the forests where you first
folded your blankets and lighted your fires.
Excepting as your fathers did so in the East, and your sons by your example
are now doing the same thing in the West, nothing approaching the transac-
tion in rapidity, in magnificence and grandeur has ever occurred to illustrate
the endurance and enlightened enterprise of men on earth.
As the settlements have organized into towns, towns gathered into counties,
and counties aggregated into States, so in the American Eepublic the grand
progressive achievement reaches its culmination, and like lights in the firma-
ment in their greatest altitude, a bright constellation known as the Union of
States unfolds its banner of stars to the admiration of mankind.
Happily, yea happily in this country the people vho govern it also occupy
it, and are the owners as well as the builders of the State.
When we shall ha\e seen the several great conventions of the respective
political parties gathered in council, as we shall within the year in Michigan,
we shall have seen the owners and builders of the State met to deliberate
upon the government of the State, and to designate those who shall be
intrusted with the administration of the laws.
We have seen in older countries vast assemblies of men, filling halls as large
as any we have in America, and called together to consider some political in-
terest and yet there would not be a man among the people then present who
was the owner of a foot of land. They had comparatively little influence in
-public affairs; they were not of the governing class.
The owners of the land govern the State in those countries as well as ours,
and as they do in all countries. In all, whether they are few or many, they
constitute the governing class. If the owners of the land live on the land, as
most of them do, at least for a part of the year in England (though it is
difficult for a man to live on a whole county), and if they are liberal and kind
to their tenants, as most of them are, the resulting damage to the real tillers
of the soil, the masses of the farmers, is in some degree alleviated or amelior-
ated; but if, as in Ireland, the owners and governors of the land are in large
measure absentees, who deal with their tenants through agents, the system in
a dense population with but limited area at best, will tend to distress, such as
now taxes our sympathies in that misdirected country. To the man who loves
his mother soil, who offers his honest labor, and appeals to her for succor and
for bread, it seems to us a cruel thing to propose emigration and exile as the
only available remedy. Proprietorship in the elements may be carried to ex-
cess. If, for instance, ownership of the air and the water over extensive dis-
tricts might by possibility be conferred by patent upon privileged men, and
they were empowered to place we will say meters upon all others within
those districts in order to measure and tax accordingly, the amount of air
inhaled or water drank, and this should cause distress, it would appear that
164 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
an enlightened statesmanship should think of other remedies before emigra-
tion should be recommended.
It was held by the ancient philosophers, and has entered into modern
phraseology, independent of science, that the elements are four earth, air,
fire and water; and to all these it has been asserted and denied that men
have inalienable rights.
Exclusive proprietorship in fire, air, and water has never been maintained
but in very exceptional circumstances. Nor could it be without proving
destructive to mankind.
There are some of the older countries where ownership in the other
element, earth, should be limited as to extent when found to be destructive
of the people who are native to it.
Here, though every one is permitted to hold as much or as little of the soil
as he may choose, according to his means, there has been as yet no disposition
on the part of the rich to monopolize any portion so considerable as to inter-
fere in the least with any one who desires to own his habitation.
Though the land governs the State, as it always does, yet it is never
inquired in this country whether the candidate for public honors has his
investments in that or any other way.
The Governor of Michigan, for instance, will not be asked as to the quantity
of his land; it is sufficient that the owners of the land, and therefore of the
State, have ordained its Constitution, enacted its laws, and have placed him in
one of the chambers of this Capitol, and imposed an oath upon him to con-
form his administration in all respects to obligations so established.
Let us now look for a moment at the development of political power that
has been, beginning with the first settlement, concurrent with the growth of
population and extent of habitation.
We have already seen how the first intimation of a common interest called
for united action in regard to roads and schools, and here arises the first indi-
cation of a body politic. This grows from' a neighborhood to the government
of a town, by which time political affairs, committed to political agents, will
consist of a combination of fireside and houshold interests, relative to which
the parties agree, for convenience, to act in common through their chosen
deputies ; each man having renounced his right to deal with these matters for
himself alone, and stipulated, at least by implication, to be bound by a major-
ity of voices in town council.
Thus we have the town meetings, the nearest approach to a pure democracy;
the town meeting, the underlying force and real support of our great fabric
of American liberty.
The men who establish equal rights in the country town make themselves
acquainted with those rights, and knowing them, dare maintain, may be safely
intrusted after that with the affairs of the county, the State and the Eepublic.
This primitive movement may be regarded as the first little filament or
thread of political power emanating from the people. Next we see it established
in the county, and there it consists of twenty or more of these single threads
from the towns, twisted into a line, holding: the twenty or more townships to a
common object, and representing the combined strength of the organization.
In this the several towns have renounced the right to manage a portion of
their affairs for themselves, and have agreed that they shall be conducted
together for the general good by certain agents in common for the county.
THE BUILDERS OF STATES. 165
Then, again, the several counties, in a way analagous to the two former
operations, aggregate to a State, and, as in Michigan, the seventy or eighty
twisted lines from the counties, each combining twenty or more threads from
the towns, are inlaid together, and we have a strength of cordage representing
the State, which, with thirty-seven others from sister States developed and
progressive in the same way, are finally woven into a massive cable of many
hundred fold, its component threads and filaments reaching back to towns,
settlements and homes by which the national ship of State swings securely to
her moorings, thus safely anchored, whatever floods may rise or storms may
beat upon her.
Of such towns, such counties, such States and such a nation, you, my vener-
able friends, are among the builders an honor that has been conferred on no
other generations of men.
The great transaction in which you have been engaged can never occur
again on this continent, unless at some very remote period almost beyond
comprehension. We are apt to speak of our little works and ways, and of the
names and deeds of those we honor as if with their records and tablets they
were desined to stand forever. And on the Fourth of July we advert to
them as established to last until the latest generations. It is well, however,
now and then, to consider that time may be very long, and that imagination
even can fix for it no end, as it can form no conception of its beginning.
Time, like distance, has no boundary in any direction within the measure of
our apprehension or of our arithmetic. There may be time, therefore, for
all conceivable changes on the earth's surface. And so, if ever there can be
again on this continent such builders of States from the woods as you have
been, it cannot be until after the plunging rivers that you have imprisoned
and made to grind in your mills shall have been again set free and all sails
on your lakes be forever furled and forgotten until after your marble busts
and monuments of granite shall have crumbled and mingled with the ele-
ments all your houses and habitations, towns and cities, all shall have dis-
solved into dust, and gone back into chaos and old night, whence the poets
tell us all things have emanated until after the forest that has bowed down
to you shall rise again from its ashes and overspread the land, and the
century-living crow shall again, as before, have grown old amid its branches.
23
166 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER.
NARRATIVE OP THE CAPTURE OP COLONEL MICHAEL SHOEMAKER
OP THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT OF MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER
INFANTRY, NEAR TYREE SPRINGS, IN TENNESSEE; HIS
JOURNEY TO RICHMOND, VIRGINIA; HIS CONFINE-
MENT AND EXPERIENCE IN LIBBY PRISON;
HIS EXCHANGE AND RETURN BY THE
WAY OF FORTRESS MONROE
AND ANNAPOLIS.
PREFACE.
This sketch, with the one relative to the battle of Murfreesboro, published
in Vol. II. "Pioneer Collections," and others, were written several years since,
and soon after the war. They were never intended for publication, but I
thought that after I had passed away it would be a source of gratification to
my children to know some of the particulars of my army life. This will
account for some descriptive passages, and the relation of some trivial events
which would perhaps be omitted if these papers were written at this time. On
reviewing the narratives I decided to leave them substantially as they were
written, and I will here say that the statements made as of my own knowledge
are strictly true, as I believe are all others that I have related in these papers.
MICHAEL SHOEMAKER.
On Sunday morning September 7, 1862, I arrived, with my regiment, at
Nashville, Tennessee, from Stevenson, Alabama. Our march the whole dis-
tance had been a forced one. Since the 27th of August, I had every night
slept in the clothes I had worn during the day, and had drawn off my boots
but twice. In consequence of injuries I had received, my legs from my knees
down, and my ankles, had swelled so as to entirely fill my large military boots.
My limbs were very painful, and at Tullahoma, by the kindness of Major Fox,
of the Mechanics and Engineers, in granting me the use of his tent, I was
enabled to draw my boots for the first time in several days.
I was advised by Dr. Alexander Ewing, surgeon of my regiment, that it was
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 167
absolutely necessary, for some time and until I had entirely recovered my
health, that I should cease to ride on horseback, and have absolute and perfect
rest. He informed me that if I continued on duty in my then state, the
erysipelas, which the condition of my limbs indicated, would in a short time
be of such a nature as to oblige me to retire entirely from the service. So
decided was Surgeon Ewing as to my necessity for immediate relief that, in
his kindness, he took it upon himself, personally, to call on General Buell,
then commanding the Army of the Cumberland. He explained to General
Buell my situation; applied for leave of absence for me, which was at once
granted, and he returned to me with the necessary papers all properly executed.
The railroad track just north of Nashville had been, some little time previ-
ous, torn up by confederate guerrillas, and I left that city in a stage-coach at
6 P. M. of Sunday, the day of my arrival, for Franklin, Kentucky, expecting
to take the cars at that place for Louisville and home.
The stage-coach was filled with passengers, among whom were Lieutenant
W. H. Pease, of the First Ohio Battery, and a Mr. Tibbs, who had formerly
been a quartermaster in the confederate service. Sometime during the night,
and when quite a distance from Nashville, we passed in the road an abandoned
stage-coach, which had evidently been captured by the guerrillas, and which
was to us evidence not to be doubted that they were then prowling in our imme-
diate vicinity. There was much discussion as to the propriety of proceeding
further. We had been assured at Nashville that there was no danger of an
attack, the federal army being on the several routes leading north from Nash-
ville, and we concluded to let matters take their course, particularly as the
driver had kept his horses moving onward, and seemed to have no fear of the
result. I am now convinced that stage proprietors and drivers were acting in
collusion with the guerrillas.
CAPTURE.
A short distance south of Tyree Springs our coach was surrounded by a strong
body of armed men, mounted and dressed in citizens' clothes, who demanded
an immediate and unconditional surrender. One gun was fired by our assail-
ants, but no one was hurt. Their display of force was such as to make resist-
ance out of the question, and we were obliged to submit to being made prison-
ers, which we did with a very bad grace. We were escorted to Tyree Springs,
where we were detained for some time, and where, as nearly as they could, the
Confederate officers ascertained who their prisoners were. I was dressed in my
uniform, over which I wore a linen duster, but I found they did not need to
remove that to find out my name and rank in the army. Some of the passen-
gers were only too willing to give them all the information in their power, and
from them they learned at once who were Federal officers, their names and
rank.-
The party by whom we were captured were all or nearly all guerillas, living
in the immediate vicinity. They were men who would not join the Confeder-
ate or any other army, but were o fthat class whose habits and character led
them to join readily in any raid which promised plunder without any particu-
lar degree of danger. Their sympathies were undoubtedly in favor of the Con-
federate cause, and they acted under the authority of officers claiming to be
acting under commissions from the Confederate authorities. They numbered
nearly or quite one hundred men, all mounted, and commanded by an officer
called Major Scott ; there was also a Captain Kirkpatrick, and Captain Griffin.
168 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
After remaining an hour or more at Tyree Springs, we were all ordered to
take our places in the coach, which with two others which had been previously
captured, proceeded north on the main road a short distance, and then struck off
to the east on a road which appeared to be but little traveled. We rode in
this direction all the remainder of the night, and well towards noon on Monday,
when the cavalcade came to a halt or stand, as our captors were then, very evi-
dently, from the nature and appearance of the country we were in, so remote
from any line of travel as to be secure from interruption by a regular force of
either the Federal or Confederate armies. The leaders now proceeded to search
the baggage. Our keys were demanded, our trunks opened and luggage exam-
ined ; and every thing they could find which the officers pronounced to be "con-
traband of war," was confiscated, not to the Southern Confederacy, but +o,
and for, their own uses and purposes. After a long consultation all the pris-
oners except Lieutenant Pease, Mr. Tibbs and myself, were liberated. Among
them were several ladies, wives of Federal officers, and of loyal Kentucky offi-
cials, but they kept their captors ignorant of their names and station so far as
possible. The coaches and horses were also released and allowed to return with
the passengers they had decided not to hold as prisoners. From what I saw
here I became satisfied that the drivers, if not those higher in authority, had
all the time, and before we left Nashville, a perfect understanding with the
leaders of the guerillas. We three were then notified that we must continue
our journey on horseback, or rather on the back of mules. My trunk and
baggage, except what had been confiscated, and what I had on my back, was
placed in charge of Captain Kirkpatrick, who promised to forward it to my
home, but I have never seen nor heard of it. I had a very elegant silk sash.
This I saw flourishing around the waist of Major Scott during all the time I
was in his charge; and in like manner my pistols and all of my equipments
were unceremoniously appropriated to their own use by these men who called
themselves officers in the Confederate service.
THE MARCH, SINGLE FILE, THROUGH WOODS AND BY-ROADS.
When the word was given to start I found assigned to me a black mule, one
of the worst looking, and one of the hardest riding brutes it has ever been my
fortune to see or have anything to do with. It must be borne in mind that my
opportunities for seeing and judging mules had been exceptional, as all the
transportation of all the armies in the west, and I had seen them all before
Corinth, was drawn by mules. The impression made upon me by that brute
in a steady ride of twelve hours will never be effaced.
The party was now reduced to about twenty, all told, and whenever the
width of our road or track would permit, I was honored with an armed guard
riding on each side of my mule, but most of the time we traveled single file, as
our route lay along by-ways and through forests, with sometimes a foot path,
but most of the time without any track at all. Our guides were frequently
changed, and were evidently instructed to avoid all settlements, and to keep
clear, as much as possible, of all observation. We traveled but short distances
on what could be called roads, and at all road crossings, and before we crossed
the railroad, we were brought to a standstill out of the sight of the crossing,
until our escort had ascertained by a careful examination, that the road was
clear, and they would not be subject to molestation. At all such places abso-
lute silence was enjoined. These precautions were considered necessary to en-
able them to avoid the armv of the Cumberland under General Buell, which
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 169
was that day inarching through this country on its return to Kentucky to
counteract the effect of, and endeavor to repel the invasion of that State
which was then being undertaken by the Confederate army of General Bragg.
I must have crossed the road on which my regiment was marching very near
the time when they were passing, its, members ignorant of the fact, and with-
out thought that I was a prisoner and so near them.
While on our travels we were joined by several persons who were on their
way to join the forces of General Bragg, one of whom was Lieutenant Colonel
Ben. Anderson, who rode beside me some distance, and talked and acted as
though he was desirous to do all in his power to relieve our situation from any
unnecessary annoyance. On learning, in the course of our conversation, that
I had no change of clothing, he very kindly offered to supply me with some
linen, but, as I was expecting to be soon released on parole, I declined to
accept this generous offer. After crossing the railroad and some time in the
night, we stopped in Hartsville at a public house, for supper.
CHANGE OP CONVEYANCE.
All that afternoon and evening I had suffered from the very severe pain in
my legs caused by riding that black mule. They had swelled so as- to fill the
large tops of my military boots, and the prickly sensation was as though ten
thousand needles were being stuck into them. When we dismounted I could
with difficulty stand upon my feet; I informed Major Scott of my condition,
that I could not ride that mule any further, and then requested him to procure
for me some other mode of conveyance. He made me no reply, but proceeded
with his command to get their supper. I could not eat anything, as the almost
intolerable pain I was suffering had taken away all desire for food. I looked
around and found a spot where I could lie down on the floor, with the prospect
of being undisturbed until we were called upon to resume our march; then
drew my boots and stretched myself out to get what rest I could. On drawing
my boots I found my legs of a purple hue, and never before or since have I
suffered such pain as during my brief sojourn at this place.
After an hour or more Major Scott gave the order to mount, but I did not
move. He came to me, and I explained to him more explicitly my condi-
tion, and concluded by saying that I could not again get into the saddle. Ma-
jor Scott said that he was very sorry that I was suffering such pain, but that
there was no help for it and mount I must. To this I replied that there was no
must about it ; that up to this time, when we were traveling in cattle paths and
on by-roads, I had recognized the necessity for riding that black mule, and had
made no complaint, though suffering great torment; but now that the neces-
sity for traveling in that manner had ceased, that we were in a village, on a
main traveled road, in a place where conveyances could be procured without
difficulty, it was, I thought, inhuman to ask me to get into a saddle. I asked
him to look at my legs, and said to him that I would have made no objections
to again riding that black mule if I supposed I could possibly endure the pain
arising from so doing; but I was satisfied that I could not, and must therefore
decline to make the effort, and I should now leave it for him to take such
course as he thought proper. He left me, and soon returned, saying that he
had procured a spring wagon in which I could ride. With difficulty I drew on
my boots, got into the carriage, and we proceeded to Dixon's Springs, arriving
there about two o'clock in the morning and remaining until after breakfast.
170 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL BEN. ANDERSON.
I am decidedly of the opinion that the kindly interference of Colonel Ander-
son, who accompanied us as far as Dixon's, had great, if not decisive, influ-
ence in inducing Major Scott to get a carriage and relieve me from further
torture. Overcome with fatigue, for I ha4 slept none and had but little rest
since leaving Nashville, I slept heavily at Dixon's, and it was late in the morn-
ing when I was aroused. Colonel Anderson had gone from the place while I
was asleep, but he had left for me several articles of clothing, and I had no op-
tion but to accept them, which I did with a feeling of gratitude for his kind-
ness to me, who was but yesterday not only an absolute stranger, but an officer
in that Federal army which all in the south regarded with the strongest feel-
ings of aversion. This same gentleman, Colonel Anderson, was afterwards
taken prisoner, and placed on trial before a court martial at Cincinnati for
conspiring to aid the escape of prisoners confined at Chicago. He was also
charged with cruelty to prisoners in his charge while acting as an officer of the
Confederate army. His counsel wrote to me from Cincinnati, calling my
attention to the manner in which I had been treated by Colonel Anderson,
and asking me to give my testimony to refute the charge of cruelty, which I
did most cheerfully, stating the kindness he had shown me, and that he had
treated not only myself, but, so far as I had any knowledge, all other prison-
ers, humanely. I was informed that Colonel Anderson committed suicide
while a prisoner, and before his trial was concluded.
GENERAL BRAXTON BRAGG AND GENERAL W. J. HARDEB.
At Dixon's Springs I saw Colonel Wheeler, a cavalry officer, who during the
war attained, as a general officer, considerable prominence in the Confederate
service. Here our mode of conveyance was again changed, and Lieutenant
Pease, Mr. Tibbs, and myself were placed in a lumber wagon, drawn by a pair
of mules, and started under guard for Carthage, near which General Bragg
had established his headquarters. We crossed to the south side of the Cum-
berland River, and were taken to the quarters of General Bragg, where his
tents were pitched in a beautiful grove on the river's bank. We were halted
outside the line of guards, and our presence reported.
General Hardee came to the wagon, in which we were still seated, and cour-
teously invited Lieutenant Pease and myself to accompany him to headquar-
ters. Mr. Tibbs spoke to General Hardee, and they were evidently personally
known to each other. General Hardee repulsed him very sternly, saying
"You villain, how dare you speak to me?" Mr. Tibbs, as I subsequently
learned, was afterwards tried by court martial, under the Confederate author-
ity, for desertion and other offenses, and condemned to death, but was saved
by the energetic and determined action in his favor by Andrew Johnson, then
military governor of Tennessee, who threatened retaliation if the sentence of
Mr. Tibbs was carried into effect. Governor Johnson claimed that Mr. Tibbs
was now in the service of the Federal Government, and had only abandoned
the Confederate cause after their forces had been driven out of that part of
Tennessee west of the Cumberland Mountains. Mr. Tibbs had in fact been
deserted by the Confederates, rather than being a deserter from them, and had
taken service when he was free to do so, under the old flag, he having always
been in sympathy with the cause which it represented, though forced for a
time to act contrary to his convictions. The Confederate authorities knew Gov-
ernor Johnson well, and that he would be as good as his word. Thev therefore
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 171
suspended the sentence of Mr. Tibbs, and after a long correspondence, and
much negotiation, he was released.
We accompanied General Hardee, and were by him introduced to General
Bragg, who received us cordially. My books and papers had all been taken
from my trunk, brought long with us, and were turned over to the officers of
his staff for examination. It was now near the middle of the afternoon. After
some conversation General Bragg asked me if we had been to dinner. I in-
formed him we had not. He immediately ordered his servant to get us a lunch,
and in a short time we were invited to his table where I partook of one of the
best meals, I then thought, that I had ever sat down to; for, aside from its
being of itself worthy of commendation, it was seasoned with kindness, and the
removal of much of the doubt as to my future, which had oppressed me since
my capture. Broiled chicken was the pricipal dish of the repast. After
dinner I was introduced to Colonels Baird and Garner who were of the mili-
tary family of Generals Bragg and Hardee, and members of the staff, and from
them I received the letters of my wife, which had been taken with my other
papers. General Bragg now asked me what I wanted to do; that is, what dis-
position did I, as a prisoner of war, wish him to make of me. I answered that
I would like to be released on parole. He said he would be glad to oblige me,
but could not consistently comply with my request, as he was then advancing
into Kentucky, and he could not allow me to pass out of his lines in that
direction. He then informed me that he would send me, on my parole, with
an escort as a safeguard, to Knoxville, and from there I might go to Memphis
or Richmond, as I pleased. The Confederate authorities, he said, were now
sending Federal officers home on parole from Memphis, but he would advise
me to go to Richmond, as, in his opinion, I would be released sooner there than
at Memphis. I decided to act as he suggested, and Lieutenant Pease and
myself gave our parole to report to General McGowan at Knoxville. General
Bragg then informed me that he would send with us the same conveyance in
which we had come from Dixon's Springs, and an escort consisting of Lieuten-
ant Krum of Alabama, and three of his body guard, mounted. We now bade
adieu to General Bragg, General Hardee, and the members of their staff, who
all very kindly expressed the hope that we would have a pleasant journey and
be released soon after our arrival at Richmond. I cannot sufficiently express
my surprise and gratification at the considerate, kind, and I might almost say,
distinguished manner in which I was treated by all at the headquarters of
General Bragg. Had I been the commanding officer of the army of the Cum-
berland, instead of simply a colonel of volunteers, they could not have shown
me more attention, or have treated me with more consideration. All this was
so different from the usage I had expected when I found myself a prisoner that
I could not but reflect long and seriously for some adequate cause; not for
being treated with humanity, for as much as that I expected, but for receiving
attention greater than my rank in the army would have entitled me to at the
hands of the Confederate commanders. I could think of no special reasons to
influence them in my favor, and can conceive of none but this: there was
among my books and papers taken to their headquarters a Masonic Monitor
which I had in my trunk. In this book was entered my Masonic rank, giving
the years I had served as Master of Michigan Lodge 'No. 50 of F. & A. Masons,
as High Priest of Jackson Chapter No. 3, Royal Arch Masons, and as Grand
High Priest of the Grand Chapter R. A. M. of the State of Michigan. I do
not know that this book was taken from mv trunk, or that it was seen bv
172 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
General Bragg or his officers. If it was, there was no intimation given to me
that they had any such knowledge, or that any one of them knew that I was a
member of the Masonic fraternity. I did not then and do not now know that
either Generals Bragg or Hardee are Masons ; but whatever may have been the
reasons that prompted their action, I shall ever hold them in grateful remem-
brance for the kindness and hospitality with which they treated me while at
their tents on the banks of the Cumberland.
THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.
Soon after leaving the headquarters of the Confederate army, we traveled
six miles, passing through two or more brigades of its soldiers, and long trains
of transportation wagons. The day, Tuesday, September 9, 1862, was warm
and pleasant. The country, after leaving the Cumberland river was quite
mountainous. We made twenty-one miles from Dixon's Springs, and stopped
for the night in the midst of the moving Confederate army. On Wednesday
we rode to within six miles of Sparta. I suffered more or less all day from the
pain and swelling in my legs. We saw during the day great numbers of the
army of General Bragg, all marching north, and confident of "the friendly
reception they would meet with" in Kentucky. There was, evidently, with all,
not only a hope, but an expectation, that the people of that State would rise
en masse in their favor.
The country through which we passed to-day was quite rough; the hills
might perhaps truthfully be called mountains. The face of the country and
the appearance of the improvements were not such as to commend it to the
traveler as of much value for agricultural purposes. On Thursday we drove
into Sparta, and stopped to get our wagon repaired. Here the inhabitants were
feeling very jubilant over the anticipated success of the Confederate cause,
which was to follow from the expedition of General Bragg into Kentucky, and
as they confidently believed, to Louisville and the Ohio river. General Buell,
with the Federal army was, as they thought and said, flying before their
forces, and there was nothing that could prevent the success of their arms.
There were many who still believed that one southern soldier was able to con-
tend successfully with from three to five of the northern army, or in that pro-
portion, though that conceit had been tolerably well whipped out of the more
intelligent and better informed of them at Shiloh, and at the various encount-
ers since that battle. Many of them now said that they had more respect for
western men because thev made braver and better soldiers than the Yankees,
as they called all east of Ohio; but all appeared to be over-confident, and to
underrate the magnitude of the task before them.
I was an observant listener to all the opinions advanced, and everybody,
owing to the presence of the army, was talking of the war but said nothing
myself when I could avoid doing so. When pressed for my views, I said that
I had no doubt but they would be disappointed, and their cause weakened by
the movement of General Bragg into Kentucky. That their army would
receive no such welcome as they expected, and the result would be a failure to
accomplish any of the ends for which it was undertaken. I was frequently
asked what was the feeling in the loyal States, or as they stated it, in the North,
about the continuance and result of the war. To this I replied that the people
of the northern states would never consent to a peace until the Union was
completely and definitely restored and re-established. I was invariably courte-
ously treated, and many seemed desirous to know the feelings and opinions of
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 173
northern, and particularly of western men; and as I never said a word about
the war unless particularly asked to do so, I never had reason to complain of
the manner in which my opinions were received. They appeared to respect
me the more because of my fearlessness in expressing my opinions, when I did
so at their request, and I certainly had no disposition to advance them when I
could well avoid doing so.
THE CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS.
In the afternoon we left Sparta and ascended the Cumberland mountains.
The ascent on the road we traveled was very precipitous, but after reaching
the summit the table lands were quite level and extended for miles, presenting
a pleasant prospect, with an atmosphere as clear and balmy as any I ever
inhaled. We made our first halt on the mountains at the house of a Mr. Scott,
who was not only an ardent, but a rabid secessionist. He entertained us to his
satisfaction, if not our own, all the time we had the pleasure of his company,
with his views and opinions of the war, the North, the South, about all of
which he displayed the most profound ignorance. From Scott's we rode to the
Widow Simpson's, seven and a half miles east of Sparta, where we stayed all
night. I suffered quite severely during the day in riding over the rough roads,
from the pain in my limbs.
We continued our journey on Friday and passed over the table lands of east
Tennessee, a beautiful, healthy, productive countrv, but sparsely populated.
Here the peach, the grape, the apple, and most other fruits, large and small,
can be raised in any quantities, and all arrive at perfect maturity. This region
is also favorable to the growth of wheat, corn, and most other grains. With
an intelligent and industrious population this part of Tennessee would soon
compare favorably with any country I have ever visited. It is a section of our
country, I think, peculiarly favored by nature, and when slavery and its
attendant evils shall have passed away, the great advantages it enjoys must
secure for it a high degree of prosperity. As it then was, it appeared to be,
and was, the next thing to being poverty-stricken. This could, I think, be
attributed solely to the institution of slavery, which pressed upon it with a
power which crusned out not only its intelligence and its industry, but also its
humanity. We made twenty miles to Crossville, where we took dinner. The
air this morning was keen and bracing, more like fall than before, and quite
cool. The leisurely manner in which we traveled, and the pure mountain
atmosphere was having a most favorable effect upon my system, and from this
time forward I improved rapidly, having thereafter but little pain or swelling
of my limbs. In the afternoon we rode eighteen miles, and until eight o'clock
in the evening, when we arrived at Baskett's, and were within eight miles of
the Tennessee river. On Saturday, the 13th of September, we traveled thirty-
two miles. The day was very warm, and as our lumber wagon had neither
springs, nor cushions for the seats, the ride was not so comfortable as it had
been up to this day. The roads were very rough, and much of the distance
over rocks, or quite stony. We passed down the mountain in the forenoon,
and, like the ascent near Sparta, we found it very steep, almost precipitous
too much so to make it pleasant riding in an old lumber wagon drawn by a
pair of gaunt mules. I feared at times that the wagon would run over, or
tumble over, the mules, but we made the descent in safety. The country be-
tween the ascent and the descent is mostly table land, quite level, and must,
some day, be among the most prosperous, as it is one of the most favored
24
174 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
regions in the United States. The soil is good: the climate is favorable for
all the fruits and grains of the temperate zone, and is one of the most salubri-
ous in the world. The climate, the soil, the price of farming lands, and the
face of the country are all such as to make it one of the most desirable agri-
cultural districts in the United States. It will, in time, undoubtedly be the
home of an industrious, thriving, and intelligent people, and that is exactly
the reverse of the character of its present inhabitants.
In my travels through this favored region I found that apple and peach
brandy were among its most important and most favored products. It was of
domestic manufacture, is made on most of the plantations, and could be found
in the cellars of most of the planters in Tennessee. This brandy, when new,
is the most fiery and intoxicating liquor made, but when four, five, or more
years old, is said to become very smooth and pleasant without losing any of its
strength.
Our route took us across Waldron's peak, and we this day crossed the
Clinch river, a large and beautiful stream over which we were transported on
a ferry boat. I now recall the fact that since I had crossed the Ohio river I
had not seen a road bridge across a stream in Kentuck}^, Tennessee, Missis-
sippi, or Alabama. All the streams that are not fordable are crossed by
means of ferry boats.
We arrived at Kingston near noon, and dined there. In the afternoon we
rode to Lackey's, twenty-four miles from Knoxville. The scenery of the
route traveled the 13th was most beautiful, and I enjoyed it beyond measure.
This feeling was intensified by the closing of the day with one of the most
brilliant sunsets I have ever seen. I, thus far, had enjoyed my trip from the
Cumberland river and across the Cumberland mountains, very much. I had
found the atmosphere pleasant, health inspiring, and invigorating, and would
advise those seeking health by travel to make, in September, the trip from
Sparta to Knoxville. Roses were in full bloom, and could be seen from almost
every point on the road, and I found peaches and all other fruits in perfection
on the whole route.
In the evening I expressed a desire to smoke, and Mr. Lackev presented me
with a home-made pipe, such as were most commonly used in all these regions,
made from a root with a stem of cane. This I have kept as a memorial of
my passage through those lands. It is as primitive as the people among whom
it was made.
KNOXVILLE.
We left Lackey's on the morning of Sunday, the 14th of September, and
drove into Knoxville for dinner, arriving there about one P. M. I inquired
which was the best hotel and was told "Bell's Tavern." I requested my escort
to leave us there and they did so. We here parted with Lieutenant Krum of
Alabama. I shall ever hold him in grateful remembrance for his uniform
kindness and courtesy, and for his ready and cheerful compliance with every
expressed wish of mine, while in command of our escort, extending in time
from Tuesday to Sunday noon, and in distance from the headquarters of Gen-
eral Bragg, on the Cumberland River near Carthage, to Knoxville. To the
intelligent kindness of Lieutenant Krum is to be ascribed the fact that the trip
was pleasant, not over fatiguing, and more like a pleasure trip than a proces-
sion of prisoners. This was the more remarkable, and made more of an im-
pression upon me, because I knew the sentiments and feelings entertained by
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 176
most southern men towards the Federal troops, whom they regarded as invad-
ers, seeking to deprive them of their rights, and who were destroying or appro-
priating their property. From what I had heard of the manner in which
Federal officers and soldiers, who were prisoners, were abused oy the Confed-
erate authorities and officers, I had good reason to expect treatment much less
agreeable, to say the least of it, than that which I received. Lieutenant Krum
and his men were an escort and safeguard for us, rather than a guard over us,
for they governed their actions by our wishes. If I wished to ride on horse-
back for a change, one of them was always ready to let me have his horse and
take my place in the wagon. They traveled fast or slow as we wished ; stopped
for dinner when we requested them to do so, and made the day's journey of
such length as was most agreeable to us. When either of us wanted to smoke,
a pipe and tobacco was at once proffered. Every possible attention was paid
not only to our wants, but also to our wishes, and we never had an unpleasant
word from any one of them.
We found Bell's Tavern filled with Confederate officers. We were given a
good room., and after washing and making ourselves as presentable as our very
limited wardrobes would permit, we went down to dinner, which we found to
be very good and well served. After dinner we went across the street to the
headquarters of General McGowan, who received and treated us courteously
and kindly. After some conversation with me relative to the course we wished
to pursue, he said he would take our parole to report in Richmond, Virginia, to
General Winder, and would give us transportation to enable us to leave on
Monday morning, and go there on the railroad. He then requested us to step
with him into another room where he introduced us to his Assistant Adjutant
General, Captain W. D. Maclay, who was directed to make out and give to us
the necessary papers. While in the office of the Assistant Adjutant General I
engaged him in conversation, and in the course of it he spoke of being a resi-
dent of Florida. I said to him that I had relatives living in that State. He
asked me in what part. I replied in Appalachicola. He smiled and asked me
their names. I informed him that I had living there an uncle named Matthew
Myers, and cousins Robert Myers, Mrs. Charles Ellis, Mrs. Austin, and their
families. He then said that he was from Appalachicola, that he not only knew
my relatives, but that they were his nearest and dearest friends. Captain
Maclay at once became very friendly, and interested himself in my behalf,
paying me every possible personal attention, and advising me as to the best
course to pursue while a prisoner.
TREATMENT BY CONFEDERATE OFFICERS.
On my return to Bell's Tavern a surgeon of the Confederate army invited
me into his room, and asked me if I had any objection to talk with him about
the war. I answered him that I had none, and would give him frankly my
views and opinions, if he wished me to do so. He replied that he did, that up
to this time he had had no opportunity of conversing with a Federal officer,
and that he was particularly desirous of knowing the feeling of the people in
the Northwest. I had a long and interesting conversation with him on the war
and its probable result. The surgeon (I regret that I did not enter his name
in my diary, and that I have forgotten it) was confident in the belief that the
Confederates could and would establish themselves as an independent nation.
I said to him that the sentiment in Michigan., and generally in the West, was
practically unanimous that the Union, and the whole Union, must and should
176 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
be preserved; that the North had but just awakened to the magnitude of the
contest, and was only beginning to manifest its strength and resources, while
the South was already exhibiting weakness, and was suffering from the enor-
mous prices its people were already obliged to pay not only for the luxuries but
also for the necessaries of life. This discussion was carried on over a bottle of
brandy which the surgeon said cost forty dollars, and to this I alluded in sup-
port of my opinions. During the entire discussion my friend the surgeon
listened most attentively to all I had to say, and was more desirous to hear my
opinions than to express his own. He was as affable and courteous as he could
have been had we been serving in the same cause. There was not a look,
gesture, or word during the entire interview that was in the slightest degree
objectionable or offensive, and we parted with the most kindly feelings towards
each other.
After tea we were in front of Bell's Tavern, smoking our cigars on the
piazza, which was full of Confederate officers, who were talking and laughing
as is usual with young men in high spirits. Their conversation was generally
on some matter connected with the war, and presently one of them at some
distance from us said something about the "damned Yankees." Instantly he
was informed by an officer near him that there were Federal officers present,
who were prisoners of war, and from that time there was not an offensive
word spoken in our hearing during our sojourn in Knoxville.
It affords me the greatest pleasure to place on record the gentlemanly man-
ner in which I was uniformly treated by the officers of the Confederate army
with whom I came in contact while a prisoner of war, because so much has
been said and written about the unkind and generally cruel manner in which
Federal prisoners were treated by all belonging to the Confederate army.. I
have no doubt but that our officers and soldiers were greatly and unnecessarily
abused at Andersonville and other southern prisons. I know they were so
treated at Richmond, but I think there are those who have been prisoners
who on their return have been disposed to appear in the light of martyrs, and
have somewhat exaggerated the account of their sufferings and the manner in
which they were treated.
For myself I am pleased to be able to say that during the entire time I was a
prisoner I received nothing but courtesy and kindness at their hands. There
was to this no single exception. My situation, wherever I happened to be, was
made as comfortable as circumstances would permit. I regard it as a duty
that I owe to those at whose hands I received such honorable treatment, and
also to humanity, as well as the truth of history, that I should place on record
one instance where a prisoner was treated by the Confederates of all ranks
with a care and kindness which do credit to our common nature. I not only
hope but have every reason to believe that my experience was not entirely
exceptional. Lieutenant Pease who was with me was treated in the same
manner as myself. From my greater age, and higher rank, I was the party
always addressed, and from that came to speak for both.
ON TO RICHMOND.
After breakfast on Monday, the loth, we went again to the office of General
McGowan, where we saw the General, Colonel Blake, and Captain Maclay.
We now executed our parole papers, and received free railroad passes to Rich-
mond.
We now paid our bill at "Bell's Tavern" ($2,50 each), and at 11 A. M.
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 177
Captain Maclay accompanied us to the cars. He advised us to go to the
Exchange HoteJ in Richmond, and informed us that the office of the adjutant-
general was on the same street. We left Knoxville without guard or escort of
any kind, and traveled as unmolested and with the same freedom as other
passengers. We were known as Federal officers, prisoners of war. We took
supper at a station called Caldwell, and rode all night, getting our breakfast
at Wytheville. On Tuesday the 16th we passed through three tunnels, and,
for the most part, a mountainous country. The mountain scenery was grand
and beautiful, and in many, places such as to receive my most ardent admira-
tion. We dined at a station on the road, and arrived at Lynchburg at 5 P. M.,
where we crossed the New River. I had to-day while riding in the cars a long
conversation with General - , formerly a member of Congress from Ala-
bama, and now commanding a legion in the Confederate armv. He introduced
himself to me, said he understood I was a Federal officer, a prisoner of war,
from the Northwest, and added that if I had no objection he would like to talk
to me about the war, the opinion, sentiment, or feeling of the people of the
North, and more particularly of the Northwest. I replied that I had no objec-
tion to the interchange of views, and was willing to give him any information
in my power. General , and all others I talked with, were very desirous
to know what were the sentiments of the people of the Northwest. They all
certainly had expected sympathy at least, if not material aid from that part of
the country, and most of them expressed themselves as having expected either
active assistance or such pacific opposition as would embarass Federal action;
in other words, what General Scott would call "a fire in the rear." Most of
them expressed surprise and disappointment, and some perhaps were incredu-
lous when I assured them that the people west of the Alleghanies, and north
of the Ohio, were practically a unit in their determination to preserve the
Union in its integrity. I assured General - that New England was not
more unanimous and by no means as determined that there should be no disso-
lution of the Union than was the Northwest. He, as all others with whom I
conversed, had evidently more respect for, and dread of encountering the west-
ern than the eastern troops, and had built great hopes upon a diversion in
their favor from the determined opposition which they supposed existed with a
large portion of the western people to the war. It must be recollected that
this was in September, 1862, when General Bragg was apparently marching
triumphantly through Kentucky, and before the South could know the una-
nimity of the war sentiment in the loyal States ; of the herculean efforts which
were even then being put forth, and which were to add hundreds of thousands
of men to the Federal armies already in the field. I also ventured the opinion
that General Bragg would find himself as much mistaken, and be as certainly
disappointed in Kentucky, in any general rising of the people in his favor, or
in receiving any material aid, or addition to his forces, as he with whom I was
conversing was in respect to the opinions of the people north of the Ohio.
At Lynchburg I said to Lieutenant Pease that upon reflection I had con-
cluded that we need be in no haste in getting to Richmond, as it was uncertain
what "reception we should meet with/' and what disposition would be made of
us. I therefore proposed to him that we should leave the cars, stop for the
night where we were, get a good night's rest if we could, and "resume our
travels" in the morning. He asked me if I thought we could do so without
molestation. I answered that I had no doubt of it, judging from our experi-
178 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
ence thus far since we had been prisoners. Lieutenant Pease assented to the
proposition, and said it would be a great relief to him to get a good night's
rest, as we had then been two days and one night on very uncomfortable cars.
We accordingly left the cars and went to the "Piedmont House/' where we had
supper, beds, and breakfast, as would any other guests, paid our bill ($2.50
each), and left in the morning without a question being asked as to our right
to do so, or being in any manner molested, although all who saw us knew we
were officers of the Federal army. I was in full uniform; that, and nothing
more, constituting at this time my earthly possessions. Neither of us had
bag or baggage.
RICHMOND.
We took the cars on the morning of Wednesday, the 17th, at Lynchburg for
Richmond, where we arrived at 4 P. M., and proceeded to the Exchange
Hotel, where we registered our names, and engaged rooms. After washing,
brushing, and getting our tea, we walked over to the office of the adjutant-
general, where we saw and reported to General John H. Winder, who after
examining our papers, took us into another apartment and introduced us to
General Cooper, adjutant-general of the Confederate army, and who before the
rebellion and for a long time preceding, had been adjutant-general of the army
of the United States. General Cooper received us very kindly, and I was
strongly impressed by his manner and the words he used in addressing us after
the formalities of an introduction. Said he, "I can only say I am sorry to see
you here; that expresses it all." The manner and bearing of General Cooper
appeared to me to be very much depressed, and the meaning which he seemed
to attach to his words were of much greater scope, I thought, than that
conveyed by the words themselves. The regret he expressed at seeing us pris-
oners seemed to be directed more to the cause, than to the fact, and I could
not but conclude that General Cooper, more than any other man I had seen in
the South, realized the magnitude of the contest, the evil results which would
befall the States which had favored secession if it should fail, and that he was
not sanguine of the success of the Confederate cause. Neither the prospect
nor the retrospect were, in my opinion, pleasant subjects of reflection to him.
After our return to the office of General Winder we gave him our parole to
report morning and noon at his office, and were then allowed full liberty.
We returned to the Exchange feeling that we had been remarkably well
treated for prisoners of war. I was well satisfied to retire early to my room, to
take to my bed and endeavor to sleep off the fatigue, care, and anxiety which
had accompanied me to the Capital of the Southern Confederacy. If I ever re-
garded a comfortable room and a good bed as great luxuries, it was my first
night in Richmond. On the morning of Thursday, September 18, 1862, we
reported to General Winder, after which we strolled around the city, visited
the Capitol, rambled through the grounds on which it is situated, and devoted
some time to examining the statuary and other objects of interest. The Capitol,
or State House, is a large and stately building, with a handsome portico of
Ionic columns, situated in the center of a park of about eight acres in extent,
on an elevated plain on the summit of Stockor Hill, and from its elevated situ-
ation is the most conspicuous object in the city. In the principal hall of the
Capitol is Houdon's celebrated statue of Washington, in marble, taken from
life, and it is said to be as correct a representation of "The Father of his
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 179
Country" as any extant. There is, in the same hall a marble bust of Lafayette.
In the park which surrounds the Capitol stands the monument, one of the
most interesting objects of its kind in the United States. It is an elabo-
rate structure, forty-two feet high, and on its top stands a colossal equestrian
statue of Gen. Washington, in bronze, twenty-five feet high, and is adorned
with the statues of Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, by Crawford. The
original design was that the statues of four other eminent Virginians should
be placed on the four vacant spaces on the monument, provided for their re-
ception. The City Hall, which stands at an angle of the Capitol square, is
built in the Doric style, and is an elegant building. Many of the finest resi-
dences in the city are in this vicinity. We spent the entire forenoon wandering
about the city, examining and admiring all objects of interest we could find,
and only returned to our hotel in time for dinner.
LIBBY PRISON.
Immediately after dinner we reported to General Winder, who informed
us that the Secretary of War had said to him that there was too much
knowledge to be obtained in Eichmond of military affairs to admit of Fed-
eral officers being allowed the liberty of the city on parole, and that he
should be obliged to place us under some little restraint. I answered that we
were prisoners, and of course subject to his orders; that we felt under great
obligations for the kindness he had thus far shown us, and hoped he would
treat us as favorably as he possibly could under his instructions. He called an
officer and ordered him to take us to Captain Turner, and to say to him, as
from General Winder "that he wished him (Captain Turner) to make us as
comfortable as he could." From the lenient manner in which we had been
treated, and the "childlike and bland" manner of General Winder when he
said that he must "place us under some little restraint," I formed a favorable
opinion of the "restraint" under which we were to be placed. I had not the
faintest idea of where we were to be taken, and the shadow of the terrible
Libby Prison, of whose horrors we had already heard so much, never once
crossed my mind. The officer went with us to our hotel, where we paid our bill
($5 each for just one day), and then after traversing several streets, we came
to a large brick warehouse on the river bank, and were taken into one of the
rooms, where we were introduced to Captain Turner and Libby Prison, in which
we were duly incarcerated, much to my astonishment and chagrin. When the
officer who came with us delivered his message to Captain Turner, I noticed
particularly that he gave him the order of General Winder in the language that
he had received it, "that General Winder wished him to make us as comfort-
able as he could." Captain Turner gave us in charge of an officer who con-
ducted us to the lower room of the tobacco warehouse, lowest down the river,
and there left us. This room was on a level with the street in front; in the
rear it was one story above the street, which lay between the prison and the
river, and on this street the basement story below us opened. There was one
door in front, well guarded, none in the rear, and an open staircase, also
guarded, leading to the rooms above, but no opening to the basement below.
The apartment in which we were confined was about one hundred feet deep,
and thirty or thirty-five feet wide. It was entirely destitute of furniture
except a wooden bench about five feet long and a foot wide, without back or
sides. There was one fire place in which was kept sufficient fire to cook such
of our rations as needed that preparation.
180 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
We found this room tenanted by eleven officers, who had been in confine-
ment for several months. I have the names as given me, of Lieutenant Par-
ker, twenty-first Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, from Worcester; Lieuten-
ant Clark, twenty-first Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry; Captain Schortz,
Lieutenants Wehn, Zimmerman, Bonsai, Morley, McAteer, Konigsburg, Lang,
and Chase, all of the twelfth Pennsylvania Cavalry. The latter were mostly
Germans and Jews. Most of the occupants were lying on the floor, some with
and some without blankets. Their principal, and for that matter, only occupa-
tion, it could not be called amusement, appeared to be card-playing. The
little bench was constantly occupied, as affording more relief to their weary
bodies than any other situation. The choice was standing, lying on the floor, or
sitting on this bench. Our arrival was quite an event with them; they gath-
ered around us, displaying a laudable degree of curiosity and interest in our his-
tory, so that we soon became well acquainted. They inquired into all the partic-
ulars of our capture, and related the storv of their own, and also of their prison
experience, which did not impress me as favoring the conclusions I had drawn
relative to my own treatment, from my intercourse with General Winder.
Neither Lieutenant Pease or myself had a blanket, none were furnished to
any prisoners by the Confederate authorities, and without one we could not
rest on the floor with any degree of comfort. Our chance for a seat on the
bench was but slight, and for myself I think I never was so weary as after two
hours in Libby Prison, and on my feet most if not all of the time. Our oppor-
tunities for locomotion were quite limited, as we were not allowed to approach
the windows either in front or rear. Those in the rear overlooked the street
and the river, which were the scene of a good deal of activity, and therefore of
some interest to persons situated as we were. Soon after coming into the room,
as I was walking back and forth, "chewing the cud of sweet and bitter recol-
lections," I approached one of these windows, when I was warned by my fellow
prisoners of the danger of being seen at a window by the guard below, and
informed that they had fired at prisoners seen looking out of those above. I
did not care to be shot while confined like a rat in a trap, and I thereafter
gave the windows a wide berth.
I now began to revolve in my own mind whether by some means I could not
improve my situation, which was becoming decidedly irksome and uncomfort-
able. I inquired of the other prisoners if they had made any' effort to procure
the means to make themselves more comfortable, and found they had not, but
had made themselves as contented as possible, as they believed that they were
now more favored, as I think they were, than any other of the inmates in the
numerous apartments of the prison. X^ibby Prison was three stories high
above the basement, and had at least six "suite of rooms/' making eighteen
in all. The rooms were, as I understood, all full, and many of them crowded
with prisoners. In some of them the occupants were overrun with vermin, of
which they could not possibly rid themselves for the want of any proper con-
veniences. All this and more other prisoners were suffering, while they, my
fellow prisoners, had room and to spare, and that which was cleanly. But "all
this did not satisfy me," and without informing my companions of my inten-
tions I determined to make an effort to make my prison life, which I had no
reason to suppose would be a brief one, more endurable than it now promised
to be.
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 181
PRISON LIFE AND CAPTAIN TURNER.
We were on the first floor, all the rooms above us were occupied, and that
with greater numbers than in our own. Orderlies were passing and repassing
quite frequently, for all the various purposes connected with the prison. I no.w
began to scrutinize them closely, and presently seeing one that I thought had
in him a full share of the milk of human kindness, I accosted him, asking him
if he was going to Captain Turner's office; he replied that he was. I then
asked him if he would deliver to Captain Turner a message from me; he
replied that he would. I then said to him, will you please present the compli-
ments of Colonel Shoemaker to Captain Turner and say to him that he (Shoe-
maker) would be pleased to see him as soon as he can make it convenient to
call. The orderly answered very politely that he would deliver my message.
Had a shell exploded in our prison my fellow captives could not have evinced
more astonishment then they did at what they deemed my audacity when they
heard the message I gave the orderly, but by the time he had passed into the
street this was succeeded by mirth at my verdancy in sending so foolish a mes-
sage. The idea of asking Captain Turner to visit me appeared to
them so ridiculous that they could not refrain from making all
manner of jokes at my expense, chaffing me, saying they had no
doubt but he would drop all other business, and come and see
what I wanted. They amused each other by making all kinds of
ridiculous surmises. In the prison the life was very monotonous, and any new
subject for thought or conversation was eagerly siezed upon as affording a
desirable change, and the most was made of it. These poor fellows had, until
our arrival, nothing to relieve the tedium of their lives. Since their incarcera-
tion one day had been the same as the other, consequently when they found
me disposed to travel so far out of the beaten path, and that too in such a
foolish manner, they for the time being were quite pleased with the idea that I
would probably by my original manner of proceeding afford them considerable
amusement, and break somewhat the monotony of their existence. I was not
in the least degree ruffled by their merriment, or turned from the course I had
determined to pursue. I was not as much disturbed by their nonsense, as by
the fact that an hour passed without seeing or hearing from Captain Turner.
In the meantime my suffering from being on my feet, in so confined a place,
or from lying on the floor, constantly increased. I made up my mind "it
would never do to give it up so," and resolved to make another effort. I accord-
ingly addressed myself to another orderly, and ascertained that he was going
to the office of Captain Turner. I requested him to deliver the same message
given the former one, which he promised me he would do. If my fellow pris-
oners were surprised to hear me send a second message, after all the sport they
had made of the first, they were simply astounded when, soon after the second
messenger had left the room, Captain Turner walked in and inquired for Col-
onel Shoemaker. I introduced myself to him in as pleasant and affable a
manner as I could assume. I then asked him if he recollected the message
sent to him by General Winder when we were brought to the prison. He said
he did not. I reminded him that it was "that he should make us as comfort-
able as he could." I then laughingly and in the most agreeable manner I could
command, added, "Captain, there are not many conveniences for making
myself comfortable here, are there ?" at the same time waving my hand toward
the different parts of the room. He smiled and replied "he thought not/' I
then said, as earnestly as I could, "Captain Turner, I do not intend to be
25
182 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
unreasonable; I am a prisoner, under your charge, and shall submit without a
murmur to whatever belongs to my situation, but I know that in a city like
Richmond you have all the means and facilities necessary to supply an army
under any circumstances." I added, "I think the message of General Win-
der justifies me in asking you to furnish me with something that would enable
me to exist here without unnecessary suffering, and to be more comfortable
than I could be as now situated, without overcoat or blanket." I said, "Cap-
tain, you must have under your control thousands of bunks and straw ticks,
something that I could sit on and lie upon, and if you will furnish me with
some resting place of this kind to relieve my weary limbs, I will feel under
great obligations to you. Captain Turner immediately replied "that he could
and would comply with my request." I then called up Lieutenant Pease and
introduced him, saying that "he came in with me, was included in the message
of General Winder, and I hoped he would send in the same things for him
that he did for myself," to all of which he readily assented. None of my fel-
low prisoners knew for what purpose J had requested Captain Turner to come
and see me, for while I was determined to make the effort, yet, from all I had
heard of the treatment of Federal officers in Libby Prison, I had grave doubts
as to my success, and even now my fellow captives said I had seen and heard
the last of Captain Turner. .They evidently considered it arrant folly for me
to look for Jor expect any act of kindness at his hands, and made themselves
quite jolly over my request, some of them saying he would probably send me a
feather bed, another that it would be a hair mattress, and they discussed the
kind of bedstead which would most probably be sent with the bed.
All this afforded them amusement, and I could not myself occasionally help
laughing at some of their grotesque ideas ; but presently in marched four stal-
wart "contrabands," two of them each with a clean burlaps tick filled with
nice clean straw, and each of the others with a common board bunk, the size of
the ticks. All this was rough, but "I liked it." The "Fifteenth Amend-
ments" inquired for Colonel Shoemaker, and reported their burdens to be for
my companion and myself. While this was being done my fellow prisoners
looked on in silent amazement, and could hardly believe the evidence of their
senses. I asked them how long they had been in prison, and learned that all
had been there for weeks, and some, I think, for months. I then inquired if
they had ever attempted to procure any alleviation of their condition, and they
frankly admitted they had not; they had never even thought of doing so, as
they had no idea that the least possible benefit would result from anything they
could do, or that any attention would be paid to any request they might make.
As for Lieutenant Pease and myself, we were now quite contented; we had a
lounging, resting, and sleeping place, and I had now a better bed to sleep on
than I had occupied at any time while with my regiment. It was evening when
our beds were brought in, and I think I never had a sweeter or sounder night's
rest than my first night in the celebrated and much dreaded Libby Prison.
On Friday I said to the other officers that, if they would make the effort, I
was satisfied that Captain Turner would treat them as he had Lieutenant Pease
and myself; that he had thousands of those bunks, and could supply them
with but little trouble. I said to them that I thought he would not make a
difference in the treatment of prisoners in the same apartment, if they would
ask to be placed on the same footing, and I assured them that I would give
them all the assistance in my power to enable them to succeed. We then
accosted orderly after orderly until we succeeded in getting a message to Cap-
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 183
tain Turner, who came to us, when we all joined in the request that he would
extend the same favor to each other officer that he had so kindly to Lieutenant
Pease and myself, and the result was that before night each prisoner was fur-
nished with a bunk and straw tick.
From being considered exceedingly foolish, I was now regarded as being
extremely wise. There is "nothing succeeds like success." Had my efforts
failed my standing with my fellow prisoners would have been very low in their
estimation; as it was, they looked upon me as almost more than human. In
such manner is the judgment of men influenced and governed.
I on this day saw Dr. Woolen, Assistant Surgeon of the thirty-seventh Indi-
ana Volunteer Infantry, who requested me, if I could do so, to communicate
his situation to his brother, W. W. Woolen, Attorney at Law, Indianapolis,
Indiana. I also saw Dr. August Hermon, of the twenty-ninth New York Vol-
unteer Infantry. They were on the second floor, immediately over our heads,
but there was a sentry on the stairs to prevent prisoners from passing from
one room to the other, and unless the sentinel was very good natured no con-
versation was allowed.
PRISON FARE.
For rations we were furnished with excellent bread, and very good soup.
Of the other articles of food I have but little knowledge, as I did not eat any
of them. The prison authorities did not provide any table furniture, and as
we had only what we had brought in with us the supply was very limited. We
had in all, two or three tin cups and several pocket knives, all of which were
used as common property, and with these were obliged to be content. As the
soup was served in pails we took turns with our tin cups, from which each man
drank his supply until all were served. We could and did buy some extras. I
paid fifty cents for half a pound of butter, the same for fourteen apples, and
twenty-five cents a quart for potatoes. Watermelons were sold for from $2.50"
to $5.00. Coffee $2.50 a pound. Of these I did not buy. My appetite was not
a craving one. I think the fact that I was a prisoner did not tend to sharpen
it, or keep it in a natural state. Of the prison fare I used only the bread and
soup. The bread was of the best quality, and plenty of it. I toasted it at our
fire-place, and with the butter I bought I quite satisfied my appetite with soup
and buttered toast. I inquired the price of flour, and found it to be $35.00 a
barrel in Richmond, and $50.00 in Atlanta. A coat that five years before could
be bought for $8.00, was now worth $75.00, and all other articles in proportion.
On Saturday we were much elated, having been informed that all the officers
in this apartment were to be taken to Aiken's Landing during the day and at
once exchanged. We were soon after ordered to "pack up," which was very
short work for some, and no work at all for most of us, as the baggage of the
former consisted of a single blanket, and that of the latter was all on our backs.
In consequence of some change in the arrangements we were ordered to "un-
pack," and informed that we would not leave until the next day. I now made
another effort to see the prisoners from Michigan who were in other parts of the
prison, particularly some with whom I was acquainted, in order that I might
carry for them any message they might wish to send to their friends, but I was
unsuccessful. Captain Turner, of whom I made the request, refused to allow
me to have any communication with them. There was at this time confined in
Libby Prison the officers of the army of General Pope, taken during his com-
184 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
mand of the army of the Potomac, among whom was Colonel William D. Wil-
kins, assistant adjutant-general, of Detroit, and several others with whom I was
well acquainted. I understood that they were treated with much greater rigor,
and severity, than any other prisoners, because of the intense bitter feeling
entertained by all Confederates for General Pope, and all his command. I was
informed by those who had seen them that their sufferings were as intolerable
as they were unnecessary ; that they were not allowed the necessaries, and were
so situated that they could not provide for the decencies of life; that they were
covered and overrun with vermin from which, so crowded were the rooms in
which they were confined, they could not rid themselves ; and that their treat-
ment generally was not only severe, but that it was barbarous. I have no doubt
but all this and more was true, and my own experience in Libby Prison, though
very brief, and more favorable than that of any other prisoner in the Confed-
eracy I ever saw or heard of, was enough to satisfy me that I did not want any
more of it. It had been long enough to become monotonous, and to satisfy
me that it would soon become tedious and difficult to bear.
EXCHANGED FREE.
On Sunday, the 21st of September, 1862, at 10 A. M., all the officers in the
prison apartment in which I was confined, and none others, left Libby Prison,
and Richmond, for Aiken's Landing. We were taken there in stage coaches
and hacks of various kinds, each officer having the privilege of riding, and of
paying his own fare, or of going on foot. When we arrived at Alken's Landing
we found there Lieutenant Colonel Ludlow, our Commissioner for the exchange
of prisoners, who with Commissioner Ould, on the part of the Confederate
authorities, was engaged in arranging the details of exchange. Colonel Ludlow
sent for me, and informed me that all the officers and enlisted men then at
the Landing were exchanged ; that of the officers exchanged I was the highest
in rank; that his engagements with the Confederate Commissioner, Mr. Ould,
would prevent his return to Fortress Monroe in the steamer with the prisoners
exchanged, and that he should place the exchanged officers and men, three
hundred and sixteen in number, in my charge. He instructed me to take them
on board the Steamer Canonicus, then lying at the wharf, where I would find
rations and clothing which I was to issue to those exchanged in my discretion,
as their several wants might require, that I was to report to General Dix at
Fortress Monroe, and await his order. I also understood Colonel Ludlow that
we were the first officers exchanged, and liberated at the time of exchange.
There had been many released on parole, and afterwards exchanged, but we
were the first actually exchanged.
THE STEAMER CANONICUS.
I was introduced to the Captain of the steamer, who installed me in a first-
class state-room, which had all the modern improvements, and refreshments on
the side-board or in the locker. I found the boat loaded with rations, stores,
and all kinds of clothing for the use and benefit of the liberated soldiers. Most
of the stores, and all of the clothing were, I think, furnished by the Christian
Commission. I organized my staff; that is to say, I detailed officers to attend
to the issuing of the rations, and others to ascertain who were in want of
clothing, others to see that they were supplied, while I exercised a whole-
some supervision over the whole proceeding. We were enabled to make many
a poor fellow comfortable, and happy. Most of the enlisted men were con-
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 185
valescents, in poor health,, unfit for duty, needing good care and nourishing
food; many of them were almost destitute of clothing, and all were in.need of
some articles to make them in any degree comfortable. It was a touching
sight to see the expression of thankfulness and satisfaction on the counte-
nances and in the manners of these poor fellows when they were made cleanly,
decently clothed, supplied with one good hearty meal, and to hear of hopes
renewed of many who had, while in prison and suffering from sickness or
wounds, almost given up in despair.
Those connected with the Christian Commission, and all others through
whose agency these much needed supplies were procured, would have felt more
than repaid for anything they had done could they have seen and heard the
grateful tears and words which were shed and said by these feeble men as
their wants were relieved, and they were made comfortable with a sufficient
supply of both food and clothing. But what most of all appeared to be upper-
most in the thoughts of the poor fellows that they were once more free,
and that they should return to their friends and their homes. No medicine
could have operated so beneficially upon them as did the hope that now sprang
up in their breasts.
As soon as all were on board we steamed down the river with our distinctive
flag, as exchange steamer, floating in the breeze, until night-fall, when the
anchor was cast overboard, and we remained stationary until morning. The
steamer could not in safety continue her course in the night as her neutral
character would not then be apparent. If she had done so the Confederates
would have fired upon her from the batteries which they had erected at
various points, and which completely commanded the river.
REFLECTIONS.
When the duties of the day were over, and in the privacy of my commodi-
ous and handsomely furnished state room, feeling that I was once more a free
man, I could not but review and reflect upon my adventures since leaving
Nashville, and while in the hands of the Confederates. Two weeks ago this
night I was taken prisoner near Tyree Springs, Tennessee, since which time I
had rode on the back of a mule and in a wagon to the headquarters of General
Bragg, on the banks of the Cumberland river, near Carthage, where I had an
interview with Generals Bragg and Hardee ; thence by wagon to Sparta, Cross-
ville, Waldron's peak, Clinch river, and Kingston, to Knoxville; from Knox-
ville to Eichmond by railroad, leaving Knoxville on Monday, at 11 A. M,,
and arriving at Richmond on Wednesday at 4 P. M., making in all eleven hun-
dred miles since leaving Nashville. I had been in Libby Prison from Thurs-
day to Sunday, and was now exchanged and on my way home, and to my reg-
iment. This all had been gone through with in two weeks, and in thinking it
over, and particularly the favorable termination of my captivity, I was satisfied
in my own mind that the knowledge I had gained in my journey through a
country as interesting as that I had passed over, and the experience I had
derived from my intercourse with Confederates, and my short confinement in
Libby Prison, more than compensated me for anything I had suffered. I
looked back with some wonder and considerable self gratulation upon the
favorable treatment I had so uniformly received while a prisoner, at the hands
of the Confederates, but more than all, and above all, that I was not only free,
but exchanged, and at liberty to rejoin my regiment. I shall always look back
186 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
upon the two weeks as among the most interesting and valuable in my army
life.
On Monday morning the Canonicus resumed her course down the river.
When we arrived at that point where the authority of the Federal government
was in the ascendant, we saw the gunboat Genesee stationed in the river acting
as a sentinel on outpost duty. At Newport News we saw the iron-clad gunboat
Galena, and between there and Fortress Monroe, and lying in the roads imme-
diately around the latter, were over one hundred steamers and vessels, the
whole combined to make a very animated and pleasing picture.
THE MONITOR.
We also saw the iron-clad floating turret battery "Monitor," which on the
9th of March encountered so successfully the Confederate iron-clad ram Merri-
mac (called by them the Virginia). There is no doubt but the Merrimac was
so crippled in the engagement as to render her comparatively useless, as she
was never after placed in service, and that certainly would have been the case
had the ram been as efficient as when, on the 8th of March she came in all her
terrible might and power, and destroyed such large, powerful, and heavily
armed ships as the Cumberland and the Congress, striking the former and
sending her to the bottom with as much apparent ease as though she had been
a cockle shell, and with almost the same rapidity sinking the latter with her
guns, with a fearful loss of life in both; and so invulnerable was this iron-clad
ram to all the guns and projectiles heretofore in use in naval warfare, that all
this was accomplished without injury to herself. Had not the little "Monitor"
so opportunely arrived, there is no estimating the damage the Merrimac might,
and without doubt would, have inflicted on the shipping, commerce, and cities
of the loyal States, for there was no other vessel in our navy, in fact, not all
of them combined could have offered her any successful resistance.
The Monitor, but for her turret and pilot house, would hardly be discerni-
ble, as her main deck is but eighteen inches above the water, and is so plated
with iron as to be proof against the heaviest ordnance. The pilot house rises
but three feet above the level of the deck. The tower or turret is round,
is in the center of the vessel, is nine feet high and twenty feet in diam-
eter, and is of iron nearly a foot in thickness. The turret is armed with
two very heavy guns, and so constructed as to revolve, bringing the guns to
bear on any point. The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac lasted
five hours; the turret of the Monitor was struck, without receiving the slightest
damage, more than twenty times by balls propelled with the same tremendous
force as had sent them through and through the frigate Congress the day pre-
vious. The Merrimac attempted to sink the Monitor as slu- had the Cumber-
land, and struck her with her ram with all the momentum and force that her
powerful engines could bring to bear, but the Monitor was proof against the
terrible shock, and emerged from this trial of her power of resistance without
having been in any manner injured, or her fighting qualities impaired. Mr.
Ericsson, her inventor and builder, believed the Monitor to be absolutely invul-
nerable, and the result of this engagement would tend to confirm that belief.
While we may say that the arrival of the Monitor, at the precise time when
it was so absolutely necessary to check or terminate the career of the Merrimac,
was providential, we should not forget to give to the Navy Department, to
Gideon J. Welles, its efficient head, and to the President, their just meed of
praise for having by their efforts procured the only vessel by which the destruc-
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 187
tive race of the Merrimac wan so soon terminated. But most of all I think, is
credit due to Captain John L. Worden and his brave crew, who ventured from
New York in a vessel of such novel construction, and such untried powers that
even its sea-going qualities were a matter of conjecture; and it was perhaps as
much a subject of doubt as to the ability of the vessel to contend with the sea
and reach Fortress Monroe, as of the power of resistance and destruction it
would display when called upon- to encounter the enemy. I know of no more
heroic action than that of Captain Worden and his crew in braving, under
such circumstances, as they did without hesitation, both the perils of the deep
and of battle with a foe which had proven herself as formidable as had the
Merrimac in her encounter with the Cumberland and Congress. These men,
by their fearless conduct on the sea and in battle, have laid their country
under an everlasting debt of gratitude.
We were witnesses of the effect of the destructive course of the Merrimac,
for there, but a short distance from us, projecting from the water and plainly
to be seen from where our steamer was lying at anchor, were the tops of the
masts and portions of the sails, all set as they were, of the ships of war Cumber-
land and Congress, still marking the place where they went down before their
terrible, and to them irresistible, foe. It would have been a source of much
gratification if the Monitor could have arrived a few hours sooner, and have
saved those noble vessels, and the brave men whose lives were sacrificed in them.
FORTRESS MONROE AND ANNAPOLIS.
Our arrival having been reported to General Dix, I received the following
order :
HEADQUARTERS SEVENTH ARMY CORPS, )
. Fort Monroe, Sept. 22,. 1862. \
Colonel Shoemaker, 13th Regiment Michigan Volunteers:
COLONEL, You will proceed to Annapolis, with the officers and men placed under
your charge at Aikins Landing, and report them to the commanding officer at that
post. By command of MAJOR GENERAL DIX.
THOS. H. LUDLOW,
Lieut. Col. and Inspector General, 7th Army Corps.
The officers and men were now all transferred to the steamer Commodore,
for the trip to Annapolis. We steamed away from Fortress Monroe Monday
evening, and Tuesday morning found ourselves at the wharf at Annapolis.
I reported to General Thomas, adjutant-general of the armies of the United
States, who was there. He received me very kindly, and on inquiry, learning
that I was nearly out of money, gave me an order for the two months' pay then
due me. I at once obtained the money on the order of Major P. R. Dodge, a
paymaster then in Annapolis. I also met Colonel Stan ton, who was either an
officer on the staff of General Thomas or connected with the pay department.
After drawing ni} 7 pay, as I was on the street with Lieutenant Pease, I pro-
posed that as we were at the headquarters of the oyster trade we should go into
a restaurant and have a dish. We did so, and were not disappointed either as
to their quality or the satisfaction derived from eating them. I had not seen
an oyster since leaving Jackson, and my recollection is that I thought those at
Annapolis were the finest and best I had ever tasted. With our oysters we had
a glass of ale, then a cigar. When I called for the bill, and was told it was
but twenty-five cents each, I could hardly believe the evidence of my senses.
I had so long been accustomed to Confederate prices that I found it difficult to
188 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
realize that even at the home of the oyster it was possible to furnish such a
repast for so small an amount of money.
I called by appointment on General Thomas ; he ordered the steamer to Bal-
timore, and directed me to continue in command of the exchanged officers and
soldiers until we arrived there. He extended my leave of absence thirty days
(it was originally thirty days),and gave me the necessary papers so that I could
draw transportation in joining my regiment. He now inquired very particu-
larly about the treatment of prisoners at Richmond, and was very indignant
when he heard of the manner in which those of General Pope's command were
abused, and of the threats which were made of considering them highway rob-
bers, and not entitled to be considered prisoners of war. General Thomas
declared that no more prisoners should be exchanged until the Confederate
authorities would consent to release or exchange all from General Pope's
army. I have reason to believe that my representations had some effect, for all
these prisoners were soon after exchanged. After a somewhat extended inter-
view I left General Thomas and rejoined Lieutenant Pease.
On our way to the boat, the taste of those oysters still lingering in our mouths
we decided that we preferred them to the fare on the Commodore, and went
into the restaurant and ordered a second dish. We finished them at our leisure,
drank our ale, smoked our cigars. We then started for the steamboat, which
to our consternation we found had left the dock, and was at some distance in
the bay, steaming away towards Baltimore. In the crowded state of the boat
the Captain supposed we were on board, and started somewhat sooner than
we thought he would. Fortunately we found another steamboat about to leave
for Baltimore, on which were officers and men who had been taken prisoners at
Harper's Ferry on the 15th of September, and released on parole, or under an
agreement that they should not serve against the Confedracy until exchanged,
and were being sent to Minnesota and the Northwest until they could again
take their place in the armies in the South. We went on board this boat
unquestioned, and mingled with those who rightfully belonged there. Here
the good fortune which had attended me from the time of my capture did not
desert me, for this steamboat was a faster boat than the Commodore, and .we
arrived in Baltimore enough in advance to enable me to be on the wharf when
the latter arrived. I immediately went on board and found that our absence
had not been noticed, and thus it was that we went from Annapolis to Balti-
more on one boat without any person on it knowing that we did not belong-
there, while on our own it was not known that we were absent.
After making the proper reports, and being discharged from further duty in
connection with the Commodore and the exchanged prisoners, I went into the
town and bought a shirt, some collars, a cravat, and pair of drawers, so that I
could change my underclothing, which I had not been able to do since leaving
Nashville. I then went to a hotel, took tea, changed my clothing, and at 7 P.
M. left by railroad for New York, where I arrived at 8 A. M. on Wednesday,
September 24, 1862, and took quarters at the Astor House. I replenished my
wardrobe during the day, and left on a sleeping car on the night train on the
Central Railroad, arriving at home (Jackson, Michigan,) at 1 :30 A. M. on
Friday.
Soon after my return my infant son, Michael Shoemaker, who was born on
the 15th of June while I was at Tuscumbia, in Alabama, and whom I had
never seen until I came home, was taken sick, and died on the 9th of October.
I left Jackson on the 27th of October and joined my regiment at Glasgow, Ky.,
on the 1st dav of November, 1862.
WAR SKETCH BY COL. SHOEMAKER. 189
A MICHIGAN GEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION IN 1837:
BY BELA HUBBARD, ESQ., OP DETROIT.
Read before tbe Wayne County Pioneer Society, February 5th, 1872.
Gentlemen of the Pioneer Society:
A recent paper read before this Society by William Jennison, Esq., giving an
interesting description of the Saginaw valley, as seen by him in 1850, suggests
some incidents of an expedition into the same valley, in which the writer of
this had a share, thirteen years before. At the request of your importunate
President, I. have undertaken to jot down some of my reminiscences of that
journey. These, if they have no other interest, may serve to show the progress
of enterprise and settlement in that region, and bring into contrast its feeble
beginning and privations of the past, with its present abounding prosperity.
In 1837, the State of Michigan, then in the first year of its young but vigor-
ous existence, organized a State Geological Survey; but the scanty appropria-
tion sufficed only to enable its projector to accomplish, during that year, a
limited reconnoissance. This extended, nevertheless, to some degree, into the
almost unexplored portion of the Lower Peninsula.
Salt springs were known to exist, particularly in the vicinity of Grand and
Saginaw rivers, and the few facts known of the rocks which constituted most
of the coast lines, and made occasional outcrops in the interior, were sufficient
to indicate the probability of the existence of coal and gypsum. It was re-
quired by the act that an examination and report upon the salt springs should
be made at the end of the first season.
It is my intention to relate some of the incidents of a trip or short cam-
paign, if I may so term it, made in the fall of 1837, for the purpose of an
examination of these springs, and such other geological discoveries as might
be made in the country traversed by those great natural highways, the streams
tributary to the Saginaw. The party consisted of four individuals : Dr. Hough-
ton, the State Geologist,and three assistants Mr. C. C. Douglass, the writer,
and a dog. The latter was no inconsequential member of the corps, and
had, like the rest, his appointed duties to perform. Dash was his name;
indicative also of his nature.
This was before the day of railroads, although the young State had already
projected its magnificent scheme of internal improvements, and for a consider-
able part of our contemplated route there were no highways but the streams.
Our plan was to reach, by private conveyance, some point on the Shiawassee
river, whence we could embark in a canoe and descend to the Saginaw. Loading
26
190 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
into a wagon at Detroit our few traps, which consisted of a tent, provisions, an
ax and a gun, in the afternoon of September 13, 1837, we proceeded as far as
Eoyal Oak, where we encamped by the roadside in the independent mode com-
mon to immigrants of that period. To the writer the situation had the charm
which youth always finds in novelty. I will not detain you with incidents, and
will only mention the few villages through which we passed. Prominent
among these was Pontiac. The first settler, Mr. Williams, came to this place
in 1817 or 1818 with an exploring party, among whom was Governor Cass.
This whole region was then supposed to be an interminable morass, and so wild
and dangerous was this expedition thought to be that the party, before setting
forth, took leave of their friends with all the solemnity befitting so grave an
occasion. At the time of my visit Pontiac was a pretty, business-like place.
It had been settled thirteen years, but had just received an act of incorpora-
tion by the legislature. It has always retained its bustling character, while
growing rapidly from a thriving hamlet into a beautiful and well-built city.
The surrounding country seemed to our eyes far enough removed from the
gloomy morass which wild imaginations had depicted it twenty years before.
It appeared to me the most beautiful the sun ever shone upon. It was of the
character then beginning to be classed as "openings," characterized by a
gravelly soil, and a sparse growth of oaks and hickories. I speak in the past
tense, because, though the rural beauty of the country is still unrivaled, little
remains of the original character of the openings. This is a result partly of
the progress of civilization, and partly of the thick growth of small timber
that has covered all the uncultivated portions since the annual fires have
ceased, which kept down the underbrush.
Elevated 400 feet above Detroit river, broken into hills and knobs, which
rise frequently 100 feet and more above the surrounding surface, with inter-
vening vales and hollows forming basins and lakes of the clearest water, in
the midst of a park of nature's sole forming, inimitable by the hand of art,
this lake region of Michigan deserves its celebrity.
But at the period I allude to no straight-fenced roads shut in the highway,
and travelers might wind at will through the superb natural park, trampling
down only the flowers that in many places created glowing parterres, catching
many a bright reflection from the limpid lakes, and sometimes stealing distant
sight of a herd of deer scarcely more wild than the peaceful landscape over
which they roamed. Climbing a tree on one of the most elevated knobs, I had
a view over probably the whole of Oakland county; seven lakes lay at my feet;
on the north and west undulations like heavy swells of the sea, and on the east
a level plain stretching to the horizon like an ocean's verge.
Byron, in the southeast corner of Shiawassee county, was the termination of
our wagon journey. The name had long occupied a prominent place on all the
old maps of Michigan at that time a decade was antiquity and held out to
the new-comer the promise of a large and thriving village. The reality was
disappointing. It possessed, all told, but a mill and two houses. Fentonville,
though of more recent origin, had outgrown it, and boasted a tavern, a store,
and several frame tenements.
At Byron we exchanged our wagon for a canoe, and commenced a descent of
Shiawassee river. From Byron to Owosso, about twenty miles direct (but many
more by the course of the stream), our way lay mostly through lands more
heavily timbered, but varied with openings and occasion plains. Through
A MICHIGAN GEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION. 191
this part of the country roads had been opened, and settlements had made
rapid progress.
We were now to make our way by the aid of the current, but this meant not
all plain sailing nor luxurious enjoyment. The river was interrupted by num-
erous rapids, of difficult if not dangerous navigation, and over these shallows
we had to drag the canoe. As this necessitated getting into the water, we were
provided with water-tight boots that turned up to the thighs.
At the approach of night a favorable landing was selected, and a new divi-
sion of labor took place. While one cleared the spot and pitched the tent,
another cut wood for the fire, and a third prepared the evening meal. Your
humble servant, being installed into the ancient and honorable dignity of
cook, had this duty to perform. Any one who has sweetened his food with the
sauce of hunger knows how little culinary art is requisite to satisfy famishing
guests. Indeed, a piece of fat pork fried upon a stick over the camp fire, after
hours of labor in the wilderness, is a morsel sweeter than any which the pam-
pered epicure knows. To this standard dish our one gun enabled us to add
such small game as we chose to take the trouble to obtain.
But my position involved also a duty which might be supposed of less easy
accomplishment, viz. : the cleaning of the dishes. Fortunately, I was permit-
ted to make free of the assistance of the fourth member of our family. Dash,
being properly educated to this service, was not allowed his own dinner until
he had thoroughly and impartially scoured our tin plates and sauce-pan ; in
which duty I must do him the justice to say, he proved a skillful adept. Indeed,
after long experience, I am prepared to recommend dog's tongue as more
effectual than any dish-cloth, with all the aids of hot water and soap. After
this process, a simple rinsing in the clear water of the river constituted all the
additional operation that the most fastidious could demand.
Several years had passed since the extinguishment of the Indian titlejto the
lands of the Chippewas, who had claimed this part of the peninsula. But
many and extensive reservations lined the Shiawassee and other of the tribu-
taries of the Saginaw, and the natives had as yet felt too little of that fatal
spell, which falls upon them with the very beginning of the white settlements,
to have abandoned much of their old habits.
As we followed down the stream memorials of the present and recent Indian
occupation were frequent. Sometimes we passed huts, constructed of poles,
and thatched bark; but only a few women and children were visible. At
one place on the bank were ten graves, over which a sort of tomb had been
erected, built of logs. Trails were frequent, and on one of these we came upon
a tree containing an Indian symbolic epistle. There were figures of men and
horses, but we were unable to decipher the meaning. At another place was a
cache, a pit for hiding provisions. Many of the Indian clearings stretched for
several continuous miles, and many acres bordering the river were covered
with the luxuriant maize, the chief cultivated food of the natives. These
plantations receive the name of villages, because they are resorted to by the
tribes at the periods of cultivation and harvest. But, in fact, these people had
no fixed habitations, but wandered like the Arabs their eastern cousins
from place to place, in patriarchial bands, finding such sustenance as the
woods and waters afforded, and pursuing the occupation of trapping and bar-
ter with the Indian traders. At this time also fhey were much scattered by the
small-pox, a disease recently introduced by the whites, and which had proved
very fatal to the aboriginal inhabitants of this part of Michigan.
192 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Indian trading-houses were a frequent feature, that served to connect the
wildness of savage life with the incoming civilization. Five miles above Shia-
wasseetown was a small Indian village, upon what was known as Knagg's
reservation, and at a short distance was the house of a trader Beaubien.
Williams, the first settler, came here six years before (1831 and opened a trad-
ing store, as an agent of that extensive enterprise the American Fur Com-
pany. A frame house had since been erected, and a few acres cleared, the
small beginning of one of those invasions of the Saxon upon the savage, which,
in an incredibly short period, will leave the latter not even his grave. Shia-
wasseetown, at this time, contained a dozen log cabins and as many frajnes
unfinished. One of these was of quite a superior construction, and indicative
of the era of speculation through which the country had passed. It was three
stories in height and designed for a hotel. The whole village was under mort-
gage and was advertised to be sold at public vendue.
Corunna, the county seat, we found to consist of one log house, situated
upon the bank of the river, and occupied by a Mr. Davis, who a year before,
and soon after the organization of the county, had made an entry here. A
steam-mill was in process of erection. About twenty acres of land had been
cleared and planted, and never did crystal stream have a more fertile soil.
Three miles below was "located" the village of Owosso, already a thriving set-
tlement, containing a dozen log buildings, one frame one and a saw-mill. With
the exception of a few scattered settlers upon the plains south of the line of
the present Detroit & Milwaukee railway, such constituted the entire white
population of Shiawassee county.
In the early part of the season, during the progress of the geological survey,
beds of bituminous coal had been discovered in the bank of Grand river, in
Ingham and Eaton counties, and the rocks met with through the central part
of Shiawassee belonging to the "coal measures" gave hope of finding an
outcrop here. Prospecting was accordingly commenced by us at Corunna, but,
with the slender means at command, did not prove successful. Yet sufficient was
determined from the character and dip of the rocks and other indications, to
warrant a recommendation to the settlers to continue the investigation. The
result was the finding of coal at Corunna soon after, which, though not of a
very remunerative thickness, has been used to a considerable extent ever
since. And more recently a much better portion of the bed has been opened,
which is said to promise valuable results.
I will add that the year's explorations determined the boundaries of the
southerly half of the coal basin of Michigan. Its extent to the north yet
remains a problem, to be solved by the hardy pioneers and explorers who, for
a few years past, have been to work so determinedly to bring into the markets
of the world that rich and important portion of our State.
A mile below Owosso we passed the last of the white clearings, and made
our night's encampment within Big Rock Reservation, twelve miles below that
village and twenty from Saginaw.
We were now entered upon the wild and primeval forest, extending in a soli-
tude unbroken by any human sight or sound, except the cabin of the natives
and the hut of the Indian trader, to the shores of the Upper Lakes. For the
first time I was startled in my slumbers by the "wolf's long howl," mingled
with the hooting of an owl. Hitherto we had encountered at every few miles
the cabin of some adventurous pioneer, for whom the forest bad no terrors, but
now we were alone with Nature. We could appreciate, in its full extent, the
A MICHIGAN GEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION. 193
solitude, the boundlessness, the sublimity of this earliest of earth's offspring
the grand, old, untutored forest.
He who has only traversed woodlands, where at every few miles he meets a
road leading to civilized belongings, knows little of the sense of awe inspired
by a forest solitude that has never echoed to the woodman's ax, and where
every footstep conducts only into regions more mysterious and unknown.
The woods of this part of Michigan comprised a very mingled growth. Oaks,
not gnarled and spreading, as in more open lands, but at once massive and
tall, and of centuries' age ; the elm, the most graceful and majestic of trees of
any land; the tulip, or whitewood, magnificent in size and height above even
the Titans of the forest; the broad and green-leaved linden; the clean-bodied
beech; the saccharine maples, so superb in the autumnal dresses dyed like
Joseph's coat, of many colors; the giant sycamore, ghost-like with its white,
naked limbs these are the common habitants of the forest ; with other kinds,
each possessing its peculiar grace, and a use and beauty almost unknown in
other lands. We had reached, too, the latitude of the evergreens, which from
hence, northward, to the farthest limits, became a distinguishing feature of the
Michigan forests, imparting to them a more wonderful variety and majesty.
Many a towering pine, 150 feet in height, now began to lift its head above its
fellow-inhabiters, green through youth and age, through verdure and frosts.
In many places the desert gloom was deepened by the dense and sombre shade
of hemlocks, which bent their graceful spray to the earth, and almost shut
out the light of day.
We took the measure of a white oak that stood at the border of the timbered
land and the openings, which I here note as worthy of record. It was 35 feet
in circumference, nearly twelve feet diameter. A very respectable tree to be
found out of California.
No kind of travel can be imagined more romantically charming than that of
floating down the current of one of these large and rapid streams that water
this portion of Michigan, piercing the heart of the trackless wilderness. The
trees along the banks, instead of forming upright walls, exhibiting the naked
trunks of the tall woodland monarchs, throw out thick branches to the sun-
light, and bend gracefully to the water, as if to form a screen to the forest
depths. Wild fowl were easily approached at almost every bend, affording an
ample supply of fresh food, without the fatigue of hunting, and at night .the
camp is made beneath the leafy arches and lulled by the murmur of the stream
or the roar of the wind in the pine tops.
Descending now a wider stream, with a smooth and gentle current, we
passed successively the mouths of these long feeders to the greater stream
the Flint, the Cass, and the Tittabawassee and on the 23d of September
were opposite Saginaw City.
The last few miles had presented to our view the first irreclaimable marsh
we had seen, and here there was plenty of it. The "city" occupied what
seemed to be the only considerable elevation for many miles, being -about
thirty feet above the river.
The paper read to you in December by Mr. Jennison gave so full and minute
a history of the settlement of the Saginaw Valley that I avoid repetition. I
will only refresh your recollection by stating that the general government
erected a fort here in 1820, and at the same time was established a center of
Indian trade by the American Fur Company. The country had been visited
194 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
by General Cass the year previous, and a treaty effected with the native chiefs,
by which the lands of the Chippeway were ceded to the United States.
The oldest settlement for farming purposes was made about 1829, and the
present site of Saginaw City laid out in 1835. This was just before the height
of that mad fever of speculation into which so many plunged wildly, and
which built in the wilderness many prospective cities, most of them existing
only in the privileged future or on paper plats. Saginaw was one of the few
that had good foundation for its celebrity ; though as yet there had been little
realization of its dreams of future greatness.
My notes record that the city comprised nearly fifty frame houses, four stores^
one a handsome dry goods and grocery store, on a large scale, two ware-
houses and others in progress, a small church, two steam saw-mills, and in
process of erection a large edifice to be called the "Webster Hcoise." This
already made a sightly appearance, being 60x80 feet. All were of wood. The
stockades of the fort still remained. They were some ten feet in height and
surrounded about an acre, I believe that the abandonment of this fortress
was occasioned by sickness among the troops in 1824, three-fourths of the gar-
rison being ill at once of the fevers of the country. I can add but few to the
list of names, illustrious in the Saginaw annals, already given you, but I met
there, and I well remember, the Littles Norman and William P.; Hiram
Miller and James Frasier, Judge Riggs, Mr. Watson and Mr. Lyon; men
to whose energy and practical wisdom the valley owes so large a share of its
prosperity. It has been stated that the mill known as Emerson's was erected
in 1834. I have no recollection of any mill on the east side at the date I record,
and the distinguished individual whose name it bears was, at that time, still
delighting the happy citizens of Detroit by his curt and vehement eloquence.
If three mills existed at Saginaw in the fall of 1837, they were certainly the
only ones (with one exception) upon that river, as the "city" was the only set-
tlement, if we except a few solitary cabins.
Where now the busy and populous cities of East Saginaw, Bay City, Weno-
na, and Portsmouth, numbering their many thousands, stretch almost into
a continuous village, for twenty miles below, where the clangor of a hundred
mills mingles with the puff of steamers and the scream of the locomotive, and
a scene of industry, enterprise, and thrift is exhibited which few spots on this
earth can rival, was at the period of my visit a solitude, resonant only with the
grand, still voices of nature. Beyond the settlement, immediately about the
"city" extended the untrimmed forest, as vast and almost as undisturbed as
when to the eyes of De Tocqueville it was a "real desert."
Having advanced so far with my narrative, I ought, perhaps, in the manner
of story-tellers, though mine is no fiction, to give a description of the per-
sonal appearance of my personages. Though nearly a generation has passed
since the death of Dr. Houghton, no doubt most of those here present will
remember the peculiar characteristics of one not easily forgotten; his diminu-
tive stsrture, his keen blue eye, his quick, active motions the strong sense
and energy of his words, when dealing with matters of science, and his indom-
itable perseverance in carrying out his designs. They will remember too, his
love of fun, and his hilarious manner of telling a comic story. Of such he
had a large fund, and a happy way of using, preserving a grave countenance
until he got through, and then joining in the laugh with a peculiar cachinna-
tion, so contagious as to be alone sufficient to set every one in a roar. He was
no carpet knight of science, and on his geological excursions never flinched from
A MICHIGAN GEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION. 195
hard work and exposure. On these occasions he usually wore a suit of gray,
the coat having large side-pockets, and hanging loosely upon his small frame.
The hands and feet were very small, but the latter were encased in boots that
came almost to his thighs. His shocking bad hat was broad-brimmed and
slouched, and his whole appearance was that of a battered, weather-worn
back- woodsman.
I remember meeting him a few years later, when his scientific mind and
energetic body had unraveled the mysteries of the mineral region of Lake
Superior, and 'when the new fame of that region had called hosts of scientists
to those yet wild shores. He had just landed at Eagle river, fresh from one of
his rough expeditions, and was immediately hailed and surrounded by men
known over the whole land for their scientific learning, to whose figures and
bearing his own presented a striking contrast. Yet these men bowed to his
superior knowledge sagacity, I might term it and one of them frankly said,
in my hearing, that "the -little, rough-looking doctor carried more true knowl-
edge *in his cranium than all the big heads put together."
I am the more reminded of the personal appearance of our party by an inci-
dent which occurred on the occasion of our return to Saginaw from a similar
expedition in the following spring. We happened to be there at the time of the
marriage of a sister of Mr. Little, and were among the distinguished guests
invited to the wedding. Now, it chanced that one of the corps I will not say
wno had, with false economy, donned for the expedition a suit of old clothes,
which proved to be unequal to the rough usage imposed upon them. When we
reached Saginaw he was literally in tatters. A hole garnished each elbow,
another became visible when either arm was raised. I have already alluded to
the uncouth boots we wore. They were worn outside the pantaloons, and when
not on river service the wide tops were turned down from the knee. The soles
had uncommon width the rule which regulated surveyors' boots being that
these should project so far beyond the uppers that a mouse might run round
on them. As the other members of the corps were in little better condition
none of us having a wedding garment we would gladly have tendered our
regrets, but the persuasive words of our host were not to be withstood. When
I say that we went, I shall only add that, although an apparition so unusual
among a company of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen might well have occa-
sioned remark, the good sense and true politeness of our host and his guests
saved us from mortification and left no cause to repent the venture.
As I have undertaken to describe the personnel of our party, I must not
omit some further mention of its fourth member. Dash was of Spanish blood,
and fond of the water. In the supply of our larder he performed the service
of bringing to our boat the wild fowl, that we occasionally shot, and which were
abundant in these waters. Nature had furnished him with capacious paws, and
no game could escape when once within their grip. He had a habit of coming
upon game with his mouth wide open. On one occasion, seeing what he sup-
posed to be a bird floating, he swam toward it, with mouth stretched as usual,
and making a grab, his jaws came together, with a sudden and loud snap, over
a piece of foam. Never was dog more puzzled. He looked about with an air
of great amazement, and returned very sheepishly to be drawn into the boat.
I will relate another anecdote, as showing how he improved in his scientific
education. On a future occasion, being sent out for a wounded "diver," and not
comprehending the resource of that active and sharp-witted fowl, on the dog's
near approach the duck suddenly dived out of sight. Dash was in evident
196 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
bewilderment, and unable to account for the sudden disappearance. But he
was not a dog to be discouraged by so difficult a problem, and after the trick
had been several times repeated a glimmer of the true state of the case entered
his canine brain. This accomplished, he was equal to the emergency ; for when
diver again went down Dash followed, and both were for some time out of
sight. But the dog came up victor, with the bird in his mouth.
As it was in our plan to inspect the salt springs on the Tittabawassee, we
had forwarded to Saginaw from Detroit supplies of biscuit, relying upon the
country for our pork. But none was to be had, and we were compelled to
resume our journey as destitute of that important item as were the poor in-
habitants themselves, who, with a large stock of merchandise, and the great
name of city were awaiting the arrival of a schooner to obtain the common
necessaries of life. It was to be hoped they were better off for intellectual
food, for the place supported a public journal.
Having obtained an order for a more suitable canoe and a guide, we bade
temporary adieu to Saginaw (September 25th), but were forced by a heavy
rain to seek shelter at the house of a Mr. Gardner, a short distance above,
where fortunately we procured a few pounds of pork. Here at evening a few
neighbors dropped in, and we consumed the time pleasantly in tales of hunt-
ing adventures and fearful Indian murders!
The next day found us at a village of the Chippewas, sixteen miles from
Saginaw. It consisted of a few lodges, mostly deserted. These differed from
the wigwams I had elsewhere seen, being built larger, of strong poles, covered
and also lined with bark, and of dimensions sufficient to accommodate, after
the native fashion, a family of ten to twenty persons.
Several fields of maize, of about twenty acres each, constituted the cultiva-
tion. They were plowed and planted with regularity, and showed a good
degree of agricultural advancement.
That dire disease, the small-pox, next to "fire-water," the most fatal gift of
the whites, had made cruel havoc among this band, and nearly annihilated it.
It was said that out of 500 or 600 not more than one-thir,d were left.
We had secured for interpreter and guide a half-breed named Pierre Gruet,
who spoke fluently the French, English, and Indian languages, and being
desirous to obtain a canoe belonging to the chief, I went with the interpreter,
late in the evening, to his lodge. This old chief bore the name of Ba-mos-ceya
"Dried in the sun." We sat with him an hour, though he and his family
had gone to rest some time before. He seemed glad of the interruption, for
the desolation of his band had made the old man lonely. Two of his three
wives had died, and his lodge, about sixteen feet square, was occupied by him
with his remaining wife and a large family of children.
He sat upon the bed in his blanket, naked to the waist, and talked with
much energy on the subject nearest to his heart, for we did not interrupt him.
He told how a strong disease had attacked the little band, until one by one
they dropped away, and dying families left their dead unburied or covered
with sand upon the beach. What greatly increased their distress was the
refusal of the Government agents to assist them. Through fear of the disease
they deserted the sufferers in their utmost want, when wholly unable to hunt,
withholding the supplies so much needed, and that were due them by treaties,
thus permitting the band to perish of sickness and starvation. To the shame
of humanity this charge was too true.
At the forks of the Tittabawassee and Pine rivers we found several log cab-
A MICHIGAN GEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION. 197
ins, one of which had been occupied as a trading post. They were inhabited
by half-breeds. A Frenchman, with his Indian wives, occupied the trading-
house. I saw there a young grand-daughter of 'old Ba-mos-ceya a beautiful
half-breed, with brilliant black eyes. Some of the girls of these Chippewa
reserves had regular features that even among white beauties would be es-
teemed handsome. Altogether they were a fine-looking tribe. In general
notwithstanding the pleasing poetic fictions of poets and painters it is rare
to find much beauty of feature among the Indian women; though the men
have often lithe, manly figures.
It was still common enough to find, along the shores of the great lakes and
rivers, which had been so long the highways of these lawless rangers the
coureurs-de-bois during the flourishing period of the fur trade, the cabin of
a Canadian, who, with his Indian wife, or wives, and a troop of half-breed
children, had completely adopted the native habits. He lived a half vagabond
life, depending upon fishing and trapping, and sometimes finding employment
as a voyageur.
A fair specimen of this class was our guide, Pierre Cruet. Of mixed French
and Indian blood, it was hard to tell of which character he most partook.
Equally at home in the Canadian cabin and the Indian wigwam, he seemed to
be acquainted with every individual of either race that we met, and had a
world of talk to unburden himself of whenever we passed a lodge or met a
canoe. French joviality was in him united with savage willfulness. Well
enough when confined to his profession of guide and interpreter; as a worker
one American was worth a dozen of him.
Opposite these forks of the river had been 'located" the village of Mid-
land; but it was a village without inhabitants.
Ascending Salt river, we completed such examination of the springs as the
heavy rains of the season permitted. The year following the State commenced
boring for a salt well near this point, but after a season's labor, with favorable
results, the many discouragements attending the work caused its abandon-
ment. Not the least of these was the necessity of sending to Detroit, with long
delays and great expense, for everything needed, even for the repairs of the
augers. It was not until many years afterward, and when along these vast
water-courses populous towns had sprung up, that the conclusions of science
were brought to a full practical test by the establishment of salt wells on the
Saginaw; with what success you are all familiar.
I will only say, that in strength and purity the salt of the Saginaw Valley is
fully equal to the celebrated article so extensively made in Central New York;
that it can be more cheaply manufactured; and, with the increasing facilities
for market, is destined to be a very important part of the wealth of Michigan.
Already Saginaw furnishes a supply one-half as large as the famous Onondaga.
We had now penetrated into the wilderness many miles beyond the most
remote of the settlements of the Anglo-Saxon. Wild game was very abundant
but we had not the time nor means to pursue it. Besides deer, we had often
seen along the shore tracks of the elk, and sometimes of the moose, an animal
almost extinct. Occasionally an otter raised his head above the water, or
plunged into it from the bank. We found fresh marks of the labors of the
beaver, that most interesting creature, once existing hereabouts in immense
numbers, and now quite hunted to the death. We had shot a snow owl, and
driven an eagle from his eyrie, and had been regaled with bear's meat, fur-
nished us by the Indians.
27
198 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
How lovely to our unaccustomed eyes did nature appear in these solitudes.
The first frosts had fallen, and tinged the maples with yellow, orange, and
crimson; the beech was beginning to assume its russet coat, and the hickories
their brilliant yellow, gleaming in the soft autumn sun like towers of gold!
The river banks, densely wooded, and overrun by the scarlet ivy, were truly
magnificent. In strong contrast with these brilliant colors of the autumn was
the dark green almost black in the shadow of the thick woodland of the
hemlock and fir, amid which shone the white bark of the silver birch; and
above all reared the verdant heads of many a lofty pine.
As yet no lumberman's ax had sought to desecrate these glorious shades,
nor the speculator to count the dollars that lay hid in the hearts of these mighty
pines. But marvelous changes were in the not distant future. The traffic in
lumber, in the region watered by the Saginaw and its tributaries, which had
hardly its beginning a decade after the period I am describing, has in our day
reached dimensions of which the wildest brain could not then have dreamed.
The main river, for twenty miles from the city of Saginaw to its mouth, is
lined with mills. Mainly from this source of wealth numerous cities have
sprung into vigorous existence, and 500,000,000 feet of lumber are sent annu-
ally by water and rail, south, east, and west, thousands of miles. Michigan
pine is in demand, even within the sound of the lumber woods of Maine and
Pennsylvania.
I recently visited Midland; not as before, by the slow progress of a little
boat, propelled by hands, but in the magnificent cars of the Flint & Pere Mar-
quette Railway, transported by the wings of steam. Where in 1837 was laid
the wilderness city of Midland a site without an inhabitant, and approachable
only by the river now stands the busy, prosperous county seat. A railway
connects it with Saginaw, and is rapidly leaving' its iron-shod feet far beyond,
and joining hands with those vigorous pioneers on our western coasts, that are
rapidly pushing on to the Straits of Mackinac. A street of shops, hotels, and
other buildings, parallel with the river, forms the center of a town which cov-
ers, scatteringly, a mile square, with its churches, mills, and comfortable
homes.
I passed forty miles further on to the northwest. The scene was a revelation.
We are accustomed to regard the railroad as a creation that follows in the wake
of man's progress. Here it is the pioneer, the precurser of civilization. It
has pierced the heart of the hitherto unbroken wilderness ; cutting for itself a
narrow path, where on either side tall pines and other trees rise into a straight
and lofty wall, admitting no prospect, except the narrow line of light that
diminishes to a thread in the distance. No time has been allowed for clearings
and the ordinary attendants of cultivation; these are all to follow. But saw-
mills have sprung up along its magic path, and line the road so thickty that,
for nearly the whole distance, I might count an average of two mills to every
mile; and all this accomplished within little more than a year.
Having accomplished our river explorations, we prepared for an expedition
attended with some danger at that late season. This was a coasting voyage,
from Saginaw to Port Huron, performed in the canoe which had been pro-
cured at the Chippewa reservation. It was a "dug-out" of wood, thirty feet
long, but so narrow that, seated in the line of the center, we could use a
paddle on either side. In this puny craft we were to undertake, in the middle
of October, a lake journey of 150 miles.
We descended the Saginaw, which then exhibited few evidences of its com-
ing greatness. East Saginaw had no existence. The village of Carrolton had
A MICHIGAN GEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION.
been platted, four miles below Saginaw City, and consisted of a two-story log
house, used years lang syne as a trading post. Portsmouth contained a steam;
mill, four log cabins and two board shanties, lying just above high water mark.
Lower Saginaw now Bay City occupied somewhat higher ground, and
boasted a pretty frame office used as a chapel, and two or more log huts. It
was an infant of one year. In preparation was the frame of a hotel, which,
in accordance with the usual custom of the flush times already sadly gone
was large enough to accommodate half the county.
I must here mention a fact which I have never seen alluded to, viz., that we
found at several places along the river, and sparingly on the Tittabawassee,.
apple trees. They produced agreeable fruit, and some were apparently of a
century's growth. I will not speculate upon their origin; whether the seeds
were brought here in the fruit and accidentally planted by the coureurs de bois
from the French orchards of Canada, or whether they have a date still more
remote. It is curious to note that some of the earliest travelers allude to-
orchards, then in profuse bearing, upon islands in the Detroit river. I leave
the problem to the antiquary.
Emerging into the bay we encountered, at the Kawkawlin river, the last
trace of civilized footsteps which we were to see for many days. It was a camp-
of United States surveyors, the Eousseaus, where we were entertained for the
night with all the hospitality that it is common to find among those who dwell
beyond the pale of "good society/'^ Unfortunately for our appreciation of
these good fellows, it subsequently appeared that the returns of these surveyors
were so made up and false that entire townships had to be resurveyed by the
Government. Corruption in places of public trust is not alone of modern origin.
Memorials of the native inhabitants were still frequent. Upon a swelling
knoll over-looking the bay, in the midst of a tract of country from which all
the timber had been burned, was a spot which seemed to have been dedicated
to the evil Manitou. Here an altar was erected composed of two large stones
several feet in height, with a flat top and broad base. About it were smaller
stones which were covered with propitiatory offerings bits of tobacco, pieces
of tin, flints, and such articles of little value to the owner as with religious
philosophy he dedicates to his Manitou. The place had witnessed, doubtless,,
many an Indian powwow.
In the interest of the scientific object of our tour I will here observe, that
near Au Gres river we discerned, beneath the clear waters of the bay, a bed of
gypsum. Subsequently an outcrop of this mineral was found on the neighbor-
ing land, and has been long quarried with profit.
Some islands lay several miles from shore, upon our approach to which im-
mense numbers of gulls, that had here their secure retreat and breeding
places, wheeled about us, uttering loud cries. The young ones were easily
caught, and we found a few eggs. Here also sport of an unusual kind awaited
us. In the waves that broke among the boulders along the shore sturgeon were
gamboling. So intent were they upon their play, and so ignorant of man's su-
perior cunning, that, springing in among them, after a vigorous tussle we
threw one ashore, with no other aid than our hands. It stocked our larder for
several days with its variety of meat fish, fowl, and Albany beef.
Of our further voyaging, until we rounded Point aux Barques, I have noth-
ing to note beyond the usual adventures and delays that attend mariners in
so perilous a craft, upon the treacherous waves of Saginaw Bay. The toils of
the day were compensated bv the sweetest of slumbers, when, having supped
200 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
on pork and hard bread, wrapped each in his blanket, we fell asleep beneath
the soft influence of the Pleiades.
At the point alluded to the coast is iron-bound, affording no harbor, and
being thickly wooded with evergreens its aspect was forbidding and gloomy.
Add to this that the waves are incessantly lashing the rocks, which receive the
whole fury of the sea, whether the wind be from the lake on the right, or the
broad bay on the left. This action of the waters has caused channels to be
worn through large masses of the friable sandstone, which, tumbling into the
lake, form small islets.
In doubling the cape the voyager is struck with the singular appearance of
two projecting masses, detached from the main, and covered with timber.
They bear close resemblance to the bows of vessels, with the hulls exposed
down to the keel. The bowsprit and sides are nearly perfect. They are about
fifty feet in the beam, and sixteen to twenty feet in height. Nature seems
often to delight in such mimicry of the works of man. The name which was
bestowed by the French, at an early day, continues still significant of the
mimic resemblance Point aux Barques.
Near White Eock, on the Lake Huron coast, fifty miles from its outlet, at
the boundary of the then surveyed portion of Sanilac county, we found a set-
tler the first we had met since leaving the Saginaw river. Mr. Allen had
been here three months, and, with five hands, was erecting a saw mill on a
dashing little brook that had nearly swamped us in entering. He had no
neighbor, but the mistress of the house informed us they had been all summer
in expectation and promise of the settlement, at White Eock Cfty, of two
hundred families. The annals of this place constitute one of those chapters
of romance of which the records of 1835 and 1836 are so replete. Before the
rage of real estate speculation was at its height,and all through that wild fever
we had known of "White Eock City." Maps, executed in the highest style of
the typographical art displayed in hotel bar rooms and other places, where
congregated the thousand seekers after the fortune that courted the happy
possessor of valuable lots and water privileges, had announced its unrivaled
situation and advantages. They depicted the magnificent harbor, at the
mouth of a large stream, into which steamboats were entering. Saw-mills
were converting the forests into houses. Around the public square clustered a
court house, churches, and other public buildings, not omitting the inevitable
bank, and the air of prosperity which pervaded the place was evident at a
glance. Auctioneers had sounded its praises, and struck off its lots at fabu-
lous prices to eager buyers. None of the rising cities for which Michigan had
become famous had so wide a celebrity, and distributed stock so liberally.
And now we were to see, with our own eyes, this western marvel, or at least its
ruins. A large white boulder in the lake marked the entrance and gave name
to this modern Karnac. We found the entering river it hardly admitted
our log canoe. Harbor there was none. Churches, houses, mills, people all
were a myth. A thick wilderness covered the whole site. Even those traces
of advancing civilization the surveyor's marks were wanting. Excepting
Mr. Allen, it was forty miles to the nearest inhabitant. Where the public
square had been depicted stood several large beech trees. On one of these we
carved the names of our party, who were thus registered, for the benefit of
future visitors, as the first guests of White Eock Hotel.
It may serve more fully to show the adventurous character of our expedition
if I close this narrative by some detail of our last day's experience perhaps
A MICHIGAN GEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION. 201
not a very -unusual one in canoe navigation. It may serve, too, to illustrate
the risks incurred by our daring chief ; sometimes too rashly, and, alas ! once
too often! On the night of October llth, we encamped twenty-two miles from
Fort Gratiot, and congratulated ourselves on the near conclusion of our jour-
ney. For this there was reason, as our provisions were gone and the weather
was stormy. Here a hard wind detained us a day, and the morning succeed-
ing showed the waters risen several feet, and rolling in huge breakers. To
proceed by water seemed impossible, but there was no traveled road to Black
river, and our provisions were exhausted. For several days we had been on
rations, and our poor canine friend, who at the outset could not eat duck meat,
was glad to swallow a wing feathers and all. A council of war decided to
trust once more to the boisterous waves, which our frail craft had hitherto
borne us over in safety. Raising the boat upon rollers, we packed in tent and
bags, the latter now heavy with specimens, so arranged as to make three
partitions, established Dash in his place, while the rest took each his position.
Thus appointed, we ran rapidly out into the water, leaped aboard and pulled
from the land. The launch was neatly effected, but danger was ahead. En-
countering the breakers, we at once shipped a sea, which completely filled the
foremost division. This was occupied by the doctor, who cried, "We are
swamped!" But a pail stood ready to each hand. The doctor bailed, while
the others pulled stoutly at their paddles, and we were soon beyond the break-
ers. Return was now impossible. The thermometer was at freezing point,
and we received a ducking from many a white cap that chilled us to the mar-
row. Our little boat was a morsel for the waves, and when one of those huge
swells the three sisters, as sailors call them lifted us up, we seemed hurry-
ing inevitably to the shore, and when it receded its crest concealed everything
but the sky and the watery horizon. We could not raise sail without danger of
running under, and many a wave crest must be beaten back with our paddles,
and our pails were seldom idle. But "the longest day will have an end," and
after five hours 5 endurance, wet, exhausted, and hungry, we landed at the
lighthouse. Thence we descended to Black river, two miles below, where the
village of Port Huron was in the second year of its infancy. From here a
steamboat conveyed us to Detroit. Thus ended our adventurous journey "by
flood and fell."
I have only to add, that if my long-drawn gossip has contributed to your
entertainment, or given any clearer impression of the Michigan of thirty-four
years ago, it will not have proved altogether idle.
202 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
THE MOUND-BUILDERS IN MICHIGAN.
BY HENRY GILLMAN, OF DETROIT.
Read before the Detroit Scientific Association in 1874.
Throughout the region of the Great Lakes abundant evidence, often of the
most interesting character, of the presence in bygone ages of that peculiar
race known as the mound-builders, is constantly being brought to light. And
our own State of Michigan, from the low monotonous shores of Lake Erie to
the rocky cliffs of Lake Superior, has contributed, in many directions, some of
the most remarkable relics and monuments of a people whose cranial affinities
and evidently advanced civilization totally separate them from the North
American Indian, and ally them to the ancient race of men who inhabited
Brazil in the remote past.
Along the Detroit and Rouge rivers those monuments, in the shape of the
well-known mounds, were at one time not infrequent; but in numerous in-
stances, and even within our present city limits, they have been destroyed,
often without their true character being recognized, and thus large amounts
of valuable relics have fallen into ignorant hands, and have finally been for-
ever lost. Even those works which remain are fast disappearing before the
march of modern improvement.
Indian tradition says that these mounds along our river were built in
ancient times by a people of whom they (the Indians) know nothing, and for
whom they have no name ; that the mounds were occupied by the Tuetle Indi-
ans, and subsequently by the Wyandottes, but were constructed long before
their time. These facts were ascertained by me in the course of some investi-
gations which I made several years ago, and at that time I further learned
that the Tuetle Indians had been absorbed by the Six Nations, and if any
survive it is there they must be looked for.
In this connection it is proper to state that I have lately been informed,
through the instrumentality of Prof. Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution,
of the result of some inquiries made at my suggestion in regard to the name
Tuetle. The conclusion arrived at is that the word Tuetle is probably a cor-
ruption of Tutelo, a tribe "admitted as a younger member of the confederacy
of the Six Nations, about the middle of the last century;" and that the Tuteloes
"are believed to have migrated from Virginia northward, to lands assigned
them on the Susquehanna by the Six Nations ; but very little is known of their
early history and migrations." An interesting paper on the Tuteloes was read
THE MOUND-BUILDERS IN MICHIGAN. 203
by the Rev. J. Anderson, before the American Philological Association, in
July, 1871. Reporting Mr. H. Hale's discoveries, this assigns the Tuteloes to
the Dakotan and not the Iroquois stock, and gives an account of Mr. Hale's
visit to Nikungha, the last survivor of the tribe of the Tuteloes, and who has
since died at the age of 106 years.
The establishment of the identity of the Tuetles with the Tuteloes, and their
residence on these mounds and along the Detroit river, is not only an interest-
ing addition to our local history, but is of special value in view of its tending
to sustain Mr. Hale's opinion (opposed to the conclusions of others regarding
the Dakotan migration) that "in former times the whole of what is now the
central portion of the United States, from the Mississippi nearly to the Atlan-
tic, was occupied by Dakotan tribes, who have been cut up and gradually
exterminated by the intrusive and more energetic Algonquins and Iroquois/'
The relics exhumed from the mounds consist of stone implements, such as
axes, chisels, scrapers, arrow-heads, spear-points and knives, fragments of
pottery of a great variety of pattern, including the favorite corn pattern so
frequently seen in such connection, from the Northern Lakes to the Gulf of
Mexico; and the bones of man, generally much decayed, and exhibiting other
indications of antiquity. From the fragments of burned bones and charcoal
found, it would appear that in the earlier interments cremation was practised.
The tibiae present, in an extreme degree, the peculiar flattening or compres-
sion pertaining to platycnemic men. In the fourth annual report of the Pea-
body Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, attention is called to this, some
of the relics which I collected here having been donated to the museum by the
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, to whom I had presented them. The curator, Prof.
Wyman, says: "Of the tibiae of forty individuals from the mounds of Ken-
tucky, one-third presented this flattening to the extent that the transverse
did not exceed 0.60 of the fore and aft diameter. The most extreme case was
from the mound on the River Rogue, in Michigan, in which the transverse was
only 0.48. In the most marked case mentioned by Broca, viz.: In the old man
from the Cro-Magnon (France), it was, as deduced from his figures, 0.60."
Prof. Wyman draws attention to certain resemblances in this bone to the same
bone in the ape, adding : "In some of the tibiae the amount of flattening sur-
passes that of the gorilla and chimpanzee, in each of which we found the short
0.67 of the long diameter, while in the tibiae from Michigan it was only 0.48."
Subsequent to this (in 1870), I discovered in adjacent mounds several instan-
ces in which the compression of the tibiae was developed to even a greater ex-
treme. Two remarkable cases of this peculiarity were afforded by tibiae taken
by me from a mound on the Detroit river. In one of these unique specimens
the transverse diameter of the shaft is 0.42, and in the other 0.40 of the antero-
posterior diameter, exceeding, I believe, any platycnemism which has been
observed before or since in any part of the world. In communicating these
facts to the American Naturalist, not long afterwards, I claimed that the last
mentioned case "may be considered as the flattest tibia on record." (See
American Naturalist, October, 1871). Both of these bones are strongly mark-
ed with the saber-like curvature, also a characteristic of the chimpanzee, as
are likewise many others of the tibiae from the vicinity. The majority of the
tibiae present the flattening, which is an exception to the facts as noted in other
sections of the United States, where it IB supposed to pertain to "only about
one-third of all the individuals observed." In fact it is an exception to find a
tibiae from our mounds along the Detroit destitute of this peculiarity; and
204 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
where one is found it is generally of later burial and consequently of less
ancient origin.
A few years ago the greater part of the large circular mound in the vicinity
of Fort Wayne was removed and most important results were obtained.
Eleven human skeletons were exhumed; a large number of burial vases; stone
implements in great variety and of superior workmanship, consisting chiefly of
axes, fleshers, spear-points, arrow heads, chisels, drillers and sinkers, pipes; a
peculiar implement of unknown use, formed of an antler, with duplicate perfo-
rations at its thickest end; and two articles manufactured from copper, one
the remains of a necklace, formed of a number of beads strung on a two-
stranded cord, a few fragments of which remained sufficiently preserved to
satisfy me that it was made from vegetable fiber, probably from the basswood
(Tilia Americana, L.); the other article of copper consisted of a needle, or
borer, several inches in length, quadrangular at the base, and well-wrought.
One of the skulls is remarkable for it diminutive size, though adult, its capac-
ity being only 56 cubic inches, or less than 76 per cent of that of the average
Indian cranium, which is given as 84 cubic inches by Morton & Meigs, the
minimum observed by them being 69 cubic inches. The measurement by Mor-
ton of 155 Peruvian crania gives 75 cubic inches for the average bulk of the
brain (no greater than that of the Hottentot or New Hollander), the maximum
being 101 cubic inches, while the minimum sinks to 58, the smallest in a series
of 641 measured crania; and yet you will perceive this is exceeded in diminutive-
ness by this crania from the Detroit river. The average volume of the brain in
the Mexican is 79 cubic inches, while in a series of measurements of 24 crania
from the Kentucky mounds it is found to be 84. The Teutonic crania gives the
average of 92 cubic inches. Thus it is seen that while the great volume of the
brain is indicative of power of some sort, the opposite is not always to be re-
garded as proof of a degraded condition. In short, quality may here, as in other
instances, compensate for deficiency in quantity. So we find the cranium of the
Peruvian, who possessed a high degree of civilization and refinement, equaled
in capacity by that of the New Hollander or Hottentot, while it is exceeded
by that of the degraded, brutal North American Indian to the extent of nine
cubic inches. Still the crania of the mound-builders, it must be acknowledged,
present characteristics which, in the language of Foster, "indicate a low intel-
lectual organization, little removed from that of the idiot." And this skull from
the Detroit river mound must be placed in the same category. Prof. Wyman, in
the sixth annual report of the Peabody Museum, in referring to* this skull, goes
on to say : "In ordinary skulls the ridges of the temporal muscles on the two
sides of the head are separated by a space of from three to four inches, seldom
less than two, while in the Detroit mound skull this space measures only three-
rrters of an inch ; and in this respect it presents the same conditions as the
11 of a chimpanzee." It is interesting to remember that "the flattest tibiae
on record," already referred to, were taken by me from this mound ; and all the
tibiaB had more or less sabre-like curvature associated with the platycnemism.
It remains for me in this connection to call attention to the fact that the
perforation of the humerus is another remarkable characteristic which I have
observed to pertain to those platycnemic men of our region. I refer to the
communication of the two fossae situated at the lower end of the humerus.
This is of great interest, as this peculiarity is most frequently met with in the
Negro race; it has also been observed in the Indian, and, though not always
THE MOUND-BUILDERS IN MICHIGAN. 205
present, is quite general in the apes, while it is very seldom seen in the white
races.
One of the most remarkable and extensive series of tumuli which are known
to exist in this part of the lake region it was my good fortune to discover in the
year 1872. I refer to the mounds situated at the head of the St. Clair river,
and at the foot of Lake Huron. They extend in continuous succession for
about one mile and one-half northward, as I have satisfactorily determined.
Strange to say, those who lived in their immediate vicinity knew nothing of
their character. A paper which I wrote on the subject, embodying the princi-
pal facts, subsequently formed a part of the sixth annual report of the Peabody
Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, and was afterward copied into several
of the leading periodicals of the country, including the American Journal of
Science. The general publicity thus given the discoveries precludes the neces-
sity of more than a passing notice here. The numerous mounds, with few
exceptions, are of similar character, having been largely used for burial pur-
poses. One of them presented some features distinctive of the "refuse heaps"
of our Atlantic coast, and of the north of Europe, a wide area at one end being
covered with a solid crust of black ashes from eighteen inches to two feet
thick, containing the bones of various animals used for 1 food, broken pottery,
and stone implements. The relics from the burial mounds, in addition to those
usually found, consisted of an extraordinarily large number of broken stone
hammers of the rudest kind, a plate of mica five by four inches, and two
necklaces, one made of small bones, mostly cervical vertebrae, stained a beauti-
ful green color resembling enamel, the other composed of the teeth of the
moose, finely perforated at the roots, alternating with well-wrought beads of
copper, and the bones of birds stained green as in the first instance. In the
mound containing the last mentioned ornaments several interments had been
made, and the decayed stump of a scarlet oak (Quercus cocinea, Wang.) two
feet in diameter surmounted the summit, the roots spreading above the con-
tents in all directions. All the tibiae noticed by me exhibited the compression
characterizing platycnemic men. In dwelling on this circumstance, in connec-
tion with my previous discoveries in the same direction, I made the remark,
"I cannot but believe, from what I have seen that future investigation will
extend the area in which this type of bone is predominant to the entire region
of the Great Lakes, if not of the Great West; or, in other words, that at least
our northern mound-builders will be found to have possessed this trait in the
degree and to the extent denoted;" which prediction recent discoveries in
Wisconsin and Iowa would seem in a fair way of fulfilling.
On the west bank of the Black river, a tributary of the St. Clair, is a burial
mound, which contributed some unusual features. A road having been cut
through the easterly slope of this mound, the consequent excavation revealed a
large number of human bones, pottery, stone implements and other relics.
Stone lance or spear heads of great length were taken out, two of them being
each over a foot long, and one sixteen inches in length. But the most inter-
esting feature of this repository of relics was a grave, the interior of which was
described to me as being lined with pottery similar to that of which the vases,
pots, etc., are formed. This was so peculiar a circumstance, no other instance
of the kind having come to my knowledge, that, at first, I considered the state-
ment highly improbable. But I availed myself of an opportunity of visiting
the locality, not long after, to make a special examination. Though the con-
struction of the road through the mound had destroyed most of the original
28
206 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
features, and scattered a multitude of valuable remains, further excavation
revealed a considerable quantity of fragments of the pottery above referred to
as having been said to have lined the grave. This certainly appeared to con-
firm the statement. I found this pottery to be of rather a coarser description
than usual, and marked abundantly with the cord pattern, known to be of such
frequent employment, but in this instance made with a large cord or small
rope. The side so ornamented was invariably concave, while the other side was
convex, and unsmoothed, different from any other specimens I have seen else-
where. So rough and unfinished was the unornamented side that it had every
appearance of having been pressed upon the ground while yet plastic, and sand,
and even gravel, adhering to it, confirmed this impression. After having
viewed the evidences I had no longer any great difficulty in receiving the state-
ments previously made. My chief informant was perfectly uneducated in such
matters, and even attributed the peculiar formation lining the sides of the
grave to the coagulation and final hardening of blood, accounting for its pres-
ence in such large quantities by presuming a battle to have been fought in
the vicinity. The few fragments of human bones, which, on this occasion were
exhumed with the pottery, were in the last stages of decay.
Time will not permit me to speak of a number of other mounds which have
come under my observation. A remarkable series of those works occurs at
Beaver harbor, on Beaver island, in Lake Michigan. A very limited and hur-
ried examination which I made of the group in 1871, sufficiently satisfied me
as to their ancient origin. They appeared to be of the same character as the
mounds on the Detroit river and those at the foot of Lake Huron. They were
probably largely used for purposes of sepulture. From the success attending
my brief labors it would appear that the more valued relics of the mound-
builders have been here deposited in unusual abundance. Highly wrought
stone implements, many of them being of uncommonly skillful workmanship,
are frequently encountered. They are formed of a great variety of stone, such
as diorite, or greenstone, sienite, shale and chert, many of them being finely
polished. One of the handsomest stone axes I ever saw was taken out at this
place. It is made from sienite, a favorite material for this implement, and
the handicraft displayed in its construction is of the highest order.
I shall close with a short account of the recent discoveries of
ANCIENT MINING AT ISLE KOYALE, LAKE SUPERIOR.
In the year 1872 some of the most remarkable of the ancient works yet
encountered were brought to light by a party of explorers on Isle Royale.
Some idea of their extent may be arrived at from the statement of a gentleman
well known in mining interests, who is at present engaged in developing the
mineral resources of the place, and who calculated that, at one point alone, on
three sections of land toward the north side of the island, the amount of labor
performed by those ancient workmen far exceeds that of one of our oldest cop-
per mines on the south shore of Lake Superior, a mine which has now been
constantly worked with a large force for over twenty years. This may well
appear almost incredible when we take into account the disadvantages under
which these primitive miners must have labored, and all the advantages com-
prehended by our present civilization, including the various improvements in
mining appliances and the vast resources of modern science.
Isle Royale is situated about fifty miles from the south shore of Lake Supe-
rior, and from fifteen to twenty miles from its north shore, and lies off Ontario,
THE MOUND-BUILDERS IN MICHIGAN. 207
Canada, to which geographically it would seemingly belong; or one might sup-
pose that belonging to the United States, it pertained to Minnesota rather than
to Michigan. Consequently, the mistake of supposing it to belong to Canada
is frequently made. The island is nearly fifty miles in length, varying from
five to nine in breadth, having, in most parts of the coast line, an exceedingly
ragged, rocky shore, abounding in deep inlets and small harbors or coves. A
large number of islands and rocky inlets lie of? the main island, particularly in
a northeast and southwest direction the line of its greatest axis to which
direction the rocky elevations of the island, in some places rising more than
700 feet above the level of Lake Superior, correspond in a remarkable degree.
Nearly the entire of the island is covered with a growth of timber, more or less
dense, consisting of the species usually composing our northern forest.
The works, generally pits of from ten to thirtv feet in diameter, and from
twenty to sixty feet in depth, are found scattered throughout the island, wher-
ever examined being sunk through the few feet of superincumbent drift, where
it exists, into the amygdaloid copper-bearing rock. They invariably are on the
richest veins ; and the intelligence displayed in the tracing and following of the
veins when interrupted, etc., has elicited the astonishment of all who have
witnessed it no mistakes having apparently been made in this respect. These
excavations are connected underground, drains being cut in the rock to carry
off the water. Stopes 100 feet in length are found. A drain sixty feet long
presented some interesting features ; having been cut through the surface drift
into the rock, it had evidently been covered for its entire length by timbers
felled and laid across. When opened, the timbers had mostly decayed, and the
center portions had sunk into the cavity, filling it for nearly its entire length
with the rotted wood.
At a deep inlet known as McCargoe's Cove, on the north side of the island,
excavations such as are described extend in almost a continuous line for more
than two miles, in most instances the pits being so close together as barely to
permit their convenient working. Even the rocky islets off the coast have not
escaped the observation of those ancient miners, and where bearing veins of
copper are generally worked. The stone hammers, or mauls, weighing from
ten to even thirty pounds, the chief tool with which the labor was performed,
have been found by cart-loads. They are either perfect or are broken from use,
and the fragments of large numbers of them are found intermingled with the
debris on the edge of the pits, or at their bottom. These mauls are occasion-
ally found grooved for the affixture of the handle, but are oftener without this
adaptation. Tools made of copper, and consisting principally of chisels and
knives, have been taken from such of the pits as have been explored. Arrow-
heads of copper have also been picked up, both in the vicinity of the pits and
scattered over the island, at the surface, as if lost in the chase. The tools,
though injured from oxidation, appear to have been of fair workmanship, and
Avere evidently hardened, apparently through the agency of fire. With the
exception of the stone hammers, no other tools formed of stone have been
observed. A large portion of a wooden utensil, shaped like a bowl, was taken
from the debris, charcoal, etc., at the bottom of a pit. This vessel has possi-
bly been used in bailing water from the excavation. It must originally have
been about three feet in diameter, and from its appearance something of the
rude character of the tool employed in shaping it could be gathered. The
fragment was not of uniform thickness throughout; the wood having been
208 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
more easily removed when working in certain directions, e. g., when cutting
with the grain, the vessel was thinner in those portions.
Having seen the remark that the copper tools of the ancient miners are of
rough and not polished exterior, inferences being drawn therefrom as to their
rude construction, I wish to say that, having examined a large number of
those tools, I believe this roughness to have been caused mostly by corrosion.
In many cases this is quite palpable, the original surface being apparent in
places, and evidently confirming the fact that at least the external faces of the
tool were originally approximately smooth, if not polished.
Excellent arguments have been advanced by Mr. Foster to prove that the
mound-builders understood the art of fusing copper, and that, at least, some
of their copper tools were made by being cast or moulded. From the method
pursued by this people in mining, in which the agency of fire bore so prominent
a part, it would seem improbable they could have long remained ignorant of
the fusibility of the metal; yet in most cases the evidence appears conclusive
that the rudely-fashioned tool was simply wrought by being beaten into the
desired form, often in the roughest manner. It is possible the two classes of
tools here referred to may mark two distinct eras in the history of this manu-
facture, and that the moulded tool designates an advance from the primitive
method of hammering the metal into shape. Some of the copper heads taken
from the "mounds" in Michigan display a wonderful degree of neatness in the
manipulation of the metal, the junction of the bead being in many cases
almost imperceptible; yet the agency of fire was here evidently not employed.
The pits which have been examined, by being cleaned out, invariably had on
top a large deposit, mostly of vegetable matter, the accumulations of many a
fall of the leaf, beneath which lay a thick bed of charcoal and mud mingled
with fragments of copper-bearing rock. Besides this, they were partly filled
with water. The removal of the contents was consequently very dirty work.
The method of mining pursued by those people was evidently, on turning back
the overlying drift, to heat the rock through the aid of fire; then, when by
the application of water the rock was sufficiently disintegrated, to attack and
separate it with their great stone mauls. WHat a slow, wearisome process!
Even with a large force constantly engaged in this labor, it must have taken a
long series of years to accomplish the work exhibited; and, if those people with-
drew during the lengthy winter season, as has been supposed, it would more
than double the period required. An experienced mining captain computed
that two hundred of those men, with their rude methods, could barely be
equivalent to two of our skilled miners. Though no exact estimate can now be
made as to the length of time occupied in the prosecution of those extensive
works, more or less interrupted as they undoubtedly must have been, yet it does
not seem too much to estimate hundreds of years for their accomplishment.
As to the time which has elapsed since the mines have ceased to be worked
by this by-gone race, a more definite approximation can be reached. Various
careful estimates have placed this period from seven hundred to eight hundred
years. I cannot but conclude that since the last work was done on those pits,
several generations of trees have arisen and disappeared. The remains of trees
older by hundreds of years than the oldest of our present timber are found in
and on the sides of the pits. The present growth of forest covers, unbroken,
those excavations and the debris surrounding them : all the timber now growing
on them being of the same character as that covering the adjacent land, and
which is now in process of supplanting by what is known as our "second
THE MOUND-BUILDERS IN MICHIGAN. 209
growth/' The late General Harrison, President of the United States, ac-
knowledged to have been remarkably skilled in woodcraft as well as in war-
fare, in his notes on the Ohio mounds, has made some valuable and suggestive
remarks on the relation observed by the different species of forest growth.
Lyell, in his "Antiquity of Man," quotes the passage with further and approv-
ing remarks. As at Isle Eoyale, therefore, the species of the present forest
covers equally the excavations and the adjoining land, no difference being ob-
servable in the growth, we may form some slight conception of the period which
must have elapsed before, through the regular rotation, the present condition
of things was brought to pass. Trees, from two to four feet in diameter, are
now growing in the pits, on their sides, and on the tumuli formed of the exca-
vated debris which surround them. In one case, the partially decayed stump of
a red oak (probably Quercus coccinea, Linn.) was found on the tumulus at the
edge of a pit. This tree had not been blown down, but had grown and decayed
where the stump stood. A large proportion of the rotted wood surrounded it,
only the red, interior portion of the stump remained sound. A careful enu-
meration of the annual rings composing this red, undecayed center of the tree,
gave as the result the number of 384. If to this be added 200 rings, as repre-
senting the decayed outer portion of the stump, and not considered an overes-
timate., we have 584 years as the period of its growth. To this will have to be
added the number of years which a tree with the durability of the wood of this
species takes to reach the stage of decay here exhibited; and some years may
also be allowed for the time which may have elapsed before it commenced
growing on its peculiar site. So that the placing this period at from 700 to
800 years, as already given, may not be far from the truth. But it must be
remembered that this does not prevent the period of the desertion of the works
being placed back at twice or even three times that distance. In other words
it only proves that the pits had not been worked within the time mentioned.
On removing this stump the debris underlying it was found to consist of the
usual angular fragments of copper-bearing rock, thrown out from the adjoin-
ing pit, and with which were intermingled a large number of stone hammers,
some perfect, others fractured from use, and more interesting still, a knife,
made of copper. Pine-trees (Pinus strobus) of the present forest, in which
380 annual rings have been counted, have frequently been cut on the tumuli.
From another pit, beneath a third* deposit of vegetable matter, the remains
of the skeleton of a deer were exhumed. The bones were so decayed, however,
that they crumbled to pieces, and it was only through the undecayed portions
of an antler that the animal was recognized. It had evidently fallen into the
pit long after it had been deserted, and, unable to escape, had perished. An-
other interesting relic consists of a sheet-like piece of copper, which had appar-
ently been exposed to the action of fire and then been partially hammered
into a shape approximating to a bowl-like utensil. This, too, exhibits the
character of the copper generally sought by those men. It is manifest from
the working of the veins, that those miners followed the deposits of sheet-like
copper, which varied from a quarter of an inch to an inch in thickness, reject-
ing as unmanageable the fragments of rock which contained even large-sized
nuggets of the metal. The latter are found in large quantities in the rubbish
forming the tumuli at the mouths of the pits, as well as in the excavations
themselves, where, mingled with considerable amounts of charcoal, they seem-
ingly had been pushed behind those miners as they advanced in the explora-
tion of the vein, the walls of which were generally left unbroken.
2 10 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
At an indentation of the coast on the south side of the island, where a stream
about forty feet in width had cut a channel through the rocks and formed quite
a fall of water, was discovered what is taken to be the site of the town, o.r the
habitations of these people. It occupies an elevated slope, giving an extensive
view of Lake Superior and overlooking the intervening point of land which
makes the little bay an excellent harbor. The remains consist of a series of
shallow excavations, generally about four feet in depth, and occupying the suc-
cessive terraces of the slope. Some of these pits are circular, others are quad-
rangular, and they vary from ten to thirty feet in diameter. Indications sug-
gest that timber or bark was used in their construction, the soil being thrown
up around them to a sufficient height. But time did not permit a satisfactory
examination of this interesting localitv, which, with other points on the island,
it is hoped will afford, on a thorough exploration, many valuable facts con-
nected with the life of this remarkable people. They doubtless shipped the
copper, the object of their toil, to the south shore of Lake Superior, the won-
derful metal finding its way thence to other parts of the country, as is testified
by the articles of copper found in the burial-places of the mound-builders.
This point, therefore, was well selected as a town site. The good landing, the
admirable harbor, the abundant stream and fall of water, the sheltered and
yet commanding hillside, which enabled them to watch the return and depart-
ure of their copper-laden flotillas, were all strong recommendations even to
those semi-savage inhabitants.
Singular to say, up to this time the bones of man have not been met with on
the island. Some contend that, during so long a lapse of time, they have com-
pletely disappeared through decay. But this conclusion will hardly be accepted
as satisfactory. It is difficult to believe but that, of a population so crowded
as is implied by the extensive excavations on Isle Royale, some must have died
during even the periodic occupation of the island, and have been buried there ;
and it is to be hoped that the explorations in process of being made will result
in the discovery of human remains. These will doubtless identify this people
with the mound-builders, whose monuments are so widely distributed through
our country. The conformation of the bones of this race, and especially the
cranium, as has been already remarked, widely separate them from the North
American Indian, and ally them rather with the ancient inhabitants of Brazil;
the skull being orthocephalic, i. e., occupies a position between the Indian cra-
nium, which is brachycephalic, and the Teutonic, which is dolicocephalic.
Their characteristics suggest a people, who, though not of any great intellect-
ual development, are yet capable of patient endeavor, and the unremitting
toil which is devoted to the amelioration of life through the improvement of
its surroundings, and are not devoid of an ambition 'which, however humble,
places them above the Indian in the scale of humanity.
It is also remarkable that the discoveries of the remains at the settlements
on the south shore of Lake Superior have never included human bones so far
as I am aware but have been confined chiefly to excavations, copper tools,
and stone hammers. It is possible those men may have had some superstitious
belief which led to the removal of their dead to their burial mounds further
south.
Of the excavations on the small islands lying off Isle Royale, an interesting
example was discovered by me on the rocky islet which, for the purpose of
distinguishing it, I have named, from its general outline, Triangle Island, it
being hitherto unnamed on any of the maps. This island lies off the south-
THE MOUND-BUILDERS IN MICHIGAN. 211
west end of Isle Royale, and is a sandstone rock with very little soil on any
part of it, and only a few small trees or brushes at one end. The sides of the
island rise abruptly, and there is no landing for even small boats, except for a
short space on the northeast side, and also in a cleft-like indentation on the
south side. This last mentioned landing has much the appearance of its natural
conditions having been improved by artificial means ; a gradual slope, sixty
feet in length, by about twenty feet wide, leads down to the lake, the rock
being generally smooth throughout. Small boats could easily be hauled out
here, particularly with the aid of timbers laid for the purpose. Near this, and
all along it, wherever are indications of copper mines, are the circular pits of
the ancient miners. Though of small size, from two to five feet in diameter,
and about as many feet deep, they are remarkably distinct. At this place the
rock is mostly as level as the floor of a room, and the well-like pits are imme-
diately perceived to be the work of human agency. Though careful search
was made, no relics were met with other than the angular fragments of the
rock broken off by the usual methods pursued by those rude miners. The
fragments occasionally contained copper.
One of the smaller pits, a little over two feet in diameter and nearly two feet
deep, had a large slab of rock covering its mouth. It required two men to
remove this. We found this pit more than half full of the angular fragments
above alluded to, but though emptied of its contents nothing further was en-
countered, to our disappointment, as from indications we hoped to find this
the repository of some valuable relics. Had any tools or other utensils been
deposited here, as a place of safety, they had long since disappeared; probably
decaying through the lapse of ages. From appearances, and the isolated
character of the island, I am inclined to think that mine were the first hands
to rest on those objects since the departure of the primitive workmen.
At two places, at each end of the circular pits, the copper veins in the wall-
like cliff had been attacked and partly excavated. The rock is discolored as if
from the action of fire, and at the base of the more central point the sand-
stone is considerably hollowed. V A11 those works exhibit the same roughish
surface, totally unlike that produced by the action of water.
Immediately at the inner end of the southern landing, already described, is
a marked depression, occupying nearly the center of the island, and present-
ing some indications of artificial origin. But about thirty-five feet northwest-
ward of the head of the landing occurs a more remarkable excavation.' This is
of rectangular form, twenty-five feet long by twenty feet wide. It is filled
with water, as are most of the pits. It may not be uninteresting to state in
this connection that I found the rare fern Botrychium lunaria (Swartz) flour-
ishing, and rather abundant on the exposed rock of this island. It grows in
tufts of Potentilla tridentata (Ait.), grass, and other dwarfed plants.
The discoveries on Isle Royale throw a new light on the character of the
mound-builders, giving us a totally different conception of them, and dignify-
ing them with something of the prowess and spirit of adventure which we asso-
ciate with the higher races of man. The copper, the object of the mining, to
be available, must, in all probability, have been conveyed in vessels, great or
small, across a stormy and treacherous sea, whose dangers are formidable to us
now, being dreaded by even our largest craft, and often proving their destruc-
tion. Leaving their homes, these men dared to face the unknown to brave
the hardships and perils of the deep and of the wilderness, actuated by an
ambition which we, to-day, would not be ashamed to acknowledge.
212 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
In contemplating the facts involved, many questions are naturally sug-
gested. How did this people become aware of those mineral deposits at so iso-
lated a point ? How did these men become present in such large numbers as
is implied by the extent of the works discovered ? What was the character of
their vessels or sailing craft, if such were employed ? How did so great a popu-
lation support life in such circumscribed limits while still carryng on their
mining operations? Did they make a permanent settlement, their families
abiding with them, or were they simply migratory, visiting the island and
returning as occasion offered ? Did any or all of them remain throughout the
severe northern winter, or was the work prosecuted during the summer months
only ? These are questions not easily answered.
It is evident that such extensive operations as are here described required a
system and an organization of no mean order for those days. The vast extent,
and the method of their labors, would seem to imply that they were of no
desultory or intermittent character. The island probably abounded in game.
The deer, caribou, bear, and smaller mammals, were doubtless not scarce,
while the waters were alive with many varieties of fish, thus affording food in
considerable quantity. The caribou, long extinct here, gives evidence of his
former presence in the horns which are sometimes found; and I have now in
my possession two interesting relics the larger portions of the antlers of this
animal, much decayed and gnawed by rodents which were picked up at two
separate points on the island. However, we have hitherto supposed that the
mound-builders were essentially an agricultural people, largely dependent on
cereals for subsistance. If grain food was used by them, as is probable, it was,
most likely, transported to the island, in sufficient supply, from a more south-
ern latitude. The so-called "Garden Beds/' covering so wide an area of the
St. Joseph river and Grand river valleys, Michigan, as well as similar grounds
of other places, demonstrate the agricultural habits of the ancient people of
this region. The remains of these cultivated fields also afford a clue as to the
source of the chief part of the supplies required for the mining adventures in
the northern country.
The question will not fail to suggest itself: Were these vast operations
accomplished through slave labor ? That a conquered people were kept at this
isolated place by their victors, and in this thraldom obliged to work the copper
mines, is an opinion, however, which cannot be received without further con-
firmation. That a central government, situated at the south, ruled with patri-
archial if not autocratic sway over the entire region, from Mexico to Lake Su-
perior, many circumstances more than hint at. If the ancient miners were
not identical with the mound-builders, that commercial transactions, at least,
existed between them, the constant finding in the burial places of the latter of
ornaments and utensils made of Lake Superior copper would warrant. The
apparent similarity of their characteristics and habits is further testimony in
this direction.
Standing on the rocky eminences of the island, and looking down on the
surrounding features, in presence of the remarkable disclosures here detailed,
it was not difficult for the imagination to repeople the solitudes once more with
those primitive men. The past rises and recreates itself. Again they swarm
along the rocky beaches with those ragged shores, even then torn with the
storms of thousands of winters ; landing on the precipitous islets, baptized in
the silvery spray of Lake Superior, the rude boats or vessels pass to and fro in
busy traffic; some, disappearing in the distance, are bound with their valued
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN MICHIGAN. 213
freight for the main land far to the south; the half-naked savages, begrimed
from their toil, delve in the slowly-deepening pits, which lie scattered along
the pleasant indentations of the coast, or by the banks of the beautiful lakes
of the interior; the voice of an unknown language falls upon the air with a
strange rhythm ; the overhanging cliffs echo and resound with the clang of their
stone hammers ; the forest falls beneath the blows of their rude axes ; the curl-
ing smoke rises from their excavations or their dwellings, softly ascending to
the same blue Heaven which still bends over all with its eternal benediction.
HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN MICHIGAN.
BY HON. C. C. TROWBRIDGE, OP DETROIT.
The Hon. Hezekiah G. Wells, Member of the Historical Committee of the State.
Pioneer Society of Michigan:
You request jne to prepare a sketch of the history of the Protestant Episco-
pal church in the State, to be incorporated with other documents in your next
printed volume. Brief accounts have already been written, covering some of
the most important facts, the last being modestly styled a compilation, and
brought down to 1836. Mine will be in part borrowed from both, and will be
more discursive, avoiding details which would be of no interest to the general
reader, but which are garnered in the archives of the church for the informa-
tion of those more immediately interested, and supplementing many facts not
heretofore put in print.
There is no account extant of any provision for religious worship upon the
change of flag from the French to the British after the war of 1760, although
there is evidence that Doctor Anthon was married in 1770* or thereabouts, by
an English chaplain,, and that General Wayne brought with him a chaplain in
1796, when taking possession of Detroit. The garrisons in the last century, at
Detroit, Mackinac, Kalkaskia, and Vincennes were very small. The com-
manding office frequently performed the office of baptism, celebrated the rites
of matrimony, and solemnized the burial service. Among well known instan-
ces, we have, in the "Outlines of the Political History of Michigan/' by the
Hon. Judge Campbell, an account of the marriage, by Major DePeyster, com-
mandant at Detroit, of Thomas Williams, the father of the late General John
R. Williams, to Miss Cecile Campau, on the 7th of May, 1781, and the baptism
of John Kirby, a well known citizen of Grosse Pointe in later years, by the com-
manding officer at Mackinac. Towards the close of the eighteenth century,
*Dr. George Christian Anthon was married to Mariana Navarre, at Detroit, August 13,
1770, by Chaplain Turrin of the 53d regiment.
29
214 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
the "Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts'*
sent out to Sandwich, on the Canada shore, opposite Detroit, the Rev. Richard
Pollard. This godly man came occasionally to the American side in the per-
formance of clerical functions, and this is "believed to be the earliest introduc-
tion of Episcopal services. Mr. Pollard died early in the present century. Up
to the breaking out of the war of 1812-15 with Great Britain, intermitted
efforts were made by the few church people living in Detroit, to keep up public
worship by means of lay reading. This indicates a certain amount of religious
feeling, but if tradition, which brings us this fact, is to be believed, not much
can be said for the tone of piety of that day ; for it is related of a worthy gov-
ernment official, whose descendants still linger among us, that having devoutly
discharged his duties as lay reader, he concluded the morning service by
announcing the next approaching fox-hunt. In like manner, as late as the
year 1825, Theophilus Mettez, commonly called Fon Fon Mettez, after perform-
ing the office of acolyte, disappeared from the chancel of St. Anne's R. C.
church, and was found in citizen's apparel at the corner of the edifice, giving
out the notices of auctions and other secular events for the week ensuing.
The Methodist society, always the pioneer, was the first Protestant denomina-
tion in the field of Michigan. The Rev. Dr. Bangs was in Detroit in 1804.
Their circuit riders appeared as early as 1809, if not before, for in that year a
log church was built by that body on the River Rouge. In 1817, the Rev. John
Montieth of the Presbyterian church, came as a missionary from that denom-
ination. He immediately began to promote a cohesion of the Protestant ele-
ment in the city. In a population of one thousand, two-thirds of whom were
French Romanists, the number attaching themselves to Mr. Montieth was
small, but the missionary was courageous and wise. The Governor of the
territory and the three Judges of the Supreme Court were the title holders,
under act of Congress, of the public domain within the city. There was a lot
of land on the east side of Woodward avenue in the city of Detroit, between
Lamed and Congress streets, which, under British authority, before the new
city was laid out, had been designated and set apart as a cemetery. It was
called "the English burying ground," and was devoted to the use of the
Protestants. Mr. Monteith and his friends procured from the Governor and
Judges, who were by appointment of Congress the legislature, an act incor-
porating these friends and himself under the name of "The First Protestant
Society of the city of Detroit," and then they applied to the same Governor
and Judges, now sitting as a "Land Board" [how convenient], for a grant of
this cemetery ground for church purposes. The Methodists, Presbyterians, and
Episcopalians composed this infant band of religionists, and a very harmonious
body it was. In the year 1819 they had become formidable enough to undertake
the erection of a small wooden church, standing on posts, and in every respect
cheap and mean in appearance, but with some changes 't was made to last
fifteen years, when it gave place to an imposing edifice of brick.
Mr. Monteith resigned in 1821, the society being in his debt for clerical ser-
vices in the sum of seven hundred dollars a large amount as money was rated
in those days. He might have sued the corporation and taken their English
burying ground and meeting-house, but such a thought never entered his
guileless heart. He meekly accepted what they tendered him, namely, "shin
plasters." This was a sort of currency whose history we trace back to the
"western territory, north of Ohio," not indeed enjoined by Dane's ordinance
of 1787, but not, like slavery, prohibited by it. It was a convenient method,
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN MICHIGAN. 215
resorted to by impecunious individuals and churches, largely used by Rev.
Father Richard in building St. Anne's. One of the bills issued to Mr. Mon-
teith lies before me. The residue of the seven hundred dollars was handed
over a few years ago by his agent to the treasurer of the First Protestant Soci-
ety for safe keeping. It reads as follows :
Due the bearer one dollar; receivable for debts due the First Protestant Society,
and payable at the treasury of the same. JAMES ABBOTT,
Dolls. 1.00. JOHN P. SHELDON,
Detroit, March 15, 1821. B. STEAD,
JOHN J. DEMING,
LEM'L SHATTUCK,
Trustees of the First Protestant Church.
Mr. Monteith not only accepted this mode of payment, but he actually
assisted in preparing the due-bills, filling the date with his own pen. These
gentlemen were men of the highest respectability. The first and third were
churchmen, the others Presbyterians. Why the Methodist brethren were not
sent down to posterity in their company does not atrpear. These due-bills have
never been paid, in whole or in part. The creditor has gone to that blest place
where all debts have been forgiven. The question of denominational responsi-
bility has never been discussed. It is a matter which cannot be looked back
upon with complacency.
In 1822 the Methodist society felt strong enough to withdraw and complete
a separate organization. They purchased a lot of land on the corner of Con-
gress street and Woodward avenue, and erected thereon their first house of
worship in the city. The Episcopalians remained in the corporation until the
month of July, 1824. In the meantime, in the summer of 1821, the Rev.
Alarison Welton, an Episcopal clergyman from western New York, arrived
and was employed to preach. He was an able man, a pupil of Bishop Hobart,
but before he had time to make an impression on his flock death claimed him
for his own, and after a service of three months his mortal remains were
deposited in the English buryin.g-ground.
Bishop Hobart, whose far-seeing eye noted the course of the "star of em-
pire," was instrumental in procuring the appointment by the Church Mission-
ary Society, of the Rev. Richard F. Cadle, a young presbyter from the Theo-
logical Seminary. He was learned, pious, meek, modest, conciliating and
diffident. But he immediately took hold of the sympathies of the feeble band
of churchmen. In his first report to the Missionary Society, in July, 1824, he
stated that he had reached Detroit from New York after twelve days' travel,
being the time usually required; that he found three or four communicants,
and about forty persons inclined towards the church. There stood, at that
time, a small edifice of stone, one story high, on the corner of Jefferson ave-
nue and Randolph street. It was built by the general government for an Indi-
an Council House, and was so used ; and for want of any other public edifice
it was occupied by the Supreme co'urt, the County court, the trustees of the
city, by lyceums and people's gatherings of all sorts. It was a filthy place.
The interior was arranged with rude desks and benches for judges, lawyers,
juries, witnesses, prisoners, and spectators. Its capacity might be two hundred
when well packed. Governor Cass, the Superintendent of Indian affairs, gave
permission to the church people to occupy this house on Sundays, for which
purpose it was prepared, with besom and bucket, on Saturday nights. And
here was the germ of that body which has grown and multiplied, to the care of
souls and the glory of God, sending the influences which had come from the
216 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Atlantic, on, on, till they reached the quiet ocean of the west. Mr. Cadle con-
tinued to occupy the council house, with occasional interruptions for repairs,
until the erection of a church edifice as hereinafter stated. In his December
report of 1824, his little flock of three communicants had increased to nine.
In November of that year the parish of St. Paul's church was organized, and
Mr. Cadle was chosen rector, with a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars,
which was supplemented by a like amount from the missionary board. In
1826 the number of worshipers had grown to sixty, and the communicants to
twenty. In 1827 the council house had become too small for the increased
congregation, or it had got to be insufferably filthy, or the necessity of a place
of worship exclusively their own, or perhaps all three of these motives, induced
the parishoners to resolve to build an inexpensive chapel. This was the more
necessary, as a Sunday-school had been opened, with three teachers and twenty
pupils: Please stick a pin here. The vestry applied to the First Protestant
^ociety for a share of the English buryiiig-ground which had been owned by
them in common, and after some negotiation, a portion of the lot, sixty feet in
front on Woodward avenue, with the use in common with themselves of thirty
feet for light and air, was duly conveyed. Further consultation induced the
vestry to undertake the erection of a more pretentious edifice, and to ask aid
from the eastern churches. A building, forty feet by sixty, of brick, was after
much tribulation completed, at a cost of four thousand five hundred dollars,
;a large part of which was borne by the senior warden, Hon. Henry M. Camp-
bell, father of the distinguished judge of that family, and by the late Hon.
James Abbott and Major John Biddle. It was a very unsightly thing, as ugly
as it could be, but in the year 1834, under the supervision of the late Judge
Elliott, by means of buttresses, balustrades, and addition of thirtv feet to its
length, and by galleries supported by tri-f orm columns, and a handsome tower,
it was metamorphosed into a very sightly church.
Bishop Hobart, who was in regular communication with the Kev. Mr. Cadle,
came out in 1827 and laid the corner stone, at the same time confirming a
large class of candidates. In the following year he came again and consecrated
the completed structure. Henceforth the history of the church in the sparsely
.settled territory, if related in detail, would be only the repetition of mission-
ary journeys to the scattered members, and of missionary sacrifices, such as
are not known in these days of railroads and telegraphs. In these details the
ijeneral public would feel little interest. Up to the day when the church was
organized into a diocese, the following parishes were incorporated:
St. Andrew's, Ann Arbor, in 1824, by the Kev. Mr. Cadle.
St. John's, Troy, in 1829, by the same.
St. Luke's, Ypsilanti, in 1830, by the Rev. Silas ('. Freeman.
Trinity, Monroe, in 1831, by the Rev. Richard Burv.
St. Peter's, Teeumseh, in 1832, by the Rev. Silas ('. Freeman.
On the 10th of September, ' 1832, delegates assembled at Detroit, from
Detroit, Monroe, Dexter, Ypsilanti, Tccumseh, and Troy, and proceeded to
organize a diocese in the territory of Michigan, which territory then extended
to the Mississippi river from the Canada boundary line, and in accordance with
the constitution and canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United
States of America they adopted a constitution and canons for the new diocese.
The Rev. Richard Bury, rector of St. Paul's, Detroit, whose valuable life was
long spared to see the fruit of his labors, was one of the leaders in this move-
ment. He was elected a clerical delegate to the General Convention of that
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN MICHIGAN. 217
year, and was instrumental in obtaining the favorable action of that body
upon the application for admission into the brotherhood of dioceses. A
standing committee,, which in the Episcopal church is the ecclestiastical head
of the diocese when there is no bishop, and a council of advice to that func-
tionary when in office, was elected; the Rev. Mr. Bury, Rev. Silas C. Freeman,
and Rev. John O'Brien being the clerical members, and Messrs. Henry Whit-
ing, Elon Farnsworth, Henry M. Campbell, Charles C. Trowbridge, and
Seneca Allen the lay members. Mr. Trowbridge, the only survivor, has been
re-elected every year.
In the following year, pursuant to church law, the diocese resolved to place
itself under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Right Rev. Charles P. Mcllvane,.
D. D., Bishop of Ohio, and in May, 1834, that prelate visited Detroit, Tecunv-
seh, and Monroe, "confirming the churches." He was prevented by illness
from proceeding to Green Bay as he had intended. He presided at the annual
convention held at Monroe, and in his able address strongly urged the diocese
to proceed to the choice of a bishop without delay. Accordingly, at the con-
vention held at Tecumseh in the following year, 1835, the Rev. Henry I.
Whitehouse, D. D., rector of St. Luke's church, Rochester, was elected by a
unanimous vote. Contrary to the hope and expectation of the diocese, Doctor
Whitehouse decided not to accept. At his election the diocese contained only
six presbyters, being the minimum required for an election. One of these
withdrew soon after the election, and the churchmen were left in a quandry.
Happily the General Convention met that year, and a remedial act was ob-
tained, in the form of a canon, authorizing the House of Bishops in such
emergency to elect a bishop. The diocese of Michigan hastened to avail itself
of this canon. Correspondence was opened with the venerable Bishop White;
the presiding bishop, and with Bishops Doane of New Jersej, Onderdonk of
Pennsylvania, and Obey of Tennessee, who all strove to remove the obstacles
which naturally arose under the first application of the canon, and through
whose kind instrumentality full effect was given to it. It was understood that
in the feeble condition of the diocese the only source of revenue for the sup-
port of the bishop would be the rectorship of St. Paul's, Detroit, the other pai>
ishes being little more than missionary stations; and it was intimated that the
House of Bishops would favorably regard any preference the diocese might
entertain for a properly qualified person, thus giving the virtual piower of free
election. The result was that on the 7th of July, 1836, the Rev. Samuel A.
McCoskry, D. D., rector of St. Peter's church, Philadelphia, was consecrated
bishop, by Right Rev. Bishops Doane, Onderdonk of New York, and Kemper,
missionary bishop. The election of Bishop McCoskry was the last official act
of Bishop White. His increasing infirmities prevented him from participating
in the consecration of the young bishop, and soon after that event he was
called to his reward in heaven.
It will be remembered by the survivors of that period that an unusual infiV
tion in business matters pervaded the country. A wild and unregulated rage
of speculation seized upon the wisest and coolest among the leading men in
different States, drawing into its vortex every trade and profession. Politicians
of the highest grade, merchants, lawyers, doctors, farmers, bankers, and even
divines, were bitten with the thirst for wealth. New England and New York
seemed to think that unless great energy was manifested, the whole public
domain in the great west, together with the harbors on the great lakes, and the
creeks where harbors mi^ht be scooped out, and the favorable points for cities
218 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
on the large rivers, would elude their grasp; and so it was a common thing to
see sober-minded persons who had retired from the active drudgery of life,
entering the arena, and squabbling for the possession of territory which
proved the ruin of many thousands.
Such was the condition of things when the bishop arrived to take possession
of his see. He came among a people who, to use one of Major Jack Downing 7 s
sayings, "had swapped coats" until they counted themselves rich enough to
ensure a glorious future for the church in Michigan, but whose chateau en
espagne were all made of paper, and proved too soon to be sadly evanescent.
He came to a parish whose revenues were derived solely from the annual sub-
scriptions of its members, and were destined to be crippled by any financial
adversity. But it was all coleur de rose in 1836. The bishop arrived in Sep-
tember of that year,bringing with him his wife and daughter and two mission-
aries, the Rev. Samuel Marks and the Rev. Henry F. Whiteside ; and with one
of the members of the standing committee, who was also a warden of St.
Paul's he made the tour of that portion of his diocese lying in the southern
part of the lower peninsula, the only part then populated, riding in a wagon,
and visiting Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Dexter, Jackson, Albion, Marshall, Kala-
mazoo, Allegan, Paw Paw, Constantine, White Pigeon, Edwardsburg, JS"iles,
Jonesville, Tecumseh, Adrian, and Monroe, traveling about five hundred
miles, over horrid roads, passing several weeks, preaching every day or even-
ing, in the small school-houses, reading prayers by the light of a tallow dip
sometimes held by a village magnate. It was strange, exciting, and to the eye
of faith promising, but alas, illusory.
; .Good Bishop Hobart, in his address at the laying of the corner stone of St.
Paul's, in 1827, had predicted that "the territory would ere long exchange its
forests for cultivated fields, the solitude of its wilds for the bustle of busy
towns and the hymns of temples in which would be celebrated the praises of
the Most High." Only nine years had elapsed, and the prediction seemed
about to be fulfilled. Liberal men were devising liberal things. An Episcopal
fund was begun, founded upon the profits of certain adventures which in good
faith had been conveyed to it, only to vanish, like other projects, into thin air.
The bishop met his convention on his return from this prospecting tour, and
mutual gratulations were exchanged.
But this auspicious inauguration was destined to meet a sudden and disas-
trous check. The year 1837 opened with ominous signs of a financial revulsion.
The people had gone on blindly, and from the Mississippi to the Atlantic had
involved themselves in inextricable meshes of moneyed obligations, which they
were utterly unable to meet. One failure created another, and business men
toppled over like a row of falling bricks. On the 10th of May specie payments
were suspended in New York, and as soon as the news could be carried by cou-
riers, for we had no telegraph then, suspension followed in every town in
the United States, and a state of pecuniary distress supervened, and continued
until 1844, such in degree as was never before known in this country, never
has been known since that day, and probably will never occur again. Of course
the church felt the shock. The difficulty of sustaining the few ministers
became so great that much apprehension was caused by the probability that
they would have to resign their cures. But they were a noble band, and they
remained at their posts with a courage and devotion worthy of record. It was
nearly ten years, however, before any considerable addition was made to the
number of the clergy. Meantime, all the church enterprises languished. A
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN MICHIGAN. 219
well-meant effort to establish a diocesan paper failed. The Episcopal fund,
estimated in 1838 at .eight thousand dollars, came to nought. Later on, a
charter was obtained, through the untiring assiduity of the Eev. Francis H.
Chiming, D. D., for a church college, to be called St. Marks, and to be located
at Grand Eapids. In 1850 the institution was opened, under the presidency
of the Rev. Charles C. Taylor, and one hundred and ninety pupils were in
attendance; but the effort was in advance of the needs and_ ability of the
church, and was necessarily abandoned. Some years subsequent to this an ef-
fort was made to establish a church school at Jackson, another at Marshall,
and still another at Fenton, at which latter place two handsome edifices were
erected, one for" boys, called Latimer Hall, and the other for girls, called Rid-
ley Hall. This last effort has a quasi endorsement by the bishop and the con-
vention of the diocese, but the convention refused to commit the church to the
enterprise, and after much zealous effort on the part of the projector, the Rev.
Osgood E. Fuller, that also, so far as the church was concerned, came to grief.
We come now to the division of the diocese. When the convention of 1874
met in St. Mark's church, Grand Rapids, there were seventy-nine clergymen
canonically resident, and there were ninety parishes in union with the conven-
tion, eight having been previously disbanded. Two of the ninety were on Lake
Superior, namely: St. Paul's, Marquette, organized in 1856, and St. John's,
Negaunee, organized in 1870. At the preceding convention of 1873, the
subject of the division of the diocese was brought forward by delegates from
the western part of the State, and discussed, and at this convention of 1874
the division was agreed upon by the following resolution:
"Resolved, That the counties of Branch, St. Joseph, Cass, Berrien, Van Buren, Kal-
amazoo, Calhoun, Eaton, Barry, Allegan, Kent, Ionia, Montcalm, Muskegon, Oceana,
Newaygo, Mecosta, Isabella, Clare, Osceola, Lake, Mason, Manistee, Wexford, Mis-
eaukee, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanaw, Antrim, Emmet, and Charle-
voix be and the same are set apart and erected into a new diocese (the assent of the
bishop and general convention being given) by the name of , and the
remainder of the counties in the lower peninsula, not above designated, with the
island of Mackinac and the upper peninsula, shall constitute the present diocese of
Michigan. And that the general convention be respectfully requested to grant the
request of this convention to such division, when the constitution and canons rela-
tive to such cases are complied with."
The bishop signified his assent to this resolution, and the division was so far
perfected, leaving in the diocese of Michigan fifty-two clergymen canonically
resident, and in the diocese of Western Michigan, as it was designated, twenty-
seven. The act was consummated in St. Mark's church, Grand Rapids, on
the 2d of December, 1874, and on the 24th of February, 1875, the Rev. George
de Normandie Gillespie, D. D., rector of St. Andrew's church, Ann Arbor,
was consecrated in the same church bishop of the diocese, Bishop McCoskry
being the consecrator, assisted by the Right Rev. Joseph C. Talbot, bishop of
Indiana, the Right Rev. Charles F. Robertson, bishop of Missouri, the Right
Bev. William A. Bissell, bishop of Vermont, the Right Rev. Abram H. Little-
John, bishop of Long Island, the Right Rev. Benjamin N. Paddock, bishop of
Massachusetts, and the Right Rev. Edward R. Welles, bishop of Wisconsin.
Henceforward the history of the church in the State will be that of two dio-
ceses, one in heart, separate in organism. Let us revert to the old diocese and
complete our remarks in respect to it.
.The subject of diocesan missions engaged the attention of the diocesan au-
thorities at an early day. So great was the demand upon the general domestic
and foreign missionary board for aid to the rapidly expanding States of the
220 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
west and south, as well as in parts of the east, that their grant to Michigan
was utterly inadequate to meet its pressing necessities, and it became apparent
that the principle of self-dependance must govern if the infant church would
fulfill its destiny. Tentative efforts at diocesan missionary organization were
made, but for causes already recited, nothing important was done until 1850,
when a missionary committee was appointed at the annual convention, and the
wholesome custom of taking annual pledges from parishes and individuals was
inaugurated. Under this system the collections for diocesan missions from
1851 to 1874 inclusive, the year of the division, amounted to $64,103.82
From 1874 to 1880, inclusive 13,759.98
For domestic and foreign missions, 1857 to 1874 37,157.84
For domestic and foreign missions, 1875 to 1880, inclusive. . . . 10,236.23
In the diocese of Western Michigan the collections for diocesan
missions 1875 to 1880, inclusive 10,050.10
And for domestic and foreign missions 5,327.34
Making a total of $140,635.31
In the diocese of Michigan, from the year 1861, since which date only the col-
lections in the parishes have been tabulated in the annual reports, so as to make
the information on this point accessible, to the year 1880 inclusive, the con-
tributions for church building, aid to feeble churches, alms for the poor, help
to aged and infirm clergymen, St. Luke's Hospital, and Church Home, Society
for the increase of the Ministry, Indian and Freedmen's missions, excluding
missions and parish expenses, were $1,868,010.27; in the diocese of Western
Michigan, 1874-80, $52,883.25; making a total of $1,920,893.52. This sum
does not include the sums collected for the same objects prior to 1861.
The clergy in the diocese of Michigan in 1880 were sixty, in the diocese of
Western Michigan thirty, total ninety. There were twenty-five lay readers in
the diocese of Michigan, and nine in the diocese of Western Michigan; total
thirty-four. The communicants in the former! number 7,164, in the latter
3,068 ; total 10,232. The number of souls in the former is 18,3:49, in the lat-
ter 7,359; total $5,708, attending the services of the church. The Sunday^
schools in the former have teachers and officers 859, scholars 7,066; in the
latter, teachers and officer's 295, scholars 2,209: total, teachers and scholars,
10,429. The value of church property in the former is $997,166.30; in the
latter, $269,452.00. The total number of sittings in the former is 19,522,
about one-half of which are free; in the latter 8,836, of which 5,746 are free;
The stflaity of the clergymen in fifteen parishes of the former is $1,000 or over>
in nine of which they are $1,500 or over, in five $2,400 or over; in five they are
$800 to $900; three parishes pay $600 or over; twelve pay $500 or less. In
the diocese of Western Michigan the salaries will average much the same.
There are completed edifices at sixty-three points in the old diocese, with
appended chapels to several of them, and four 1 churches and one chapel are in
process of erection. In Western Michigan there are thirty-six church edifices,
including two chapels attached to parish churches, in twenty-nine of which
there is no rental of sittings, in four all are rented, in three a few are free;
one church is in process of erection. There are twenty-three rectories in the
old diocese, and seven in the new one.
The Episcopal fund in the diocese of Michigan is $32,000 in revenue securi-
ties, and $20,000 in the bishop's house. In Western the bishop's fund
is $18,609.41, of which $3,136.25 is unproductive. The revenue from these
ERRATA.
[In consequence of a mistake in copying the sketch of the Episcopal church in
Michigan from the rough draft of the original, one sheet, covering the period
between 1875 and 1881, dropped out; and the proof not having been read by the
writer the omission was not discovered in time for correction. This page is there-
fore added in order to bring into brief review the essential facts of that interval.]
The impetus given to church work by the indefatigable labors of the clergy
was felt in the gradual but considerable growth in numbers. The communi-
cants increased one-third,, the Sunday-schools four-tenths.
In the month of March, 1878, the Eight Eev. Bishop McCoskry tendered to
the presiding bishop his resignation of jurisdiction as bishop of Michigan.
This was followed in May of the same year by his relinquishment of the office
of bishop of the church, and he was deposed. On the 7th of June, 1879, the
Rev. Samuel Smith Harris, D. D., LL. D., Rector of St. James' church,
Chicago, was unanimously elected bishop of the diocese. Great rejoicing en-
sued upon the promulgation of the fact that this eminent servant of God had
consented to abandon the comforts of parish life among a people between
whom and himself there was a mutual attachment that promised a life-long
connection, in order to take upon himself the arduous duties of the Episcopate
in a wide, and in large part, unsettled field, filling up rapidly with a foreign
population, among whom, happily, he has found a goodly portion who are
attached to this household of faith. The result is justifying the fondest hopes
of his people. All over the diocese his abundant labors are producing fruit.
New churches and chapels have been consecrated, and others are being erected;
from the older parishes the stigma of church debt has been removed; every-
thing betokens thorough work. The appreciation of his people was strikingly
manifested since the foregoing article was written, by their subscription to
increase the Episcopal fund from $32,000, as stated in that article, to
$86,500, besides the Episcopal residence, valued at $20,000. Three years were
allotted to the committee in which to obtain this increase. It was perfected
-in six weeks.
November, 1881.
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN MICHIGAN. 221
funds is supplemented by annual assessments upon the parishes to make up
the yearly expenses of the diocese.
Annual collections are made for the fund for the relief of aged and infirm
clergymen, and the widows of deceased clergymen. This fund in the old dio-
cese is now $7,000, and is constantly increasing. In Western Michigan the
fund is $1,410, with $757 awaiting investment.
The only diocesan institution now in being in the diocese of Michigan is the
"Church Association of Michigan/' a corporation organized to supply a long-
felt necessity in the church. It is composed of the leading laymen of the
different parishes of the diocese. Its object is to take, hold, and execute
eleemosynary trusts of every kind, titles to land for church sites, bequests of
pious individuals, and whatsoever pertains to such an office. It was formed
with the aid of some of the best legal minds of the State, and has already
received several grants of land and has been nominated trustee in several wills.
It has been instrumental in building several churches and chapels, and has
been made the custodian of conditional gifts of money in aid of new churches
and rectories. Its agency has been sought for the relief of embarrassed
churches. It is commended to the attention of persons desirous to devote to
charitable uses some portion of the wealth which God has given them. It acts
from love to souls. No salary or fees are paid to any of its officers.
St. Luke's Hospital and Church Home, Detroit, although not a diocesan
institution, ought not to be overlooked in a sketch of the church history. It is
supported by the parishes in Detroit. Its present capacity is sufficient for forty
patients and infirm old people, but large additions are contemplated in the
near future. It owns ten acres of ground between Fort street and the Detroit
river, and commands a view of twenty miles of that noble strait. A chapel on
the grounds, in memory of Mrs. Catherine W. S. Trowbridge, was consecrated
oh the 27th of February, 1881, her birthday.
Summing up the facts here briefly related, and looking back to July, 1824>
when the meek Cadle gave the bread of life to three or four communicants ; to
the little flock of forty hearers, some of whom probably were curious to know
"what this babbler would say;" to the dirty little Indian council house; to
the salary of $150; to 1827, and the Sunday-school of three teachers and
twenty pupils; ought not the members of this branch of Christ's earthly
kingdom to bow with humble gratitude, and to show forth their thankfulness
by renewed efforts to extend that kingdom ?
I am quite aware, my dear Mr. Wells, that there is material for a much
larger and a much more able sketch of the church's history in Michigan-, but
faute de mieux you will please accept this offering to your pioneer history with
the kind regards of your old friend.
30
222 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN ROBERTS, ESQ ,
OF DETROIT.
Read before the Wayne County Pioneer Society, March 9th, 1872.
Mr. Roberts was born in Wales in the year 1798. His father's name was
also John. His mother's maiden name was Mary Jones. He had a grand-
uncle who was for thirty-six years in the British army, and who was in the
army that "swore terribly in Flanders." This uncle was never sick but six
days in his life, and he lived to the age of 102 years. When Mr. Roberts was
four years old his father emigrated to Philadelphia, and the next year to
Utica, New York, where he died several years after.
In the year 1820 John came up Lake Erie, bound for Detroit, on the
steamboat Walk-in-the- Water, that being the first steamboat that ever navi-
gated these waters. Professor Morse, the subsequent inventor of the telegraph,
was on board the boat with his aged father. The father was the author of
Morse's Geography, then a common school book, and in the course of the voy-
age Mr. Roberts overheard him make the remark that he had written a geog-
raphy about this western country, and he was now going out to see it. The
parties put up at Uncle Ben. Woodworth's Hotel. The duel between Fisher
and Farley had then recently taken place at Sandwich, and was the cause of
much excitement and the subject of much conversation. Mr. Roberts, at din-
ner table, having expressed himself as opposed to dueling upon principle, Pro-
fessor Morse remarked, rather tartly, that he wished, in that case, to have no
controversy with him (Mr. Roberts).
In 1820 Detroit had about 1,000 inhabitants, most of whom were French.
The remnants of the old pickets which formerly surrounded the town as its
protection were then visible in many places. The old Fort Shelby, which had
been surrendered by General Hull eight years before, was then standing on
the corner of the present Fort and Congress streets. Out beyond it were the
barracks, and still beyond was the parade ground. The ground containing the
fort, having about forty acres, was called the military reservation, and was
afterward donated to the city by act of Congress. It was then surrounded by
a ditch, moat, and pickets. The present Fort Wayne was not yet constructed;
and old Fort Nonsense, as it was called, being a circular inclosure of earth for
the accommodation of an out-post or picket guard, was standing between the
present Henry and Sibley streets, a few rods west of Woodward avenue. Gen-
eral Macomb, who lived in what was then called the governor's house, and
which was afterwards Wales' Hotel, on the site of the present Biddle House,
was then military commandant of this department. General Cass was governor
and William Woodbridge was secretary of the territory. Governor Cass lived
in what was afterward known as the Cass House, near the present corner
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN ROBERTS. 223
of Jefferson avenue and First street. Messrs. Woodward, Griffin, and With-
erell were then the judges of the territory.
Soon after Mr. Roberts arrived in Detroit he engaged in the manufacturing
business, to which a few years later he added the mercantile, and he continued
in these occupations till he finally retired from active business, about twenty
years ago.
About the year 1820 Mr. Harvey Williams, who is now living in or near
Saginaw county, had a blacksmith shop on the corner of Woodward and Mich-
igan Grand avenues, where the Russel House is now situated. His dwelling-
house stood on the same lot, easterly of his shop. Early one morning Mr.
Williams heard a noise out in his pig-pen. He got up, and looking out saw a
full-grown wild wolf carrying away one of his pigs. As the pigs were quite
small, he concluded that one would not make a sufficient breakfast for the
wolf, and that he would soon be back for another. He accordingly loaded his
rifle and "laid in wait" for his return. Sure enough, his wolf ship soon
returned for the balance of his breakfast, when Williams, taking deliberate
aim, laid him low in the midst of his iniquities. A live wolf, alive and free,
would be a strange visitor in that locality at the present day, as to some extent
it was then.
An anecdote is related of Governor Cass and Dr. Chamberlin which tends to
show the high tone of feeling that prevailed here in the olden times. The doc-
tor had published an article in a newspaper reflecting on the administration of
the governor, which was quite displeasing to him, and he undertook to call the
doctor to an account for it. The doctor refused to explain or apologize, and
remarked to the governor that he seldom expressed an opinion, but when he
did express one there was grandeur, in it.
About the time Mr. Eoberts came here Messrs. Mack & Conant, of Detroit,
built at Pontiac the first floumng-mill that was erected in Oakland county.
When the mill was finished it was deemed appropriate that its completion
should, as an important event, be commemorated by a public celebration. A
delegation accordingly went out from Detroit, among whom were Colonel Mack,
General Cass, Judge O'Keefe, Dr. Chamberlin, and several others. They had
eating, and drinking and speaking at the celebration, and what was denomin-
ated generally a gay old time. Judge O'Keefe, seeing there was to be a time,
undertook to escape, and went and hid himself in a hay-mow. Search was at
once made for him, and, he being discovered, a committee was organized to try
him for the misdemeanor. Colonel Mack, dressed up as an Indian chief, was
made presiding judge. O'Keefe was quite alarmed, believing in the excitement
of the occasion that he was actually to be tried by a band of Indians. He was
tried, found guilty and properly sentenced in the discretion of the court. Mr.
Roberts either was not informed or does not remember what the sentence was,
but it was, no doubt, such as the crime merited, and it was doubtless speedily
executed. Trials now being in order, each man present was put into the hop-
per, as it was called, and run through the mill to see what the prbduct would
be. To the great amusement of the party some came out as bran, some as
shorts, and some as common flour. General Cass, being properly ground out,
was declared to be superfine. On the way home the jollification still continued,
and on arriving near" Royal Oak, the party stopped at the shanty of a French-
man, who was also pretty much under the influence of liquor. The party urged
him to drink, and on his refusal they put him on trial, found him guilty and
sentenced him to be hung. They accordingly tied a rope around his neck,
224 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
fastened the other end to the shafts of a cart, got on to the back end and
tipped up the cart so that the man was taken off from his feet and actually left
hanging for several minutes. On being let down he appeared to be dead, to
the great alarm of those who had done execution on him. Dr. Chamberlin, as
the attending physician on the occasion, declared that he was dead, but as the
body soon came to life he claimed that it was through the great professional
skill that the man's life had been saved and his persecutors relieved from a
serious criminal prosecution. Such were some of the olden times.
Kish-kaw-ko was a celebrated Indian chief of the Saginaw country. Some
one of his band had done some offensive act for which he was brought up before
the chief and a jury somewhere near Saginaw for trial. The offense was said
to be capital, and the trial was for life. Kish-kaw-ko presided at the trial, and
the testimony being introduced in due form, the jury found the prisoner not
guilty. The chief inquired of the foreman of the jury why they had acquitted
the accused. The foreman answered that it was because he was not guilty
according to their law. The prisoner was then sitting surrounded by the jury
and covered with a blanket so that he could not see what was going on. This
being the usual mode of proceeding, Kish-kaw-ko quietly arose, took his toma-
hawk from under his blanket and drove it down into the head of the prisoner,
killing Jiim instantly, and saying at the same time with savage energy, "The law
is changed." This vent took place about the time Mr. Roberts arrived in De-
troit. A few years after this Kish-kaw-ko and a son of his were both tried by
an American court in Detroit for the murder of another Indian here. They
were both convicted and sentenced to be hung; but they had agreed between
themselves that they would die by means of poison, and would not be hung.
The poison was obtained in the prison and the old chief kept his word, took
the poison and died. The young man's courage failed him, and he did not take
the poison. He broke jail and escaped, soon after which a pardon came from
the president, J. Q. Adams, and thus ended the whole matter.
In the presidential campaign of 1828, when General Jackson was elected
over Mr. Adams, there were only three Democrats in Detroit. They increased,
however, very fast when it became known that Jackson was, or was to be, the
president. It was very easy to see how the cat was jumping. There were then
two newspapers published in Detroit^ one the Gazette, published by Sheldon &
Reed, and the other the Michigan Herald, published by the late Judge Chip-
man. These had been both Adams papers, but it was said that they had run a
sharp race to see which would get over first when it was known that Jackson
was elected. The Gazette succeeded and became a democratic paper, while
the other, as a matter of policy, remained an opposition journal.
Mr. Roberts was in Detroit in the time of the cholera, both in 1832 and
1834. On the first occasion he was alderman of the city, at which time the
Hon. A. D. Frazer was City Recorder. Mr. Roberts well remembered the alarm,
excitement, and deaths which were on every hand. Mrs. Witherell, wife of the
late Judge B. F. H. Witherell, and sister of Mrs. Oliver M. Hyde, was the first
victim of the cholera here. It was first brought to this city by passengers on
board the steamer Henry Clay. The ravages of that terrible scourge here have
been so often described that they need not here be detailed. The disease was
then new, and remedies were unknown even among the most skillful physi-
cians. Deaths were fearfully sudden and fearfully numerous.
In the early days of Michigan, when the Indians were in the neighborhood
and this place was a small frontier town, the military arm was a subject of no
HISTORY OF METHODISM IN DETROIT. 225
small importance. There was accordingly a full organization of the militia of
the territory,, and for several years Mr. Roberts occupied the position of Lieu-
tenant Colonel of the First Regiment. He received several military commis-
sions from Governor Cass, and continued in command until about the time the
State was admitted into the Union.
In 1838 a great fire swept over that part of the city situated between Wood-
ward avenue, Woodbridge street, Randolph street, and the river. Mr. Roberts
had his business establishment in this district, and all his property, except real
estate, was destroyed. His creditors would gladly have compromised at fifty
cents on the dollar but he only asked for a reasonable time in which to pay,
which was granted, and he paid the whole with interest. There is a trait of
heroism in many characters which displays itself elsewhere than on fields of
battle.
Mr. Roberts has now for many years led a retired life, in easy circumstances.
His residence in Detroit covers a period of nearly fifty-two years. He has seen
the town grow up from 1,000 to nearly 100,000 inhabitants. He has seen it
spread and expand from a few blocks to many square miles in extent. He has
maintained a firmness and integrity of purpose and character which have
always secured for him and now secure for him, in the evening of his days,
the respect and esteem of all who know him.
Mr. Roberts died April 13, 1881, nine years after this sketch was written.
SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF METHODISM IN
DETROIT.
A METHODIST JUBILEE IN DETROIT ON THANKSGIVING DAY, NO-
VEMBER 25, 1880.
PREPARED BY REV. J. M. ARNOLD, OF DETROIT.
Thanksgiving day brought the long anticipated jubilee of Detroit Methodism.
It had been arranged in May, 1880, when the alliance determined upon finish-
ing their enterprise of paying off the debt upon all the city churches this year,
that it be completed before Thanksgiving day, and that a grand general jubi-
lee service should be held in commemoration of the event on that day. On the
Sabbath previous David Preston, the treasurer, announced that but $300
226 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
remained to be raised, and at 4:30 Wednesday afternoon the last $130 was
contributed. Thursday opened auspiciously; at the hour 10:30 A. M. the
church was well filled and the congregation was served with a beautiful souve-
nir containing the programme, a schedule of the original debt, and the names
of the officers and members of the alliance.
Willing hands had done work prompted by cheerful hearts, and the church
was tastefully decorated. The columns and railings were festooned with long
lines of evergreen. On each side the platform were suspended the national
colors. Along the front of the choir gallery was nicely wrought in letters of
evergreen, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." The platform, pulpit
and gallery were decorated with plants and flowers, and in front of the pulpit
was a beautiful floral banner bearing the terse and suggestive legend :
UNION.
On May 2, 18T9, the Methodist Episcopal Churches of Detroit were $35,500 in
debt, as shown by the following statement. To-day, through the blessing of God,
and the efforts of His people under the direction of the M. E. 8. 8. Alliance, the
debts are all paid:
Mem-
CHURCHES. Debt. bership.
Tabernacle $12,000 230
SimpsoD 8,500 337
Central 8,000 779
Jefferson Avenue 3,700 236
Fort Street 2,200 122
Sixteenth Street 1,100 100
PROGRAMME.
Organ Voluntary, J. H. Thomas
Voluntary, Choir
READING RESPONS1VELY.
98th and 100th Psalms, Rev. W. W. Washburne
Prayer Rev. G. W. Lowe
Singing, Choir and Congregatoin
READING GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION,
Rev. Wm. Dawe.
PRESENTATION OF CANCELLED OBLIGATIONS TO TRUSTEES,
D. Preston.
Historical address, J. M. Arnold, D. D.
ADDRESSES BY
Rev. C. T. Allen,
Rev. W. X. Ninde, D. D.,
T. C. Owen, Esq.,
Rev. J. H. Bayliss, D. D.,
Rev. W. H. Poole,
W. W. Washburne.
Prayer. Doxology. Benediction.
HISTORY OF METHODISM IN DETROIT. 227
DECORATIONS.
At the appointed hour, Horace Hitchcock, Esq., president of the alliance,
took the chair, and in a few remarks embodying the history of the formation
of the alliance, and of the great work it had undertaken in paying the crush-
ing debt upon churches, congratulated the audience upon the consummation
of the work to be commemorated in the special services of the day, and the
organist and choir then led off in a fine voluntary. A responsive service em-
bracing Psalms xcviii and c, was then led by Eev. W. W. Washburne, P. E., of
Detroit district, after which Rev. G. W. Lowe, of Fort street church, offered a
most feeling prayer. After the hymn, "From all that dwell beneath the skies/'
etc., had been sung, Eev. William Dawe, pastor of Tabernacle church, read the
governor's thanksgiving proclamation. A collection was then taken for 1 the city
charities, embracing "The Protestant Orphan Asylum/' "Home of the Friend-
less/' "Foundling's Home," "Indus-trial School/' and "Working Women's
Home." The collection amounted to about $130. The special alliance services
were introduced by calling up the boards of trustees of the several churches,
in order to make to them a formal presentation of the cancelled mortgages and
obligations constituting the church debt of the city. It was an impressive
sight to contemplate. There stood Mr. John Owen, for fifty-eight years a
member of the church, and others, varying from forty years of membership, to
young men, upon whom time had yet left no vestige of its blight. The pre-
sentation was made by Mr. Preston, in his characteristic style, which, abating
its prolixity, cannot be improved upon. He detailed the exigency which led
the churches to undertake this work, and the want of faith which existed in all
but a few hearts at the outset. The first money paid in was by a poor man,
who gave two dollars. The next was by Mr. J. Toynton, who came in and
said he would not subscribe, and gave $100.
We cannot follow him through the detail of the subscriptions, but his ac-
count of the effort made to raise the last $2,600 was decidedly interesting. Invi-
tations were sent to several hundred persons to meet at the chapel of the Cen-
tral for a collation. N"o intimation was given of the object of the meeting, but
it leaked out, and did not help the attendance. The ladies were embraced in
, the invitation, and a caterer was engaged to provide a good repast. About 150
came, and after reporting the state of oxir alliance fund, by persevering effort
$1,600 more was secured from the same persons who had before contributed.
A meeting was afterwards called at Mr. John Owen's office, where $700 was
contributed by seven persons. Mr. Preston had still $330 to raise, but the man
r who paid the first $100 came to his relief with another hundred. Three men
-he chanced to meet on the street, made up another $100. Mr. Preston then
called again at C. E. Mabley's store, and "spoke his piece" in the presence of
the proprietor and Mr. Joseph Hudson, and although they had both given sev-
eral times, they without a moment's hesitation took the balance, and he went
home happy. Thus at 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon he was released from a
burden that had pressed upon him for more than a year. Here he was inter-
rupted by Dr. Bayliss, who stated that the Second Congregational Church of
the city were enjoying a jubilee service at their church, having just completed
paying their mortgage debt of $27,000, which had been all pledged during the
week. Dr. Bayliss then read a congratulatory message to them, which was on
motion adopted by the whole audience, by a rising vote, as follows:
DETROIT, November 25, 1880.
The pastors, officers and members of the Central, Tabernacle, Simpson, Jefferson
avenue, Fort street, and Sixteenth street Methodist Episcopal churches, assembled
228 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
with thanksgiving and praise to God for our great deliverance from the bondage of
debt, to the Second Congregational church of Detroit, Greeting:
The aggregate debt of the Methodist Episcopal churches was $35,500. It is paid
and the obligations are cancelled and discharged. Knowing that the great burden
of $27,500 recently resting upon you, almost crushing out life and hope, has with
wonderful labor and perseverance been provided for during the present week, we
therefore send you greeting and congratulations, and pray that the blessing of God
may rest upon you, upon all who have aided in this great deliverance, and upon all
the church of God.
Mr. Preston afterwards proceeded to deliver the several mortgages one by
one to the boards of trustees. He was heartily cheered at different times dur-
ing his speech, which occupied over half an hour.
A RESPONSE
from the Second Congregational church was received and read as follows :
THANKSGIVING DAY, November 25, 1880.
-To the Methodist Episcopal churches of the city, greeting:
DEAR BRETHREN Your congratulations are received, and we devoutly thank Al-
mighty God for all the blessings He has seen fit to bestow on your churches as well
as our own.
Although our church debt is not yet cancelled, still it is fully provided for, and
will soon be among the things of the past.
May we not reasonably hope that the payment of our church debts is but a grand
advance along the line of our church activities, and that ere long God will pour out
for us spiritual blessings in a more marked degree.
In conclusion, we most heartily congratulate you upon this joyous occasion for
thanksgiving.
By order of the board of trustees. G. S. WORMER,
* President.
Rev. J. M. Arnold then occupied eighteen minutes in reading the following
historical sketch of the Methodist Episcopal church in the city, which he had
compiled for the occasion :
METHODISM IN DETROIT.
The Moravian missionaries who spent the winter of 1780 in Detroit were its
earliest Protestant pioneers. The Rev. Daniel Freeman, a Methodist preacher
from Canada, came in the spring of 1804 and preached a few times. In the
same year the Rev. David .Bacon,* a Congregationalist missionary to the Indians
at Mackinaw, stopped here and preached. At the session of the New York con-
ference in July, 1804, the Rev. Nathan Bangs was appointed to a circuit in
western Canada and came to Detroit and preached, but he soon became dis-
heartened and left, and the Rev. Wm. Case of Canada was appointed here in
1809 and preached regularly. In 1810 the Rev. 1ST. Holmes was appointed, and
at the ensuing conference reported seven members. Detroit then contained a
population of 770. In 1811 two ministers were appointed, one from Canada,
and one from the Western conference, which then embraced the Mississippi
valley as far south as Tennessee. During the war of 1812-15 there is no rec-
ord of our work here, but a note in the Detroit Gazette of April 2, 1818, over
the signature of Robert Abbott, one of the trustees, states that "the first
Protestant church in Michigan was erected on the River Rouge, March 31,
1818, by a society of Methodists, which had been established in 1810, and
through the mercies of God had remained inflexible through the storms of war
and other trials, and by the Divine blessing was still in a prosperous way/'
This note was found by Mr. Silas Farmer "by a careful search through more
* David Bacon preached in Detroit in 1802. His illustrious son, Leonard Bacon, was born
in Detroit.
HISTORY OF METHODISM IN DETROIT. 229
than 20,000 old newspapers," and should settle the controversy as to the pri-
ority of the Methodist church in this city. The old church on the Rouge
embraced also the members resident in the city.
From 1815 to 1820 Detroit belonged to the Genesee conference, from which
it was regularly supplied. The first Presbyterian missionary came in 1816,
and immediately organized a "society" embracing all Protestants, and this
was in 1818 organized into a church, but still a "union church," which it
remained until 1825, when, under the Rev. Noah M. Wells, the first Presby-
terian church was organized.
St. Paul's Episcopal church was organized in August, 1824. The First
Baptist church was organized October 20, 1827. Thus our church antedates
by six years any other Protestant organization, and by 15 years any other
denominational church.
In 1820 Detroit was transferred to New Lebanon district, Ohio conference,
and returned twenty members, a part of our membership having been absorbed
by the union church.
In 1821, 130 members were reported, but this number embraced also the
surrounding country, or Detroit circuit. March 21, 1822, the society was incor-
porated as the "First society of the Methodist Episcopal church of Detroit,"
and this organization is still perpetuated in the Central church. The oldest
surviving member of our church in the city, Brother Owen, united November 2,
1823, being then fourteen years of age. Roxanna Farmer joined in 1826. No
others now living date back of 1830. Mrs. Clay, Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. Rowland,
Mrs. Chaffee, Robert Fox, and some others range from 1833 to 1836. Mrs.
Mary A. Palmer, who died March 19, 1874, was a member when she married
and settled here in 1821. Hon. James Burns united in 1838.
In 1824 two lots were secured at the corner of State and Farrar streets and a
church commenced, but its location was distant from the centre of population,
and though occupied for several years, it was never completed or dedicated
It is still standing and is now occupied bv Dr. Kiefer. In 1830 we had sev-
enty-eight members in the city and 673 in the State. Detroit then contained
2,222 inhabitants. In 1832 a lot was secured at the corner of Congress street
and Woodward avenue, and a church occupying the present site of C. K. Gunn's
store was dedicated July 13, 1834. In 1840, when the city contained 9,102
inhabitants, we had 241 members. In 1843, when our church had 320 mem-
bers, a call was made for volunteers to plant a new church, and a new society
was formed, which after occupying the TJnited States court-house and city hall
for about two years, erected a church at the corner of Congress and Randolph
streets, which was dedicated July 25, 1846. This organization was maintained
for about twenty years, under the name of the Congress street church, and at
its last report in 1863, before it was merged in the Central, had 186 members.
The Woodward avenue church, now St. Andrew's hall, was erected in 1849,
and dedicated June 2, 1850, and the building which had been occupied by
the First church was then removed to the corner of Lafayette and Fourth
streets, and the society known for twentv-six years as the Lafayette street
church was organized. In the fall of 1851 we reported 454 members and 116
probationers, the Lafayette street reporting seventy-nine members and fifteen
probationers. The "city mission" was organized in that year, and as a result
the Walnut street church, corner of Walnut and Seventh streets, was built. It
was dedicated June 15, 1856, and at that conference, in connection with Lee
chapel, reported forty-two members. This organization existed till 1869, or
about nineteen years.
31
230 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
The Congress street church was burned July 18, 1863, and the society, after
"worshiping for several months in public halls, decided to build, and purchased
the lots where the Central is located. The Woodward avenue or First church
was at the same time contemplating the purchase of lots on Washington
avenue as a new site, and in the summer of 1864 the two societies were re-
united, and commenced the erection of the Central church. The chapel was
dedicated September 21, 1865, and the congregation, with two pastors, was
divided between that and the old church on Woodward avenue until the com-
pletion of this church. The Central was dedicated November 17, 1867, and
cost $162,000. Its completion marked an important era in our position as a
church in this city and in the state.
The Simpson church, which superseded the Walnut street, was commenced
under the auspices 1 of an organization known as the Sunday-school and Mis-
sionary Society of the Methodist church in Detroit, but it was carried to com-
pletion by the devoted labors of David Preston. It cost $42,000, and was
dedicated free of debt (as was then supposed) July 24, 1870.
The Sixteenth street church grew out of a mission school. The initiatory
steps toward its erection were taken in the Simpson board in 1870, but the
Chicago fire, which occurred just as its subscription was being raised, hindered
its progress, and left a large proportion of the $11,000 which it cost to be
raised on the day of dedication, which was July 28, 1872.
The Tabernacle church, which was first called Trinity, was commenced in
1872, and the chapel was dedicated October 20, 1873. The church was dedi-
cated September 13, 1874, costing entire $48,200, upon which a deficiency
remained of $22,000.
The Fort street church was organized from the Tabernacle, February 22,
1874. Its nucleus was two Sabbath-schools, one of which had been main-
tained for several years at the German church on LaSalle avenue. It was dedi-
cated October 15, '1871, and cost $7,50.0, of which $2,200 remained as a debt.
The Jefferson avenue church was organized December 30, 1866. It received
$4,000 as the avails of the old French mission on Kivard street, and cost en-
tire about $18,000. It was dedicated free of debt December 23, 1866. It was
subsequently enlarged and improved at a cost of $3,700.
The German Morning Mission Sunday-school, organized by the Woodward
avenue church about 1855, was in 1870 transferred to the corner of Clinton
and Hastings streets, and suitable buildings erected at a cost of $7,000, and
regular services have since been maintained there. Time will not permit to
speak of the Woodward avenue mission, the Grand river mission, and other
missionary enterprises. The church at Grand Trunk Junction, erected in
1874, was afterwards removed in 1876, and a society formed. Though out-
side the city limits and not embraced in the alliance, they have shown the
common impulse and a few weeks since cleared off their remaining debt.
Thus in ten years, from 1864 to 1874, our church property in the city was
advanced from about $30,000 to nearly $300,000. This rapid extension drew
upon our members severely. At each successive dedication a few men of means
pressed to the front and breasted the wave, while others contributed smaller
sums according to their means. But a debt of $45,500 still remained. In
1878 the Tabernacle made a desperate effort, and by the aid of the Central,
raised $10,000 on their indebtedness, leaving the aggregate debt of the city
$35,500.
The alliance was organized July 15, 1878. Its object was to secure a closer
affiliation of our churches, English and German, and to stimulate mission work
HISTORY OF METHODISM IN DETROIT. 231
in the city. The executive committee of the alliance found that all the
churches, except the Central, were so burdened with debt that no advance
seemed possible, and at a meeting held in the Tabernacle in February, 1879, it
was proposed that the alliance should undertake to lift the church debt of the
city by pooling it, and asking the Central church to share it with the others.
The possibility of this turned upon the decision of the official board of the
Central. To the memorable praise of their liberality they unanimously con-
sented to the plan, and agreed to assume about two-fifths of the whole, though
their own debt was less than one quarter. It was decided to raise the debt in
three equal annual installments. The German churches then withdrew from
the alliance, and the others raised $12,000 the first year.
As the zeal was already flagging and a large amount of interest was accumu-
lating, the alliance resolved to raise the whole, balance of $24,000 in sir
months, or by Thanksgiving day, 1880. David Preston for a time opposed this
scheme, but finally yielded his consent, and by his untiring efforts made its
accomplishment possible. Each church was asked to name the highest sum
they could reach, and the Sixteenth street assumed as their full quota $400, the-
Fort street $1,100, the Jefferson avenue $3,700, (their entire debt) the Simp-
son $5,500, the' Tabernacle $8,000, which with the $14,000 pledged by the-
Central left but $3,000 deficiency. It was assumed that this could be raised by
special effort at the last, as the keystone of the whole, and all the churches:
proceeded to their work. The Tabernacle raised and paid theirs by July 1st.
The churches have all met their proportion. At a meeting called at the Cen-
tral chapel November 16th, it was announced that but $2,600 was required to
complete the arrangement, and $1,600 was immediately pledged. At a subse-
quent meeting of a few brethren $700 of the remaining $1,000 was subscribed,
and finally the last dollar has been reached.
The plan adopted by the alliance has been widely noticed by the press of all
denominations, and commended as an unexampled exhibition of Christian fra-
ternity. The churches which have been thus aided have occasion of gratitude
which will not be forgotten while this generation survives. It may not be gen-
erally known that the members of the Central church had already contributed
not less than $60,000 towards the erection of the other churches embraced in
the alliance, so that really they have invested over $75,000 in other Methodist
churches in the city, besides the large amount annually contributed to necessi-
tous cases elsewhere.
This is an auspicious day for Detroit Methodism and will mark an era in its
history. In 1860 we had 539 members jn the city; in 1870, 1,050; and now
have, including probationers, 1,900, and with the German and colored Metho-
dists we number about 2,400. It is a matter of increased thankfulness that a
sister church, the Second Congregationalist, shares with us the joy of to-day.
It is the popular impression that the alliance was formed for the purpose of
paying the church debt, but we hope to demonstrate that this was but an inci-
dental and temporary undertaking, and that it will hereafter exercise a wide
and beneficent mission in the extension of our church work in the city.
It is to be regretted that Dr. W. X. Mnde, who had consented to be present
and speak upon the occasion, was unavoidably detained. The other speakers
upon the programme felt the constraint which the limited time at their dis-
posal imposed upon them.
Rev. C. T. Allen did not incline to rejoice in the work of the alliance 1 so
much as a point attained, as a point of departure for the future. He sketched
232 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
rather humorously the city appointments at the ensuing conference, and intro-
duced a new one not now existing, which he named the Preston church, and
which he located somewhere on the Cass or Brush farm, as far up as Harper
Hospital, and to the founding of which he offered to contribute ten dollars a
month till completed. This was a bold suggestion, but it was received with
;great favor by the audience.
T. C. Owen was introduced as the man who had the honor of suggesting to
the alliance the project of paying the church debt. But he most respectfully
declined this distinction, and awarded it to Mr. Eeuben Eobinson of the
Tabernacle church.
Rev. Dr. Bayliss began his address by assuring the audience that he was
always short. He congratulated himself on being for the first time in many
years the pastor of a church which had a steeple, and no debt. His two
former pastorates had each fulfilled one particular of this beatitude, but were
wanting in the other. While he regarded the liquidation of our debt as a great
blessing, the higher good to which he hoped it might contribute, was the ex-
tension of our work in the city; and to this end he ardently desired that a
baptism of power might come upon the church, and that these freed churches
might resound with the music of a genuine revival of religion.
The service closed before 1 P. M., having lasted nearly two hours and a half.
MR. DAVID PRESTON TOLD HOW IT WAS DONE.
In order that other churches and groups of churches which have been in
bondage "lo, these many years" may be set at liberty and be glad with us on
next thanksgiving day- (1881), I will state some of the leading features and
some of the details and incidents in our work here. The thought of liquidat-
ing the debts of these six churches through "the Detroit M. E. church and
Sunday-school alliance" was first suggested by a member of the Tabernacle
church. This church was the most heavily burdened with debt of them all,
and while looking around and above for some mode of deliverance, this alli-
ance plan was strongly impressed upon their minds. They said if our small
membership of 230 could pay an average of $25 per member for two successive
years, our large debt of $12,000 would all be wiped out; but we cannot possibly
do this in our poverty. But we believe that we could pay our current expenses,
and $10 or more per member towards the debt, and if we can do it, we know
that all the other churches could do as well. And if they all will do it then
all of our churches would be entirely free from debt within two years ; so they
made up the short problem. The members of the churches were added together
and the aggregate number was about 1,800. The debts were thus added and
found to aggregate $35,500. If one member can pay $10 in one year 1,800
can pay $18,000, and if 1,800 will pay $18,000 in one year, in two years they
will pay $36,000. The Central church has a membership of some 800, and a
debt of $8,000. All of these 800 persons had sufficient knowledge of addition
and multiplication to know that in solving this problem we should have nothing
financially to gain, but should lose some over $8,000, yet for our brethren's
sake the Central, by a unanimous vote of their official board joined hands with
their weaker or more heavily incumbered brethren, on this basis. From March
17, 1879, for about three months a noon prayer-meeting from twelve to one,
was held in the parlor of the Central church to invoke the blessing of God upon
us in organizing and carrying f<^"-:r<l this good work. These meetings were
small, usually ranging from ten to twenty persons, with one or more represen-
HISTORY OF METHODISM IN DETROIT. 233
tatives from each church. In these meetings we asked for strength, for health,
for wisdom, for patience and prosperity, for perseverance, for faith in God,
that this work should be accomplished in His own good time, and in his own
way. And now at the close of this journey, and the completion of this work,
as we look hack over all the months and weeks and days since it was organized
we can truthfully say that Jesus, the Great Captain, has led us "all the way."
The first money paid into the alliance was paid May 1, 1879, when a good
brother handed nie two dollars, and said, "This is all I can do now, but I hope
to do more before the work is completed." I made this first entry with red ink
the date, the name, the amount and before I closed the book I said to
myself, this is a small beginning and it will Require almost 18,000 times this
sum to finish the work, but I believe in my heart that the work will be com-
pleted and the whole amount raised within the specified time.
Four days later (on May 5th) the first addition was made to the two dollars,
when a brother handed me an even $100 in greenbacks. Then I said again, it
is coming, surely coming; not all in hundreds, nor fifties, nor twenty-fives, nor
tens, but in pennies, in half-dimes, in dimes, in quarters and halves, and so on,
in sums ranging from one cent to $1,000. Thus the work began, and it moved
steadily forward. On the 25th of November, 1879, after seven months' work,
we had paid in, all told, but $3,549.12, only about one-tenth of the whole
amount. At the end of the first year we had slathered in a little less than
$12,000.
It was then proposed by some member of the Tabernacle church that we
shorten the time for the completion of this work from July 1, 1881, to No-
vember 25, 1880. At first this proposition seemed too bold, and did not
receive much favor, but within two or three weeks the tide turned in favor of
the short route (November 25, 1880) and this plan was unanimously adopted
by all the churches, and work on this line vigorously commenced. Good work
was accomplished in May and June, but in July and August little was done.
In September the work was again commenced in earnest and carried forward
to completion.
On the 15th of November, 1880, after each one of the six churches had done
all that it seemed possible for them to do, we were still about $2,700 short. I
said I do not know from where, nor from whom this is coming; but I believe
it will come. On Tuesday evening, November 16, 125 or thereabouts of our
friends from the different churches were gathered by invitation at the Central
chapel. There was not any one present that night who did not feel that they
had given all they could and all they ought to give for the work. But they
sang together "Oh for a thousand tongues to sing," "What a friend we have
in Jesus," "All hail the power of Jesus' name," etc. Then they kneeled and
prayed together, then came a short experience meeting. They talked together
and wept together over this work which seemed so near, and yet possibly so far
from completion. Then the books were opened for further subscription, and
in a short time $1,600 of the balance had been pledged, in sums ranging from
$5 to $100. Then came a sumptuous repast, and with it a pleasant and inter-
esting social gathering in groups around the table. All were unanimous in
saying that this was one of the very best love feasts they had ever attended.
That feeling abides with them to-day and will abide with them forever.
How about the balance of $1,100? Another meeting was held November
19th, at the office of Hon. John Owen, at 4:30 P. M. But six were present.
These six took $650 additional stock, leaving a balance of $450. How will
234 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
this last amount be obtained? I said 1 do not know; hut it will come within
the specified time. On the 20th $100 came, on the 22d $100, on the 23d $125,
and at 4 P. M., on the 24th, the last $130 .was given very cheerfully and pleas-
antly by two business men. And at 4 :15 I wrote in my book again with red
ink, November 24, 1880, 4:15 P. M., "It is finished."'
In conclusion, I will say that this $35,500 was contributed not by the few
but by the many. I think that more than 3,000 men, women and children in
these churches and Sunday-schools contributed something for this object.
There is scarcely a member in the church, or a child in the Sunday-school,
who did not unite with this army and help the work forward. The largest
amount given by any one person was $1,500. But four persons gave as high as
-$1,000. Aside from these four, not more than eight or ten gave as high as
$50J). So that much the greater part of the whole sum came from the masses,
in sums of $300, $200, $100. and smaller sums. On the 8th of November a
good lady, in quite moderate circumstances, paid $000 in one payment, which
'was a grand and noble offering. When the third and fourth call was made in
.one of these churches for additional offerings, one good brother said he had
$50 which he had saved for a new overcoat. He gave it all and said he would
do without the coat this winter.
The pastor of the Tabernacle said he did not believe there was a man, wo-
man, or child in the whole church or Sunday-school who had not done their
whole duty. I do not think that more than $500 of this whole sum has been
contributed outside of our own church and congregation.
I have already -said too much. I will break short off, by hoping and praying
that many clusters of churches in sister cities, east, west, north, and south,
will, during the present year, go and do likewise, and that on the next thanks-
giving day they will all be glad, glad, glad.
At a meeting of the official board of the Simpson M. E. church, held on
Monday evening, November 29th, the following was unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That we, as members and officers of the -Simpson M. E. church, have
great reason for rejoicing and giving thanks to God for our delivery from the burden
of the heavy debt under which we have so long labored and struggled; and realizing
that our delivery has been by the blessing of God accomplished by the earnest work
of the Detroit M. E. church and Sunday-school alliance, therefore be it
Resolved, That the thanks of the Simpson M. E. church be and are hereby ten-
dered to the alliance in general, and particularly to our Brother J. N. M. McCune,
"who has borne the heat and burden of the day," and to whom, for his patient self-
sacrificing and untiring devotion to the work, success in raising our quota of the
aggregate debt is so largely due.
THE ALLIANCE.
In June, 1878, on a Sabbath evening, two members of our church met at
the close of service, and the conversation turned upon methods of church work.
One of them was a pastor who had spent almost three years of devoted effort
in organizing his own church, and enlisting them as far as possible in visiting
every family in the precincts of his pastorate. A large measure of success had
crowned his labors, many souls having been brought to Christ. The want of
unity of effort among the churches was felt to be a serious hindrance to the
progress of Methodism. While each church was absorbed in its own special
field, large districts in the city were nedected. The smaller churches in the
suburbs could do little more than look after their own interests, and for this
they had a small corps of laborers. The Central church embraced almost one-
HISTORY OF METHODISM IN DETROIT. 235
half of our membership in the city, and fully half of the surplus talent avail-
able for Sunday-school and missionary work outside, and a large proportion of
the means available for such objects. It was deeply felt that some general or-
ganization was needed which should unify the officiary and the laborers of all
our churches and enable them to concentrate their efforts upon the most eligi-
ble localities. It had more than once transpired in the history of our churches
in the city that local interest had resulted in planting a church* or Sunday-
school where it did not best serve the cause, a mistake it was afterwards im-
possible to rectify. The conception of the alliance flashed upon their minds,
and upon consultation with the presiding elder, Rev. J. M. Fuller, it was
decided to call a meeting to consider the feasibility of organizing some general
society which should embrace and operate all our missionary interests in the
city. A call was sent out over the signature of the presiding elder, inviting
a large number of our members from all the churches to meet at the Central
for this object. The suggestion was favorably received, and a committee con-
sisting of J. M. Arnold, J. M. Fuller and Horace Hitchcock was appointed to
draft a plan of organization and to report at a subsequent meeting. That
meeting was held at the Central church and embraced all the official members
of our church in the city, very few failing to respond. Such an assemblage
had never before been gathered in Detroit.
Seventy-five men from all ranks of business and professional life, many of
whom though somewhat acquainted did not even know each other as Method-
ists, when thus assembled served to impress each other with the conviction
that they ought to do something in advancing Methodism and evangelizing the
waste places in the city, and that if they acted in unison they could do a g;reat
work. They adopted a form of organization which has been maintained and
has held its stated meetings since. It had not proceeded far, when the incu-
bus of debt which had remained from the great extension of our church
accommodations in 1864-187-1 was encountered. Like Zerubbaal they said,
"What art thou, great mountain? the mountain shall become a plain;" and
they unitedly set about the work. The result is seen in the event commemo-
rated on thanksgiving day, and we trust this is but the beginning of our
alliance work.
LIST OF DETROIT APPOINTMENTS.
The following Conspectus shows the name of every preacher of the M. E.
church that has been appointed to the English speaking churches in this city,
with the date of their pastorate.
First Church.
1804 Nathan Bangs. 1817 Gideon Laning.
1809 William Case. 1818 Alpheus Davis.
1810 Ninian Holmes. 1819 Truman Dixon.
(7 members). 1820 John P. Kent.
1811 Ninian Holmes. 1821 Platt B. Morey.
Silas Hopkins, (30 members). Died. Supplied by John P.
1812 George W. Densmore. Kent.
He did not come on account 1822 Alfred Bronson.
of the war. 1822 Samuel Baker.
1813-14 War. The war for three years. 1823 Elias Pattee.
1815-16 Joseph Hickox. Billings 0. Plympton.
(7 members). 1824 Elias Pattee. '
236
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
1815-16 Isaac C. Hunter.
1836-7 Edward Thompson.
1825 Wm. Simmons.
1838 Jonathan E. Chaplain.
1826-7 Zarah H. Coston.
1839-40 Henrv Colclazer.
1828-9 Arza Brown.
1841 Andrew M. Fitch.
1830 Alvan Billings.
1842 James S. Harrison.
1831-2 Henry Colclazer.
1843 James S. Harrison.
1833-4 Elijah Crane.
Jonathan Blanchard.
1835 William Herr.
Woodward Avenue.
1844 James V. Watson.
1845-6 John A. Baughman.
'1847 0. Mason.
1848-9 Samuel D. Simonds.
1850-1 Elijah H. Pilcher.
1852-3 Wellington H. Collins.
1854-5 A. D. Wilbor.
1856-7 F. A. Blades.
1858 S. Clements, Jr.
1859-60 S. Eeed.
1861-2 John M. Arnold.
1863-4 James M. Buckley.
Congress Street.
1844-5 R. R. Richards.
1846 James F. Davidson.
1847-8 Harrison Morgan.
1849-50 George Taylor.
1851 John Russell.
1852 C. C. Olds.
1853 W. Mahon.
1865 J. M. Buckley.
J. H. McCarty.
1866 J. H. McCarty.
Lewis R. Fiske.
1867-8 Lewis R. Fiske.
1869 B. F. Cocker.
D. D. Buck.
J. M. Arnold.
1849 Joseph S. Perry.
1850 Lorenzo D. Price.
1851 George Taylor.
1852-3 M. Hickey.
1854-5 W. H. Perrine.
1856-7 James F. Davidson.
1858 Robert Bird.
1873 W. X. Xinde.
1875 W. H. Pearce.
1876 L. R. Fiske.
1854-5 M. Hickey.
1855-7 A. J. Eldred.
1858-9 F. A. Blades.
1860 F. W. May.
1861-2 0. Sanborn.
1863 James S. Smart.
Central Church.
1870-2
1873-4
1875
1876-8
G. G. Lyon.
W. X. Ninde.
L. R. Fiske.
J. B. Atchinson.
L. R. Fiske.
W. X. Ninde.
1879-80 J. H. Bavliss.
Lafayette Street.
1859-60 D. C. Jacokes.
1861
1862-4
1865-6
1867-9
1870-2
Trinity.
1874
Tabernacle.
S. Reed.
J. C. Wortley.
0. Whitmore.
Elisha E. Caster.
J. McEldowney.
William H. Pearce.
1877-9 C. T. Allen.
1880 William Dawe.
HISTORY OF METHODISM IN DETROIT.
4 237
City Mission. Seventh Street.
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
Eiley C. Crawford.
Bicliard McConnell.
Joseph W. Holt.
John A. Baughman.
M. Hickey.
John Levington.
John A. Baughman.
Arthur Edwards, Jr.
1860 John Levington.
1861-2 Jason W. Kellogg.
1863 John M. Arnold.
1864 H. K Brown.
1865 S. P. Warner.
1866 M. Hickey.
1867 Squire E. Warren.
1868 W. J. Campbell.
Simpson.
1869-70 T. J. Joslyn.
1871 William H. Shier.
1872-4 Thomas Stalker.
1866 M. Hickey.
1867-9 Alfred F. Bourns.
1870-2 E. E. Caster.
1873-4 A. R. Bartlett.
1872 H. W. Brown.
1873-4 L. P. Davis.
1875 Squire E. Warren.
1876 L. H. Dean.
1875-7 W. W. Washburn.
1878 David Caller.
1879-80 William H. Poole.
Jefferson Avenue.
1875
1876
1877-9
1880
Sixteenth Street.
Jas. M. Fuller.
Elijah H. Pilcher.
R. S. Pardington.
C. T. Allen.
1877 John Russel.
1878 J. C. Higgins.
1879-80 L. E. Lennox.
Fort Street.
1880
G. W. Lowe.
1874-6 R. S. Pardington.
1877-8 W. Q. Burnett.
The following are the Presiding Elders who have served upon the Detroit
district since the introduction of Methodism in the city:
1804 Samuel Choate.
1809 Joseph Sawyer.
1810-11-12 Henry Ryan.
1815 Wm. Case.
1816-17-18-19 Henry Ryan.
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826-7-8
1829-30-31
James B. Finley.
John Strange.
James B. Finley.
John Strange.
James B. Finley.
Wm. Simmons.
Z. H. Coston.
Curtis Goddard.
1832-33-34-35 James Gilruth.
1836-7 Wm. Herr.
1838-39-40-41 Geo. Smith.
1842-3 E. H. Pilcher.
1844-5-6-7 Elijah Crane.
1848-49-50-51 James Shaw.
1852-3 John A. Baughman.
1854-5-6-7 Wellington H. Collins.
1858-9 James F. Davidson.
1860-61-62-63 M. Hickey.
1864-65-66-67 S. Clements, Jr.
1868-9-70-1 F. A. Blades.
1872-3-4-5 Elijah H. Pilcher.
1876-7-8-9 Jas. M. Fuller.
1880 W. W. Washburn.
OUR CITY MINISTRY.
The Conspectus of the ministry engaged in our work in this city is calcu-
lated to awaken many interesting reminiscences. Of the earlier names much
32
238 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
might be said. Nathan Bangs, who first visited Detroit as a pioneer of our
church, is an honored and venerable name in our history. Eev. Wm. Case is
better known in Canada than in the States, but he is identified with the his-
tory of Methodism in America. He came to Detroit and preached as late
as 1854. Doctor, afterwards Bishop Thompson is pleasantly recollected by
our older members. John A. Baughman filled a large place in the early history
of our church in the city and State. As a popular orator he undoubtedly ex-
celled any other of our ministry. W. H. Collins as pastor and presiding elder
left a deep impress upon the church. Eev. J. V. Watson, though afterwards
greatly honored and valued for his eloquence and ability in the pulpit and in
journalism, does not seem to have made any remarkable impression upon the
city, except as an eccentric speaker. Many of those who served as pastors dur-
ing the last thirty years are now deceased. Of the living it does not become
us to speak in a commendatory way. Many of the older men now in connec-
tion with the sister conferences have spent a portion of the prime of their
days and usefulness here. Of those who joined the Michigan conference,
Brothers Eldred, Olds, Perrine, and others are still effective. Of those who
belong to the Detroit conference, the majority are still effective, but many are
on the superannuated list.
But this list, while one or two ministers, such as the venerable Alfred Bron-
son, spans over half a century, and while one layman has been connected with
the church fifty-eight years, really represents almost three generations from
1820 to the present. Who can conjecture what the history of the church shall
develop in the next half century ?
The Conspectus of Detroit Methodism, and the historical paper read before
the Detroit alliance, Thanksgiving day, must suffice for that long period in
which the city of Detroit represented all there was of Methodism in the State,
viz., from 1804 to 1826. At the session of the Ohio conference, held at Co-
lumbus, October 12_, 1825, a district was organized in Michigan as follows. We
give the report of members for the year succeeding-, in order that they shall
correspond with the appointments. That is, the members represent the close
of the year. We retain also the earlier form of names of places :
Detroit district, William Simmons, P. E.
No. Members.
Detroit city William Simmons 70
Detroit circuit John A. Baughman 290
Wyandotte Indian mission James B. Finley 250
1826-27.
Detroit district Z. Coston, P. E.
Detroit city Z. Coston 70
Detroit circuit John James 226
Monroe John A. Baughman 157
St. Clair mission James F. Donahoe 20
1827-28.
Detroit district Zarah H. Coston, P. E.
Detroit city Zarah H. Coston 65
Detroit circuit William Eeynolds, John Janes 230
Monroe George W. Walker, James Armstrong 250
HISTORY OP METHODISM IN DETROIT. 239
1828-29.
Detroit district Z. Coston, P. E. and Superintendent St. Clair mission.
No. Members.
Detroit city Arza Brown 75
Oakland William T. Snow 246
Huron Benjamin Cooper 161
Monroe George W. Walker 86
Defiance, Ohio To be supplied 56
St. Clair mission Elias Pattee 49
1829-30.
Detroit district Curtis Goddard, P. E. and superintendent of Defi-
ance, St. Mary's, St. Clair and St. Joseph missions.
Detroit Arza Brown 56
Oakland William T. Snow 234
Huron Leonard B. Gurley 250
Monroe Jacoh Hill 106
St. Clair mission Samuel A. Latta 95
St. Joseph mission Erastus Felton 76
Zarah H. Coston transferred and stationed at Pittsburg.
1830-31.
Detroit district C. Goddard, P. E.
Detroit Alvan Billings 66
Oakland Arza Brown, W. Sprague 308
Ann Arbor H. Colclazer, E. H. Pilcher 373
Monroe James W. Finley , . 135
St. Clair mission Benjamin Cooper 74
St. Joseph mission L. B. Gurley, Erastus Felton 220
1831-32.
Detroit district C. Goddard, P. E.
Detroit Henry Colclazer 101
Oakland Bradford Frazee, Thomas Wiley 481
Tecumseh E. H. Pelcher, E. S. Gavit : . . 330
Monroe James W. Finley 137
Ypsilanti A. Billings, Benjamin Allen 424
St. Joseph mission Benjamin Cooper, William Sprague 100
Kalamazoo mission Erastus Felton 30
St. Clair mission Leonard Hill, Elias Pattee superintendent 76
In this year the minutes show that of the money distributed among confer-
ence claimants, about $6,000 was from the book concern, or $400 each to the
conferences which raised such a fund.
1832-33.
Detroit district J. Gilruth, P. E.
Detroit H. Colclazer, E. Pattee superintendent, 114
Mount Clemens L. Hill, R. Cheney 402
Farmington M. Swift 200
Ypsilanti A. Billings, A. B. Elliott 486
Ann Arbor W. M. Sullivan, L. D. Whitney 248
Tecumseh James F. Davidson, T. Wiley 310
240 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
No. Members.
Monroe E. H. Pilcher, E. C. Gavit 243
St. Glair mission E. S. Gavit 77
Saginaw mission B. Frazee 9
Calhoun mission A. Dixon 93
1833.
Detroit district James Gilruth, P. E.
Detroit Elijah Crane 121
Monroe E. H. Pilcher, W. Sprague 309
Mt. Clemens L. Hill, W. M. Sullivan 331
Farmington J. F. Davidson, J. Kinnear ^ 411
Ypsilanti M. Swift, 'E. Lawrence 645
Ann Arbor H. Colclazer, A. B. Elliott 327
Tecumseh B. Frazee, D. McGregor 343
St. Clair mission L. D. Whitney 84
Calhoun Thomas Wiley ". 86
Huron mission W. H. Brockway 135
1834.
Detroit district J. Gilruth, P. E.
Detroit E. Crane 131
Tecumseh T. Wiley 440
Ann Arbor H. Colclazer, H. Gearing 415
Farmington E. H. Pilcher, F. A. Seaborn 448
Mt. Clemens L. D. Whitney 357
Ypsilanti W. H. Brockway 645
Plymouth mission M. Swift, L. Davis 411
St. Clair A. B. Elliott 105
Calhoun Mission J. F. Davidson, E. Lawrence 236
1835.
Ann Arbor district H. Colclazer, P. E.
Ann Arbor T. Wiley 137
Thomas Wiley died during the year at the age of 30 years.
Tecumseh J. F. Davidson, W. Jackson 483
Saline W. M. Sullivan, L. Smith. 428
Monroe E. Triggs, M. G. Perkizer 296
Calhoun mission E. H. Pilcher, F. A. Seaborn 280
Coldwater mission E. Lawrence 259
Grand Eiver mission 0. Monnett 27
Detroit district J. Gilruth, P. E.
Detroit W. Herr : . 159
St. Clair H. Gering 129
Mt. Clemens L. D. Whitney, L. Chatfield 401
Farmington W. Sprague, L. Davis 375
Plymouth E. Crane, 0. Mitchell 476
Ypsilanti A. B. Elliott ,.'. 270
Saginaw mission W. H. Brockway 10
Huron mission A. Buckles, E. Pattee superintendent 1 28
Lapeer mission, organized during the year, reported 186 members.
HISTORY OF METHODISM IN DETROIT. 241
1836.
The Michigan conference, organized this year, embraced three districts in
Ohio. We give only the appointments in Michigan:
No. Members.
Detroit district W. Herr, P. E.
Detroit Edward Thompson 184
Ypsilanti and Huron missions W. H. Brockway, Charles Babcock. . . . 187
Plymouth William Sprague, David Burns 486
Farmington L. D. Whitney, Mark Delany 419
Romeo A. B. Elliott, L. Chatfield 545
Mt. Clemens Hiran Gearing 159
St. Clair E. Triggs 98
Lapeer mission Philip Wareham 11
Saginaw mission 0. F. North 193
Livingston mission W. Jackson
Ann Arbor district H. Colclazer, P. E.
Ann Arbor Peter Sharp 181
Dexter 262
Monroe J. F. Davidson 112
Saline Eichard Lawrence, Allen Staples 420
Tecumseh W. M. Sullivan, J. H. Pitzell 492
Coldwater Peter Sabin, Lewis Smith 92
Calhoun Elijah Crane (Marshall) 223
Spring Arbor John Kinnear, M. G. Perkiser 476
Marshall 223
Bean Creek mission L. Davis 527
Grand Eiver mission F. A. Seaborn 68
Adrian appears in the report with 164
1837.
Michigan conference. The appointments were as follows, viz. :
Detroit district William Herr, P. E.
Detroit Edward Thompson.
Ypsilanti Wesley J. Wells.
Dearbornville and Huron missions W. H. Brockway.
Plymouth William Sprague, 0. F. North.
Farmington Larman Chatfield.
Eomeo D. Burns, Eobert Eidgeway.
Mi Clemens A. B. Elliot.
St. Clair Eobert Triggs.
Sault Ste. Marie and Kewawenon missions D. M. Chandler.
Ann Arbor district H. Colclazer, P. E.
Ann Arbor 1 E. H. Pilcher.
Monroe J. F. Davidson.
Dundee James Shaw.
Saline E. Lawrence, Lewis Smith.
Tecumseh Peter Sharp, E. E. Eichards.
Adrian J. H. Pitezel.
Bean Creek mission J. Scotford, A. Staples.
Coldwater Peter Sabin, L. Davis.
Marshall Elijah Crane.
242 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
Spring Arbor J. Kinnear.
Flint River district Samuel P. Shaw, P. E.
Flint River mission Luther D. Whitney.
Saginaw mission Charles Babcock.
Lapeer F. Britain.
Livingston To be supplied.
Dexter G. W. Breckenridge.
Shiawassee W. Jackson, I. Bennett.
Clinton mission A. Fleming.
Grand River mission 0. Mitchell.
\
1838.
No. Members.
Detroit district George Smith, P. E.
Detroit Jonathan E. Chaplin 180
Pontiac- Josiah Brakeman 202
Farmington Leonard Hill 307
Oakland John Cosart 275
Lapeer mission Oren Mitchell 136
Flint River mission L. D. Whitney 185
Saginaw mission Jonathan Hudson 16
Romeo James Shaw, R. R. Richards 764
Mt. Clemens Richard Lawrence 242
Palmer Alanson Fleming 78
Port Huron mission Miles Sanford 20
Ann Arbor district H. Colclazer, P. E.
Ann Arbor Elijah Crane 129
Ypsilanti J. H. Pitezell 144
Plymouth John Kinnear, Adam Minnis 582
Northville and Plymouth J. A. Kellam 216
Livingston Flavel Britain 193
Dexter Oliver Burgess 304
Saline A. B. Elliott, L. Davis
Tecumseh William Sprague, George King 500
Adrian E. Thomas 175
Sault Ste. Marie and Kewaweenon W. H. Brockway 65
Marshall district E. H. Pilcher, P. E.
Marshall A. Billings, Allen Staples 386
Coldwater J. F. Davidson, Levi Warriner 411
Jonesville Peter Sabin, G. C. Brown 456
Spring Arbor 5 G. W. Breckenridge, T. S. Jackway 556
Ingham mission W. Jackson 120
Clinton mission R. L. Blowers 104
Shiawassee mission Isaac Bennett 188
Lyons L. Chatfield 46
Flint River district
Flint River mission 149
Grand Rapids mission J. H. Frazee 55
Total for the State, 6,968.
HISTORY OP METHODISM IN DETROIT. 243
1839.
No. Members.
Detroit district George Smith, P. E.
' Detroit Henry Colclazer 240
Pontiac Miles Sanf ord, Kesin Sapp 353
Farmington James Shaw, H. W. Ransom 321
Oakland John Cosart 364
Lapeer mission Ebenezer Steele 222
Flint mission Larmon Chatfield, Samuel Whitwam 232
Romeo j jf D. Whitney, Joseph Re'ese 551
Utica Josiah Brakeman 193
Mt. Clemens J. Hudson, D. McGregor i 230
Palmer mission Salmon Steele 178
Ann Arbor district A. Billings, P. E.
Ann Arbor Elijah Crane 120
Ypsilanti David Burns 155
Plymouth Robert Triads, A. Fleming 523
Northville and Plymouth J. H. Pitezell 130
Livingston 0. M. Goodale, G. W. Brown 358
Shiawassee mission Flavel Britain 392
Dexter Adam Minnis, J. K. Gillett 222
Saline Geo. Bradley, Urias Hoyt 622
Tecumseh William Sprague, John Sharpe 475
Adrian J. A. Kellam 160
Marshall district E. H. Pilcher, P. E.
Marshall Benjamin Sabin 182
Battle Creek J. F. Davidson, W. Jackson 321
Coldwater Roswell Parker, J. Jones 438
Jonesville John Scot-ford, Peter Sabin 466
Spring Arbor G. W. Breckenridge, R, L. Blowers 439
Jackson L. Davis, T. S. Jackway 330
Ingham mission Isaac Bennett 195
Lyons mission Z. C. Brown, Levi Warriner 237
Grand Rapids mission R. R. Richards, Allen Staples 151
Indian mission W. H. Brockway, superintendent 33
Sault Ste. Marie W. H. Brockway, George King '. . . . 43
During this year the Michigan Conference was still extended into Ohio, but
in the next year it was so constituted as to embrace only the State of Michigan.
At this conference it was ordered that in case the conference should be
divided, the next session should be held at Marshall, Mich. During the year
one entire new district was formed, called the Michigan district, as follows:
Niles James S. Harrison, S. S. Williams 250
Edwardsburg 100
White Pigeon 200
Centreville 238
Kalamazoo E. Kellogg, J. Colclazer 310
Berrien mission 150
Paw Paw mission 80
Allugun -. 52
Part of these points had been embraced in the Indiana conference, Laporte
district.
244 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
LETTER FROM THE HON. GEORGE C. BATES.
LEADVILLE, COLORADO, January 31, 1880.
To Colonel M. Shoemaker, President of the State Pioneer Society of the State
of Michigan:
MY GOOD FRIENDS: Allow me, from my beautiful mountain home, two
miles high above Lansing, and from the headquarters of the "sons of Mich-
igan/' for Colorado, to congratulate you on your annual meeting of our old
"band of brothers/' and express my regret that I could not join you there; or
rather, that you could not hold your festival here. A native born son of Mich-
igan acts as my amanuensis, and nearly three thousand native and adopted
sons of Michigan come here to talk about the "old folks at home," while di-
rectly over my table hangs the photographic picture of our delightful reunion
in February, 1878, on the steps of the old capitol at Lansing; and as I point
out to these young Wolverines the stalwart form of General Joseph Brown, of
Tecumseh, the tall and straight figure of Judge Hezekiah G. Wells, of Kala-
mazoo, and the sturdy, big-headed democratic son of Plymouth, Jonathan
Shearer, and relate the history of Michigan from 1833 onward, tears mingle
with our memories and sadness unites with our State pride, at the past,
present, and future of our own beautiful peninsula.
How strange it is, that among the early pioneers of Michigan, some of us
who saw Ann Arbor as a mere hamlet, Coldwater, with but a single log cabin,
Hillsdale before it was born, Adrian with its half-dozen clustered dwellings,
and Detroit with only three thousand inhabitants, should now look down
away here in the center of the old "American desert/' upon a city only eight-
een months old, with a population of 35,000 people, producing monthly more
than a million and a half of bars of silver, with four daily papers, four banks,
whose annual deposits for the last year have exceeded $20,000,000; with
churches of all denominations, schools high and low, and from 5,000 to 10,000
teams constantly employed in furnishing us supplies; with 200 drinking
saloons, 150 gambling houses, 100 bagnios, 150 lawyers, two court calendars
numbering 1500 cases; with streets full of happy children, superb sleighing
since the 1st of December, and every comfort and encouragement that society
can give ; with two as fine theatres as Detroit can produce, and with an energy
that would make the old fogies of Detroit rub their eyes, like Eip Van Winkle
after his twenty years' sleep in the Highlands; and all this overlooked and
aided by 3,000 noble sons of Michigan.
Only think, my old gray-haired brethren, that since I first met General
Joseph Brown, Stillman Blanchard, Judge Hoag, and Judge Eoss Wilkins,
around the hickory fire of Jesse Button, at Tecumseh, on the 21st day of
March, 1834, up to the present time, over 20,000,000 of pioneers have swept
on westward, across the great lakes, over the prairies of Illinois and Iowa,
THE FIRST STATE FAIR IN MICHIGAN. 245
spanned the Mississippi, crossed the Missouri, and stopped only on the shores
of the Pacific and the beautiful waters of Puget Sound, and all this as a
pioneer. It is Michigan, and from Michigan, memory now speaks out before
me. One of our largest mercantile establishments here is of Michigan, and its
owner, in the corner of this block, is a native of Tecumseh ; and bringing here
enterprise, industry and energy, he has accumulated wealth, while an Irish
adopted citizen, an old Detroit "policeman, is the alderman of this ward in the
common council, and the prospective mayor of Leadville, the eighth wonder of
the world, a city whose growth and existence is more marvelous than the
pyramids of Egypt or the temple of Solomon.
Within twelve months from this letter I will be able to get into a Pullman
car, the train of which shall be filled with bars of gold and silver bullion,. and
reach Detroit from Leadville in much less time than it took me in 1834 to go
from Detroit to Chicago; and I can look around to-day over a city and its sur-
roundings that contains more people than did Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit,
Chicago and St. Louis, in May, 1834, and in going home will pass through a
region whose products are greater to-day than were those of the whole union
at that period of time. But enough; my heart is too full, my memories too
accurate to go further, and I can only say, God bless you all, and after life's
fitful dream is over, and we sleep in death, may it be said of us all, that we
were true to our country, and the whole of it, to Michigan from the beginning
to the end, and that we have lived and died as became the hardy pioneers of
one the noblest and brightest States of our Union.
Yours, GEOEGE C. BATES.
THE FIRST STATE FAIR OF MICHIGAN.
WHO THE EXHIBITORS WERE, AND WHAT THEY GOT FOR THEIR PAINS.
PRICES OF GRAIN IN THE DAYS OF THE PIONEERS.
From the Detroit Post and Tribune of August 9, 1879.
Your issues of the 4th and 5th insts. contain allusions to a State agricul-
tural and horticultural exhibition held at the village of Ann Arbor in 1839,
and you seem to have doubts as to such exhibition being held. Let me come
to the rescue, from entire oblivion, of that illustrious institution, particularly
as I had the honor of being one of its members, and perhaps the only one now
living, and then nearly the only live one.
As stated in your article, an advertisement was published in one or more
Detroit papers and some other papers in the State, saying that on the 1st of
33
246 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
October, 1839 (an official announcement), there would be. a State fair held at
Ann Arbor. At that time I owned a farm on Grosse Isle, which farm was
later known as the Fox place, and was trying to introduce blooded stock, sheep
and cattle, from a Holderness bull and some Leicestershire sheep of both
sexes, imported by George Hentig, then of Grosse Isle. I had succeeded in
raising some very fair specimens of half-bloods, and was naturally desirous of
contending for the premiums offered by this State institution. I therefore
gathered up about twenty head of my best animals, both cattle and sheep,
and on the appointed day put in an appearance, I cannot say on the fair
grounds, for there were no grounds designated as such. No preparation what-
ever had been made, no officers of the institution could be found, and not half-
a-dozen citizens there had heard that such a fair was to be held.
Well, I was bound after driving my stock thirty miles to have a show, and
found a centrally located vacant lot, put on my stock and commenced holding
the State fair, and soon drew quite a respectable crowd. About 1 P. M. a
farmer from Plymouth, a very nice man I found him to be, put in an ap-
pearance with specimens of cheese and butter, and that constituted the exhi-
bition of the agricultural and horticultural fair of the State of Michigan for
the year 1839.
So Mr. Tibbits and myself walked off with all the awards of premiums, or
rather were entitled to those offered by the institution, consisting of silver
sets, silver goblets, silver cups, spoons, etc., etc. But where, where were
they ? Echo has not yet answered.
Well, on returning home from the State show I addressed the president of
the society, the Hon. John Biddle, then residing in Detroit, asking what was
loose, and why no officials of the association appeared at Ann Arbor. He very
politely and regretfully informed me that the whole thing had entirely escaped
his memory until the "day after the fair."
I ought to state that quite a number of the good people of the town and
village gathered around and voted thanks to the exhibitors, and I have to this
day felt proud of that State fair.
The paper of 1843, alluding to low prices, quoted wheat at sixty cents per
bushel. The writer sold the best quality of white wheat that year for fifty
cents. I remember in 1829 I commenced housekeeping in Detroit. My first
barrel of flour cost $2.50. I also remember about 1835 the late frosts cut off
nearly the whole crop of wheat throughout the State. The winter following
was the most snowy and severe I have known in a residence of fifty years in
the State. Fodder for stock became so scarce that many had to feed the grain
they actually needed for the family, consequently our supply of flour had to be
brought from Ohio. Our circulating medium (wildcat) was in such bad repute
our traders and commercial men could not use it in Ohio, and therefore it re-
quired a large pile of Michigan wildcat to buy a little Ohio flour. I recol-
lect one morning going in search of flour. Just as I reached the store of Shad-
rach Gillett, a steamer had arrived from Sandusky with five barrels of flour for
him, and I considered myself in luck when I obtained one of them for $13
(choice wildcat at that). Ten years later wheat sold in Michigan for fifty
cents, and Ohio corn juice could be bought at 15 cents per gallon, but wildcat
and wildcat bankers had had their day.
This same farce will be reenacted when the fiat money men get into power
in this government, if thev ever do.
HEtfKY KAYMOND.
Bay City, August 6, 1879.
THE UPPER PENINSULA. 247
THE UPPER PENINSULA.
AN ADDRESS ON THE CLIMATE, SOIL, RESOURCES, DEVELOPMENT,
COMMERCE AND FUTURE OF THE UPPER PENINSULA
OF MICHIGAN.
BY ALEX CAMPBELL, OP MARQUETTE.
Delivered in Representative Hall, at Lansing, February 6, 1861.
Less than twenty-four years ago the upper peninsula became a part of the
State of Michigan. At that time it was considered a comparatively worthless
territory, its geographical position being unfavorable to agriculture, its cli-
mate frigid and unfriendly to all the pursuits we had come to regard as neces-
sary in the settlement of a State.
The man who would have predicted the development that has followed the
opening of such exhaustless wealth the existence of flourishing villages
the seats of future cities and its already large commerce, would have been
called a foolish dreamer.
But far back of the date we name, there was a man the far-seeing sage and
philosopher, Dr. Franklin when, as the American Minister in Paris, he was
fixing the boundary line between the United States and Great Britain, saw
something of the importance of this country in the future. At that time he
had access to the journals and charts of a corps of French engineers that had
sloops and were exploring Lake Superior when Quebec fell to the British,
"from which charts/ 7 he tells us, he "drew the line through Lake Superior, to
include the most and best of the copper to the United States," and, says he,
"the time will come when drawing that line would be considered the greatest
service he ever rendered his country."*
If, then, when the general "government transferred the upper peninsula to.
Michigan, there were none to regard it as an important -acquisition, we rejoice
that there was, quite a half century before, a man a true friend to his coun-
try who, in the discharge of his duties, had the industry to find and the
sagacity to secure a territory the development of this hour proves to have been
a great service not to say the greatest he ever rendered his country.
In order that the people of Michigan may know more of this very important
part of the State, which for the last few years has been attracting general
*See Whitney and Foster's report of the Copper Regions.
248 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
attention, I will endeavor to bring more fully before the public mind its
climate, soil, resources, commerce, and future.
The general impression everywhere seems to be that the climate of the Lake
Superior country is frigid and severe beyond endurance that for sufficient
reasons it may be tolerated, but is nevertheless a sort of affliction. This feel-
ing prevails especially in regard to its winters. How often I am asked, "How
do you manage to keep warm there in the winter I should think you would
freeze to death." This utterance expresses the common notion of the frigid-
ness of the country, but is it the experience of its people? It is true that the
mean temperature of that climate is a few degrees lower* than in the latitude
of Detroit or Chicago; it is also true that its snowy season is some longer and
its snows some deeper, but such is the pureness, dryness and vitality of the
atmosphere, that it is truly an elixir. Such is the bracing and life-giving power
of the summer air, that it has become more than a Saratoga for the jaded
business man and the invalid, and in almost every instance those who have thus
sought recuperation and life have been rapturous in their praises of its invig-
orating influences. Such of course do not spend their winters there, their
vocation being elsewhere, or the winter air too powerful for the consumptive,
unless in its incipient stages. But among its most valued citizens are hundreds
who owe their lives to the recuperating agencies of the climate, and the expe-
rience of all is that the winters are the pleasantest part of the year. The vitality
and life it imparts are a positive luxury. They know nothing of the debility,
tin 1 sallow-feebleness, feverish colds and barking coughs of the damp, depress-
ing, changing climates of the lower latitudes. Animal and intellectual vigor,
vivacity and a full flow of healthful spirit is their blest heritage. And what is
existence without health? What are days and years without physical life?
Indeed, the full possession of these, the country and climate that will secure
the most perfect development of physical being, must ever be the home of the
greatest human happiness, and because the inhabitants of this peninsula pos-
sess these blessings in an eminent degree, their universal testimony is, "If I
only spend one-half of the year on the lake, I shall choose the winter." No hap-
pier or healthier people exist; their whole being gushing with a full tide of life,
and neither the climate nor the winter's air will ever prove an objection to
making the country a home, the practical pursuits of life being remunerative.
This peninsula has become a very important part of our State. It embraces
an area of 16,237 square miles territory sufficient for a State the coast of
which is washed with the waters of Lakes Michigan, Huron, the St. Mary's
river and Lake Superior ; in all a coast border of nearly 1,000 miles and
enriched with some of the finest natural harbors in the world, as Bay de
Noquette, Mackinaw, Detour, Whiskey Bay, Grand Island and L'Anse. In this
respect the country is favored with peculiar natural advantages for the pro-
ductiveness of its commerce, which is destined to assume a magnitude the
most credulous are not now willing to admit. I would not, however, be under-
stood as saying that the commerce of this peninsula does not now, or will not
hereafter, need other improvements to facilitate and render secure the prop-
erty and lives of its citizens; for these are now in constant hazard at the
different business centres, for the want of such improvements.
The great interest, and that which gives primary and principal importance
to the country, are its mineral deposits. But because these the copper and
*The average for the year is 7 lower.
THE UPPER PENINSULA. 249
the iron thus far have given it such prominence, we must not conclude that
it is barren of all other advantages.
A very important branch of business, and which, with the proper protection,
will long continue a profitable and increasing field of industry, are the fisheries
that now exist, or will hereafter be established. I see from the report of the
superintendent of the Sault canal, that in 1859 there passed through it 4,359
barrels of fish. The year just closed, the amount was 4,051 barrels, and if the
amount consumed on the lake were added, the aggregate products would not
be less than 6,000 barrels. The northern part of Lake Huron, the Straits of
Mackinaw, the northern part of Lake Michigan, the St. Mary's river, and most
of the south shore of Lake Superior, all border upon, and so far as the fisher-
ies are concerned, belong to this peninsula, and abound with the finest fresh
water fish in the world, known as the white fish and Mackinaw trout. But, if
the State would preserve these fisheries, and make them a permanent benefit,
the legislature will enact a stringent prohibitory, law against "pound fishing,"
for if this mode is continued, it will in a few years depopulate to a good extent
these bays and lakes, keep the market glutted and depreciate their value.
Seine and net fishing are the only modes that should be legalized as a branch
of industry as this would be remunerative and will protect the fisheries
against premature exhaustion, and render healthy the commerce of this very
important article.
Nor is this peninsula without advantages as an agricultural region. It is
true, it is not, and never will be, so well adapted to this branph of industry as
Illinois or lower Michigan ; but in nlany respects, and in soil especially, it is as
far ahead of a large portion of New England, as Illinois is ahead of it. There
the country along the lake shores, and that is only what visitors to that
country see, is not the most inviting to the farmer. Here are the mineral
deposits. Very generally this part of the country is uneven, rocky, and moun-
tainous. In going from Marquette by railroad to the iron mountains, the loco-
motive, the first thirteen miles, carries you up an elevation of 850 feet above
the level of the lake, and at some points you will pass cliffs of rock piled up in
small mountains. What is known as the copper or trap range, running from
Keweenaw point to the Montreal river, the face of the country is more uneven,
in places rising from 500 to 1,200 feet above the level of the lake; frequently
presenting bold, stair-like cliffs, affording many scenes of wild, picturesque
beauty.
But along these ranges, even, there is much good soil, where farming is now,
or may be, carried on with success. The past year, Messrs. Anthony & White
raised, on the Minnesota farm, belonging to the great Minnesota mine, 10,848
bushels of potatoes, 2,100 bushels of turnips, 150 tons of hay, and 100 tons of
oats. Other parties raised, besides, 3,000 bushels of potatoes and turnips. Call
the potatoes worth 50 cents per bushel; the turnips 40 cents; the hay $20 per
ton, and the oats $40, the crop of Messrs. A. &. W. was worth $1,300, a
result produced upon but few farms anywhere, with the same labor.
The "Lake Superior Miner," of December 29, 1860, says: "The hay and
oat crop of Ontonagon county was not less than 700 tons, and the product of
potatoes and turnips was certainly 25,000, and may hav reached 30,000 bush-
els." Other counties and mines have done as well, especially Houghton, Mar-
quette, and Chippewa; but I have not the product at hand. At Marquette,
the iron region, all who have engaged in farming reap good crops of hay, oats,
potatoes, turnips, etc., in a ready market, at good prices and good pay; for
250 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
until this branch of industry produces an excess of these staples, they will
bring 25 per cent more in that market than the same articles do below. Within
the last two years quite a settlement of farmers has been formed a few miles
south of Marquette, on the Chockalay river, and already they are reaping bet-
ter returns than thosuands of new settlers, of the same age, in more salu-
brious latitudes. In this locality there is a large tract of very desirable coun-
try, the soil being a rich loam, the timber large-sized maple, mostly, the face
of the land comparatively even, with small streams of living springs of the
best water on almost every quarter section. Rare advantages exist here for
successful farming for those who will improve them, this land being for the
most part subject to private entry or preemption, a perpetual market near
for all that can be produced. There is desirable land in .this locality, sufficient
for a large colony.
But other considerations that conduce to make farming a success in this
country, besides the robust health enjoyed, fitting the farmer for his toil, is
that he finds everywhere a ready cash market for all the wood he can furnish
at a price not below $1.50 per cord. At Marquette the blast furnaces and rail-
road make a market for great quantities. Along the copper range, the mining
companies consume large amounts in running their engines and burning the
copper rock; so that while the pioneer farmer of lower Michigan and Indiana
had to roll the huge logs into piles and burn them, in order to get the land
ready for a crop, in the upper peninsula he shares the double prosperity of a
crop of hay, oats, and potatoes in the summer and a crop of wood, if he
chooses, at equally good prices, in the winter. In addition, there is no better
country in America for the manufacture of maple sugar. Every farmer may
have an orchard of ten or twenty acres of fine trees. The snow usually is deep
and remains in the woods until April, while the warm sun of March produces
an abundant flow of "sap." If maple sugar can be made with success and
profit anywhere, it can here, and yet, strange to record, it is not made as yet
except a little by the Indians.
Wheat, the great staple.of the cereals, can be profitably produced in this cli-
mate. It has not yet been cultivated to any considerable extent, for the reason
that there are no facilities for manufacturing it; but Messrs. Sales & Cash,, at
Ontonagon, and persons at other points, who, as a matter of experiment, have
grown it, in every case have, in quantity and quality, succeeded beyond their
expectations. I know that the snows of that latitude are often deep, but they
are dry and light. The rains of November farther south are snow there, and
the snow that then falls before the earth is frozen remains until the following
April, protecting the wheat all winter with a covering under which it is secure
form the ice and wind often so destructive in milder latitudes.
Nor is this all. If you will visit the farm of Mr. Cash, near Ontonagon,
on the bank of that river, in the month of July, you will find in his garden as
fine strawberries, currants, and other garden luxuries as you ever saw; and in
his orchard the cherry, the plum, and the young apple mature or maturing.
But the best farming lands are south of the mineral deposits. From the
base of these ranges to the State line is a very large territory, now almost an
unbroken wilderness, with a surface comparatively level, a rich, productive soil,
and good timber, where farming on a large scale may be inaugurated with suc-
cess, the products always finding a ready market at the mines and the commer-
cial towns on the lake. But this region will remain unoccupied for a long,
"long time, unless some efficient provision is made to open into and through it
THE UPPER PENINSULA. 251
good highways,, securing ingress and egress to those who will occupy and im-
prove the lands, a consideration the State cannot look to with too much care.
Farming,, doubtless, never will be the principal pursuit of the people of this
peninsula, yet this branch of industry is being inaugurated, and may with
great profit increase with the rapid development that exists of the mineral in-
terests, and though the length of the winters may militate against raising
stock to profit, and the shortness of the season render the corn crop uncertain,
yet wheat, rye, barley, oats, hay, beans, peas, and potatoes, the staples of life,
together with most garden luxuries, as currants, peas, radishes, cucumbers,
strawberries, raspberries, and the hardier fruits of the orchard, as the apple,
cherry, plum, and pear, will be raised in abundance, and some of them in great
perfection. It is astonishing how rapidly and to what size some vegetables
grow in that climate. Should I tell all I have seen of these products, they
would be regarded, I fear, as "fish stories/ 7 I will relate one sight. I saw
at Marquette, in October last, a Norfolk turnip raised by D. Bishop, one and
a half miles from town, that weighed twenty pounds.
Thus much for the agricultural resources and advantages of this country.
I have perhaps occupied more time with this part of the subject than will be
read with interest, but it is so generally misunderstood that I could not say
less, and give the public mind any correct idea of the importance of this
branch of industry.
It may be well to add before dismissing this subject, that the very articles
that grow most luxuriantly and abundantly in that climate, are those "that it
must always cost the most to bring from abroad. Hay, oats, potatoes, tur-
nips, and barley are not only among the cheap products of lower Michigan or
Ohio, but they are also bulky, and the cost of transporting them to ports on
Lake Superior is sometimes more than the original invoice. This advantage
inures directly to the home farmer, and will, until an excess is produced, of
which there is no danger for many years, if ever, as mining will doubtless al-
ways increase the fastest. Hence, the farmer can depend upon about the fol-
lowing prices for his products on an average: hay, $18 per ton; oats, 50 cents
per bushel; potatoes, 50 cents; turnips, 40 cents; barley, $1.25.
The great interest, that which is of paramount importance, so far as the
sublime destiny of this peninsula is concerned, are its minerals. Without
these, we are free to confess, that this part of the State would remain for long
years an exceedingly uninteresting territory.
The deposits of iron ore, which, in fact, is almost a pure oxide of iron its
analyses, both in Europe and America, demonstrating that it is sixty-seven per
cent pure iron, or that a ton and a half of the ore will produce a ton of pig metal
these deposits exist in mountains peering up in some cases hundreds of feet
above the surface, and extend .over a large territory of country. Only three of
these are now worked, the Jackson mountain, fourteen miles from Marquette;
the Cleveland, sixteen; and the Lake Superior, seventeen. But west and south-
west from these are many others, and some which are much larger than either
of the three named. Of this extraordinary deposit there is enough, for it
doubtless never will be exhausted. A visitor last summer, who sat down to gaze
upon one of these wonders of the w r orld, mused thus to himself "Here is iron
enough to construct a railroad around the globe, and then freight it for a
thousand years." Such were his impressions of the magnitude of our mountain,
which, when compared with the whole, is only "as the dust in the balance."
In the region of Lake Michigamma, interior about forty miles from Mar-
252 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
quette, the iron is not only abundant, but the country has also much greater
growth of hardwood timber than nearer the lake, as well as the very best water-
powers, so that the ore, the fuel, and the power all concentrate, and when the
railroad penetrates thus far, if not before, furnaces will make charcoal iron
with great success. Doubtless much the largest amount of this very rich ore
will always be exported and manufactured at or near the coal beds in Ohio and
Pennsylvania; but this export creates the facilities for its successful manu-
facture at home. While there is no good reason why pig iron may not be made
with charcoal as cheap there, if all the material the ore, fuel and power exist,
as anywhere else. It is also clear that perhaps even a letter result may be pro-
duced by using bituminous coal. With the tonnage employed to move the ore,
to a given extent, the coal can be taken to the ore much cheaper than it is to
the coal. The time is at hand when the annual export of this important staple
will reach three hundred thousand gross tons, and in a very few years will
greatly exceed this. The average freight to ports on Lake Erie will not be less
than $2.50 per ton. In extremely dull seasons, or the dull part of the season,
charters may be made at lower rates; but as a business of years, constantly in-
creasing, demanding often more tonnage than is available, profit and necessity
will compel the averagevand name. But the vessels thus employed have no re-
turn freight, and many of them must have a ballast and are glad to carry coal at
twenty-five cents per ton, if they can have dispatch in its discharge at Mar-
quette. If, then, the vessels that deliver 300,000 tons of ore, only carry on an
average a one-fourth cargo on return, they will deliver about 80,000 tons of
coal, sufficient to make 40,000 tons of pig. With the cash to buy the raw
material, the furnace so located that the ore, coal and flux can be delivered to
it without transshipment or extra handling, the cost of a ton of bituminous
coal pig will not now exceed $13.50, as follows:
1 J tons of ore, delivered, will cost $4.00
2 tons of coal, delivered, will cost 6.50
Flux, per ton 50
Labor, per ton 2.00
Wood and oil, per ton 50
Total , 13.50
This is certainly a cheap product, the quality and value of the iron consid-
ered; but the day has arrived when it can be done, and when blast furnaces,
properly located at Marquette, will prove better investment than at any other
point.
Besides the wonderful richness of this ore, its freedom from every baleful
ingredient, and the strength of iron produced from it, another remarkable
characteristic is the facility with which it is smelted. It is so much less refrac-
tory in the furnace, that with less coal a larger yield of pig is had, than from
furnaces of the same capacity, with the lean ores of the eastern and middle
States. The Pioneer Iron Company furnaces, located on the railroad, fourteen
miles from Marquette, are nine feet in the boshes, and with an average of
130 bushels of coal to the ton, produce twelve tons each, of pig per day. These
furnaces are now run by contract, the company furnishing the wood, and pay-
ing the contractors a specified price for coal, per ton of pig, and also per ton
for its manufacture. This system removes many contingencies, reduces the
cost of the pig to an arithmetical basis, and thus far is satisfactory to the
THE UPPER PENINSULA. 253
corporation and the lessees. The Northern Iron Company furnace, located
four miles down the bay from Marquette, near the mouth of the Chockalay
river, is ten feet in the bosh, and with bituminous coal, produces twenty tons
of pig per day.
In 1858, Stephen E. Gay, Esq., built the Phelps furnace, three and a half
miles from Marquette, on Dead river, which went into operation about Janu-
ary 1, 1859. Its bosh is nine feet, and the cost of its erection about $15,000.
For two years it has performed in every way satisfactorily, producing at first
eight tons per day, and afterwards nineteen. The cheapness of this structure,
the economy with which it is worked, and its success, induced Mr. Gay, the
past season, to erect another, one mile distant from this, known as the Forest
furnace. This is about the same capacity, but costing less than $14,000.
This one went into blast early in December, 1860, and is producing, I learn,
an average of ten tons of pig per day.
Mr. Gay contracts for all his coal made and delivered at a specified price per
ton of iron, while all other labor, as far as possible, is let to the lowest bidder.
Thus with the comparatively small investments of capital in the furnaces
themselves, whatever may have been the discouragements and embarrassments
under which the smelting of iron ore at Marquette at first suffered, as all new
adventures in new countries must, time and experience has thus to a good
extent obviated, and to-day charcoal pig is made there so that for $20 cash
upon the dock, a very satisfactory margin is left to the manufacturer.
As an item of interest, I add the following results of the numerous experi-
ments of Professor Walter E. Johnson on the tenacity of bar iron in various
parts of the world :
Strength in Ibs. per square inch.
Iron from Salisbury, Connecticut 58.009
Sweden 58.184
Centre county, Pennsylvania 58.400
Mclntyre, Essex county, New York 58.912
England, (cable bolt E. V.) 59.105
Lake Superior, (by Maj. Wade) 89.582
The process of mining the iron ore is both simple and cheap. There is no
underground work, but the ore is blasted from the side of the mountain on a
level with the surface of the earth; thus a perpendicular face is formed, and
the larger this face the faster and cheaper it can be mined. A side track from
the railroad runs along near this face, while the ore blasted off and broken up
is loaded into the cars without extra handling. In some cases a cut is blasted
into the mountain for a distance, securing a face on both sides from which it
is mined. Eails are placed in the center of the cut, the cars run in and loaded
from both sides.
West of the deposit is the great trap, or copper range, running a distance of
150 miles and from one to twelve miles wide. On this range are located the
Cliff, Pewabic, Quincy, Franklin, Isle Eoyal, Minnesota, and National mines,
together with many others well known to the public, now yielding, in the in-
fancy of their existence, over 9,000 tons of native copper per annum. But
while the iron is piled up in mountains above the surface, the copper is buried
deep in the earth and rock, so that while a comparatively small capital will
mine successfully the iron, in many cases it requires large sums to blast out
and open doorways to the copper. But shall we call this an unwise arrange-
ment ? If the iron ore, which is only worth $3 per ton delivered free on board
34
254 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
vessels at Marquette, had been hid in the earth as the copper is, it would
remain there while the world stood. But the copper is worth over $300 per
ton on the dock, so that its value is a motive to open ramifications through
and deep into the mountains to find the hidden treasure. I know there has
been much, too much, of copper-stock jobbing, and thousands have felt them-
selves robbed, and in many cases they have been; but notwithstanding all this,
the development of this interest has gone steadily forward, rewarding prudent
and persevering effort, and confounding the incredulous.
It is now but fifteen years since copper mining was inaugurated in that
country, and but five years since the Sault canal was opened, securing in-
creased facilities and a cheaper commerce, and to-day the mines of Lake
Superior raise an annual product of copper exceeding one-half of the amount
produced in the United Kingdoms of Great Britain.
But what has been done all that is actually known of this valuable deposit
is but the character of the copper alphabet, or but as the title page, or but the
formal pleadings of a few chapters in Michigan's copper book, that will yet
be read, and seen, and known.
The fact is settled in the mind of every Lake Superior "copper head," that
in that range of 150 miles there are many more Cliff, or Pewabic, or Quincy,
or Minnesota, or National deposits, that time and money and science will
develop. We have only had the morning of copper wonders, the splendor and
glory of their noonday are yet to come. The great range is for the most part
yet only a wilderness; a few almost impassable roads crossing it here and
there a mine breaks its solitude ever and anon the explorer winds his way
among crags or thick wooded forests in search of an outcrop, and as often he
passes and repasses what, if it were only uncovered and known, would excite
the copper nerve of Boston, as an electric charge from a galvanic battery. But
this range will continue to be explored and re-explored, the rubbish cleared
away, every indication and outcrop minutely traced, new lights will help, suc-
cess will follow success, until the development will be complete.
Previous to 1855, the development and commerce of this country was neither
rapid nor remunerative, because of the disadvantages under which it labored.
Its tonnage was not large, or of a reliable character, while freights were enor-
mous. Capitalists were fluctuating between hope and fear ; the falls of the St.
Mary's river,' at the Sault, was a natural embargo, subjecting imports and ex-
ports to a tedious portage and heavy tax. But the construction of the Sault
canal, by a donation of public lands by the general government, and its open-
ing in 1855, proved a remedy for many of these evils,and at once gave tone
and shape to the future of the country. First class steamers and vessels now
sail from Buffalo and Chicago to all the ports on Lake Superior, reducing
freights, organizing business, securing dispatch, inspiring hope, and placing
all the business of the country on an entirely new basis. From this time, then,
we will more particularly trace the development and commerce of the country.
In 1855, Marquette, the port of the iron trade, was a flourishing little town,
of a few hundred inhabitants; a plank road adapted to the transportation of
ore by cars drawn by horses, on strap rail placed upon a plank, was finished
from Marquette to the Cleveland iron mountain, a distance of sixteen miles.
A locomotive road was also in process of construction, and that summer the
first locomotive, the "Sebastopol," was placed upon it. Early in September,
1857, this road was pushed to completion, touching the Jackson and Cleveland
iron mountains, and extending to the Lake Superior, then its terminus. This
THE UPPER PENINSULA.
255
road, together with its dock, warehouse, depots, machine shops and rolling
stock, has cost about three-quarters of a million, and was truly a mammoth
enterprise, in so new a country, and especially one that presented so many ob-
stacles to railroad building; but the late Heman B. Ely, who inaugurated the
enterprise, saw a rich prize in the future, as it now promises, and madly as
his action seemed to many, he labored incessantly for its completion, until
death terminated them, in 1856. The road has now upon it four locomotives,
and other rolling stock ready, or in process of construction, of sufficient capac-
ity to bring to the lake, daily, 3,000 tons of ore. Its business for the last
three years has been as follows:
DOWN THE RO\D.
Number
passengers.
Passenge.r
receipts.
UP THE ROAD.
Year.
Pig iron.
Ore.
Merchandise.
18fi8. . .
1,627
4,683
3.560
30,556 tons
83,078 "
150,9'3 "
4,629
., 6,445
5,487
$1.540 62
2, 007 42
1,989 92
1 806 tons.
2,258 "
2,124 "
1859
I860
The exports of ore to Detroit, Cleveland and other points, have been as
follows :
Year.
1855
1856
Gross tons.
1,447
11,597
1857 26,184 '
31,035
65,679
1858
1859
1860 *113,847
There has also been manufactured and exported in pig iron, in 1858, 2,000
tons; in 1859, 6,000; in 1860, 5,500.
In 1855 the ore was carried by the steamers, in 1856 a few vessels were
employed, in 1857-8 the fleet was greatly increased, in 1859 forty vessels were
principally employed in this trade, and in 1860 over seventy were employed,
and prospectively this field promises the largest stable tonnage of the carrying
trade. During the past three years there has also been erected near Marquette,
as above noticed, five blast furnaces, which, if kept in blast, will produce here-
after not less than 15,000 tons of pig per annum. In 1855, the village of Mar-
quette had a population of about 600; the county, 1,100. Now the village
exceeds 1,500, and the county 3,000.
The development and progress in the copper districts has been no less won-
derful since the date named. In 1855 Portage Lake was comparatively un-
known its population less than 1,000 while no great interest was yet at-
tracting special attention. To day they have a population of over 6,000 souls ;
copper mines that are producing a monthly product of 150 to 330 tons. No
man can now go to this interesting point and behold the thrift everywhere ap-
parent, the great number of new buildings that are being erected, the stir of
the populace, the immense investments of capital, the copper cars as they
thunder down the train roads to the lake, the prodigious quartz mills, and the
*Of the 150. 00:i tons which came down the railroad, some 30,000 are now upon the docks
at Marquette.
256 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
power and success with which they stamp the copper rocks and separate the
copper from the rock, the large merchandise that is carried on to supply so
large a population, the new enterprises in the form of spacious docks, new
hotels, foundries, stamp mills , smelting works all this and more we might
enumerate, cannot fail to make a deep impression upon an observing mind.
Nor is this all. As these developments began to assume such proportions, some
of the corporations and a few of the enterprising citizens of the place, in order
to facilitate the commerce, appropriated $35,000 from their treasuries and
pockets to open the harbor, known as "Portage Entry," fourteen miles below
the villages of Houghton and Hancock, which are located near the mines and
on what is known in common places as "Portage Lake," so that steamers of
the largest class with a full freight, have been enabled to cross the bar, run up
to the mines, discharge their cargo and receive the copper. Previous to this
improvement, tugs and scows were used to transport the freight to and from
the steamers, which dropped their anchor in the lake outside of the "entry"
to the docks at the mines, at a cost of $2 per ton. When the lake was rough,
as was often the case, steamers could not discharge or receive freight. This
difficulty is now obviated, the expense saved, while the business has much
greater dispatch.
There still remained a few short bends in the river or outlet of the lake,
which it was difficult for steamers to get around, and the same parties have
again contributed $15,000 to cut oft' these, which, when completed, will give
them an unobstructed navigation.
This will certainly be called magnificent progress.
At the other points on the Copper Eange, Eagle Harbor, Eagle Eiver, and
Ontonagon, the development was much earlier than at Portage Lake, and first
gave prominence and importance to the country. The celebrated Cliff mine,
whose annual product for over ten years has exceeded 1,500 tons, was opened
in 1845. The Copper Falls, Central, and other mines in the same district
known as "Keweenaw Point," were opened at a later day. The equally fa-
mous Minnesota mine, in what is known as the "Ontonagon district," and
whose product the past year was 2,180 tons, was opened in 1848. The National
and Kockland, whose products are now large, were opened some years after.
It was the early opening of these mines, and their success under all the dis-
advantages which the country suffered at that early day, and the working of
many others in the same districts, which have not yet been as successful, that
for many years gave business and interest to the country, and now that other
points with the light and facilities that existed, have bounded into being, with
wonderful development, in no way detracts from those whose entire success
gave birth to all that has followed.
Notwithstanding the shipments of copper from the Portage district have ex-
ceeded this year largely the amount gf any previous one, it being 3,238 tons,
still Ontonagon is the banner district, having shipped the past year 3,632
tons, or 394 more than her rising competitor. Which of these rich districts
will ultimately rank as the district of the world, it is idle now to speculate.
They both possess a fine area of rich and promising territory, which, when
fully explored and opened, can alone determine the race. What prominence
other districts, now budding into being, may take, would be equally specula-
tive. Yet the fact is not to be disguised that the public eye, in search of
copper, has fixed its gaze and hope upon what will be known as the "Carp lake
district," as a rich field also, as the explorations and workings demonstrate.
THE UPPER PENINSULA. 257
These districts are undergoing minute and thorough examination ; mining is
being reduced to method and system ; a rigid economy in the practical applica-
tion of money is enforced; improved machinery for crushing the copper rock
and separating the copper from the rock is being introduced; efficient mining
associations are being formed; these and other agencies are producing their
legitimate results, a large yearly increase of this metal until the mines of
Michigan shall supply the world.
The progress thus far made is apparent from the shipments since 1845. It
was, in 1845, 1,300 pounds; in 1846, 29 tons; in 1847, 239; in 1848, 516; in
1849, 753; in 1850, 640; in 1851, 872; in 1852, 887; in 1853, 1,452; in 1854,
2,300; in 1855, 3,196; in 1856, 5,726; in 1857, 5,759; in 1858, 5,896; in 1859,
7,245; in 1860, 9,200. The aggregate value of the copper exported in 1845
was $390: in 1850 it was $266,000; in 1855 it was $1,437,000; in 1860 it was
$2,944,000.
And who will not call this progress, up even to the fastest ideas of "Young
America."
"Irondom" may make a larger show of commerce than "Copperdom," for
often during the summer her beautiful "crow-boy" is enlivened with the pres-
ence of thirty sail, going or coming, or at anchor; but in point of value she
must for the present yield the palm to the latter.
But the question arises, will this copper find a market at remunerative
prices should the product increase to forty or fifty thousand tons annually ? I
answer, it will be many years before the product will be so large, although it
doubtless will reach this in time; while in all the important mechanic arts
the world is increasing now as it never did before, and our own country is
especially advancing in population and these arts with astonishing rapidity,
thus creating a necessity for a large increase.
The world is also making rapid strides, I may say mighty ones, in the accu-
mulation of wealth, not only in the material development of the industrial
interests, and the improvements of the mechanic arts and other sources, but
in money itself. California, Australia, and the other countries producing the
precious metals are adding annually over one hundred millions to its specie
basis that which underlies every other species of wealth.
These agencies' will make a demand for the largest possible increase of
American copper, without any material decline in its present value. Already a
large foreign demand exists for it. Although the mines of England are cen-
turies old and have reached their maximum, yet to-day Europe is a large buyer
of copper in American markets. This being the case, the Ontonagon district
mining association have sent an agent to France, Mr. Artault, to represent in
Paris the copper interest of Lake Superior, and it is to be devoutly hoped
that his mission may not only furnish better information of the nature and
magnitude of this deposit, as it exists on this lake, to that country, and secure
a larger market for the copper, but that he will also enlist French capital to
aid in its development. I append a statement taken from a letter addressed in
November, 1860, by Mr. Artault, to the secretary of the Ontonagon district
mining association,' showing the amount of copper used in France in 1859, and
what portion of it came from the United States.
Consumption in France of pure copper ingots, for 1859 :
Russia 17,348 kilograms (2 Ibs.)
Belgium 302,628
England 5,478,322 "
258 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN
Asiatic towns 1,067,000 kilograms (2 Ibs.)
Spain 329,289 "
Eoman States 698,964 "
Turkey 260,573
United States .',..; 1,253,983
Chili 1,787,392
Peru 328,865
Other countries 614,808
Total for 1859, 12,331,172 kilograms, or 12,-
331 tons.
In my next I will send you some more very important documents. In 1853,
the United States had exported to France only $105,060 worth of copper. In
1859, they have exported to France the sum of $1,985,223, and every year it
will increase in a very large way, particularly if we take the "rank we must have
if we exert ourselves.
Yours respectfully,
F. A. AETAULT.
The facts developed in this statement from Mr. Artault should not only
engage the earnest attention of the people of the upper peninsula, but of the
State.
By adding to the $2,944,000, the value of the copper shipments for the past
year, $367,350 for iron ore, and $121,000 for pig iron, and $40,000* for fish
from the peninsula, and $20,000 for furs, we have an aggregate of $3,492,350
the product of the labor of a few thousand freemen.
In 1845 an occasional steamer visited the Sault of St. Mary's, and above that,
parties worked their way from point to point mostly by coasting, the business
was done by a schooner called the White Fish, and two others, but all of small
burden. In 1850 three small vessels, two small steamers and one propeller did
the business between the Sault and ports on Lake Superior, while four steam-
ers plied between Cleveland, Detroit and the Sault. In 1855, the season the
canal was finished, six steamers were engaged in this trade and were able to
do all the business between ports on lakes Erie and Superior. In 1860,
seventy vessels and twelve steamers were inadequate to do the business, and
toward the close of the season special charters were made, two of which, the
propellers Burlington and Globe, are now on that lake.
The tolls collected from the tonnage passing the canal each year since its
completion, are as follows :
In 1855 $4,374.00
1856 7,575.00
1857 9,406.00
1858 10,484.00
1859 ,* . . 16,941.00
1860 24,660.00
The report of Mr. Mead, superintendent, shows that in 1859 there passed
through it in imports :
Barrels of flour . 39,459
Bushels of wheat 74
*The fish from the Sault and Mackinaw are not embraced in this statement.
THE UPPER PENINSULA. 259
Bushels of coarse grain 71,738
Tons of ground feed 1,104
Barrels of beef . . % 4,762
pork ." 5,902
bacon 345
lard 611
Pounds of butter 342,421
" cheese 54,742
" candles 117,634
Pounds and boxes of soap 2,205
Barrels of apples 3,785
Pounds of dried fruit 727,159
" sugar 486,020
Bags of coffee. 1,112
Chests of tea 598
Bushels of vegetables 6,949
Barrels of salt 2,739
" vinegar 300
Pounds of tobacco 21,754
Tons of powder 345
" coal 8,883
Kegs of nails 3,632
Tons general merchandise 10,134
Barrels of lime , 4,845
M feet of lumber 7,749
Bundles of lath 2,538
Boxes of glass 970
Tons of hay 823
Mules and horses 127
Head of cattle 2,031
" sheep 1,571
" hogs 374
M brick 3,409
Pieces of furniture 7,623
Tons of machinery 927
Boilers and engines - 17
Wagons and buggies - 130
Barrels of liquor 7,312
Pounds of malt 235,712
With the exports added, Mr. Mead estimates the total value of articles pass-
ing the canal that year, at $9,887,404.60.
His report for 1860 shows that there passed through the canal the past year:
Barrels of flour 50,250
Bushels of wheat ' 284
" coarse grain 133,437
Tons of ground feed 1,291
Barrels of beef 4,897
" pork 5,747
" bacon 716
" lard . 719
260 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Pounds of butter 400,610
" cheese 43,260
" candles 241,708
Boxes and barrels of soap 3,583
Barrels of apples 6,054
Pounds of dried fruit 34,986
" sugar 832,926
Bags of coffee 1,758-
Chests of tea 1 ? 347
Bushels of vegetables 33,739
Barrels of salt 1,817
" vinegar 486
Pounds of tobacco 74,186
Tons of powder 650 J
Tons of coal 15,542
Kegs of nails 3,429
Tons of general merchandise 10,289
Barrels of lime 5,109
M feet of lumber 3,673
Bundles of lath 1,555
Boxes of glass 871
Tons of hay 1,130
Mules and horses . . .- 183
Head of cattle 2,813
" sheep 1,047
" hogs 1,537
M bricks 325,870
Pieces of furniture 12,157
Tons of machinery 1,398
Boilers and engines 24
Buggies and wagons 119
Barrels of liquor 9,317
Pounds of malt 309,864
Barrels of fish 4,051
With the exports added, the aggregate value of articles passing the canal
this year is estimated at $12,158,865.94.
These reports demonstrate many important facts in relation to the extent,
the value, and the growing importance of this country and its commerce; for
whether they treat of its population, its mineral products, its shipping, its
canal receipts, or its internal improvements, they all demonstrate the same
truth, that no part of the State is augmenting its wealth and population so
fast as the upper peninsula.
But a face I desire especially to call attention to, is the interest the various
branches of industry, and especially the farmer, the miller, the merchant, and
the mechanic, should feel in this country. What a market for their products
and business ! The country only partially improved, and yet it absorbs, annu-
ally, millions of produce and merchandise.
Turn again to Mr. Mead's reports; estimate the value of the flour, feed,
coarse grain, beef, port, butter, eggs, cattle, sheep, and hay, the general
merchandise, sugar, candles, soap, nails, wagons, furniture, coal, the powder,
THE UPPER PENINSULA. 261
machinery, boilers and engines, and last but not least, the whisky. Estimate
the yearly value of these, and many other articles named, and then tell me
who are benefited by the country? There is not, especially, a farmer in the
State, I mean the lower peninsula, who is not interested in, and benefited
by this trade. Ten years ago the farmer had no market for his surplus
coarse products, hay was a drug, oats were comparatively valueless. Eggs
and butter were almost unsalable in the season of their abundance ; but these,
and much more, for all that is sent to market, find ready sale, at re-
munerative prices. Detroit and Cleveland begin to estimate the value of the
commerce of this country.
Thus has a large business, which is as yet only local, grown into being. In
a few years a railroad communication will be opened from the west end of the
lake with the Mississippi river, when it will at once increase an hundred fold.
But is such a commerce to have no increased security ? Must it be carried on
with all its present extraordinary risks ? Will the general government do less
to foster and protect the maritime of this lake than it has Lake Erie or Mich-
igan? Does "to regulate commerce," mean nothing more than to authorize
the use of these waters, or to construct light houses ? Does it mean to erect
princely custom houses, but let the shipping in sight of them dash into ruin
upon the rocks ? Such is the genius of our government, that the people feel it
should be as much interested in giving security to the property and lives of its
citizens, while in transitu upon the public waters, as in the collection of im-
posts, or as the people are, in the development of the material resources of the
country.
It has given the people a guarantee of its duty and identity with the security
of commerce, in the erection of light-houses, and especially to the people of
this peninsula in the construction of the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal. This
magnificent work reflects great honor upon the government, and is the cause
of our rising greatness. How it has increased facilities, given value to its iron,
inaugurated its manufacture at home, promoted the development of the copper
districts and whitened the waters with its commerce. But having accomplished
this, having created facilities that are producing such an international com-
merce, can the government leave it exposed to wind and wave without pro-
tection ?
I need hardly say that every year life and property is being sacrificed, and in
almost every instance, if the necessary harbors existed they would be saved.
The shipping at Marquette, already so large, is exposed to constant peril.
The improvements made at the mouth of Portage lake, by the energy and
money of its citizens and corporations, should be extended, the whole greatly
strengthened to make it secure, and a light placed on the end of the pier. At
Eagle Harbor every vessel that enters is exposed to great dangers, and can do
so only in a calm. Ontonagon is the oldest port on the lakes and of great im-
portance, it being central between Copper Harbor and -Lapointe, a distance of
160 miles; but it is with great difficulty that a vessel can now enter with the
most favorable weather. At every point of commercial importance there, with
an annual business of over twelve millions, on a coast of 360 miles, the most
of it bold, rocky, and dangerous, there is not one secure or safe harbor.
Some years ago the people of this part of the State felt that the south, the
lower peninsula, regarded them as insignificant, and of ten -laws had been
made to benefit the State, legislation for their benefit and comfort was
mostly ignored. At this time there was some talk of secession, of being set
35
262 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
back to the general government in order to organize ultimately a State govern-
ment of its own. It was thought that this peninsula was so far removed from
the State proper, that its interests were so different from those of the lower
peninsula, that the legislature could hardly ever know enough of its specific
wants and character to act understandingly in relation to it. For these and
other reasons, a convention was at one time called to inaugurate a movement
to secure its separation from the State and become a federal territory, but I
believe no declaration of independence was passed. For a few years past but
little has been said upon this subject; a better understanding has come to
exist, the bonds of brotherhood and interest have grown stronger, and the
legislature is doubtless willing to do anything that is reasonable and just to
promote the interests and development of this part of the State.
The bona fide inhabitants of this peninsula are not wealthy. They are, for
the most part, worthy and hardy sons of toil, blasting out its wealth. Its rich
men are few, and its wealth is owned and controlled by foreign capital, in
Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. And the
country owes its development to this capital. It would to-day be long years
behind the proud position it occupies but for it. Foreign capitalists have
poured out their money in its development, hundreds of thousands of dollars
have been spent in search of copper for which no return has been made and
probably never will be. But the thorough opening of the country will require
large sums of money, and it should be the policy of the State to encourage the
investment of capital to secure the desired consummation.
With the data I have adduced, we are safe in assuming that the business and
future of this peninsula never rested upon a firmer basis than at the present ;
for if the past, with its uncertainty and difficulties has been so abundant in its
rewards, the future with such success and certainty will be correspondingly
fruitful with them.
What check the political and financial derangements under which the coun-
try is laboring will have upon the next season's business cannot be definitely
seen, of course they will have their effect, but under the ordinary prospects
of the country Marquette would report the coming year 200,000 gross tons
of iron ore, and 12,000 tons of pig iron, giving employment to over eighty
large sized vessels ; the copper districts would make rapid advance in the better
opening of the mines, and produce at least 12,000 tons of copper, which would
give an aggregate export in 1861 of about 5,000,000.
In 1865, but a short period, the iron exports will exceed $2,000,000, the
copper $8,000,000; the population will have doubled, the tonnage employed
trebled, and the destiny of the country placed upon a much higher basis.
Beyond this I will not attempt to lift the veil that hides the wonders of the
future; they doubtless will abound everywhere, but "irondom" and "cop-
of power, so this once despised and frigid coast will grow cities, the seats of
of power, so this once despised and frigid coast will grow cities, the seats of
magnificent manufacture and commerce ; her wealth will become the possession
of her own people, with all its financial power, when she will be a tower of
strength, immovable as her rocks, commerce doing reverence at her altars, and
her fame known in every land.
Thus far I have treated only of what is embraced in Michigan, on Lake Su-
perior. Wisconsin and Minnesota both have a line of lake coast, and in the
former the coast embraces much good land, well timbered, with, I understand,
valuable iron deposits. The population now, in this part of Wisconsin, is an
THE UPPER PENINSULA. 263
important item in the trade of the country. The time is also nearing, when a
commanding commercial city will grow into importance in this State, at or
near the west end of the lake. The increasing business of northern Wisconsin,
of Minnesota, of northern Iowa, of Nebraska and Dakota territories, and the
Red river of the North, will, during the summer, be done with the sea-board,
via Lake Superior. Immense tides of travel will reach all these States and
territories, by steam, from Oswego, Buffalo, and Detroit, the same way. Lake
Erie was once the theatre of a magnificent steamboat travel ; but this new field-
may one day rival it. Highways and thoroughfares are now being opened from
the lake to the Mississippi; soon they will reach the Missouri, then San-
Francisco, when steam from Detroit to Bayfield or Superior will become a
grand link in the commerce of the Atlantic and Pacific States of Europe and
Asia. And this is no chimera, for so they called Governor Clinton's New
York and Erie canal when he proposed it, an enterprise in his day the accom-
plishment of which was not an hundredth part as certain as these results.
The "Great Northwest" as it is now called, politically and commercially de-
mands access to this lake and will have it; but another "Great Northwest" is
coming into being in the settlement of the country near the head waters of the
Mississippi and the Missouri, and the Red River of the North, a territory
quite as large as the original thirteen States, whose direct connection with the
Atlantic sea-board will be via Lake Superior.
Nor is the accomplishment of this far distant. The commercial relation of
Minnesota with this lake must become even more internate than those of Illinois
with Lake Michigan, as well as northern Wisconsin. But a glance at the map
will show that it is no farther from ports on Lake Erie to the head of Lake
Superior than to Chicago, so that freights to Bayfield or Superior will be no-
more than to ports on Lake Michigan, while at the former ports they are much
nearer all points in Minnesota, or territory west of her, than at the latter. All
then that is needed to add the business of Minnesota to the commerce of this
lake is a railroad from the Mississippi river to it. But we may be asked, will
the business of that new and northern State warrant such an investment ? I
answer with the statistics of Commissioner Wheelock, in relation to the
growth and products of that State up to 1859 and 1860. He says :
"The territory was organized in 1849, when most of the population of 6,400
souls were attached to the Indian trade. The National census of 1850 gave
the following result : . *
Wheat. Corn. Oats.
1849 1,401 16,725 50,582
1859 3,288,000 3,130,000 3,420,002
"The real agricultural history of the State did not commence, however, till
1854, when the Sioux were finally removed; so that a fair comparison would be
the following:
Acres tilled. Wheat. Corn. Oats.
1854 15,000 7,000 ' 80,000 153,000
1859 454,000 3,288,000 3,130,060 3,420,000-
"Thus in five years from the actual commencement of her agricultural
growth, Minnesota has produced a surplus of over 5,000,000 bushels of grain^
and in the meanwhile has fed a population which has increased from 35,000 s
to 175,000."
PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
In relation to the crop of 1860 lie says :
"1. That the tilled breadth of 1860 is one-third larger than 1859.
"2. That the breadth of wheat sown was nearly doubled. This increase was
very considerable in the southeastern counties, but in the western and north-
ern sections of the State the area is three or four times as great, and more
than half of the whole tilled breadth of the State was in wheat.
"3. There was a large increase in the average yield per acre, variously esti-
mated at from fifteen to thirty per cent.
"4. This fruitfulness extends to all crops, including corn, oats, potatoes
and hay.
"5. The head of the grain is better filled, and the grain better developed
than it was last year.
"6. The wheat crop has not met a single check, nor Buffered from the dep-
redations of a single insect, so far as ascertained.
"7. The breadth of corn and oats planted is much less than last year, but if
the corn is harvested without accident, the aggregate product will be more
than half that of last year.
i, "8. The wheat crop of Minnesota in 1860, with a yield of twenty- three
bushels per acre, will reach an aggregate of over 6,000,000 bushels, of which
4,500,000 will be surplus; and this is by fifty per cent the largest recorded crop
of wheat in proportion to the population, ever previously produced in any State
of the Union, being more than half the whole crop of Ohio in 1859, and equal
to twenty-five bushels of wheat to every individual in the State. The forego-
ing calculations are made upon an assured basis of fact, without reference to
current opinions upon the subject."
The influence such figures must exert in the establishment of the best medi-
ums of commerce, arc too patent to need remark.
Good stage roads are penetrating this country from the towns on the lake.
One has been opened from Superior to Crow Wing, and will be extended from
UK -re toward the settlements on the Eed Eiver of the North. Another is be-
ing opened to St. Paul, and over these roads, during the winter, good stages
are now run.
Another road has been opened between Bayfield and St. Paul. Hon. H. M.
Rice informs me that good stages now run twice a week between Bayfield and
St. Paul; that the road, a distance of 170 miles, is in splendid order; that they
will so run until navigation opens, when they will run tri- weekly or oftener.
This arrangement will induce a large travel the coming season via this lake to
St. Paul and other points on the Mississippi river, and is the sure forerunner
of a railroad.
The Pacific railroad, or its northern route, should run from the head of
Lake Superior; but if the government starts it from the Missouri river, before
the "iron horse" enters San Francisco from this river, under the energy of
private enterprise, he will reach it from this lake. Mark well the prediction.
When this already "Great Northwest" is thus settled and developed when
iron shall link its commerce and that of the Pacific with the commerce and
wealth of Lake Superior who will specify the mighty agencies they will bring
into play in the final settlement, development, manufacture and business of
the country on this lake, and especially that embraced within the upper penin-
sula ? During the summer months it will become the oasis of the traveling
world by thousands, for recuperation and healthy enjoyment; its wonderful
deposits of copper, which had been regarded more as fiction than real, will be
A MICHIGAN EMIGRANT SONG. 265
seen in their better development ; the iron mountains will tell their own silent
but mighty story; capital will be unlocked and enter practically into the final
development of the whole. The thrift and happiness of its people will attract
multitudes to join them in all the various pursuits that are or can be success-
fully followed. The copper will be smelted at home, and the ingot will go into
western as well as eastern marts. Iron ore will be manufactured into pig, into
cast iron in every form, and into merchant iron, and find a market west or
south, as well as east. Its population will have swelled from a score of thou-
sands into hundreds of thousands, surrounded with health, wealth and happi-
ness, with churches, schools and colleges the best basis of free institutions.
A MICHIGAN EMIGRANT SONG.
From the Detroit Post and Tribune of February 13th, 1881.
A correspondent at Uiiadilla sends the following song, which was much used
in 1833 and during the immigration excitement in the years following:
My eastern friends who wish to find
A country that will suit your mind,
Where comforts all are near at hand,
Had better come to Michigan.
Here is the place to live at ease,
To work or play, just as you please;
With little prudence any man
Can soon get rich in Michigan.
We here have soils of various kinds
To suit men who have different minds,
Prairies, openings, timbered land
And burr oak plains, in Michigan.
Our water's good, there's no mistake,
Springs, rivers, brooks, and little lakes
Will all be seen by any man
Who travels through our Michigan.
You who would wish to hunt and fish
Can find all kinds of game you wish;
Our deer and turkey they are grand,
Our fish is good in Michigan.
Ye who have led a single life
And now would wish to get a wife,
I tell you this, now understand,
We have first-rate girls in Michigan.
266
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE
(Continued from Page 186
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427
428
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431
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434
435
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437
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443
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447
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NAMES.
PLACE OF BIRTH.
Date of Birth.
Town or Village.
State.
A J Kellogg
Marcellus
Sparta
New York
March 9, 1827
Nov. 10, 1819
Jan. 1, 1821
Feb. 6, 1816
Jan. 4, 1811
April 21, 1820
Oct. 26, 1818
Feb. 21, 1807
Oct. 21, 1797
May 21, 1819
Aug. 8, 1805
Feb. 12, 1809
March 5, 1817
July 13, 1822
Aug. 16, 1826
April 23, 1814
May 14, 1838
Sept. 28, 1806
Jan. 28, 1823
July 5, 1828
Nov. 7, 1818
April 14, 1790
Sept. 10, 1810
Dec. 12, 1812
Oct. 12, 1823
Sept. 15, 1815
1815
Aug. 5, 1827
March 20, 1826
April 5, 1807
June 2, 1824
Sept. 29, 1808
Dec. 19, 1812
Oct. 15, 1816
Nov. 12, 1794
Jan. 11, 1811
Nov. 20, 1815
Nov. 26, 1811
May 14, 1830
Nov. 25, 1815
Sept. 4, 1823
April 17, 1812
July 11, 1808
May 14, 1804
Feb. 8, 1809
Feb. 15, 1831
April 12, 1817
Jan. 18, 1816
Nov. 29, 1815
Feb. 3, 1818
July 12, 1823
March 8, 1821
May 27, 1817
July 2, 1806
May 10, 1808
Jan. 1, 1827
July 19, 1810
June 8, 1829
Oct. 14, 1828
Jan. 21, 1809
May 26, 1828
Sept. 18, 1798
S. G. Blanchard
Norman Bailey
Locke
Sandy Hill
Maine . . ,
New York
John Hull
David G. Robinson.
Vassalborough
Shelby
Wm. A. Whitney
F. R Stebbins
Williamstown
John E. S wick
Covert.
New York
Massachusetts. .
New York
Rev E N Nichols
Amherst
H. M. Russell
Seneca Falls.
W. H Montgomery
Lodi
Mars Howard
Herkimer
"
Stephen H Aldrich.
Palmyra
Andrew Wilson
Middlefleld
Rev J O. Brancroft
Fowler
Butternuts.
Ohio . . .
New York
Charles I. Walker
AlbertE Cowles
Chardon
Ohio
Connecticut
New York
Ohio
New York
Connecticut
New York
Ireland
Joseph P. Cowles. .
New Hartford.
R C Kedzie
Delhi
Melvin D. Champe
Laurens B. Potter
Henry Parks
Franklin Co
Clarence
Middle Haddam
Lew Loornis
Hamilton
Roger Haviland
Josiah L Hawes . . .
Corlish
New York
Noys L Avery
William D Thompson
I. <4 '
E. H. Whitney
Donald C Henderson.
Allen's Hill
11 >'
Thurso
Scotland
Ohio
Wright L. Cofflnberry
Eugene Laible
Lancaster
Ettenheim (Baden :
Germany
New York
Jane Olds
Vienna
W. F. J enison. .
Byron
Elias S Woodman
Rodman
John Ball
Hebron
New Hampshire.
New York
Jerome B Eaton
Columbia
Josiah W. Begole
Mt. Morris . .
Massachusetts...
Vermont
Abiah Angell
New A^hford
Fanny L. Avery. . .... ....
Springfield
Harriet A. Begole ..
Homer
New York
Alonzo C Davis
Pitsford
Massachusetts...
New York
Vermont
Franklin S Clark
Lanesborough
Saratoga Springs
Giles B. Slocum.. .
H. H. Allen
WilJiston
Henry Pennoyer
Nor walk
Conquest
Connecticut
New York
Massachusetts...
New York
Michigan
Caleb Dwinell Randall
Richard S. Varnum
Henry H. North
Haverhill
Lansing 1 .... ....
Almira (Buck> North
Alex. Chapoton
Lansing
Detroit
Albany
James Shearer
New York
Massachusetts. ..
New York
New Hampshire.
New York
Henry W. Lord
Wm T. Mitchell
Northampton
Middlebury
Oka Town
Stoddard
Osman Dewey Goodrich... .
New Hartford
Wm. Winegar.
Ganes
Michigan..!.'.'!!!.'
Maine
Duncan A McMartin
Maria T. McMartin
A msterdam
Henrietta
E W Hunt
Lodi
Stephen Hill
Whiting
Benoington
Stephen D Bingham
Vermont
New York
Nancy DeGraff Toll
Schenectady
Stephen S. Cutter
Henry R Naysmith
York
New York
March 1, 1824
Jan. 27, 1817
July 11, 1820
Riley C.Crawford
Lorenzo D. Halsted
Tompkins Co.
i. n
LIST OF MEMBERS.
267
STATE PIONEER SOCIETY,
Pioneer Collections, Vol. 2.)
PLACE AND DATE OF FIRST RESIDENCE IN MICHIGAN.
Town.
County.
Date.
P. O. Address.
County.
Allegan ....
Allegan .
June 30, 1838
Detroit
Wavne
Retzhill
Oakland
April 1835
White Pigeon
Hastings ....
Barry
September, 1853
Hastings
Barry
Florence
St. Joseph
October. 1837
Florence
St Joseph
Hastings . ...
Barry
June, 1848
Hastings
Barry
Adrian
Lenawee
June 8, 1828-.
Adrian
Lenawee
Palmyra . .
October, 1837
44
May 1833
Macon
44
Clinton
14
September, 1835
Tecumseh
II
Saline
W ash ten a w
June 1837
Saline
Washtenaw
Dundee
Monroe
May, 1831
Hudson ....
Lenawee
Washtenaw
January 17 1833
Raisin
Lenawee
May 30 1833 . .
Raisin
it
Franklin
May 20, 1833
Franklin
it
Tecumseh
14
October 1831 ...
East Saginaw
Saginaw
Grand Rapids
Kent
June 1836
Detroit
Wayne
Alaiedon
Ingham.
October 2 1843
Lansing
Ingham
October 2 1843
Blissfield
Lenawee
May 12 1826
ii
it
Detroit
Wayne
August, 1828
Onondaga
i,
Jackson
Jackson
September 1843 . .
Lansing
ti
Birmingham
Oakland
1821
Pontiac
Oakland
Newark ....
Allegan
June 1836
Ganges
Allegan
Ann Arbor
Washtenaw
July, 1836
Burns
Shiawassee
Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo
September 1852
Kalamazoo . ...
Kalamazoo
Grand Rapids
Kent
September, 1850
Grand Rapids
Kent
Jackson
Jackson
1831
Jackson
Jackson
Pontiac
Oakland . .
October, 1843
Lansing
Ingham
Detroit
Wayne
.1833
Allegan
Allegan
Centreville
St. Joseph.
June, 1844
Grand Rapids
Kent
Detroit ....
Wayne
August 1833
Ypsilanti . . .
\Sfashtenaw
Farrnington .
Oakland
September, 1834
Okemos
Ingham
Eagle
Clinton
September 1837
Eagle
Clinton
Novi.
Oakland . . .
May 19, 1837
Northville
Wayne
Grand Rapids . . .
Kent
October 1836
Grand Rapids ....
Kent
Adrian
Lenawee
1834.
Jackson
Jackaon
Flint
Genesee
August 1836
Flint .
Genesee
Plymouth
Wayne.
May 29, 1836
Caledonia
Kent
Lyons
Ionia
June 1841
Grand Rapids
Genesee
Genesee..
September, 1837
Flint
Genesee
Ypsilanti
Washtenaw
September 15 1838
Detroit ...
Wayne
Battle Creek
Calhoun. . . .
June, 1843
Jackson
Jackson
Newport ....
Monroe
. . 1831
Trenton
Wayne
Tecumseh
Lenawee
1830...
Grand Rapids
Kent
Muskegon . ....
Muskegon
July 1835
Nunica
Ottawa
Bronson
Autumn 1835
Coldwater
Branch
Monroe. ....
Monroe
About 1839
Jonesville
Hillsdale
Delhi
May 1839
Delhi
Ingham
May 1839
Detroit
Wayne
February 3 1818
Detroit
Wayne
May 1838.
Bay City..
Bay
it
41
September 1839
Detroit
Wayne
Lapeer
Lapeer.
October 30 1839
Port Huron
St. Glair
Richland
Kalamazoo
October 1831
Otsego . .
Allegan
Allegan
May 1836
Farmington
Oakland
October 1835
Grand Rapids
Kent
Allegan .
Allegan
October 29 1836
Allegan
Allegan
Gun Plain...
September 15 1833
Lodi
Washtenaw
October 14 1828
Dimondale
Eaton
Plymouth
Wayne. ....
November 1835.. .
Watertown
Clinton
Adrian
Lenawee
April 1854
Lansing
Ingham
Centreville
St. Joseph
January 4 1834.
Monroe
Monroe
Grand Rapids
Kent
April 22, 1845
Grand Rapids
Kent
Troy. . . .
Oakland
March 18^5
Ionia
Ionia
Coldwater
Branch
September 10 1836
PRESENT RESIDENCE.
268
PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE STATE
NUMBER.
NAMES.
Town or Village.
Date of Birth.
Town or Village.
State.
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
Joseph M Sterling
Adams
New York
Vermont ....
Aug. 18, 1818
July 17, 1814
April 21, 1821
Jan. 18, 1814
April 11, 1805
June 16, 1814
Jan. 25, 1830
Feb. 17, 1842
June 3, 1821
May 20, 1828
Sept. 6, 1817
April 3, 1822
June 23, 1816
Dec. 18, 1827
Feb. 6, 1817
Dec. 22, 1840
May 5, 1820
April 22, 1830
Feb. 14, 1832
Feb. 13, 1813
March 20, 1826
June 24, 1832
Stephen B. Wakefield
Williston
Catherine (Ferry) Haviland
Wilton .
Connecticut
New York
Wm H. Horton
WallkilL
Huntington
Marcus Beers
Connecticut
Maine
Joseph Warren ....
Palmyra
Thomas W Palmer ...
Detroit.
Michigan
E. W. Cottrell
Wm Brunson ....
Cottrellville. ,
East Bloomfleld
Portsmouth
New York
New Hampshire.
New York
Olive M. Partridge
Mrs EMS Stewart. .
Leroy
Harvey Mellen
Middle bury
Michigan
Alanson Edgerton <-
Genesee.
Andrew Howell
Covert
Philo Parsons
Scipio .
Ira H. Butterfield, Jr
Henry C. Lewis
Utica
Clarendon
New York
Kirke W Noyes
Leroy
New Hampshire.
New York
Geo. M. Dewey
Lebanon ...
Henry Woodruff
Geo. Robertson
Seneca Falls
Dry den
Egbert F. Guild
Wolcott
LIST OF MEMBERS.
269
PIONEER SOCIETY. CONTINUED.
PLACE AND DATE OF FIRST RESIDENCE IN MICHIGAN.
Town.
County.
Date.
P. O. Address.
County.
Monroe
October 18 1835
Monroe
September 15, 1838. .
Scio
Washtenaw
May 7 1832
Burns
Mason
Ingham
May 30, 1837. .
Eden. ...
Inghcim
Ann Arbor
Washtenaw
September 1833
Detroit
Wayne
February 28, 1852
Bay City
Bay
January 25 1830
Detroit
Wayne
Cottrellville
St. Clair
February 17, 1842. .
Greenfield
Clinton
September 17 1843
St Johns
Clinton
Port Huron..
St. Clair
August, 1840. .
Portsmouth
Bay
Detroit
Wayne
September 20 1824
Michigan Center
Jackson
Romeo
Macomb
April 28, 1837.. . .
Romeo..
Macomb
Almont
Lapeer
February 14 1838
Lapeer
Macon.
Lenawee
August, 1831
Adrian .
Lenawee
Detroit
Wayne.
August 1844
Detroit
Wayne
Utica
Macomb
December 22, 1840. .
Port Huron
St Clair
Homer .
Calhoun
February 1835
Coldwater
Branch
Washington
Macomb
October, 1832,
Paw Paw
Van Buren
Port Huron
St Clair. ...
March 1852
Hastings
Barry
Flat Rock
Wayne
October 14 1833
Far well
Clare
Albion
Calhoun
May 14 1837
Albion
Calhoun
Detroit
Wayne
December 31, 1854...
East Saginaw
Saginaw
PRESENT RESIDENCE.
36
270 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
REPORTS OF COUNTIES, TOWNS AND DISTRICTS.
ALLEGAN COUNTY.
"ALLEGAN COUNTY ITS RISE, PROGRESS, AND GROWTH IN POPULA-
TION, WITH A BRIEF HISTORY OF ITS PRESS."
The following paper was read by Donald C. Henderson (founder of the Alle-
gan Journal) before the Allegan Pioneer Society, at its meeting held in Alle-
gan, May 29, 1878:
The county of Allegan was created by an act of the territorial council of
March 2, 1831,, and remained attached to Kalamazoo county until August 25,
1835, when it was duly established as an organized county of the territory.
The county derived its name from an Indian tribe in the Alleghanies gan
signifying lake. Allegan, the county seat, was first settled and its village site
purchased in 1835 by A. L. Ely from Eochester, N. Y., for the "Boston Com-
pany," an association of eastern capitalists. The village was platted and sur-
veyed in 1837 by Hon. F. J. Littlejohn, and incorporated in 1838. The bounds
of the village were at first comprised of section 28, town 2 north, of range
13 west. The bounds of the municipality have considerably extended since
the village became incorporated, containing now the whole of section 28, and
in addition the east half of section 29, the southeast fractional quarter of sec-
tion 21, the southwest quarter of section 22, the west half of section 27, the
northwest quarter of section 34, the north half of section 33, and the north-
east quarter of section 32, a good sized burgh when built up and improved.
Besides Allegan there are five other incorporated villages in the county of
Allegan, viz.: Plainwell, Otsego, Wayland, Douglas, and Saugatuck, all of
which have had or now have newspaper organs, while Allegan, the county seat,
has two journals. The county is divided into twenty-four townships, which
were organized in the following order :
In 1836, town of Allegan, which included towns 1, 2, 3, and 4 north, of
ranges 13 and 14 west. The towns of Gunplain (the name changed from
Plainfield in 1845), Otsego (including towns 1, 2, 3, and 4 north, of range 12
west), and Saugatuck (changed from Newark in 1861) were all organized the
same year with Allegan. In 1838 Manlius was organized, and Martin (which
included the present towns of Leighton and Wayland) in 1839. In 1842
Trowbridge (which included Cheshire until 1851) and Watson (which included
Dorr and Hopkins) were organized. In 1843 Wayland (which included
Leighton) was organized. In the year 1847 Ganges (which included Casco
until 1854) was organized, as likewise Dorr (which included Hopkins until
ALLEGAN COUNTY. 271
1852) and Monterey (named after one of the battles of the Mexican war and
which included Overisel and Salem). In 1848 Leighton was organized, in 1849
Fillmore, and in 1850 Pineplains. In 1851 Cheshire was set off from Trow-
bridge, and Heath from Allegan. In 1853 Hopkins was set off from Dorr, in
1854 Casco from Ganges, and in 1855 Salem from Fillmore. In 1856 Overisel
was set off from Fillmore. In 1858 Laketown was organized. Clyde and Lee
were organized in 1859. With the organization of the two latter towns the
whole county was organized into townships. To show the growth of the county
in population, we have only to point to the fact that but 92 votes were cast for
President in 1836, while in 1876 the total vote on presidential electors stood
7,724, which was by no means a full popular vote at that election.
In 1850 Allegan ranked as the twenty-sixth county in the State in point of
population. It was the twent}'-second in 1860, and 1870 it stood the twelfth
county.
The population of the county in 1838 was 1,469; in 1840, 1,783; in 1850,
5,125; in 1854, 7,804; in 1864, 18,849; and in 1874, 32,381. The census of
1880 at this rate of progression, will show a population of 36,000. There is no
more nourishing county in the State to-day than the county of Allegan.
Allegan county is blessed with nearly every variety of soil found in the
State. On the Kalamazoo river it is a deep alluvion. West of Allegan the soil
is well adapted to the culture of fruit, particularly on the lake shore and the
banks of the numerous streams and lakes of the county. Allegan is one of the
greatest agricultural and grain-growing counties in the State. The manufact-
uring of lumber was the principal avocation of the pioneers of the county, but
the lumbering business is not now nearly so extensive as it was; agriculture,
horticulture, and the manufacturing of flour, wool, sash and blinds, plows and
farming implements, now being the predominating pursuits.
The public lands were first placed in market in 1832, but very few settle-
ments were made in the county prior to 1835. Prior to this the present site of
the village of Allegan was the headquarters of the Macsaubee band of Indians
who originally owned the lands of Allegan, Ottawa, Kalamazoo, and Kent
counties. These aborigines made Allegan their base of operations for hunting
and fishing parties. When the whites first came, Indian camps could be seen
in large numbers at the present county fair-grounds, near the Allegan house,
and opposite the Chaffee saw-mills. Macsaubee, their Indian chief, was a
great favorite among the early settlers an*d frequently befriended the pioneers
of civilization in the way of furnishing them with maple sugar, fish, and tro-
phies of the chase of which the aboriginals always had an abundance. After
the Black Hawk war the Indian title to the lands in western Michigan was ex-
tinguished and the Allegan county Indians were long in the receipt of annui-
ties from that source from the national goxernment. After the expiration of
these annuities these Ottawa Indians were removed to reservations in the
Grand Traverse region of country where remnants of this once powerful tribe
can yet be found, enjoying the comforts of civilization along with their white
neighbors. But Muckatah, Mascaubee, Ring Nose, and all the rest of their
chiefs have gone to the Indian's happy hunting grounds. Chief Mascaubee died
some twenty-five years ago, much lamented by the white pioneers of Allegan
county. He is one of the principal characters mentioned in Cooper's romantic
novel (Oak Openings) of Indian life in the Kalamazoo river valley, which was
a howling wilderness when the great American novelist painted the beauties
of this region of country, from one end of the river to the other. "Fire
272 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
water" was the cause of Macsaubee's death. He had been visiting the village
of Allegan one winter's day and in going to his camp near Mill Grove, that no-
ble red man was frozen to death. This was before the red-ribbon movement
which is wprking so beneficially at the present time. He, with his associate
chiefs, had fought on the British side during the war of 1812, but after peace
was proclaimed these Ottawa Indians took possession of this delightful portion
of Michigan, and remained in occupation of the lands hereabouts till their re-
moval to the northwestern portion of this peninsula. The fate of the Ameri-
can Indian and his intercourse with the white man are sad reminiscences to
the proud and powerful race of people who once controlled and peopled this
whole continent from ocean to ocean and sea to sea. They have everywhere
been made to give way to the onward march of the white people. Where now
are their Allegan villages, warriors and youth? They have perished and are
consumed. The winds of heaven fan not a single region which the American
aboriginals can now permanently call their own.
Judge Story well depicts the sad fate of the American Indian when he says :
"There is something in their hearts which passes speech. There is some-
thing in their looks, not of vengeance or submission, but of hard necessity,
which stifles both, which chokes all utterance, which has no aim or method.
It is courage absorbed in despair. They linger for a moment. Their look is
onward. They have passed the fatal stream. It shall never be repassed by
them, no, never ! Yet there lies not between us and them an impassable gulf.
They know and feel that there is for them still one remove further, not dis-
tant, nor unseen. It is to the general burying ground of the race."
But we will drop the subject of the melancholy decay of the Indians and
continue our narrative of the rise and progress of our flourishing county.
Prior to its organization as a county in territorial times, Allegan was at-
tached to Kalamazoo county (which was organized in 1830), from which it was
set off in 1835. By the way, the word Kalamazoo is derived from the Ottawa
Indian word Ke-Kenamazoo (the boiling pot), the head-waters of the river
flowing from a spring situated in Hillsdale county, resembling in appearance a
pot of boiling or bubbling water.
In 1835, Allegan was a portion of the sixth senatorial district of the State,
which consisted of the counties of Kent, Ionia, Ottawa, Allegan, Barry, Eaton,
Kalamazoo, and Calhoun, and Horace H. Comstock of Kalamazoo county, was
one of our two senators, and Elisha Ely of Allegan, our first representative.
The counties of Allegan, Barry, and Eaton were one representative district.
Now the county of Allegan constitutes a senatorial district (the 14th) by itself,
while the county has two representative districts. When the State was ad-
mitted into the Union (January 26, 1837) Michigan had but one congressman,
and one U. S. judicial circuit. Now the State has nine congressmen and two
U. S. District judges. Allegan is in the 5th congressional district and the west-
ern U. S. judicial circuit. Hon. John W. Stone of Grand Rapids, represents
the district in Congress, while Hon. Solomon L. Withey is U. S. judge of the
western district of Michigan. Grand Rapids is the site of the U. S. district
court, where Judge Withey resides.
There has been a complete change in the judicial system since the State was
organized when it was divided into three circuits, and when courts were held
twice a year in each of the organized counties by one of the judges of the su-
preme court, who, by law was allotted to a particular circuit, and who, with two
associate judges, appointed in each county, constituted the circuit court. Now
ALLEGAN COUNTY. 273
(1868) we have a Sta^te supreme court of four judges, while the State is divided
into twenty-one circuits. Allegan constitutes, with the county of Ottawa, the
twentieth judicial district, of which Hon. Dan. J. Arnold is circuit judge.
In the early days Allegan county had two banking associations, both of which
were incorporated January 8, 1838. One was known as the bank of Allegan,
and had a capital it is claimed of $100,000. Alex. L. Ely was president of this
bank, and Oshea Wilder was president of the other, the bank of Singapore,
with an assumed capital of $50,000. These banks were of the famous wild cat
species and their career was brief and inglorious. The village of Allegan has
now a good National bank as well as a private banking house (Allegan City
bank), besides having a private banking house in every village of the county.
Otsego had the honor of ushering into existence the first pioneer newspaper.
This first newspaper experiment in our county was called the Allegan County
Democrat. Its first issue, April 12, 1842. Copies of this paper are very scarce.
Moses Hawks was its editor and publisher. He was the pioneer printer of our
county. The paper was democratic in its politics as one would infer from its
name. Mr. Hawks was assisted in the typographical department by Dr. Boyd
Coates, for several years afterward a dentist in "Otsego, and George H. Foster,
both now deceased. Its career in Otsego was brief and unprofitable. The ma-
terial was removed to Allegan during the winter of 1842-3 and the name of
the paper was transmogrified from Allegan County Democrat to the Allegan
and Barry Record. It was the only paper published in the two counties for a
number of years and was owned by Mr. Alexander L. Ely till 1846, when he
removed to lowa.and founded the city of Cedar Eapids in that state. We have
a copy of this unpretentious sheet now before us. It claims to be "published
every Tuesday, for the proprietor, by Augustine W. Adams," an accomplished
and well educated gentleman who printed the paper for a year and then re-
turned to his old home at Pontiac. He was followed as publisher 'by Mr.
Hawks, the founder of the Otsego paper, who was more or less connected with
the typographical department of the Record for many years afterwards both
as proprietor and printer. Mr. Hawks was an eccentric character, and was well
known to the pioneers of our county. In 1840 he was foreman of the old De-
troit Advertiser, then published by George Dawson and Morgan Bates. In
1845 he was sergeant-at-arms of the Michigan State senate, at which time our
district was represented by the Hon. F. J. Littlejohn. - He was subsequently
appointed by President Pierce superintendent of light-houses for the north-
western lakes a position he held four years, and at the time of his decease at
Plainwell, in 1872, was route agent on the M. L. S. R. R., running between
Plainwell and Muskegon.
In 1862 D.C.Henderson purchased the Record office of the late Hon.Elisha
B. Bassett (who died in this village in 1865) and who had been editorially con-
nected with it ever since 1848. The only real editors of the Record were Hon.
Hovey K. Clarke (now of Detroit, who has the reputation of giving the paper
its name), who was succeeded by Dr. John F. Ely (now of Cedar Rapids, Iowa),
a brother of the owner of the paper, Mr. Bassett, F. J. Littlejohn, William
Francis, and Fred Lyman. Among the Record's old typos were Boyd Coats,
George H. Foster, D. C. Henderson (who studied typography on the paper
from 1843 to 1845, obtaining a situation as assistant editor on the New York
Tribune in 1847, and remained on that paper till 1855), Andrew J. Kellogg,
James B. Stone, Arthur Kingsbury, the Barnhart brothers (now type foun-
ders of Chicago), Mr. Bacon, H. S. Manson (now of Chicago), Charles M.
274 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Hawks, Morgan B. Hawks, Bredett C. Murray (afterwards one of the publish-
ers of a weekly paper in Arizona territory and now the editor and proprietor of
the Daily News, at Denison, Texas), Franklin J. Higgins and Warren A. Dyer
perhaps some others whose names we have failed to obtain. The Eecord was
always a democratic paper in its politics.
The Record was first printed in Allegan. in a small building at the corner of
Cedar and Trowbridge streets, but when it suspended publication it was
printed in the old Bush building on Hubbard street (since destroyed by fire),
east of the Ebmeyer building.
The Allegan Journal is now in the twenty-third year of its publication and
is the only surviving pioneer paper of Allegan county. It was established April
30, 1856, by Donald C. Henderson, who has continued to be its chief editorial
writer ever since, except during his absence in the Union army, when the pa-
per was published by his brother Alexander Henderson. D. C. Henderson has
had for editorial assistants and local writers the following named gentlemen :
James D. Henderson, E. J. R. Currey, A. C. Wallin, George H. House.
The first printing office of the Journal was over J. D. Follett's hardware, in
a building upon which now stands the Chaffee hotel block. When that wooden
row was burned down in 1870, and the Journal printing establishment de-
stroyed, the office was removed over P. H. Church's brick building in the Em-
pire block. Its present printing office is over the First National Bank and
Jenner's boot and shoe house. The Journal has always been an outspoken
republican paper. In 1874 Mr. E. C. Reid purchased a third interest in the
paper, and its publication has since been continued under the name and style
of Henderson & Reid. Mr. Reid was formerly connected with the publication
of a paper in Otsego, and for a time employed on the typographical force of
the Allegan Democrat. He became foreman of the Journal, April 1, 1872, and
shortly thereafter was placed in charge of the local department which he has
continued to control ever since. The Journal has a fine corps of editorial cor-
respondents and contributors (whose names are too numerous to mention here)
in all the principal villages and towns of the county, who weekly grace its col-
umns with their favors.
In 1873 the Journal was given the first premium at the State fair of the
Michigan agricultural society, held at Grand Rapids, for being the best edited
and printed local newspaper in the State.
Among the typos of the Journal have been Morgan B. Mills, (now of Chicago)
V. V. Campbell, Joseph Pfeiffner, Edward Lowe, George L. Askins, Hiram S.
Manson, Moses Hawks and his three sons, Charles M., Frank E., (the two
latter now of Chicago) and Morgan B., F. J. Higgins, Warren A. Dyer, Dr.
F. M. Calkins, Don C. Nichols, Horace G. Nichols, and Frank P. Cook.
No democratic paper was printed in Allegan since the consolidation of the
Record with the Journal, till December 11, 1867, when the late Freeman Du-
bois Austin (who died in this village, July 15, 1869), removed from Otsego
here and established the Allegan County Democrat, which he continued to pub-
lish till his decease. Mr. John C. Holmes was the first foreman of the Demo-
crat. He was assisted typographically by Ed. E. Edmonds, Warren A. Dyer,
our esteemed scientific friend, Dr. F. M. Calkins, frequently and efficiently offici-
ating as printer's devil. The Democrat then passed into the hands of Mr.
Oscar Hare, who subsequently formed a co-partnership with Mr. Martin T.
Ryan, a former typographer on that paper. The firm name was then changed
to Ryan & Furber, when it become incorporated under the name of the North-
ALLEGAN COUNTY. 275
western Bible and Publishing Association. It has since been printed and pub-
lished by the Allegan County Democratic Association, with D. E. Waters as
editor.
Plainwell has had three papers, only one of which survives, and that is now
continued to be published under the consolidated name of two of its old prede-
cessors, the Independent-Eepublic, with George Scales as editor and proprie-
tor. Mr. Scales founded the Independent, and Jerome Winchell, now of De-
troit, the Eepublic. The consolidated paper is a local non-partisan sheet. The
Independent is a six-column quarto printed on the patented plan, two pages
being printed at home. In 1869 the first paper was printed in Plainwell by
John Goudy and Nelson M. Clute, but its existence was brief. It was styled
The Express.
We now get to Otsego again. In 1855 another attempt was made by George
A. Fitch to cater to the newspaper wants of the Otsegonians. This time it
was the Otsego Courier. It was a mere advertising sheet and was simply
started to goble up the State advertising. After its mission had been fulfilled
the Courier had no more dispatches to carry, and its old material was returned
unlamented whence it came, to the Kalamazoo Telegraph office. The
Courier was a miserable 7x9 affair.
No other newspaper adventure was again tried in Otsego till 1866, when G.
W. Parks illuminated that village with the Herald, a small sheet, which
changed hands every month or so from the number of its editors and proprie-
tors. Here are a few of these changes: Parks & Hubbard, Samuel M. Hub-
bard, F. D. Austin, who afterwards founded the Allegan Democrat, G. A. Mor-
gan, Morgan & Hartt, George Scales, and G. A. Morgan.
No sooner than the Otsegonians were furnished with this newspaper fiasco
than another attempt was ventured in the journalistic line. This time the vic-
tim was H. E. J. Clute, and the paper was styled the Allegan County Eecord,
which he continued to publish under his own name till 1870, when he formed
.a copartnership with Mr. E. C. Eeid, now of the Allegan Journal, who con-
'tinued its publication till the spring of 1871, when the Eecord went the way
of all its predecessors. The printing material was sold to Kalamazoo parties.
The Eecord was republican in its politics. Three more newspapers were estab-
lished in Otsego after this, one in 1871-2, by George Scales, another by Jerome
Winchell, and still another by Thomas T. Talbot. But one and all they failed
to pay running expenses, till in August 2, 1875, the Otsego Weekly Union was
established by C. H. Harris and V. V. Campbell. The firm was then changed
to C. H. Harris* and G. E. Johnson. It is now published by Messrs. Harris &
Johnson, and we are glad to know it is now firmly established on a paying
basis. It is published on the cooperative plan, one half, at home and the other
half in Chicago. It is neutral in politics, and in size it is seven-column folio.
The village of Douglas has its Weekly News; but one issue of it ever ap-
peared. It was established by Mr. C. M. Winslow, formerly of the Saugatuck
Commercial, while Wayland village has three defunct newspapers, viz. : The
News, Venture, and Courier.
The Allegan Journal was printed by hand presses till 1872, when it had a
new Cottrell & Babcock press made to order to do its newspaper work. The
Allegan Democrat was at first printed on a hand press, but is now printed on a
Cincinnati power press. All the rest of the county papers are printed on hand
presses except the Saugatuck Commercial, which is printed on a Universal
jobber, one page at a time.
276 PIONEER SOCIETY OF ' MICHIGAN.
The village of Saugatuck has had but one newspaper the Lake Shore Com-
mercial which was founded by Dr. Pattee in 1871. The Commercial has
subsequently been published by Frank Pattee, H. R. Ellis, George Sherwood &
Co., E. W. Perry, M. V. Tarbox, C. M. Winslow, Byron Markham, and
Charles M. Wasson, its present publisher. It is an eight-page five-column
local and independent paper, half of which i& printed at home.
This paper on the rise and progress of Allegan and brief sketch of its press
has been hastily compiled,, and may be in some respects inaccurate. It is to be
hoped this essay may lead to still further explorations into our county's his-
tory and material progress, and thus lay bare important facts which may be of
interest to future editors, antiquarians, and historians. Let the business of
historical research be continued while our venerated pioneers are still in the
land of the living.
I would conclude my first contribution to the society's annals with the fol-
lowing poetical compliment to the men of the types to whose kind assistance I
am largely indebted for many of the facts contained in this historical paper
the men whose literary labors give a name and reputation to nations, states,
counties, cities, villages, and towns :
Hurrah for nature's noblemen,
The artists of the mind!
Hail, wielders of the mighty pen,
With every glory twined!
Where thought flows freely to its God,
Unshackled as he gave it;
And freemen rule o'er freedom's sod
As freemen long will have it.
* * * *
A health to Franklin Liberty
And freedom's press forever!
NOTE. Since this paper of Mr. Henderson's was prepared, there have been a num-
ber of changes in the press of Allegan county. The Allegan County Democrat has
ceased to exist, and is now succeeded by the Allegan Tribune, a local paper, neutral
in politics, and edited by Gustavus A. Morgan. A new democratic paper has been
established at Allegan, styled the Allegan Herald, edited and published by M. T.
Ryan. There is another paper at Allegan, styled the Allegan Democrat. It is pub-
lished by George Scales, of the Plainwell Independent, and edited by David R.
Waters. The Saugatuck Commercial, neutral in politics, is edited and published by
Mrs. Lena Woodhull. [Editor of Pioneer Collections.]
THE TOWNSHIP OF ALLEGAN ITS TOPOGRAPHY, PRODUCTS, EARLY
SETTLEMENT, AND HISTORY.
BY G. A. MORGAN, OF ALLEGAN.
Prom the Allegan Journal of October 5, 1878.
The township of Allegan occupies a central position in the county, possesses
a first importance as the town in which is located the county seat, and the
business metropolis of a large circuit of country, and is highly interesting as
one of the best farming towns in the county, and as having a history of almost
forty-five years. It is town two north, of range thirteen west, and its west line
lies about eighteen miles east of Lake Michigan.
Its surface, like that of the greater part of the county, is highly diversified,
ALLEGAN TOWNSHIP. 277
and gives the township a very attractive appearance. More than three-fourths
of the town is undulating from a moderate degree to hilly, some parts having
quite a high elevation above Lake Michigan. A considerable number of
ravines seam the town in various parts, adding not a little to the picturesque-
ness of the scenery. From the high lands in the north part of the town are
obtained wide, charming views of the country in every direction. In the north
portion of the town, east of the center line, is a level tract, a considerable por-
tion of which was originally swampy, and in the southeast quarter, on the east
side, is a not large area of the same kind of land. There are also a few spots
of level pine land on the west and south sides.
The Kalamazoo river comes in near the middle of the south line of the town
and flows northwesterly in a most fancifully serpentine course, making more
than twice the distance by right lines, and leaving near the middle of the west
line. The banks, the most of the distance, are high at points sixty feet in
some places somewhat precipitously steep, and there are wide bottom lands
along its course a good part of the way. There are half a dozen creeks, of
greater or less length, running into the river, all but one from the north. On
the east side of the town lies Miner lake, with an area of towards one square
mile, a most picturesquely shaped body of water, skirted by handsome fields
and woods, much resorted to for boating and pleasure parties, and in addition
to swimming, several kinds of native fish are planted with white fish, eels,
trout, and California salmon. A little more than one-half of another good-
sized lake, Dumont, lies within the town on the north line. This lake has un-
measured depth in some parts, fine surroundings of hills, and some foreign fish
recently deposited in it. White fish were found in it years ago, conjectured to
have swam up from Lake Michigan in an underground passage. Half a mile
east of this lake is Wetmore lake, and in the southwest corner of the town is
the little Little John lake by the pines.
The timber of this town is, on three-fourths or more of its territory, beech
and maple, and the many varieties growing on beech and maple lands, of large
size, and the elm, ash, tamarack, cedar and others that grow in swamp lands.
Pine, with beech and ash, covered once the land on portions of the south and
west sides. H. S. Higinbotham remarked to me that almost all the varieties
of timber in the town are to be seen on the bank of the river opposite his
house in the village.
The soil is generally a strong sandy loam, in some localities mixed with clay,
occasionally stiff clay soil. That of the pine lands is a fair sandy loam. The
swamp lands and those of the bottoms of the river have great fertility.
The most of the land of the town is good wheat land, and this grain is pro-
duced with good average yields, and at times with the largest, up to the point
of forty-five bushels. A portion of the lands are specially adapted to the
growth of large corn, and all of them grow it with good productiveness, accord-
ing to culture. I noticed some very stout corn growing on sandy lands. All
other kinds of grain, and the various kinds of roots and vegetables are raised
with as prolific yield as might be presumed from the quality of the soils, as in
any other parts of the county. A large portion of the town is specially well
adapted to the cultivation of grass.
A good deal of attention has been given to the raising of fruits, and there
are many fine apple orchards. George E. Jewett showed me through his,
which makes this year a display of very abundant and handsome fruit. His
neighbor, A. Wood, has also a fine orchard, with the fruit from which he is
37
278 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
accustomed frequently to take premiums at the fairs. Plums are also raised
to quite a large extent. The elevation of the lands makes them well adapted
to the culture of the peach. That is done to a large extent, There are some
large orchards, and farmers are planting trees in considerable numbers ever}'
year. H. S. Higinbotham tells me he has on his grounds peach trees thirty
years old. It is claimed that the peaches in this town and vicinity are better
than on the lake shore in quantity and quality. A few people are cultivating
strawberries for market. W. 0. Hudson has a fine nursery of a variety of fruit
trees, on the Dumont and Monterey roads, of about ten acres. G. A. LeFleur
has also nurseries in the north part of the town. H. Dewey has a hot house,
and a large fruit, vegetable and flower garden in the west suburbs of the
village.
A few farmers have been engaged for some years in breeding the short-horn
cattle. W. C. & H. C. Weeks have on their fine farm by Miner lake the largest
herd in the county; one five-year old thoroughbred bull from Smith's herd,
Kalamazoo county, and one of the finest animals in the State, and one two-
year old thoroughbred, four thoroughbred cows and three calves, purchased
with the two-year old bull from a Kentucky herd, and about fifty half grade
many fine animals among them. They have altogether on their farm about
100 cattle. J. H. Wetmore has a thoroughbred bull and eight grade cows : 1ST.
Jewett a thoroughbred cow purchased at the State agricultural college farm,
with a thoroughbred bull calf, and a thoroughbred is kept on the county-house
farm. Ira Chaffee has ten or twelve very handsome high-grade short-horns on
his farm near the village. A considerable number of farmers are breeding
from the thoroughbred bulls in town. J. H. Wetmore is breeding the Poland-
china and the Berkshire hogs, and G. W. Lonsbury and J. Snedeker are keep-
ing thoroughbred Berkshires. Mr. Lonsbury has an imported hog, and some
superior animals. Improved breeds of hogs are generally raised by the farm-
ers. A good number of sheep are kept, most good grade merinos, with a few
Cotswold and Lincolnshires. A. Vosburgh of Mill Grove has a thoroughbred
Percheron stallion, and some attention is given to improving the stock of
horses. A considerable number of people are engaged in bee culture. A few
have a large number of swarms; A. S. Weeks 81, P. Leonard 24, and J. Tom-
linson 45, all within Allegan village.
G. E. & N". Jewett have quite a large extent of osage orange hedge 011 their
farms, kept well trimmed, and the most I have seen in any town in the county.
The hedges present a beautiful appearance, and give one a pleasant faith's
discerning view of the splendid country of fifty years hence, when the farms
will be extensively lined with such hedges. G. E. Jewett told me that he has
found these hedges as cheap as board fences.
A creditable proportion of the farm buildings are substantial and good-look-
ing, and there is a good number of elegant farm-houses in the town. A good
proportion of the farms are apparently well and profitably tilled, and the town
numbers among its citizens some of the best farmers in the county. Some of
the lands in the town can be bought at low figures, and some of the best and
most favorably located farms would claim $100 or more per acre.
The amount of improved land by the census of 1874 was 9,446 acres, with
221 farms, somewhat increased since. The supervisor's valuation in 1866 was
$411,966, in 1877, $1,118,205. The equalized valuation in 1877 was $1,120,000
of which $211,786 was personal. The tax levied was $25,062.65 $3,744.73
county, $3,037.29 State, $18,290.63 town. The railroad bond tax helps to
ALLEGAN TOWNSHIP. 279
swell the taxes in this as in some other towns in the county, it amounted to
$8,750 last year. A considerable portion of the lands in the town were held
by non-residents or speculators for many years, and the town was not im-
proved in farms to so large an extent as some other towns in the county, with
a later begun settlement.
The settlement of Allegan began in 1834. In 1833 Elislm Ely of Rochester,
N. Y., who was one of the first settlers of that city, prospected in this region
and purchased land for a company called the Boston company, on the Kala-
mazoo river at the point of the site of the present village of Allegan. Among
the members of the company were Sam. Hubbard, E. Monroe, and P. Cutler
of Boston, and C. C. Trowbridge of Detroit. The company proposed to build
mills on the river for manufacturing pine and other lumber, and to inaugurate
as soon as possible all the kinds of business which should lay the foundations
of a city which they fondly hoped to see rise in the valley and on the hills.
The spot seemed favorable. It was on the border of a pine forest that stretched
away to the west ; in other directions were other kinds of valuable timber and
good farming lands. Here was a good water power and a navigable river on
which they could float their products to a great lake and to all the world to
which it led out. In the spring of 1834 Mr. Ely came on from Eochester with
a little company consisting of Leaiidcr S. Prouty, wife and year-and-a-half old
boy Andy, J. Pomeroy who was to be foreman of the work to be undertaken,
and J. Hoyt. Mr. Prouty tells of their having the usual experience pioneers
had in those days in coming from Detroit to Kalmazoo, getting stuck now and
then in the mud, and once or twice capsizing in it. Arrived at the port of
Pine Creek, on the Kalamazoo, Mr. Ely bought lumber with which to build a
shanty when they should arrive at their journey's end, and rafts were made of
it upon which their goods were loaded. E. Sherwood piloted one of the rafts,
but Mr. Prouty, having been a sailor on Lake Ontario, knowing the current of
any river like a fish, and "born to command," as he says, took the other raft,
placed his family and goods on it, and refused to have any pilot but himself.
At the mouth of Schnable brook Sherwood's raft ran aground, and some of the
freight was shaken into the water, Mr. Prouty, by the exercise of his authority,
compelling Pomeroy to hold on to a barrel of pork and save it as he valued his
life. While the men were righting up the raft, Mrs. Prouty and her child
went ashore, and some Indians meeting them and not knowing from whence
they came, were astonished and imagined that some angels had come down.
Arriving at the future home of Allegan, the party put up a shanty on the
spot nearly opposite the present Chaffee house, Wallace Chittenden, who came
with them from Pine creek, driving the first nail, and making the first echoes
of the hammer in the woods. But they were not the first whites that camped
on that spot. Lucius Barnes of Wayland, informed me that fifty-one years ago
last February, while on his way from Rabbit river, where he was in the employ
of the fur trader, L. Campau, to his father's house on Gull prairie, he camped
one night on the spot where now stands the Allegan house. It was the 6th of
June when the emigrants arrived. They immediately cleared an acre of land,
borrowed a plow of Abijah Chichester of Otsego, not having yet fished up their
own that went to the bottom of the river from the raft, and put in potatoes and
the seeds of vegetables, from which they harvested a supply for winter. Mr.
Prouty tells me that on the peninsula were elevations of ground that resembled
garden vegetable beds, with large trees on them. In the course of the summer
they put up two log houses, one near the Allegan house site for a boarding
280 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
house, the other a few rods above for Mr. Prouty. They had to roll up the
logs to their places with oxen. He and his wife had been engaged by Mr. Ely
for one. year, for work and keeping boarders, at the moderate price of $12.50
and $5 respectively, per month. Mr. Prouty proving to be a more natural man
for foreman than Poincroy, was given his place. They were in his employ fif-
teen months, and then moved on to their land in Trowbridge, where they still
reside. Alex. L. Ely, a son of E. Ely, came on in the fall. On the 17th of
October was received another addition, in the birth of Jeanette E. Prouty. As
there was no other family or woman in the little clearing, Mrs. Prouty was so-
journing at the house of Eber Sherwood in Otsego at the time when the child
was born. Mr. Ely afterward gave a lot of land to this little first white daugh-
ter of the Allegan wilderness, in honor of her being the first born.
In the spring of 1835 Horace Wilson and wife came, also a Mr. Keep and
wife, who kept the boarding house awhile, but did not become permanent set-
tlers. Soon after came Joseph Fisk and wife, and during the year H. Sabin,
Ira Chaffee, Elias Streeter with his boys, the present J. B., T. E., and A. L:
Streeter, B. Eager, L. Fish, D. Doane Davis, P. N. Higinbotham, J. Weare,
Sen., John Askins, B. and J. Colburn, H. and E. D. Ely, W. C., W. B., and
T. C. Jenner, G. H. and E. S. Baker, E. Parkhurst, X. Abbott, J. H. Swezey,
E. Moody, A. W. Beals, W. Jones, Feek, A. S. and C. Weeks, Z. L. Griswold,
J. W. Bond, J. Dawson, L. Huddleston. In this year was born the first boy,
and second child of the settlement, Jos. Allegan Fisk, to Mr. and Mrs. Jos.
Fisk. He received the last Christian name at the request of Mr. Ely. The
boy lived, however, not quite one year.
In 1836 there were many arrivals, among whom the names of the following
persons have been learned: J. Peabody, D. A. McMartin, 0. D. Goodrich, A.
Rossman, J. B. and L. Bailey, S. Marsh, D. Ammerman, W. A. Knapp, E.
A. Murray. L. W. Watkins, J. D. Stone, W. H. C., T. and W. A. Bliss, L.
Loomis, John, S. I-\. K. J., A. and P. B. Littlejohn, Leech, J. Biggins, W.
Porter, W. Finn. W. Field, John J. Jones, formerly postmaster, T., A. and
X. B. West, P. Leonard, W. H. Brown, W. Allen, E. G. Bingham, M. Wins-
low, G. McCov. H. K. Clarke, J. P. Austin, D. Emerson, E. C. Southworth,
H. Bassitt, J.' Stone, C. Field, A. Mann, L. Wilcox, E. and W. E, Dickinson,
G. and C. Hollister, G. Kennard, H. H. and Z. Booth, P., W. S. and Dan D.
Davis, J. R. Kellogg, H. Hoaxie, J. L. Shearer, D. B. Stout, B. Streeter, 0.
Fisk, H. Annis, B. Atkins, J. Torrey, A. Johannot, A. Fuller, J. Billings, J.
Bush, C. Higinbotham, W. Pullen, E. Moody, J. Cook, Reynolds, G. Y. War-
ner, Ellis, C. and J. J. Miner, A. and P. Chaffee, T. M. Russell, G. Jewitt,
G. Nelson. There were estimated to be 500 people in the town in November
of this year.
Among those who came in 1837, I have learned of the following: A. Morse,
P. Vankeuren, R. W. Brooks, E. Brownell, with sons E. and J., D. Leggett,
L. K. Pratt, J. Davison, G. H. Hill, L. Ross, J. B. Higinbotham, L. Lyons,
J. M. Thomas, A. Parkinson, T. N. West, L. Winslow, N. and C. Dickinson,
N. Briggs, G. Muma, G. Benson, Rogers, Randall, C. Austin, B. Pratt, J. P.
Nolan, J. Weare, Jr., W. Goff, J. Hudson, W. C. Rowe, W. F. Brown, G. H.
Hull, J. Robinson, H. Hutchins, George and John F. Ely, A. D. Dunning, A.
Goodrich, J. Doty, H. Streeter. J. and L. Eager, M. VanNorman, T. Sands,
D. C. Ailing, J. P. Austin, E. Flannegan, Z. Huggins, A. Edgerton, G. Mor-
ton, J. H. Wells, Aldsworth, J. Smith, H. and J. Allett.
In 1838 H. Langley, J. Henderson, and sons A. and J. D. Henderson, F.
ALLEGAN TOWNSHIP. 281
and C. G. Wilson, F. Day, H. Cole, J. Lowe, 0. Smith, G. Perkins, C. F.
Nichols, J. and S. L. Stone, N. Manson, G. Rutsan, R. and G. W. Fairchild,
J. Weeks, F. Wilson, H. Fisher, D. A. Plummer, W. Marshall, F. Vanbogart,
D. and J. W. Willard, R. Rogers, D. Bracelin, W. P. Giddings, B. W. Kibby,
F. C. Parker, J. Ross, I. Dexter, J. Knowlton, S. Brockway, J. B. Price.
Some of the immigrants of 1839 were S. Rumery, D. Kingsbury, H. L.
Kurd, H. S. Higinbotham, J. Green, S. Underwood, D. and E. Wilder, A. P.
Bush. From 1840 to 1845 included S. Miles, E. and L. Knapp, D. C. Hen-
derson, J. B. Alexander, M. Hawks, L. Barker, H. Staring, Asa Morse, S.
Stafford, H. C. and G. C. Smith, J. B. Allen, J. Frost, J. Bush, A. and A. B.
Carpenter, W. Hinckley, C. C. Willis, C. C. Brownson, J. P. McCormick, H.
Lonsbury, E. B. Bassett, C. R. Wilkes, R. and L. Thompson, A. R. Calkins,
J. Moses, J. Littlejohn, Jr., R. Dyer, J. and J. W. Kent, G. Bigsby, G. Up-
dyke, C. J. Tanner, 0. Goodspeed, T. X. Hudson, R. G. Winn.
Between 1845 and 1850 included the following among others immigrated
into Allegan: A. Muma, J. Rawley, S. Peek, Crary, A., H. J., and M. Cook,
Rev. D. Platt, J. Sadler, S. P. Stanley, Z. Huggins, R. Updyke, 0. B. Bell-
inger, B. Collins, L. Comstock, T. Childs, R. Mabbs, L. Sage, Watson Brown,
G. and J. Stegeman, F. Ronte, H. S. Lay, J. E. Babbitt, G. Peet, Mr. Hovey,
W. Partridge, J. Dyer, H. Stimson, H. Cole, J. Yelden, M. Baldwin, H. Green,
C. and M. Richards, T. J. Parker.
Within the following eight years the following were among those that took
up their residence in the town: E. B. Born, Eggleston, H. Carter, S. H., 0.,
and W. Priest, Geo. Lovelace, J. M. Foster, J. R. Rockwell, A. Wood, S.
Shank, J. Penfield, J. Gritz, T. Bush, P. 0. Littlejohn, J. 0. Northrop, Alan-
son and Augustus Lilly, McComber, J. Agan, C. and F. Atwell, J. Clement,
H. and D. D. Seamon, M. Stegeman, P. Vahue, C. J. Bassett, C. Baker, S.
Harnden, G. Hewitt, A. Cheeney, G. E. and N. Jewett, F. Sullivan, D. White,
A. Kurd, J. B. Porter, J. D. and E. D. Follett, G. W. and G. R. Stone, G.
and A. Oliver, W. B. Williams, J. Aldworth, J. and P. Cook, D. and S.
Ellinger, W. C. Messinger, P. S. Aldrich, W. C. Haynes, J. D. and H. H.
Pope, C. W. and A. E. Calkins, D. and J. Ely, W. Allen, B. Tagg, T. L.
Dean, P. Smith, J. Pfeiffner, J. Fansler. J. Alley, W. A. Alberts, D. Thomp-
son, T. J. and J. Pennock, E. G. Hackley, A., H. G., and A. D. Case, G.
Movers, J. C. Elliott, F. A. Williams, J. B. Champion, J. S. Cray, J. A.
Rigby, J. J. Jones, G. Thompson, J. Thew, J. M. Heath, H. Franks, J.
Lanehauts, L. B. Smith, B. D. Pritchard, H. Vosburgh.
George Bigelow, a son of Dr. Bigelow, seems to have been one of the earliest
born boys, perhaps the earliest that grew up to adult years. He died for his
country at the battle of Corinth. Elizabeth S. Abbott, daughter of Nirum
Abbott, who came in 1835, now Mrs. H. S. Higinbotham, a girl of ten years,
was the first little girl emigrant in town. On Christmas day, 1835, Alex. L.
Ely was married to Mary Weare, and Geo. Y. Warner to Mrs. Williams, by
Rev. Win. Jones the first marriages in town. The oldest person living in the
town of whom I have learned is Mrs. Watson, the widow of Eli Watson, a
Watson pioneer, now 87 years of age, with well-preserved vigor of body and
mind.
A considerable number of the earliest settlers were from Rochester, N. Y.,
and vicinity. The people of Allegan have come mostly from the eastern States
and Ohio, and some from England. There is quite an infusion of Germans
and Hollanders, and a considerable number of colored people. The first set-
282 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
tiers were from all characters, from the highest to the lowest, as there were
many transient people working in the mills and woods, and adventurers.
Quite a number of present prominent citizens of other towns lived at first for
a while in Allegan. Within three years from the beginning of the settlement
there were seven men of liberal education resident in the village.
From the beginning to the present time the citizens of Allegan have been,
in large proportion, people of large enterprise, energy, and public spirit, with
the intellectual and moral character which abundant educational and religious
institutions, begun at the outset, infuse and keep alive in a town. The present
population of the township is not far from 4,000. The vote at the presidential
election in 1876 was 923.
The first company found Macsaubee and a few Indians camped on the bank
of the river. The Indians were accustomed to wigwam on the peninsula where
are now the race and mills. They had ground down the river by the Bushong
fur trading post, where they raised corn. Mrs. G. E. Jewett tells me they were
kind to the whites, at times when sickness was very prevalent. She related to
me an incident illustrating an Indian characteristic. One of them came to the
house of her father, E. G. Bingham, one evening when the snow was falling,
and asked Mr. B. to go with him, with a lantern, and help him look for a sil-
ver piece which he had just lost. They soon found it. The Indian gave a
grunt, and not a word of thanks, but a day or two after came with a quantity
of game as a present to Mr. B. Macsaubee, she says, had some fine-looking
smart sons, one of them now a gambler in San Francisco, and a daughter with
a wonderfully musical voice. Muckataw was the name of the Indian chief. A
half-breed named Prickett, brought by Mr. Ely from New York, acted for a
while as an interpreter, but the whites and Indians soon learned one another's
words, so that there was no need of an interpreter.
Philander Leonard, who with his brother-in-law came in 1836, relates to me
an incident showing the difference in Sabbath notions in those days. Their
families came in a wagon from Detroit, and arrived at Gull Prairie Saturday
night, after a six days' ride, Mr. Leonard carrying a child on foot, the greater
part of the way, in his arms. The question came up next morning whether
they should go on to Allegan 011 Sunday. There would have to be some wash-
ing done there on that da)', if they waited till Monday, so* they concluded it
would be no worse to travel, and that it was a case of necessity. Some little
time after when Mr. Bliss wished to join the M. E. class, this matter was
formally inquired into, and he was pronounced guiltless of Sabbath breaking.
In 1835 a dam was built across the river at the point where the settlement be-
gan, on the same spot the present one occupies, a race was dug and a saw-mill
built, and put to running on the site of the present Chaffee mill, by the Boston
company. The dam was built with layers of pine trees, and stones on each layer.
The locality is favorable for getting a good fall by a short race, it being a
peninsula, and the river making a circuit of about a mile and a half from the
dam around the lower end of the peninsula up to the point opposite the dam,
where it is twenty to twenty-five rods across the peninsula, making in that dis-
tance a fall of about two feet. The fall from the race into the fiver is nine
feet. There is abundant room 011 the peninsula, with only the present short
race for a large number of manufacturing establishments. In 1837 the School-
craft saw-mill was built on the site of the present Streeter mill by the School-
craft family, and in 1838 another run by I. Chaffee and C. F. Nichols. I.
Chaffee put in the second muley and the third circular saw in the State. In
ALLEGAN TOWNSHIP. 283
1837 a bridge was erected across the river by Joseph Fisk, and the lower bridge,
the Little John, by S. F. Little John, in 1841, and about the same time one was
partly built across, starting from near the present Wetmore mill, by C. F. Nich-
ols and other parties. In 1838 Sidney Ketchum built a large first-class flouring
mill, with four run of stones, on the spot where Oliver Brothers furniture fac-
tory now stands. It was got to running in 1839, and two years after was
burned down. In 1854 John Littlejohn put up the present Wetmore mill,
which was completed in 1855. J. Fisk sold lumber in 1836 in Chicago at $50
per thousand, culls in, and in 1839 the price of lumber had gone down to that
point, that he sold lumber there at $5 and culls out. He tells me that he
built the first dock in Chicago in 1836, twenty feet in length, near Wells
street. He afterwards built a larger one near Eandolph street. A. Rossman
and J. Hoxie started a foundry in 1836, the one now owned by Tomlinson &
Heath, which Mr. Rossman ran till within a few years (and the people say he
got rich by it). F. Booher, of Kalamazoo built the Exchange hotel in 1835,
his brother, H. Booher keeping it, making a beginning in the barn. J. Fisk
built a portion of the Allegan house in 1835, sold to 0. Fisk, who kept it some
months in connection with William Finn, and in 1836 Mr. Fisk bought it back
and added to it, keeping it for a time himself. A. Fuller and D. Doane Davis
were others of the early landlords of this hotel. Mr. Barber, J. Askins, J.
Henderson and J. Grover were the first millwrights in the place, and helped
build many of the mills of the county. A. Johannott started a stage line to
Kalamazoo in 1837. A. L. Ely was the first postmaster in the village. Some
years after, in 1855, a plank road was completed to Schnable creek, on the
route to Plainwell, was kept up a few years and then given up; the people on
the other part of the route failing to build their portion of it. The first jail
building, a portion of which was used for a court room some years after, was
built in 1837, on the southwest corner of court-house square. The first plan-
ing mill was started by 1ST. B. & A. West in 1842, a small, simple concern,
compared with N. B. West's present large establishment. The Ammerman
saw-mill was built in 1843, on Dumont Creek, by Fisher & Ely. It was con-
verted into a grist-mill, of two run of stones, two or three years since, and is
owned and run by Mr. Holmes. A wooden railroad three-fourths of a mile in
length, the first railroad in the county, was constructed in an early day from
the saw-mill to the river for freighting lumber, and so used for a time. This
Ammerman locality went for a time by the name of Babylon. The A. Vos-
burgh saw, shingle and heading mill at Mill Grove was built by Levi Comstock,
in 1849, afterwards burned and rebuilt. Horace Wilson cleared the most of
the village plat on the west side, the timber of which was pine and ash, in the
winter of 1835 anud 1836, and sowed a portion of it to oats in 1836, probably
the first grain raised in the county. Mr. Wilson was a great tramp, and pros-
pected on foot and alone, in 1836, the Muskegon and Big Rapids country. Z.
L. Griswold chopped a few acres in 1836 on his land north of the village, and
E. Moody on land adjoining. N. Abbott commenced the first farming in the
town on the Sage farm west of the village, and J. F. Ely, Jr., about the same
time on the Charles Wilson farm. P. Dumont and C. Wetmore began farming
operations in the northwest part of the town in 1837. Mr. Dumont built a
saw-mill on the outlet of Dumont lake in 1840.
The greater part of the freight from the east into western Michigan, in those
days, came around the lakes and up the Kalamazoo and St. Joseph rivers, and
flour was shipped down the rivers, and there was consequently a great deal of
284 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
boating in flat-boats on the Kalamazoo, and poling them up the river was no
small job. John Allett and Alex. Henderson were among the captains of those
boats. The boats commanded $100 a trip between Kalamazoo and the mouth.
The "Pioneer" was the name of the first river boat. A little river steamer
was put on the Kalamazoo river to ply between Saugatuck and Allegan in
1838. It was named the "C. C. Trowbridge," in honor of the distinguished
Detroit capitalist, and one of the principal stockholders in the Boston com-
pany,, who owned the Allegan village site. The captain of this steamboat was
George S. Porter. This boat was too large and unwieldy and was soon hauled
off. In 1856 a company was formed to build another steamer named the "Ade-
laide." Dr. J. C. Elliott and Captain C. S. Mixer were the owners. She only
ran a year or two on the river. Many years after, between 1860 and 1870, the
Helen Mar, by J. D. Bush, Mayflower, Aunt Betsy, owned by Ira Chaffee, ran
between Allegan and Saugatuck for several years till the railroads built in the
county made them no longer profitable. The only representative of steam
craft at present in Allegan is J. Pike's little pocket steamer, the "Pond Lily."
M. Winslow opened the first store, in 1836, nearly opposite the Allegan house,
and J. Fisk the same summer, near the same point. Mr. Fisk's store, the first
building put up of much style in that line, was afterwards moved near the
Kellogg corner, and is now occupied by D. fillinger as a tailor shop. The A.
L. Ely house, now occupied by Mrs. Moses, the Dr. Goodrich, the S. F. Little-
John (Colonel Fisk's now), built in 1837, the J. Higgins house in 1838, are
among the first dwelling houses of some account. ' Mr. Higgins tells me he
has lived longer than any other man in Allegan on one place, beginning in a
shanty on his in 1837.
Among the early mechanics, A. S. Weeks was the first painter and chair-
maker, G. Kennard, cabinet maker, Perkins and Bond and S. Rock way, tailors,
E. Knapp, hatter, H. Langley, tanner. J. Torrey made the first brick near
the present tannery.
The prices of many things which the first settlers had to buy were high, and
they produced for a considerable time not much but lumber and shingles.
Provisions were often scarce. Pork ran up at times to 28 cents, butter to 50,
salt to $9 a barrel, prints to 38 cents per yard. The prices of village lots were
high in 1836, and things went on swimmingly till the financial crisis of 1837
came and made business dull here, as everywhere else, and this, with a good
deal of sickness prevailing from chills and fevers, caused a considerable num-
ber to move away about that time. Asa Morse told me one of his neighbors, a
farmer, being reduced to potatoes and salt for a number of days, and johnny
cake was a staple article of diet.
Dr. 0. D. Goodrich, who arrived in 1836, was the first physician to com-
mence practice, and, with the exception of Dr. L. B. Coates of Otsego, he is
the oldest practicing physician in the county. Dr. R. M. Bigelow came in the
same year. Dr. A. B. Calkins located in 1844. Sawtelle, Ham, Stanton, Bar-
ber, Elliott, were others of the early physicians.
G. Y. Warner, F. J. Littljohn, and H. K. Clarke, who came in 1836, were
the first lawyers, Mr. Warner the first to begin practice. Mr. Littlejohn being
in poor health, practiced surveying, and was a sub-agent of the Boston com-
pany for a few years. He was for a short period prosecuting attorney, the first
one in the county, and succeeded in driving out some counterfeiters who had
their rendezvous in the woods. On one occasion he played the detective by run-
ning a random line with his compass to a lake in Clyde, and came across a man
ALLEGAN TOWNSHIP. 285
whose rifle he managed to secure, and marched the man into Allegan. The
fellow forgot to throw away some bogus money he had in his pocket, and these
pieces secured his conviction. T. and D. C. Chapin, Goble, and E. B. Bassett
were also among the lawyers of the first fifteen years. E. Ransom of Kalama-
zoo, afterwards governor,, was the first circuit judge in the county, the first in
1837, and after him A. Pratt and B. F. Graves. F. J. Littlejohn was elected
circuit judge in 1856, and was re-elected, holding the office till 1869. The
circuit embraced Allegan and twenty other counties mostly to the north. The
judge was obliged to travel on some part of the circuit in very simple style,
and earned his salary by many hard knocks. The circuit judges had, in the
early judicial system of the State, two assistant side judges, generally, or
always, non-professional men. Judge L. tells of a case in Allegan county, in
which he was one of the counsel and in which a decision by Judge Ransom on
a point of law was reversed by his two farmer side judges. A county court was
at one time provided by the legislature, which flourished in 1848-50, in which
everybody could practice who chose to. It was given up as a non-paying
institution. Henry H. Booth of Allegan and Ab. I. Dederick of Gunplain
were the judges of this court.
In 1837 a scheme was projected for a canal from St. Glair to the Kalamazoo
river, to be called the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal, and Mr. Littlejohn was
employed in February, 1838, to survey the west end of the line, from near
Middleville, Barry county, to Allegan, which he did, twenty-five miles, in eight
days, with quite a depth of snow on the ground. The fates deferred the con-
struction of this canal to a later age. A line was also run in 1837 for a rail-
road from Marshall to Allegan, and timber for a depot was got on to the
ground where the Chaff ee house now stands.
Allegan had also its wildcat bank, opened Jan. 8, 1838, with a capital of
$100,000. Alex. L. Ely was the president and H. K. Clarke cashier. It
went "where the woodbine twineth" in less than two years. "Uncle Ben.
Eager" and some others are said to have lost some money in stock invested in
the bank.
The township was organized in 1836, the first town meeting held in April, in
a small building a little west of the Allegan house. The first election in the
town was held in the November previous, for the election of a member of the
constitutional convention, to which Richard Weare was elected. Twenty-five
votes were cast at the town meeting. Jos. Fisk was moderator, Joseph Allen
and Elisha Moody clerks. Alexander L. Ely was elected supervisor; Nat.
Livermore, town clerk; Elisha Ely, J. Fisk, Elisha Moody, Enoch S. Baker,
justices; E. Moody, N'irum Abbott, J. Fisk, assessors; David Anthony, col-
lector; D. Anthony, Hiram Bassitt, constables; E. Moody, E. Ely, E. S.
Baker, highway commissioners; Lyman Fisk, E. Ely, overseers of the poor;
Sylvester Aldrich. Benzern McCoy, E. S. Baker, school commissioners; A. L.
Ely, Wm. C. Jenner, Jos. Allen, school inspectors; D. Doane Davis, Ben.
Eager, fence viewers; N. Abbott, path-master; A. L. Ely, pound-master. At
a special meeting Oct. 4, Jason Torrey was elected clerk, and Garrett H. Baker
collector. At a special election in January. 1837, Silas F. Littlejohn and
Elijah G. Bingham were elected justices to fill vacancies.
At the elections held in the county in November, 1836, the following officers
were elected: Elisha Ely was elected to the lower house of the legislature,
receiving 25 votes, the whole number cast; E. Ely, John Anderson, associate
judges of the circuit court; Eben Parkhurst, probate judge; A. L. Ely, regis-
38
286 PIONEER SOCIETY OP MICHIGAN.
ter and county clerk; John Murphy, sheriff; Milo Winslow, treasurer; Wm.
Forbes, surveyor; Dan. A. Plummer, Jas. Preston, coroners. Jason Torrey
was chairman of the board of canvassers, and E. J. Bingham deputy county
clerk. The first board of supervisors consisted of A. L. Ely, Hull Sherwood,
Jr., D. A. Plummer, J. Murphy; H. Sherwood, chairman. The county board
of commissioners, elected by the people of the county, was established in 1838,
and continued till 1842, when the return was made to the system of board of
supervisors. The first board of commissioners consisted of S. F. Littlejohn,
0. Wilder, and H. Sherwood. At the election held in 1837 for member of
Congress the number of votes cast in Allegan was 137.
The township of Allegan having within its territory the county seat, has been
under the necessity of standing a strong draft for county officers, and has ever
been willing to make the sacrifice. She has, in addition, furnished some State
and national servants. The following, as near as I have been able to ascertain,
is a true record of the honored ones : Members of the legislature, Elisha Ely,
representative ; Flavius J. Littlejohn, representative and senate, also candidate
for Congress and for Governor; H. C. Briggs, senate; John R. Kellogg, rep-
resentative; David B. Stout, representative; Gilbert Moyers, senate; Wm. B.
Williams, senate; Philetus 0. Littlejohn, representative; Mark D. Wilber,
senate; Henry F. Thomas, representative and senate. Circuit judges, F. J.
Littlejohn, John W. Stone, Dan. J. Arnold; probate judges, D. C. Chapin,
Geo. Y. Warner, E. Ely, Elisha B. Bassitt, W. B. Williams, D. J. Arnold, J.
B. Humphrey; prosecuting attorneys, F. J. Littlejohn, G. Y. Warner, D. C.
Chapiri, G. Moyers, J. W. Stone, Albert H. Fenn, Philip Padgham; county
clerks, A. L. Ely, E. G. Bingham, Henry H. Booth, E. B. Bassitt, J. W.
Stone, H. C. Briggs, A. E. Calkins; registers, A. L. Ely, Ebenezer Parkhurst,
E. G. Bingham, Wm. Finn, E. G. Hackley, Jacob B. Bailey, Wm. C. Weeks,
Perry J. Davis; treasurers, Alvah Fuller, D. Doane Davis, Duncan A. Mc-
Martin; circuit court commissioners, J. L. Havens, Jos. Thew, D. J. Arnold;
sheriffs, John Murphy, Jos. Fisk, William Still, Ben. Pratt, Nelson Chambers,
Willard Higgins, Jacob G rover, Andrew P. Grover, William S. Hooker, Alex.
Henderson, Wm. L. Ripley, Wm. Hay, Thos. J. Parker; surveyors, Wm.
Forbes, John P. Allard, E. B. Wilder; coroners, Alex. Henderson, Donald C.
Henderson (Don claims that the office of coroner is higher than that oi sheriff,
as a coroner is the officer, and the only officer, that can arrest a sheriff);
county -commissioners, Silas F. LittJejohn, M. Winslow. Benj. D. Pritchard
has held the office of state land commissioner, Jas. B. Porter that of secre-
tary of state, W. B. Williams those of delegate to the constitutional convention
and railroad commissioner. W. B. Williams was twice elected member of
Congress, and J. W. Stone, a present member, was a resident of Allegan for a
number of years, till one or two years previous to his election. One of the
earliest settlers, Alanson S. Weeks, has also furnished an officer to the regular
army, Lieutenant Harrison S. Weeks, a graduate of West Point. The town
furnished also a large number of privates, and a good number of officers who
were efficient in the service. The officers were so many that I mention only
the two most prominent, General D. B. Pritchard, who led the band that cap-
tured Jeff. Davis, and Colonel Chauncey J. Bassett of the Michigan sixth
infantry, and afterwards colonel of the first Louisiana colored infantry, who
was killed in the Red river expedition, and to whom the citizens of his native
town of Lee, Mass., have erected in that town a handsome monument.
The county farm is located in Allegan, and consists of 160 acres of the best
ALLEGAN TOWNSHIP. 287
quality of 'land, 90 of which are improved. The buildings are spacious, in
most respects well adapted for the accommodation of the unfortunate inmates.
One of the buildings is a two-story structure, with basement, built in 1869, for
the keeping and treatment of the insane, in which the officers have had
encouraging success. There is also a neat two-story building, erected two or
three years since, for the care and instruction in school of the poor children
thrown upon the county, of sufficient size for the accommodation of thirty of
them, in which fifteen were provided for last winter, and homes obtained for
them in the spring. This is the first institution of the kind established in the
State, in connection with a county house, and was largely indebted for its
origin to the efforts of S. S. Dry den, one of the county superintendents of the
poor. 0. Town and 0. W. Calkins are the other superintendents, Mr. Calkins
having charge of their office.
Schools were started as early as 1835, and a district was organized in 1836.
Miss Hinsdill, a daughter of Judge Hinsdill, of Kalamazoo county, who
seems to have been a pioneer teacher in several parts of the county, was, as
well as I have been able to ascertain, about the first teacher in the town. She
taught the school in a building just west of the present Peck block. Mrs. G. E.
Jewett remembers the spot from the circumstance of her being sent down to
the river when attending the school as a pretty small girl, to wash the ink off
her hands, falling in, and coming up the third time before she was rescued.
Miss Eliza Littlejohn taught a private school in the fall of 1836, and the dis-
trict school in summers after. Miss Luvia Bingham, now Mrs. H. Dumont,
taught select schools in 1839 and 1840, in the village and district school at
Hudson's corners. Miss Mary Parkhurst taught a private school in 1837.
Spencer Marsh, G. Y. Warner, E. Parkhurst and H. Hunger were the earliest
male teachers. The first district school-house was built in 1836, a little south
and last of the present residence of J. B. Bailey. It was a building twenty-six
by forty feet and had cupalo with a bell in it, which bell, with tone well pre-
served, still rings out its peals on the village fire companies' building. The
school-house stands now on the bank of the river opposite the public square,
and has at times, of late years, been put to the useful but lower purposes of
livery stable and blacksmith shop. It was at first for a few years used also for
holding courts and religious meetings. An academy was organized and incor-
porated in 1845 or 1846, which was taught for five or six years by Elisha B.
Bassett, who received his education at Williams college. The academy building
stood on the grounds of the present Irving House. Mr. Bassett is spoken, of by
his pupils of those days as an excellent teacher, and the school was prosperous
but had a short life. It was at this school that D. C. Henderson received a part
of his education, but some unpleasantness occurring one day, Don did not pur-
sue his studies any further, proceeding to New York City and graded up into
a printing office and took his sheepskin as an editor. Judge H. H. Booth
erected in 1857, on the west hill, in a beautiful pine grove, a large building for
a private school, which he named "The Pine Grove Seminary/' He gave
the use of the building to the teachers and kept it in repair. The school was
taught for several years by Mr. and Mrs. Hermon Perry, and after by Rev. L.
F. Waldo. In 1865 Judge Booth sold the building to the school district in that
part of the village and it is now the principal building of the union school. A
female seminary was opened and taught for a year or two by Dr. S. D. Tobey
and sister, now Mrs. H. C. Briggs, in the residence now occupied by W. B.
Jenner. The number of school districts in the township is eight, of which
288 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Rev. Walter Scott is the learned and capable superintendent. The school cen-
sus last year showed 1,064 between the ages of five and twenty years, and the
attendance in the year 903. There are three brick school-houses and eight of
wood, the most of them of good and some of superior quality; the estimated
value of the buildings $16,600. Four male and twenty-two female teachers
were employed at salaries amounting to $5,016. The total school expenditures
of the town were $8,139. The west district of the village was graded in 1865,
and a Mr. L. C. LeBarron was the principal. In 1867 the other districts were
connected with it and the union school organized, with William H. Stone as
principal. There is a central and three ward schools, with intermediate de-
partments in each of the ward schools. A superintendent and eleven assistant
teachers give instruction in these schools. Edmund D. Barry is the present
able and popular superintendent. The institution has had the services of ca-
pable and efficient principals. The central building, a wooden one, and the
ward school-houses, of brick, are very creditable school edifices. The total
enrollment of pupils in the union school last year was 681. The township
school library numbers 400 volumes. The village of Allegan has a library and
literary association, a stock company of thirty-five members, with a good num-
ber of yearly reading members, a library of 677 volumes, and in addition 200
books of reference..
[A paragraph relating to the newspapers is here omitted, the subject being com-
ple,te in the preceding article. ED.]
The religious welfare of the people was provided for at an early period, and
regular services were held in 1835. In that year Rev. William Jones, a Pres-
byterian clergyman, located in Allegan, and was soon engaged by the people
to preach for a year. In 1836, April 23, a Presbyterian church, with fourteen
members, was organized at the house of William 0. Jenner, by a committee of
the St. Joseph presbytery, Rev. S. Woodbury and W. Jones. A small church
building was erected a little west of the present Baptist church, and when
nearly completed was burned, in May, 1836. A new church was begun in 1840
and finished in 1842, on the site of the present church, which was burned by
an incendiary in 1874, and the present beautiful brick edifice, the finest one of
the village, was erected in the next year. The ministers of this church for a
considerable number of years were, Revs. W. Jones, L. Lyon, G. W. Elliott,
S. Newberry, H. Hyde, E. F. Waldo, W T . Page, J. A. Ranney, and J. Sailor.
The present pastor is Rev. J. I). McCord, and the membership is 180. A class
of eight members of the M. E. church was organized in 1835 by Rev. Williams
of Indiana conference; the first sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Robe, and a
church with an official board was organized in 1837. The early preachers of
this denomination were Rev. W. H. C. Bliss, still living in the township, and
commonly known as "Father" Bliss, Byron, Bears, Kellogg, W. Todd, G.
Stanley, and A. G. Eldred. Messrs. Hargrave and Irkenback were early pre-
siding elders. Rev. L. M. Edmunds is the present preacher in charge, and the
church numbers 146 members. W. H. Brown is a resident local M. E. preacher.
The first church building of this society, 24x30 feet, was erected in 1837, on
the spot where the German M. E. church now stands. Mr. Ketchum, the agent
of the Boston company, contributed the" lumber. The present church was
built in 1852-5, and in it was hung in 1852 the first church bell in the village.
The Baptist church of Allegan was organized January 15th, 1841, with seven-
teen members, as a branch of the Plainfield church, and on April 17th of that
year as an independent church. Rev. H. Munger, who preached in Allegan
ALLEGAN TOWNSHIP. 289
before the organization of the church at an early year, A. J. Bingham, Stan-
wood D. Platt, T. Z. R. Jones, were the first preachers and pastors of this
church. The society commenced building the present court-house building for
a church in 1844, and in 1854 sold it to the county. In 1855 they .erected
their present church edifice. Rev. 0. 0. Fletcher is the present pastor of this
church, which has a membership of 159.
The Congregational church was organized June 10, 1858, with twelve mem-
bers, at the house of H. H. Booth; X. B. West, moderator, A. Oliver, clerk of
the meeting. The society met for some* years in the Pine Grove seminary, and
in 1864 built the church which they now occupy. The ministers of this church
have been Revs. W. W. Wolcott, Hill, E. Andrus, I). Wirt, L. F. Waldo, Ap-
thorp, L. Bickford. Rev. J. Sailor at present ministers to the church, which
numbers 150 members. The Protestant Episcopal church of the Good Shep-
herd was organized June 15, 1858, beginning with a membership of five, which
has increased to eighty at the present time. Rev. L. N. Freeman, of Kalama-
zoo, supplied the church as a mission church at first, and Rev. J. R. Taylor,
H. Judd, and W. Scott have been the rectors of this church, the latter clergy-
man being the present rector. Their church edifice was dedicated in 1869.
The S. D. Advent society was formed in 1856, and their church was erected in
1863. Rev. W. H. Littiejohn has ministered to the church a portion of the
time of its existence. It has now thirty members. The German M. E. church
was organized in 1860 Avith five members; it numbers now sixty-seven. Their
church was dedicated in 1865 by Rev. Mr. Joslyn. Rev. G. Bertram was
their first preacher, and Rev. Mr. Militzer is the present minister in charge.
There are four German M. E. churches in the county. The Lutheran church
was organized in 1868, and built their church edifice in 1875. They number
twenty-five members, and Rev. A. Schoenberg of Hopkins, is their minister.
A colored Baptist church was organized in October, 1877, with a membership
of twenty-one. The spiritualists have also a society which meets in Grange
hall. The church edifices are mostly tasteful, creditable buildings, without
being of a pretentious character. The Presbyterian, Congregational, Baptist,
M. E. and German M. E. societies have also parsonages. There is also an M.
E. church at Mill Grove of fifty-four members, attached to the Allegan charge.
They have a fine little church building, erected in 1871, toward which A. Yos-
burg of that place, has contributed between $1,300 and $1,400.
There is a good number of benevolent, and mutual beneficiary societies in
Allegan. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union numbers fifty members ;
Red ribbon club about 400; Good Templars, 100; Juvenile Templars, 150; An-
cient Order of United Workmen, thirty-two; German Workmen's society, twen-
ty-two; Knights of Honor, forty-three; Heart and Hand Encampment No. 32,
I. 0. 0. F., forty-five; Allegan Lodge No. 105, I. 0. 0. F., eighty; Home
Lodge No. 290, I. 0. 0. F., "fifty-two ; May Lodge No. 61, Daughters of Re-
becca forty-six; Eureka Chapter No. 50, R. A. M., sixty; Allegan Lodge No.
Ill, F.& A.M., 100; Patrons of Husbandry. 230 members. The Allegan county
agricultural society was organized in 1853, and numbers now 123 life and seven-
years members. J. H. Wetmore is the president of this society, E. C. Reid,
secretary, H. B. Peck, treasurer. The society have forty to fifty acres in their
grounds on the banks of the Kalamazoo, in the suburbs of the village of Alle-
gan, which possess remarkable beauty, lying in three table land elevations, and
well shaded. The driving course, of one-half-mile, occupies the lower plateau,
and a fine opportunity for viewing the trotting matches is furnished from the
290 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
elevation above it. A large two-story floral hall, with a tower was erected last
year, at an expense of $.2,600. The grounds are well provided with other
buildings, sheds, and stands.
The village of Allegan is located on both borders of the Kalamazoo, which
has a charming winding course through the place. There are bottom lands
along the river, and the town is built on plateaus of two different elevations,
the lower one fifteen to forty feet above the river at different points and varied
here and there by gentle swells and ridges. The upper elevations are twenty-
five to fifty feet above the lower one, and have an irregular line of boundary
with it, two or three ravines also being interjected to diversify the features of
the landscape. The one on the west side is a deep and romantic one. Extensive
views of the lower town and of the surrounding country are obtained from the
upper plateaus. Altogether the village has one of the most picturesque sights
to be found in Michigan. It is luxuriantly planted with shade trees, among
which are some native pines and oaks. The most of the residences of the
town are of a very respectable character in their tastefulness, and a good num-
ber of them are of an elegant style. The business blocks of brick are large
and handsome, not surpassed by those of any other village with the population
of Allegan, which is estimated at 3,000 to 3,500. The village is provided with
the Holly water-works, two wells, the water elevated by water power from the
river, through three miles of pipe, at a cost of about $1,000 a year. The works
have been constructed at an expense of $50,000. A handsome stone building
contains the machinery of the water-works. Our efficient fire department work
for the salvation of the town from fire, of which S. D. Pond is chief engineer.
The companies are, Alert hose company, fifteen members, J. C. Holmes, fore-
man ; Eescue hose company, fifteen members, A. W. Messinger, foreman ; hook
and ladder company, twenty-one members, W. E. Webster, foreman. The
companies have fine carriages and apparatus, a good engine house of two
stories, a hall in the upper one, and the fire department has the reputation of
being one of the best disciplined and most effective in the State.
The village of Allegan was incorporated in 1838, and William C. Jenner
seems to have been the first president of the board of trustees, as well as I have
been able to ascertain, as the records for a number of the first years have been
lost. Don C. Henderson is the president of the board at the present time.
The present village trustees are A. E. Calkins, P. J. Davis, Fred B. Leweke,
John Allett, Andrew Oliver, C. F. Tubah, with M. H. Welton, marshal, and
Clark Nichols, superintendent of the Holly water-works. The portion of the
town lying between the base of the hill on the west and the river and Cutler
and Hubbard streets on the other hand, was surveyed and platted bv 0. Wil-
der in 1835-6, the remainder of it in 1836, by F. J. Littlejohn. The north
side is called Brooklyn, formerly "Guinea." There are two public squares in
the town, one on the south side and one on the west side, on a handsome little
elevation of ground, graded and planted with young trees. The first jail build-
ing was erected in 1837, one room of which was in later years used for a court
room. It stood on the southwest corner of court-house square. The present
court-house, originally built for a church, was purchased by the county in
1854. A commodious and elegant two-story brick building was erected in
1871 on court-house square for the county offices. The present jail and
sheriff's residence, a tasteful two-story brick dwelling, was erected in 1862.
Quite a large amount of manufacturing is done in Allegan, its water power
affording almost unlimited facilities for this. A water-power company, of
ALLEGAN TOWNSHIP. 291
which 1ST. B. West is president and J. B. Streeter superintendent, manages this
power. There are four flouring mills on the river, J. H. & A. D. Wetmore's,
five run of stone grinding about 30,000 bushels of grain per year; S. N. Pike
& Co.'s, three run, 15,000; A. E. Calkins, two run, 20,000 bushels of wheat
and 10,000 of other grain; J. M. Mendel & Co.'s, three run, 30,000 bushels
per year. There are two saw, shingle, and heading mills, Ira Chaffee's, a
large one, and a smaller one, of which J. B. Streeter is proprietor. N". B.
West runs a large planing mill and door, sash, blinds, moulding, and bracket
"factory, a business of $15,000 a year in lively times; Stiles & Cook are manu-
facturing step-ladders in West's factory. There are two foundries, Tomlinson
& Heath's*, at present operated by J. Tomlinson, and L. W. Watkins 3 , leased
and run by K. S. Hill. J. M. Heath manufactures fruit dryers, plows, prun-
ing shears, rotary drags, solid emery wheels, does saw-filing and gumming,
wood-turning, emery-grinding, polishing, etc., a business of $1,000 to $3,000
per year. P. Chaffee, pumps. Oliver & Co. have a large cabinet-ware factory
with capacity for working twelve to fifteen men, and a business in good times
of $20,000 to $25,000 a year. They ship their manufactures abroad to some
extent. There are three wagon and carriage factories E. B. Bern's, the first
started in Allegan, 1854, in flush times working fourteen hands and turning
out $12,000 worth of work per year, W. S. Priest's, J. Kirsheman's, and E.
Motley's. Dickinson & Fenn lease the Allegan manufacturing company's
works, and are manufacturing milk safes, the Messinger fanning mill (the
manufacture of this mill was begun by W. M. & T. C. Messinger in 1855),
screen doors, Park's patent inside window blinds, and deal in wire cloth for
mills. They are turning out this year 200 mills, 300 safes, and 2,000 blinds.
They ship to all parts of the State, and do a business of $7,000 to $10,000 a
year. Leweke & Krumbein, M. C. Vandercook, E. A. Stedman, and J. N.
Whitmore carry on the marble business; A. B. Curtis, Cronk & Osborn, Wm.
Partridge, W. Anderson, S. H. Priest, H. M. Eosa, E. B. Born, blacksmith-
ing; J. Ambler, wool-carding and cloth-dressing and the manufacture of yarn ;
P. Leonard manufactures bee-hives and honey-boxes; W. Parker and S. Davis,
brick. I. 0. Hoifman runs a tannery (built in 1856 by E. D. Follett), and
J. Caskey a small one. A company for the manufacturing of the Carter tongue-
less cultivator was organized last winter, which has employed a part of the
season twenty-five to thirty hands, and turned out about 1,000 cultivators,
which they ship and wholesale. J. G. Ellinger runs a cooper shop; W. H.
Blanchard and C. Mattoon, gunsmithing. Amsden & Smith and D. Church
manufacture spring bed bottoms, doing each a wholesale business of $3,000 to
$6,000 a year. Briggs & Lehman manufacture Timby's "common sense"
gate. M. C. Henshaw manufactures cigars.
A large merchant trade is also carried on in Alle.^an. In the dry goods and
clothing line are, Sherwood & Griswold, Hall & Eudd, Livingston & Stern,
carrying large stocks; Grange store, with general assortment and heavy stock,
managed by A. Stegeman. The dealers in groceries, provisions, crockery,
glassware, etc., are J. P. Gardiner & Co., who do also a wholesale business, C.
W. Hall, Clapp & Lilly, J. B. Bailey & Son, H. Bohm, I. 0. Hoffman, De-
Lano & Co., J. Sowersly, J. W. Hartson, F. Neiffert.
In the hardware line and agricultural implements are J. W. Chaddock, S. S.
Dryden, C. F. Tubah. G. T. Lay, and J. B. Allen, are dealers in agricultural
implements, wagons, and buggies. Hodges & Pike, and J. M. Mendel & Co.,
keep flour and feed stores. In the drugs and medicines, oils, paints, and dye
292 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
stuffs trade are Dunning Bros., also wall papers, books, and stationery. J. W.
Snedaker, YanOstran cv, Stanley, and H. D. Crane. In clocks, watches, jew-
elry, and fancy goods. S. D. Pond. H. Yosburg. W. W. Yosburg; merchant
tailors, J. M. Killiau. D. Ellinger, H. Franks; crockery and glassware, H.
Dumont; boot and shoe trade. Jenner & Xorthrop. Peck & Harding: boot and
shoe shops. W. B. Jenner, T. Powers, T. Clifford. S. C. Bovee, J. Shirmer, J.
Campbell. A. W. Sherwood, dealer in furniture and school desks: C. H. Ad-
ams, dealer in books, stationery, fancy goods, cigars, and news agent : Sphon
v.v Yanderhook, and W. Williams, are proprietors of harness and saddle shops.
Baker & Spaulding, Mrs. S. B. Yosburir. Miss Shier. Miss Plimpton, millinery;
Mrs. M. E. Todd, Mrs. H. H. Baker. Mrs. A. H. and E. Mead, dressmaking;
Miss E. Allen, hair dressing. Two banks furnish funds for business, the
First National. B. D. Pritehard, president, $50,000 capital, and the Allegan
city bank, H. M. and H. B. Peck. The office of the Farmer's mutual insur-
ance company of Allegan and Ottawa, a company doing a large business, is lo-
cated at Allegan; J. B. Dumont is president, and Ira Chichester treasurer of
this company. H. F. Marsh, Jr., runs a real estate and insurance office. Lutts
Martin, Maentz & Franks, D. H. Doud, are proprietors of meat markets.
The town is furnished with excellent hotels. The Chaffee house, a three-
story hotel, owned by Kellogg, Fisk, and May, and leased by Webb Clark, is a
first-class village hotel. The City hotel, H. C. McDuffee: the Allegan house,
T. Kagan, and I. X. Green's house, at the railroad station, are also well equip-
ped, well kept public houses. E. Daly, 0. Smith, W. Seifer, and Mrs. Welch,
keep restaurants and boarding-houses; L. Y. Cady, the city bakery; J. B.
French, the new bakery; H. Calvert, R. Collier, and*J. C. Cousins practice the
tonsorial art. H. Burges, L. Humphrey, D. Stewart, C. Carter, M. Huntley,
are house, sign, and carriage painters. There are three warehouses at the de-
pot of the L. S. & M. S. railroad: an elevator, J. Fisk and Mrs. H. Carter
proprietors, is leased and run by Merrill & McCourtie, for buying grain: ware-
houses by Sutphin & Schuler, buyers of grain and wool, and Redpath & Camp-
bell, grain dealers. At the same point Green & Lowe deal in lime, stucco,
plaster, flour, feed, and baled hay. W. Preston and G. W. Allen have livery
and boarding stables, and M. P. Johnson a livery stable and omnibus line.
G. F. Sperry deals in fruit and fruit trees.
In the professional departments are G. W. Lonsbury, C. Agrell, and Atwater
& Garrison, photographers: W. A. Piper (J. B. Streeter, the first dentist in
Allegan, opened an office in 1858), J. E. Fuller, and M. P. Johnson, are den-
tists. The legal profession is well represented by F. J. Littlejohn, D. J. Ar-
nold, circuit judge, W. B. Williams, J. B. Humphrey. H. Hart. H. H. Pope,
D. B. Pritchard, "Joseph Thew, P. and J. H. Padgham, H. B. Hudson, W. W.
Warner, P. A. Latta, J. E. Babbitt, A. H. Fenn, and F. S. Donaldson. In the
medical are 0. D. Goodrich, H. F. Thomas, A.' B. Way. J. J. McConkie, H.
S. Lay. W. H. Bills, F. M. Calkins. J. G. Weeks, F. B. Hynes, E. Goodrich.
D. B. Allen and M. P. Grice practice veterinary surgery. One cornet band, of
high tone, discourses much good music to the people. 0. A. Field deals in
pianos and organs, and W. Xorte in sewing machines. W. Webb and J. M.
Pennock are in the insurance business. G. B. Stone is postmaster, American
express agent, and telegraph operator. The L. B. & M. S. railroad, the G. H.
B. R.. and the M. C. c( : L. M. railroads run through Allegan, and afford the
best facilities for traffic and travel in all direction*. J. H. Hart is the station
agent of the first named road, and A. M. Shepherd telegraph operator; E. C.
PINE PLAINS TOWNSHIP. 293
Leavenworth is the agent of the other two road*. A large freight business is
done on these roads. At Mill Grove, in addition to A. Yosburg's saw-mill, is a
store, of which Vosburg & Barrett are proprietors.
TOWNSHIP OF PINE PLAINS A HISTORICAL SKETCH.
BY G. A. MORGAN, OF ALLEGAN.
From the Allegan Journal, of June S, 1878.
This township of fragrant name, and some note in Allegan county, borders
Allegan on the west, and is town two north, of range fourteen west. It is
somewhat misnamed, as there is but a small part of it, chiefly in the northwest
portion, that is "plains." The remainder is quite undulating, a considerable
of it highly so, and the surface altogether plains, ridges, knolls, and hills
presents a very handsome appearance. There is only a small amount of
swamp land in the town.
The Kalamazoo river enters the town from the east at the middle point of
the east line, runs northwest, and leaves within one and a half miles of the
northwest corner. Its course is very crooked, and the bottom lands along it
are very wide. Swan creek flows from the southwest quarter, in a northeast-
erly course, and empties into the Kalamazoo within one mile of the north line
the town. There are four small creeks in the part of the town north of the
river. One little body of water, and a part of another small one, on the west
town line, are all the town can boast of in the line of lakes.
The timber of about one-fifth part of the town, in the northeast corner, is
chiefly beech, maple, oak, basswood, etc., with some pine interspersed. The
timber of the remaining portion of the town is mostly pine, mixed with some
beech and oak. On the river bottoms, elms, soft maple, black-walnut, and
some other varieties grow. Most of the good pine has been cut up into lum-
ber. A considerable portion of what is left is not of great value. Quite a
large portion of the timbered land has a clay-loam soil, the rest sandy loam.
The soil of the pine-timbered land is sandy, generally good for sandy land
not a large proportion light-sandy. Clay is frequently intermixed. Mineral
paint is found near Swan creek in the southern part of the town. The quality
of the soil on the timbered land is quite as good as that of similar lands in
other portions of the county, and is highly productive. There are several fine
farms in those localities with excellent farm buildings the best of the resi-
dences that of Geo. Peet, a large and first-class stylish farm house.
Some of the most valuable of these farms would command $50 to $60 per
acre, while some of the poorest of the pine lands, with little timber on them,
can be bought at $2.00 per acre, and others of much better quality at $4.00 to
$10.00. The soil of the river bottoms*, which are overflowed occasionally, is
extremely fertile, rivaling the valley of the Mississippi in fatness.
Wheat is raised on the beech and maple lands with the usual variety of
good, poor, and indifferent yield, according to the style of farming, some of
the thirty-five to forty bushels per acre returns being occasionally obtained.
On the pine lands twenty bushels are occasionally raised not unfrequently by
some of the best farmers and Alfred Muma, who has farmed it on those
lands upwards of twenty years, and his neighbor J. Bruner, have in some in-
stances harvested thirty bushels per acre. Mr. Muma has also raised on the
second level above the river, which is not overflowed, thirty-three bushels.
39
294 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Corn grows with still better success. Mr. Muma raised last year on his pine
land three acres of corn, on different parts of which he measured square rods
of ground, and husked on each a heaping bushel basket of ears, which would
give 160 bushels of ears per acre. He showed me some traces of ears of the
corn, which lifted very heavity in some cases weighing six ears ten pounds.
He obtained this large yield, partly by cultivating the ground nine times, both
ways, during the season, cultivating and hoeing it four times in the month of
May. Mr. Bruner also harvested on a few acres of this same kind of land,
over 100 bushels of ears per acre. Mr. Muma and G. H. Hill have raised on
the river bottom lands, respectively, 186 and 195 bushels of ears to the acre.
These pine lands produce also very large crops of rye, in some cases upwards
of twenty bushels per acre. I saw on Mr. Bruner's farm some rye of very
heavy growth. Many of the farmers practice plowing in rye to enrich the land,
and prepare it for a seeding of clover and timothy.
Mr. Muma has cut on the bottom land on a field of four acres, nearly 100
bushels of oats to the acre, by actual careful nieasurement. These lands give
also three tons of grass to the acre. I saw on J. W. Steininger's pine land
farm a field with a very good growth of timothy. G. H. Hill has raised ruta-
bagas at the rate of 500 bushels per acre.
There being many hills and ridges higher or lower in the town, it is well
adapted to raising peaches, and a good many trees are being planted. 0.
Sikes, near Mill Grove, has a good orchard from which he gathered last year
a large crop of peaches. G. Peet and N. Kingsley have failed but once or
twice in peaches for many years. J. Smith, at the old Paris mill, raised last
year on a small portion of his farm, peppermint, which he manufactured into
oil with fair profit.
W. H. Shirley, a son of supervisor Shirley, is engaged somewhat largely in
raising bees. He wintered last winter 100 swarms; has had good success in
bee culture; sold last year 4,098 pounds, at about sixteen cents per pound. B.
Calkins and W. Kelsey keep also quite a large number of swarms.
Some of the farmers turn their pine stumps to good account in making
handsome fences. J. Bruner and I. W. Steininger, in different parts of the
town, on pine lands, have succeeded, with small means, with which to make
improvements, remarkably in making, within six and eight years, productive
and profitable farms the former partly out of land that had been badly run.
In speaking of the settlement of this town, I shall speak of settlers within
the bounds of the present limits of Pine Plains, although those north of the
river were in what was, until seven years ago, a part of the town of Heath, it
having been attached, for governmental purposes, to that township. The first
man to make a settlement was T. M. West, father of N. B. West, now of Alle-
gan. He located in 1838 on the north bank of the Kalamazoo, on section
fourteen. A transient resident, however, A. Nobles, is said to have stopped a
short time in the town, two years before. Major J. M. Heath came in 1845,
and his sons John and George, and S. Bigsby in 1847; D. Ammerman, G. H.
Hill in 1849; J. Babbitt and E. Pratt in 1850; H. Howe in 1851, and from
that time till 1860, the following persons with their families: W. Kelsey, C.
Hitchcock, C. Jones, S. Howell, B. Ingham, G. W. Kingsley, George Alfred,
and Eb. Muma, J. Palmer, G. and W. Peet, S. Thayer, P. Konkel, S. Pris,
W. Flagg, D. Spafford, N. Barlow, D. G. Platt, A. Sirrine, A. and B. F. Es-
tabrook. There was also a first child born in Pine Plains, said to be Clarence
Heath, now of Saugatuck, son of George P. Heath.
PINE PLAINS TOWNSHIP. 295
Much of the population of Pine Plains has been transient men engaged in
lumbering, and farmers who got discouraged and left, deeding back their lands
to nature. Quite a large immigration has been going into the town within
three years eleven families the past spring industrious, steady-going, tem-
perate men and women, who are making neat, attractive, and productive
farms, some of them said to be men of considerable means for farming opera-
tions. The number of dwellers in Pine Plains is small among the two-score
thousands of Allegan county, but a large proportion of her citizens are among
the most intelligent and worthy in character, of the farmer population of
the county.
The township previously included with Allegan, was in 1850 organized
with a name from nature into a territory having separate civil powers and
privileges, embracing that part of the U. S. government township of six miles
square, which lies south of the Kalamazoo, and having connected with it the
two townships which are now Clyde and Lee. The town records which have
been presented, show only the names of the supervisor and town clerk elected
at the first town meeting, which was held at T. S. Coates' Pine Plains house,
Tim. Coates and Eli Hathaway. It is conjectured that, there being perhaps
less than fifty people in all three of the townships, no other officers were
elected, but those two were able to run the town alone the first year. The
record next year shows the following full complement of officers : T. S. Coates,
supervisor; G. H. Hill, clerk; C. L. Billings, treasurer; S. Hill and C. T.
Billings, highway commissioners; E. Hathaway, S. Hill and T. Coates, jus-
tices; T. .Coates, school inspector; S. Hill and E. Pratt, assessors; M. Wood,
overseer of the poor; 0. Hill, E. Pratt, M. Wood, C. Billings, constables.
In 1871 the part of the original township lying north of the river was taken
from Heath and attached to Pine Plains. The population of the town in 1874
was 360, probably now as large as 500. [By the census of 1880, 643. ED.]
The vote in 1876 was 104. The improved land in 1874 was 1,964 acres; num-
ber of farms 62; equalized valuation in 1877, $75,000, of which $11,055 was
personal; tax $1,770, of which $203 was State, $251 county, $1,316 town.
Schools were first begun in the northeast quarter of the town, near Major
Heath's, and in the northwest corner, near the old Pine Plains tavern. There
are four districts, the value of the school buildings $2,080, number of scholars
between five and twenty years 131, attendance in the schools last year 128.
There were three male and three female teachers, to whom were paid for wages
$616. The total expenditures of the year were $1,687. The township super-
intendent of schools is J. J. Young. The school-house near Mill Grove, built
on a hill, with a grove hard by, is a new one, and one of the prettiest and most
tasteful country school-houses in the county. The groves, "God's first tem-
ples," are the only churches the people of Pine Plains have within their
bounds, but there are some Christians in the west part of the town, belonging
to a class of the "Evangelical" church, and probably there are some Christians
there not belonging to any class or church ; while on the north side are quite a
number of people belonging to an M. E. church, which is made up of members
from this town and Allegan, whose church building is over the line, in the
township of Allegan, at Mill Grove. That locality numbers also a good round
number of red-ribbonites. At the Muma school-house is a Sabbath-school,
superintended by Ira Wilcox, and numbering about thirty-five scholars. In
the district beyond the old Paris saw-mill is another Sunday-school of forty,
Mr. - superintendent, Miss Eleanor Bierce assistant.
296 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
- Jos. Smith is now proprietor of the Paris saw-mill and shingle-mill on Swan
ereek, at which a good deal of manufacturing is still done. The buildings of
the Bush mills, two miles up the creek, are in good preservation and only need
the repairing of the dam to make them a live institution and perhaps a
paying one.
The Michigan Lake Shore railroad runs through the northeast quarter of
lie town, upon which is the station of Mill Grove, partly within the town of
Pine Plains.
About fifty years ago there was an Indian trading-post in the vicinity of the
Cold Spring hotel, kept by a Frenchman named Bushong, from which that
portion of the Kalamazoo river derives its name of "Bushong stretch." The
old- log house where the store was kept was burned down many years ago.
: 1 take pleasure in acknowledging the hospitalities of W. J. Shirley, Esq., the
Efficient supervisor of Pine Plains, whom the people of that town are very
unwilling to see retire from office.
THE RABBIT RIVER MOUNDS AND CIRCLES.
1JY II. D. POST, OP HOLLAND CITY.
From the Allegan Journal of June 8, 1878.
By the kindness of Mr. George S. Harrington, of Fillmore, I was enabled to
visit and make a careful and complete examination of the circular works and
burial mounds near Hamilton, a few days ago.
These works are all within a mile of each other, and of the Eabbit river, in
the townships of Fillmore, Manlius and Heath, Allegan county, Michigan,
three of the circles being in the southeast corner of Fillmore, one of the burial
mounds and one of the circles in the northeast corner of Manlius, and the
largest mound and one of the circles in the northwest corner of Heath.
The first circle we visited is on the farm of Mrs. Bostwick (on the southwest
quarter of the southeast quarter of section thirty-six, town four north, range
fifteen west, Fillmore). An elevated ridge, rising from fifteen to twenty feet
above the town line road, between Manlius and Fillmore, extends from the
north to within thirty rods of the south line, with a gentle slope to the east,
south and west; and at the south end of this ridge, commanding a fine view of
the whole country southward, we found a circle having a diameter to the out-
side of its walls of 124 feet from east to west, and 138 feet north and south,
composed of a ridge averaging two feet high, and sixteen feet in width evi-
dently made by throwing up the earth from a surrounding trench or ditch.
This remained after years of cultivation and leveling with the plow, which had
turned the soil over again but a few days before our visit. The soil is a grav-
elly loam, and the recent plowing showed a darker colored strip across the
circle from north-northwest to south-southeast which perhaps marked a beaten
path across to the entrance of the work. Near the center, and southwest from
it stood the stump of a sugar maple tree, which we afterwards learned from
Mr. McWilliams was cut down in January, 1876, which measured forty-five
inches diameter across the stump. Another sugar maple stump which was cut
about the same time, stands northwest, on the top of the surrounding ridge,
which measures thirty inches in diameter. By carefully counting the rings of
THE RABBIT RIVER MOUNDS AND CIRCLES. 29V
annual growth to the inch on these stumps, we computed the age of the trees
to have been probably 240 years.
East from this work about thirty rods we cross a small stream known as
Dry Run, in a deep ravine which widens into a valley in some places.
Across the road from Mrs. Bostwick's house, about twenty rods from the
bank of the Dry Run ravine, and 143 feet south of the center of the road, we
find another circle on land of Mr. Brouwer (northeast quarter of northeast
quarter, section one, town three north, range fifteen west, Manlius). This has
been plowed over and leveled, and was covered with growing wheat at the time
of our visit, and we could only trace its limits by the taller and darker growth
of the wheat on the remains of the wall, which clearly defined it. This meas-
ures 144 feet across east and west, and 142 feet north and south.
We were informed that when the land was cleared, many years ago, the
ridge was sharply defined, about two and a half feet high, and sixteen feet
broad, with a ditch outside, and that beech trees from twenty-four to thirty
inches diameter grew within it, but this was so long since that all the stumps
have disappeared.
About sixty rods east of this work (on northwest quarter of northwest quarter
section six, town three north, range fourteen west, Heath) is a burial mound,
measuring thirty feet in diameter from east to west, and twenty-eight feet
north and south, which was, as nearly as can now be estimated, about five feet
high. This has been dug open and its contents removed, in the last instance
with a team and road scraper ( !) so that there was very slight basis for an ex-
amination. There is the stump of a sugar maple of quite slow growth, twenty-
two inches in diameter, standing on the east side of it. Mr. Harrington says
that about October 1, 1870, he visited this mound with Mr. Woodhouse of Kal-
amazoo, before the scraper gang had reached there, and carefully opened and
examined it. On removing the earth to the depth of sixteen or eighteen inches
they found a mass of human bones, with little or no earth among them, to a
depth of thirty inches, and below them a trace of ashes and fire coals, from
half an inch to an inch thick; below this, the natural surface soil. The low-
est bones showed traces of having been slightly burned. The remains were of
all sizes, and did not seem to be arranged in any regular order, but the bones
of each body were in their proper relative position, showing that they were
entire corpses when buried, and not gathered bones. The skulls were entire
except some of the smaller ones which had separated at the sections. This
would seem to indicate that they died by pestilence or disease, rather than in
battle or by massacre, in which case there would have been many fractured
skulls. Mr. Harrington estimated the number of skeletons to have been at
least 100. Mr. McWilliams, and others who saw them at the time of the
scraper opening, thought that there might have been 150 in the mound.
The next circle that we visited was on the Helmer place (north half of south-
east quarter, section thirty-six, town four north, range fifteen west, Fillmore)
a few rods southeast from the barn, and not more than twenty-five rods east of
Dry Run. The road from Rabbit river to Holland has been cut through this
work, which is very similar to the others already described in character, and
measures 130 feet in diameter from north to south, and 127 feet east and west.
At the road side the ridge of the wall and the ditch are more sharply defined
than any of the others. Mr. Helmer and Mr. McWilliams say that the ridge was
from thirty to thirty-six inches high when the forest was first cleared from it.
Not more than fortv rods northwest, and about five rods east from the bluff
298 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
bank of Dry Run, also on Mr. Helmer's farm,, was another circle, measuring
sixty-seven feet in diameter north and south, and seventy-nine feet from east
to west. This has been plowed over until it is nearly obliterated. It is said
that there were interior mounds, measuring about four by eight feet on the
ground, within the two circles on the Helmer farm, but no traces of them now
remain.
We were told of another circle on the high bank of the Rabbit river, on the
farm of Mr. Holman (on the northwest quarter of section six, town three
north, range fourteen west, Heath). This was said to be similar to the ones we
had already visited, but it is entirely leveled so that not even a trace remains.
We visited another burial mound near the Rabbit river, on the northeast
quarter of section one, town three north, range fifteen west, Manlius, which
measured twenty feet in diameter and three feet high, but found that it had
already been dug open. The remains of a very large skeleton were near the
surface. This mound appeared to be of more recent date than the others.
The high bank of the Rabbit near by was full of the old cache pits, of recent
Indian occupation. We could not learn that any weapons, ornaments, or im-
plements of any kind have ever been discovered, either in the burial mounds or
in any of the circles we have described.
These circular works seem to be alike in character and were probably de-
signed and used for the same purposes. Their age must be from 250 to 300
years at least, and when they were constructed the high rolling lands north of
the Kalamazoo and west of the Rabbit river, must have been a favorite resort
of the Indians for hunting and fishing, and if the country was then as well
timbered with the sugar maple as now, for making sugar in the spring season.
These earthen walls, after making due allowance for the leveling of the cen-
turies past, and the more destructive plows of latter years, could never have
been high enough to be of any use for shelter or defense, alone. They are
probably the remaining traces of slight stockade forts, surrounded with pali-
sades set deep in the ground, and the earth from a ditch outside used to make
an elevated walk on the inside, high enough to give their defenders command
of the level outside, and to enable them to shoot over their palisade defense.
None of them have any supply of water within, or near enough to be defended
from the inside, and they could not have been intended to stand any protracted
siege, but were probably merely intended as security against surprise, or
night attacks.
Perhaps this region was disputed territory, and some of the southern tribes
may have been accustomed to come here springs to catch fish and make sugar,
and being trespassers on the limits of another tribe were obliged to construct
the defensive works for their own protection.
It is a great pity that so little interest is taken generally in the preservation
of these remains of the prehistoric inhabitants. When they were opened and
examined, it is usually done out of mere idle curiosity; no notice is taken of
the many important facts which a careful observer would gather, and the only
result, usually, is their complete destruction. In all cases these mounds should
be carefully opened, every fact in regard to them or their contents carefully
noted, and after examination any human remains should be carefully replaced,
and the earth restored as when found.
AN INCIDENT OF PIONEER LIFE. 299
AN INCIDENT OF PIONEER LIFE.
BY MRS. J. V. ROGERS, A DAUGHTER OF THE PERSONS MENTIONED IN THE
INCIDENT.
Read at a meeting of the Pioneers of Allegan County, held at Otsego, Aug. 20, 1879.
This sketch dates back to the time when Michigan was almost an entire wil-
derness. It was when the howl of the wolf, the growl of the bear, and the
scream of the lynx made night in those dim dark woods most terrible. The
peril, the suffering, the privations, the hardships endured by the earlier set-
tlers of Michigan are overlooked, and seldom brought into account by those of
the present generation. As we pass through a well-tilled farming country, and
behold the barns filled, the fields of grain, the orchards bending with their
burden of ripe fruit, we reflect not that the hand that planted those trees is
palsied, and that strangers pluck and eat the fruit; that he who hewed that
farm from out the desert wilderness, even as the sculptor artist hews the mar-
ble, piece by piece, so tree by tree, acre by acre, he wrought out this beauty, and
has left to posterity the life work of his hands; for most of the first pioneers
of Michigan have passed away, gone over to the other country.
In the privations and perils of pioneer life, woman plays no small part. It
is true the sinews of her arm have not strength sufficient to fall the trees, or
hold the plow as it first breaks the rooted, sodded soil, but in very many ways
her active mind and ready sympathy find employment, and the woman who
willingly consents to such a life is not one to fail in the hour of danger.
Weighed down by the gloom of measureless and unknown forests, haunted by
the fear of wild beasts, it must have been a loneliness of life hard indeed to be
borne, and to one of a sensitive nature, used to the refinements of good society,
it must have been almost revolting; and yet hundreds of that very class did
come willingly, banishing themselves from society, stifling the pleadings of
their own hearts, holding their very natures in subjection for the good of
those that were to come.
Ere Michigan was admitted into the Union a family came from the State of
New York and settled in one of the heaviest timbered sections of the territory.
The man was strong and large, in the prime of life, one who could wield the
ax as an experienced swordsman does his sword, with a masterly hand. The
wife and mother was a small, delicate woman, but possessing a strong will and
a great deal of energy two very essential qualities to the woman who is to
make her home in a new country and it was to work out from that wilderness
a home, that these people had left friends and socieity and come far away into
the forest alone. Several other families with the same purpose in view had just
settled in that locality, but their homes were from two to three and even five
miles apart. In the desire for society they had met, exchanged words of wel-
come, and become friends and neighbors. Spring had come; the warm sun-
shine had brought the bright s:reen foliage to the trees; from the maple they
had made sugar enough for the season's supply; and now the long warm days
warned the woodsman that the time was nigh when the seed must be in the
ground if he would raise corn and potatoes for the next winter's supply, and
without which they must surely suffer. Every hand had been busy, and they
had delayed sending the only team in the place for supplies until most of them
were nearly out of food. Twenty-five miles was the nearest station where sup-
300 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
plies could be obtained, and twenty-five miles was a long journey without a
road and no guide but the marks on the trees. Three days had passed, and
three more must elapse before the wagon would return. Fortunately a neigh-
bor called,, and learning their circumstances, told them he thought he had flour
enough for both families, at least he would divide it with them, and the hus-
band started between three and four o'clock in the afternoon to get it. As he
left the house the wife warningly remarked: "Don't talk too long, for the road
is but a foot-path seldom traveled, and the marks on the trees will not serve
you in the dark;" but he forgot the warning. It was very pleasant to tell their
plans and talk over their work, and besides, it did not seem so near night in the
little opening where the house stood, but when he passed into woods the marks
on the trees were no longer visible. He took the direction that he thought was
toward home, but after having traveled three times the distance there, he knew
he was lost. The wife at home had done up the chores for the night, the cow
had been securely fastened in the stable to protect her from the wild beasts,
the night wood was piled in the corner, a bright fire kindled on the hearth,
and the wife and her three little boys were sitting in its warm glow waiting for
the father to come. The moments seemed hours to that anxious woman. The
two smallest children had fallen asleep, with no supper but a cup of warm milk,
but the eldest, a bright boy of seven, waited with her. The clock struck ten;
the sound startled every nerve like electricity. She stirred the fire, threw on a
fresh stick, and then went to the door to listen. Away to the southwest in the
windfall she heard a lone wolf calling to its companions ; and then, far away
it seemed almost miles in distance to her excited ear she heard a human voice,
and she knew it was the voice of her husband calling for help. She tried to
answer, but her voice for the moment failed her, and she turned to her little
one with pale cheeks and trembling lips, saying, "father is lost in the woods;
the wolves are banding themselves together, and I am powerless to help him/'
At that moment her eye fell on the bundle of torch wood that hung by the fire-
place. Quickly she pulled out a handful, lighted it, and ascended to the loft,
chiding herself that she had not thought of it before. She thrust her head and
arms out of the little square window that served to light the low chamber, and
with torch brightly burning, called many times, but no answer. Her voice
would sound far away, and then echo bring it back again as though it meant
to mock her. What must be done ? She called to the little one, <r bring up the
whole bundle of torch wood ; my voice fails to reach him ; there is no hope now
but in the light." Stick after stick was added to the flames until her hands
could hold no more. They hissed and crackled and then ascended high into
the air. But what if his face should be turned from the light and he be blindly
going into the miry swamp the swamp that she knew was the grand crossing
way for wild beasts going from the windfall to the creek. She must call again,
if but the faintest sound of her voice, he would turn his head in that direction
and see the light, and with all the strength she had she did call. There was a
faint sound came back, but was it his voice or the echo of her own? Once
more ; this time it seemed nearer, but she might be deceived. She added more
fuel to the torch, and called once more. This time the answer came full and
clear. He had seen the light. She tried to answer back, but emotions pre-
vented her, and tears rained down those tender cheeks the flames were scorch-
ing, for the torch wood contained heat as well as light. But she held those
blazing fagots firmly, the small white hands were burned to blisters, the soft
brown hair on her brow and temples was scorched and crisp; but she faltered
NOTES ON SAUGATUCK. 301
not until she saw him emerge from the woods into the little clearing, and she
knew he was saved. At the same moment she heard, not the howl of one lone
wolf calling, but of the whole pack in concert. They were already on his track,
but the light held by that noble woman cheated those wild beasts of their prey,
brought the father back to his children, the husband to his wife, and the lost
tired man to home and rest.
NOTES ON SAUGATUCK.
BY DONALD C. HENDERSON, OF ALLEGAN.
From the Allegan Journal, July 17, 1880.
Time rolls his ceaseless course! The race of yore
Who danced our infancy upon their knee,
And told our marveling boyhood legends' store
Of their strange ventures happ'd by land or sea,
How are they blotted from the things that be!
How few, all weak and withered of their force,
Wait, on the verge of dark eternity
Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse,
To sweep them from our sight! Time rolls his ceaseless course.
Sir Walter Scott, in "Lady of the Lake."
These beautiful lines from the classical British poet who has so graphically
painted Scottish history, romance, and scenery, were recalled to our memory
when revisiting Saugatuck on the 5th inst. We made our first trip toj:he
mouth of the Kalamazoo river in 1841, some thirty-nine years ago, going down
the river in a small Indian canoe, and stopping with Stephen D. Nichols and
William Gr. Butler, two of the pioneers of civilization in that then wilderness
region. We spent two or three weeks in exploring the sheets and pyramids of
sand of Singapore (which was then quite a commercial point), the wild and
romantic scenery of "Bald Head," which is almost an unknown land to Sau-
gatuckians to-day, as well as taking jaunts on the lake beach, north and south
of Kalamazoo river harbor.
W"e were charmed in those primitive days with the wildness of the country,
the beautiful lake views, and the sylvan aspect of the whole region from Kala-
mazoo lake to the mouth of the river. By the way, the term "Saugatuck" is
an Indian word, and means the mouth of a river. The original name of the
present town was Newark, which was changed to Saugatuck, March 7, 1861,
when the Hon. F. B. Wallin represented Allegan county in the legislature.
William G. Butler, the pioneer white man of Saugatuck, came there in 1830,
and was killed in the village of Saugatuck in 1857. His son, Major James G-.
Butler, is an extensive tobacco manufacturer of St. Louis, Missouri, and
served throughout the war as an officer of the 3d Michigan cavalry. A pioneer
contemporary of Mr. Butler, Mr. Stephen D. Nichols, for several years light-
house keeper at the mouth of the river, still lives. His successor, Samuel
Underwood, who officiated for twenty years, has now retired to private life and
resides in Saugatuck village.
Saugatuck township was organized in 1836 by an act of the legislature under
the name of Newark, and embraced the territory of Laketown, Saugatuck,
Ganges, Casco, Fillmore, Manlius, Clyde, and Lee, eight towns, of which it is
to-day the natural business center. The town has two incorporated villages,
Douglas and Saugatuck, one situated on the northern side of the river, and the
40
302 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
other on the south side. The village of Saugatuck was organized in 1868, and
H. B. Moore was chosen its first president. The village of Douglas was orga-
nized in 1870, and C. A. Ensign elected its president. At the late census Sau-
gatuck village had 797 inhabitants, and Douglas 502, while the township
proper had a population of 912.
For many years past the lumbering business has been the principal industry
of Saugatuck and Douglas/ but as the best part of the pine of Allegan has
been cut and marketed, the lumbermen who operated here have retired from
business or have gone elsewhere to carry on their avocations in localities where
they can make a greater profit.
There is still some scattered pine to be found on the Rabbit river and its
tributaries, and on the banks of the Kalamazoo river. This, with the hard-
wood lumber to be found in the neighborhood, furnishes work for two saw-
mills in the village of Douglas, and one in Saugatuck, and carried on by Rob-
ert M. Moore (with Capt. Isaac Wilson as foreman), and 0. R. Johnson & Co.
Douglas has a fine flouring mill kept by John S. Payne. Saugatuck has no
such mill at present, the one they had having been destroyed by fire. Here is a
good opening for an enterprising miller, as it is surrounded by a fine farming
country, and is noted for the superior quality of the wheat it sends to market.
In Douglas they have a splendid basket factor};, making about 4,000 or
5,000 baskets a day.
Messrs. C. C. Wallin & Son carry on two extensive tanneries in Saugatuck,
one at Douglas (formerly Grerbers), and the other at Wallinville, a suburb of
Saugatuck. They employ a large number of men at their manufactories, us-
ing about 10,000 hides at one of their tanneries yearly, and 20,000 at the
other.
By the way, these tanneries are superintended by the Hon. Franklin B.
Wallin, who has been for over a quarter of a century in business at Saugatuck,
and is unquestionably the most extensive manufacturer now in the place since
the decadence of lumber manufacture.
Saugatuck has another tannery, that of Morrison and Leland, which does
a good business.
Speaking of Mr. Wallin, he crossed Lake Michigan from Chicago December
2, 1853, for Saugatuck, on board of a scow, the D. R. Holt, which he now
owns, and of which Capt. Henry Smith was commander, and Henry Allett
mate. Hank Smith is dead. Henr} r Allett is now captain of the aforesaid
scow which is used in carrving hemlock bark from Grand Haven to Saugatuck.
The tug Fanny Shriver is used by Messrs. Wallin & Son to carry on their
extensive tanneries, together with three scows; the scow Holt carries 110 tons.
THE FRUIT BUSINESS.
Now that lumber manufacturing has become of minor importance, great in-
terest is being taken in fruit culture by the business men and property holders
of both Saugatuck village and township, and of Douglas village.
Through the politeness of Mr. Horace D. Moore, we were shown some of the
finest orchards on the lake bank in the vicinity of the village of Douglas. As
these were the first peach orchards we had ever seen and explored we were
perfectly charmed with them.
Fruit culture on an extensive scale did not begin until 1869, although the
pioneer settlers ascertained the fact that the climate, soil and surroundings of
Saugatuck were well adapted for horticultural purposes peaches especially.
NOTES ON SAUGATUCK. 303
Prior to Mr. Butler's settlement in Saugatuck, there was an old peach orchard
in the vicinity of Douglas which must have been planted by the French or In-
dians long before the white settlement of Saugatuck. This co-called "Peach
Orchard" was situated between Town's Point and St. Pierre's Point, about a
mile and a half from Douglas. Old river boatmen recollect this peach orchard
well. It covered the territory of the former wild cat City of Breeze whose lots
were sold in New York city during the wild cat mania, and maps of which
were such a curiosity among the pioneers, with its public buildings, parks,
water power, etc.
We rode for miles along the banks of Lake Michigan and nothing could be
seen but peach orchards, except a very few cultivated farms and beautiful
f roves of natural growth forest trees. One of these groves is owned by Mr.
tephen A. Morrison, one of the pioneers of Saugatuck, at a spot known as
"Lake View." It is a most enchanting spot, and it is here the churches and
Sabbath-schools have their picnics during the beautiful summer weather. In
lingering in this sylvan grove the words of the poet are recalled:
O unseen spirit! now a calm divine
Comes forth from thee, rejoicing earth and air!
Trees, hills, and houses, all distinctly shine,
And thy great ocean slumbers everywhere.
The mountain ridge against the purple sky
Stands clear and strong, with darkened hill and dells,
And cloudless brightness opens wide and high
A home aerial, where thy presence dwells.
The chime of bells remote, the murmuring sea,
The song of birds in whispering copes and wood,
The distant voice of children's thoughtless glee,
And maiden's song are all one voice of good.
Amid the leaves' green mass a sunny play
Of flash and shadow stirs like inward life;
The ship's white sail glides onward far away,
Unhaunted by a dream of storm or strife.
But nature's glory in a beautiful summer day withdraws our attention from
the main subject in hand, a description of the peach orchards which are
almost innumerable from the banks of Lake Michigan to the shores of the
Kalamazoo river.
Up to November, 1879, some 1,200 acres of land in Saugatuck township
were set to peach trees, of which 400 acres were bearing. At 100 trees per acre,
and five baskets per tree, these 1,200 acres would show an annual yield of 600,-
000 baskets." Within a year the peach orchards of Saugatuck have been greatly
extended and many more trees planted. Saugatuck promises to be the greatest
peach town in the Michigan fruit belt. The most extensive bearing peach or-
chards in Saugatuck township are on the south side of the river. We explored
one of these farms, that of Eobert M. Moore, which consists of ninety-five
acres. On ten acres Mr. Moore has 4,000 bearing trees, which look in a fine,
thrifty condition. At the time of our visit he was thinning the fruit from the
trees one half, this process improving the fruit in quality and size. We never
saw such a prolific yield of fruit before in any portion of the country we have
ever been from Michigan to Texas. Mr. M. has a new orchard of thirty acres,
but these trees will not bear fruit yet for two years to come. The land is in a
fine state of cultivation and is plowed two or three times a year. Mr. Moore's
304 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
peaches are in good demand at Chicago, and are branded "Mountain Rose
Fruit Farm."
Williams & Son have a very fine fruit farm of forty acres, with 4,000 bearing
trees. Thomas Gray has 3,000 bearing trees, and James Grouse 2,000 trees.
We might go on and enumerate the tree statistics of several other fruit growers
in this vicinity, but want of space forbids our doing so at this time. But we
will name a few of these pomologists : They are P. Purdy, Sophia Shultz, Rob-
ert Reid, F. C. Kile, William Corner, William Cummings, Joshua Weed,
Dressier and Patchin. On the north side of the river are several fine peach
orchards, but we did not visit any of them. Among those orchards is that of
C. E. Wells, who has 4,000 trees "which bear this year, we are told. John L.
Coats has 2,000 trees, George Kingsley, of Chicago, 3,000, and D. L. Barber
2,500 trees. To show the importance of this interest to Saugatuck we have
only to mention the shipments of fruit made from the two villages last year :
Baskets Crates.
Douglas 145,420 2,173
Saugatuck 30,000 ....
Total 175,420 2,173
The shipments of fruit for 1880 bid fair to be much larger than for 1878.
The lake breezes and water front of the Kalamazoo river and Lake Michigan
are most conducive to fruit culture, especially in the case of peaches. The
fruit belt of Allegan county, from Saugatuck to South Haven, is the finest
fruit region in the world; 100,000 acres at least have been planted this season
between Fennville and South Haven. Fennville and vicinity is in itself a fine
fruit region, and we noticed during our recent visit there some large fruit
farms, but did not stop long enough to gather any statistics, and shall depend
on our Fennville correspondent to do justice to the subject. But last year
Fennville exported by the Chicago & West Michigan railway 132,500 baskets
of peaches. We learn that Mr. James McCormick of Manistee, has sold the
growing peaches on his fruit farm (ten acres) for $2,000, and says he has lost
$2,000 by the transaction. This shows that there is money in the business.
SHIP-BUILDING.
The steamer C. Ward is now in the stocks and in course of reconstruction.
She is owned by R. C. Brittain, and is to be lengthened twenty-seven feet, and
completed in time for the shipment of peaches. Two more vessels are being
built at Saugatuck, which by the way, is quite a ship-building point, the best
kind of ship-timber being abundant in the neighborhood of Saugatuck. Ship-
building began early in Saugatuck, James McLaughlin having built the
"Crook," a lumber vessel, in 1837, we believe. From that time on a number of
vessels have been built at Saugatuck, among the first of which were the "Oc-
tavia," a lake vessel, and a flat-bottomed steamer called the C. C. Trowbridge,
which was found when constructed to be too large a craft for river navigation,
and was soon hauled off the river.
RIVER NAVIGATION.
In the olden time when we first visited Saugatuck, there was a large Indian
population on the banks of the river, and it was no unusual sight to see their
beautiful birch bark canoes and dugouts on each side of the river; but now
NOTES ON SAUGATUCK. 305
the river banks are bereft of these noble red men, and not one of their canoes
or pirogues is now to be seen.
Prior to 1846 flat-boats ran from Kalamazoo to Saugatuck, being poled up
and down, but the completion of the Michigan Central railroad to Kalamazoo
that year destroyed in a great measure that system of boating, and by 1848,
when the road was completed to Niles, river boating above Allegan came to an
end. Eafts and boats, however, carried lumber, etc., from Allegan to the
mouth of the river for several years after, no railroad reaching Allegan till
1868, when the first railroad, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, reached
here. Prior to this a large forwarding business was transacted by William G-.
Butler and S. D. Nichols at Saugatuck, which ceased in a great measure when
flat-boating stopped. However, river steamboats continued to ply from Alle-
gan to Saugatuck from 1856 to 1869, among which we may mention the May-
flower, Adelaide, Helen Mar, and the Aunt Betsey, the three latter being con-
structed in Allegan and doing a good local business till the railroads were
built to Allegan, when they failed to pay expenses. These boats ran in connec-
tion with steam and lake craft to Chicago.
Notwithstanding the decline of river commerce, a beautiful little steamer
finds it profitable to make two trips a day from Saugatuck to Richmond (a dis-
tance of ten miles by water), a point on the Chicago & West Michigan railway,
during the summer months. This is a most picturesque route, and we advise
all of our friends having occasion to visit Saugatuck during this sultry weather
to be sure to take a ride on the steamer Twilight, Captain Robinson, com-
mander, and take a view of the river scenery with the trees in foliage and na-
ture in its most attractive garb. We took that route on our return to Allegan.
1 Saugatuck is now the entrepot for the western part of our county, and has
a regular line of steamers connecting the villages of Saugatuck and Douglas
with Chicago. The first boat on this line was the propeller Ira Chaffee (built
at Allegan), which has been succeeded by the steam barge G-. P. Heath, owned
by Capt. R. C. Brittain, who is to put on another steamer the latter part of the
season for the exportation of fruit and lumber the latter business being quite
insignificant of late years.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Nov. 17, 1842, the brig Milwaukee was lost off Saugatuck harbor while be-
ing loaded, being driven ashore by a sudden squall of wind, resulting in a total
Toss of her cargo (flour boated down from Kalamazoo and owned by D. S.
Walbridge). The captain and eight of his crew all lost their lives. The
weather was bitter cold when this disaster occurred, and was freezing very
hard at the time.
During the hard times in 1837-38 the village of Saugatuck was virtually
abandoned except by Mr. Morrison's family.
' July 25, 1844, the wife of the late John H. Billings and three of her chil-
dren, together with Mrs. McLaughlin (the wife of the ship builder), were
drowned by the capsizing of a boat on the river a few miles above Saugatuck
village.
In 1838 the first light-house was erected at the mouth of the river. S. D.
Nichols was its first keeper. The lights are now kept at the end of the pier in
Kalamazoo harbor. George Baker is the keeper.
' In 1851 Mr. S. D. Nichols opened the first store in Saugatuck, the mercantile
trade having previously been monopolized in the now defunct city of Singapore.
306 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
The first postoffice was established at Saugatuck in August, 1835, and R.
R. Crosby was the postmaster, who has had ten successors, George T. Arnold
being the present incumbent.
Saugatuck was made a -port of entry in 1870, and the deputy collector is
George T. Arnold.
Dr. Chauncey B. Goodrich was the first physician in Saugatuck. He began
his practice in 1842. He was chosen Allegan's first republican representative
in the legislature in 1856 and died in Ganges in 1871.
Saugatuck boasts of but one lawyer, D. A. Winslow. Her first legislator
was Peter J. Cook (elected in 1845), followed by F. B. Wallin in 1861, and F.
B. Stockbridge (a representative in 1869 and senator in 1871).
By the way, Robert M. Moore's big fruit farm, near Douglas, is superin-
tended by Capt. Ike Wilson, formerly of the 3d Michigan cavalry, who occu-
pies a house on one of Mr. Moore's peach farms.
Saugatuck's first landlord was the Jate Moses Nichols, while the name of the
present landlord of the Saugatuck house is E. G. Billings.
Saugatuck village has three churches, Congregational , Reformed (Dutch),
and Episcopal. There is also an Odd Fellows' lodge and encampment, a Ma-
sonic lodge, a Red-ribbon club, and a Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
A sketch of the history of the extinct village of Singapore would be worth
publishing, but we have no space at present to do so. The village was a pro-
duct of the wild cat speculations of that period and was situated near the
mouth of the river, opposite Bald Head. It was established in 1837 and had
a wild cat bank in 1839, which was as good as any other fiat money institution
of that period and remaining in existence as long as any of them. The village
was founded by the New York and Michigan lumber company (Oshea Wilder
& Son), and several saw-mills were in operation there from 1837 to 1875, when
Stockbridge and Johnson ceased to lumber there and removed to Point St.
Ignace in Mackinaw county, Lake Superior. Quite a romance could be writ-
ten on the history of Singapore.
The village of Douglas has two churches, Methodist Episcopal and Seventh
Day Adventist, a Masonic lodge and Red-ribbon club.
Saugatuck has a weekly local paper The Commercial edited and pub-
lished by Mrs. Woodhull, which we understand has a fair circulation and is
doing well.
Nature intended the mouth of the river for a great city, and we think the
time is not far distant when Saugatuck and Douglas will be under one incor-
poration. There is at present xio railroad at Saugatuck, which we think was a
great mistake on the part of the Chicago and West Michigan railway company,
for nature has made this place the shipping and commercial emporium of the
fruit belt. Let the capitalists of Saugatuck watch their opportunity (now that
business has revived, specie payments have been resumed and good times are
assured), and their much needed railroad facilities will be secured and Sauga-
tuck assume that place in the business world which its geographical situation
designed it to occupy.
In going up the river on the Twilight we passed McCormick's landing, a
familiar point in river navigation. From this point to Lake Michigan it is a
dense peach orchard all the way. Farmers that used to raise grain are now
converting all their farms into peaches and other fruit. The Detroit river un-
der the French and British occupation never presented a lovelier sight than
this the famous fruit belt of Michigan for the western portion of Allegan
NOTES ON SAUGATUCK. 307
county is really the creme de la creme of this great fruit region the paradise
of western Michigan. The grand scenery with which Nature decorates herself
on the banks of the Kalamazoo and grand old Lake Michigan, near whose
shores these orchards arise, presents a prospect that would inspire a poet. The
great American poet, Bryant, must have contemplated such scenery when he
penned the following beautiful lines :
The birds and wafting billows plant the rifts
With herb and tree; sweet fountains gush; sweet airs
Ripple the living lakes that, fringed with flowers,
Are gathered in the hollows. Thou dost look
On thy creation and pronounce it good.
Its valleys, glorious with their summer green,
Praise thee in silent beauty; and its woods
Swept by the murmuring winds of ocean, join
The murmuring shores in a perpetual hymn.
While at Fennville we called upon Mr. Matthew C. Wilson, and were shown
sixty-four colonies of bees and his mode of culture and care of those useful and
industrious insects, which Mr. W. handled just as carelessly as printers do type
or editors pens. Last year Mr. W. with fifty-five hives raised 1,250 pounds of
honey. The country in this neighborhood seems well adapted to bee culture.
Speaking of bees, J. Fenimore Cooper's novel, "Oak Openings/' describing the
natural beauties of the Kalamazoo river at this season of the year, will be found
an attractive work, describing as it does, the whole of western Michigan's prim-
itive ornaments with a master pen, telling all about the Bee Hunter and his
hairbreadth escapes, by land and water, from Indians during the war of 1812.
SAUGATUCK AND ITS ANTIQUITIES.
There is no doubt of the Kalamazoo river having been visited by white
people at an early period; by Father Marquette and many of the French Jesuits
and voyageurs in their explorations of the lake regions as far back as 1675,
when Marquette was taken ill and returned to Mackinaw as he coasted along the
eastern shore of Lake Michigan in a small boat. In 1679 the St. Joseph river
was discovered by Chevalier La Salle. La Salle built a fortified trading post at
St. Joseph, which he called the Fort of the Miamis, from which post the In-
dians of the Kalamazoo river probably received their supplies and bartered
their peltries. In 1686 the Fort of the Miamis was changed to Fort St. Joseph,
on site of the old fort. In 1697 the Miamis were driven from the St. Joseph
river and this region of country was dominated by the Ottawas and so con-
tinued to do with the Pottawattamies for nearly 130 years, when, September 8,
1815, they disposed of their lands in Michigan to the United States and were
placed on reservations. During the war of 1812 these Indians fought on the
British side, but after that war was concluded made a treaty of peace with the
Americans. Cooper's novel, "Oak Openings," is a fine romance of the Indian
occupation of the Kalamazoo river valley, and ought to be placed in every
school district library in this county.
In taking an excursion down the river on board the Fanny Shriver, from
Saugatuck into Lake Michigan, Mr. Wallin pointed out to us the spot where
the Bee Hunter dashed two barrels of whisky down a spur of Mount Bald Head
at the east end of the pier and facing the lisrht-house near the field of wild rice
where the Bee Hunter was trying to secrete himself and canoe. We quote from
Cooper's novel that portion which relates the Bee Hunter's capture by hostile
308 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
Indians and the strategy he employed to escape from his savage foes, when he
represented where he could find the whisky spring. But let the author tell his
own tale.
"I know it," answered Le Bourdon, coolly, "because medicine men know
most of what happens. Do not be so hasty, Chief, for this is a medicine spot
whisky grows here."
"Yes, this place is called by the whites Whisky Center," he added, "which
means that it is the center of all the whisky of the country round about."
"Dat true," said Cloud, quickly, "I hear so'ger at Fort Dearborn call him
Whisky Center."
After the Bee Hunter discovered the puddles where the whisky spilled, the
narration continues:
"Now open your ears, Crowsf eather, and you, Cloud, and all of you young
braves," commenced the Bee Hunter solemnly, and with a steadiness that was
admirable. "Yes, open wide your ears. The Great Spirit has given the red
man a nose that he might smell does the Cloud smell more than common ?"
"Sartin, smell whisky dis Whisky Center dey say natural dat such smell
be here."
"Do all the chiefs and warriors of the Pottawottomies who are present smell
the same?"
"'Spose so why he don't, eh ? Got nose can smell whisky good ways, tell
you."
"It is right that they should smell the liquor here, for out of this rock a
whisky spring will soon begin to run. It will begin with a very small stream,
but soon there will be enough to satisfy everybody. The Great Manitou knows
that his red children are dry; he has sent a medicine man of the pale faces to
find a spring for them. Now look at this piece of rock it is dry not even
the dew has yet moistened it. See ; it is made like a wooden bowl that it may
hold the liquor of the spring. Let Crowsf eather smell it smell it, Cloud let
all my young men smell it, too, that they may be certain there is nothing there."
All the Indians then smelled and tasted the whisky, and the cunning Bee
Hunter made good his escape.
MOORE'S CREEK.
Here is a description of Moore's creek, a covert employed by the Bee Hunter
in his final escape from the Indians:
"The halting place that morning was not in a swamp, for none offered itself
at a suitable place from the mouth of the river. On the contrary it was in a
piece of opening, that was tolerably well garnished with trees, however, and
through which ran a small brook which poured its tribute in the Kalamazoo.
The Chippewa had taken notice of this brook which was large enough to
receive the canoes, where thev might be concealed in the rushes. A favorable
copse, surrounded with elders, afforded a covered space on shore, and these
advantages were improved for an encampment."
As we have said before, the late Mr. Butler was the first known permanent
white settler at Saugatuck. But it is well known there was an Indian trading
post at Kalamazoo in 1820 and 1823, while it is also well known that a French-
man named Bouchon had a trading post at Couchon stretch, a long piece of
smooth wa r ter about four miles by water below Allegan. Louis Campau of
Grand Rapids had a trading post where the Rabbit river empties into the
Kalamazoo, in 1825, while the American fur company had a post in the same
NOTES ON SAUGATUCK. 309
year at the point known as Peach Orchard, where quite an Indian settlement
then existed. It was these Indians who probably planted the old peach orchard
discovered there when the white immigrants first arrived at Saugatuck.
Until 1834 the Butler family were the only white settlers at the mouth of
the river. In that year Johonnet and Crosby came to Saugatuck and built the
first tannery there. Daniel Plummer came there about the same time. Ste-
phen D. Nichols came to Saugatuck in July, 1834, from St. Joseph, and in
September returned and has ever since made his home at Saugatuck.
Benjamin Plummer, now of Ganges, was one of Saugatuck's pioneers, com-
ing there in the fall of 1834, when he found Butler, Nichols, Johonnet and
Crosby, the tanners, Daniel Plummer, Palmer and Mayo (the latter two fish-
ermen), the only white permanent residents in Sangatnek. In Mav, 1837,
Stephen A. Morrison located at Saugatuck and embarked in the tanning busi-
ness, in which he has continued ever since. In 1844 Wells cv Johnson built a
tannery near Plummers saw-mill, now known as Wallinville, but sold out to
C. C. Wallin & Son in 1854. This saw-mill was built in 1834. and in 1S37 was
operated by Benjamin Plummer and Edward Johonnet.
THE INDIANS.
When the white people came to Allegan county the most of the territory was
occupied by a band of Ottawa Indians, under the chieftainship of Macsaubee,
who was well known to the pioneers of Allegan county, and who came from
Mackinaw every autumn to hunt, and returned to the north in the spring. In
the war of 1812 these Indians fought in the British army, and wore medals for
the battles they participated in, given to them by the Canadian authorities.
During the early days of flat-boating these Indians displayed a British flag at
one of their powwows on Bald Head. When the fact became known, the cap-
tains of two of those boats (Alexander Henderson and Henrv Allett), with
their men, made a raid on the festive Indians and carried off the ensign of
England and took it back to Allegan as a trophy. The remnant of this Indian
band lives on a reservation in Emmet county.
MOOIIEVILLE.
This is a western suburb of the village of Saugatuck, and was formerly the
seat of the extensive lumbering operations of Mr. Horace D. Moore, who re-
tired from business in 1875, and lives in a comfortable residence near the scene
of his former business operations in a beautiful grove on the road to Holland.
A fine view of Mr. Moore's residence and its beautiful surroundings can be
found in the history of Allegan and Barry counties, in which work much valu-
able historical information can be obtained relative to Saugatuck's historv.
Mr. Moore is a native of Kyegate, Vermont, and of Scottish descent, 58
years old and came to Saugatuck in 1856. Although he has retired from the
manufacturing of lumber, he oversees three farms and owns and cares for a
considerable property in Wisconsin and Illinois, owning the Sherman house in
Allegan, and a fruit farm near the same place. He intends next season to em-
bark in fruit culture in the vicinity of Saugatuck. During our recent trip to
Saugatuck and the fruit regions of western Allegan county, we had the pleas-
ure of partaking of the hospitalities of Mr. Moore for several days, and take
this occasion to return our thanks to that gentleman and his wife for the cour-
teous treatment we received. May long life and prosperity ever attend them.
41
310 PIONEER SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN.
SAUGATUCK AS A SUMMER RETREAT.
Saugatuck is as well adapted for a summer retreat as Grand Haven, and we
have no doubt if some enterprising landlord would erect a good, first-class
hotel somewhere near the mouth of the river, say at Saugatuck village, with a
boat-house and bath houses on Lake Michigan in connection therewith, that
they would be a profitable investment, for no river on the whole eastern shore
of Lake Michigan presents more attractive scenery than does the mouth of the
Kalamazoo, a region of country rendered classic by the graphic pen of the
great American novelist, Cooper.
DEATH OF THE VENERABLE JUDGE LITTLEJOHN.
MEMORIAL REPORT BY EDWY C. REID OF THE ALLEGAN JOURNAL.
On the morning of the 28th of April, 1880, ex-Judge F. J. Littlejohn was
stricken with pain in his bowels, while in his office, and was forced to stop at
his daughter's, Mrs. A. S. Butler, a short way off, not being able to go home.
He remained there, in great pain and dangerously sick for a few days, when,
becoming better, he was taken home, but was not at any time afterward able
to quit his bed except for short times. He remained in full possession of his
mental powers and conversed quite freely, though at time his voice was made
weak by the pain. His physician from the first doubted his ability to effect a
cure, but thought it possible to restore him to his former state. The acute
malady at first was a stoppage of the faeces caused by inflammation of a gland
near the bladder, which, when in such condition, was likely to produce that
result at any time. That condition is called senile disease of the bladder, and
it caused his death at about half-past three o'clock, May 15th. The announce-
ment, because of his previous rather favorable condition, caused great sur-
prise, and regret and sorrow for the departure of one so loved and venerated
were expressed on every hand.
Judge Littlejohn was born in Herkimer county, N. Y., in July, 1804. He
graduated from Hamilton College in 1827, and delivered the valedictory ad-
dress. In 1830 he was admitted to the bar. He practiced law at Little Falls, in
his native county, until the spring of 1836, when his health failed, and he
sought a home in the west. He settled in Allegan, being among the pioneers
of this section of country. He was engaged for some years as a surveyor, engi-
neer, and geologist. In the fall of 1841, he was elected to the lower house of
the legislature, and was afterwards chosen for second and third terms. In 1845
he was elected to the senate. He was president pro tern, of that body during the
lengthy session of 
