A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 11

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273

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To justify depriving Michigan of her terri- tory in this manner it was argued that the ordi- nance of 1787 expressly stipulated that the bound- aries it laid down would be subject to changes which Congress afterwards might make, and Mich- igan was only a territory-that Indiana needed not only river communication with the south but lake communication with the north-that this would facilitate and encourage the building of connecting canals and the influx of settlers by way of the lakes-that the ordinance line of 1787 would deprive Indiana of all this and give all the lake frontage to Michigan-and. moreover, that if shut out from northern waters, then, in case of national disruption, the interests of Indiana would be to join a western or southern confed-

eracy. The new boundary was of immense ad- vantage to LaPorte county. For even though Ohio finally won in the contention, and the Harris line prevailed, if that had been also Indiana's northern boundary it would not have given us any lake front, nor have been of much benefit to us ; for here the Harris line does not diverge very far north from its starting point.

As soon as General Cass, governor of Michi- gan Territory, heard that Ohio had surveyed the Harris line, he wrote to the surveyor general of that state, asking why the line was not run due east from the southern extreme of Lake Michigan, and saying that a disputed jurisdiction was one of the greatest of evils, and that the sooner the business was investigated the better. To this General Tiffin of Ohio replied that Harris had found the southern extreme of Lake Michigan to be more than seven miles south of the northern most cape of Miami (or Maumee) bay, and that he had run the line between the two points. He sent General Cass a map illustrating the two lines, saying that the proper authority should decide which should govern, but for his part he believed that the Harris line was the true one, because it was according to Ohio's proviso, and the state had been received into the Union with that proviso in her constitution.

Hearing of this correspondence, the governor of Ohio sent to his next legislature a message urging that the matter be settled at once, and that body settled it as well as they could by passing a resolution to the effect that Congress had ac- cepted the proviso in accepting the Constitution of Ohio, and therefore that the northern boundary of the state was the Harris line. Hearing of this, acting Governor Woodbridge, in the absence of Governor Cass, wrote to the Governor of Ohio assuring him that the act was unconstitutiona !. He also wrote to John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State, and there was some very strong ·correspondence on the subject, too ex- tensive to include here.

Illinois Territory had been formed in 1809. It included all the country north to the Canadian line : that is, what is now Wisconsin and a part of Minnesota. In 1818 the legislature of Illinois passed a resolution requiring Nathaniel Pope, the delegate in Congress, to present the petition for admission into the Union. The committee to which that petition was referred instructed Pope

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AKE

MICH.

HURON

MICHIGAN

LAKE

DETROIT

AKE ERIE

HARRIS LINE -

MONNIER

TOLEDO

PERRYSBURG

INDIAN

1 £

Pennsylvania line

LINE RELATIVE TO POSITION OF LAKE MICHIGAN AND LAKE ERIE, AND SEAT OF TOLEDO WAR.

Senate Documents, No. 211, XXIVth Cong., 1st Sess., Vol. III.

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ORDINANCE LINE

MAUMEE

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

to prepare a bill for the admission of the new state. On April 18th, of the same year, Congress passed an enabling act and provided that Illinois might elect delegates to a convention to frame a state constitution. Illinois elected her delegates on the first Monday in July, and the two days following; they were elected in all the twelve counties, and were authorized to meet in convention at Kaskas- kia, in August following, "and if deemed expedi- ent to form a constitution and state government, the same to be republican in form and not repug- nant to the ordinance of 1787, excepting so much thereof as related to the boundaries of the states therein formed." This exception was. very im- portant. It seems that the bill for the admission of Illinois had specified the ordinance line as the northern boundary, but this exception permitted Delegate Pope to amend the bill for admission, so that the northern boundary was moved up to where it is now. Judge Pope stated that the ob- ject of his amendment was to gain for the pro- posed state a coast on Lake Michigan, and that this would afford additional security to the perpe- tuity of the Union; inasmuch as Illinois would thereby be connected with states lying to the eastward. Thus was Chicago thrown into Illinois instead of into Wisconsin. Indeed, when ex-Presi- den Van Buren was in that city on July 3, 1842, a letter followed him directed to "Martin Van Buren, Chicago, Wis." Thus was the ordinance line, the old Indian boundary which runs just north of LaPorte, ignored against the contention of Michigan, and the northern boundary of Illi- nois moved about sixty miles to the north. This helped to keep the boundary dispute before the people. Michigan's constant contention had been that the ordinance line was the true one, that Congress had no right to change it, and that it should be the lower boundary of the northern tier oi states west of Lake Michigan as well as east.

In 1818 the governor and judges of Michigan Territory protested against Ohio's. claim to the disputed strip, and also against the right of Con- gress to give to Indiana a strip lying further west. They knew that it was too late to alter the northern boundary of the new state, but they said. "We take this way to preserve the just *

rights of the people of this territory * * that it may not hereafter be supposed that they have acquiesced in the changes which have been riade." They left the final discussion to the

future, as they said, "when the people of this country can be heard by their own representa- tives."

The dispute with Ohio was another matter. There the contested strip lay in a most fertile region, near the center of population of Michigan, and the question of possession must continually arise. In 1818 the authorities of Michigan Terri- tory sent to Congress a memorial stating that the line run by Harris was not the one which Con- gress had ordered marked, but another running several miles further north. They also sent a committee to Washington to press the claims of the territory. In response, President Monroe, under the advice of a house committee, directed that the northern boundary of Ohio be marked according to the provisions of the Act of May 20, 1812. Mr. Harris declined to do the work; and so, in 1820, one Fulton was commissioned, who ran the line due east and west from the most southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. The Fulton line was not new one but the old ordinance line correctly surveyed. Two years later the presi- dent notified Congress that the northern bound- ary of Ohio had been marked according to the law of 1812. The Ohio members complained that the Fulton line had been run not by order of Con- gress but at the request of General Cass, and asked to have it remarked according to the Harris survey. The House refused, but neglected to declare the line marked by Fulton to be the true boundary. Thus the matter apparently was as far from being settled as ever.

In 1821 the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potta- wottomie Indians ceded to the United States their lands east of the south bend of the St. Joseph river, and north of the ordinance or Fulton line, and in 1826 the Pottawottomies ceded their lands west of said river and north of the same line. This use by the government of the ordinance line as a boundary, encouraged Michigan to hope in its stability.

In 1824 Senator Benton tried to have Con- gress erect Wisconsin into the Territory of Chip- pewa. The people of that country signed the peti- tion, but the legislative council of Michigan at once sent to Congress a memorial protesting against the division of the territory, and the matter was dropped. In 1827 Judge Doty made a similar attempt, calling the proposed territory, .

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Wisconsin. The Michigan legislative council urged that this request be granted. The House accordingly passed a bill for the creation of the territory, calling it, Huron. But objections were raised to the boundaries and the Senate failed to consider the bill. The objection was to the north- ern boundary of Illinois. The ordinance line was claimed as the irrevocable boundary. From such facts we see how the old Indian boundary which runs just north of La Porte has figured in history, and how tenacious Michigan was that it should be the dividing line between the northern and south- ern tier of states.

In 1826 there was much excitement over the matter. The Ohio delegation in Congress secured the appointment of a committee to consider the expediency of marking the line dividing Ohio from Michigan Territory, this time not claiming that it be done according to their constitutional proviso. Probably they were becoming wary. The proposal was not considered, but Michigan was on the alert. In her next council she voted to instruct her delegate in Congress to prevent any change in the territorial boundary, and announced that she had "acquired absolute vested rights" by the ordinance of 1787 and the act of 1805. A little later, in 1827, Michigan organized the town- ship of Port Lawrence in the very heart of the disputed tract without causing any protest from Ohio. The battle for the present was to be fought 'in Congress.

In 1827 a bill was passed without difficulty, providing for the marking of the northern bound- ary of Indiana. This was the first time it had been surveyed. The line was run by E. P. Hend- ricks, under the authority of the surveyor general of the United States, and the work was begun October 8, 1827. Our northern boundary line therefore may well be called the Hendricks line.

At the next session of Congress a bill was in- troduced to ascertain the latitude of the southern extreme of Lake Michigan "for the purpose of fixing the true northern boundary lines of the states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois:" but this measure failed to receive attention at this or the following session.

But by 1831 the boundary. question began to assume a serious aspect. The Ohio legislature petitioned Congress for the speedy and permanent establishment of the dividing line between that state and the territory of Michigan. Governor

Cass was anxious. He sent to the council of the territory a very serious message referring briefly to the attempt of certain counties to separate from the territory, and to the possession by Indiana of a portion of the territory. He advised against urging any claim to the latter, as Indiana was already in possession, and it was better to leave the tract unclaimed until Michigan too should be a member of the tribunal which must decide the question. But with regard to Ohio he urged sending to Congress a memorial which would state the rights and sentiments of the people of the territory. Before referring the matter to Con- gress, the legislative council authorized Governor Cass to negotiate with the governor of Ohio with a view to a compromise, which he did; but as this was in vain, a memorial was sent to Congress. About the same time the legislature of Ohio memorialized Congress, and for the first time out- lined their claims. The result was the passage of an act to provide for determining the latitude of the southern end of Lake Michigan and other points, preparatory to an adjustment of the Ohio and Michigan boundary.

The year 1833 marked the beginning of the end, the contest was on and waxed warmer until the people of the two states faced each other in battle array, and both defied the central govern- ment as only the seceding states have ever dared to do. Both parties were active, there was a sharp and continued contest in Congress; there were memorials and counter memorials.

On the IIth of December, 1833, Michigan made her first formal petition for admission into the Union, which was refused. In 1835 she tried again, with the same result. She had more than the requisite number of inhabitants, no one doubted that she should be admitted, but many doubted the right of admission with the bound- aries which she so uncompromisingly claimed. Failing in the second attempt to obtain permission to form themselves into a state the people of Michigan determined to go on without permission. In January. 1835, the legislative council called a convention to meet the following May, to form "for themselves a constitution and state govern- ment." which they did. Meantime Congress was considering the matter of the disputed line. The Senate passed a bill according to the desire of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, which was killed in the House by John Quincy Adams. Indiana and

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Illinois had turned against Michigan, because her insistence that Congress had no right to disregard the fundamental provisions of the ordinance of 1787 made them fear that their own northern lines might be in danger ; since both had been run regardless of the ordinance.

In 1835 the governor of Indiana mentioned the boundary dispute in his message, and so much of his message as treated of that subject was re- ferred to a select committee who considered the matter. and made an exhaustive report covering eight royal octavo printed pages. After the proper announcement, and a reference to the importance of the subject. the report says,

"A portion of territory ten miles in width, extending across the entire breadth of our north- ern boundary, embracing a most fertile tract of country. and that part of Lake Michigan which we have been taught to prize as all important to the trade, commerce and agricultural interests of the northern part of the state, and which we have always regarded as properly secured to us by the ordinance of 1787. by the law of Congress author- izing us to form a state government, and by the express acceptance and ratification of the terms of that law by the convention who met to form a constitution for the government of this state- has been claimed in positive terms by the terri- tory of Michigan."

The report quotes Article 5 of the ordinance of 1787. which specifies the boundary "line due east and west from the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan :" the report mentions the acts of Con- gress which relate to the matter and then says, "Michigan founds her claim to the territory in dispute between her and Indiana, upon the authority of the 5th article of the ordinance of 1787, and the act of Congress of 1805, insisting that what she calls the 'fundamental' line running east and west 'through the southerly bend or ex- treme of Lake Michigan,' shall be recognized as the true line of division between her in her right, as the State of Michigan, and the states of Indiana and Ohio."

The report then argues that "southerly bend" means not the extreme southern point but the whole bend of Lake Michigan; that it would be partial legislation for Congress to give so fair a lake portion to Ohio and Michigan and none to Indiana: that Michigan, even without the ten mile strip. was larger than Indiana ; that the ordi-

nance of 1787 did not mean that the line it speci- fied should be the southern boundary of the two states formed north of it, but simply that those two states should be formed somewhere north of it and not south of it. The House had passed a resolution containing instructions to inquire into the expediency of addressing a memorial to the state of Virginia, calling upon her to ratify the boundaries of Indiana as established by Congress, but the committee decided that there would be an impropriety in requesting Virginia to ratify and confirm any proceedings of Congress. It would imply that Congress had not acted with proper authority ; Congress and Indiana were the contracting parties, not Virginia and Indiana, and not Michigan and Indiana. The committee there- fore recommended the adoption of the following joint resolutions :-

Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our representatives requested, to resist the establishment of the southern bound- ary of Michigan on a line drawn east and west from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan ; and also that they insist upon the present northern boundary of Indiana, as prescribed in the act of Congress of 1816, providing for her admission into the Union.

Resolved further as the sense of this General Assembly, That having the fullest confidence in the wisdom and integrity of Congress, this Gen- eral Assembly cannot believe that any measure will be adopted by that body, which, by seeking to de- prive this state of any portion of her territory as secured to her by the aforesaid act of Congress, and the ordinance of the convention of this state ratifying the same, would without the consent of this state thereto obtained, be unauthorized, un- constitutional and void, and only operate as a pretext for future controversy.

Resolved further, That our Senators in Con- gress be instructed, and our representatives re- quired, in the event .of the passage of an act of Congress for the formation of a state in the terri- tory of Michigan, to use their exertions to have incorporated in such act a provision restricting the territory of such state from extending south beyond "an east and west line drawn through a `point ten miles north of the southern extreme of Lake Michigan."

Resolved further, That his Excellency, the

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

governor, be requested to transmit to our Sena- tors and representatives in Congress copies of the foregoing report and resolutions.

The report and recommendation of the com- mittee were accepted and adopted as a joint reso- lution, and approved February 7, 1835. Thus did Indiana turn against Michigan and sym- pathize with Ohio in the controversy.

When the people of Michigan heard that the Senate had passed a bill according to the views of Ohio, there were rumors of war. Michigan de- clared to Congress that she would submit the question to the Supreme Court, but until a deci- sion was reached she would resist, "let the attempt be made by whom it may, all efforts to rob her of her soil and trample upon her rights." She offered to negotiate with Ohio and Indiana re- garding their conflicting claims. Indiana ignored it, and Ohio declined it; but instead the governor of Ohio advised that the counties of the state be extended to a line running from the southern ex- tremity of Lake Michigan to the most northern cape of Maumee bay. The advice was promptly accepted, the legislature passed an act to that effect, and directed the governor to appoint three commissioners to survey and remark the Harris line. The people of the disputed tract desired it. They wished to come under the jurisdiction of Ohio. The Miami canal was in process of con- struction, from the mouth of the Maumee to Cin- cinnati, and the settlers desired to secure the full benefit of it.

Two weeks before this, the council of Michi- gan had passed an act to prevent the exercise of foreign jurisdiction within the limits of the terri- tory of Michigan. Governor Lucas now sent to acting Governor Mason of Michigan a copy of his message to the Ohio legislature, and that young man issued orders to Brigadier General Joseph W. Brown, of the Michigan militia, and prepared to resist Ohio by force. The blood of each party was up, each claimed to be a sovereign state and each resented interference by the national government, though Michigan was will- ing to await a decision of the Supreme Court. On the first of April General Brown and a force of volunteers. had already encamped at Monroe, just north of the contested strip, and he was now joined by Governor Mason. On April second Governor Lucas and staff. and the commission to remark the Harris line, accompanied by Gen-

eral Bell and his troops, arrived at Perrysburg, just south of the contested strip. The election of officers in the disputed strip, under the auspices of Ohio, passed off quietly ; the tug of war would come when those officers attempted to exercise their functions; then Michigan would begin civil processes against them, and back it up if necessary by force of arms. The rival governors had re- ceived notice from President Jackson that he had sent peace commissioners who were on the way. Governor Mason now wrote to Governor Lucas asking him to desist from enforcing the Ohio law until the president's mediators appeared. Lucas did not deign to reply by writing, but sent an oral message saying he had already written to the president a letter which would prevent in- terference, and that Ohio did not desire the service of mediators.

At this juncture the mediators appeared. Richard Rush, of Philadelphia, and Benjamin C. Howard, of Baltimore, had traveled night and day, which meant much in those days, and on April third they arrived in Toledo. They sought by diplomacy to appease the wrath of each gov- ernor, but failed. The men elected under the Ohio act were beginning to assume office, civil processes were issued against them under the Michigan act, and General Brown with his forces was ready to execute them. The people of the disputed strip were between two fires, and yet their fortunes were bound up with the government of Ohio. They begged the Ohio authorities to protect them. The commission to survey the boundary began to run the Harris line, and had proceeded as far west as Tecumseh, where Ohio people say they were attacked, Michigan people that they were arrested. Governor Lucas called an extra session of his legislature to increase his army. The peace commissioners proposed that Ohio run her line, and that there be concurrent jurisdiction until settlement by the federal judi- ciary. Lucas consented to both. Mason was will- ing to let the line be run, but spurned the idea of concurrent jurisdiction.

At length the Ohio legislature voted to abide by the proposals of the peace commissioners if the United States would compel Michigan to do so ; but as a safeguard Ohio passed an act against kidnappers, and appropriated $300,000 to carry out her plans. During the same time the Michigan constitutional convention was in session at De-

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

troit, and declared that Ohio might run the line, but no authority on earth save that of the United States should be exercised in the disputed strip. Ohio began to carry out the proposal of concur- rent jurisdiction, resulting in renewed prepara- tions for war. On the seventh of September, 1835, the Ohio judges went to hold court at Toledo. Again troops were mustered on both sides. But the court was held at midnight, and adjourned just as the Michigan forces came up. The troops were therefore dispersed; the people on either side, from many considerations, were as willing to follow their leaders to peace as to war, the Toledo war, or the Governor Lucas war, was over, and the dispute was destined to be settled by politicians at Washington.

President Jackson had submitted the boundary dispute to Attorney General Butler, who had de- cided that the disputed strip belonged to Michigan. John Quincy Adams also, then Secretary of State, said, "Never in the course of my life have I known a controversy of which all the right was so clearly on one side and all the power so over- whelmingly on the other, where the temptation was so intense to take the strongest side, and the duty of taking the weakest was so thankless."

But the president was in a difficulty. The following year a presidential election would occur, and he desired that Martin Van Buren be the successful candidate. Indiana and Illinois, each of which states of course preferred its more northern boundary, naturally sympathized with Ohio. These three states had a large number of votes. On the other hand Michigan, though hav- ing a state government, was only a territory. Again, Arkansas as well as Michigan aspired to statehood, and the administration was anxious to have both admitted in time to vote at the next presidential election, as both were supposed to be Democratic. Moreover, one was a slave state the other a free state, and if only one were ad- mitted the other would take offense. Clearly the only way to remove all difficulties was to settle the boundary dispute. The decision of the at- torney general, though seeking to be just to Michigan, pointed out to the president that he might remove Governor Mason, and appoint for Michigan a governor who would not violate the law and yet who would not push matters to violence, until the question could be settled by Congress, an ex-

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 11

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1273

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273