USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Directory of the city of Detroit; and register of Michigan, for the year 1846. Containing an epitomized history of Detroit To which is added copious extracts from the state geological reports in relation to the rise and fall of the Great Lakes, etc > Part 1
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DIRECTORY
OF THE
CITY OF DETROIT;
AND
REGISTER OF MICHIGAN,
FOR THE YEAR 1846.
CONTAINING
An epitomized history of Detroit, an alphabetical list of its citizens; a list of the officers of the Municipal government; and tlie State officers: also, every infor- mation relative to the time and place at which the several courts sit throughout the State; with a list of churches, associations, institutions, &c .: To which is added copious extracts from the State Geological reports in relation to the rise and fall of the great lakes, &c.
BY JAMES H. WELLINGS. 11
(COPY RIGHT SECURED.)
DETROIT: A. S. WILLIAMS, PRINTER. 1846.
May be had of the Publisher, Jefferson Avenue, (North side,) op- posite U. S. Land Office, near Wales' Hotel.
F574 D+W4
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1846, by JAMES H. WELLINGS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Michigan.
In Exchange Mich. uni. 19 1 1907
! .
PREFACE.
In presenting to the public a "Directory of the City of De- troit for 1846," the publisher feels called upon to make an apol- ogy to his fellow citizens for what may be considered an act of temerity on his part, so soon after the appearance of his former meagre and defective production.
In preparing the directory for 1845, it being his first attempt at a work of the kind, the publisher had reason to fear that it would not be what he desired, and in addition to his own inex- perience, he found to his severe mortification, when the work ap- peared that innumerable typographical errors had crept into it. He trusts however, when due allowance is made for the rapid manner in which the work is necessarily hurried through the press, (considering also the shortness of time since he took the names of the inhabitants,) that the present work will be found as free from errors as can reasonably be expected in one got up nuder like circumstances.
In order to compile the Directory with numbers, the publisher applied to the City Council during last winter, for authority to unmber the several buildings of the City. In consequence of his application, an ordinance was passed adopting a uniform system for numbering the buildings in the City, but the Council did not give him any authority to do it.
4
NOTICE. *
DISCIPLES.
The Congregation of Disciples (noticed page 48 of the Di- rectory,) have obtained the use of the
HALL OF THE CAPITOL,
where they will hold their meetings every LORD'S DAY.
Preaching in the morning and evening at the usual hours.
They will meet in the afternoon at 3 o'clock for breaking of the Loaf, and Social worship. The public are respectfully invi- ted to attend.
NOTICE.
DETROIT AND PONTIAC RAIL ROAD.
TWO TRIPS A DAY.
The cars on the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad will make two trips a day on and after Monday May, 11th, leaving as follows: Leave Detroit at 8} o'clock A. M. and 4} o'clock P. M. Leave Pontiac at 5 o'clock A. M. and 1 o'clock P. M. G. WILLIAMS, President. Detroit, May 7, 1846.
NUMBERING THE CITY.
The City Ordinance directs that the buildings on streets North of Jefferson Avenue and parallel to it, be numbered "east" and " west" commencing from Woodward Avenue.
TOPOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF MICHIGAN.
The State of Michigan extends from N. lat. 41 deg. 41 min., to N. lat. 47 deg. 27 min .; and from 5 deg. 20 min. to 9 deg. 53 min. W. lon. from Washington, having an area of 43,500 square miles on the lower or peninsula proper, and 27,000 square miles on the upper peninsula, making an aggregate of 70,500 square miles, and is * " separated by a natural boundary of rivers and lakes on the east and north-east from Upper Canada; from Illinois and Wisconsin on the west and south-west, and from Ohio and Indiana on the south.
Lake Michigan on the west and north-west; Lake Huron, the river and Lake St. Clair, the straits of Detroit, with the west end of Lake Erie on the east and north-east, enclose a peninsula, forming a cone, of which the straits of Mackinaw is the apex, the south line or base being one hundred and seventy-four miles east and west, and the length north and south three hundred miles. With this extent of coast, the number of large rivers and the infinity of small interior lakes, give the utmost facilities to internal navigation; add to this the superior quality of the soil, its easy tillage, the heavy and abundant crops, and perhaps the whole is not surpassed by any section of equal extent on the sur- face of the globe.
The northern or upper peninsula belongs to a higher level. Beginning at the eastern end of Lake Superior and running south- erly along the Sault de Ste Marie's river, it lies nearly at right angles with the southern or peninsula proper, and separated from it by a part of Lake Michigan and Green Bay as far as Menomone river. It thence takes a north-west course to Montreal river,
* Extract from report of S. W. Iliggins, Esq. State Topographer.
1
6
DETROIT
from the mouth of which it follows the southern shore of Lake Superior to the place of beginning, presenting an irregular and nearly isolated form, varying from twenty to one hundred and twenty-five miles in width.
Michigan, with the States west and south-west, are designated by geographers as lying west of the great dividing ridge which determines the course of the rivers falling into the Atlantic on one side and the Mississippi on the other. This Appalachian ridge, rising in Alabama, runs north-cast, varying in altitude, to the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, in many places spreading out into broad mountainous districts of thousands of square miles in extent. These districts being occupied by subordinate ridges, are often cut through by rivers, causing depressions or vallies of corres- ponding depth. If, however, in tracing the continuation of the great ridge across the St. Lawrence to Labrador, it should be found that the same system continued, then the important fact would be elicited that it had been cut through by that river, the only occurrence of the kind from its source in the south to its termination in the north. The Potomac, the Susquehanna and the Mohawk rivers have their sources on its eastern declivity. The lowest pass across the State of New York, on the line of the Erie canal, is 565 feet above tide water; the medium height, how- ever, a few miles south, commencing at Catskill, on the Hudson, and terminating at Portland harbor on Lake Erie is 1,300 feet, presenting no height less than 985 feet, and the greatest 2,144 fect. With these and other surveys, it has been ascertained that a water communication could not be made across the country south of the State of New York.
Further south the elevation is no where less than 2,478 feet above the ocean. The Round Top at Catskill mountains is 3,804, and the High Peak 3,718 feet above tide water. The western part of the State bordering on Lake Erie, embracing Chautauque and Cattaraugus counties, Warren and Mckean counties of Pennsylvania, and the country southward, are occupied by a mountainous ridge. Chautauque Lake, the largest sheet of wa- ter on this table. is 1.º91 feet above the level of the ocean and
7
DIRECTORY.
723 feet above Lake Erie; though only nine miles distant, its discharged waters descend to the ocean along the western de- clivity of the Appalachian range through the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, The lowest pass to the east over a swell of land near Cassadaga outlet, in Chautauque county, is 1,720 feet high, and another pass on the same swell 1,972 feet. The lowest niche in the height of land between Elm and Little Valley Creeks in Cattaraugus county, is 1,725 feet, and between Little Valley and Big Valley, the lowest pass is 2, 180 feet above the level of the ocean. Franklinville has an elevation of 1,580 feet, and Angelica 1,498 feet, although both are situated in valleys. This height of land extends close to the shores of Lake Erie, as it may be seen that the Allegany, a tributary to the Ohio, rises within four or five miles of the lake.
To the north this ridge gradually declines until near the south- ern shore of Lake Ontario. Seven miles north of the cataract. of Niagara, it takes its last step to the margin of the lake. The ridge of rocks which forms this step, continues eastward, and passes around the border of the lake, being of a uniform eleva- tion of $19 feet, causing not only the cataract of Niagara, but also those of Genesee, Oswego and the Black rivers. It thence unites with the more clevated spurs of Chateaugay, south of Montreal, forming the eastern boundary of the great basins of Lake Erie and Ontario, and giving the direction to the course of the St. Lawrence river through its whole length.
From the foregoing remarks, it is observable that the great ba- sins or depressions of these lakes, are the abrupt terminations of the mountain range, and that we fall immediately into an exten- sive district, different in its topographical features, the peculiari- ties of which belong only to the region of the great lakes which bound the principal part of the northern frontier of the Union.
Leaving Chautauque county, and passing around the south shore of Lake Erie, this ridge falls off to the south-west, curv- ing towards Iroquois county, in Illinois. It gives rise to the Muskingum, Sciota and Miami rivers in Ohio, and to the Wa- bash in Indiana, on its southern declivity; and to the Maumee,
8
DETROIT
emptying into Lake Erie, on its northern declivity, while a small swell approaches the south bend of Lake Michigan, giving rise to the Illinois and its tributaries. The height of this ridge at the Portage summit, in Akron, 33 miles south of Cleveland, on the line of the Ohio canal, is 395 feet above Lake Erie, and 963 above tide water; and the deep cut 28 miles east of Columbus, is but 72 feet less; at Portsmouth on the Ohio river, where the canal terminates, the elevation is 474 feet above tide water, and 94 feet below Lake Erie. At the summit of the Maumee canal, at Fort Defiance, it is 98 feet above the lake. It then falls to 17 feet, west of Chicago, on the line of the ship canal, thence it pursues an uninterrupted course northward to the Portage at Fort Winnebago, between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, an elevation of 121 feet above Green Bay, and 134 above Lake Erie.
At this point the Wisconsin river after flowing 170 miles from its source in the north, suddenly turns to the west and falls into the Mississippi near Prairie Du Chien, 160 miles ; the Fox river rising to the east, runs westwardly approaching it within 3,200 feet, and turning, takes its course again eastwardly and falls into Green Bay. The surface of the water in the Fox is usually three fcet lower than that in the Wisconsin, but in time of floods pas- sages are made from one to the other in boats.
The following table will show the elevation of this summit above Lake Michigan and Green Bay, the distance by the milita- ry road being 124 miles.
Feet.
Descent.
From Portage to Lake Winnebago),
20
Winnebago Rapids,
10.5
40.5
From Winnebago Rapids to Grand Chute,
3
43
Rapids Grand Chute,
25
63
From Grand Chute to Little Chute,
6
Rapids at Little Chute,
1.5
75 5
From Little Chute to Grand Cacalin, Rapids at Grand Cacalin,
31
111
From Grand Cacalin to De Perre,
3
114
At De Perre dam and level Green Bay,
6
120
5
80
121 Feet.
The same swell continues to rise with about the same uni- form degree of elevation, approaching the northern peninsula of Michigan, until it can be seen from Lake Superior, bounding the
9
DIRECTORY .
southern horizon. It divides the waters that run north into that lake, and those of the south into the Mississippi, Green Bay and Lake Michigan; one of the most elevated ridges, receiving the appellation of Porcupine Hills. Swells branching off to the eastward and having their bases washed by the waters of the lake, present mural precipices, and assume different names. Those of the Pictured Rocks are said to be the most imposing. Some of these cliffs are three and four hundred feet high. From the Por- cupine Hills the country slopes eastward to the Sault de Ste Marie, the outlet of Lake Superior. This river is obstructed by a rapid 4,500 feet long, with a descent of eighteen feet.
Table of the height of Lake Superior, with the intermediate Lakes, above, and their distances from Tide Water.
Route.
Miles.
1
Feet.
St Lawrence River up to Tide Water, ..
450
Level Lake Ontario,.
200
650
232
Level Lake Erie,
175
825
333
565
Level Lake Huron, ..
340
1165
13
578
Level Lake Michigan,.
573
Level Lake Superior, .
240
1405
18
596
West end Lake Superior,
490
1895
From the above data, we infer the following curious fact : that if a barrier eighteen feet high existed across the foot of Lake Huron near Fort Gratiot, lakes Huron and Michigan would rise to a level with Lake Superior : or if a similar barrier was placed of thirty-one feet, across the foot of Lake Erie at Buffalo, the singular result would follow, that four of the great lakes would become one uniform level, and merged in one immense inland sea.
By an examination of the foregoing table, we see a striking peculiarity of this region of " broad rivers and streams"-its vast extent-commencing at the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and extend- ing in a south-west direction up that river, thence into the basin of Lake Ontario, at an elevation of 232 feet above the ocean : thence again rising by the Niagara river and cataract, 333 feet to the level of Lake Erie, (the first in the central subdivision, in- cluding Lakes Huron and Michigan, of the great basin,) forming an angle at the western end of that lake in the estuary at the mouth of the Maumee river ; it thence runs nearly north through the straits of Detroit, the lake and river St. Clair, into Lake Hu-
10
DETROIT
ron, rising 13 feet ; thence by a north-westerly course through the straits of the Sault de Ste Marie, rising 18 feet to the west end of Lake Superior, a distance of 1,895 miles. The whole de- pression contains an arca of 400,000 square miles, 94,000 of which is occupied by water, still leaving an extent sufficient to sustain a population of more than seventy millions of inhabitants.
The following will show in a condensed form, estimates of the mean length, breadth, depth, area and elevation of the several collections of water:
Mean length. Miles.
Mean breadth. Miles.
Mean depth. Feet.
Eleva- tion. Feel.
Area in square Miles.
Lake Superior,
400
SUU
596
32,000
Green Bay,
100
20
500
578
2,000
Lake Michigan,
320
70
1,000
578
22,400
Lake Huron,.
240
80
1,000
578
20,400
Lake St. Clair,
20
18
20
570
360
Lake Erie,.
2.10
40
84
565
9,600
Lake Ontario,
180
35
500
232
6,300
River St. Lawrence,
940)
Michigan occupies a central position between the extremes, and uniting with the upper division of the St. Lawrence basin.
THE LAKES AND LAKE COAST.
These constitute a prominent feature and must be of great and increasing interest, connecting the agricultural with the com- mercial enterprise of Michigan. As no State with a location so distant from the seaports, has done more in the same short peri- od to develope the advantages to be derived from its internal re- sources ; none can be in a situation better to reap the advanta- ges arising from an extended inland coast.
If the distance by incanders of the shore of the lakes and in- dentations of the bays were to be made the standard for the length of the coast, it would amount to more than twice that of another run without regard to the sinuosities of the shore.
The exact distance from the foot of Lake Huron (near Fort Gratiot,) at a point where the North line of township number six north, and range number 17 west intersects the water, to Middle Island, by meanders, is 345 miles including Saginaw bay. The same distance on a direct line is only 143 miles. Thence to
11
DIRECTORY.
Mackinaw 97 miles, but by meanders including the False and True Presque Isles, the distance would be increased to 150 miles, making a total by meanders of 495 miles, and by a direct line 240 miles.
If the eastern shore of the peninsula appears so irregular and deeply indented with bays and harbors, the western is not less so, particularly in the northern part. The difference will be pro- portionally greater, as the Little and Grand Traverse bays are larger, excepting Saginaw bay, than the largest bays on the east- ern side ; but as a small part only of the western shore has been surveyed, the subject will not admit of a more extended notice at this time.
Many doubts have heretofore existed in relation to the number and convenience of harbors. A minute examination of the shores has however removed much of the prejudice against the naviga- tion of the lakes, and there is probably no line of coast of equal extent (being 700 miles) that will with inconsiderable improve- ments furnish a greater number of good harbors. Much of the apprehended danger has arisen therefore from ignorance of these facts, and the localities of the numerous sheltered bays which would afford protection at all seasons, and as but few if any at- tempts have been made by actual navigators to explore for them- selves, and being without charts, it is no wonder that representa- tions of danger should have obtained, and the dread of shipwreck on an apparently desolate coast, magnify in a great degree the fears attendant on crossing these inland seas.
DEPTH OF THE LAKES.
The depth of the lakes has been a subject of speculation from the earliest period of their discovery by Europeans. Tables have been constructed, and the areas and contents of each endeavored to be ascertained. Errors have been made in these as well as in their elevation above the ocean; in the latter case however, little is left to conjecture.
Lake St. Clair, an expansion of the straits between Lakes Hu- ron and Eric, 18 by 20 miles, is much the shallowest, the aver-
12
DETROIT
age depth being only 20 feet. Lake Erie does not exceed 84 feet. An ordinary storm disturbs its bottom, and its waters ap- pear turbid. These lakes may be considered as receiving the de- tritus brought down by the rivers flowing into them, and deposi- ted there. This in particular is apparent around the head of Lake St. Clair, where alluvion islands are constantly forming, and in spring choke up the numerous channels at the mouth of the St. Clair river, extending in the form of a delta far into the lake. The same remark may be made in respect to the west end of Lake Erie, where detritus extends some miles from the mouth of Maumee river; the channel is often devious, and a prevailing westerly wind reduces the lake to less than one fathom.
Lakes Michigan and Huron have undoubtedly the deepest chasms. Receding from the shore, their waters deepen uniform- ly, and there exist no central shoals or islands, showing in any manner a broken or alpine formation at their bottoms. It is only in the straits of Mackinaw, and above and around the Georgian or Manitou bay of Lake Huron, that islands and shoals make their ap- pearance. The channels among these islands however, are only chasms through rocks caused by abrasion from the water of the lakes. Soundings have been made to the incredible depth of 1800 feet without reaching the bottom, and the most experienced ship- masters do not hesitate to assert the average depth to be more than 1000 feet. Lake Superior though larger, cannot be consid- ered deeper than the others for reasons already assigned. It abounds with islands, many of which are large ; Isle Royale is 100 miles long. Primitive masses of rock lie disrupted above and below its surface in every direction, and a permanent impres- sion is left that a chasm shapeless in its exterior as well as its interior dimensions, fed by springs and tributary rivers, are the great features of this lake at a depth of 900 feet.
Mountain districts, as has been heretofore observed, may be cut through by rivers causing deep valleys and depressions, but no where on the continental surface of the globe, can be found so deep chasms as the basins of these lakes. Though elevated 596 feet above, their bottoms are more than 400 feet below the level
13 1
DIRECTORY.
of the ocean. Their superficial area is 94,000 square miles, and they contain 11,300 cubic miles of water, a quantity more than half of all the fresh water on the earth.
INTERIOR PENINSULA LAKES.
Neither is the subject of the lesser interior lakes on the pe- ninsula, so far as their number and magnitude are ascertained, to be overlooked, forming as they do by their frequency, a great con- trast in the topography of this, to that of the other States.
From the Ohio and Indiana line on the south, up to range line number seven north, including all south of the line of the North- ern Railroad, an extent of 9,688,320 square acres, there are 1,425 of these lakes occupying areas of from one to 3,500 square acres each. Their waters are remarkably cool and transparent, and give to the landscape a highly picturesque appearance. To ap- ply the principles of hydrography in ascertaining their aggregate extent, becomes the more difficult, since in addition to their great number no two are of the same dimensions. The following, how- ever, will be found to approximate the truth, allowing each lake an area of 160 rods square, we shall give to the whole 228,000 acres, an extent equal to nearly ten townships, and somewhat larger than Lake St. Clair, and a proportion of about one acre of water to every thirty-nine of dry land.
All the rivers in the State have their sources in groups of these lakes, and they are the fountains of the unremitting volumes that flow through the thousand channels of our streams. While the rivers of neighboring States have measurably disappeared during seasons of uncommon drought, and caused derangement in their commerce, ours have suffered comparatively little diminution.
PERIODICAL RISE AND FALL OF WATER IN THE LAKES.
This interesting question has given rise to a variety of curious speculations. The inference drawn from the following data it is presumed will not be altogether inconclusive:
Calculations may be made sufficiently accurate to determine nearly the amount of surface drained, " and if our climate shows
2
14
DETROIT
a successive series of cold and moist years, and a series of warm or dry ones mutually following each other," varieties in the vol- ume of water cannot but necessarily be great.
Taking into our account only the central and upper divisions of the St. Lawrence valley from Niagara, to the north west an- gle of Lake Superior, embracing all the country whose streams are tributary to the lakes, we have by the following table of sec- tions, 248,755 square miles of surface besides that of the lakes. Superfices drained by the Central and Upper Division of the St. Lawrence basin.
Medial length.
Medial breadth.
Area in Square Miles.
Peninsula E. and S. E. of Lake Huron and N. of Lake Erie from Iriquois Bay to Niagara,
123
85
N. and N E. from Iriquois Bay to Ottawa River, ..
300
200
10,455 60,000
N. E. of Lake Superior. from Mackinaw to Nipigon River, .
320
60
19,200
N. W. of Lake Superior from Nipigon to St. Louis River, .
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