USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A history of Van Buren County, Michigan a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume I > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
65
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
Tyler too," John Tyler being General Harrison's running mate in the presidential campaign of 1840, known as the "hard-cider campaign."
Governor Hull, of the Michigan territory, was given command of a military force for the protection of the frontier and the in- vasion of Canada, should war ensue. With an army of about fifteen hundred men, he started from Dayton, Ohio, and after a tedious march of three weeks, reached Detroit on the sixth day of July, 1812. War had been declared on the 18th day of June, but Gov- ernor Hull did not receive notice of that fact until the second day of July.
At that time, Fort Mackinac was garrisoned by a little band of fifty-seven men, under the command of Lieutenant Porter Hanks. The British commandant on St. Joseph's island learned of the dec- laration of war about the middle of July and immediately started for Mackinac with a force of about one thousand men, with which force he landed and took up a commanding position above the fort. Being at the mercy of the foe with his little garrison, Lieutenant Hanks was obliged to surrender and, with his men, was paroled and sent to Detroit. Thus, on the 17th day of July, 1812, the post at Mackinac again passed under English control.
Orders were given to General Hull to cross the Detroit river, take possession of Canada and dislodge the British at Fort Malden, which was garrisoned by only a small force and probably would have been easily captured had General Hull moved forward in the same vigorous manner as did General Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe. But Commander Hull was not a man of the same caliber and mental vigor as General Harrison, and "under pre- text that heavy artillery was necessary to an attack on the fort at Malden, the army lay inactive at Sandwich from the 12th of July to the 8th of August." During this interval, while Hull was "marking time" at Sandwich, General Brock moved toward Fort Malden with a considerable military force. On the ninth day of August, General Hull recrossed the river, entered the fort at Detroit and abandoned Canada. No man can say what different history might have been written if Hull had pushed forward and taken possession of Malden, as he was ordered to do. It is pos- sible, perhaps probable, that in that event Canada might have become a constituent part of the United States, instead of being, as it is, a foreign country on our northern border, identical in in- terest with her great southern neighbor and separated from this nation only by an imaginary line.
The next day after his arrival at Malden General Brock moved up to Sandwich and summoned General Hull to surrender. This summons being refused, a cannonade was at once opened on the Vol. I- 5
66
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
American fort and the fire was returned, little damage being done to either side.
On the morning of the 16th day of July General Brock crossed the river and repeated his demand for the surrender of the post. The English commander had a force of about thirteen hundred men, and Hull had not less than a thousand. Without holding any council of war or in any way consulting with his officers, and without waiting to make any stipulation as to terms, General Hull at once hoisted a white flag and sent word to the English general that he would surrender the fort. The American officers were in- censed beyond measure at the cowardly action of their commander.
Hull was accused of treason, cowardice and criminal neglect of duty, and, although he was acquitted of the charge of treason, he was convicted of the second and third offenses and, by a court martial, was sentenced to be shot. This sentence was not car- ried into execution, as, in consideration of valuable service he had rendered the country in the War of the Revolution, he was par- doned by the president.
Hull's name was for many years held in contempt by the people of the country and was regarded a synonym of cowardice and poltroonery.
Let General Hull be counted null, And let him not be named, Upon the rolls of valiant souls, Of him we are ashamed.
was a quatrain that was familiar to every school boy in the early part of the nineteenth century.
With the surrender of Detroit, the territory of Michigan be- came for a time a British province. General Brock placed Colonel Proctor in command of both the fort and the territory. Proctor assumed the title of governor and proceeded to organize the civil government. He appointed Judge Woodward as his sec- retary. Woodward had considerable influence with Proctor and was of great service to the people, whose interests he was instru- mental in protecting in a large degree.
In the fall and winter following Hull's surrender of Detroit, General Harrison organized an army and moved northward for the recapture of the frontier posts, sending General Winchester in advance to the Maumee river. A few days later General Win- chester moved forward and encamped on the River Raisin, where on the 22d of January, 1813, he was attacked by the British and Indians under the command of Proctor. The American force was taken by surprise and compelled to surrender. During the night following the surrender, the savages butchered the wounded sol- diers and defenseless inhabitants without mercy.
67
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
The great naval victory at Put-in-Bay, won by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, on the 10th day of September, 1813, by which the entire naval force of the British commander, Commo- dore Barclay, was captured, was a decisive stroke and paved the way for the recovery of Michigan territory and the entire north- west. This victory was the most complete in naval history up to that date, and the only naval battles comparable to it in after years are the victories of Admiral Dewey at Manila bay and the capture of the Spanish fleet by Admirals Schley and Sampson at Santiago, during the war with Spain.
The captured vessels were used by General Harrison for the transportation of his command across Lake Erie, preparatory to a vigorous Canadian campaign, but the British forces evacuated Malden and Detroit, Colonel Proctor making a speedy retreat. He was overtaken and defeated at Moravian town, Tecumseh, the great Indian leader, was killed, and Proctor fled. On the 29th of September, 1913, Detroit again passed into the possession of the Americans and Colonel Lewis Cass was placed in command, and on the 9th of October next he was appointed by President Madison as governor of the territory.
An attempt was made, in the summer of 1814, to regain posses- sion of Mackinac island, which was still held by the British. Lieu- tenant Croghan was sent with a force to effect its capture, but he delayed his movements so long that the English commander was enabled to strengthen his position and to increase his force to such an extent that the expedition ended in an ignominious failure. It was not until the close of the war that the island came once more into the possession of the Americans, the post being evacuated in the spring of 1815 and being again occupied by a force of Ameri- can soldiery.
At the beginning of the administration of Governor Cass, there was but a small population in the entire territory and that was confined to a few settlements on the eastern border. The entire interior of what was destined to be, in the not distant future, one of the great and most prosperous states of the Union, was prac- tically an unknown wilderness, and, what was greatly to its dis- advantage, it was regarded as being an almost impenetrable swamp and of little value, possessing no attraction for other than trappers and hunters. Some of the civil engineers sent out by the general government to make the survey of bounty lands for the soldiers were responsible, in a large degree, for reports that served to injure the territory and retard its settlement. Governor Cass took great pains to counteract these reports and to remove the er- roneous impressions that had been created thereby. He made treaties with the Indians, dealt with them fairly and honorably,
68
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
secured cession of their lands to United States, and by his un- tiring efforts in behalf of much maligned territory, he won imper- ishable renown. After the necessary treaties had been concluded, the country was opened for settlement. The survey of public lands was begun in 1816, and after the lapse of two years the au- thorities began their sale. Farmers would not come in any con- siderable numbers until there was an opportunity to procure lands to which they could obtain a sure title, and, without tillers of the soil, there could be little growth or prosperity, but, with the set- tlement of the interior, which really began in 1818, the territory commenced to make a substantial growth.
The first steamboat that ever sailed on the great lakes, the "Walk-in-the-Water," arrived at Detroit in the summer of 1818, and from that time forth, westward bound settlers had less dif- ficulty in coming to Michigan. The "Walk-in-the-Water" was wrecked three years afterward, but the "Superior" and other steamers soon took her place and steam navigation contributed in no slight degree to increasing prosperity of the growing ter- ritory.
Another pressing need was the matter of roads. Immigrants could not come in any considerable numbers to the new territory as long as the only method of finding their way through the for- ests was by trails or by roads cut out, but never worked, and which were often practically impassable. Roads around the west end of Lake Erie to Detroit, and from the latter place to Chi- cago, and other highways of importance, were constructed as soon as practicable through the energetic work of Governor Cass and his efficient secretary, Woodbridge. The opening of the Erie canal in 1825 was also an event of great importance to Michigan. Steamers and sailing craft rapidly increased in number and it is estimated that at least three hundred passengers a week were landed in Detroit during the fall of that year.
George G. Porter, of Pennsylvania, succeeded Cass as governor of the territory and Stevens T. Mason became his secretary. As Governor Porter was absent for a considerable portion of the time, his duties were performed by Secretary Mason. When Porter died in 1834, no change was made and Mason continued to perform the duties of governor during the remainder of the territorial period. In the meantime, the population of the territory had reached and passed the number (60,000) prescribed in the Ordinance of 1787, and the people desired admission into the Union.
It was about this time that a serious dispute arose in regard to the boundary line between Michigan and the state of Ohio, which had been admitted in 1802 with an indefinite northern boundary. The act of 1805, by which the territory of Michigan was organ-
69
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
ized, fixed the southern boundary of the territory at a line run- ning due east from the southern bend of Lake Michigan. This line included Toledo and a considerable strip of land to which Ohio laid claim, and of which, by proclamation of Governor Lucas is- sued in 1835, the Ohio authorities assumed control, the legisla- ture of that state passing an act for its organization as the county of Lucas. This action was resented by the Michigan authorities and Acting Governor Mason called out the militia and proceeded to Toledo for the avowed purpose of preventing the Ohio officials from taking possession and exercising control over the disputed strip. Although some shots were fired it was a bloodless war, as nobody was injured.
Congress, anxious for a peaceable solution of the matter, offered Michigan all that portion of the present state lying north of the straits known as the Upper Peninsula, on condition that she should relinquish all claim to the land claimed by Ohio. This compro- mise was reluctantly accepted by the Michigan authorities, prac- tically nothing being known of the resources of the territory which she received in exchange for that which she abandoned to the state of Ohio. Subsequent events, however, proved that it was a most valuable exchange, the mineral resources of the Upper Peninsula, especially iron and copper, which were then entirely unknown, having added many millions of dollars to the value of the state.
The first state convention looking to the adoption of a constitu- tion for the embryo state was held at Detroit in May, 1835. The document framed by the convention was submitted to a vote of the people and adopted on the first Monday of the following Oc- tober, state officers being chosen at the same time. Stevens T. Mason was elected governor and Edward Mundy, lieutenant gov- ernor. Mason is distinguished in Michigan history by the title of the "boy governor," he being but nineteen years of age when he first assumed gubernatorial duties as acting executive of the territory, and but twenty-three years old when elected as the first governor of the new state that was soon to be. He was born in the state of Virginia in 1812 and died January 4, 1843, aged not quite thirty-one years.
. The Michigan legislature met in November, 1835, and elected Lucius Lyon and John Norvell as United States senators. Every- thing was ready for her admission, but the dispute with the state of Ohio as to the southern boundary of the state prevented favor- able congressional action at that time, and it was not until Jan- uary 26, 1837, that congress acted favorably on the question and Michigan became the twenty-sixth state of the Union.
70
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
MICHIGAN AS A STATE
Under the first constitution of Michigan, the governor and the lieutenant governor were elective. The other state officers-secre- tary of state, attorney general, auditor general, superintendent of public instruction and the judges of the supreme court-were to be appointed by the governor by and with the consent of the senate, except as to the superintendent of public instruction, whose ap- pointment was to be ratified by both houses of the legislature, in joint session. A state treasurer was also provided for, who re- ceived his appointment from the legislature by a joint vote of the two houses. The governor also had the appointment of a prosecut- ing attorney for each county, subject to the approval of the senate.
Another peculiar provision of the constitution of 1835, deserving of especial notice, was that in regard to internal improvements, which was as follows: "Internal improvements shall be encouraged by the government of this state and it shall be the duty of the legislature, as soon as may be, to make provision by law for ascertaining the proper objects of improvement in relation to roads, canals and navigable waters; and it shall also be their duty to provide by law for an equal, systematic, economical ap- plication of the funds which may be appropriated to these ob- jects."
Governor Mason was in full sympathy with the proposed system of internal improvement by the state, and as his recommendation and with his approval the scheme was speedily put into execution. Arrangement was made for the issue of five million dollars of state bonds and the governor was given authority to negotiate the loan. Among the more important projected improvements were two lines of railway, the Michigan Central and the Michigan Southern. The former was projected to begin at Detroit, extend across the state and end at St. Joseph on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Of this project we shall have occasion to speak further in another chapter. The other line was projected to ex- tend from Monroe to New Buffalo. After an unsuccessful ex- perience of five years in the prosecution of these enterprises and others of lesser note, it became evident that it would be for the best interests of the state to dispose of these railroads, neither of which was completed, to private corporations. They were accord- ingly sold in 1846 for the sum of two and a half millions of dol- lars, which was very much less than the state had invested in them, but which was, doubtless, a very good sale for the interests of the people. Under the management of the purchasers the roads were soon completed, but some changes were made along the west- . ern portion of their routes.
71
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
The new state also had an unique and disastrous experience with its banking system which afterward came to be known as and called "wild-cat banking." Among the crude and ill-digested theories of that primitive day was the notion that banking, like farming, store-keeping and other ordinary business, should be free to all. When the state was admitted there was fifteen banks doing business within its borders, and, in the spring of 1837, the legis- lature passed a general banking law. This act provided that any ten or more freeholders might engage in the business of banking with a capital of not less than $50,000, nor more than $300,000. This law was loosely framed and without proper safeguards, and proved in practice to be utterly worthless. Among other things, it was provided that not less than thirty per cent of the entire capital should be paid in, in specie, before commencing business ; that debts and bills issued should be secured by mortgages on real estate, etc. Banks were to be subject to examination and supervision by commissioners, but all these statutory provisions for safety were successfully evaded. Banks were started by irre- sponsible parties, mere adventurers, who were wholly destitute of either capital or credit. Whenever the banking commissioners started on their tours of investigation, bags of coin were secretly carried from one bank to another, so that the commissioners were constantly deceived. It is said that nails, with specie in the tops of the kegs were palmed off on the commissioners as full kegs of coin, but as this is not properly vouched for, it may not be true. At all events every possible ruse was made use of to make a showing of the legal amount of coin, and by means of the speedy and surreptitious transfer of specie from bank to bank, the same coin was made to do duty over and over again, and in the mean- time these wild-cat institutions were putting into circulation a vast amount of utterly worthless currency.
The year 1837 is memorable as a time of great financial panic throughout the entire United States. In June of that year the Michigan legislature passed an act authorizing the suspension of specie payment until the middle of May of the following year, hoping thereby to relieve in some degree the financial stress that prevailed, not only in Michigan, but in the entire country. But as the wild-cat banking law remained unrepealed, banks con- tinued to be organized and a constant stream of worthless cur- rency continued to be issued, and was put into circulation as rapidly as possible. Banks were located anywhere and every- where. One was found doing a flourishing business in an old saw mill, and it was humorously asserted that a hollow stump served as a vault. The bank of Singapore, located in the woods where now is the site of the flourishing village of Saugatuck, in
1
72
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
the county of Allegan which adjoins Van Buren county on the north, was a typical institution of the kind. The writer has a bill of that bank in his possession that was issued in 1837. By the close of the year 1839, most of these wild-cat banks had gone out of business, but more than a million dollars of worthless cur- rency, which was a total loss to the people, had been put into circulation. In 1844 the banking law was declared to be uncon- stitutional, and that decision closed out the last of the "wild-cats."
One of the first steps of interest taken by Governor Mason, after the admission of Michigan into the Union, was the appointment of a superintendent of public instruction. Rev. John D. Pierce was selected for this important office. He was the founder of the Michigan primary school system, a system that is acknowledged to be second to that of no other one of the states of the Union.
Father Pierce, as he is affectionately termed, wished to place the primary school within the reach of every child of school age in the state, and also to establish a state university for the higher cul- ture of the more advanced students. How well he succeeded in his efforts along these lines the present admirable Michigan system of educating her children bears ample testimony. The plan which he developed contained most of the essential features of the pres- ent school system, and when it is remembered that he was the first superintendent of public instruction in the United States, and that he had to formulate the entire educational plan, we are better prepared to appreciate the wisdom and foresight displayed by this founder of the justly celebrated Michigan school system.
A majority of the pioneers who settled in the interior of Michi- gan came from the New England states, New York and Ohio. Some of them came from the very birthplace of the town meeting, and all of them took an active and earnest interest in the good govern- ment of the state of their adoption. They were an intelligent and public spirited people, prudent and industrious, desirable citizens in any community. Their style of living was unavoidably plain ; their dwellings were structures built of logs from the forests, primitive, but comfortable; their clothing cheap and coarse, but that mattered not to the hardy settlers, so long as it possessed the qualities of wear and comfort. Hard work was the order of the day and while neighbors were few and far between, genuine friend- ship and hospitality were marked characteristics of the "path- finders" of the vast Michigan wilderness.
From 1701, when Cadillac first occupied Fort Pontchartrain, until 1847, Detroit had been the seat of government, but in the latter part of that year, the legislature located the capital at Lansing, which was then an unbroken forest forty miles distant from any railroad, but which is now a flourishing city of upwards
73
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
of 30,000 inhabitants. This action of the legislature met with much ridicule and opposition, but the event justified the location, which has proved to be satisfactory to the people of the state. The township of Lansing, in which the capital city is situated, was organized by an act of the legislature of 1842, as follows: "That all that part of the county of Ingham designated by the United States survey as township number four north, of range number two west, be set off and organized into a separate township, by the name of Lansing, and the first township meeting shall be held at the shantee near the cedar bridge in said township."
After an experience of more than a dozen years under the con- stitution of 1835, it became manifest that some radical changes were needed in the fundamental law of the state, and a convention was called to meet at Lansing in June, 1850, for the purpose of preparing and submitting a new constitution. This duty was performed and the work of the convention submitted to the peo- ple at the general election held on the 5th day of November, 1850 .* Hon. Isaac W. Willard, a man prominent in the development of Van Buren county, was a delegate to this convention. The con- stitution of 1850 remained as the supreme law of the state until 1908, when it was superseded by the present constitution which was adopted by a vote of the people at the general election of November in that year. The present constitution was framed by a convention that met at Lansing, October 22, 1907, and re- mained in session until March 3, 1908. At this convention, Hon. Benjamin F. Heckert and Hon. Guy J. Wicksall were delegates from Van Buren county.
At the time of the admission of Michigan into the Union, the Democratic party was in power and the first governor of the state was affiliated with that party. He was succeeded by Governor Woodbridge, a Whig, for a single term, after which the Democrats again came into control of the state and remained as the dominant party until the organization of the Republican party in 1854, since which date that party has, with the exception of two terms, been in full control of the state government.
During the Civil war the state was fortunate in having Hon. Austin Blair, known as her great "war governor," as her chief executive. No state was more earnest in supporting the general government and in upholding the hands of the immortal Lincoln, than was Michigan. None made greater sacrifice for the suppres- sion of the Rebellion and none sent better or braver soldiers into the field. Altogether, Michigan furnished 93,700 men, of whom
* Among other changes, this constitution made judges of the supreme court and state officers, heads of departments, elective instead of appointive.
74
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
14,855 died in the service of their country. Upwards of 4,000 Michigan men were enlisted in the more recent Spanish-American war.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.