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 9
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
Although the French had abandoned the territory and their chief military leaders had returned to France, the English were not destined long to remain in peaceful occupation of their new possessions. Less than three years of intercourse with the Indian tribes aroused intense hostility against the new occupants of the country. Many of the French inhabitants remained and, as they had little love for the English, they made common cause with the red men, and with them hoped for a speedy downfall of British domination.
A conspiracy was formed for the purpose of attempting the overthrow of English rule. An able leader was found in the per- son of Pontiac, an Ottawa chief. He was well fitted for the dar- ing enterprise; an eloquent orator, a brave and crafty warrior who had won first place among the Indians of his day, and, what was more than all the rest, he was a real military genius, thought- ful and far seeing and able both to originate and manage compli- cated plans. In this latter respect, he was probably the greatest chief of his race ever produced. His plan was to simultaneously attack all the English posts west of the Alleghany mountains and to accomplish the massacre of all the garrisons at a single stroke, hoping thus to rid the country of a people whom they hated and whom they regarded as intruders in the valleys of the west which had, from time immemorial, been the possession of the Indians themselves. There were at this time twelve posts scattered from Niagara to Chicago, three of which, Detroit, Michilimackinac and St. Joseph, were within the boundaries of the present state of Michigan. Pontiac sent his ambassadors throughout the west and south and all the various tribes, from the Ottawa to the lower
57
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
Mississippi, were visited, and all the Algonquins, most of the Wyan- dottes and some of the southern tribes were enlisted in the enter- prise.
A great council was held at a point on the River Ecorse, near Detroit, on the 27th day of April, 1763, at which arrangements were made for an attack on the posts in May.
The attack on Detroit was led by Pontiac in person. The crafty chief sought an interview with Major Gladwin, commander of the post, on the 7th day of May and was admitted, accompanied by a band of some sixty warriors, who, to all appearances were un- armed, their weapons being carefully concealed beneath their blankets. The plan was for Pontiac to make an address to the commander of the fort and the presentation of a string of wam- pum was to be the signal for the beginning of the massacre. This plan would, without doubt, have been successfully carried out, had it not been revealed to Major Gladwin by an Ojibwa maiden the evening previous to the intended attack, and he was prepared for it. When the red men were admitted to the fort they found the garrison under arms and ready to meet any hostile demonstration that might be attempted. Being convinced that the commander had been made aware of his plans, Pontiac was at a loss what course to pursue, or what to say and made his speech very brief. Major Gladwin told the Indians that the English would be their friends as long as they merited it, but that any hostile act would meet with instant vengeance. Two days later Pontiac sought to gain an entrance with a greater number of warriors, but did not succeed. The Indians then set up a war-whoop and murdered a number of the English who were outside the fort.
The garrison were expecting reinforcements and on the 30th of May a sentinel reported that a fleet of boats was approaching, but the hopes of the garrison for assistance and supplies were not to be realized, for the Indians had learned of the approach of the fleet, consisting of twenty-three batteaux, and had captured all the supplies and massacred all but one officer and thirty men who es- caped in a boat and crossed the lake to Sandusky bay. The siege lasted from May until late in October, when scarcity of food in the camp of the Indians compelled them to withdraw. In an- ticipation of a possible renewal of hostilities on the part of the Indians, the commandant laid in a good supply of provisions, but the savages made no further demonstration, and in the spring the negotiations of Sir William Johnson and the opportune ar- rival of General Bradstreet induced them to refrain from further hostilities.
Fort St. Joseph, which was garrisoned by Ensign Schlosser and fourteen men, was captured on the 25th of May, 1763, by a band
58
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
of Pottawattamies, who gained admission through pretended friendship and massacred all the little band except the commander and three men, who were afterward taken to Detroit and ex- changed.
Fort Michilimackinac, which was situated on the south side of the strait a short distance southwest of the present site of Mack- inaw City, was garrisoned by a force of nearly a hundred soldiers under the command of Major Etherington, who had full and ample warning of the hostile intentions of the Indians, but, dis- believing the reports, carelessly and foolishly neglected to take any precaution against possible attack, and on the second day of June, 1763, the Indians engaged in a game of ball just outside the gates of the fort, the officers and soldiers being interested specta- tors of the sport. About noon the ball was thrown into the fort and the red assassins rushed after it through the open gate. The Indians were furnished with tomahawks by the squaws who stood near the gate with the weapons concealed within their blankets. The garrison was taken completely by surprise and had little or no opportunity for defense. Lieutenant Jamette and seventy men were killed. Major Etherington and twenty-six men were taken prisoners and subsequently released.
After burning the fort and appropriating all the supplies therein, the savages for greater security from deserved retribution en- camped on Mackinac Island.
As a result of this Indian uprising, eight of the twelve English posts were captured, hundreds of Englishmen were slain and a reign of terror prevailed throughout the valleys of the west. But as far as accomplishing the real object of the conspiracy, the re- moval of the English from the interior of the country, the scheme of the great red chieftain was a complete failure. In the summer of 1764, General Bradstreet arrived at Detroit with an army of three thousand men. The Indians, realizing that it was useless for them to contend against so great a force, laid down their arms and thus the war was ended. From this time forth, the settle- ments grew slowly during the remainder of the English occupa- tion. Being so far removed from the scenes of conflict, the few settlers in this then far west had no occasion or opportunity to participate in the War of Independence, and although the treaty of peace between the colonies and the mother country, concluded at Paris in 1783, provided for the surrender of the English posts to the United States, it was not until July, 1796, that Detroit and Michilimackinac were given over into the possession of the new re- public and Michigan for the first time became an American posses- sion.
59
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
TERRITORIAL ( AMERICAN ) PERIOD
Although the ordinance creating the Northwest territory was passed by congress in 1787, the retention of the Michigan posts by the English until 1796 made the latter date the practical begin- ning of the American territorial period.
The anti-slavery clause contained in this ordinance was at first rejected by the committee having it in charge, but was subse- quently accepted, although a majority of the committee were from the then slave states. Except the Declaration of Independence, it was, at the date of its adoption, the most important declaration of fundamental law ever adopted by a free people. It provided for the government of the vast territory lying between the Ohio river and Lake Superior, and was framed with such wisdom that a modern jurist, Judge Cooley of the Michigan Supreme court, has said of it: "No charter has so completely withstood the tests of time and experience. It was not a temporary adaptation to a particular emergency, but its principles were for all time and worthy of acceptance under all circumstances."
The ordinance was a compact between the original states and the people and states of the territory, and it provides that these articles shall forever remain unalterable, except by common con- sent. This ordinance is the second of the four great and immortal documents that insure to the American people their religious and political freedom, viz: The Declaration of Independence, the Or- dinance of 1787, the Constitution of the United States and the Proclamation of Emancipation.
Of these four documents, the ordinance is less generally known among the people at large than either of the others, although it might as well be instilled into the minds of the rising generation as the Declaration itself.
The important provisions of the ordinance were embodied in the six following articles :
Art. I. No person demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly man- ner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory.
Art. II. The inhabitants of said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus and of the trial by jury; of a propor- tionate representation of the people in the legislature, and of judicial pro- ceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable unless for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land, and should the public exigencies make it necessary for the common preservation to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensa-
60
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
tion shall be made for the same. And in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide and with- out fraud previously formed.
Art. III. Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good gov- ernment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent and in their property, rights and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars author- ized by congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall, from time to time, be made for preventing wrongs being done to them and for pre- serving peace and friendship with them.
Art. IV. The said territory and the states that may be formed therein shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the articles of confederation and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made, and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in congress assembled, conformable thereto. The in- habitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned among them by congress ac- cording to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on other states, and the taxes for paying their propor- tion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legisla- tures of the district or districts, or new states, as in the original states, within the time agreed upon by the United States in congress assembled. The legis- latures of those districts or new states shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in congress assembled, nor with any regulations congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States, and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common high- ways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States and those of any other state that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost or duty therefor.
Art. V. There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three nor more than five states and the boundaries of the said states, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession and consent to the same,* shall be- come fixed and established as follows, to-wit: The western state in the said territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, Ohio and Wabash rivers, a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post St. Vincent's due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada and, by the said ter- ritorial line, to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle states shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Post St. Vincent's
* In the Virginia act of cession of December, 1783, the cession was made on condition that the territory so ceded should be laid out and formed into states, containing suitable extent of territory, not less than one hundred nor more than one hundred and fifty miles square.' or as near thereto as circumstances would permit. Five years later, in December, 1788, Virginia altered her act of cession and consented to the boundaries of the new states as fixed in the ordinance of 1787.
61
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line, drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern state shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania and the said territorial line: Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of these three states shall be subject, so far to be altered that, if congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two states in that part of said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the said states shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such state shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and state government: Provided, the constitution and government so to be formed shall be republican and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and, so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the state than sixty thousand.
Art. VI. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided, always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original states, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.
The congress that adopted the foregoing ordinance was the old continental congress, which, under the articles of confederation, had carried the new nation through the War of the Revolution. However, as soon as the colonies had won the contest with the mother country and had secured their independence, it was per- ceived that the loosely drawn articles of confederation were not sufficient to hold the several colonies together under one govern- ment, and steps were taken by the people of the several states "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty." At the very time when the Ordinance of 1787 was adopted, the constitutional con- vention which would "secure a more perfect union" was in ses- sion. The ordinance and the constitution each contains the same patriotic conditions and both of the great documents were the product of practically the same wise Fathers, who laid so broad and deep the foundations of the new republic that it has ever since been able to successfully resist all assaults from without, as well as to survive all domestic contention and discord.
By the adoption of the Ordinance of 1787, at the very begin- ning of its political existence, this vast region was pledged to edu- cation, freedom and equal rights for all.
In the fall of 1787 congress appointed General Arthur St. Clair governor of the Northwest territory, but owing to the failure of
62
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
the British to surrender the posts in this section until 1796 the first pages of territorial history have only slight connection with Michigan affairs.
Indiana territory was formed by act of congress in 1800, and two years later the lower peninsula of the present state of Michi- gan was made a part of the new territory and so remained until 1805. The most important event that occurred in the history of Michigan during the period while it was attached to Indiana ter- ritory, was an act of congress enacted in 1804, providing for the disposal of public lands within the territory, by which section sixteen, in each township, was reserved for the use of schools, and one entire township in each of the districts afterwards forming the states of Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, was to be located for the benefit of a seminary of learning. This act was the germ of the primary school fund in the state of Michigan and was the original source from which sprang the great university of the state, which has become one of the world's foremost educational institutions.
Several different plans were evolved for the division of this great Northwest territory into states, besides the Virginia plan, in the original deed of cession, and the plan embodied in the Ordinance of 1787. The first congressional plan contemplated the formation of seventeen individual states, eight states to be be- tween the Mississippi and a line due north from the Falls of the Ohio, at Louisville, eight more to be between the Ohio Falls line and a parallel line running north from the western side of the mouth of the Kanawha river. On the extreme east was to be the seventeenth state. This plan did not meet with favorable con- sideration.
What is called the Jeffersonian plan, because Thomas Jeffer- son was one of its chief originators, proposed a division into ten states. This plan is of interest chiefly for the names by which the proposed states were to have been called. Some of these names were Latin, some were Greek and some were of Indian derivation. The proposed states were to be about two degrees in width, north and south, and bounded on the east and west, as nearly as prac- ticable, by the north and south lines of the first congressional plan, above noted.
That part of the territory north of the forty-fifth parallel, cov- ering the then heavily timbered regions of northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, was to be called Sylvania. The re- mainder of the present state of Michigan was to be called Cher- sonesus, a Greek word signifying peninsula. South of Sylvania and covering a part of the present state of Wisconsin was to be the state of Michigania. South of Michigania and extending to
63
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
the forty-first parallel was to be the state of Assenisipia, an In- dian word signifying Rock river. East of Assenisipia and extend- ing north to the shore of Lake Erie, was to be the state of Meso- potamia. South of Assenisipia, to the 39th parallel, was to be the state of Illinoia. To the east of Illinoia was to be the state of Saratoga, and east of Saratoga, bounded by the Ohio river, the west line of Pennsylvania and the eastern part of the south shore of Lake Erie, was to be the state of Washington. South of Illi- noia and Saratoga and lying along the Ohio river, was to be a state called Polypotamia. East of Polypotamia was to be the tenth state called Pelisipi, from a Cherokee word sometimes given to the Ohio river. While all these proposed state lines have dis- appeared and most of the proposed names are recalled only as mat- ters of curiosity, it will be noticed that the name of the Father of his country has since been conferred on the extreme northwest state of the Union lying on the border of that greatest of oceans, which, at that date, no man had ever dreamed would one day be- come the western boundary of the United States and that even that ocean itself would not stop the westward march of the American people, but that they would cross to the islands of the sea and still farther onward, until the far west should have be- come also the far east and American civilization should have prac- tically encircled the earth and that the "sun should never set" upon the flag of the free.
Two of the other proposed names, Illinoia and Michigania, have been preserved with only slight changes in orthography. Had the proposed plan been adopted Van Buren county would now be located, not in the state of Michigan, but in the state of Chersone- sus.
On the eleventh of January, 1805, congress passed an act for the organization of Michigan territory, which was to embrace all that portion of Indiana territory lying north of a line drawn east from the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan until it intersected Lake Erie, and lying east of a line drawn from the same southerly bend through the middle of Lake Michigan to its northern extremity and thence due north to the northern boun- dary of the United States. General William Hull was appointed governor of the newly organized territory and arrived at Detroit in the month of July, 1805. A few weeks previous to his arrival the town had been destroyed by fire and he found the inhabitants encamped in the fields with a scanty supply of food and little shelter. But they were an indomitable people, not discouraged by their misfortune, and they immediately began to rebuild the town, which was made the capital of the new territory. Detroit. which at the last census (1910) contained a population of 465.766
64
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
souls, was then a hamlet of not to exceed 4,000 inhabitants, and at that time there appeared to be little inducement for immigra- tion into the new territory, the great natural resources of which were almost wholly unknown.
About two years after Governor Hull had assumed control of the territory, signs of Indian troubles became manifest. Insti- gated by British fur traders, a plan similar to that of Pontiac was devised, but was not then ready to be put into execution, although well-founded rumors of ill-feeling, discontent and evil designs came to the governor and the people from time to time, causing much anxiety and greatly retarding the settlement of the territory. Tecumseh and his brother, commonly called the Prophet, being the Indian leaders. Such was the condition of territorial affairs when the impressment of American seamen and other British in- sults brought on a second conflict with Great Britain.
Encouraged by the gathering war clouds, the Indians, long before the beginning of actual hostilities, assembled in great num- bers on the banks of the Wabash river, but, fortunately, not only for Indiana, but for Michigan and the entire northwest, General William Henry Harrison, afterward president of the United States, was the governor of that territory. Governor Harrison was an able, brave and energetic officer and took no chances and lost no time in instituting vigorous measures for the protection of the people against the redskins. With an army of about nine hun- dred men, he marched to the camp of the Indians called Prophet's Town. There he was met by a delegation of chiefs who professed to be greatly surprised at the visit, and assured the general that their intentions were peaceful and that they had no thought of fighting and asked for a conference on the morrow. The general replied that he would be glad to give them an opportunity to show their peaceful intentions and would grant them the de- sired council. But, being somewhat versed in the treacherous na- ture of the savages, on going into camp for the night, every pre- caution was taken to prevent a surprise in case the redskins should attack the camp. As the general had anticipated, the savages had only requested a council for the purpose of throwing the command off its guard and gaining an easy victory by means of a night at- tack. About four o'clock in the morning the Indians assaulted the camp, but, contrary to their expectations, they found the soldiers fully prepared for them. The engagement that followed is known in history as the battle of Tippecanoe and resulted in the complete rout of the Indians. This battle played no small part in elevating General Harrison to the presidency. There are yet surviving a considerable number of people who well remember the refrain of a campaign song of 1840 which ran as follows: "Tippecanoe and
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.