USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Chronography of notable events in the history of the Northwest territory and Wayne County > 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
-
-97 -
S. Horner was the Territorial Governor, although the people had submitted to the new State form of government. The boundary question between Michigan and Ohio began to cause disturbance. Michigan claimed that under the ordinance of 1787, it was entitled to a line taking in Maumee Bay, now Toledo, Ohio resisting. The Legislature elected in October met at Detroit in November and chose John Norvell and Lucius Lyon as U. S. Senators, but trans- acted no other important business. Members from Wayne of the first Constitutional Convention, May IIth : John Biddle, John Norvell, John R. Williams, Alpheus White, Amos Stevens, Conrad TenEyck, Louis Beaufait, Peter VanEvery, Jonathan D. Davis, Caleb Herrington, Ammon Brown, T. E. Tallman, George W. Ferrington, Asa H. Otis, Charles F. Irwin and William Wood- bridge, held at Detroit; adjourned June 24. Members from Wayne of the 6th and last Territorial Legislature : John McDonald, Chas. Moran and Elon Farnsworth.
1836 .- June 15th, Congress passed an act of admission upon condition that the people, by and through a representative convention to be called for that purpose, should accept the state boundary on the south claimed by Ohio, and as a compensation for such surrender should receive the upper peninsular. Said convention was called to meet at Ann Arbor, September 26. The delegates chosen from Wayne county were Titus Dort, D. C. Mckinstry, Louis Beau- fait, B. B. Kercheval, Ammon Brown, Eli Bradshaw, Horace A. Noyes and John McDonald. On the assembling of the delegates William Draper, of Oakland, was chosen president and Charles A. Jeffries, Samuel York, A. Lee, secretaries, and Martin Davis, sergeant at arms. This convention, after considering the ques- tion, refused to accept the proposition suggested by the act of Con- gress and adjourned. Meanwhile the excitement ran high. Both Ohio and Michigan had organized a force of 10,000 militia, pro- posing to settle the question by force of arms. Wiser counsel, however, prevailed, and a second representative convention was called and delegates were elected December 6th who met at Ann Arbor Dec. 14th. The delegates representing Wayne in this convention were John R. Williams, Ross Wilkins, Charles Moran, M. J. Bacon, Daniel Goodwin, B. F. H. Witherell, John E. Schwartz, R. Gillett, Eli Bradshaw, Horace A. Noyes, Elihu Morse, Warren Tuttle, A. Y. Murray, John Bucklin, Josiah Mason and Charles F. Irwin. On convening, General John R. Williams was chosen president and Kinzing Prichette and J. E. Fields, secretaries. The convention, after one day and night's discussion, adopted a resolution giving assent of the State to the congressional proposition. The resolution being signed by the delegates and
- 98 -
ratified by the people settled the Toledo war and the machinery of the state government began to be put into successful operation, which ends the third epoch in the history of Michigan and Wayne county. The Detroit Advertiser first issued.
JOSEPH CAMPAU.
Were the merchants of the present period compelled to encounter the privations and labor experienced by Joseph Campau in the business transactions of his day, we fear they would shrink, and become dis- couraged. Joseph Campau was born in Detroit, February 20th, 1769. His grandfather came to Detroit with Cadillac in 1701. He located what was subsequently known as the James Campau, Chene and Pou- pard farms.
Joseph Campau received his primary education from his devoted mother, to whose great care and anxiety for the proper Christian train- ing and early education of her son, we are indebted for those traits of benevolence and great leniency of which Mr. Caupau's life was after- wards characteristic. At the age of ten he was sent to school at Mont- real, where he remained five years. He received a good French education, and returned to Detroit in 1786, one of the most accom- plished Frenchmen of the old aristocratic town. Nor did he lack any of those qualities which make Frenchmen attractive in society. His name was an acknowledged title to French nobility, and his polished manners and finished education invested him with much interest.
On his return from Montreal, his father having died during his absence, he entered into the employment of Mr. McGregor, a store- keeper at Sandwich, Canada. He remained in this capacity for some time, or until the commencement of his Malden enterprise. Having accumulated some funds, he entered into a contract with the British Government to erect a fort at Malden. He proceeded to execute this work, collecting a vast quantity of timber for the building of the Fort, when a freshet came and swept it all away, leaving him quite penniless. He then returned to the employment of Mr. McGregor, and shortly afterwards entered into the mercantile business on his own account, his first place of business, being on what is now Atwater street, his prin- cipal customers the Frenchmen of the town, and the Indians farther away. Afterwards he moved to the south side of St. Ann street, now known as Jefferson avenue, on the site of the house in which he died. His success was great, and he soon established branch trading posts at Saginaw, St. Clair, and on the Clinton (the Huron of St. Clair). Mr. Campau continued in trade for upwards of forty years. He had a large and profitable Indian trade. He generally procured his goods in Montreal, but was the first merchant of Detroit who purchased goods
-99-
in Boston and transported them to the western settlements. Joseph Campau was indeed the great pioneer merchant of Michigan. He was not only the leading spirit in mercantile pursuits in his day, but through almost unparalleled success, the result of his own great energy and exemplary integrity, he accumulated a large fortune, and was, at an early day, the most extensive dealer in Detroit.
As early as 1786 he commenced buying and selling real estate. In this business Mr. Joseph Campau rendered his country an invalu- able service. It was his rule to purchase uncultivated lands, erect comfortable dwellings upon them, and dispose of the lots after they had been prepared for the reception of civilization. On almost all these lots he placed buildings costing from $3,000 to $4,000, and paid, on an average, $50 an acre for clearing the land. He displayed almost matchless enterprise in this work, providing attractive homes for hundreds of the early settlers of Detroit and Michigan. It was his custom either to sell or rent these places, after clearing a large portion of the land and placing comfortable dwellings upon it. His customers were, for the most part, poor people who, with but a few dollars, had come to develop a home among the pioneers of the northwest. Mr. Campau's books show that many were the tenants who depended upon his charity for a home. When times were hard and money was scarce, and rents and mortgages came due, it was Mr. Campau's pride to visit his debtors and encourage them with words of good cheer, assuring them that the kind Providence who had intrusted so much property to his care and disposal had taught him to "do unto others as he would that others should do unto him." In this way many a mother's aching heart was made glad, and hundreds of little children were permitted to enjoy the fruits of a father's industry, that, with a less benevolent master than Mr. Campau, they would have suffered for. Hundreds still live and thousands have gone to their graves, who have borne testimony to the great philanthropy and willing charity of this good old pioneer and patriarchial citizen.
On Detroit becoming incorporated in 1802, Mr. Campau was elected member of the first Board of Trustees. He was also one of the dispensation members of Zion Lodge of Free Masons. In 1812 he received a commission as major from President Madison. The fire of the IIth of July, 1805, destroyed nearly all the buildings in Detroit, including Mr. Campau's. He immediately rebuilt the home on the same site in which he died, and which was purchased by the late Francis Palms, who erected the large brick block now occupied by the Heavenrich brothers.
As a merchant Mr. Campau was the soul of integrity. It is said that his account books are perfect models for neatness and accuracy. His customers are described in them with great particularity, as to
4150074
-100-
name, genealogy and residence, and sometimes their habits are slyly hinted or openly described. Of themselves they afford a correct history of many of the early incidents of Michigan. Mr. Campau took pride in schooling his sons in all the details connected with his vast business. His rent books describe every house, as well as the ante- cedents, recommendations and character of his tenants, and every lease granted or receipt taken from 1792 to the day of his death was filed in alphabetical order, and carefully preserved. Mr. Campau's personal habits were simple and plain. He was temperate, abstemious, indus- trious, frugal and cautious. He never gave alms to be seen of men, but was liberal and indulgent toward his tenants to a degree that won their affection and esteem. Mr. Campau took great interest in raising stock, especially in horses, and was as early as 1798 a member of the Board of "Trade Britannic." In 1812 he was connected with the Northwestern Fur Company with John Jacob Astor, James Abbot and L. S. Schwarz. In 1809 he had ten branch stores in the territory, and was one of the original stockholders of the first banking institution in the city, the "Territorial," of which General John R. Williams was president, and was associated with General Williams in the establish- ment of the Democratic Free Press (now the Detroit Free Press). They purchased for that purpose the material used in the publication of the Oakland Chronicle in Pontiac. He was an original owner in the stock of the Detroit and St. Joseph R. R. (now M. C. R. R.) and a member of this Society at its organization.
In 1808 Mr. Campau married Adelaide Dequindre, daughter of Antoine Ponchartin Dequindre and Catherine (Desmirere) Lemoine- dieu a brother of Mrs. Campau. Major Antoine Dequindre distin- guished himself at the battle of Monguagon in 1812. He died May 20, 1862.
James Campau, the father of Joseph, married Catherine Menard in 1760. They had two sons; Jacques, born 1762, Joseph, the subject of this sketch, and one daughter, Cecile, born 1765. In 1781 she married Judge Thomas Williams, the father of General John R. Williams. The children of Mr. Campau living at the time of his death were Daniel J., Dennis J., James J., Alexander T., Adelaide, Catherine D., Emily and Matilda, all of whom have since died.
Joseph Campau died July 25, 1863. The attendance at his funeral was the largest ever witnessed in Detroit up to that period. He was buried in Elmwood cemetery July 27th, 1863.
Mr. Campau was a connecting link between the wars of the Revolution of 1812-15, and that of the great Republic of 1861. His life was full of events in which he was an active participant.
-101 -
ANTHONY WAYNE.
Anthony Wayne, from whom this County takes its name, is entitled to a place among the pioneers of the third period in this work. The grandfather of this gallant soldier emigrated from Ireland to America in 1722. By birth he was English, but siding with William, the Protestant, he fought at the battle of the Boyne, and broke up his residence in Ireland, on account of the ingratitude, as he thought, of that prince. This experience also turned him to the New World, and located him in Chester Co., Pa., where his grandson, the sub- ject of this sketch, came into the world, January Ist, 1745. His father, Issac Wayne, a farmer, was for many years a representative of the county in the Colonial Assembly. His first preceptor was his uncle Gilbert, who, writing to his father at this time, says: "Anthony neglects his books, and sets the school topsy-turvy with his redoubts, entrenchments, and skirmishing with the boys out of school, from which the boys come in with broken heads and black eyes. He may. make a soldier, but one thing I am certain of, that he will never make a scholar," and concludes, "I must be candid with you, brother Isaac, that unless Anthony pays more attention to his books, I must dismiss him from school." Upon being appealed to by his father, he rallied his mental powers and applied himself to his books with such diligence as to be soon prepared for the Philadelphia Academy, which he entered, and from which he graduated in his eighteenth year, and opened a land surveyor's office in his native town.
At the close of the old French war, he was employed by a com- pany of Philadelphia land speculators (of whom Benjamin Franklin was one) to superintend the colonization of some land investments in Nova Scotia. Anthony was twenty-one when he was entrusted with this duty, at the special recommendation of Franklin. Anthony remained in the employ of this Company until 1767, when the affairs of the country became so unsettled as to induce his return to Pennsyl- vania. He married a Miss Penrose, the daughter of a Philadelphia mer- chant, and devoted himself to his farm and surveying in Chester County.
In 1773 he succeeded his father as a representative in the Assembly, and took an active, patriotic part in the political questions of the day. He was the first in the field after Independence was declared, and a call for troops was made, and raised a company of volunteers. In 1776 Con- gress commissioned him as Colonel, and sent him with his regiment to the northern army on the borders of Canada, when he found himself under the command of General Sullivan, and was detached to accom- pany General Thompson in what proved an unfortunate raid into Canada. The latter proved inefficient. The force became entangled,
- 102 -
the officers were wounded or taken prisoners, and the honor of con- ducting a successful retreat fell to Wayne. In the winter of 1776 Gen. Gates left him in command of Ticonderoga and Congress created him a Brigadier General. In the spring of 1777, he joined Washington, and was placed in command of a brigade ready for active service against Howe. Wayne took part in the movement between New York and Philadelphia which preceded the landing of Howe's army on the shore of Chesapeake Bay, August, 1777. Washington pushed his forces for- ward to meet him for the defence of Philadelphia, and Wayne's brigade was stationed at Chadd's Ford, on the Brandywine, where the main fighting was expected to take place; but the right wing of the American army was attacked and defeated first, which left Wayne to sustain a prolonged attack and ultimately retreat from his position. Wayne was next sent in conjunction with General Smallwood to harass Howe's army, and took his post in the rear.
On the 4th of October he made an advance on Germantown and took the enemy by surprise and drove them from their position, but in the confusion occasioned by a dense fog and the smoke, which made the day as dark as night, his troops mistook an advancing body of American troops for the enemy, and fired upon them. This created confusion and forced him to retreat. During the following winter his brigade was employed in foraging for the army at Valley Forge. Philadelphia was evacuated by the British in the spring of 1778. Washington followed them through New Jersey, and at Monmouth overtook and gave them battle, June 28th. In this battle Wayne was again placed in the front, and just as he was about to meet the attack upon his position General Lee ordered a retreat, but Washington coming up, ordered him to hold his position, which he did successfully, repulsing the repeated attacks by the enemy. This success of Wayne brought on a general action, and during its progress, Wayne ordered his men to " pull off their coats, roll up their shirt sleeves and charge." This service decided the contest in favor of the Americans. Washington in his despatch to the President of Congress singled out Wayne for commendation.
His next exploit was the capture of Stoney Point, on the Hudson, July 16, 1779, with the bayonet. Not a musket was fired by his troops. He himself was wounded in the hand by a musket ball, and was sup- ported into the works by his aides. The daring exhibited by him on this occasion gave him the title of " Mad Anthony."
During the summer of 1780 he was actively co-operating with Washington on the Hudson. In the summer the latter ordered him to storm the works near Bull's Ferry (opposite the present limits of New York City), and drive the cattle collected there by the British into the American lines; and although his attack was repulsed, he succeeded in capturing the cattle, which he drove into camp.
-103-
The winter following he was stationed at Morristown, and the summer of 1781 found him with Lafayette in Virginia. From thence he was ordered to join Green in Georgia. In this campaign he defeated the British and their Indian allies, the Choctaws and Creeks, which led to the capture of Savannah. As a reward for his services in that State, Georgia made to him a valuable grant of land, which subsequently proved an unprofitable gift, owing to the pecuniary embarrassments occasioned by his attempted improvements.
On his return to Pennsylvania he devoted his time to his farm, until called by Washington to retrieve the disasters of General St. Clair against the Western Indians. He took the field in Ohio in the autumn of 1793, and erected a fort on the site of St. Clair's defeat, which he named Fort Recovery, where he wintered. In the summer of 1794 he took the field, and on the 20th of August attacked a large Indian force on the Miami, which he completely routed. This victory was followed soon after by a treaty of peace. He was then ordered to take pos- session of Detroit under the terms of the Jay treaty, when, after spending some further time in restoring order and providing for the restoration of civil law in the territory, he returned to Pennsylvania. In 1796 he was again sent west to receive the remaining posts sur- rendered by the British, and it was on his descending Lake Erie from Detroit that he was attacked with the gout. He died in a hut at Presque Isle in December, 1796, and was buried on the shore of the lake. In 1809 his remains were removed by his son, and interred in Radnor churchyard, Delaware County. In person, Wayne was well proportioned ; dark hair and dark eyes lent power to his expression. He was of a lively, vivacious turn, always ready for action.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
William Henry Harrison had much to do in the formation and restoration of law and order in the territory of the northwest, of which Michigan and Wayne county was a part. He was born at Berkley, St. Charles City county, Va., February 9th, 1773. The family from which he was descended is traced to a colonial ancestor in the first half of the 17th century. A son of his, Benjamin Harrison, established the line at the family seat at Berkley, St. Charles City county, Va., on the James river. He was a lawyer and a member of the House of Bur- gesses. His grandson, of the same name, was the signer of the declaration of Independence. The father, William Henry Harrison, the subject of this sketch was the great grandfather of Benjamin Har- rison, now president of the United States.
William Henry Harrison was well provided for, for acquiring an education, and after a preparatory course entered and graduated from
- 104 -
Hampden Sidney college in Virginia, whence he turned to the study of medicine. He had studied for a short time under the instruction of a Richmond doctor and was about to continue his studies with the noted Doctor Rush, of Philadelphia, when his father's death occurred, and, with some reluctance on the part of his family, he chose a military life. Through General Henry Lee he obtained a commission as ensign in the first regiment of the United States infantry, then stationed at Fort Washington, the present site of Cincinnati. He was then but 19 years of age and the time of his arrival at Fort Washington was after the defeat of General St. Clair by the Indians at the Miami villages. Thus he was introduced to the region with which he became ever after identified, and in which, by his acts and deeds, he laid the foundation for that popularity which subsequently carried him triumphantly into the presidential chair.
The ill fortune which befell St. Clair was calculated to rouse the warlike spirit of Harrison, and also furnished a lesson of caution and preparation in dealing with the Indians which was not lost upon subse- quent campaigns.
Major General Wayne succeeded St. Clair and took the field in the summer of 1793 and appointed Harrison upon his staff. In the engagement at the Rapids he so distinguished himself as to secure from Wayne in his dispatch of the victory commendation as "one who rendered the most essential service by communicating my orders in every direction and by his conduct and bravery exciting the troops to victory." The battle of the Miamis was fought August 20, 1794. Its fruits brought was a treaty of peace at Greenville which closed the war. Harrison at this time held the rank of captain and was placed in command of Fort Washington, and about the same time he married the daughter of John Cleves Symmes, the founder of Cincinnati. He held the post till 1797, and then sent in his resignation, desiring to devote himself to agricultural pursuits. He was not permitted to enjoy them long, for President Adams having appointed him secretary of the Northwest Territory he was called to assist General St. Clair, then Governor, in its organization. When the territory became organ- ized, in 1797, he was chosen a delegate to represent it in Congress. On the division of the territory, Harrison was withdrawn from Con- gress and appointed Governor of the newly formed territory of Indiana, which included the present States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wis- consin and a portion of Ohio. November 7th, 1811, he defeated the Indians under the Indian Prophet, brother of Tecumseh. The battle was fought on the banks of the Tippecanoe river, a tributary of the Wabash in Indiana .. In May, 1812, Tecumseh openly joined the British standard at Malden. On the 18th of the following month war against Great Britain was formally declared, and Hull's surrender
- 105 -
of Detroit occurred in August. These events roused the war spirit in Ohio and Kentucky and volunteer forces were raised in large numbers. There being some conflict of authority as to who should command the troops from Kentucky, for the purpose of placing Har- rison at the head, that State conferred upon him the brevet of major general, while the secretary of war, ignorant of this fact, had assigned the command to General Winchester. The difficulty, however, was speedily settled by the President, who in September appointed Harri- son commander-in-chief of the western department, when the left wing of the army was assigned to Winchester, Harrison taking his position in what British conquests had made the frontier, being the northerly portion of Ohio bordering on Michigan and making his head- quarters at Upper Sandusky.
On January 22d, 1813, occurred the massacre of the River Raisin. This for a time stopped all further aggressive movements on the part of Harrison, who intrenched his forces at the Rapids of the Maumee, constructing a fort, which he named in honor of the Governor of Ohio, " Fort Meigs."
The next important event was the repulse and the defeat of Proctor in his attack on Fort Meigs on the 5th of May.
Relieved of the presence of the enemy, Harrison now waited the developments of Perry's movements, for once in command of Lake Erie he felt that the British occupation of Detroit would be abandoned. During this interim Major Croghan successfully defeated the attack by Proctor on Fort Stephenson. This occurred on the Ist of August. On the 10th of September Perry defeated and captured the whole British squadron. Then Harrison commenced an aggressive move- ment, and on the 27th of September effected a landing on the Canadian shore, and advancing to Malden, found it had been abandoned by the British. Proctor with his troops, and Tecumseh with his followers, had retreated into the interior. Harrison, leaving small detachments at Sandwich and Detroit, now regained, pushed on after the retreating foes. Lewis Cass and Commodore Perry were with him as aides.
On the 5th of October he came up with Proctor, whose troops were drawn up near the Moravian village on the banks of the River Thames, and at once attacked and defeated him. Such was the battle known in history as the Battle of the Thames, when Tecumseh was killed. With the death of Tecumseh the hopes of the Indians of the northwest were destroyed and General Harrison resigned and returned to civil life.
He was elected to Congress and served from 1816 to 1818, and from 1824 to 1828 in the United States Senate. Between these two dates he sat in the Ohio Senate. In 1828 President John Quincy Adams appointed him Minister to the Republic of Bogota. He
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.