USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Chronography of notable events in the history of the Northwest territory and Wayne County > Part 13
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In 1828, Thomas had acquired through a mortgage belonging to the firm, a large tract of pine land at the mouth of Pine River, near where St. Clair is located, upon which he erected mills for the manu- facture of lumber; he also opened a store there, and for a number of years did business, then sold out to Wesley Truesdell. In 1845 he purchased several mining interests in Lake Superior, and engaged in mining, but this not proving profitable he returned to Detroit, and engaged in the insurance business with his son, Thomas W.
The blow received by the suspension of i824, was one from which it was not easy to recover, and while he was able to save some- thing from the wreck, what was of more value to him than gold was the fact that he was able to maintain and preserve his integrity and mercantile honor. He was not an avaricious man. It has been said, in fact, that he was too kind hearted to have been eminent as a business man, in the ordinary acceptation of the term. He generally took the world easy, never fretting about things that could not be helped, minded his own business, and never interfered with the affairs of his neighbors. Mr. Palmer was a Whig in politics, but never sought office. In 1827 he was elected alderman, and re-elected several terms as such.
In 1823, Thomas Palmer married Mary A. Witherell, a daughter of Judge James Witherell, who, as member of Congress from Vermont, was appointed by President Jefferson one of the judges of the North- west Territory, to succeed Judge Bates. He was then but 49 years of age, and was born at Mansfield, Massachusetts, in 1759. He had entered the Revolutionary Army at 16 years of age, and served during the war. At its close, he studied medicine, removed to Vermont, and
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after practising medicine some years, turned his attention to law, and held a judicial position until elected to Congress. At the close of his congressional term, as stated, he was appointed one of the judges of Michigan, and arrived at Detroit October 8th, 1808. The venerable Col. James W. Knaggs, still living, says of him : " He was the kindest man I ever knew. He was often a guest of my father, and even after I went to Toledo, he spent a week with me, which was the happiest of my life, because of the associations of my boyhood and his." It is said that while associated with Judges Woodward and Griffin, he had no sympathy for the eccentricities of the former or the whimsicalities and fickleness of the latter. Judge James Witherell died in January, 1838. Thomas and Mary A. Palmer (nee Witherell) had nine children; two only survived his death, Thomas W. Palmer and Julia E., wife of Henry A. Hibbard, of Kenosha. He died August 3rd, 1868. Mary A., his wife, survived him six years, departing this life in 1874.
Thomas W. Palmer, the only son of Thomas and Mary A. Palmer, possesses many of the characteristics of his father. The most lovable is that freedom from arrogance, which has gained for him the sincere and enthusiastic regard of the people of his native State, irrespective of partisan prejudices or affiliations. He cherishes for Michigan a love approaching idolatry, and notwithstanding the exalted positions ten- dered and held by him, calling him away from it, he anxiously desires the time to come when he can forego and decline them, that he may take up a continuous residence therein. He married the only child of Charles Merrill, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere.
Mr. Palmer has been a State and United States Senator, and at present represents the United States at the court of Spain.
Friend Palmer, the elder brother of Thomas, was a man of equal integrity and enterprise, but of a more sensitive nature in regard to matters pertaining to their financial disasters of 1824 ; he brooded over them more, and could not take them in the philosophical way, as did his brother, who believed that " what could not be cured must be endured." He married Miss Thankful Davis, a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
General Friend Palmer, the son of Friend and Thankful Palmer, nee Davis, was born at Canandaigua, N. Y., May 7, 1820. Nov. 6, 1851, he married Miss Harriett C. Witherell, of Detroit, daughter of Judge B. F. H. Witherell. She was born at Detroit, May 7, 1830. She died in Detroit, October 1, 1880, leaving two children, Patti and Winnie. The former married Captain J. Hale, 3rd U. S. Infantry. She died in October, 1887. The latter married Mr. T. E. Lockwood, of Detroit ; they are now residing in New York. Gen. Friend Palmer served for a number of years as Quartermaster in the regular army during the Mexican War. When his term of service expired he
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returned to Detroit, and for a number of years was engaged in the book trade, until the recent civil war broke out, when he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster-General of the State. Subsequently he was made Quartermaster-General, and served as such until succeeded by General Wm. H. Troop. The military records of the State thus speak of him : "His experience in the Quartermaster's department of the regular army rendered him a valuable officer, and to him the State was greatly indebted for the efficient and economical direction given to the administration of that department."
The genial smile and kind manner of Friend Palmer characterize a generous, noble nature, which endears him to all whom he meets, as well as to those who have made his personal acquaintance. In religious matters, he leans to the Unitarian doctrine. In politics, he is an earnest, active Republican, and as a native of Detroit, he ranks with all who desire its healthful growth in morals, education, wealth and beauty.
SEYMOUR FINNEY.
" Health and sickness, enjoyment and suffering, riches and poverty, knowledge and ignorance, power and subjection, liberty and bondage, civilization and barbarity, have all their offices and duties-all serve for the formation of character."-PALEY.
The experience of the subject of this sketch in the character he develops at this day, is an illustration as to how all the circumstances enumerated by the philosopher Paley have been utilized by him, for in his life he has encountered all of them. Born of parents, not in affluent circumstances, he was compelled at the age of sixteen to rely upon his own efforts for a living. The avocation adopted disagreed with his physical condition, ill health followed, causing him to seek a more con- genial employment, in the course of which he had to contend with all the ills and disappointments incident to a dependence upon the whims, caprices and selfishness of others.
Seymour Finney was born in Orange County, New York.
The first sorrow of Mr. Finney was occasioned by the death of his mother, which occurred when he was but nine years of age. Her loss threw him upon his own resources. It was a second grief when he found that he must give up his desire for an education. At the age of sixteeen he was obliged to leave his school, and was bound out to a tailor. During his apprenticeship his father moved to Yates county, and from thence to Michigan, and settled upon a farm in Redford, Wayne county, where he remained until death. Mr. Finney's failing health obliged him to give up the tailor's trade, and at the age of twenty he came to Michigan, but stayed only a few months, and returned to
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New York, spending the winter there. Finally, he came to Detroit, where he has since made his home.
Finding nothing to do, he for a short time worked at the tailor trade in Canada. This was during the Patriot War, but in 1838 his health led him to abandon his trade, and accept a clerkship with Mr. Warner, who was then keeping the Franklin House. He remained with Mr. Warner three years, and then bought a hotel on the corner of Bates and Jefferson Avenue. The city directory of 1845 gives " Walter Finney, bar keeper, Franklin House," and many confound Seymour with him. Mr. Seymour never kept a bar for anyone. In 1843 he engaged in the grocery business, which proved disastrous, and he was forced to earn bread for his family as day laborer.
In 1846 he rented the Franklin House, which he conducted for five years, and then bought the site and erected the Finney Hotel, a frame structure. He then purchased a lot on the corner of Griswold and State streets, on which he built a barn, known as the " Finney Barn." In 1854 he removed the frame building, and built on the site what is now the "Finney House." He conducted the hotel on temperance principles until 1857, when he retired, and in 1861 built his present residence on the corner of Cass avenue and High streets.
Mr. Finney, in religious matters, has been long connected with the Baptist denomination, and has ever maintained the character of a con- sistent Christian, affording a good example for others in all his walks and conduct.
In politics, Mr. Finney, although originally a Democrat, was anti- slavery in sentiment, and when in 1852, the Free Soil Party was organized, he acted with it. For a long time prior to that, however, his barn was the rendezvous for refugees from slavery, making for Canada. Many a poor slave has been hidden in the loft of the Finney Barn during the day and piloted at night across the river to Canada. As far back as 1840, Mr. Finney was known as the superintendent of the underground railway; and undoubtedly Mr. Finney must look back with much satisfaction to that portion of his life. During his long resi- dence in Detroit he has ever been recognized as the firm, outspoken champion of the poor and unfortunate of all classes.
From 1874 to 1888, Mr. Finney was a member of the Common Council, a greater portion of which time he was chairman of the com- mittee of ways and means. No measure could escape his scrutiny, and none pass having the least scintilla of wrong. Hence he was regarded, and bore the cognomen, "Guardian of the City Treasury."
Mr. Finney has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Mary A. Segar, who was born in Steuben county, N. Y. She departed this life in 1876. They had six children, four sons and two daughters. He married the second time Miss Matthews, who died recently.
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DAVID PARSONS.
To those familiar with the early history of Michigan the name of "Parsons" is associated with "energy," "activity" and "enter- prise." So far as connected with the progress of the territory to a State, culminating in its present prosperous condition, this name has been identified with all efforts and measures tending to promote educational, industrial and benevolent enterprises. How far, and to what extent, the subject of this sketch may have been instrumental in securing such results will appear in the notable events and acts in which he took a prominent part.
David Parsons was born at New Haven, State of New York, June 19th, 1820. His ancestry on the paternal side were of New England descent. His father, John Parsons, was born at Vernon, Vermont, in 1788, and his mother, whose maiden name was Betsy Tyler, was born in Connecticut in 1788 and was descended from an English family. His parents were married at Windom, Vermont, in 1808. His father died at Butterfly, Oswego county, N. Y., in 1849, and his mother at the same place in 1832. They had, as a fruit of the union, six sons and one daughter. In 1835 the subject of this sketch married Miss Sophronia C. Osborn, of North Bloomfield, Ohio. She was a daughter of Leonard Osborne and Amanda Smith and was born at North Bloomfield, Ohio. They had five children. Mr. Parsons came to Michigan in 1836.
Mr. Parsons has but one brother, an honest, industrous farmer, living near the old homestead in New York. Of his other brothers, S. Titus Parsons was in the Legislature and last Constitutional Conven- tion of this State ; Luke H. Parsons was said to be one of the most reli- able counselors of Michigan and was for some time regent of the Uni- versity ; Benj. Rich Parsons, a farmer, teacher and preacher, had the Bible at his tongue's end so completely as to induce ministers who knew him to declare that if the Bible was struck out of existence Rich, as he was called, could produce it again from memory; Andrew Parsons, who held almost every office of trust in the State of Michigan, including that of Member of Assembly, Senator, Regent of the University, Lieutenant Governor and finally Governor. These are all dead. The father was a farmer and taught all his children to work. But David was, from a mere youth, determined to get his living by "teaching school." When only fifteen years of age he followed his older brothers to Michigan and taught his first school during the winter of 1835-36 following. He was successful in his youthful efforts, and after working all summer on a farm near Marshall, he returned to his father's in New York and entered the teachers' department of the R. O. Academy, where he received the teachers' course.
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After spending the intervening years between 1840 and 1845 in New York in teaching and as superintendent of public schools, in 1855 he went to Grant county, Wisconsin, where he founded the Tafton Collegiate Seminary, of which he was principal for eight years. During this time hundreds of teachers were educated under his special training. In 1862 he was elected county superintendent of schools without an opposition vote, being on the Democratic as well as the Republican ticket. Although a strong Democrat, the Republicans acknowledged his educational abilities and his love for his country, he sending five of his family and thirty-five of his students to the war and contributing liberally to its support; and, therefore, with unanimous consent, the Republican party placed his name on its ticket after his nomination by the Democrats. In 1864 he was called to Dubuque, Ia., to aid in grading the schools. In 1866 he had more liberal offers to take the superintendence of the city schools of Freeport, Ill., where he most thoroughly organized and completely graded and built up the schools of that city.
In 1870 he came to Michigan and settled in Detroit, and devoted his time to business and business education until March, 1873, when he was appointed to the office of Deputy State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
During the many years of Mr. Parsons' labors as a teacher he con- ducted large numbers of teachers' institutes in New York, Ohio, Penn- sylvania, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. He has contributed largely to the educational literature and written various school books that have had extensive use, all of which, except "Parsons' Philosophical and Practical Orthography," are out of print. The first edition of that work, as well as his graded school system, was written when he was only twenty-one years of age. Soon after that time he was, at the first New York State Teachers' Association, elected by a unanimous vote its secretary. His topical geography, topical grammar, topical mathe- matics, elocution, system of gesturing, featuring, and topical philosophy and chemistry, are all contributions to school literature that have done no little towards giving him the high standing as an educator he now enjoys.
Mrs. Parsons is a woman of great energy and is as much of an educator as her husband. She was recently elected one of the school inspectors of Detroit, which constitutes her a member of the Board.
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THEODORE ROMEYN.
Theodore Romeyn was born at Hackensack, N. J., August 22, 1810. He died at Detroit, July 22, 1885. Both on his father's and his mother's side he was of Dutch descent, and most of his ancestors were very religious people. They were strong Calvinists, and many of them were clergymen of the Dutch Reformed Church. His father and grandfather were clergymen of that denomination, and his grandfather, the Rev. Thomas Romeyn, was obliged, under the rules of the church, to go to Holland for examination and ordination. Of his grandfather's seven sons, five were ministers in that church. His only brother was also a clergyman in that denomination, and his son, of the same name as himself, preached in the old church at Hackensack, N. J., of which his father was minister for fifty-three years, and where his brother was his father's colleague at the time of his death.
In the language of Cowper, Mr. Romeyn might say :
" My boast is not that I deduce my birth,
" From loins enthroned and rulers of the earth ;
" But higher far my proud pretensions rise,
"The son of parents passed into the skies,"
When Mr. Romeyn's grandfather's brother had finished his theo- logical studies in Holland, he was invited to fill the pulpit of one of the principal churches of Amsterdam, where he had become betrothed to Margaret Frelinghuysen, the daughter of Domine Frelinghuysen, a descendent of whose family has been Secretary of State. His grand- father's brother afterwards married a second wife, the daughter of Col. Abraham Van Campen, who was the most noted Indian fighter of his day.
His mother's name was Van Vranken, and belonged to an old family in Schenectady, on the Mohawk.
Mr. Romeyn is one of nine children. He had one brother and seven sisters : Susan Van Campen, born February 6, 1790; Hariette, born June 19, 1792 ; Anna Maria, born October 23, 1794 ; James, born September 30, 1797; Anna, born May 11th, 1800; Elizabeth, born July 3, 1802 ; Caroline, born December 18, 1807; Theodore, born August 22, 1810 ; Sarah, born February 22, 1814.
Mr. Romeyn commenced the study of law with Peter D. Vroom, at Somerville, Somerset county, N. J. He remained with him until his second year of study. He then entered the office of Samuel L. South- ard, who was Secretary of the Navy under John Quincy Adams and a Senator in Congress, and a brilliant and genial man. In 1830, he concluded to finish his legal studies and be admitted to the bar in New
* Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn. He died at Hackensack, August 29, 1885.
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York. He removed to that State, and on the invitation of Benjamin F. Butler, the Attorney General of the United States under General Jackson, he went to his office in Albany, and continued his studies there.
Mr. Butler's office in Albany was the one formerly occupied and used by Martin Van Buren, at that time Vice-President, and it was much frequented by the various politicians who constituted the " Albany Regency," all men distinguished for ability and high character.
Edwin Croswell, at that time editor of the "Argus," and William L. Marcy, John A. Dix, Silas Wright, Azariah C. Flagg, Thomas W. Olcott, and other prominent politicians were among those who fre- quented the office, and he was brought in contact with them, and had an opportunity of learning their views.
His fellow student in Mr. Butler's office was John Van Buren.
December 3rd, 1834, he married Miss Anna Mills Woodruff, of Albany ; and in December, 1835, removed to the city of Detroit, and commenced the practice of law in partnership with Alex. D. Frazer. In 1848, he removed to New York City, and engaged in the practice of his profession there, residing at Brooklyn, Kings county. His prac- tice was large and varied. His health was affected somewhat injuri- ously through gases coming from the hot-air furnaces in his residence, and to a great extent he lost his voice, and in 1858 he returned to Detroit, where he remained engaged in the practice of his profession until his decease.
During his first residence in Detroit, he bought and completed a large house at the corner of Wayne and Fort streets, where the club house now is. It was at that time by far the finest residence in the city, and is still a most desirable house.
In his practice in Detroit, he was in the habit of thorough prepara- tion, shrinking from no labor in preparing and presenting a case, and succeeding at times when he had the general sentiment of the bar strongly against him. An instance of this was in our General Banking Law, where he succeeded in establishing the doctrine that the organiza- tion under which the banks sprang into existence was unconstitutional, he assuming the ground that organizations framed under the General Law allowing individuals to form themseves into a corporation, were contrary to the true intent and meaning of that constitutional provision which required each corporation to spring into existence under a specific act, to which the judgment of the legislature should be applied to the particular grant of corporate power ; in other words, that a general law for the incorporation of corporations was unconstitutional and void. This decision was of vast importance to the people of this State, but he realized nothing for his services in the matter. The title of the case is Green vs. Graves, Ist Douglass, Mich., p. 351.
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This habit of close study and careful preparation continued all through the life of Mr. Romeyn. He however never limited his read- ing to purely professional books, but was a general reader of the ancient and modern masterpieces of literature, and kept up with the science and literature of the time.
Although his profession absorbed most of his time, and although he never was a politician, he had all his life been a Democrat, his first vote being cast for General Jackson in 1832 ; and every four years subsequent consistently voted the Democratic ticket, with one excep- tion, when in 1864 he voted for Abraham Lincoln. He never had a desire for political office, but uniformly declined it.
Mrs. Romeyn's decease preceded that of her husband several years. She was esteemed as a lady of more than ordinary culture and refinement, and had a large circle of friends in Detroit. At his death Mr. Romeyn left three children, Col. James W. Romeyn, Consul at Valparaiso, Chili; Mrs. S. R. Embury, and Mrs. Frank Butrick.
JUDGE ROSS WILKINS.
Judge Ross Wilkins, eminent as a lawyer and judge, was a native of Pennsylvania. In 1832 he left Pittsburg and came to Michigan Territory, locating for a short time at Tecumseh, Lenawee county. Soon after, being appointed United States judge by President Jackson, he removed to Detroit, which was his home till death.
Judge Wilkins was the grandson of John Wilkins, of Carlisle, Pa., the father of the Hon. Wm. Wilkins, who was a member of Congress, United States Senator, Minister to Russia under Jackson, and Secretary of War under President Tyler, and died while serving as judge of the U. S. Court of the western district of Pennsylvania. At the breaking out of the recent civil war, although at the age of eighty, he rode throughout the day in the parade of the Home Guards when organiz- ing for the war. The grandfather of Judge Ross Wilkins and the father of Judge Wm. Wilkins, John Wilkins, at the beginning of the war of Independence, sold all his possessions and with the proceeds raised a company of soldiers with whom he served as captain during that war, receiving no compensation except in Continental money, so called, which is still in possession of the immediate descendants of Judge Ross Wil- kins, and is preserved by them as mementoes of the services of their ancestors in the struggle for American liberty. The father of Judge Ross Wilkins also served as a soldier during the war of 1812, in which the subject of this sketch participated as well. It would thus appear that by birth and lineage he sprang from a race of patriots, soldiers and states- men, and therefore it is not strange, that at the call of President Abra- ham Lincoln for volunteers to defend the national honor April 14th,
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1861, Judge Ross Wilkins should call a meeting of citizens of Detroit to respond to the President's proclamation. This he did, and presided at the meeting. In 1837 Judge Wilkins was appointed a regent of the Michigan University, which he held for a number of years. He died respected by the bar and the citizens for his integrity as a judge and his public spirit as a citizen, leaving an only son, the late Col. William D. Wilkins, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume.
ELIAS S. WOODMAN.
Elias S. Woodman, of Northville, Wayne county, is a native of the Empire state and was born in Rodman, Jefferson county, N. Y., on the 15th day of October, 1816. His ancestors on the paternal side were were originally English, also on the maternal. His father, Joseph Woodman, M. D., was born in Salsbury, N. H., on the 5th day of March, 1785. His mother's maiden name was Sally Wright. She was born at Deerfield, Mass., on the 6th day of September, 1796. His parents were married at Rodman, Jefferson county, N. Y., on the 16th day of January, 1816. His father, Joseph Woodman, died August 13, 1838, at Novi, Mich., and his mother at Keene, Ionia county, Mich., March, 7, 1862. Mr. Woodman is one of five sons. He had one sister.
In boyhood Mr. Woodman worked on the farm during the summer and attended school during the winter, and acquired the best education that a newly settled country and the pecuniary circumstances of his father could afford. At least he must have made good use of the opportunities offered at that early day, and must have had a love of books, as we find him to-day the peer of many who had far superior advantages.
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