USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Chronography of notable events in the history of the Northwest territory and Wayne County > Part 5
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1792 .- Kent county, Canada, erected, and Michigan attached to it.
1794 .- Treaty known as "Jay's" with Lord Grenville, by which all the forts and military posts in Michigan were to be given up to the United States by Great Britain. On the petition of the late Joseph Campau, and other free and accepted masons, the grand lodge of Canada granted a charter to a lodge in Detroit, styled " Zion Lodge." General Wayne defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers, on the Maumee river.
1795 .- Wayne made a treaty of peace with the Indian tribes of the northwest at Greenville. Pontiac signed the treaty August 3d.
1796 .- The British troops evacuated the fort at Detroit, which was occupied by a detachment from Wayne's army under Captain Porter.
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JAMES ABBOTT.
On the 29th of November, 1760, the flag of France was taken down from the fort at Detroit, and that of England hoisted. This event opened up Canada and the northwest to English enterprise. Many young men from England, Ireland and Scotland settled first in Montreal and Quebec. Among them was the subject of this sketch, the American ancestor of the Abbotts of Detroit, and the first Irishman that ever visited Detroit.
James Abbott was born in the city of Dublin in 1744, emigrated to Montreal, remained there a short time, and came to Detroit in 1768. Bringing with him habits of prudence, economy, industry and perse- verance, he utilized them in establishing a mercantile and trading busi- ness, which soon extended from Detroit to the Hudson river east, and west to the natives and the settlements at Fort Wayne, Ind., Prairie du Chien and in the Northwest Territory, among the Sacs, who inhabited what is now the State of Iowa, his associates being John Askin, Geo. Meldrum, William Park, John Wallace, Geo. Sharp, Thos. Sheppard, Geo. Leith and Angus Mackintosh. Their association continued until 1779, when the profits and assets were distributed. Among the assets assigned to Mr. Abbott were 4,500 acres of land in Knox county, Indi- ana, which for a long period was held by the heirs of Mr. Abbott. When he first came to Detroit, some of those settlers who came with Cadillac in 1701 were still living, as well as many who came from France in 1749. Mr. Abbott was contemporary with Thomas Barber, the grandfather of Thomas Palmer; Thomas Williams, father of John R. Williams; William and Alexander Macomb, Schieffer & Smith, James May and many others, whose descendants are still living in Detroit. In 17So he associated with him his eldest son Robert, the style of the firm being James Abbott & Son. James Abbott died in 1800, and the business was continued by Robert and James Abbott, the younger.
James Abbott, Sr., was married at Schenectady, N. Y. He had three sons, Robert, James and Samuel, and three daughters, Mary, who married Mr. Hands, for many years sheriff at Sandwich; Frances, whom arried Col. Francis Baby, long a merchant at Windsor, and the youngest daughter married the Hon. James Baby, prominent in Can- adian politics.
Robert Abbott, the eldest son of James Ist, was born at Detroit in 1770. He was educated at Montreal. On returning to Detroit he was in partnership with his father and with his brother until 1810, when he retired to a farm `on the Rouge. He was appointed by Governor Mason, Auditor General in 1834, and performed the duties with great fidelity. He died in 1853 at Coldwater, and left a fine estate to his
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seven children, James 3d, who lived on the River Rouge; Robert H., Samuel B. and Charles C., who lived at Coldwater, Michigan; Eph- raim P., who resided in Ecorse. Lucretia Ann married E. V. Cicotte; Ellen Francis, wife of Albert Chandler, of Coldwater. There were living in 1865 sixty-two grand children and fifteen great-grandchildren. One of his great-grandchilden married Frank M. Smith, of Chicago. Robert Abbott was a prominent, active man and one of the incorpor- ators of the first Methodist Episcopal church in Michigan. He was the first Anglo-American born in Detroit. He first united with the church June 10th, 1810, under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Case, who came to Detroit in 1809. Betsey, wife of Robert, died at Detroit March 24th, 1858.
James Abbott 2d was born at Detroit in 1776. He also was fitted for commercial life, and received his education at Montreal, and on completing it, engaged in partnership with his father and brother Robert. He married Miss Sarah Whistler, daughter of Major Whist- ler, then in command of the military post at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and brought his bride to Detroit on horseback, a distance of 180 miles. He continued with his brother until 1812, and when Hull surrendered Detroit, was driven out, and removed to Dayton, O., and when the British were driven out, he returned to Detroit and resumed business on the corner of Woodbridge street and Woodward avenue, his dwell- ing and store being in the same building. He was postmaster and a justice of the peace, holding the former position until 1838, when he was succeeded by John Norvell. He became connected with the American Fur Company, and was the agent of Pierre Chateau & Co., of St. Louis, N. Y. He had three sons and two daughters. He survived them all except Captain James Abbott, who died some years since, leaving a widow and five children. The widow died a few years ago. Their eldest daughter is the wife of Guy F. Hinchman. James Abbott 2d died in March, 1859.
Samuel Abbott was the youngest son of James Ist, and was born at Detroit in 1778. In 1807 he located at Mackinaw, where he continued business until his death, which occurred in I851. He was at first agent of the American Fur Company, afterwards a stockholder. He left a large estate. He married Miss Mary B. St. Cyre, of St. Louis. They had no children. She survived him and subsequently died in St. Louis. At the time of the death of Mr. Abbott, he was indebted to the firm of James Abbott & Sons $72,000. He provided by his will for its payment, but the probate court of Mackinaw county refused to allow it to be paid. Under the then laws of Michigan, the nusband dying without issue, the widow became entitled to a life inter- est in his estate. A portion of Mr. Abbott's property was real estate in St. Louis, of but little value. Mrs. Abbott, knowing how desirous
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her husband was that his father and brothers should be paid, pro- posed to assign her life interest, provided she was permitted to, in fee simple, the St. Louis property. This was accepted, and the debt discharged.
COMMODORE ALEXANDER GRANT.
Commodore Alexander Grant was born in Scotland of a wealthy and influential family (the clan of Glenmoriston). He was educated for the navy of Great Britain, which he entered, and after several years' service he resigned and joined a highland regiment designed for service in America, in the army commanded by General Amherst. In 1759 he reached Lake Champlain. General Amherst, desiring to operate a fleet in conjunction with the army, and knowing that Grant was familiar with the naval service, placed him in command of a sloop of fifteen guns. After the surrender of Quebec and Montreal to the English, Grant was ordered to Lakes Erie and Ontario. On reach- ing Detroit, he met Therese, the daughter of Charles Barthe and Marie Therese Campau, whom he married in 1774, and resigning his position in the naval and military service, he located at Grosse Pointe, built a large house, known as the "Grant Castle," and turned his atten- tion to the care of his farm. He did not become an American citizen after Michigan was ceded to the United States, for as late as 1805 he still held a position in the executive council of Upper Canada, and as such acted with the Canadians. It is said that while the English held possession of Detroit, Tecumseh was a guest of the commodore. He had ten daughters, whose descendants are mostly residents of Canada. He died at Grosse Pointe in 1813.
JAMES W. KNAGGS.
Contemporary with the acquisition of Canada and the Northwest Territory by the English, the grandparents of the subject of this sketch were residents of what is now Detroit. The paternal grand- father was of Welsh ancestry, and the maternal was of Holland Dutch. They had four sons and one daughter, viz: George, William, Thomas, James and Whitimore, and an only daughter, who married Colonel John Anderson.
Whitimore, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Detroit in 1763. He received his education from his mother, and had, before reaching his majority, acquired a knowledge of what would be considered a good English education, and from his surroundings was conversant with the French, Dutch and English languages, also the
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dialects of five distinct Indian tribes, and was familiar with their cus- toms and habits. This knowledge, together with his general intelli- gence, made him prominent with the European settlers, as well as feared and respected by the Indian tribes of the northwest, and subse- quently secured for him the confidence of Generals St. Clair, Wayne, Hull, Winchester and Cass, and the bitter enmity of the English, among them General Proctor, who, at one time, offered $3,000 for him, dead or alive. At the breaking out of the war of IS12 he was made the commander of a company known as Michigan scouts, and he him- self was made an officer in the militia of the territory. At the surren- der of Hull he, together with other officers and soldiers, was sent to Halifax, where he was held a prisoner until exchanged, and on his return, joined Winchester's army at Vincennes, and with him was cap- tured at the battle of the River Raisin by George Bluejacket, a half- breed. Proctor immediately sought to wreak his vengeance upon the captain by formulating a charge to the effect that he had not been regularly exchanged, but had been released from Halifax on parole, which he had violated by participating with Winchester. He was, therefore, sent in chains to Quebec, where he was held in close confinement for nearly a year, during which period his property at Detroit, consisting of houses, barns and furniture, were destroyed or sequestered, and on his return he found only a barren waste of what was before a home surrounded with elegant improvements and appliances; for the loss of which he has never been compensated, although the same, in consequence of its having been occupied by order of the government as barracks for United States troops, led to its recognition by the enemy as public property, subject therefore to be destroyed or taken possession of for their use and benefit.
The following, connected with the capture of General Winchester and Captain Knaggs, may be of interest: At the time of the mid- night attack by Proctor, General Winchester was at the house of Robert Navarre. Winchester, on finding himself surrounded, mounted his horse and rode for the bay. On the way he overtook Captain Knaggs on foot, and ordered him to get on behind him. As they reached the margin of the bay, they were met by seven Indians, who had crossed the point on the ice, thus intercepting them, and called upon them to throw up their hands, when Captain Knaggs was immediately recognized by one of them, Jack Brandy, a half breed chief. Brandy at once laid his hand upon the captain, and, warning off the other Indians, said, "My old friend Knaggs, you are my prisoner." George Bluejacket, another half breed chief, did the same with Gen- eral Winchester. Had they not thus recognized General Winchester and the captain, they undoubtedly would have been killed. The Indi- ans at once conveyed them to Proctor's quarters.
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Immediately on his return from Halifax and reporting at Detroit, he became chief interpreter to General Cass, and subsequently Indian agent.
He married Josettie Labadie, the daughter of Pierre Descomptes Labadie, and sister of Madoir Labadie, who, at the battle of the Thames, took the girths from his horse, and making a sling of them, carried Col. Richard M. Johnson from the field alone, and thus saved his life.
James Knaggs, the brother of Whitimore, was also celebrated as an Indian scout, and was with Harrison in all his battles in the capacity of chief scout, and was always addressed by Harrison as "my friend." He was a terror to the Indians, who believed him impervious to bul- lets, arrows or tomahawks. He commanded Harrison's scouts at the battle of the Thames.
Captain Whitimore Knaggs made himself invaluable to General Cass in treating with Indian tribes, he being conversant with all the different dialects spoken, and personally knowing the principal chiefs, over whom he exercised great influence. In person he was a man of fine presence, physically well proportioned, capable of enduring the pri- vations incident to the life of an Indian fighter, fearless of danger and prompt to act at the call of duty. He was loved, feared and respected by the Indians for his kindness, courage and sagacity. It is said that a glance from his dark hazel eye was magnetic, and would subdue the most turbulent, whether a white or red man. He died in 1826, leaving a widow, four sons and one daughter, viz: Peter Whitimore, John, George and James W., and Elizabeth, who married Charles Desnoyers, all of whom he provided for by his will.
Col. James W. Knaggs, the only surviving son and heir of Whiti- more Knaggs-he became the only heir through his mother, his father having by will devised all his property to her, and at her death she made him her heir, the other children being provided for. Col. Knaggs was born at Detroit on what is now known as the Hubbard farm in 1801. His father, deciding to give him a good education, provided him private teachers, there being at that time no schools in Detroit afford- ing the advantages he desired to bestow. At the age of eighteen years he had acquired a knowledge of French and Latin, as well as Indian. He obtained his business education from the late David Cooper, who for a long time made his home with Captain Whitimore Knaggs.
Col. Knaggs accompanied Governor Cass to Chicago at the time of making treaties with the Indians of the northwest in 1821. He con- tinued as a member of the official family of General Cass during the whole period of the latter's governorship of the territory, and the
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relation of intimate friends remained until they were severed by the death of General Cass. Meanwhile he had acquired the title of colonel by appointment on the military staff of the governor.
After leaving the service of Governor Cass, he continued to assist his father in the duties of Indian agent, and in looking after his finan- cial affairs, and also made some ventures on his own account, until 1821, when he went to Chicago and established a trade with the Indi- ans, where he remained until 1827, meantime his father dying and leav- ing his mother sole executrix. She prevailed upon him to return to Detroit and take charge of the settlement of the estate, conveying to him all the powers conveyed to her by the will of his father. He proceeded to close the estate and to provide for the support of his mother until her death, which occurred at Detroit in 1840.
After settling up the estate he, in 1828, removed to what is now Toledo, then known as Port Lawrence, where he engaged in the real estate business, and accumulated considerable property. In 1865 he disposed of his interests at Toledo and removed to Chicago, and from there in 1867 to Cincinnati, Ohio. At Toledo he operated in lands in various parts of the State of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. The colonel has been an active man during his whole life, and has had a world of experience with all classes of humanity for over seventy-six years. He is now over eighty-eight years of age, and retains his physical and mental powers, exhibiting far more of both than many men fifty years younger. No one who forms his acquaintance can fail to be impressed with being in the presence of a gentleman of the old school, and one who is governed in his manner and action by a high sense of honor and strict integrity.
In 1828 Col. Knaggs married Miss Theresa Campau, a daughter of Geodic Campau, of Detroit. The ceremony was performed by Father Richards at St. Ann's church. She was born in Detroit, and died at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1868, leaving two married daughters, viz: Eliza- beth, who married Mr. Charles O'Hara, a well known merchant of Cincinnati. He died, leaving her a widow with seven children, Charles, now a resident of Detroit, and Secretary of the Eagle Iron Works; Elizabeth, the wife of Joseph B. Moore, cashier of the Peninsular Sav- ings Bank, of this city; James, Stephen, Mary, Eva and Ellen, who reside with their mother in Cincinnati. The second daughter married General Stephen McGroarty, who enlisted in an Ohio regiment at the breaking out of the late civil war, and was promoted through the sev- eral grades to the rank of brigadier general. He served during the entire war, receiving twelve severe wounds, from which he died soon after its close, leaving a widow and one daughter, who now reside in Cincinnati.
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JUDGE JAMES MAY.
James May was born in 1756, and came to Detroit in 1778, and engaged first in trade, and subsequently in manufacturing. He affili- ated with and was upon excellent terms with the French families, among whom he married, his first wife being Adele de St. Cosme. But one child was the fruit of this marriage, Elizabeth Anne, who mar- ried Gabriel Godfrey, Jr., son of Colonel Gabriel Godfrey, who died in 1831. He was one of the few who had lived under French, English and American rule, and saw a change of flags five times.
Judge May married the second time, Marguerite, fifth daughter of Pierre Descomptes Labadie. Four daughters were born to them, the first, Maria, who married Louis Moran, of Grand Rapids. Some of her descendants still reside there. Marguerite Anne married Colonel Edward Brooks, of the United States army. Her children were proverbial for their beauty, intellectuality and musical talent. Her second daughter, Annie Brooks, married Judge Charles W. Whipple, the distinguished jurist and chief justice of Michigan. She died at an early age, leaving two daughters, Eunice, who is the wife of Judge William Jennison, and Adeline, the widow of Mr. Johnson, of Detroit. Rebecca married Dr. J. B. Scoville, a well known physician of Detroit. Octavia married J. C. W. Seymour, who for a long time was engaged in banking at Detroit. Nancy, the fourth daughter of Judge May, married James Whipple, son of Major Whipple and Archange Peltier. In 1823 she married the second time, Francis Audrain. Caroline, the fifth daughter of Judge May, married in 1829, Alexander Frazer, the leader of the Detroit bar for many years. One son was born to them, Alexander, Jr., who married Milly Mills, of New York. Alex- ander died, leaving one daughter, Carrie, who died unmarried.
Judge May was a man of enterprise, and took an active part in all that concerned Detroit and its material interests. In 1796 he took the oath and became a citizen of the United States, and at once was prom- inent in the establishment of civil law and order; was the first chief justice of the court of common pleas, organized immediately after Gen- eral Wayne took possession of the country under Jay's treaty of 1796. Immediately after the fire of 1805, there being no bricks, he gathered the stone previously used for chimneys, and built a stone house on the north side of Jefferson Avenue, west of Cass, which, in 1836, was used as a hotel, called the Mansion House, and was the headquarters for army officers, government officials and leading Democratic politicians. At the surrender of General Hull in 1812, when the American flag was hauled down at the fort, he obtained possession of it, kept it secreted until the approach of General Harrison's army the following year, when he hoisted it as a signal that the British had evacuated.
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He was a man of genial temperament, but independent in his views and opinions, and firm but courteous in their maintenance. Physically he was large, somewhat inclined to corpulency, and at his decease weighed 340 pounds. He died in 1830.
INDIAN CHIEF PONTIAC.
Pontiac, the celebrated Indian chieftain, belonged to the Ottawa tribe, and was born in 1712. He was the leading spirit among all the western tribes. He claimed to be in league with a higher power, which appeared to him in a vision, and promised, if his instructions were faith- fully fulfilled, to sweep the English from the continent. In 1763 Pon- tiac devised a plot by which all the posts from the Allegheny to Lake Superior, held by the English, were to be attacked simultaneously. The posts of Michilmackinac, Green Bay, Miami, St. Joseph, San- dusky, Presque Isle, and others of lesser note, were taken, and their garrisons massacred. Niagara, Fort Pitt and Detroit alone were left. Kyasuta, a noted chief of the Senecas, whose home was on the Alle- gheny, was to besiege Fort Pitt, while Pontiac reserved for himself the task of reducing Detroit, then under the command of Major Gladwyn. In May over six thousand warriors were gathered around it. Pontiac had laid a plan to surprise the fort. He was to come to the fort with sixty chiefs and warriors, demand admission under pretense of holding a council. Each warrior was to carry a rifle, shortened by filing, so that it could be concealed by his blanket. Pontiac was to make a speech, at the close of which he would offer a peace belt, which was to be the signal of attack. The chiefs would fire upon the officers, and the Indians who were gathered around the fort would attack the garrison. His plans, however, failed, owing to the following circum- stances. An Ojibwa maiden who lived in the Pottawatomie village, and who had become attached to Major Gladwyn, Catherine, as she was called, came to the fort on the afternoon of the 6th of May, and repaired to the quarters of the major, bringing a pair of elk skin moc- casins, which he had engaged her to make for him. She appeared sad and downcast, so much so as to attract the special attention of Glad- wyn, who pressed her to declare what was upon her mind. For a time she refused, but after much persuasion, and a pledge that he would not betray her, she divulged Pontiac's scheme. Thanking the maiden, he called together the officers of the garrison, informed them of what he had learned, and prepared to thwart the plans of the wily chief. The fortifications were extensive, and required a much larger force than Gladwyn had at command to defend them against the two thousand Indians surrounding it; hence Gladwyn resorted to stratagem, but did not neglect to take extraordinary precautions against any sudden whim
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of the savages, which might induce them to make a night attack. Half the garrison were ordered under arms, and the officers spent the night upon the ramparts. The soldiers were ignorant of their danger, and the sentinels did not know their numbers were doubled, or why their officers visited their posts so often. At an early hour the following morning the common was covered by a crowd of Indians, and at ten o'clock Pontiac arrived with sixty chiefs, who were admitted within the fort. Then followed the council and the speeches by Gladwyn and Pontiac, which developed to the latter that all his plans were known to the English commander. After satisfying the savages that their con- templated treachery was known and their power despised, Gladwyn permitted them to withdraw unmolested. Pontiac, as may be imagined, was much enraged at the failure of his scheme, but controlling his feel- ings, he sought to regain the confidence of Gladwyn, but failing, he threw off his mask and commenced a fierce battle upon the fort. Foiled in his attempt to take it by surprise or assualt, he settled down to a regular siege, which was maintained more or less vigorously for fifteen months. Pontiac supplied his warriors with provisions by mak- ing levies upon the Canadians, and issued his certificates therefor, drawn on birch bark, which were afterwards scrupulously redeemed. He intrenched his camp, and when an attack was made upon it by Captain Dalzell with a large reinforcement of troops, he repulsed the English with heavy loss. He attacked the reinforcement of troops and supplies at Point Pelee, capturing three out of five large boats with their crews, and dispersing the rest with great loss. During the long period of the siege, Pontiac indulged the hope that France would once more send her troops against the English, and that together the French and Indian armies would triumph, and the "long knives " be driven beyond the Alleghenies. But becoming satisfied that the power of the French would never be restored in America, and despairing of success alone, he sullenly raised the siege upon the approach of Gen- eral Bradstreet's army in August, 1764, and established his headquar- ters on the Maumee, where he vainly sought to stir up the different tribes against the whites; for his own repulse at Detroit, and the defeat of Kyasuta at Westmorland by Bouquet, had so demoralized them, that the great chieftain could not induce them to continue the war. In July, 1766, he attended a great council at Oswego, N. Y., between Sir William Johnson and the Indian nations, where he made a speech, and signed a treaty of perpetual peace with the English. Returning with presents to the Maumee, he remained there in quiet until the spring of 1769, when he removed to Illinois. Soon after arriving there, he visited St. Louis, and called upon his old friend St. Ange, who commanded the post. He then proceeded to the house of young Pierre Choteau, where prominent citizens paid him their respects, and entertained him in a sumptuous manner. On this occasion Pontiac
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