USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Ypsilanti > Chronology of Ypsilanti from 1787 to 1865 > Part 3
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
Charles Sherman Woodard, a Civil Engineer who came with the new railroad to Ypsilanti in 1838 made his home in Ypsilanti and his fine residence was at 301 North Grove Street. The Greek Revival structure at 218 North Washington Street has the name of Arden Ballard linked to it and became the home of Elijah Grant. It has been restored recently by the Ladies' Literary Club, the owner for sixty-two years, and is a very lovely structure of which Ypsilanti is proud. Joseph Estabrook, an early influence in Education and Re- ligion in the State of Michigan, built a fine frame house at the NW corner of West Forest and Lowell Street. Joseph Kitchen, a well known merchant, built an elegant home at 116 North Adams Street in which many beautiful stained glass windows were used. In Ypsilanti Township, an example of Greek Revival architecture can be seen at 1276 North Huron River Drive, built .in 1842 by John Starkweather.
The Ezra Lay home, am impressive Greek Revival example with corner pilasters, built at 1701 East Michigan (the Chicago Pion
.. :S The
24
Road) in 1834. It was saved from destruction and ob- livion in 1966 by the Charles Haglers who moved it to 3401 Berry Road in Superior Township, restoring it, per- haps, even beyond its former elegance ..
.
East of the Lay residence a quarter mile or more was the large handsome home of the Spencers, Grove and Edward with temple-like pillars in front. The Ocorge Wiards, the Lyman Wiards, the Burrells and many others were on the East edge of the Township. There was. a Tollgate on the northside of East Michigan. at Holmes Road. Following the Huron River south, we find Edward King whose land in the river bottom was known as 'King's Flats', Charles Crane, Ben Emerick, Alvin Cross, Adam Yeckley, Isaac Bumpus and many names long forgotten. South, along the Monroe Road, as Whittaker Road was known, Seth Arnold, Hiram Seaver, George Moorman, A.R. and Lyman Graves ... along Stoney Creek was George Elliott, N.E. Crittenden, with David Gardner, Watson Barr and Robert Campbell in Augusta Township. As the Monroe Road turns southeast, there was Joseph McIntyre's farm and that of Edward Gorton with the Paint Creek Postoffice on Willis Road in Augusta Township. of note :were Asa Darling and Aaron Childs.
Others
Going toward the west on the Sauk Trail, (Chicago Road now Michigan Avenue), there is the Gothic Victorian house, the former home of Edwin C. Warner, 1024 Michigan Avenue. Evan Begole home was just beyond the west edge of French The
Claim #690. Fountain Watling and George Sherwood, south .of the Trail at the west edge of Ypsilanti Township, with excellent farm and well kept building; Philo Parsons, west of Evan Begole with a white frame house, a modified Victorian style; a mile farther west at the corner of Ellsworth and Carpenter Road, was the impressive home of H. H. Ellsworth, with balanced pilasters at the two front corners; a struc= ture that only neglect could destroy with indifference. H.B. Hewitt's farm was in the NW corner of French Claim #691, on the eastside of Hewitt Road.
The Victorian frame house began to outnumber the Greek style, which had lasted with variations for thirty years in popu- larity. The home of Randall Ross, 5138 West Michigan, was a splendid example of the Victorian style. Today it is preserved and kept in excellent style by the Joseph Schmidts. The Grove Sanders house at 4980 W. Michigan is another ex- ample of that style and giving; evidence that the old builders produced sturdy, handsome hour as.
North of Ypsilanti there is an unusual brick house, the Jeremiah Newton farm at 830 W. Clark Road in Superior Town- ship, built in 1847 by Charles Francis Newton, son of Jeremiah, and now owned by Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Cornish. Other handsome homes on the North and in Superior Township : James W. Voorhees, SE corner of LeForge and Geddes a splen- did Greek style home with attractive innovations; the homes of J. L. Strang and William Mulholland on Cherry Hill road;
25
O. A. Sober and I.M. Loverridge on Geddes Road East of Prospect; L.L. Kimmel, Harris Road and the sturdy brick of. John Rooke on the west side of Gotfredson road.
Many of the roads were given their present names by the Detroit Edison Company after 1900.
As land was cleared to raise crops, crops for live stock, the crops and live stock were often housed better than the farmer's family.
During the 1860s, the name Worden was very prominent in Ypsilanti. Alva Worden, an inventor with several patents to his credit; Charles Worden, a drygoods merchant; William H. Worden with a gun shop upstairs in the building on the NE corner of North Huron and old Congress with John S. Worden in the same building. on the first floor with a popular saloon. 105 North Huron was once a Worden home. Three Wordens built handsome brick structures, mansard style, one at twenty East Michigan, another at 24 East Michigan and one on the NW corner of River and Congress Street. Such elegant homes and now all gone, the last one in 1974 to make more parking space.
Ypsilanti had a Distillery at early as. 1827, only two years after the Village was platted and. named. A Temperance Soc- iety was formed in 1829.
For the first Independence Day Celebration in the County, July 4, 1824 and in Woodruff's Grove, Clark Sills, walked to Detroit to procure two gallons of whiskey which he brought back on his back ... perhaps lightening the load a little. by taking a swig now and then to reduce the weight. That first Distillery was located on the south side of Congress not far from the west end of the old bridge. Nearby was the Tannery of Isaac Crane. Another early Tannery was that of John Howland located on the north side of Forest Avenue at the est end of that bridge. Across the road, was the Jacob Grob home and icehouse, also the first established Brewery. Brew- eries make beer and Distilleries make whickey and both used to make. money.
April 3, 1860 the Pony Express began service between Sacramen- to, California and St Joseph, Missouri - 80 riders, 40 saddle horses and 190 relay stations.
Thirteen months later the Pony Express gave up, even though one of the riders was William Frederick Cody, later attain- ing dime-novel fame as 'Buffalo Bill'. 'Buffalo Bill' was in an Ypsilanti parade in the summer of 1899.
In May of that year, one George W. Washburne, a local butcher, was accused of killing his wife, Ypsilanti's first murder. May 18, 1860 Abraham Lincoln was nominated as Republican Candidate for President.
Evidence of humor is found for those days in the 1860 City Directory for Ypsilanti where the following is found:
26
J.M. Howard, principal business is courting what few ladies there are that are willing to be bored with him, boards east side Huron between Emmet and Ellis (Washtenaw)
1860 - Edgar and F.B. Bogardus opened a private Bank in a frame building on the south side of Congress Street near the SE corner of Washington Street. 'The Barton Hotel' was built on the NW corner of Pearl and Washington.
The State Legislature denied Michigan State Normal School money for a gymnasium. The Normal School now had 255 students.
Nov 6- (1860)- Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, with a salary of $25,000. In ten of the thirty- three States he did not receive a single vote.
Dec 4 .- President Buchanan's Annual Message to the Congress is read to that body. Buchanan holds that no State has a right to secede from the Union.
Dec. 6- A Committee of thirty-three is appointed by the Speaker of the House, one from each State, to consider and try to resolve the issues between the South and the North.
Dec.20- The South Carolina Convention passes an Ordinance of Secession from the United States.
Dec. 31- Judah Benjamin, in a dramatic scene in the Senate, d'eclares : "The North Can never subjugate the South - Never - Never !".
The 'War Between the States' was about to begin. There is no record of War ever being declared.
1861 - January 9 - Mississippi voted to seceed followed by nine other States.
The first shot fired in the 'War Between the States'. A cannon was fired at the unarmed merchant steamer, "Star of the West", as it entered the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina with supplies for the troops in Fort Sumpter. January 29 - Kansas admitted to the Union.
February 4 - First meeting of the Confederate Congress.
February 5 - Moving picture 'peep-show' machine patented by -. S.D. Goodale.
February 9 - Jefferson Davis elected President of the newly formed Confederacy in Montgomery, Alabama.
February 11 - Abraham Lincoln and family say farewell to Springfield, Illinois and the only home they ever owned. March 4- Abraham Lincoln inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States.
April 2- Dakota Territory createl.
April 9 - Meanwhile, in Ypsilanti .. Ralph W. Van Fossen was appointed Postmaster. Parmenic Divis elected Mayor of Ypsil- anti and served for the next two years.
April 9 - Sixty-seven year old Edmund Ruffin fired on Fort Sumpter.
April 17 - President Lincoln sent out a call for 75,000 men.
27
1861- April 20 - Colonel Robert E. Lee resigned from the Army of the United States after having been offered Command of the Army of the North by General Winfield Scott.
April 23 - Robert E. Lee became Commander of the Army of Virginia - the "Old Dominion State" ..
When the United States became a Nation after the Revolution, the Armed Forces were reduced to a small number. Every man was supposed to answer a call to Arms if necessary. Each State was to supply their own quota and recruit the' needed men.
The Congress made the demand for men from the States in the time of the Civil War and after the first burst of Patriot- ism, the response was small. A Draft Law was put in operation, but again it was the problem of each State to enforce it. Bounties as much as $300 caused forceful re- cruiting by Bounty Hunters and there was wide spread cor- ruption by families able to pay for a substitute. The Draft Law included all men from twenty-one to forty-five and did not exempt anyone for occupation or married with a family to care for. Riots were frequent in the big cities, New York City having the largest and most destructive, 1000 or more being killed in the riots.
In 1861, Ypsilanti responded immediately to President
Lincoln's call for 75,000 men. The names of Ypsilanti's first recruits are listed here followed by the old news- paper story telling of those spirited exciting times.
:
ROLL OF PATRIOTS
First enlistment roll at Ypsilanti for Civil War "The undersigned, citizens of the State of Michigan, do hereby enlist and consent to be mustered into the Military Service of the State of Michigan, pursuant to an Act en- titled "An Act to Privide a Military Force", first approved March 16, 1861, and to hold ourselves subject to all lia- bilities and obligations, created by said Act, and for the period and purposes there in set forth".
Name
Residence
Age Name
Residence Age
J.S. Whittlesey
Ypsilanti
34 David A. Wise
Ypsilanti 35
M.A. Parks
George R.Anderson Canton
21 Smith Babcock Canton 22
George W. Baker
Ypsilanti =
23 Murray Baker Ypsilanti 21
Thomas Baker
27 James W. Bingham Green Oak
20
Hiram S. Boutell Ypsilanti
25 Decatur Brundage Augusta
21
J .M. Carr.
Belleville
23 Edward J. Carson Belleville
21
Edward J. Carson
Milan
22 Addison Curtis
Belleville
21
Joseph Davis
Belleville
21 Thomas Davis
York
21
F. Eaton
Saline
21 Norman Ellis
Belleville
37
Trumat. W Elton
Ypsilanti
21 Alonzo Ford
Ypsilanti
21
21 Phillip Chivers
Ypsilanti
24
Peter Clark
35 ( These men were Officers)
28
Name Residence Age 40
Name
Rep-uence saline 21
Wm. Herdman
vpsilanti 18
11
18
A.D. Hoffman Belleville 28
Fred C. JJoslin
11
18
Michael Kean
Ypsilanti "
25 27
Rufus Lawrence
Ypsilanti 28
Clark Macomber Augusta
21
George Marshall
Belleville 24
James Mc Coy
Ypsilanti
19
George W. Monroe
Dundee
21
Cicero Newell
20
R.J. Parkhurst
11
20
C.P. Perry
Ypsilanti 11
25
G.S. Phillips
11
20
Henry Post
=
29 20
David Punches
Belleville 41
Nathan Putnam
Milan
21
Lewis C. Randall
Pittsfield 34
Wm. H. Randall
Ypsilanti
20
J.L. Ransom
Ypsilanti 28
Henry Reed
Belleville
21
Robert Reynolds
Ypsilanti 26
W.W.A. Russell
Green Oak
20
G.H. Simmons
Yørk
19 18
W.D. Simmons
York
22
Alvah Smith,
Jr.
Clinton
25
Charles Smith
Livonia
21
Fenton W. Smith
Augusta
23 John Smith
Belleville
21
J.StClair
Ypsilanti =
21
Albert Stuck
23
Oscar VanValkenburg York
21
Marcus Vining
11
19
Wm. H. Worden
Ionia
21
Harman Wise
Ypsilanti
18
Ypsilanti 27
From the front page of THE YPSILANTI COMMERCIAL, published every Saturday morning at the corner of Huron and Cross Streets, Ypsilanti, Michigan, by C.R. Pattison - January 6, 1877.
Prior to the Civil War, there was a Militia Company existing in Ypsilanti, one of the best drilled in the State. J.W. Whittlesey was Captain of the Company ; F. B. Bogardus, Ist Lieutenant.
When news reached Ypsilanti of the firing on Fort Sumpter the Company disbanded, A public meeting was called at Hewitt Hall (3rd floor of the building NE corner Michigan and Washington), the 22nd day
of April 1861. The most intense enthusiasm pervaded the meeting, and before noon of that day the persons whose names are given were inscribed upon the Roll of Honor.
Mr. F. P. Bogardus was among the most lufluential in organizing the Company, though his name does not appear on the Roll, on account of the necessity of his abiding by the Pank of which he i- may cashier. Mr. B. preserved the enlistment roll, each member sinding his own name. We are indebted, however, to David A. Wisr for the manuscript, having it in his possession. We requested i: For publication. The next Sunday, April 28, 1861, was one of the most thrilling ever seen in this City. The Company, in the afternoon, were drawn up in the Public Square ( The Public Square was open space on W. Congress between Adams and Hamilton) and religious services were held, participated by all the Clergymen of the City. The officers of
3
age
Benjamin W. Fuller Van Buu
L. Haight
Edwin A merrick Ypsilanti
19
Jas. H. Hodgkin
Wm. B. Kelly
Canton 21
Orin King
John Norton
Ypsilanti 21
Wm. H. Parker
Ypsilanti
23
Lewis Spawn
Belleville
4 1 Clinton Spencer Ypsilanti
21
Charles Twist
23
Ira B. Tuttle
Ypsilanti
25
James N. Wallace
H.R.Scovill
J.E.Schafer
29
the Company, as far as we can ascertain were:
Captain - J.W. Whittlesey; First Lieutenant - David A. Wise; Second Lieutenant - M.A. . Parks.
Sergeants - C.P. Perry, Cicero Newell, H.R. Scovill, Fred C. Joslin.
The Company went to Fort Wayne, Detroit, and then to Washington, forming Co. H. of the First Regiment, Colonel Wilcox, Commanding. July 21, 1861, the Company was in the Battle. of Bull Run, and acquitted itself nobly. The enlistment was for three months, and during that time it did splendid service. Not a single company .was so favored in furnishing officers for special duty as Co. H. At the end of three months it disbanded and coming home a large number united with the First Infantry Regiment organized at Ann Arbor. We are able to give a brief record and present whereabouts of a few members of this Company.
Captain Whittlesey, after the capture of Alexandria was made Provost Marshal of that City, and though in a trying position received high encoium from his Superior Officers. He served as a Major at the Battle of Bull Run. Grand Rapids is his present place of residence. Lieutenant Wise, at Alexandria was appointed Quartermaster of the Regiment and placed in charge of the Marshal House.
M.A. Parks was promoted to the Captaincy of the Company and at Bull Run was taken prisoner. He lay in that hell of doom the remainder of the year and came out a wreck. He is dead. (Parks was given an Honorable Medical Discharge and returned to Ypsilanti where he established a Jewelry store in part of the Samson Drug Store on West Michigan).
Fred Joslin is now in California. James W. Bingham was the son of Senator Bingham and died during the war. Captain Wallace, W. A. Russell and Bingham were students at the Normal College. Capt. Wallace served for four years and at the close of the War was a Major. Captain Clinton Spencer, our Postmaster, was a brave soldier and left a leg at the battle of Gettysburg which was not as agree- able as his three months experience. Lewis Spawn was wounded at Bull Run. Captain Newell at the expiration of his enlistment en- tered the Cavalry and served during the War with high honor.
Harmon Wise, age 18 when he enlisted was killed in the Battle of the Wilderness, Phillip Chivers disappeared at the battle of Bull Run and has never been heard from. L. Haight from Saline was killed at the Battle of Chancellorsville. H.R.Scovill at the end of his enlistment drove a lumber wagon to California, returning after the War to become a partnet, with Follmore in the Sash and Blind business on Frog Island.
The old hand written list of these young men who were the first volunteers in April 1861, was given to the Ypsilanti Historical Society by H.R. Scovill's daughter, Mrs. Gene- vieve Scovill Bisbee Moon and it is in the Archives.
After the sobering disaster of the Battle of Bull Run, it was quiet along the Potomac for ten months.
30
1862 - January 12 - Timothy Showerman died, an old and prominent pioneer in the area. Showerman built a fine home in the mid 1850s on the large double lot at 20t N. Huron which later became the home of the William Deubles and then was bought and rebuilt by D. L. Quirk, Jr. February 1 - The Fowler Schoolhouse in Superior Township burned. The Fowler School was on the south side of Geddes Road 1/4 mile West of Ridge Road. James N. Wallace was the first teacher in that one room school which had 45 ungraded pupils.
February 5 - "The Atlantic Monthly" printed "Battle Hymn of the Republic" by Julia Ward Howe.
February 15 - Fort Donelson of the Cumberland sur- rendered to General Grant.
February 15 - Rev. G. L. Foster resigned as Pastor of the Presbyterian Church.
April 11 - Charles Evans Hughes born.
April 16 - Slavery abolished in District of Columbia.
April 16 - Thirteen members of the Presbyterian Church took letters of Membership Severance to form a Congregational Church and erect a building on the East side of the Huron River. The plan did not work out and people returned to the Presbyterian Church.
Benjamin Follett formed a Bank with R. W. Hemphill and located in the Follett block on E. Cross St. : Mark Norris died, a remarkable man who did much in guiding the growth of Ypsilanti.
May 6- Henry David Thoreau died.
May 29 - The 17th Regiment of Infantry was authorized. July 1 - President Lincoln called for 300,000 men - Governor Blair issued orders for seven more Regiments of Infantry and four of Calvary.
The Ypsilanti Normal School was still in session. A Normal Company was planned by the Summer Session closed before it was organized and students had scattered to their homes. Austin George was born June 15, 1841, on a farm near Litch- field, Michigan. At the age of 12 he lost his right arm in the machinery of a flouring mill in Jonesville, Michigan. Austin became a student in the Michigan State Normal School 1 :: Ypsilanti and was living in Ypsilanti when that July 1st coll came in 1862 for more troops. Because of his disability he was unable to enlist in the Army but being endowed with an excellent mind, unusual energy and engaging personality, he Dagen recruiting for the mortal Company "E" of the 17th Infsxtry, writing the scatter: young students and urging the . enlistment.
He opened r, Recruiting offin. in the Smith & Kinne Book and Drug Store on the North sift of old Congress Street near Hur 3. The Normal boys responded to his letters and many care to Ypsilanti to enlist. Some replied but could not join the Normal Company as they had already enlisted in their home community. Every morning Austin assumed the respon- sibility of hanging out the flag at the Recruiting Office. The Normal Company was soon full.
31
When the 17th Michigan Infantry went to the front, he went as Company Clerk, later serving as Regimental Post- master for Brigade and Division Headquarters but never being too busy to keep track of his Normal Company with sympathy and encouragement for every homesick youth. Austin George became Superintendent of Ypsilanti Public Schools in 1896 and he and his family lived out his lifetime in the handsome mansard roof style house at 111 N. Normal Street. A man who contributed so much to Ypsilanti and now the family name is gone except in our history.
Gabriel Campbell had graduated from Michigan State Normal School in 1861 and was a student at the University of Michigan the following academic year. Gabriel is credited with getting thirty of his former classmates to enlist and at the organization meeting was elected Captain; Thomas Mathews, First Lt., James T. Morgan, 2nd Lt., This Company was not enitrely young Normal men but it originated there and the three Commissioned Officers, four of the five Sergeants, four of the eight Corporals and nearly one third of the men were Normal Students.
The Company went to Detroit and mustered in on August 19th, 1862. . They were assigned to the 17th Infantry as Company "E" and left for Washington August 27th.
The Confederates had crossed' the Potomac below Washington into Maryland and marched north around the Capitol. The Union. Regiment was soon sent into Maryland and marched 49 miles north, passing thru Frederick the home of Betsey Ross, while crowds gathered and cheered as the Normal Co. sang in beautiful harmony as they marched.
Company "E" was in the battle of South Mountain, less than three weeks after the ovation given their departure from Ypsilanti. Four in that Company were killed, two of them Normal Students - David S. Howard and Lucian Jones - and many badly wounded. Alexander McKinnor, well known in
Ypsilanti was one of those killed. The holiday spirit of adventure had vanished.
William H. Brearly in later years wrote the following poig- nant account to Daniel Putnam:
When I was at the Normal in 1861, I had as my seat- mate Alexander McKinnor. My age was then 14 and he was two years older. He tried to enlist with us but could not be taken as our number was complete. Al- though the Company was full, he went with us to the Barracks in Detroit, tried to get in and would not leave us; and he finally got accepted as a substitute for Stiles who was taken sick and discharged. We
walked and talked and slept together on the way all along from Washington to South Mountain. He said he didn't expect to live but thought it was his duty to give his life to his country. You must know all about
32
this and yet you didn't know him personally to such an extent as I did, nor know how sweet and patriotic a spirit he had.
He was at my side at South Mountain, and when he fell, I stopped for a moment beside him to see if he was dead, and then went on. No loftier or purer
life went out that day on the slope of South Mountain than that of dear McKinnor. His name and memory cannot be too highly honored by the Normal . today.
When the Regiment moved on, I was left in charge of the burial party and I saw McKinnor's body placed with the other Michigan dead in a long grave, and marked the spot with a head board for each.
It was in the battle of South Mountain that Captain Gabriel Campbell lost the handsome sword that was presented to him before the Company left Ypsilanti. ( The Gabriel Campbell sword in the Ypsilanti Historical Archives is the splendid sword given as a replacement after the war ended). On September 17 1862 was fought the great battle of An- tietam in which the 17th lost 18 killed and 87 wounded. The lost to Company "E" was four killed including the Normal boys John H. Marvin, Webster Ruckman and Fred S. Webb. Antietam is now a small village on the north side of the Potomac and the battlefield National Historic Marker is on the south side of the river, nearly forty miles south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
A placque was made by the Michigan State Normal School "In Memory of the Students who Died at the Front in the 'War of the Rebellion'". Thirty names were placed on this plaque and room left at the bottom where more names when known could be added.
('The information given on Company "E" is from A HISTORY C." THE MICHIGAN STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN, 1849-1899 by Daniel Putnam, A.M.,L.L.D., Professor of Frychology and Pedagogy. For more information and inter- casting reading it is suggested you read Chapter X LV THE FORMAL SCHOOL IN THE CIVIL WAR
+
The original hand-written list of the men of Company "E" given to the Posilanti Historical Society Archives by ·Le local Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revo-
key(no Street names & gelen,, hical locations )
PAR MONROE ROAD -South Huren : om City limits - becoming Whittaker Load.
CHICAGO ROAD ( Chicago Avenue) West Michigan Avenue from Pollard Street intersection.
CONGRESS STREET - Ypsilanti's Main Street, Michigan Avenue which was named 'Michigan Avenue' in 1914 when an attempt
33
was made to have the Detroit to Chicago Road called 'Michigan Avenue'. Ypsilanti already had a 'Michigan - Street' which in 1914 became 'Ferris Street' honoring Woodbridge N. Ferris, Michigan Governor 1913-1916. SAUK TRAIL - The Indian name for the Detroit to Chicago trail which became the route of the United States Survey for Michigan Avenue and US 12.
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.