Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 15

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 858

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the building of a road between Detroit and Chicago. A passable wagon road was the re- sult.

Important as these measures were, however, August 27th of this year of 1818 brought forth an event of the greatest moment to the town of Detroit. Before the astonished gaze of the populace, nearly all of whom thronged the river front, a strange vessel, sans canvas, sans sweeps, ploughed her way past the islands and up stream towards the city. Whitened foam sprang from her glistening paddlewheels and fiery sparks fell from her stack. She was the "Walk-in-the-Water," the first steamboat to stem the current of the Detroit river, or to plough the waters of the western inland seas. The steamer made regular trips between Buffalo and Detroit and her owners solicited both freight and passenger patronage.

Upon the addition to Michigan during this year, of Wisconsin and a part of Minnesota, Cass sought the establishment of a general assembly for the territory. Of the governor's effort in this respect Andrew C. Mclaughlin says, in his life of Lewis Cass: "He adhered with tenacity to the doctrine that the people should have a direct voice in appointments and in other political affairs in the territory. In the spring of 1818 the people were invited to decide by a general vote whether or not to proceed to the semi-representative government permitted by the ordinance. But the lethargic French and others who appreciated the good they had, voted against change. For five years the governor and judges retained their au- tocratic position, at the end of which time the second form was established."

The changes already wrought in governmental affairs; the re-establishment of the rights of the people, marked the beginning of an era of business development and pros- perity. Settlers began to arrive; government land began to be sold; there began to be a demand for reliable banking institutions. To meet this need, the Bank of Michigan, De- troit's second financial institution, was established during this year (1818). The new es- tablishment occupied a building at the corner of Jefferson avenue and Randolph street and numbered among its stockholders Catherine Navarre and Mary Devereaux, and the follow- ing prominent citizens of the territory: General Alexander Macomb, Otis Fisher, James Abbott, Stephen Mack, Solomon Sibley, Benjamin Stead, Charles Lanman, DeGarmo Jones, Henry Jackson Hunt, Joseph Campau, Henry B. Brevoort, John R. Williams, Au- gustus B. Woodward, Andrew G. Whitney, William Woodbridge, James May, Peter Des- noyers, Ebenezer Sibley, John Anderson, John H. Platt, Barnabas Campau, John J. Deming, William Brown, Philip Lecuyer and Abraham Edwards. John R. Will- iams was made the bank's first president and James McCloskey served as cashier until suc- ceeded by C. C. Trowbridge, who assumed the office only after McCloskey had been dis- missed under accusation of having applied a portion of the bank's funds to his own uses.

Earlier in the year plans were laid for the disposition of certain public lands which were ordered placed on sale following the completion of the government surveys. The reports of the government surveyors had been such that a general opinion was disseminated to the effect that most of Michigan was a desolate waste. On this account the federal gov- ernment altered the allotments formerly made to cover grants to soldiers, by limiting Michi- gan's quota, offering instead lands in Missouri and other states. Governor Cass had been doing all in his power to promote settlement within the territory and this action on the part of the Washington government promised to greatly retard the realization of the gov- ernor's plans. A local organization, known as the Pontiac Land Company, was, however, perfected, two prominent merchants, Mack and Conant, acting as the active promoters. The company included nearly all of the stockholders of the Bank of Michigan, and acquired

DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY

a considerable acreage in Oakland county, adjacent to and including the present city of Pontiac. A business directory of Detroit compiled in 1819 shows that there were at that time in the city, "watchmakers, blacksmiths, gunsmiths, carpenters, coopers, cabinet-makers, coach-makers, wheelwrights, tanners, harness and shoe makers, masons, tailors, hatters, printers, painters and bakers." There were sixteen grocers, twenty odd merchants, and eight innkeepers.

On June 9, 1818, the corner stone of the new Ste. Anne's church was laid, Bishop Flaget, of Baltimore, being present at the ceremony. Shortly prior to this time a division had arisen in the parish of Ste. Anne over the removal of the dead from the burial ground, necessitated by the extension of Jefferson avenue, and because of the efforts of Father Gab- riel Richard to build a new church. Bitter feeling had forced the issue to an open quarrel. This brought forth a letter from the bishop sharply reprimanding Father Richard's oppon- ents and interdicting the church. Bishop Flaget's visit was made primarily for the purpose of restoring peace in the parish. His party was met at some distance from the city by an escort and following his arrival a reconciliation was soon affected. The congregation con- sented to the removal of the burial ground and agreed to contribute to a fund for the build- ing of the new church. The bishop "promised to raise the interdict against their church, to permit burials in the cemetery, and to send them a priest once a month. The prelim- inaries of the reconciliation having been satisfactorily adjusted, the bishop determined to render the ceremony of removing the interdict as public and solemn as possible. Accord- ingly, on Tuesday the 9th of June, he was conducted to their church in grand procession, the discharge of cannon announcing the approaching ceremony, and the music of the regi- mental band mingling with that of the choristers. An affecting public reconciliation took place between the schismatics and their pastor, Gabriel Richard, who shed tears of joy on the occasion. A collection of five hundred dollars was taken upon the spot, which the bishop considered a substantial omen of a permanent peace." That the erection of the church was begun at once is evidenced by an advertisement quoted from the Detroit Gazette, of August 19, 1818: "Great Bargain! Offered by Gabriel Richard, rector of Ste. Anne, two hundred hard dollars will be given for twenty toises of long stone, of Stony island, deliv- ered at Detroit on the wharf of Mr. Jacob Smith, or two hundred and forty dollars, if de- livered on the church ground. One hundred barrels of lime are wanted immediately. Five shillings will be given per barrel at the river side, and six shillings delivered on the church ground." During the building of the church, Father Richard's shin plasters which he issued in payment for material and labor, were counterfeited so extensively as to threaten ruin for the good father. The culprit who committed the forgery, however, was frightened out of the territory before the authorities could succeed in apprehending him.

While the beginnings of industrial progress were under way in Michigan Territory, the governor was directing much of his attention to the framing of important treaties with the Indians. Serving as Indian commissioner for the territory between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river, north of Illinois, most of the treaties of the time bear the governor's signature. During 1818 Cass met with the savages at St. Mary's, Ohio, securing at this conference title to a large area for the government. During the next year and in 1821 he secured treaties at Saginaw and Chicago respectively, which transferred to the whites nearly all of the present state of Michigan south of the Grand river. Much of the topog- raphy of the lake region was known only in a most general way even at this time, the only information available having been derived from trappers and missionaries. Vague rumors of mineral wealth had long been in circulation. Cass determined to inform himself of the

DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY

extent of the territory's resources and asked authority to map the country and to investigate its flora and fauna.

Having secured the desired authority and the services of an officer of engineers, Cass set out for the Lake Superior country, accompanied by Henry R. Schoolcraft who was to conduct the scientific observations. With the expedition went an escort of ten soldiers from the regular army and a corps of interpreters and voyageurs, the party being further augmented upon its arrival at Mackinac. Near the Sault Ste. Marie was a plot of ground which had been ceded to the United States. This, however, had never been occupied by the American government, though the right of the United States to the land had always been observed in the various treaties with the northern tribes. As the Chippewas were still re- ceiving gifts from the British government, much to the concern of the Americans, Cass now determined to take possession of the lands in question, and to effect a treaty with that tribe. On his arrival at the Sault, Cass perceived at once that the Indians were completely under the influence of the English. Decisive measures were necessary. Perhaps the best idea of the courage and precision with which the governor met this and similar difficulties can be gained from McLaughlin's narrative which is based on Schoolcraft's "Summary Nar- rative" and on the account of Charles C. Trowbridge, who likewise was with the party. Mc- Laughlin says:

The braves, evidently restless and out of humor, assembled to meet the Americans. Ar- rayed in their best attire, and many of them adorned with British medals, they seated themselves with even more than their wonted solemnity and dignity, and prepared to hear what Governor Cass desired. At first pretending not to know of any French grant, they finally intimated that our government might be permitted to occupy the place if we did not use it as a military station. The governor, perceiving that their independence and boldness verged on impudence and menace, answered decisively that as surely as the rising sun would set, so surely would there be an American garrison sent to that point, whether they received the grant or not. The excitement which had been ready to break forth now displayed itself. The chiefs disputed among themselves, some evidently councilling mod- eration, others favoring hostilities.

A tall and stately looking chieftain, dressed in a British uniform with epaulets, lost patience with moderation and delay. Striking his spear into the ground, he drew it forth again, and, kicking away the presents that lay scattered about, strode in high dudgeon out of the assembly. *

* * The dissatisfied chiefs went directly to their lodges, and in a moment a British flag was flying in the very faces of the little company of white men. The soldiers were at once ordered under arms. Everyone expected an immediate attack for the Indians, greatly outnumbering the Americans, had not disguised their impudence and contempt. In an instant Governor Cass took his resolution. Rejecting the offers of those who volunteered to accompany him, with no weapon in his hands, and only his in- terpreter beside him, he walked straight to the middle of the Indian camp, tore down the British flag, and trampled it under his feet. Then addressing the astonished and terror- stricken braves, he warned them that two flags could not fly over the same territory, and should they raise any but the American flag, the United States would puts its strong foot upon them and crush them. He then turned upon his heel and walked back to his own tent, carrying the British ensign with him. An hour of indecision among the Indians en- sued. Their camp was quickly cleared of women and children, an indication that a battle was in immediate prospect.

The Americans, looking to their guns, listened for the war whoop and awaited attack. But the intrepidity of Governor Cass had struck the Indians with amazement. It showed a rare knowledge of Indian character, of which his own companions had not dreamed. Sub- dued by the boldness and decision of this action, the hostile chiefs forgot their swaggering confidence, and in a few hours signed the treaty which had been offered them.

DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY

Following the perfecting of the treaty with the Chippewas, the governor's expedition proceeded to explore and map the Lake Superior region at its leisure, Schoolcraft making careful observations of the mineral resources. After investigating the territory at the head of the Mississippi, the travelers returned home, via Green Bay and Chicago. Cass is cred- ited as having been the first white man to have covered the old Indian trail between Chi- cago and Detroit. The charts and maps, as well as the other information obtained by this expedition proved later on to be of the utmost value in furthering immigration into the then more remote parts of the territory. In 1820 a regular survey system was adopted which enabled the division of the land into townships and sections, the latter numbering from a north and south meridian, and from an east and west base line.

Owing to the failure of the people to follow the governor's effort to bring about the organization of a territorial legislature, the territory could have no representative in con- gress. The old ordinance of 1787 was still operative in the northwest and though Michigan had a population sufficient to justify federal representation, the ordinance specifically pro- vided that no such representative could be seated until his territory had advanced to what was called the second form of government, by establishing an assembly. In 1819, however, congress passed an act relieving Michigan of the fulfillment of this requirement.

With the right of federal representation granted, an election was held, in which Will- iam Woodbridge, collector of customs and secretary of the territory, defeated Henry Jackson Hunt, Judge Woodward, John R. Williams and James McCloskey. Woodward re- ceived but half as many votes as did the third lowest candidate and his defeat evidenced that unpopularity which later led to his enforced retirement from the public affairs of the territory. In the year following his election, Woodbridge was forced to resign his new office by the popular protest that declared against his holding more than one federal posi- tion. The election of Solomon Sibley filled Woodbridge's unexpired term, Sibley being suc- ceeded by Father Gabriel Richard, the first Catholic priest to represent a constituency in congress. Father Richard served from 1823 until 1825. In those days there was no civil service and no cavilling about officials mingling in politics.

Sheriff Austin E. Wing and John Biddle, receiver in the land office, were prominent candidates for delegates to congress in 1823. Major Biddle placed the management of his campaign in the hands of Attorney William Fletcher, and Wing entrusted his cause to the vigilance of John Hunt afterward supreme justice. Just as the canvass was well under way the candidates were informed that Father Richard was being boomed as a third can- didate by the French residents. At first the idea of a Roman Catholic priest, in charge of a parish, a man whose knowledge of English was limited, and who was not a citizen of the United States, should become a candidate for so important an office, seemed preposter- ous, but the popular priest gained ground in an alarming fashion.

On June 9, 1823, Father Richard applied for citizenship papers, but Mr. Fletcher, who had just been appointed chief justice of Wayne county by Governor Cass, raised the point that the county court was not the proper tribunal for granting such papers. His col- leagues, Judges Witherell and Lecuyer, however, issued the papers on June 28th, and the presiding judge found his political candidate face to face with a dangerous competitor. The first candidates in the field had already subsidized the press. The Gazette utterly ig- nored the pretensions of Father Richard. The campaign caused great excitement and pro- duced some remarkable ruptures. John R. Williams, a merchant of the town and son of Thomas Williams, a prominent British official, and Celia Campau, sister of the wealthy Jo- seph Campau, had been reared in the Catholic faith and was a warden of Ste. Anne's. He

DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY

had been elected a delegate to the convention and he undertook to head off Father Rich- ard's campaign and to compel him to withdraw from the race. He issued a circular in the French language setting forth the trials and perils of a church deserted by its pastor and calling upon the straying shepherd to return to his flock. Father Richard said he had a perfect right to become a candidate and upon his refusal to withdraw, John R. Williams and his uncle Joseph Campau left the church never to return. They became Free Masons and died full of years, honored and wealthy, but they were apostates and were buried in uncon- secrated soil. (Campau had been a Free Mason many years and was treasurer of the Ma- sonic Lodge in 1803.) Then the rival candidates looked about for some means to compel the withdrawal of the priest, and at first they were apparently successful. Three years be- fore this time Francis Labadie had been accused of leaving his wife, Apoline Girardin, in the parish of St. Berthier, Canada. He came to Detroit, became a member of Ste. Anne's, and married Marie Ann Griffard, widow of Louis Dehetre, the ceremony being performed on February 17, 1817. Father Richard, in the discharge of his duty, tried to make Labadie abandon his new wife, and return to his lawful mate, but Labadie refused to obey. Then Father Richard gave three public warnings to Labadie for his contumacy, but without effect, whereupon he formally excommunicated him on July 16, 1817. Labadie took his revenge by bringing suit for defamation of character and employing Lawyer George A. O'Keefe to prosecute the case. Father Richard employed William Woodbridge to defend him. In the winter of 1821 the supreme court rendered a verdict for Labadie in the sum of $1, 116, but Father Richard refused to pay. As the judgment was still hanging over him, and Wing, one of the candidates for congressional delegate, was sheriff, the priest was taken on a writ of execution and locked in jail. This merely served to increase his popu- larity, for his parishioners now considered him a persecuted man, and the French popula- tion rallied to his support. As a final resort the Wing and Biddle factions tried to unite against Father Richard. Both managers were scheming for their personal advantage. Hunt thought that if Biddle would resign the land office to Wing, the latter would be content to retire from the field. Fletcher, it is said, wanted Biddle to promise that if he was elected to congress he would favor the appointment of himself (Fletcher) to the su- preme court, then about to be reorganized. Fletcher denied that he had tried to make such a bargain, and in the wrangling that ensued between the managers, Hunt and Fletcher came near meeting on the field of honor. The election occurred on the first Tuesday of Septem- ber, and the early returns showed that Father Richard was probably elected. The returns were slow in coming in. John P. Sheldon, editor of the Gazette, delayed issuing his paper for three days in the hope that full returns would show a different result, but with the coun- ties of Macomb and St. Clair unreported, the paper came out with the following result : Father Richard, 372; Wing, 286; Biddle, 235; Whitney, 143; McCloskey, 134, and Will- iams, 41. Subsequent returns did not alter the result, and the notice of election was handed to Father Richard in jail, and he was thereupon released. The defeated factions were very glum over the election, but the French were jubilant. A member of congress cannot be held in jail on a civil process during his term of office, so Sheriff Austin E. Wing un- locked the doors that shut Father Richard from his liberty, and the triumphant priest walked forth to be greeted by his ardent supporters. Major Biddle contested the seat, but the committee on elections allowed his petition to slumber in a pigeon-hole and never in- vestigated it or reported on the subject.

Of the successful candidate's subsequent career much has been written. The authors of Landmarks of Wayne County say: "Father Richard's personality excited much interest in

DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY

Washington, as no Catholic priest had ever before been a member of congress. His gaunt, sepulchral figure and face, his attire, which was black throughout, with small clothes, silk stockings, silver shoe buckles, his broken English, his quaint ways and copious use of snuff, attracted much attention. A number of his fellow congressmen talked with him one day, and in answer to questions he said he came there to do his people some good. 'But,' he modestly added, 'I do not see how I can do it; I do not understand legislation; I want to give them good roads if I can.' His hearers then and there said they would aid him, and the result was the law of 1825, making appropriation for a road from Detroit to Chicago. Father Richard died in Detroit September 13, 1832, following a collapse resulting from ministering to the Asiatic-plague sufferers."

CHAPTER XIV.

Important Governmental Changes-Political Discontent-Petition to Congress-Establishing of Governor's Council-New Territorial Judges-Council Holds its First Meeting- Message of Governor Cass-Further Congressional Acts Relative to Michigan Ter- ritory-Important Indian Treaties Effected-Completion of the Erie Canal-Internal Improvements in Michigan-Detroit Municipal Government-New Capitol Occu- pied-Protest Against Formation of Huron Territory-Arrest of Editor of Ga- zette Arouses Popular Indignation.

Probably no period in the history of the northwest has been productive of broader, more significant and more interesting governmental changes than that between the years 1820 and 1825. With the coming of eastern settlers, and the resultant infusion of the fresh and vigorous political blood of the New England states, the public attention in Detroit during these years began to focus more sharply upon the community's civil needs. It is probable that the history of the United States affords no more striking political anomaly than that which presented itself at this time in Michigan Territory. This was the result of an inev- itable collision between the sturdy American ideas of self-government and the Old World belief in the necessity of submission to a preimposed authority. Into a community in which these latter ideas had become thoroughly implanted during the regime of both the early French and that of the later English occupation, came now the sons of Massachusetts, aflame with that zeal for political liberty which was the fruit of the New England town and local governments. These eastern institutions had flourished and waxed strong since the years prior to the Revolution, and now the influences of the most truly democratic government the world has known began to make themselves felt on the edge of the wilderness. Though the newcomers were but the vanguard of that tide of settlers that later flowed into Michi- gan upon the completion of the Erie canal, they brought with them an influence that not only afforded a stimulus to the dissatisfaction then existing politically in Detroit, but pro- vided fertile ground for the support of the policies of Governor Cass.

There now began a period of gradual but constant withdrawal from previously existing civil standards. The public opinion became ever more firmly united in opposition to any form of government which sought to place the people under officials in whose selection the public had no part. The rule of the governor and judges and the centering in these offi- cials of both judicial and legislative powers now became an absurd impossibility. Wood- ward and his ally Griffin were still nominally a part of the Michigan government, but they stood for the old and now thoroughly detested regime. As a consequence, each rapidly lost any footing he might even then have had in the public esteem. Sensible of his unpopularity, Woodward absented himself for much of the time, and Griffin, left to stand by himself, made no attempt to press any original legislative ideas upon the public.

As the culmination of the political discontent, a meeting of citizens was called at the council house, on March II, 1822. Congress was petitioned to divorce the judicial and legislative branches of the government and was asked to "vest the latter in a certain num- ber of our citizens." Again, in October of the same year, a similar meeting was called and a second petition was drafted. Finally, in January of the following year, a statement of

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Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 15

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932 Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago H. Taylor & Co. Number of Pages: 858

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 858