Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 17

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

USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 17

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In the meantime Jackson had appointed John S. Horner, of Philadelphia, as secretary and acting governor of Michigan Territory, to succeed Mason. Horner was commissioned early in September but served less than thirty days. Shortly after his appointment the new acting governor addressed the citizens of Detroit, relative to his ideas of the needs of the territory. Unfortunately for the man, his suggestions met with instant disapproval. This, coupled with the fact that his appointment over Mason was resented by almost every citi- zen in the territory, made Horner's position most disagreeable. Following his address, the citizens passed the following resolution, in which their views were expressed with painful frankness : "Resolved: That if our present secretary of the territory should find it beyond his control, either from the nature of his instructions, his feelings of tenderness towards those who have for a long period of time set at defiance as well the laws of the territory as those of the United States, or any feeling of delicacy toward the executive of a neighboring state, who has in vain endeavored to take forcible possession of a part of our territory, to enable him to properly carry into effect the exacting laws of this territory, it is to be hoped he will relinquish the duties of his office and return to the land of his nativity."

In accordance with the provisions made by the first constitutional convention, an election was held in Detroit on the first Monday in October, 1835. Stevens T. Mason was elected governor; Edward Munday, lieutenant governor; and Isaac E. Crary, congressman. The legislature met in November and took action preparatory to the admission of the territory into the Union. As the first draft of the constitution extended the right of franchise very liberally and included provisions prohibiting slavery, the question of admitting the aspiring territory was hotly debated at Washington, many of the southerners objecting to Michigan's slavery ideas. Finally it was decided to accept the territory's constitution, on condition that Michigan surrender her claims in the Toledo dispute and accept in lieu of the eight-mile- wide strip on the southern border, the entire northern peninsula. It was decided at Wash- ington that the territory could not hope for admission until a convention of delegates had acceded to these conditions.

When this became known, the legislature issued a call for the election of delegates to a convention to be held on the last Monday in November, 1836, at Ann Arbor. The con- vention so elected promptly refused to accept the terms of the Washington government, and adjourned. So bitter had been the feeling over the Ohio dispute, that the general consensus of opinion in the territory agreed at first with the decision of the Ann Arbor convention. But as the citizens began to consider more coolly what it meant to Michigan to be deprived of her rights as a state, and as information as to the value of the mineral lands in the north became more widely disseminated as a result of the Schoolcraft-Houghton exploring expedi- tion, a sharp division of sentiment took place. Those in favor of the acceptance of the im- posed terms held conventions, in Wayne and Washtenaw counties, at which resolutions were

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passed demanding a reconsideration of the issue at another convention. Though Governor Mason expressed strong pro-acceptance tendencies, not much importance was attached to the proposal for the additional convention by the opposition. The result was that, for the most part, only the supporters of the new movement were active in the election of delegates. This made the convention, held at Ann Arbor, December 14, 1836, almost unanimously in favor of statehood, under the congressional provisions. Forty-two days after the last Ann Arbor convention, Michigan was admitted to the Union as the twenty-sixth state. Con- gress further enacted that the state should be recognized as having existed from and after the election of 1835, at which the state officers had been chosen.

The history of the state supreme court dates from the assumption of the office of chief justice by William A. Fletcher in the year prior to the admission of the state. Of the or- ganization of the court George Irving Reed has written: "The constitution, which became operative upon the admission of the state, provided for the division of the state into three cir- cuits and the appointment of three judges of the supreme court, each to hold court in the several counties of his circuit, and all of whom should sit together as a court in banc, to consider and determine appeals. The powers of these judges in circuit were restricted and their labors correspondingly reduced by a provision in the constitution for a separate court of chancery. To this court was granted exclusive primary jurisdiction of all chancery cases, with the right of appeal from the chancery to the supreme court. The judges were ap- pointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate, for a term of seven years." The first supreme court was composed of William A. Fletcher, chief justice, George Morrell and Epaphroditus Ransom, associate justices. The circuit assigned to the chief justice comprised the counties of Monroe, Lenawee, Hillsdale, Jackson, Washtenaw, Oakland and Saginaw; that assigned to Judge Morrell comprised Wayne, St. Clair, Lapeer, Michillimackinac and Chippewa. As under the territorial system, two assistants were chosen for each county, who were not necessarily lawyers and whose presence on the bench was not essential to the valid- ity of a proceeding ; they were elected for a term of four years. The supreme court was a peripatetic body under the constitution, holding one term each year in Wayne, Washtenaw and Kalamazoo counties. Of Judge Fletcher's career the author continues : "Chief Justice Fletcher came to Michigan several years before the organization of the state government, as one of the commissioners for that purpose. He rendered valuable service in preparing the compilation of territorial laws known as the code of 1827, and the first revision of the statutes of the state, known as the revised statutes, 1838, was prepared by him and under his supervision. He was a man of commanding presence, a good lawyer and an able judge."

' The early history of the chancery court has been outlined by former Governor Alpheus Felch, in a paper read before the Michigan Historical Society, to this effect: The Michi- gan court of chancery was established and the office of chancellor created, by act of the leg- islature approved March 26, 1836. This act was amended in July of the same year, and the year following both statutes were repealed and a new law continuing the independent court of chancery, with more specific provisions as to its powers and jurisdiction, was en- acted. By this statute the powers and jurisdiction were made coexistive with the powers and jurisdiction of the court of chancery in England, with the exceptions, additions and lim- itations created and imposed by the constitution and laws of the state. * *

The state was divided into three circuits, afterward increased to five, in each of which two terms were to be held annually, and an appeal was given from the decrees of the chancellor to the supreme court of the state. In July, 1836, Elon Farnsworth received the appointment of

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chancellor, and soon afterward the court of chancery was organized and the exercise of its functions was commenced.

From the time of the British evacuation until Michigan was admitted to the Union, Detroit and the territory were under the authority of the following governors and military commandants : 1787-1800, General Arthur St. Clair, governor Northwest Territory; 1800- 1805, General William Henry Harrison, governor Indiana Territory; 1805-1812, General William Hull, governor Michigan Territory; 1812-1813, General Procter, British command- ant; 1813-1831, Lewis Cass, governor and military commander; 1831-1835, Stevens T. Mason, secretary and acting governor; 1835-1835, John S. Horner, secretary and acting governor; 1835, until and after admission, Stevens T. Mason, governor.

CHAPTER XVI.

Internal Improvements-Commissioners Appointed-Influx of Settlers from the East-Pur- chase by the State of the Detroit & St. Joseph Railroad-Clinton and Kalamazoo Canal-Famous Five Million Dollar Loan Approved-Placing of the State's Bonds -Grave Financial Situation of the New State-Canal Projects Abandoned.

Scarcely had the new state been created and the craze for land speculation reached its height, when a mania for what was then glibly termed "internal improvement" took posses- sion of the hearts of the early state builders. In his first message to the general assembly of the state, Governor Stevens T. Mason, thoroughly imbued with that spirit of proud en- thusiasm and ambitious energy which made him for the time the idol of the pioneers, sug- gested that an act be passed providing for the appointment of a "board of internal-improve- ment commissioners whose duty it should be to ascertain the proper objects of improve- ment in relation to navigable rivers, roads and canals." On March 21, 1837, such an act was approved by the young legislature and on the same day Governor Mason named such a board, consisting of the following men: James B. Hunt, Hart L. Stewart, John M. Bar- bour, David C. Mckinstry, Gardiner D. Williams, Levi S. Humphrey and Justin M. Burdick.

Just at this time a fever of immigration swept over the eastern states, fanned by the re- ports of the fair lands in Michigan and the fortunes awaiting the hand of those with suffi- cient courage and resolution to grasp them. A stream of settlers poured into the country, coming mostly from New York via the then new Hudson River railroad and the Erie canal as far as Buffalo, and from that point to Detroit by way of the lakes. Young men they were, accompanied by courageous wives, fearing to undertake nothing and nerved to the struggle of overcoming the mighty forests. The true zeal of the pioneer was theirs, and all had but one aim,-the speedy creation of a great and prosperous commonwealth, that influ- ence, honor and wealth might be wrought from the wilderness for their children. On the journey "out," all had seen the beneficent effects of the Erie canal and the railroads, and readily enough they responded to the suggestion of Governor Mason. The whole popula- tion was intent upon the realization of an ideal, but so great was the spirit of impatience that none was content to wait for the steady, healthful growth which had characterized the development of the mother states. Important measures, involving far-reaching projects whose magnitude would cause the men of to-day to hesitate, were carried through with a swing and a rush on the crest of the wave of popular hope. Surveying crews were mus- tered and hurled against the walls of the almost impenetrable wilderness with indomitable faith and courage. Lines were run and estimates made with only the thought of the great results anticipated in view. All were conversant with the revolution brougth about by the gradual improvements effected in the east, and it was clear to every pioneer that if the Erie canal had been so efficient in the bringing of settlement and civilization to the west, then sev- eral canals across the lower peninsula were all that was needed in the way of allies for the redemption of their state.

So great was the enthusiasm that the internal improvement commissioners, appointed in March, met in Detroit on the Ist of May and formally organized for the execution of their work. One of their first acts was the purchase of the "chartered rights, privileges and

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franchises" of the Detroit & St. Joseph Railroad, for it was intended that the new state should own and control its public utilities. Early in 1838 the board reported that the engi- neers in charge of the survey of "a canal part of the way and railroad the balance of the route, commencing at or near Mount Clemens, on the Clinton river, to terminate at or near the mouth of the Kalamazoo river" (the line of the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal), had found the .project to be perfectly feasible, the character of the soil and the abundance of available water leaving no doubt of the practicability of the enterprise.

The work as outlined by the improvement board on the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal, as well as the additional canals, river improvements, wagon and rail roads throughout the state, required the expenditure of what were in those days of simple individual needs and resources, stupendous fortunes. The legislature memorialized congress in an attempt to secure the setting aside of five hundred thousand acres of public lands for the benefit of the improvement fund, and the famous and disastrous five million dollar loan was approved. In all, three hundred and five thousand dollars was appropriated for the work on the Clinton canal, and in July, 1838, with the pomp of a parade and the ceremony of a dinner attended by the governor and a party of distinguished guests, ground was broken on the banks of the Clinton river at Mount Clemens and the hope of the pioneers was launched under the most favorable circumstances.

At daybreak a gun was fired announcing to the inhabitants the dawn of the great day, a day, it was then thought, destined to be remembered as one of the proudest the people of the state would ever behold. After predicting the glorious results which could but follow the completion of the canal, Governor Mason turned the first shovelful of earth, little realizing that the zeal of achievement had blinded the eyes of all to the real obstacles about to be encountered. Since that time, later events have been ascribed to an ill omen which occurred during the ceremony. In loading the first wheelbarrow of earth so little attention was given to that vehicle's capacity that, when it was dumped, the frail structure went to pieces, its fate being considered by many as prophetic of that of the canal.

To provide funds for the carrying out of the canal project and the other then colossal undertakings, the governor approved an act on March 21, 1837, authorizing the loan of "a sum not to exceed five million dollars," and as soon as the state's bonds securing this amount had been prepared in New York, he left for the east for the purpose of personally closing the deal for the securing of the money. Prior to this time the financial measures which had been adopted by the "wildcat" banks, and the stories of Michigan "town-site" speculation which had been heralded abroad, had so tended to the detriment of the new state's reputation for stability, as well as that of her people, as to make any successful exploitation well nigh impos- sible. Added to this, it must be remembered, very little of a reliable nature was known of the state's resources. Its government was entirely new, its organization was characterized by no little instability, and its vast mineral riches were known to none. So extensive had the prejudice against the state become that scarcely had the enthusiastic young governor reached New York when he began to realize that a much more difficult task awaited him there than that of arousing the sympathetic concordance with his own people at home had been. The difficulty of even partially imbuing the hard-headed financiers with the glowing possibilities of Michigan's internal improvements became at once apparent.

In his efforts to place the state's bonds, Governor Mason fell in with the Morris Canal & Banking Company, a New Jersey concern with headquarters in New York. The meet- ing was destined to prove itself the rock on which were to be wrecked not only the fair hopes of the earnest pioneers, but the political future and life of their idolized governor as well.

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The immediate result of this meeting was the closing of a contract between the Michigan government and the banking company, in which the latter was made the state's agent for the floating of the five million dollars in bonds. For this service the company was to receive a commission of two and one-half per cent, with the understanding that if the bonds were sold above par the company was to receive as a bonus one-half of such premium up to one hundred and five. If the bonds sold above one hundred and five, the state agreed to allow the company the excess above that point as an additional premium. Bonds to the extent of one million three hundred thousand dollars were then turned over to the company upon its agreement to place one-fourth of their par value to the immediate credit of the state in cash and to hold the balance available as needed, subject to the governor's order. The remain- ing three million seven hundred thousand dollars was to be paid in quarterly installments at the rate of one million a year, after July 1, 1839.

This arrangement would no doubt have given the state the construction funds as rap- idly as they were needed, but unfortunately little regard was given to the fact that the state would be paying out interest at the rate of six per cent on five million dollars long before all of the money was actually received.

The senate and house documents for the year 1839 show that after the closing of the above contract further changes were made in the arrangement of the negotiations, which afterward turned out to be even more embarrassing. The banking company's notes were to be taken in payment for the first installment of bonds, in lieu of cash. Then, as an addi- tional change, it was finally decided that the state would be content with ninety-day drafts on the company, instead of its notes. Later on, in the same year, the remaining portion of the five million dollar bond issue was turned over to the company without security other than the company's obligation for one-fourth of the amount and the understanding that the United States Bank, a Pennsylvania corporation, would undertake to float the rest.

In justification of the course followed by Governor Mason in connection with the placing of this loan, the conditions of the times and the peculiar financial exigencies then existing must be considered. To his scheme of financiering is attributed directly the down- fall and ultimate failure of many of the projects he so earnestly endeavored to further, including that of the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal. The governor's faith in Michigan's future and his ready belief in the honesty of the men with whom he was associated tend to explain the anxious desire on the part of the banking company to be of assistance, which was manifest in the way it took advantage of every circumstance favorable to itself in the promotion of the hopes of the fledgling state.

In 1838 an appropriation was made by the legislature of two hundred and five thou- sand dollars for work on the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal, and in the following year an act was passed authorizing the payment of sixty thousand dollars for the same purpose, "out of any moneys that shall hereafter come into the treasury of this state, to the credit of the fund for internal improvement."

Following the final location of the canal route and the elaborate ceremonies attendant upon the initiation of its construction, agents of the improvement board were sent along the route securing, as the needs demanded, rights of way, and grants of other necessary priv- ileges. The ease with which these were acquired demonstrates clearly the popularity of the project, most of the land necessary being freely donated by the pioneers. Public opinion had been so thoroughly roused to the benefits of a canal that none seemed to stop to con- sider the possibility of the failure of the commissioners to meet promptly their payment to the laborers, most of whom, we are told, were Irishmen. The "wildcat" banks had accus- tomed everyone to the acceptance of script, instead of specie, in the satisfaction of financial

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obligations, so that the commissioners experienced little difficulty, if any, in settling with the canal diggers on the same basis.

The absence of specie payments on the canal work began, however, to make itself insid- iously felt, and as the pioneers became conscious of the realization, slowly bursting upon them, that sudden riches could not be attained by borrowing any more than railroads could be built by the mere granting of a charter from the state, or flourishing cities could arise from the platting of a beautiful map, their enthusiasm began to wane. Only a slight majority, attributed at the time to the votes of the public-improvement laborers, saved the last cam- paign of the governor from ending in defeat, so great was the disappointment at his 'failure to realize cash on the five million dollar loan. To the state at large the improvement projects became less and less the topic of all-absorbing interest. The "hard times of 1838 and 1839" became a matter of vital concern. Specie payments even in the east were dis- continued, and, to add to the general spirit of gloom, announcement was made that the Morris Canal & Banking Company had defaulted in its payments to the improvement com- missioners. The United States Bank also became so involved as to be forced to discon- tinue payment, and absolute ruin confronted every honest man in Michigan. The state script became subject to a heavy discount and was found to be available for little else than the pay- ment of taxes or the settling of minor obligations to the state.

The scarcity of money and the necessity of battling for the satisfaction of individual needs were important factors in the reversal of sentiment as related to internal improvement and did much in bringing about a complete change of front on the part of the administration. Strict economy was urged in every department of the government, and finally, upon the inauguration of Governor William Woodbridge, it was suggested that "the committee on internal improvement be instructed to inquire into the expediency of bringing a bill to repeal the act to provide for the further construction of certain works." In 1840 such an act was approved, except in so far as it related to the completion of the Central and Southern Rail- roads, then partially under operation.

The railroads were soon discovered to far exceed in efficiency even the highest hopes of the canal enthusiasts, and thus passed the most roseate dream of Michigan's vanguard of progress into the shades of pathetic oblivion.

CHAPTER XVII.

Geological Survey of the State-Houghton Appointed State Geologist-Early Railroads- Railway Stations in Detroit-The Milwaukee Railroad-Progress of the Michigan Central and Sale of the Road in 1846-Great Western Railway-First Train from the East-Climax of the Railroad Conspiracy - Destruction of Michigan Central Properties-Patriot War in Canada-Border States Support the Patriots-Procla- mation by President Van Buren-Mass Meeting of Detroit Sympathizers-Capture of the Ship "Ann"-General Scott Comes to Detroit to Police the Frontier-Skir- mishes Along the Detroit River.

Following Governor Mason's second campaign for the governorship, in which he de- feated C. C. Trowbridge and in which Edward S. Munday was chosen as lieutenant gov- ernor over Daniel S. Bacon, a geological survey of the state was made. This was pro- vided for by an act of the legislature, under which Dr. Douglass Houghton was appointed state geologist. As a result of his investigations and those of his assistants much timely information concerning the resources of the state was secured for the benefit of the eastern settlers who, passing generally through Detroit, were rapidly settling and developing the country. At this time, 1837, the craze for internal improvement was at its height. While the canals were being surveyed, lines were also being run and grubbing was in progress along the rights of way of several lines of railroad. Contracts were let for the building of the line of the Detroit and Pontiac railroad in the spring of 1836. The original company formed to build this line had been incorporated as early as 1830 and again incorporated under the terms of a reorganization in 1834. A year later this last corporation was given authority to establish what was known as the Bank of Pontiac, which it was thought would facilitate the financing of the enterprise. Only after the state had loaned the company one hundred thousand dollars in 1838, however, was any part of the line in operation. During this year the track-the timber and strap-iron affair characteristic of all the early roads- reached Royal Oak. A year later Birmingham was reached, but not until four years later were trains run into Pontiac.

Before the Pontiac line had arrived at Birmingham, cars were being run between De- troit and Dearborn over the Michigan Central. This line was originally promoted as the Detroit & St. Joseph Railroad and had been incorporated two years after the Pontiac com- pany had received its first charter. Its exploitation was so skillfully handled that a govern- ment engineer was detailed by the war department to complete the initial surveys and later the company was granted banking privileges at Ypsilanti and was assisted by stock sub- scriptions to the extent of fifty thousand dollars by the city of Detroit. In 1837 the state purchased the line and placed its control in the hands of the board of internal improvement. At this time the name Michigan Central was substituted for the original Detroit & St. Joseph. At first these lines were operated by horse power, but the crowning glory of early trans- portation achievements was left to the Erie & Kalamazoo, which introduced a real steam locomotive as early as 1837. This line, chartered in 1833, to extend from Toledo into Mich- igan, reached Adrian in 1836. Of it the authors of "Landmarks" say: "A law was passed establishing the Michigan Southern Railroad, which was intended to be fostered by the state,

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Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 17

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