USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. I > Part 14
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From Grand Rapids he wrote, in 1840: "We see pretty dull, hard times here; though, as we have enough to eat and drink, we are not quite as badly off as we have been here for the last two years. I had hopes that before this time the State would have tested the salt springs in this vicinity, and that the manufacture of salt would have been established so as to bring a little money into this part of the country, but the work has been entirely suspended for the last five or six months, and there is no probability that anything more will be done by the State in the matter. The consequence is that the sum of $10,000 or $12,000, which has been laid out at the springs, will be lost, and the question whether salt can be manufactured here or not will remain undecided, unless private enterprise shall determine it. This question is so important to the people of Grand Rapids and of this section of the State that I am determined to have it solved. I believe that good salt water may be obtained by boring deep enough, at almost any point on Grand River, as well as at the salt springs; and if you will send on to me, or to Judge Almy, one-half the necessary money I will furnish the other half immediately and we will try the * experiment and see if salt cannot be procured and manufactured at this place. *
* It will not cost over $4,000 or $5,000 to sink a well on the rapids to the depth of 700 feet."
Writing to Edward Lyon in January, 1840, he said: "I have met George Ketchum, who has erected and finished off complete at Grandville a better mill than Mr. Ball will have at Owosso, when his is finished, and has now three run of stone and eight bolts in operation, ready to do as good merchant work as can be done in the United States. Mr. Ketchum's mill is 40 x 50, the same size as Mr. Ball's and is calculated to have in it five run of stone as soon as the two additional run are needed; and the whole dam, race, mill and all things complete cost about $12,000."
On the same date he wrote to Gen. John McNeil, relative to Michigan conditions, giving a full review of the state of the territory at that time. This was in part as follows: "I consider the condition of Michigan as now better than it has been since the commencement of the career of speculation which brought so much disaster and ruin on the country, though others may entertain a different opinion. We have, it is true, less money in the State in proportion to the population than we have ever had, less even than we had a year ago; and those who are compelled to pay their debts now must suffer great sacrifice, and many will be ruined entirely. Prices have fallen so much that it is impossible to tell the value of anything. The average price of wheat throughout the State may be perhaps 55 or 60 cents per bushel and first-rate fresh pork, in the hog, $3.50 to $4.00 per cwt. Last year and for several years past wheat has been from $1.00 to $1.50 per bushel and mess pork from $25 to $40 per barrel. Three years ago this State was paying to the State of Ohio $500,000 for flour and $400,000 a year for pork, and at the same time we were paying to the city of New York about $2,000,000 annually for drygoods and groceries, and to the States of Massachusetts and Vermont about $500,000 for boots and shoes, besides paying to New York about $250,000 annually for salt, making the whole amount of foreign debt contracted by our citizens about $3,650,000 annually. To meet the
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payment of this large amount of debt, we had no other resource than the money brought into this State by immigrants from other States, so that when immigration ceased, about the time of the suspension of the banks, in 1837, the money then in the State was soon drained off and we were left exhausted. During the time when it was going, however, we made an effort to relieve ourselves, temporarily, by a resort to banking; but this ended-as all attempts have done and will always do when banks are not founded on real capital-in leaving the people worse off than they were before. Finding at last that all speculation was at an end, the people of the State went to work and in two years succeeding the year 1837, instead of having to pay half a million of dollars to Ohio for flour, they had last year a surplus of a million and a half to sell themselves; and this year, at the same price, our surplus of pork would bring us three millions. Even at the present low prices the surplus which we have on hand of these two articles must bring us, whenever sold, at least a million and a half. In the meantime, our consumption of drygoods and groceries has decreased more than one-half, and we begin to manufacture leather, so that the amount we pay out for boots and shoes is not more than half as great as it was three years ago. On the whole, our condition now, if we were free from the old debt hanging over us, would be pretty good. This will be paid slowly, and in four or five years from this time we shall be nearly free from debt and have as ample resources as any people in the United States, in proportion to our population. All political economists agree that labor is the chief if not the only source of wealth, and the labor of the people of this State has within the last three years nearly doubled its actual wealth, though money, the common measure of wealth, has decreased in amount. We have now twice as many acres of improved land as we had then. We have twice as many rods of fence, twice as many flouring mills, three times as much wheat, and twice as many cattle, hogs, horses and sheep. All this is real, substantial capital, and will bring money into the country, by. and by, if not at present. The value of land has been reduced very low, and it cannot, in fact, be sold at any price at present. In villages the fall in prices has been generally greater than in farming lands, and even where sales have been made in good faith nobody thinks of making payment. My share of the sales made at Grand Rapids amounts to something like $20,000, but I cannot get one dollar of it, though about half of it is ultimately secure. I have commenced an operation, however, which, if successful, and I have little doubt it will be, will double the value of that property and make it salable. I am sinking a well for salt water directly on the rapids, and expect to get salt water sufficiently strong to make it profitable manufac- turing salt there, by boring down about 500 feet into the rocks. The experiment will have been tested in about six months from this time, and I shall be much disappointed if I have not the pleasure of an- nouncing to you its complete success. * * * You enquire about the health of Michigan. It has been good during the last summer and fall. Even the fever and ague has hardly made its appearance at all, though last year many were sick with it."
In April, 1840, while on a visit to New England, he writes urg- ing the employment by Michigan of an instructor in sugar beet cul-
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ture. On June 23, 1840, he wrote Rev. Luman Foote: "The place that I now claim as my residence is Grand Rapids, in Kent County, about 200 miles northwest from Detroit, as the road runs. I am not there much yet, but shall, probably, live there a considerable por- tion of each year hereafter. Nearly all my property (what I have left after losing a great deal by bad debts and by being bondsman and endorser for others) is situated there and I should like very much to have you located at Grand Rapids also. The place now con- tains about 1,000 inhabitants, but its situation and advantages are such that it must within ten years be the third if not the second town in the state in point of size and importance. We have at pres- ent an Episcopal clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Hoyt, and we are erecting a small plain church for him; but I doubt whether he will remain with us more than a year or two."
The Senator was much interested in politics, and the great vic- tory scored by the Whigs, in 1840, was not at all acceptable to him. Prior to the election he estimated the Democratic majority in Ionia, Kent and Ottawa Counties at 150, but said that there was some dis- satisfaction with legislative nominations and the Democrats might lose the legislature on joint ballot. He added, in a letter to Sidney Smith, that Jacob M. Howard was to address the people at Grand Rapids on the 23d of October and "Alpheus Felch will be there on the 28th," indicating the political activities of the time. Following the election he said: "The political news is certainly worse than was expected. Harrison's majority is reported to be, in Ionia County, 47; in Clinton County something, but not known; in Ottawa, Van Buren's majority is reported to be 6; in Kent County, 2." In De- cember, of the same year, he put in a bid for sinking the salt well at the State works on Grand River, at $19 per foot, which Dr. Houghton said was the lowest bid.
As witnessing the many sided interests of the man is a letter stating that he forwarded two papers containing four seeds each of the "Billindean Cabbage," said to have grown eleven feet high and fifty-seven feet in circumference. For these seeds he paid six pence apiece, but he adds : "I think the chances are about three to one that I have been humbugged, and that the seeds are only the seeds of the common cabbage; however, please have them planted and see what they come to." In a letter to George A. Robinson, in March, 1841, he regrets the delay at the salt well caused by a drill dropping into the well and states that the Governor has approved his contract for the State well and that he has written to Anthony Marvin to come out and commence operations on it in April.
On May 12, 1841, he wrote to Asa Lyon, of Vermont: "Tru- man H. Lyon removed last month to Grand Rapids, where he now keeps the public house called the Exchange. There is not much travel and consequently not much for him to do there at present, but he hopes that business will revive by and by, especially if I should succeed in manufacturing salt profitably from the well that I have sunk here. My men began the well in January, 1840, and have now got down to the depth of 550 feet, or within 50 feet of the level of the ocean. They have been working night and day and have drilled the whole distance through lime rock, sandstone, plaster or gypsum
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and clay slate. They will probably go to the depth of 700 feet before they stop, though they have got salt water now stronger than I ex- pected to obtain when I began, and so strong that if it should prove to be sufficiently abundant, salt can be manufactured from it with a good profit."
The hard times had affected Mr. Lyon and, in January, 1841, he wrote to Isaac E. Crary: "You will see by the accompanying map that the limits described in the mortgage embrace about 334 lots in said village of Grand Rapids, but from this number there must be deducted 95 lots sold within said limits during the years 1836-7-8 and up to June 26, 1839, which leaves 249 lots unsold. To give some idea of the value of these lots, I will observe that the whole number of lots sold by Judge Carroll and myself in that part of the village north of Campau's plat during the time mentioned was 145, including the 95 above deducted, and the amount for which they were sold was $106,156.89, averaging about $782 per lot. Of this amount we have received $41,185.79, all of which has been reinvested in buildings and improvements on the lots unsold, and there still remains a balance due of $64,971." To add to his troubles, in July, 1841, a verdict was rendered against him and Calvin Britain for $13,056, as sureties for Allen Hutchins, deceased, who had been receiver at the Ionia land office, but in spite of this he purchased the one-half interest in the Moore & Hascall patents for harvesting machines. He also urged Arthur Bronson to take an interest in these patents, but Mr. Bronson declined.
The proposition of the prosecution of the State improvements at the Rapids of Grand River was then of vital interest to the inhabi- tants, and Mr. Lyon wrote to C. H. Taylor, on Sept. 8, 1841, saying : "You will recollect that I expressed to yourself and Mr. Walker the opinion that the Board of Internal Improvement did not intend to give the Grand River country the benefit of the appropriation of $25,000 for a canal around the rapids, and that their real object in all their movements was to throw the responsibility and odium of procrastinating and defeating the work on the shoulders of others. This is now placed beyond all doubt, as you will see by the commu- nication of William Foster in the Free Press of today. Mr. Foster has omitted to state one of the objections and the most important one made by the acting commissioner to going on with the work, which was the lack of funds. The commissioner evidently supposed the objection raised on account of the contract made by Judge Almy and myself with Granger & Ball would be fatal to the work and justify them in refusing to proceed with it, but when Mr. Foster returned and informed them, much to their surprise, and probably much to their annoyance, that he had made arrangements so as to completely obviate that difficulty, they found it necessary to start another and one that had never been mentioned before-the want of funds. The acting commissioner said it was impossible to do anything in the matter unless the contractor would take the warrants of the treasurer in payment, for they had no money applicable to that purpose. 'Very well,' said Mr. Foster, 'I will take the warrants of the treasurer at my own risk.' The judge, then finding all his objections completely obviated, was silenced and could say no more, excepting a suggestion that the work might possibly amount to more than the appropriation.
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This objection being disposed of by Mr. Foster offering to cut down his price so as, in any event, to come within the means at the disposal of the board, Mr. Germain had to come to the relief of his colleague and to state positively that he could never agree to pay anything for the right-of-way and for the work that we proposed to surrender. 'Very well,' said Mr. Foster, 'I will pay for it. Take the amount out of my pay. I shall not be able to make a single dollar on my con- tract, but I want to commence business at Grand Rapids with a view to fix my residence there, and I am determined to go on with the work now, even though I may lose money by so doing.' The com- missioners then, after consulting together, told Mr. Foster that they had determined not to let the contract for the work unless the State could have the water power in addition to all that had been offered them. This modest requisition has not been mentioned to me, and I presume it will not be by them; but I understand it is now the only thing they want to enable them to decide on letting the contract. Please mention this to Squire Almy and tell him if he will agree to it I will then decide what I will do." Later he writes T. H. Lyon that Rix Robinson tells him that plenty of wood can be got, delivered on the ground at the salt works for 50 cents per cord, that he can hire any quantity cut on the banks of the river above for 25 cents, and he thinks it cannot cost more than a shilling a cord to bring it down in scows as soon as boats can enter the canal, which he hopes may be soon. Later, he writes of an attempt to interest manufacturers at Syracuse, N. Y., to "transfer their kettles and capital to Grand Rap- ids," and gives instructions as to the work.
An interesting bit of history is found in his letter concerning the validity of a pre-emption claim of Lovell Moore upon 160 acres in Grand Rapids upon which the Missionary Society had erected build- ings. In this regard Mr. Lyon wrote: "In 1838, certain lands were advertised to be sold, including this tract. Mr. Moore presented his proof for a part of this tract and tendered payment, but it was re- jected, probably because the land was supposed to have been reserved for missionaries. Mr. Slater's claim under pre-emption laws must fail, because his improvements were made before the Indian title was extinguished. Mr. Slater was a Baptist missionary and occupied for some years one or two log buildings erected on said land by Rev. Mr. McCoy, about 1828. When the Indians, among whom Mr. Slater was working, sold their lands by the treaty of 1836, Mr. Slater abandoned the premises, purchased lands for his society in the county of Barry, about 40 miles from there, and has since resided there. Mr. Moore took possession of the premises thus abandoned, without op- position from any source, and continued to occupy and improve the same until his pre-emption claim was rejected, intending all the time to purchase the land he lived on whenever it should be sold by the United States. The lands claimed by him are worth now at least $1,000."
In October, Senator Lyon contracted with George French, of Plainfield township, for 400 cords of wood, delivered at the salt works, at 871/2 cents per cord, and, in November, he reported work on the State well, estimating the cost of going to the depth of 700 feet at $6,000 additional, and complaining that he could not get from the State money due him.
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A letter, dated Dec. 8, 1841, tells of a Grand Rapids wedding as follows : * * * "George A. Robinson was married on Wednesday evening, the 1st, at 7 o'clock P. M., to Miss Julia A. Withey, daugh- ter of Gen. Solomon Withey, late sheriff of this county. They were married by the Rev. Mr. Ballard. Gen. Withey's family, Lucius Thayer and myself were the only persons present, excepting Miss Sargeant and Mr. and Mrs. Ballard."
He reported to Dr. Houghton, State geologist, that the State salt well had reached 305 feet with a strong flow of salt water, and added : "One of my men on my request took my rubber cloak and wrapped it around the top of the cast iron tube in such a manner as to dis- charge the water through the sleeve of the cloak into a large barrel. With considerable leakage and waste the flow was so strong that the barrel was filled four times in one minute, or at the rate of 130 gal- lons per minute. * * * Judging from the taste, 200 gallons of the water will yield a bushel of salt." On Dec. 27, 1841, Senator Lyon leased the salt works to Truman H. Lyon for two years, Truman to operate the works and to pay him 80 per cent. of all net profits.
On Feb. 3, 1842, there is record of a contract of conveyance of one undivided half part of lots 194 and 195, fronting on Michigan and Ottawa streets, to the First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, for the purpose of a church building, the consideration being that the society should, within a year, construct a building of stone, 38 feet wide and 50 feet deep, and to have it ready for the roof when the deed was to be delivered.
Relative to the plaster mills, Mr. Lyon said, Feb. 4, 1842: "At this place and near it there are inexhaustible quarries of it from 5 to 15 feet in thickness and of the very purest quality. Granger & Ball, merchants of this place, have now finished and in operation a very fine mill for grinding plaster at the quarry on Plaster Creek, two miles south of here, where they are ready to sell any quality of ground plaster for $4 per ton in bulk without barrels."
To Rev. James Ballard, the same year he wrote that he soon ex- pected to manufacture salt at a cost not exceeding 18 cents per bushel, and he added, concerning the Grand River Valley: "This, with our inexhaustible quarries of gypsum, our fertile soil, beautiful springs, valuable pine timber, great water power and steamboat navi- gation above and below Grand Rapids, ought to be sufficient to in- sure to the Grand River country a rapid increase of population when- ever the advantages become known.'
Again his interest is shown in the building of the bridge over Grand River and he tells of a meeting at the Grand River Exchange at which Daniel Ball was chairman. On motion of James Scribner it was resolved to advertise for building a bridge of timber and plank on the Bridge street line, or within half a mile of the same, to be completed by Sept. 1, 1842. In March, he offers to continue digging the State salt well upon certain conditions, and also orders supplies for the continuation of the work on his own well; and a few weeks later there is the following: "Received, Grand Rapids, May 5, 1842, of Chas. Trowbridge, Esq., of Detroit, $2 for the first barrel of salt ever sold by me from the Grand Rapids Salt Works, being some of the first salt ever manufactured for sale in the State of Michigan. Lucius Lyon."
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Shortly before this he recommended Henry R. Williams for ap- pointment as receiver of the Ionia land office, saying: "Mr. Williams has for a year or more been connected in business with the house of Granger & Ball, who are doing more mercantile and milling business than all of the people in this portion of the State. They have large establishments at Ionia and here, and his business talent, strict honor and high respectability are well known to all our people."
Concerning one for whom he had invested, he said, in May, 1842: "So great has been the depreciation in the value of all real estate in this county that these lots could not be sold now for one-half and perhaps not for one-third of the amount that I received for them, though at the time when I conveyed them I could have sold them for nearly if not quite double the amount that she paid me. As she trust- ed entirely to me to make a judicious investment and I have made one that has turned out so badly, I feel bound by every principle of jus- tice and honor to refund the money received, together with interest, and I shall do so as soon as I am able. I cannot state now when that will be, for misfortune and change in money matters throughout the country have swept away all my property, so that I have nothing left to help myself. I am not discouraged, however, and if I live you shall be paid."
Despite these hard times, he wrote to Frederick Bronson, in June the same year: "There begins to be more inquiry for land and espe- cially for water power than there has been for several years. Our farmers are increasing their flocks of sheep very rapidly and woollen manufacturers are looking for sites for manufacturing. There is also more immigration to this part of Michigan and more disposition to immigrate manifested than I have witnessed for a long time, so that on the whole our prospects appear to be brighter. I have not yet got my salt works in full operation, but I have done enough at making salt in a small way to test the experiment and to prove that its manu- facture can be carried on here at a fair profit." The next month he reported that "the State well is down 660 feet and says that 16 gal- lons from the top of the well yielded fifty ounces of salt." He states that his own well is not very prosperous, as after operating the works a fortnight and evaporating at least 850 gallons of water every 24 hours, it was found that only 300 bushels of salt was made. He states that manufacturing has been stopped until stronger brine can be pro- cured. He does not give up hope, however, and states that he should like to be the first to erect a graduation house which is "entirely un- known on this continent."
In August, he urges the establishment of a mail route from Bat- tle Creek to Grand Rapids by which mail will be delivered 30 hours earlier, and he also writes: "I think the prospects of our little vil- lage of Grand Rapids are as good for the future as those of any other place in the State. The members of the bar here cannot live by their profession and they all resort more or less to other business for sup- port. The price of land has fallen very much throughout all the western countries. Unimproved land of the best quality can be bought now almost anywhere for $1.50 to $2.50 per acre, even where the country is partly settled. We are recovering slowly and surely from the evil effect of the paper-money expansion of 1834-5-6, and I think Michigan is now in much better, condition than New York. Our
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114 HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MICHIGAN
farmers are doing much better than farmers are in New York or any of the Eastern States, because we can afford to raise wheat and wool at present prices and make half profits at them, while their farmers cannot make anything. Michigan is remarkably healthy this year. I have not heard of a single case of sickness in the whole State for ten months past and we never have any other disease than fever and ague at any time."
It would seem that Horace Greeley was not the only one who advised young men to go west, for, in 1842, Senator Lyon wrote to James Gordon Bennett, editor of the New York Herald, as follows: "In the last number of your paper received here I see you advise the poor immigrants who are returning to Europe because they can get no work in New York to go to the West, those who have money, and purchase farms. This is excellent advice, both to those who have money and to those who have none; because all can get plenty of work here and fair wages, which will enable them in a short time to purchase small farms, whether they have money when they arrive here or not. Many of the most prosperous and independent farmers of this country came here less than six years ago, without a dollar in their pockets, and now they have land, cattle, horses, sheep and hogs in abundance, and some of them, by the labor of themselves and family alone, produce 500 to 2,000 bushels of wheat for sale every year, and hardly any one less than 100 bushels, besides a large quan- tity of other grains. It would do your heart good to see the pros- perity of these industrious immigrants who came here penniless and are now on the road to wealth. Let those who think of returning to Europe come here directly. We will receive them with open arms and do everything in our power to aid them in settling among us and planning homes for their families in one of the finest and most healthy countries on the globe. A society has been organized here for that purpose. Application for any further information may be made either to the officers of the society or to James Scribner, chairman of the committee, residing at Grand Rapids. Our village is situated on the Grand River of Lake Michigan, 30 miles east from the lake shore and 84 miles north from the northern boundary of the State of Indiana, and is destined, as all admit, to be the second, if not the first town in the State. Like the country around it, it is growing in all the elements of wealth and enduring prosperity, and now that President Tyler has checked rascally politicians who determined to ride us with a national bank and tax us to death by means of what they call a perfected tariff, we have nothing to fear. I must not forget to mention that religion flourishes here as well as everything else that is good. Though our village is but six years old, it has six places of public worship and six religious societies organized-the Episcopalian, Roman Cath- olic, Congregational, Dutch Reformed, Methodists and Baptists. The Rt. Rev. Bishop Lefevre added twenty members to his church here last Sunday. The Herald [N. Y.] is the most popular throughout all the region and is eagerly sought in every town and hamlet in the State. And we subscribe and pay for more newspapers in proportion to our population than the people of any other State in the Union. Ours is the only new State that has ever paid all the expenses of its mail establishment and left a surplus in the general fund. So you see
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