USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > History of Detroit and Wayne County and early Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopedia of the Past and Present, Vol. I > Part 115
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The following persons served as presidents: 1833, Franklin Sawyer, Jr., Douglass Houghton; 1834, Jacob M. Howard, Charles W. Penny ; 1835, George C. Bates, Marshall J. Bacon; 1836, John L. Talbot, Alexander W. Buel; 1837, D. E. Harbaugh; 1838, Franklin Sawyer, Jr .; 1839, James A. Van Dyke; 1840, J. G. Atterbury; 1841, S. Barstow; 1842. J. S. Abbott; 1843, S. T. Douglas; 1844, W. A. How- ard; 1845, Bela Hubbard ; 1846, Witter J. Baxter; 1847, T. W. Lockwood; 1848, J. V. Campbell ; 1849, E. C. Walker ; 1850, D. B. Duffield ; 1851, H. H. Emmons ; 1852, U. T. Howe; 1853, G. V. N. Lothrop ; 1854, C. I. Walker ; 1855, Levi Bishop; 1856, H. P. Baldwin ; 1857, John B. Palmer ; 1858, J. E. Pittman ; 1859, S. Dow Elwood ; 1860, W. A. Moore ; 1861, Sidney D. Miller ; 1862, R. W. King ; 1863, J. E. Pittman ; 1864, John G. Erwin ; 1865, E. LeFavour ; 1866, O. B. Willcox, H. A. Newland ; 1867, Peter Young ; 1868, C. H. Wetmore ; 1869, N. G. Williams ; 1870, A, G. Boynton ; 1871, L. T. Griffin ; 1872, L. S. Trowbridge; 1873, R. R. Elliott ; 1874-1875, H. M. Duffield ; 1876, J. H. Wendell : 1877-1878, T. P. Hall ; 1879, Henry Rus- sel ; 1880, C. J. Reilly; 1881, J. B. Stoutenburgh ; 1882, Philo Parsons.
Lyceum of the City of Detroit ..
This society was organized on January 14, 1818, with the following officers; A. B. Woodward, president ; William Woodbridge, first vice-presi- dent ; Charles Larned, second vice-president ; George B. Larned, secretary ; Dr. J. L. Whiting,
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treasurer. The constitution was adopted April 29, and printed in the Detroit Gazette, occupying several columns. Like most of the documents of that period, it was drawn up in the verbose and magni- ficently stilted style of Judge Woodward. The following extracts from the original constitution amply verify its authorship :
ARTICLE III, Section 1 .- This institution will affiliate with any other scientific, literary, benevolent, or patriotic association, in relation to which it shall prove reciprocally agreeable.
Section 2 .- The members of associations in affiliation with this shall be considered, when present, members of this institution without any ceremony, or expense of admission or initiation.
Section 3 .-- This institution will interchange from time to time, with affiliated institutions, lists of its members and exempli- fications of its constitution and regulations, and will co-operate in measures deemed serviceable to religion, to philanthropy, to science, and to literature.
Section 4 .- Non-resident or distant members may constitute similar associations, which shall be in affiliation with this institu- tion and with one another.
Section 5 .- An association affiliated with one in affiliation with this, shall be in affiliation with this institution.
Section 6 .- Affiliated associations in vicinity may constitute by representation one more general.
Section 7 .- Associations by representation may constitute others more general.
ARTICLE V .- There shall be kept in this institution lists of all the productions of American literature about to emanate from the American press ; and subscriptions or orders for any of the same, or for any other productions of American literature, or for any productions of foreign literature, shall be received in the bosom of the association, or at the residence of any of the officers.
ARTICLE X, Section 1 .- A library, a museum, a mineralogical cabinet, and an Athenaeum shall be established as soon as shall be found convenient.
Section 2 .- A philosophical apparatus, an observatory, and laboratory erected, a botanic and an agricultural garden instituted, conducted and maintained ; and any other enterprise undertaken which may be for the benefit of science, to learning, to humanity, or to public interest, whenever the same shall be judged expedient.
The organization lived only about three years. "Died of constitutional disorder" would probably be an appropriate epitaph.
The Lyceum of Michigan
was organized December 6, 1830, with the following officers : L. Cass, president; H. R. Schoolcraft and H. Whiting, vice-presidents; William Ward, secre- tary; A. S. Porter, treasurer ; J. L. Whiting, W. L. Newberry, and L. Lyon, executive committee. Like its predecessor, it was short-lived, and nothing was heard of it after 1831.
The Historical Society of Michigan
was incorporated June 23, and fully organized July 3, 1828, at the Mansion House by the election of the following officers : President, L. Cass; secretary, H. S. Cole ; first vice-president, John Biddle; second vice-president, Thomas Rowland; corresponding secretary, H. Whiting; treasurer, C. C. Trowbridge; librarian, J. L. Whiting. These same officers con-
tinued till 1830, and probably till 1837. Any person voted in, and paying one dollar a year, could become a member.
The first lecture before the society was delivered by Governor Cass in September, 1828. Subsequent lectures were delivered by H. R. Schoolcraft, on June 4, 1830, by Major Henry Whiting, on June 5, 1831, and by Major John Biddle, on September 15, 1832. These lectures were printed separately, and then gathered into one volume, and published under the title of "Historical and Scientific Sketches of Michigan." In 1837 the officers were John Biddle, president; Thomas Rowland, vice-president ; H. Whiting, corresponding secretary; A. L. Porter, recording secretary ; C. C. Trowbridge, treasurer ; Z. Pitcher, librarian.
In its earlier days the society collected many manuscripts and articles illustrating and explaining the early history of Michigan, and some very valu- able papers and objects were entrusted to it for safe keeping. The members, however, grew apathetic, and for nearly twenty years little or no effort was made to maintain or revive the organization. Finally, on August 4, 1857, a meeting was held, and B. F. H. Witherell was elected president and C. I. Walker corresponding secretary. Renewed interest was manifested for a time, but no perma- nent results were reached, and the collections of the society were transferred from place to place. Even- tually the Public Library became the custodian of the collections, and the society sleeps on, allowing other States and societies to garner the precious relics of our earlier history.
Detroit Mechanics' Society.
On June 13, 1818, a number of mechanics and citizens met at the hotel of Colonel Richard Smyth to consult on the expediency of forming an association for their mutual protection and benefit. Colonel Smyth was called to the chair, and Chauncey S. Payne chosen secretary. After consultation, a committee, consisting of Judge Woodward and Major Robert Irwin, was appointed to draft a con- stitution. A subsequent meeting was held on June 19, and a constitution read, re-committed to a new committee of five, and finally adopted on June 29. The first regular election of officers took place on July 20, 1818, when the following officers were chosen : president, Robert Irwin; vice-president, Benjamin Stead ; secretary, John P. Sheldon ; treas- urer, John S. Roby ; stewards, Chauncey S. Payne, Paul Clapp, Charles Howard, Ebenezer Reed, and Jeremiah Moors.
On May 15, 1820, the society was incorporated for a term of twenty years, and in 1828 the city donated to the society the property on the south- west corner of Griswold Street and Lafayette Ave-
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nue, consisting of two lots, with a frontage of one hundred and thirty feet on Griswold Street and seventy-five feet on Lafayette Avenue. The lots were then worth $500. On November 7, 1833, a committee was appointed to submit a plan for a hall. On November 15 a plan was adopted, and on June 16, 1834, the hall, a two-story wooden build- ing, was first used. In 1839 the Legislature re- newed the charter, continuing it in force until May 1, 1860.
On February 17, 1857, the Legislature passed an Act to incorporate Mechanics' Associations and under this Act the society reorganized in February, 1860. It numbered nearly all the old citizens among its members, pursued a careful and conserv- ative course, and in 1870 had a membership of nearly two hundred, with an income of about $1,000 a year from rents, of which it expended some $300 or $400 a year for books. The library included about four thousand volumes. It was kept open from 2 to 4.30 P. M., and from 7 to 9 P. M. on Wed- nesdays and Saturdays. The property was free from all incumbrance, and was estimated to be worth $50,000. The annual meeting was held on the first Monday in March. Feeling confident of its ability, on April 28, 1873, the society resolved to erect a block to cover their entire property, and pre- paratory to building, the library was removed to vacant rooms over Chauncey Hurlbut's store on Woodward Avenue. $60,000 were borrowed on the property, and the erection of the building was begun. The contractors failed to have it ready in time to secure tenants, and being unable to meet their engagements, on May 22, 1876, the president and secretary made an assignment to Horace M. Dean, J. H. Van Schoick, and James Burns, for the benefit of the creditors. The debts were $117,000, and the assets were estimated at $173,000. The depreciation in real estate caused the entire prop- erty to be sold on November 2, 1876, to Thomas Mc- Graw, for $112,500. The library and furniture were released by the creditors, and temporarily stored in the fourth story of the Moffat Building. On August 1, 1877, the Detroit Young Men's Chris- tian Association made a proposition to the trustees to provide a room and librarian and proper care for the books, and also to furnish the society with a room for their meetings for the term of five years, on condition that the members of their society be allowed to use the books. The proposition was accepted, the books removed, and the library form- ally opened for use in the rooms of the Y. M. C. A. on September 19, 1877. In April, 1881, the Y. M. C. A. sold its property to the Detroit Medical Col- lege, and the library was returned to the Mechan- ics' Society. Four years later it was given into the custody of the Public Library.
The presidents and secretaries of the society. up to 1860, when the property was placed in the hands of trustees, were: Presidents : 1818-1820, Robert Irwin; 1820-1827, John P. Sheldon; 1827- 1829, Charles Jackson; 1829-1831, J. E. Schwartz; 1831-1835, John Mullett; 1835, John Farrar; 1836- 1840, Levi Brown ; 1840-1844, J. Moors; 1844, A. Ewers; 1845, John Roberts; 1846-1851, Solomon Davis; 1851-1853, William Barclay; 1853-1856, H. H. LeRoy; 1856-1858, W. W. Wilcox; 1858- 1860, John Gibson. Secretaries : 1818-1820, J. P. Sheldon; 1820, B. Stead; 1821, L. Brown; 1822- 1827, Obed Wait; 1827-1829, J. E. Schwartz; 1829, J. Mckinney ; 1830, L. Bain; 1831-1835, Garry Spencer; 1835, C. Hurlbut ; 1836, W. Wat- kins ; 1837-1841, A. C. McGraw; 1841-1853, John Farrar; 1853, William Harsha; 1854-1860, John Farrar.
Wayne County Pioneer Society.
A preliminary meeting in the interest of this so- ciety, held on April 21, 1871, resulted in the adoption of a constitution and the completion of an organiza- tion on May 4. It was at first called the Pioneer Society of Detroit, but on March 23, 1874, the name was changed as above. The first officers were: Levi Bishop, president; Luther Beecher and Thomas Lewis, vice-presidents; S. G. Wight, secretary; W. A. Bacon, treasurer. After Mr. Bacon's death, in April, 1873, Seymour Finney was elected treasurer.
The object of the society is to collect and pre- serve historical and biographical data pertaining to the county. The annual meeting is held on April 21, and a semi-annual meeting on October 21, with other meetings at the call of the Executive Com- mittee, which is composed of the president, secre- tary, and treasurer. The membership is limited to persons of forty-five years of age and upward, who have lived in Detroit or vicinity continuously or at various periods for not less than thirty years. An initiation fee of two dollars, and annual dues of one dollar thereafter, are required of members. Assess- ments of not more than five dollars a year may also be made. The society has obtained a large number of interesting biographical and historical sketches from its members, and these, with other articles, are preserved at Lansing. In 1876 S. Zug was elected secretary, serving until 1882, when he was succeeded by James A. Girardin, and in the same year J. C. Holmes was elected president.
The State Pioneer Society, organized April 22, 1874, and many county societies, are outgrowths of the Wayne County Association. The State organi- zation has issued nine volumes, containing a series of miscellaneous papers by various persons on mat- ters connected with the history of the State. Some of them possess much interest.
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Detroit Scientific Association.
On March 27, 1874, a number of gentlemen met in the museum of Professor J. M. B. Sill, on the northeast corner of Fort and Wayne Streets, for the purpose of organizing this society. Professor Sill was called to the chair, and F. Woolfenden elected secre- tary. Mr. E. C. Skinner stated that the object of the meeting was the organization of a scientific associa- tion, with the purpose of establishing a permanent museum, and cultivating a love for the study of natural history and general science. A committee, consisting of J. C. Holmes, E. C. Skinner, Dr. G. P. Andrews, and F. Woolfenden, was appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws. On April 16 the association was fully organized by the adoption of a constitution and the election of the following officers : President, G. P. Andrews; first vice-presi- dent, E. C. Skinner; second vice-president, J. M. B. Sill; treasurer, C. C. Cadman ; recorder, F. Wool- fenden; secretary and cabinet-keeper, A. B. Lyons; librarian, J. C. Holmes; curators, D. F. Henry, F. Stearns, and H. Gillman.
On May 6, 1874, Room 9, on the third floor of the Moffat Building, was leased for the use of the asso- ciation, and here the Museum began. The room being too small for a lecture-room, the weekly meetings for business and lectures were held in Pro- fessor Sill's school building. In July, 1874, the Museum was moved to a larger room on the same floor, and in August of this year the association ob- tained subscriptions for, and purchased of Henry A. Ward his college series of casts of fossils, at a cost of $2,000. A larger and more suitable room was now a necessity, and in September, 1874, the upper story of the old Odd Fellows' Hall, on the west side of Woodward Avenue, was obtained. The Museum was formally opened in its new quarters by a series of receptions given on October 26, 27, 28, 29, and 31 ; first, to the subscribers to the fund for the pur- pose of purchasing the Ward fossils ; second, to the Audubon and the St. Clair Fishing Clubs; third, to the city and county officers ; fourth, to the clergy, legal and medical professions; and fifth, to the teachers of the public schools. In December, 1876, the officers of the association were notified that the rooms occupied by the Museum must be vacated by the first of April, 1877, as the old building was to give place to a new block. The association then rented the building in the rear of the old Capitol
which had been vacated by the Public Library, and in February, 1877, the Museum was moved thither. The Board of Education requiring the use of the room, the Museum, in June, 1879, was again moved, finding temporary quarters in the Mather Block, on the east side of Woodward Avenue, near the Grand Circus. By arrangement with the Y. M. C. A., the lectures for the season of 1879-1880 were given in their hall and under the joint auspices of the two associations.
In June, 1880, the Museum was moved to one of the vacant buildings of Harper Hospital, and in May, 1883, it was placed in the second story of the Detroit Medical College building on Farmer Street, and from there removed to the Public Library and placed under the control of that institution.
From the beginning, the intention has been to have the Museum open and free on Tuesday, Thurs- day, and Saturday evenings, and Saturday after- noons. During the winter months of several years free lectures were given on Wednesday evenings, mostly by members of the association, and the lec- tures, generally upon scientific subjects, were at- tended by large and appreciative audiences.
The Museum contains a large collection of the birds of North America and a fair number of foreign birds, with a few specimens of wild animals, and a very full collection of North American insects, more particularly of coleoptera. In the insect department the exchange list is very large, and exchanges are made with nearly all the leading entomologists in the United States. In the conchology department there are many specimens, with a good variety of geological and botanical illustrations. There is also an archælogical department, and contributions are occasionally received. The collection is valued at $10,000.
The society was incorporated on April 27, 1875. Any person acceptable to the Board of Directors may become a member at any time by the payment of five dollars. The annual dues are five dollars. The total yearly expenses of the society are from $1,500 to $2,000.
The presidents and secretaries have been : Presi- dents : 1874, George P. Andrews ; 1875-1877, J. M. B. Sill; 1877- , J. C. Holmes. Secretaries ; 1874, C. B. Hubbard ; 1875-1877, F. Woolfenden ; 1877- , Bryant Walker.
CHAPTER LXXIII.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND SEMINARIES. - CHURCH SCHOOLS.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS.
EDUCATIONAL advantages were slim indeed in the earlier years of Detroit. Under French rule children were sometimes sent to Montreal and Quebec to be educated, and after the English came, to various schools in the far East. On one occa- sion Mr. McDougall sent two of his boys, in care of some Dutch traders, from the Mohawk down to Schenectady, to be educated possibly by Ichabod Crane of Sleepy Hollow. The trip in an open boat occupied a long time, and it was nearly a year before he heard from them, and then he learned that they had played truant persistently, and mingled so freely with the children of the Dutch settlers that they had almost lost the use of their mother tongue. Pater McDougall was indignant, and proposed to vent his anger on the Dutch, vowing that thereafter he would "kill every Dutchman on sight."
In 1775 mention is made of a school-house just outside the fort on the west.
In an old ledger, Captain Andrew Park, of the King's Regiment, is charged on "June 5, 1780, twelve shillings sixpence cash paid for schooling the children of the regiment." In the same book, on May 15, 1781, Peter Grant is charged one pound twelve shillings for "cash paid Garrit for school- ing his son.'
About 1790, and for several years after, schools were taught by Messrs. Recours and Balpour. With the coming of the Americans in 1796, and the im- migration that immediately followed, other teachers came. In 1797, Miss Pattison appears as a teacher. The same year we first learn of John Burrell. An old school-bill of his against James May, rendered in 1797, shows that his price for tuition was three pounds per quarter, in addition to a charge of one pound four shillings for "your proportion of fire- wood." He taught till 1803, or later. One of his contemporary teachers was Matthew Donovan, who taught from 1799 until his school was broken up by the fire of 1805. Old records show that on June 4, 1804, the police complained of him " for not sweeping the street before his school-house." On July 2 of the same year they made a similar charge against Monsieur Serrier, the French schoolmaster; he was still teaching in 1813. He had been a sol- dier in the French Revolution, and had a sabre-cut
on his head, and this, or the liquor which he drank, caused him at times to act like one insane.
Rev. David Bacon, while temporarily sojourning in Detroit, opened a school on St. James Street in the rear of the later Masonic Hall, on May 25, 1801, and four weeks after his wife opened a girls' school. At first their services were greatly appreciated, but the fact that they were " Yankees " soon excited prejudice against them, and caused the discontinu- ance of his school, and sickness compelled his wife to close her school in October, 1801.
The next pedagogue was John Goff. On October 24, 1806, he petitioned the Governor and Judges for a lot for a public school. His school was located near the bank of the river, just west of the mouth of the Savoyard. He afterwards taught on what is now Woodbridge Street, between Bates and Ran- dolph Streets. He was aided by his wife, an excel- lent lady and a good teacher. He was drunken and ill-tempered, and had much trouble with his schol- ars, but a school was kept in his name up to 1816.
In 1810 we first hear of Daniel Curtis. He taught school to May 6, 1812, or later. From 1812 prob- ably to 1818, a school was maintained by a Mr. Payne, or Peyn. This gentleman had an excellent classical education, and his services were much prized. In 1813 a Mr. Rowe is mentioned as a teacher. His school was in an old wooden building on Griswold Street, near the corner of Jefferson Avenue.
On June 10, 1816, Mr. Danforth commenced what was called a common school, and on July I he had forty scholars. He had a violent temper and was brutal in the extreme, throwing rulers at the schol- ars and on one occasion an open knife. His brutal- ities finally so aroused the members of one family that he was compelled to seek a refuge across the river, and this ended his school. Soon after his departure Levi Cook opened a school in a building owned by Mr. Campau on the northwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Griswold Street ; he continued it only about a year.
In 1817 there was much discussion concerning the subject of education, and on August 8 the Detroit Gazette contained the following editorial :
Frenchmen of the territory of Michigan ! You ought to begin immediately to give an education to your children. In a little
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time there will be in this territory as many Yankees as French, and if you do not have your children educated the situations will all be given to the Yankees. No man is capable of serving as a Civil and Military officer unless he can, at least, read and write. There are many young people, of from eighteen to twenty years, who have not yet learned to read, but they are not yet too old to learn. I have known those who have learned to read at the age of forty years.
Just how much this editorial accomplished is, of course, uncertain, but in a subsequent issue of the Gazette notice was given that Mr. Banvard's school would open at the Council House on November 3, 1817. The same year William Brookfield and wife were conducting a school on the southeast corner of Woodward Avenue and Woodbridge Street. They were excellent people and good instructors. In 1818 John J. Deming taught for a few months in the old Council House.
In May, 1821, E. W. Goodwin taught a private school, and Mr. T. Young taught an English school "at Mr. J. B. Ladouceur's large house " near May's Creek. In November of the same year, and for several years after, Mr. Brookfield and his wife taught what was known as the Seminary in the same place. In 1822 Eliza S. Trowbridge was engaged in teaching ; and for a few months in 1821 and 1822 Orestes A. Brownson taught a school in Spring- wells. An attack of fever and ague caused him to return to New York. From 1823 to 1825 a large and at first a promising school was taught by Mr. and Mrs. John M. Kinney, but the intemperate habits of Mr. Kinney broke up the school. In 1826 Mrs. Kinney was teaching in the rear of Newberry's store, on the corner of Griswold and Larned Streets.
On October 27, 1823, the University trustees voted to allow Mr. Carpenter to occupy a room in the University building for a school. A year later a Mr. Shepard was teaching a primary school in a small building on the grounds of the University, and in May, 1825, his wife had a " female school " in the same place. On November 14, 1828, leave was granted to P. W. Healy to keep a school in the Uni- versity building. In 1829 he was teaching else- where, and Delos Kinnicutt was keeping school in the University. During most of the period from 1828 to 1832, private schools were conducted by A. E. Hathon and E. Jerome, each of them alternately surveying town lots and the progress of their pupils.
In 1829 the want of a good common school was severely felt, and a public meeting was called "to secure the establishment of an English common school." As a result of the meeting, a school was established by Joel Tucker, and on May 12, 1830,. the Common Council gave him permission to occupy a building on the military grounds adjoining the Cass Farm.
Some of these earlier schools were called semi-
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