History of Detroit and Wayne County and early Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopedia of the Past and Present, Vol. I, Part 37

Author: Farmer, Silas, 1839-1902
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Detroit, Pub. by S. Farmer & co., for Munsell & co., New York
Number of Pages: 1094

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 37

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Thir- teenth Ward : F H. Ellair.

1879, First Ward : Robert Knox. Second Ward : L. P. Desnoyers. Third Ward : Geo. McManus. Fourth Ward : Wm. Carroll. Fifth Ward : G. W. Owen. Sixth Ward : F. Harting. Seventh Ward : J. T. Widman. Eighth Ward : Wm. Ryan. Ninth Ward: F. Cronewith. Tenth Ward : P. Van Damme. Eleventh Ward : A. Worhofsky. Twelfth Ward : Jesse Sterling. Thirteenth Ward: F. H. Ellair.

CITY TREASURERS.

The office of treasurer dates from 1802, and under the various charters and amendments, appointments were made by the Board of Trustees or Common Council up to 1849, since which time the office has been elective. The duties have never been materi- ally changed. The money received from various sources is turned over to and paid out by this officer. His term of office is two years, and he is elected at the regular city election. By ordinance of 1825 he was allowed, in lieu of salary, one per cent of his receipts, and also one per cent on the amount he actually paid out from moneys belonging to the cor- poration. In 1832 the salary was $75 a year; in 1840 it was $300; in 1856 it had grown to $1,000; and in 1883 it was $3,000. He gives $200,000 bonds. To aid him in his duties, he has several assistants.

The following is a list of the city treasurers : 1816, and 1817, O. W. Miller ; 1818, Louis Dequindre ; 1819, A. Wendell ; 1820, T. Rowland ; 1821, Joseph Campau; 1822, Levi Cook; 1823, Calvin Baker; 1824, Peter Desnoyers; 1825-1829, H. S. Cole; 1829, J. T. Penny ; 1830-1836, R. S. Rice; 1836, D. French; 1837, P. Desnoyers, C. Wickware;

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RECEIVERS OF TAXES.

1838, John Farmer; 1839, J. C. Williams; 1840- 1842, F. X. Cicotte; 1842-1844, D. J. Campau; 1844-1845, Theodore Williams; 1846, D. Smart; 1847, John Winder; 1848-1850, W. A. Howard; 1850-1854, N. B. Carpenter ; 1854-1960, John Camp- bell ; 1860-1861, D. P. Bushnell ; 1862-1866, A. A. Rabineau; 1866-1871, E. S. Leadbeater; July, 1871- 1876, E. C. Hinsdale ; 1876-1884, Wm. Parkinson ; 1884-1888, J. S. Schmittdiel; 1888- , T. P. Tuite.

RECEIVERS OF TAXES.

The office of receiver was created by Act of March

12, 1861, and all city taxes are primarily payable to this officer. Up to the passage of the charter of 1883, he was appointed every two years by the Common Council, on nomination of the mayor. The charter of 1883 lengthened the term to three years. The salary in 1883 was $2,500, the receiver giving $50,000 bonds.

The following persons have served as receivers : 1861 to July, 1862, B. Franklin Baker; 1862-1868, Thos. R. Cummings ; 1869-1873, Wm. Y. Rumney ; 1873-1877, W. A. Throop; 1877-1879, Robert E. Roberts; 1879-1881, J. M. Welch ; 1881-1886, Jacob Guthard ; 1886- , S. C. Karrer.

PART IV. JUDICIAL.

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CHAPTER XXX

JUSTICE IN THE OLDEN TIME .- UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURT .- DISTRICT COURT .- UNITED STATES OFFICERS .- BANKRUPTCY COURT.

IN considering the subject of justice, and its legal administration, it should be remembered that one of the objects of the settlement of Detroit was to secure and maintain the supremacy of the French in this western region. For this reason, and because of the dangers from hostile Indians as well as from the English, a military settlement was a necessity. A company of soldiers was therefore sent with the first settlers, and the beginnings of the colony pre- sented an appearance quite unlike that of the Pil- grims of Plymouth Rock, or of the Quakers with William Penn. The treachery of the savages, the various exigencies arising among settlers far removed from the restraints of ordinary society, and the jealousies and ambitions of leading members of the colony, all combined to make military rule not only desirable, but necessary. Cadillac and the other French commandants were therefore invested with almost plenary powers. They could imprison at pleasure, or even run their swords through a per- son who grossly offended; they were amenable, nevertheless, to the governor-general at Quebec and to the colonial minister in France, and com- plaints against them were not infrequent.

About 1720 the inhabitants complained to the council that Tonty was "judge and party in all the differences which arose respecting commerce, and if any one attempted to claim his rights, he was ill- used ; that in one case he struck Du Ruisson with a cane, and trampled him under foot, so that he left the room covered with blood," and that when the matter was reported to Vaudreuil, no attention was paid to it. In 1722 there were judges at the three cities of New France, and each inhabitant was com- pelled to elect some one of these cities as his domi- cile, so that notices could be served and cases tried.

Notwithstanding the occasional complaints of the people, there is every reason to believe that, in the main, the government of the commandants was both mild and judicious. The circumstances of their position were such that they could not afford to alienate many of the settlers. The necessity of constant watchfulness and foresight in dealing with and governing the savages. who clustered about the fort and freely mingled with the people, made it

impossible for them to indulge frequently in freaks of temper, or to allow or commit injustice. A coolness and an intrepidity, seldom found in mean or malicious natures, were important attributes of the men who should successfully govern the settle- ment ; and in many respects the government was almost patriarchal in its character. The command- ants were called upon to witness all important pri- vate transactions, and no wedding or christening was quite satisfactory without their presence.

During the earlier years of English rule the gov- ernment was still of a military character, and the fatherly offices of the commandants were, if possi- ble, even more frequently exercised. Commandant De Peyster both married and baptized those who desired his services, using the forms of the English Church. If offences were committed the command- ants went through regular forms of law, and tried, and as faithfully executed, those whom they deemed deserving of death. In a letter dated April 20, 1763, addressed to General Amherst, Major Glad- win said, " The Panis (a Pawnee Indian slave) who escaped from the guard last winter got off to the Illinois ; therefore I thought it best to try the woman, who was sentenced to be hanged for being an accomplice in the murder of the late Mr. Clapham ; which I had put in execution in the most public manner."

The original manuscript of the letter has the fol- lowing explanatory memoranda, probably added by the aide-de-camp of General Amherst :

This murder was committed last summer, and was attended with several shocking circumstances. Mr. Clapham was a trader coming from the Detroit, with his two Pani .; slaves, a man and a woman, who, by their own confession, murdered him by cutting off his head, and throwing his body into the river. They were de- livered up by a party of Indians, whom the Panis charged as be- ing the principal perpetrators of the murder; but this the Indians denied. The general, however, sent a warrant to Major Gladwin for the trial of the murderers ; and by this letter it appears that the man has made his escape, but that the woman, being found guilty, has suffered according to her crime.

With regard to the jurisdiction of the local com- mandant, and the division of power between him and the resident governor, Thomas Smith testified before the Commissioners of Claims, on July 14, 1821, as follows :

[17]]

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JUSTICE IN THE OLDEN TIME.

All military commandants were civil officers ex officio, whether so commissioned or not, and they decided questions of property, and put litigants into the guard-house who disobeyed their decis- ions ; there were civil magistrates, who acted under, and in all matters of importance consulted, the commandant. The com- mandant was considered the chief magistrate, and acted often without consulting any other magistrate. If any debtor attempted to remove from the country, and the creditor made complaint thereof, the commandant refused permission to such debtor to de- part until the creditor was satisfied, and the debtor was accord- ingly detained until the decision of the commandant was complied with. The will of the commandant, in whom it is presumed con- fidence was always placed by the British Government, was sub- mitted to, and was certainly the then law of the land, whether it be called civil or military law, or whether that will related to civil or military matters. Alexis Maisonville, on the opposite side of the river, was one instance, where the commandant sent a party and removed him, upon complaint made to such commandant by the Indians that said Maisonville had settled upon certain lands by them claimed, without the permission of such Indians.

John Askin made complaint to the then commanding officer that a certain person, whose name witness does not recollect, but who was a Frenchman, had settled upon certain lands at the grand-marais claimed by said Askin, on the Detroit side of the river ; and that the commandant sent men, and that the French- man was removed was notorious. This witness does not know that Governor Hamilton was commissioned by the King of Great Britain, as governor resident at Detroit, but believed that he was so commissioned, but witness knows that his authority was dis- puted by the then commanding officer, Captain Montpasant as witness thinks, and consequently decisions of civil matters were made by Governor Hamilton, but his authority was never recog- nized by Captain Montpasant, who considered this as his exclusive prerogative.1

The manuscripts of Sir William Johnson show that in 1767 there was much trouble and conflict of authority between the commandant and the com- missioner of trade, each of these officers claiming the right to settle disputes between the traders.

Under both French and English rule, the notarial office was one of great importance, as it practically combined the duties of court clerk and register of deeds. The notary kept copies of all papers wit- nessed by or before him, registered marriage con- tracts, and was connected with every transaction in business and in social life.

Among the notaries acting between 1734 and 1760, or later, were Robert Navarre, Simon Sanjui- net, Baptiste Campau, and G. Monforton. About 1760 the name of Philip Dejean begins to be of fre- quent occurrence in old records of every sort. He was appointed justice of the peace April 24, 1767, and on the 20th of July following, Robert Bayard, major commanding, appointed him second judge of a temporary court of justice, to be held every month to decide all actions of debts, bonds, bills, contracts, and trespasses involving large amounts.

It would seem that Dejean's doings did not meet the approval of all the citizens, as a committee of investigation, consisting of ten persons, was ap- pointed by Commandant George Turnbull. On May 21, 1768, they reported themselves as of opinion,

First, that the fees established by the committee appointed by Major Robert Bayard, on the establishment of the Court of Jus- tice at Detroit, are just and reasonable, and ought not to be less.

Second, that every prisoner confined in the guard-house, whether for debt or misdemeanor, shall on being set at liberty pay one dollar, and every batteau or canoe arriving here, loaded with merchandise belonging to any person or persons not possessing in property any lot or building within this fort, shall pay two dollars ; the moneys accruing from thence to be applied, as in the time of the French government, to keep in good and sufficient repair the fortifications around this town.

Third, no person having appeared before us, to make any com- plaints against said Philip Dejean, with respect to his public office, we are of opinion that they were ill-founded and without cause.

Signed, JAMES STERLING, COLONEI. ANDREWS, T. WILLIAMS, WILLIAM EDGAR, JOHN ROBISON, EUSTACHE GAMELIN, P. ST. COSME, I. CABACIE, T. MOLIERE, A. BARTHE.

Dejean's character being thus approved, he was further honored, on June 14 following, by being newly appointed notary, with power to examine by oath and evidence, but could give no final award except by joint request. Matters settled by arbitra- tion were to be approved by the commandant.

The records of St. Anne's Church show that Pierre St. Cosme was acting as a justice of the peace on September 15, 1762; and Philip Le Grand is named as a justice on March 18, 1764.

Under the Quebec Act of 1774, the criminal law of England was introduced as a guide in the admin- istration of justice ; but as the same Act abolished all courts of justice in the province, after the first of May, 1775, and as the laws of England were but imperfectly understood, and much discretion was allowed to or assumed by the governor and com- mandant, many enormities were perpetrated under the semblance of law.

When Henry Hamilton was appointed lieutenant- governor, a judge, assessor, and sheriff, were also to be commissioned, and to be paid one hundred and fifty pounds per year each. The judge was not immediately named, and on February 2, 1777, Gov- ernor Carleton wrote to Hamilton saying :

As nothing better could be done at the time, you were included as commissioner of the peace for the province at large ; and in that capacity you have a right to issue your warrants, for appre- hending, and sending down (to Montreal) any persons guilty of criminal offences in the district, at least, such as are of conse- quence enough to deserve taking that journey ; but these orders must be signed by you, and not by Mr. Dejean, whose authority is unknown here.

Subsequently a Mr. Owen was appointed as judge at Detroit, but he died, and in a letter dated April 26, 1778, Hamilton says his loss " must be doubly felt, while I am obliged to act as judge, and in several cases executor of justice. There is no execu- tioner or gaoler, nor is a gaol yet built, though greatly needed." In another letter, dated August 17, 1778, he says: "Our law proceedings here are as vague, and perhaps irregular as can be, but our situation must excuse and account for it." About this time he sent a man named Gardener (believed

1 See chapter on Revolutionary War.

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to have murdered his wife), and also witnesses, to Montreal for trial. Turning back two years, we find that soon after he arrived at Detroit, John Cou- tincinau and Ann Wyley-the first a former servant, and the woman previously a slave of Abbott and Finchley-were accused of stealing about $50 in furs and money from their late employers. They were arrested on June 26, 1776, tried, convicted, and on March 26, 1777, at twelve o'clock, were hanged on the public common. The following letter, con- tained in Volume VI. of Almon's Remembrancer, published at London, and written by John Dodge, of Detroit, gives interesting details concerning Ham- ilton's doings in the Coutincinau and other trials :

QUEBEC, Sept. 21, 1777.

SIR: Yesterday his Excellency Sir Guy was pleased to sign my pass, a few hours before he set out for Montreal, notwithstanding any opposition that might have been made by our Detroit new lieutenant-governor, Hamilton, who, you know, is now in town here. From what you have heard of his cruel and tyrannical dis- position, you must be well convinced how unhappy we are under his government ; you know what severity he used against me un- justly, how he has treated Mr. Bentley, and confessed to him in presence of several witnesses that he knew very well his proceed- ings against him were illegal, but that he was above the law, and added, " You may sue me if you please, but you'll get nothing. Government is obliged to support me in what I do." A very fine confession for a lieutenant-governor set over a free people !

You know how he wanted to hurt Mr. Isaac Williams, and the cool manner in which he treated Mr. Jonas Schindler, silversmith, whom, after being honorably acquitted by a very respectable jury, he ordered to be drummed out of the town. Captain Lord of the Eighteenth Regiment, late commandant of the Illinois, and at that time commanding the garrison at Detroit, silenced the drum when it entered into the citadel, in order to pass out at the west gate with the prisoner, and said Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton might exercise what acts of cruelty and oppression he pleased in the town, but that he would suffer none in the citadel, and would take care to make such proceedings known to some of the first men in England. All these things are cruel, but nothing like hanging men. Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton, to whom a commission as justice of the peace was sent up only two or three months ago, which is the first that ever was given by proper authority to any one in Detroit, took upon him in the fall of 1775 to nominate and appoint a certain Philip Dejean (who ran away from home some years ago and fled to Detroit to screen himself from his creditors) to act as judge on the trial of Joseph Hecker (formerly a furrier in this town) for having killed his brother-in-law, Monsieur Moran, in a quarrel. Judge Dejean passed sentence of death upon him, which was approved of by Governor Hamilton, and put in execution a few days after, under a guard of soldiers who surrounded the gal- lows whilst he was hanged. In the spring of 1777 they condemned and hanged also John Coutincinau, a Canadian, for having stolen some money, etc., from his master, and having been concerned with a negro wench in attempting to set fire to his master's house. You'll readily allow that these criminals deserve death, but how dared Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton, and an infamous judge of his own making, take upon them to try them and execute them without authority ? I mentioned all the above circumstances to Judge Lewis, and to Mr. Monk, the attorney-general. They were very much surprised at such rash and unwarranted proceedings, and said Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton and his Judge Philip Dejean were both liable to be prosecuted for murder. I beg you may make these things known in England, that we may be freed from usurpation, tyranny and oppression.

The proceedings of the Council of Virginia, under date of June 18, 1779, give details as to the cases of

Mr. Dodge and others. In speaking of Governor Hamilton the record says:

They find that his treatment of our citizens and soldiers, taken and carried within the limits of his command, has been cruel and inhuman ; that in the case of John Dodge, a citizen of these states, which has been particularly stated to this board, he loaded him with irons, threw him into a dungeon, without bedding, without straw, without fire, in the dead of winter and severe climate of Detroit ; that in that state, he wasted him with incessant expecta- tions of death ; that when the rigors of his situation had brought him so low that death seemed likely to withdraw him from their power, he was taken out, and somewhat attended to until a little mended, and before he had recovered ability to walk, was again returned to his dungeon, in which a hole was cut, seven inches square only, for the admission of air, and the same load of irons again put on him; that appearing a second time in imminent danger of being lost to them, he was again taken from his dungeon, in which he had lain from January to June, with the intermission of a few weeks only before mentioned.

It will be remembered that these records were made after the capture of Governor Hamilton, Philip Dejean, and others at Vincennes, and while they were confined in Virginia. The document con- tinues :

It appears that the prisoner Dejean was on all occasions the wil- ling and cordial instrument of Governor Hamilton, acting both as judge and keeper of the jails, and instigating and urging him, by malicious insinuations and untruths, to increase rather than to re- lax his severities, heightening the cruelty of his orders by his man- ner of executing them ; offering at one time a reward to one man to be hangman for another, threatening his life on refusal ; and taking from his prisoners the little property their opportunities enabled them to acquire.

Mr. Dodge was eventually sent down and con- fined in jail at Quebec. He escaped from there on October 9, 1778, and on July 13, 1779, wrote from Pittsburgh to " Philip Boyle, merchant at St. Duski " (Sandusky), as follows :

It is with pleasure that I inform you that I have made my escape from Quebec. I have the honor of wearing the Captain's commission, and the managing Indian affairs. You may depend on seeing me there this fall with a good army. Fisher and Grav- erat are here, and desire to be remembered to their brothers, and bid them to be of good cheer. There has been a battle at Carolina -the English are entirely defeated ; seven hundred lay dead on the ground, the rest are prisoners, with all their cannon and bag- gage. I enclose to you the proceedings of a Council. I am going to Williamsburgh in a few days to prosecute Hamilton, and that rascal Dejean, Lamothe likewise. Hominey, hey? they will all be hanged without redemption, and the Lord have mercy on their souls. My compliments to all the good Whigs of Detroit. Money plenty, fine times for the sons of liberty. I am just now drinking your health with a good glass of Madeira. God bless you all, and we will soon relieve you from those tyrants.

Returning to Governor Hamilton, we find that notwithstanding the outrageous character of his proceedings, Governor Haldimand rather justified and excused him, especially in the Coutincinau case ; but the grand jury for the district of Montreal did not, and on Monday, September 17, 1778, they indicted Governor Hamilton for allowing Dejean to perpetrate such enormities. They said that in De- cember, 1775, Dejean illegally acted as judge, and caused one Hecker to be apprehended for the

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UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURT.

murder of one Chas. Moran, sentenced him to death, and carried the sentence into execution; and that on or about March, 1776, he arrested John Coutincinau and Nancy, a negro woman, charged with attempting to burn a dwelling belonging to Abbott & Finchley, and also with having stolen money and peltries ; that he sentenced Coutincinau to death, and that on or about July, 1776, he was hanged ; that Nancy remained in prison a time, and was pardoned on condition that she serve as execu- tioner, which she did, and that then Dejean hanged her also, and that without law or authority. He also fined for offences. An action was also brought against Dejean, and on December 4, 1778, Governor Hamilton wrote to Haldimand, saying :

A letter from Mr. Gary, the deputy sheriff at Montreal, acquaints me that some legal process has been commenced against Mr. Dejean, for acting under my direction in regard to criminal matters. I beg leave to recommend him to your Excellency's pro- tection, as a man who has created enemies by doing his duty. *

* * I hope I shall alone be responsible for any malversation of his, as he has only acted by my orders. *

* * Should any com- plaint against myself be lodged judicially, I am perfectly at ease, persuaded your Excellency will allow me to vindicate my conduct, without encountering the chicano of the law.

In March, 1778, Thomas Williams, father of Gen- eral John R. Williams, was acting as justice of the peace. In July, 1784, he declined to act longer, and induced Mr. Monforton to attend to the business in his stead. His commission, issued by Sir Frederick Haldimand, Governor-General of Canada, in 1779, is in the possession of his grandson, J. C. D. Williams of this city. An immense wax seal, half an inch thick and four and a half inches in diameter, bear- ing many devices, is attached to the document.

Thomas Smith served as commissioner of peace in 1778. In 1779 the commandant suggested the establishment of a Court of Trustees, with jurisdic- tion extending to ten pounds. Eighteen of the mer- chants then entered into a bond that three of them, in rotation, would hold a weekly court, and that they would defend any appeals which might be taken to the courts at Montreal. This court lasted about eighteen months, and then, as legal objections were made to it, the court was abolished. This pleased the careless, but was unsatisfactory to merchants, and on March 28, 1781, they petitioned De Peyster for relief "to enable them to collect of those who were able but unwilling to pay their debts." De Peyster was at a loss to know what to do, and on April 3, 1781, he wrote to General Haldimand, say- ing, "Formerly summons were issued by the justice and decisions given, but since we have learned that they have no such powers, that mode has ceased."

The establishment of regular courts dates from July 24, 1788, when several districts were created by the Canadian council. Detroit was embraced in the District of Hesse, and William Dunmore Powell was

the first judge. In 1789 Courts of Common Pleas were provided for, with jurisdiction without appeal, except to the governors and council. The wealthier citizens were made judges, and they banished, whipped, and imprisoned at pleasure. In De- cember, 1788, a session of the court was held at Detroit, by Louis Beaufait, senior justice, with James May, Charles Girardin, Patrick McNiff, and Nath- aniel Williams as associate justices.

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History of Detroit and Wayne County and early Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopedia of the Past and Present, Vol. I, Part 37

Author: Farmer, Silas, 1839-1902 Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Detroit, Pub. by S. Farmer & co., for Munsell & co., New York Number of Pages: 1094

Author: Farmer, Silas, 1839-1902
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Detroit, Pub. by S. Farmer & co., for Munsell & co., New York
Number of Pages: 1094