History of Detroit and Wayne County and early Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopedia of the Past and Present, Vol. I, Part 72

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 72

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

MARRIAGE LAWS.

Long before the French came, dusky lovers strayed through the primeval forests, exchanged whispered vows, and made presents of wild roses. water lilies, and fleurs de lis. Indian husbands, however, were less attractive than Indian lovers, and the French when they came carried off the fair- est of the forest. To their credit be it said that they treated their Indian wives with so much more attention than they usually received that the squaws soon saw the difference, and Cadillac reported that

the Indian women "preferred a Frenchman of any sort to a savage." He encouraged these alliances as a means of protection to the settlement, and half- breeds soon formed the larger per cent of the popu- lation. There are several families still in Detroit with some ancestral Indian blood in their veins.

In order to provide wives for the soldiers, the commandants, from time to time, applied to the officials in France to send out " widows and mar- riageable young ladies "; and at various times com- panies of maidens, with outfits provided by the king, came to cheer and bless the settlement in the wilderness.

No one was allowed to marry without permission. Even Tonty himself, in 1717, was obliged to solicit a marriage permit that he might marry an at- tractive widow. Of the soldiers, no one was allowed to marry who could not show probable ability to support a family. The presence of the commandant was essential to wedding festivities, and there was much formality attendant upon all the preliminaries. The notary, with his quill and ink-horn, was a man of eminent importance on these occasions, and the contract of marriage which he drew up specified with exact care the dowry of the bride and named at length all who were present at the wedding.

Marriages under the English law were solemnized either by the minister or a justice of the peace. The French maidens were not averse to having English suitors, and were so eagerly sought that they often stepped from childhood into married life. Tradition says that when Dr. G. C. Anthon married Miss Jadot she had a doll in her arms. Where both parties were French less than thirty years often covered the united ages of both bride and groom.

Under the laws of the Northwest Territory, males of seventeen years and females of fourteen might be married, but the consent of parents or guardians was required if the man was under twenty-one and the woman less than eighteen years of age. The bans were required to be published for at least fifteen days before the marriage ceremony, either from the pulpit on Sundays or by notice posted in some public place by a justice; or a license had to be obtained.

By territorial law of August 2, 1805, a justice was given authority to marry persons where one of the parties lived in the justice's district ; both parties, however, were required to be over twenty-one years of age, or written consent for the one under age ob- tained from the father or guardian.

By law of October 31, 1820, fifteen days' notice of an intended marriage was required to be posted in some public place, or a public declaration to be made by some minister on two different occasions,

341

MARRIAGE LAWS .- MASONIC AND ODD FELLOWS SOCIETIES.

the first publication to be made at least ten days before the marriage; or a license obtained of the clerk of the county court. Under the same law males of eighteen and females of fourteen years of age might be married, but males under twenty-one and females under eighteen were required to have the consent of their father or guardian.

The Revised Statutes of 1838 required that at least one of the parties should be examined on oath as to the legality of the proposed marriage, and under the same law males of seventeen and females of fourteen years of age might marry regardless of the consent of parents or guardians.

The Revised Statutes of 1846 fixed the age at which males might marry at eighteen years, and females at sixteen years; and no change has since been made as to marriageable age.

In the Catholic churches, by church law, the names of persons proposing to marry, and of the parents of each, are required to be announced three times from the pulpit, unless a special dispensation is obtained.

In the Hebrew congregations, the groom is re- quired to obtain from the president of the congrega- tion a permit, and must satisfy him that he can be lawfully married, and give his own and his bride's name ; and on presentation of the permit, the rabbi is authorized to perform the ceremony.

Under present state law, any justice of the peace and any pastor of a church may solemnize a mar- riage, but a law of May 31, 1887, requires that a marriage license be obtained from the county clerk, the applicant being required to give for record in the office, and also for insertion in the license, the age of the parties, their color, full names, the bride's maiden name in case she is a widow, their place of residence and birth, their ages and other details. The license is delivered to whoever performs the ceremony, and they must return it to the county clerk, with the certificate which is attached to it filled out, giving the date of the marriage, names of the witnesses, and their own signature.

The person performing the marriage ceremony is required, within twenty days thereafter, to deposit in the county clerk's office a record of the date and place of the marriage, the Christian and surnames of groom and bride, and the maiden name of the bride if a widow, also the color, age, place of birth, and residence of the parties at time of the mar- riage, and the names and residences of the two witnesses, together with his own name and official title or position.

MASONIC AND ODD FELLOWS SOCIETIES.

Within four years after the post of Detroit was surrendered to the English, a lodge of Masons was

organized. The warrant for its organization was issued on April 27, 1764, by George Harrison, Grand Master of the Province of New York. The warrant provided for a " Lodge of Masons, No. 1, to be held at Detroit under whatever name the said Master and his officers shall please to distinguish it."

Lieutenant John Christie, of the Sixtieth Regi- ment, was named as Master, Samson Fleming, Senior Warden, and Josias Harper, Junior Warden. The lodge was named Zion Lodge. It surrendered its warrant, and received a new one from the Grand Lodge of New York on December 3, 1806, and was registered as No. 62. This Lodge was in existence, bearing the same number, in 1817.

A second Lodge was instituted in 1773, registered as No. 356, and two years later Union Lodge No. 394 was created.

A fourth Lodge was organized by the Grand Secretary, James Davidson, under authority of Thos. Ainslie, of Quebec, Deputy Grand Master. The warrant was dated September 7, 1794, and authorized James Donaldson as Master Mason, Edward Byrn as Senior Warden, and Findley Campbell as Junior Warden, to hold a Lodge "in the City of Detroit, in Upper Canada" on the first Monday of every calendar month. The Lodge thus authorized was duly established on December 19 at the house of James Donaldson, and was known as Zion Lodge No. 10. It was in existence as late as December 28, 1801. A notice of one of the meetings of this lodge, copied from the original document, is as follows :

DETROIT, 23d Aug., 1799.

BROTHER MAY, --

You are requested to meet the Master Wardens and the rest of the Brethren at the house of James Donaldson, on the 31st day of Aug., immediately at 6 o'clock in the evening, being a Lodge of Emergency, and this you are to accept as a special summons from Zion Lodge No. 10 of the Registry of Lower Canada. Fail not on your O. B.

By order of the Body

BEN. RAND, Sec. of Zion Lodge.

Under authority of the Grand Lodge of New York, the fourth warrant organizing a lodge bear- ing the name of Zion was issued on June 13, 1844, and constituted John E. Schwartz, Master; R. A. Forsyth, Senior Warden; and David Thompson, Junior Warden, of Zion Lodge No. 99.

A fifth warrant, dated June 5, 1844, issued by the Grand Lodge of Michigan, authorized the name of Zion Lodge No. 1, and constituted David Thomp- son, Master; Ezra Williams, Senior Warden; and R. A. Forsyth, Junior Warden. The annual meet- ing was at the regular communication preceding the full moon in December of each year.

On December 21, 1821, Detroit Lodge No. 337 was instituted, and a few days after, on December

342

MASONIC AND ODD FELLOWS SOCIETIES.

26, the officers were publicly installed in the Protes- tant Church on the corner of Woodward Avenue and Larned Street, under the direction of Charles Jackson, Jeremiah Moors, and Levi Cook as a Com- mittee of Arrangements.

It appears from old records that Detroit Lodge No. 337 obtained a new charter as Detroit Lodge No. I, from Michigan Grand Lodge on October 5, 1842, and again from some source on May 28, 1844, and from New York, as Detroit Lodge No. 100, on June 14, 1844, and lastly, as Detroit Lodge No. 2, from the Michigan Grand Lodge, on June 5, 1845.

The following Detroit Lodges were chartered on the dates named : Union Lodge of Strict Observ- ance No. 3, on January 18, 1852; Ashlar Lodge No. 91, January 16, 1857 ; Oriental Lodge No. 240, January 10, 1868; Schiller Lodge No. 263, April 13, 1869; Kilwinning Lodge No. 297, January II, 1872.

Monroe Chapter No. I was organized at Detroit on February 3, 1818, under a dispensation granted by DeWitt Clinton, of New York. They worked under this until February 7, 1821, when the General Grand Chapter granted them a charter. They were incorporated by Act of March 14, 1851. Peninsular Chapter No. 16 was organized February 11, 1857.

The first Grand Lodge of Michigan was formed on June 24, 1826, by delegates from Zion Lodge No. 3 and Detroit Lodge No. 337 of Detroit, and Menominee Lodge No. 374 of Green Bay, and Mon- roe Lodge No. 375. Four special communications were held, and one annual one on June 6, 1827, after which the Grand Lodge did not meet until June 2, 1841. At a meeting of the Grand Lodge on May 22, 1844, it was recommended that old lodges obtain new charters from New York ; and as a new Grand Lodge was to be organized in accord- ance with the recommendations of this body, the old Grand Lodge was discontinued, and the present Grand Lodge organized on September 17, 1844.

Detroit Commandery No. I was organized Janu- ary 8, 1851 ; Monroe Council No. 1, May 19, 1856; Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Carson Lodge of Perfection, May 21, 1861 ; Carson Council Princes of Jerusalem, May 21, 1861 ; Mount Olivet Chapter Rose Croix, May 21, 1862; Michigan Sovereign Consistory S. P. R. S., 32 degrees, May 21, 1862; Detroit Lodge of Perfection, June 18, 1869; Palestine Lodge No. 357, December 20, 1880; the Grand Imperial Council of the Red Cross of Constantine was organized April 10, 1874.

Masonic meetings were originally held at private houses. About 1826 a second story was added to the old council house, on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Randolph Street, and the new story was used for masonic meetings. After the burning of the building in 1848, meetings were held in the

upper story of a brick building afterwards known as the Garrison House, on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Cass Street. The Masonic Hall on Jefferson Avenue, between Griswold and Shelby Streets, was begun in 1851, the corner-stone being laid on September 2. The building was completed in 1852, but the Hall was not formally dedicated until June 24, 1857. In 1876 many of the lodges found quarters in the new building of the Wayne County Savings Bank; and in the summer of 1881, the lease of the property on Jefferson Avenue hav- ing expired, all of the lodges left the old hall.

MASONIC HALL

ART

OLD MASONIC HALL.

One of the most notable events in connection with Masonry was the Knight Templar procession of June 9, 1870. Many commanderies from various parts of the United States were present, and over one thousand Knights participated. By a notice- able coincidence, exactly nine years later the visit and parade of the Palestine Commandery of New York took place, and this also was a notable occa- sion.

343

MASONIC AND ODD FELLOWS SOCIETIES.

The Michigan Masons Mutual Benefit Associa- tion was organized June 12, 1874, and incorporated January 7, 1878. It is solely for the benefit of Master Masons not over fifty-five years of age.

The order of Odd Fellows was introduced into Detroit by the institution of Michigan Lodge No. I, on December 4, 1843, under a charter granted by the Grand Lodge of the United States. Joshua L. Smith and Hartford Joy were the first two elected officers. The lodge was incorporated November 10, 1845, and prospered to such an extent that on April 13, 1844, the second lodge in the State was organized as Wayne Lodge No. 2, with A. R. Terry, John Robinson, Jr., and Charles S. Adams as its first three elective officers. Other lodges were instituted in the following order :

Olive Branch Lodge No. 38, September 20, 1849; Washington Lodge No. 54, February 22, 1851, in- corporated January 6, 1873; Detroit Lodge No. 128, February 29, 1867; Ingersoll Encampment

CODIFOLLOWS HALL

ODS

GROCER

IES

HARDWARE.

CROCKER

T J. NOTES

JOHN S JENNESS.

ODD FELLOWS' HALL, WOODWARD AVENUE. 1857.

No. 29, March 19, 1868; First French Lodge of the West No. 147, October 15, 1870; Germania En- campment No. 45, November 21, 1870; Sides Lodge No. 155, February 22, 1871 ; Columbus Lodge No. 215, September 29, 1873; Riverside Lodge No. 303, September 12, 1877; Amity Lodge, January I, 1 880.

The Detroit Patriarchs were organized in Sep- tember, 1875. The organization is composed of Odd Fellows who have taken the Royal Purple degree. On September 20, 1876, at the Grand Reunion in Philadelphia, they were complimented as the best drilled company present.

The first Odd Fellows' Hall in the city was on the west side of Woodward Avenue, between Con-

gress and Larned Streets. It was built in 1846, and dedicated on February 24, 1847. An oration was delivered on the occasion by George C. Bates, in the Baptist Church, corner of Fort and Griswold Streets. The building had a frontage of fifty-two feet on Woodward Avenue and was eighty feet deep. It was owned by a stock company, composed exclusively of Odd Fellows, In 1855 most of the stock of the association and the management had passed into the hands of one or two persons. Two of the lodges and the encampment then leased the two upper floors in Hull's Block, and fitted up a hall which was known as New Odd Fellows' Hall. This hall was dedicated on the 13th of September, 1855, by Grand Master William M. Fenton, and was occupied by all the lodges until the hall on

ODD FELLOWS' HALL, HEAD OF MONROE AVENUE.

Monroe Avenue was built. A small room in the original hall was occupied from 1870 to 1876 by Detroit Lodge. The building was torn down in 1877, to make room for a new block.

In 1874, Washington Lodge No. 54 purchased a lot on Randolph Street facing Monroe Avenue, and built Odd Fellows' Temple thereon. The corner-stone was laid on August 20, 1874, by the , officers of the Grand Lodge, at which time an address was delivered by John N. Ingersoll, R. W. Grand Warden. The hall was completed in February, 1875, and occupied by Washington Lodge No. 54, Michigan Lodge No. I, Detroit Lodge No. 128, and Sides Lodge No. 155. It was dedicated on February 22, 1876.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

SLAVERY AND THE COLORED RACE.

SLAVERY began almost with the settlement. The Indians who gathered near the fort brought with them captives taken in battle, and some of these were transferred to the French. In 1760 there were both Indian and African slaves in Detroit. Most of the Indian slaves were from the Pawnee tribe, and a few from the Osage, Choctaw, and other western tribes, who had been captured in war and sold to French and English residents. The Indians made excellent servants and com- manded good prices. At the time of the capitula- tion it was stipulated that the French inhabitants should keep their negroes, but they were to restore those belonging to the English. The following copies of letters from an old manuscript letter-book of Phyn & Ellice, in possession of the Buffalo His- torical Society, give an idea of the spirit of these olden times, and detail the methods of sale and the prices paid for slaves for this market :

SCHENECTADY, 7 July, 1760.

Mr. H. Levy,-

Before this reaches you we hope every former order will be completed. Above we send you a small memorandum which we beg you 'll execute immediately on receipt. *

* * We shall be pleased to hear how beaver is selling. * * * If you have wam- pum, pipes and moons, you may send 'em by first opportunity, and we'll make a trial of them at Detroit this winter. * * *

Yours, &c. P. & E.

P. S .- Do not fail to purchase the blacks by first opportunity, as the person for whom they are, has contracted to deliver them at Detroit early in the fall.

SCHENECTADY, 23d Aug., 1760.

Mr. James Stirling, Detroit.

SIR,-

Your favor, 29th June, attending your order, we had the plea- sure to receive, and immediately thereon J. P. made a jaunt to New York, with a view to be particular and expeditious in making up the goods. We now inclose you Invoice per L-, the load- ing of six boats is under the direction of James McDonald, who is engaged to proceed with them to Detroit. * * * We have tried all in our power to procure the wenches and negro lads, but it's impossible to get any near your terms. No green negroes are now brought into this Province. We can purchase negroes from eighty pounds to ninety pounds, and wenches from sixty pounds to seventy pounds. If such will be acceptable, advise and you shall have them in the spring, and perhaps under, if we can meet with Yankees in the winter.

With great esteem, yours,

P. & E.

SCHENECTADY, 13 August, 1770.

Mr. Levy : SIR,-

We have received two negro boys ; the oldest will do for Mr. Stirling, at Detroit, and is entered in our Order book. But we are entirely at a loss what to do with that fat-gutted boy, having orders for none such for any of our correspondents, and we don't by any means want him for ourselves. *

* * Pray, are not bills of sale necessary with these African gentlemen ?

We are, &c., P. & E.

SCHENECTADY, 22 March, 1771.

Mr. Carpenter Wharton :

SIR,-

Upon your arrival at Philadelphia, please advise us by letter ad- dressed to the care of Mr. Samuel Franklin, Jun., if you can pur- chase for us two negro lads from fifteen to twenty years, for about fifty pounds, New York currency, each. They must be stout and sound, but we are indifferent about their qualifications, as they are for a Frenchman at Detroit. * * *

Yours, P. & E.

To Mr. John Porteous, Detroit :

DEAR SIR,-

We have contracted with a New England gentleman for some green negroes to be delivered here the first of August, and then your wench will be forwarded, together with a negro boy, in case she may some time hereafter choose a husband. We apprehend he will be useful to you, or advantageous about the sloop, or you can dispose of him as you find best. The price is fifty pounds each.

Yours, &c., . P. & E.

The official returns made to the governor-general in 1773 showed that there were then ninety-six slaves at the settlement along the Detroit ; five years later there were one hundred and twenty- seven. After another interval of five years the number was reported at one hundred and seventy- five, and in 1782 there were seventy-eight male and one hundred and one female slaves.

Among other old records at Detroit there is a document given by John Askin, grandfather of the late E. A. Brush, dated September 9, 1766, and saying, "I set at liberty and give full freedom unto my Pawnee slave Monnette, which I had from Mons. Barrussa at Michilimackinac." On October 19, 1794, the same Mr. Askin bought of James May a negro man Pompey, for forty-five pounds, and on January 3, 1795, he sold him to James Donaldson for fifty pounds.

[344]

345

SLAVERY AND THE COLORED RACE.

The American State Papers (Volume I., page 146) contain an interesting account of an effort to have slavery legalized in this region. The facts were as follows : On November 22, 1802, Governor Har- rison issued a proclamation notifying the people of an election to be held in the several counties on December 11. Delegates were then to be elected to a convention called for December 20, at Vin- cennes; the main object of the convention to be the consideration of the question of securing the repeal or suspension of Article VI. of the ordinance of 1787, which prohibited the holding of slaves in the Territory. No representation was solicited from Wayne County, probably because it was so well understood that Michigan would soon be a separate Territory that it was deemed unnecessary to consult its citizens on a question of this charac- ter. Governor Harrison presided over the conven- tion, and it was decided to petition Congress to suspend the said article for ten years. It is an interesting fact that the celebrated John Randolph of Roanoke, the chairman of the Congressional Committee to whom the petition of the delegates was referred, made a report declaring that "the labor of slaves is not necessary to promote the growth and settlement of colonies in that region. * * The committee deem it highly dangerous and inexpedient to impair a provision wisely calcu- lated to promote the happiness and prosperity of the northwestern country and to give strength and security to that extensive frontier." After hearing the report, Congress refused to suspend the articles, and the Territory was preserved to freedom.

In tracing the question through the years, we find, in a letter, dated April 2, 1803, that William Elliott, of Sandwich, requested James Henry, of Detroit, to keep Mr. Ormsby's man in jail a few weeks until he could sell or dispose of him.

At the time of the fire in 1805 there were six colored men and nine colored women in the town. That their numbers increased is evident, for in 1807 Governor Hull organized a company of negro militia. Many of the older citizens had one or more slaves. Joseph Campau owned ten at one time. One of them, nicknamed Crow, used to ascend the steeple of St. Anne's Church and perform numerous gym- nastic tricks for the amusement of those who gathered beneath.

The importation of slaves was discontinued after September 17, 1792, the Canadian Parliament, by law of that date, directing that no slaves should thereafter be introduced, and that all born there- after should be free at the age of twenty-five. The ordinance of 1787 had previously provided that slavery should not exist in the Northwest Territory. At that time, however, this region was not under control of the American Government, and there was

no barrier to the holding of slaves at Detroit. After its surrender in 1796, slave owners at Detroit con- tinued to hold their slaves under the Jay treaty of November 19, 1794, which provided that the in- habitants of the Territory surrendered to the United States should be protected in their property. The question as to whether slaves could be legally holden was adjudicated in 1807.

A case came before the Supreme Court of the Territory in which Richard Patterson, of Sandwich, sought to apprehend as slaves Joseph Quinn and Jane, then residing in Michigan. The case was tried, and on September 26, 1807, Judge Woodward delivered an elaborate opinion against the claimant, on the ground that slavery was not admissible in Michigan "except as to persons in actual possession of British settlers within this Territory on the 11th day of July, 1796." Those who had possessed slaves under British rule continued to hold them, and the official census for 1810 shows that, at that time, seventeen slaves were held in Detroit. On March 11, 1818, the assessor of taxes for Wayne County gave notice that the Court of General Quar- ter Sessions of the peace for said county had made negro and mulatto slaves ratable for taxes for the current year. The census for 1830 showed that there were thirty-two slaves in Michigan, but by 1836 all the slaves were either dead or manumitted. Advertisements for runaway slaves appeared in the Gazette as late as 1827.

The feeling of a portion of the citizens in regard to the colored race found expression in the Act of April 13, 1827, which provided that after May I the names of all colored persons should be registered in the county clerk's office; and no blacks were to be permitted to reside in the Territory unless they could produce a certificate that they were actually free. The certificate was to be placed on record, and twelve and one half cents paid therefor. The colored people were also required, within twenty days, to file bonds, with one or more freehold sure- ties, in the penal sum of $500, for their good be- havior; and the bondsmen were expected to pay for their support in case they were unable to support themselves. If this law was not complied with, the blacks were to be sent out of the Territory. The same law provided penalties for kidnapping. No attempt was made to enforce the law until after the riot of 1833, and then the colored people fled to Canada. The history of that riot is as follows : On June 14, 1833, Thornton Blackburn and his wife, who had resided here nearly two years, were claimed and arrested as fugitive slaves from Kentucky. They were taken before a justice of the peace, who directed an officer to take charge of them and de- liver them to the claimant. During their examina- tion before the justice, a crowd of colored people

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Detroit and Wayne County and early Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopedia of the Past and Present, Vol. I, Part 72

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