USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > History of Detroit and Wayne County and early Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopedia of the Past and Present, Vol. II > Part 6
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92
At the breaking out of the rebellion he was one of the most active citizens of Michigan in every- thing looking to a vigorous prosecution of the war. During those sad days he seemed to lead a double life. All the time and energy that any man should give to business he gave to his, and yet he seemed to devote all his time to his party, his state and his country. He was frequently at Washington and with the armies in the field, giving aid, comfort and counsel when most needed.
In 1872 he became the Republican candidate for Governor and was elected by nearly 60,000 major- ity, receiving 1,400 more votes than the Grant electors, a plurality which at once proved the strength of the party and his personal popularity .. He was renominated in 1874, and although the Democrats swept the whole country that year, car- rying more than two-thirds of the House of Repre- sentatives and electing a Governor in Massachu- setts, Governor Bagley's personal popularity saved Michigan to his party by a majority of 6,000 over the Democratic candidate. In January, 1880, he was a candidate for United States Senator from Michigan, and came within one vote of receiving the
nomination by the Republican caucus of the Legis- lature.
While serving as Governor he manifested the same intelligent force that had made his many busi- ness ventures a success. With a zeal rarely found he gave both time and money to promote the wel- fare of the various educational and charitable insti- tutions of the state, and his gifts were always made for such definite objects that it was evident careful thought and a well recognized need had prompted the gift. During his administration the State Militia was reorganized, a new life infused into its membership, and for the first time it was placed upon a serviceable footing. He was an earnest advocate of the tax system as applied to the liquor traffic, in place of the then inoperative prohibitory system, and presented strong reasons for the change. The State Reform School was through his efforts relieved of many of its prison features, and made more of an educational institution.
The law providing for a Board of Charities and Corrections, and the present system of dealing with juvenile offenders through county agents, was orig- inated during his administration, and received his hearty support. He inspired and directed a wise amelioration in the methods of the Reform School. the State Prison and the House of Correction, and by his personal influence and private benevolence adorned their walls with beautiful pictures, stocked their library shelves, and regaled them with luxu- ries not provided by the State, the influences of which have left their imprint for personal good upon thou- sands of characters.
He was one of the original Board of Control of the State Public School at Coldwater, and suggested and applied many important changes in its organi- zation. The plans of the building were adopted and the institution located there, when he was a member. He subsequently, as Governor, became an ex-officio member of the Board and acted as such up to the time of the opening of the school for the children in May, 1874. After retiring from the Board he was a frequent and welcome visitor, and every Christmas day the scholars were remembered in a substantial manner. A fountain was given them, to ornament the grounds, illustrative of child life, and one thousand dollars as a perpetual fund, to be held in trust by the Board and its successors, the interest each year to be expended on Christmas for the individual benefit of the children. This gift is known as the Kittie Bagley fund, in memory of a little daughter of the donor, who died some years before her father.
Among the notable measures of his administra- tion was the entire revision of the general railroad laws and the bringing of all the companies under the supervision of a State Commissioner. As
1055
GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.
chairman of the State Centennial Board he worked indefatigably to insure the success of Michigan's representation in Philadelphia, giving largely of his own private means for that purpose.
His state papers were models of compact, busi- ness-like statements, bold, original and full of prac- tical suggestions, and his administration will long be considered among the ablest in this or any other State. The planting of "Centennial trees " was one of the many "happy thoughts " that he formu- lated while Governor, and the idea was approved and acted upon all over the Union. During his leisure hours, especially during the last few years of his life, he devoted much time to becoming acquainted with the best authors, and biography was his delight. He was a generous and intelli- gent patron of the arts, and his elegant home was a study and pleasure to his many friends, who always found there a hearty welcome. He never flagged in any task he undertook, but worked unceasingly and with a determination that knew no such word as fail. It led him to labor beyond his strength, to do in a brief time what he might better have taken months or years to accomplish. Such determina- tion won rapid success, but it caused the wick to burn low and go out at an age when most men are just beginning to see a bright prospect ahead. His nature was many-sided, and there was something in him with which everybody could feel at home.
Every line of his genial face was honest and true, and his clear eyes looked through all hollowness or sham. He had a very tender love of home, and one of his favorite mottoes was, " East or West, Home is best." The city where he lived was his larger home, to which he always returned with satis- faction, and for the welfare of which he loved to labor
Although born and educated as an Episcopalian, he connected himself with the Unitarian Church as most nearly expressing his ideas; but his interest was not confined to that denomination. Wherever good men and women met and worshiped the Liv- ing God, there was his church ; such he was ever ready to join in every good word and work. For many years he was connected with the Unitarian Conference as Vice-President and President.
In 1855 he married Miss Frances E. Newbury, of Dubuque, Iowa, whose father, Rev. Samuel New- bury, a Presbyterian clergyman, was one of the pioneers in the establishment of the educational in- stitutions of the State, helping to do in Michigan what his friend and correspondent, Horace Mann, did in Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Bagley had eight children. Seven of them are living and in Detroit, namely : Mrs. Florence B. Sherman, John N. Bagley, Mrs. Frances B. Brown, Margaret, Olive, Paul Frederick and Helen Bagley.
With a large, powerful frame and great bodily strength, Governor Bagley seemed the embodiment of health and cheerfulness, until the winter of 1876-77, when he felt the first indications that his strength was giving way, and at no time afterwards was he a well man. In September, 1880, he had a slight stroke of paralysis, and from this he never fully recovered. Early in the spring of 1881 he journeyed to California to try the climate of the Pacific coast, but it brought no permanent relief, and he died in San Francisco, July 27, 1881, at the age of forty-nine.
Governor Bagley's will was characteristic of the man, containing bequests for many local charities, Catholic and Protestant being alike remembered. He also made generous gifts to all who had been in his employ for five years or more, and left the sum of $5,000 with which to erect a public drinking fountain in Detroit. The fountain was erected on the open square at the head of Fort street west, and was unveiled on May 30, 1887. The hundreds who daily quench their thirst at this elegant memo- rial are constantly reminded of the liberal donor.
HENRY P. BALDWIN, Ex-Governor and Ex- United States Senator, is one of the oldest living residents of Detroit, his residence covering a period of fully fifty years. He traces his ancestry in this country to Nathaniel Baldwin, an English Puritan, who settled in Milford, Connecticut, in 1639. One of his descendants was the Rev. Moses Baldwin, who in 1757 received the first collegiate honors that Princeton College bestowed, and for upwards of half a century was pastor of a Presbyterian church in Palmer, Massachusetts, where he died in 1813. One of his sons, John Baldwin, who graduated at Dartmouth in 1791, and died in North Providence, Rhode Island, in 1826, was the father of Henry P. Baldwin.
On the maternal side the ancestry of Mr. Baldwin is traced to Robert Williams, a Puritan, whose place of settlement in 1638 was Roxbury, Massachusetts. The Governor's maternal grandfather was the Rev. Nehemiah Williams, a Harvard graduate. He was pastor of the Congregational church at Brimfield, Massachusetts, for the space of twenty-one years, and died at that place in 1796.
Henry P. Baldwin was born at Coventry, Rhode Island, February 22, 1814. He received a public school education, supplemented by a brief academic course. The death of both his parents forced him, at an early age, into active service for the gaining of a livelihood. He went into a store as clerk and re- mained there until twenty years of age, when he engaged in business on his own account at Woon- socket, Rhode Island.
Three years later, in 1837, he made a visit to the
1056
GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.
west, and during that trip became so impressed with the commercial advantages of Detroit that, in the spring of 1838, he located permanently in the city. His career as a merchant covered a record of many years. Beginning in a small way, he broadened his business plans and pushed them rapidly forward with unfaltering energy. He became a prosperous and progressive citizen and identified his name with the mercantile history, not only of Detroit, but of the West. Retiring, a few years ago, from active participation in the establishment he founded, he left it to his successors as a valuable heritage.
From the year 1860 Mr. Baldwin has been prom- inently identified with the political history of the State. He was chosen to the State Senate and served during the years 1861 and 1852. During his term of service he was chairman of the Finance Committee, a member of the Committee on Banks and Corporations, and chairman of the Select Joint Committee of the two Houses for the investigation of the acts of the State Treasurer. He was like- wise chairman of the legislative committee charged with the important work of improving the Sault Ste. Marie ship canal. This was the chief work in the line of internal improvement then under the control of the State, and Mr. Baldwin was influential in the prosecution of the work.
In 1868 he was elected by the Republican party to the office of Governor of Michigan, and two years later re-elected, thus serving four years as the chief executive of the State. The period of his incumbency was marked by the establishment and improvement of several public enterprises. He assisted materially in the advancement and in broad- ening the scope of the State Charities. He founded the State Public School for Dependent Children, which is a model of its kind. He also secured the permanent organization of a commission to super- vise the State Charities and Penal Institutions. He recommended the establishment of the Eastern Insane Asylum, the State Board of Health, and the State House of Correction. He obtained appro- priations for the enlargement of the University and was instrumental in the erection of the elegant State Capitol building at Lansing. He not only recommended the. appropriation for its construc- tion, but the contracts for all the work were let under his administration, and he appointed the building commission under whose direction and supervision the Capitol was begun and completed.
During his last term the fires of 1871 destroyed the city of Chicago, and other fires swept, with devastating consequences, through the State of Michigan. Governor Baldwin issued a call to the State of Michigan on behalf of the western me- tropolis, and it is a matter of history that that call was nobly answered. Soon afterwards he issued a
similar appeal in aid of the people of his own State,. and supplemented it with such admirable and sys- tematic methods for the collecting of donations and administering relief, that within three months he was enabled to make the gratifying public announce- ment that no further aid was needed.
In 1876 Mr. Baldwin served as a member of the Republican National Convention which nominated R. B. Hayes for the Presidency. In 1879 the sud- den death of Senator Zachariah Chandler created a vacancy in the United States Senate, and Mr. Bald- win was appointed to fill the position, and did so with great credit and ability. In addition to other engagements Mr. Baldwin has, for nearly forty years, been conspicuously identified with the bank- ing history of Detroit. He was a director in the old Michigan State Bank up to the time the charter of the bank expired. In 1863, upon the organization of the Second National Bank of Detroit, he was chosen its President and remained so until the re- organization of the institution in 1883, as the De- troit National Bank, when he was again elected President, which position he retained until 1887, when he resigned because of proposed absence on on extended tour to the Old World.
His connection with the affairs of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Detroit has had much to do with the remarkable prosperity of that denomina- tion. When he first came to Detroit he joined St. Paul's Church, which was then the sole occupant of the Protestant Episcopal field in Detroit. He was soon chosen vestryman and warden, and has ever since filled important positions in connection with the church. In 1858 he, with other churchmen, organ- ized a new parish called St. John's. In 1859 work was begun upon the church building, chapel, and rectory, at the corner of High street and Wood- ward avenue, and a very large proportion of the entire expense of the undertaking was cont ibuted by Mr. Baldwin, with whom it has ever been a prin- ciple to bestow a liberal portion of his income in religious enterprises. In the history of the Diocese of Michigan he has been an important factor. For more than forty years he was a fellow-member, with Charles C. Trowbridge, of the Standing Com- mittee of the Diocese, and with him bore the burden of active labors in an endeavor that achieved much in the way of useful and valuable results, and both of them were continuously appointed to repre- sent the Diocese in the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Mr. Baldwin is still a member of the Standing Committee of the Dio- cese.
In 1852 his health led him to seek rest and recrea- tion abroad, and he made an extended tour of the European continent. In 1864 and 1865, accompa- nied by the Rev. Mr. Armitage, Rector of St.
1057
GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.
John's, he made a second European trip. In the winter of 1862 and 1863, in pursuit of relaxation from business cares, he made a sea voyage to Cali- fornia via the Isthmus. The steamer in which he was a passenger was captured near the West Indies by the Alabama, a Confederate vessel. This mis- hap resulted in a detention of two days, but the captives were finally released upon the officers of the steamer giving a bond to pay ransom money after the acknowledgment of the independence of the Confederate States ; fortunately for the officers of the steamer, and for the country as well, the conditional pledge never became an obligation.
In addition to his connection with the political, religious and financial history of the city and State, Mr. Baldwin has had much to do with the social life of the city. He served as President of the Young Men's Society, and also of St. Luke's Hos- pital and Church Home, and has for several years been President of the Michigan Soldiers' and Sail- ors' Monument Association. He has been promi- nently identified with the Detroit Museum of Art, his interest in art matters is not of a recent date, and for a number of years he has possessed many valuable works obtained by himself, and by Major Cass while United States Minister in Rome.
His social qualities make his company desirable. He is frank and outspoken, but dignified, courteous and generous, and any one who has him for a coun- selor and friend is fortunate indeed.
LEWIS CASS, second Governor of the Territory of Michigan, was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, October 9, 1782, and his ancestors were among the early pioneers of that State. His father, Major Jona- than Cass, joined the Patriot Army the day after the skirmish at Lexington, and fought for the indepen- dence of the Colonies at Bunker Hill, Trenton, Princeton, Germantown, Saratoga and Monmouth.
Lewis Cass received a classical education in Exe- ter Academy, and after teaching school for some time in Delaware, his father being then stationed there under General Wayne, he set out, in his nine- teenth year, for the Northwest Territory and crossed the Alleghanies on foot. He studied law under Return J. Meigs at Marietta, and was admitted to the bar in 1802. His success was rapid, and in 1806 he was in the Legislature of Ohio.
The following year he was appointed Marshal of Ohio, and filled the office until the War of 1812, when he resigned his commission, and, at the head of the Third Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, marched to the frontier, and there is every reason to believe that, if he had been in command instead of Gover- nor Hull, Detroit and Michigan would not have been surrendered. In the subsequent recapture of the city he rendered efficient service, and at the
close of the campaign was appointed Governor of the Territory, serving until 1831, a period the length of which has rarely or never been equalled in the governorship of any territory. Soon after his ap- pointment as Governor he removed his family to Detroit. One of the earliest acts passed under his administration was the law of 1815 which restored the control of local affairs to the people of Detroit.
In the year 1820, with the approval of the Secre- tary of War, he organized a canoe expedition to Lake Superior and the source of the Mississippi, with the special object of establishing friendly rela- tions with various Indian tribes. The expedition was notably successful, and as on previous occasions Governor Cass proved himself an adept in manag- ing the wily and much-dreaded red men. During his administration he negotiated no less than twen- ty-one treaties with the Indians.
In 1831 he became Secretary of War under Pres- ident Jackson, and served until 1836, when he was appointed United States Minister to France. Dur- ing his residence at the French court the English Government sought to secure the adoption of a treaty by the several European powers that would have conceded the "right of search " as to Ameri- can vessels. Mr. Cass was determined to defeat the project and made a formal protest against the ratification of the treaty by France, and wrote a pamphlet on the " Right of Search," which was generally read by European statesmen, and as a result the treaty was defeated. While serving as United States Minister, General Cass visited vari- ous portions of Europe and also Palestine. He returned to this country in 1842.
In 1845 he was elected to the United States Sen- ate, but resigned in 1848 when nominated for the Presidency, but the next year was re-elected as Senator, serving until 1857, and then entering the cabinet of President Buchanan as Secretary of State. The cares and anxieties of the office during the closing period of Buchanan's administration, and General Cass's lack of sympathy with the methods of the President, caused him to resign, and he re- turned to Detroit quite feeble and broken in health. The writer well remembers a brief interview with him soon after his return. He seemed to be op- pressed with the dangers that threatened the Gov- ernment and with tears in his eyes said : "Sixty years ago I crossed the Ohio river with all that I had in the world tied in a handkerchief. Since then I have witnessed the unparalleled growth of this great nation and have been greatly honored by the peo- ple, but now it almost seems as though they were willing to destroy it or let it crumble into ruin."
Fortunately for all people his fears were not realized. He grew somewhat stronger physically. and, on April 25, 1861, addressed a public meeting
1058
GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.
in favor of the preservation of the Union and was permitted to witness the close of the war. He died on June 17, 1866.
For over sixty years he was a prominent figure in the military and political life of the nation and was almost uniformly successful in his undertakings. He was a careful student, an elegant writer, and thoroughly familiar with the literature of his day.
While residing at Detroit he was actively inter- ested in various literary endeavors, wrote num- erous articles for the North American Review and delivered addresses on a variety of topics. He was the author of a volume, entitled " France, its King, Court, and Government," and the Detroit Gazette, the first successful newspaper in Detroit, was begun and continued under his special patronage.
Socially he was warm-hearted and of great ser- vice to those privileged with his acquaintance. He was an earnest believer in the Christian faith and was one of the corporators of the First Prot- estant Society of Detroit. His possession of the Cass farm, the name of one of the public schools and also the name of a leading avenue, perpetuate his memory in Detroit, and the State has recently provided for the placing of his statue in the capi- tol at Washington.
S. DOW ELWOOD was born on Christmas-day, 1824, in Otsego County, N. Y., near the historic Mohawk Valley, and is the son of Daniel and Hannah (Bushnell) Elwood. His paternal ancestors emi- grated from Holland early in the seventeenth century: and his mother's family were pioneers in New Eng- land. While he was still an infant his father died, and a few years later his mother remarried and moved to Oneida Castle, N. Y., where she died in 1838. His parents were in modest circumstances and after their death he was left alone in the world. For- tune, however, interposed in his behalf and he found a home, with all that the most sacred and tender significance of the word suggests, in the family of a friend and neighbor, by the name of Patten. Though many years have passed he does not fail to cherish the memory of the noble souls who gave him so abundantly of their love and care. Mrs. Patten still lives, and it is one of his valued privileges to contribute to the comforts and pleasures of her declining years.
He attended school at Oneida Castle, and a few years later, at the age of eighteen, in the same building, he found himself the proud occupant of the master's chair. That spot is one of the loveliest in the most attractive section of the Empire State, and as the scene of his childish struggles and the arena where his ambitions first took form, it is revis- ited as often as his busy life will permit, and always with increasing interest.
In 1844 he moved to Rochester, N. Y., where two paternal uncles, John B. and Isaac R. Elwood, and his two older brothers were living. He soon found employment as clerk in a grocery house, and the following year received an appointment as clerk in the United States Post Office. He remained in this position about a year and was then promoted to the position of U. S. Railway Mail Agent, and continued in this office without interruption until March 7, 1849. A Whig administration then suc- ceeded the Democratic under which his appoint- ment was made, and he was removed. In Sep- tember, 1849, he joined the Argonauts and sailed to California in search of the "Golden Fleece." Reaching California he engaged in trading in the mines and also established an Express between San Francisco and the southern mining region via Stockton. The California episode covered a period of one year, at the close of which he returned to Rochester, and in February, 1851, was married to a daughter of the Hon. E. M. Parsons.
He soon after came to Detroit and engaged in the book and stationery trade, continuing in it until 1866. He then sold out and visited the Canadian oil region and, as a careful survey of the grounds satisfied him that it possessed favorable business prospects, he opened a banking office at Petrolia, where he remained about four years, prospering steadily.
In 1871, having in the meantime resumed his resi- dence in Detroit, Mr. Elwood interested several busi- ness men in the establishment of the Wayne County Savings' Bank. This institution has grown to large proportions and is regarded as one of the strongest financial institutions of Michigan's metropolis. Its deposit account aggregates $4,000,000, and it has been in every sense a notable success. It is due to Mr. Elwood to say that he has been its principal manager from its organization to the present, and to it he devotes all of his business hours and most of his thought.
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.