History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 14

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 772

USA > Michigan > Eaton County > History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan > Part 14
USA > Michigan > Ingham County > History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan > Part 14

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).

On the south side of the river Col. Miller made a suc- cessful sortie against the British position, dispersed the en- tire force, captured and spiked the battery, and brought in a large number of prisoners, mostly British regulars. Find- ing he could make no impression upon the American works, Proctor withdrew on the 9th of May and returned to Malden.

In July a second attack was made upon Fort Meigs, and Tecumseh undertook to decoy the garrison from their works by fighting a sham battle in the thick woods to the south of the fort, expecting to create the impression that rein- forcements were near at hand and were being attacked by the savages; but Gen. Clay, then in command, was too wary to be deceived by the manœuvre, though his men were almost mutinous because he would not lead them to the assistance of their struggling friends. A strong Brit- ish force was lying in ambush to fall upon the works the moment the garrison had got into the woods.

This demonstration was soon abandoned, and Proctor's next appearance was before Fort Stephenson at Lower San- dusky, where Maj. Croghant held the place with a force of about 200 meu and one six-pounder gun. Proctor opened a battery of light guns against the works and kept up his fire for forty-eight hours, when he directed a col- umu of 350 men against it, which was severely repulsed with a total loss of 100 men, including Col. Short, the commander. Proctor, on the 3d of August, once more withdrew from American soil never to visit it again, and Tecumseh retired to Canada to meet his death two months later.

In the mean time Com. Perry had been busily eu- gaged constructing a fleet at Erie, wherewith to meet the British squadron on the lake. The fleet was equipped and ready for battle on the 4th of August, and Perry immedi- ately set sail in quest of the enemy under Com. Barclay, a veteran officer who had served under Lord Nelson. The two fleets came to an engagement on the 10th of Septem- ber, near the Bass Islands, and the British fleet was cap-

* Now Monroe, Michigan.

f Named from Return Jonathan Meigs, Governor of Ohio. 8

Į Pronounced Craun.

HISTORY OF INGHAM AND EATON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN.

tured almost entire. It is elaimed that this remarkable naval battle was fought within the limits of the State of Michigan. It must have been very near the intersection of the boundaries of Ohio and Michigan with the national boundary.

Meanwhile, the enemy under Harrison had received re- inforcements, and was awaiting the result of the naval movements. After the battle Perry took his fleet lo Put- in-Bay, on one of the Bass Islands, to bury his dead and refit his vessels, which were badly disabled.

On the 27th of September, Harrison's army embarked, and landed at Malden, which had been destroyed and deserted as soon as the British commander had news of the loss of the fleet. Harrison immediately pushed on in pur- suit of Proctor, whom he brought to battle at the Moravian town on the river Thames on the 5th of October. After a brief defense, the British army, with the exception of 200 dragoons who escaped with Proctor, surrendered at discretion ; and after an obstinate contest the Indians under Tecumseh were routed with loss, and the battle was at an end. Tecumseh was slain in the engagement, and his fol- lowers never again rallied during the war in any considerable numbers.

Col. MeArthur took possession of Detroit on the 29th of September, after it had been in possession of the British for about thirteen months, and thus ended their rule over the lower peninsula of Michigan.

In June, 1814, Maj. Croghan led an expedition of 750 men against the British posts to the north. St. Joseph (probably on St. Joseph Island) and Ste. Marie were taken possession of, but an attempt to capture the fort and island of Mackinac was repulsed. The British schooner " Nancy," employed in supplying the various garrisons, was captured ; and leaving the bulk of the fleet under Lieut. Turner to watch the lake, Croghan returned to Detroit. Soon after the British, under Lieut. Worsley, succeeded in capturing every American vessel upon the lake, and thus the expedi- tions all ended in failure .*

Two expeditions invaded Canada from Detroit, defeated the militia, and returned with considerable plunder. One of these was commanded by Capt. Holmes, the other by Gen. McArthur. They were both conducted with great spirit.

On the 13th of October, 1813, eight days after the de- feat of Proctor, Col. Lewis Cass was appointed by Gen. Ilar- rison Governor of Michigan Territory, which appointment was soon after confirmed by President Madison, and which office he held by various appointments until called to a seat in President Jackson's Cabinet, in 1831. To his able ad- ministration of affairs it may be fairly said that Michigan owes its early entrance upon a career of prosperity.

EARLIEST COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS.

As before stated, the first county organized within tho borders of the present State of Michigan was Wayno, in 1796, by Gen. Anthony Wayne, after whom it was named. It was re-established by proclamation of Governor St. Clair

July 15, 1815 (following the British occupation), and organized by proclamation of Governor Cass, Nov. 21, 1815. It included the lower peninsula and attached territory.

Monroe was organized by Governor Cass, July 14, 1817, taken from Wayne ; Macomb, by proclamation of Governor Cass, Jan. 15, 1818; and Mackinac, by the same authority, Oct. 26, 1818. Oakland was organized March 28, 1820 ; St. Clair, May 8, 1821 ; Chippewa, from Mackinac, in 1826 ; and Washtenaw (from which Ingham was taken), in 1826, from the original Wayne County. Eaton was set off from St. Joseph County in 1829, and organized in 1837. Ing- ham County was set off from Washtenaw in 1829, and organized in 1838.

LAND-SURVEYS.

The original system of subdividing the public lands of the United States into townships and sections dates from an act passed by Congress May 20, 1785. The particular seetions, or paragraphs, bearing upon this subject read as follows :

"The surveyors, as they are respectively qualified, shall proceed to divide the snid territory into townships, of six miles square, by lines running dne north and south, and others crossing these at right angles as near as may be.

"The geographer shall designnte the townships, or fractional parts of townships, by numbers, progressively, from south to north, always beginning ench range with Ne. 1; and the ranges shall he distin- guished by their progressive numbers to the westward, the first range, extending from the Ohio to Lake Erie, being marked No. 1.t

" The plats of the townships, respectively, shall bo marked by sub- divisions into lets of one mile square, or six hundred and forty acres, in the same direction as tho external lines, and numbered from ene to thirty-six, always beginning the succeeding range of the lets with the number next to that with which the preceding one concluded."}

By this act the lot or seetion numbered sixteen in every towuship was reserved for the maintenance of public schools. This system of surveys was first introduced on the east line of Ohio, which, between that State and Penn- sylvania, formed the first principal meridian, and has since, with some modifications, been continued in the survey of all public lands. The first surveys under the act of 1785 began, probably, in 1786 or 1787.

All good maps of Michigan show a base-line and a prin- cipal meridian, from which the townships and ranges are numbered. These lines were first established as a neces- sary preliminary to the general survey in 1815. The base- line starts from a point on Lake St. Clair, and runs thenee due west between the counties of Wayne, Macomb, Oak- land, Washtenaw, Livingston, Ingham, Jackson, Eaton, Cal- houn, Barry, Kalamazoo, Allegan, and Van Buren, to Lake Michigan, near South Haven. It is in latitude about 42º 28' north, and the distance along it from one lake to the other is about 173 miles. From this line the townships aro numbered south to the Ohio and Indiana lines, § and on the north they reach, in the southern peninsula, No. 39, at

. The ports on the opper lakes contioned to be held by the British until surrendered by the terina of the treaty of penec,

+ This arrangement was subsequently modified, and the ranges were omaberod east nod wost from the meridian, and the townships sometimes both north and south from the base-line, as is the ense in Michigan.

# Annals of tho West.

¿ In Ohio the numbers oxtended south to the ordinance lino of 1787, and Nos. 9 and 10 are now included in Ohio.

TERRITORIAL.

Mackinac; in the upper peninsula, No. 58, on Keweenaw Point, and No. 67, on Isle Royale, in Lake Superior.

The principal meridian is situated exactly on that of the Sault Ste. Marie, and is equivalent to about 84° 22' 30" longitude west from Greenwich. It divides the lower peninsula about twelve miles east of the centre and bisects Ingham County in the middle, or nearly so. The length of this line from Sault Ste. Marie to the Ohio line is about 330 miles. In crossing the Strait of Mackinac it passes very near, and perhaps touches, the eastern extremity of Bois Blanc Island. The distance across the strait at this point is about twenty miles. The ranges reach No. 17 cast on the St. Clair River at Port Huron, and No. 19 at Little Point Au Sable, in Oceana County, in the lower peninsula, while in the upper they extend to No. 49, at the mouth of the Montreal River on the Wisconsin line. The whole of the upper peninsula and Isle Royale seem to have been sur- veyed from the Michigan meridian and base-line, as neither the Wisconsin nor the Michigan survey crosses the line be- tween the two States; and hence the townships are all fractional along that line from Green Bay to Lake Supe- rior. There are several correction lines in the two penin- sulas. The base-line also shows a break on the meridian line.

The first public surveys in the State (then a Territory) were made in the vicinity of the Detroit River, in 1816,* and the lands were first offered for sale at the Detroit Land- Office in 1818. In 1822 the Detroit district was divided, and a second office established at Monroe ; and in 1831 the Monroe district was divided and an office established at White Pigeon, which, in 1834, was removed to Kala- mazoo (then called Bronson), where it remained until closed in 1858. The Grand River district was established in 1838, with the office at Ionia. The east half of Ingham County has always been in the Detroit land district, and the west half and the whole of Eaton County belong to the Grand River district. Previous to 1838 these latter were probably in the Kalamazoo district.+

SOLDIERS' BOUNTY-LANDS.

On the 6th of May, 1812, Congress passed an act re- quiring that 2,000,000 acres of government lands should be surveyed in the then Territory of Louisiana,t a like quantity in the Territory of Illinois, and the same amount in the Territory of Michigan, but in consequence of most unfavorable reports made by the Michigan surveyors, the portion allotted to that Territory was located in Illinois and Missouri. It was not until 1818, when people penetrated the wilderness lying adjacent to Detroit and found in Oak- land County a most beautiful country, that the bad im- pression of the interior of Michigan produced by these unfavorable reports was dispelled. From that date the settlements progressed rapidly.

MISCELLANEOUS.

In 1819 Michigan was granted a delegate in the national Congress, In the previous year the first steam-vessel, the " Walk-in-the-Water," made her appearance on Lake Erie, and visited Detroit in May, 1818. Whether she was named from the Huron or Wyandot chief of that name, or from her own peculiar powers, is uncertain. Lands were brought into market in 1818, and a rapid tide of im- migration soon began to flow into the Territory, though its tidal wave did not reach the country until after 1830, and probably culminated in 1836-37, when the greatest amount of land was sold during any two years in the history of the State.

In the spring of 1820 an expedition was fitted out at Detroit for the purpose of exploring the northern and northwestern portions of the Territory, then little known except by fur traders and coureurs de bois. It was under the control of Governor Lewis Cass, and its personnel was made up as follows : Governor Cass ; Alexander Wolcott, Physician ; Capt. D. B. Douglas, Engineer ; Lieut. A. Mac- kay, Commander of Escort ; James Duane Doty, Secretary ; Maj. Robert A. Forsyth, Governor's Secretary ; Henry R. Schoolcraft, Geologist and Topographer. A detachment of thirty regular soldiers formed the escort, and the whole, in- cluding boatmen, made up a party of sixty-six men. The war department instructed the commanders of all military posts on the region traversed to extend every facility to the expedition.

It left Detroit May 24, 1820, in bark canoes, manned by voyageurs and Indians. Its course was along the western shore of Lake Huron, where the prominent points were visited, and a considerable halt was made at Mackinac. The Governor held a council at the Sault Ste. Marie, which point was chosen for the site of a military post. The Oji- bwa (Chippewa) Indians objected to its establishment, and behaved in an insolent and hostile manner, but Governor Cass pursued a bold and independent course, and effectually overawed them, and a treaty was signed by which they ceded a tract of land four miles square around the Sault. The expedition visited Lake Superior, the Upper Missis- sippi River, and Lake Michigan, making a general ex- amination of the country and its natural resources in timber, fisheries, and minerals. Mr. Schoolcraft subse- quently published an account of the expedition. In 1826, Governor Cass made a canoe voyage to the head of Lake Superior for the purpose of making a treaty with the Indians.

In 1823 a Legislative Council for the Territory was granted, to consist of nine members, to be appointed by the President of the United States. In 1825 the number was increased to thirteen, and they were made elective by the people. In the same year, also, all county officers, ex- cepting those belonging to the judiciary, were made elective by the people, and the appointments remaining in the hands of the executive were made subject to the approval of the council. The Governor and council were also au- thorized to divide the Territory into townships and incor- porate them, and provide for the clection of officers. The right of appeal from the Territorial to the United States Supreme Court was also granted in the same year.

* This, of course, does not take into account the early French surveys.

t The first legal conveyance of land within the lower peninsula was made in 1707, by Antoine de la Motte Cadillac, to François Fa- fard Delorme, near or at Detroit.

į Louisiana was purchased of the First Napoleon, in 1803, for $15,000,000.

HISTORY OF INGHAM AND EATON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN.

In 1827 the electors of the Territory were authorized to choose a number of persons corresponding with the council, and these, together with the original couneil, constituted a Territorial Legislature, which was empowered to enact any necessary laws, provided they did not conflict with the ordinance of 1787. A judiciary system was also estab- lished, and the militia was organized.

Governor George B. Porter succeeded Governor Cass in August, 1831, and entered upon the duties of his office in September following. He was the last regularly appointed Governor of the Territory. He died of cholera, July 5, 1834, and Stevens T. Mason, secretary of the Territory, became aeting Governor.

The Black Hawk war occurred in 1832-33, during Gov- ernor Porter's administration, but as it was confined wholly to the region west of Lake Michigan, the country to the east- ward of that lake was not seriously disturbed, though a considerable body of men from the vicinity of Kalamazoo were called out by an alarm and proceeded as far as Niles, but after a sojourn at that place for a few days returned home.

GOVERNORS OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

1787 .- Gen. Arthur St. Clair.

1796 .- Winthrop Sargent, Secretary and Acting Governor.

INDIANA TERRITORY .*

1800-5 .- Gen. William Henry Harrison.

MICHIGAN TERRITORY.

Gen. William Hull, from March 1, 1805, to Aug. 16, 1812, when he surrendered to Gen. Brock, Ibe British commander.

Gen. Lewis Cass, from Oct. 13, 1813, to Aug. 1, 1831.

Gen. George B. Porter, Aug. 6, 1831, to 1834. The last regularly appointed Governor of the Territory.

The sceretaries under the various administrations were,-Stanley Griswold, Reuben Atwater, William Woodbridge, James Withercll, John T. Mason, Stevens T. Mason, and John S. Horner. Most of these in the absence of the Governor were acting at various periods in his stead.

CHAPTER VIII.

INDIANS AND TREATIES.

Ojibwas, f Ottawas, Pottawattomies, Okemos-Treaties of 1785, 1789, 1795, 1807, 1815, 1817, 1819, 1820, 182], 1836.

THE most important of all the Indian nations found in- habiting the present Territory of Michigan when first dis- covered by the French was the great Ojibwa nation. It was the oldest and most important branch of the Algonquin family, and occupied the most extensive territory. From the castern extremity of its territory on the St. Lawrence River to Lake Winnipeg on the northwest is nearly 2000 miles, and over all this broad region the nation was seat-

tered. The number of individuals was at one time (1847) estimated at 30,000.

According to the Rev. George Copway (Kah-ge-ga-gah- bowh), a converted Indian and missionary of that nation, their traditions point to a gradual migration, in prehistoric times, from beyond the head of Lake Superior, castward through Lakes Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario, along the Ottawa River, and thence many miles down the St. Lawrence River. The same authority says that they con- quered all the nations with whom they came in contact,- Hurons, Sauks, and Iroquois. The latter gave them the most trouble, frequently invading their country, and pene- trating by their spies as far West as La Pointe, on Lake Superior. An army of Iroquois once reached Ke-wa-o-nou. Near the Bay l'Anse they were defeated with terrible slaughter by the Ojibwas.

One of their tribes, which for a long time occupied the country around Lake Ontario, was known as the Mississau- gas. They were named from a region around the head of Lake IIuron, called Me-sey-sah-gieng, where they formerly dwelt. This branch is said to have destroyed the Hurons in the valley of the Ottawa River, about 1608-10.

The Ojibwas believed in one Great Spirit, whom they called Ke-sha-mon-e-dos, or Benevolent Spirit. They also had inferior spirits, as the god of the waters, of the hunter, of medicine, of fishes, of birds, and of the moon and stars. They believed in one Bad Spirit, Mah-ji-mah-ne-doo, who lived under the earth. To him they offered more sacrifices than to any other, for he held their destinies, and sent bad luck, sickness, and death.

The offerings to him consisted of dogs, whisky, and tobacco. The dog was painted red on its paws, and with five plugs of tobacco and a large stone tied to its neek was sunk in the water, while a drum was beaten upon the shore and words were shouted to the Bad Spirit. The whisky was poured upon the ground.

A grand annual festival was held, at which the Great Spirit was worshiped. The grand medicine lodge, called Me-toc-we-gah-mig, was 150 feet long and 15 wide, and only the clan of medicine-men and women was admitted within its walls. In consulting their spirits much the same ceremonies were observed that were adopted by the ancient Greeks in consulting their oracles.

Some of the sayings of the medicine men :

" If you are a good hunter, warrior, and a medicine-man, when you die you will have no difficulty in getting to the far West in the Spirit- land.

" Listen to the words of your parents; never he impatient ; then the Great Spirit will give you a long life.

" Never pass by any indigont person without giving him some- thing to eat. Owh-nab-yah-bak-mekke-gah-shoh-wa-ne-mig,-the Spirit that sees you will bless you.

" If you own a good bunting-dog give it to the first poor man who really needs it.

" When you kill a deer, or bear, never appropriate it to yourself alone; if others are in want never withhold from them what the Great Spirit has blessed you with.

" When you eat share with the poor children who may be near you, for when you aro old they will administer to your wants.

# The Iroquois certainly drove out tho inhabitants of the Ottawa Valley about 1650. They were also called Ifaroos, and a remnant of them still exists west of tho Mississippi, known as Wyandots, by which namo they were formerly known in Michigan and Ohio.

· Including Michigan from the admission of Ohio, Nov. 29, 1802, to June 30, 1805, when Michigan became a separate Territory.

+ According to Rev. Peter Jones (Ka-ke-wa-quon-a-by), the cor- reet pronunciation of this namo is O-je-bway. Schoolcraft writes it Od-jib-wa.

INDIANS AND TREATIES.

"Never use improper medicine to the injury of another, lest you may receive the same treatment.#

" When an opportunity offers cell the aged together and provide for them venison properly cooked, and give them a bearty welcome; then the gods that have favored them will be your friends."

The Indians all believed in omens, good and bad, and in dreams. They also, like all other nations, had their days of fasting. They knew nothing of profanity (as the Christian understands it) until taught it by the whites. When about to have a "whisky frolic" several young men were appointed by the head chief to gather the fire- arms and deadly weapons in a safe place and keep them until the debauch was ended.

Upon their first acquaintance with the firearms of the whites, they called a gun " the snake which spits fire, smoke, and death."

Their heaven, or Paradise, which they called Ish-pe- ming, was in the far West, and abounded in game and fruits. The Ojibwas were remarkably skilled in the manu- facture of the bark canoe. A prominent warrior superin- tended, and the squaws and children executed the work. Some of these frail but beautiful and serviceable barks were forty feet long and five feet wide.

The Rev. Peter Jones, of the Ojibwas, says the belief among bis people is that each nation speaking a different language was separately created by the Great Spirit, but in what way or when they cannot tell. They believe the dif- ferent religious beliefs and customs were all given by the same authority.

The Ojibwas of Canada have a tradition that their pro- genitors came originally from the region of Lakes Huron and Superior ; that they dispossessed the Nah-doo-was,; or Hurons, and took possession of their country north of Lake Ontario. Some tribes believe that a great man, whom they call Nan-a-bo-zhoo, made the earth and all the Indians in America. They speak of a great flood which destroyed everything save what this man saved in his bosom. He climbed a great cedar-tree on the tallest mountain, and when the waters came up to him constructed a raft from its boughs, and thereby saved himself and the animals. They believe that a great toad governed the waters, and a great horned animal inhabited the land. The two fought, and the toad, who had all the waters in his belly, being ripped open, a flood ensued.}

The Indians were always hospitable to a wonderful degree, and before their acquaintance with Europeans a moral and honest people. Like all pagan nations, they made their women slaves.

The Canada Ojibwas have a tradition that their most terrible enemies were the Iroquois, or Nah-doo-was, as they called them. Their last great encounter was at the outlet

of Burlington Bay, Lake Ontario, where mounds of human bones are said still to exist.

They had a great number of " toodaims," or tribes; among others, the Eagle, Reindeer, Otter, Bear, Buffalo, Beaver, Catfish, Pike, Birch Bark, White oak tree, Bear's Liver, etc., etc. From their word "toodaim" comes the word " totem." The Eagle tribe was called by the English Messissauga.

The Ojibwa language was more extensively spoken in America than any other Indian language. The Pottawat- tomies and Ottawas spoke the same tongue.

Some Indian authorities consider the Ojibwas, Ottawas, and Pottawattomies as branches of the same original stock, which in former times subdivided at Mackinac. Others say the Ottawas and Ojibwas first became acquainted with the Pottawattomics around the south end of Lake Michigan.

Schoolcraft§ considers the Ojibwas as the parent stock of the Algonquin family or race. The subdivisions he classifies as Ojibwas, Saulteurs, Nipissings, Odab-was (Ot- tawas), Pottawattomies, or " Fire Makers," Mississaugas, Kenestenos (or " Killers," whom the French called Crees), the Menominees, or Wild Rice Men, and the Abittibees, or Muskigos. The Saginaws of the lower peninsula took their name from Sauk-i-gong, where the Sauk tribe formerly lived. The Leech Lake division was called Muk-kunk-was, or " Pillagers." All these he considers as belonging to the original Ojibwa stock.

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 Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 14

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co. Number of Pages: 772

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 772