History of Jackson County, Michigan, Part 6

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago [Ill.] : Inter-state Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1166

USA > Michigan > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Michigan > Part 6

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James Witherell was a native of Massachusetts; was appointed a judge of the Territory April 23, 1808, his term of office expiring Feb. 1, 1824, when he was re-appointed for four years, and Feb. 1, 1828, he was appointed Territorial secretary.

When in 1818 Illinois was admitted into the Union, all the terri- tory lying north of that State and of Indiana was annexed to Mich- igan. In 1819, the Territory was authorized to elect a delegate to Congress, according to the present nsage with reference to Terri- tories; previous to this time, according to the ordinance 1787, a Territory was not entitled to a delegate until it entered upon the " second grade of Government," and the delegate was then to be chosen by the General Assembly.

In 1823 Congress abolished the legislative power of the governor and judges, and granted more enlarged ones to a council, to be composed of nine persons selected by the President of the United

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States from eighteen chosen by the electors of the Territory; and by this law, also, eligibility to office was made co-extensive with the right of suffrage as established by the act of 1819; also the judicial term of office was limited to four years. In 1825 all county officers, except those of a judicial nature, were made elective, and the appointments which remained in the hands of the executive were made subject to the approval of the legislative council. In 1827 the electors were authorized to choose a number of persons for the legislative council, which was empowered to enact all laws not incon- sistent with the ordinance of 1787. Their acts, however, were sub- ject to abolishment by Congress and to veto by the territorial executives.

When Gen. Wm. Hull arrived at Detroit to assume his official duties as Governor, he found the town in ruins, it having been destroyed by fire. Whether it had been burned by design or acci- dent was not known. The inhabitants were without food and shel- ter, camping in the open fields; still they were not discouraged, and soon commenced rebuilding their honses on the same site; Congress also kindly granted the sufferers the site of the old town of Detroit and 10,000 acres of land adjoining. A territorial militia was organ- ized, and a code of laws was adopted similar to those of the original States. This code was signed by Gov. Hull, Augustus B. Wood- ward and Frederick Bates, judges of the Territory, and was called the " Woodward code."

At this time the bounds of the Territory embraced all the coun- try on the American side of the Detroit river, east of the north and south line through the center of Lake Michigan. The Indian land claims had been partially extinguished previous to this period. By the treaty of Fort McIntosh in 1785, and that of Fort Harmar in 1787, extensive cessions had been either made or confirmed, and in 1807 the Indian titles to several tracts became entirely extinct. Settlements having been made under the French and English gov- ernments, with irregularity or absence of definite surveys and records, some confusion sprang up in regard to the titles to valuable tracts. Accordingly Congress established a Board of Commission- ers to examine and settle these conflicting claims, and in 1807 another act was passed, confirming, to a certain extent, the titles of all such as had been in possession of the lands then occupied by them from the year 1796, the year of the final evacuation by the British garrisons. Other acts were subsequently passed, extending the same conditions to the settlements on the upper lakes.

As chief among the fathers of this State we may mention Gen. Lewis Cass, Stevens T. Mason, Angustus B. Woodward, John Norvell, Wm. Woodbridge, John Biddle, Wm. A. Fletcher, Elon Farnsworth, Solomon Sibley, Benj. B. Kircheval, Jolın R. Wil- liams, George Morrell, Daniel Goodwin, Augustus S. Porter, Benj. F. H. Witherell, Jonathan Shearer and Charles C. Trowbridge, all of Wayne county; Edmund Munday, James Kingsley and Alphens Felch, of Washtenaw; Ross Wilkins and John J. Adam, of Lena-

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wee; Warner Wing, Charles Noble and Austin E. Wing, of Monroe county; Randolph Manning, O. D. Richardson and James B. Hunt, of Oakland; Henry R. Schoolcraft, of Chippewa; Albert Miller, of the Saginaw Valley; John Stockton and Robert P. Eldridge, of Macomb; Lucius Lyon, Charles E. Stuart, Edwin H. Lothrop, Epaphroditus Ransom and Hezekiah G. Wells, of Kalamazoo; Isaac E. Crary, John D. Pierce and Oliver C. Comstock, of Calhoun; Kinsley S. Bingham, of Livingston; John S. Barry, of St. Joseph; Charles W. Whipple, Calvin Britain and Thomas Fitzgerald, of Berrien; and George Redfield, of Cass. These men and their com- peers shaped the policy of the State, and decided what should be its future. They originated all and established most of the great institutions which are the evidences of our advanced civilization, and of which we are so justly prond.

ADMINISTRATION OF GEN. CASS.

At the close of the war with Great Britain in 1814, an era of prosperity dawned upon the infant territory. Gen. Lewis Cass, who had served the Government with great distinction during the war, was appointed Governor. The condition of the people was very much reduced, the country was wild, and the British flag still waved over the fort at Mackinaw. There was nothing inviting to immi- grants except the mere facts of the close of the war and the exist- ence of a fertile soil and a good climate. The Indians were still dangerous, and the country was still comparatively remote from the centers of civilization and government. Such a set of circum- stances was just the proper environment for the development of all those elements of the "sturdy pioneer" which we so often admire in writing up Western history. Here was the field for stout and brave men; here was the place for the birth and educa- tion of real Spartan men,-men of strength, moral courage and indomitable perseverance.

At first, Gen. Cass had also the care of a small portion of Canada opposite Detroit, and he had only 27 soldiers for defending Detroit against the hostile Indians and carrying on the whole government. Believing that a civil governor should not be encumbered also with military duty, he resigned his brigadier-generalship in the army. But as Governor he soon had occasion to exercise his military power, even to act on the field as commander, in chasing away marauding bands of Indians. The latter seemed to be particularly threatening at this time, endeavoring to make up in yelling and petty depredations what they lacked in sweeping victory over all the pale-faces.

In times of peace Gov. Cass had high notions of civilizing the Indians, encouraging the purchase of their lands, limiting their hunting grounds to a narrow compass, teaching them agriculture and mechanics and providing the means for their instruction and religious training. The policy of the French and English had been

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to pacify them with presents and gewgaws, merely to obtain a tem- porary foothold for the purpose of carrying on the fur trade. Those benefited by the trade lived thousands of miles away and had no interest in the permanent development of the country. The United States Government, on the other hand, indorsed Gov. Cass' policy, which was to result in the development of the wealth of the country and the establishment of all the arts of peace. Gens. Cass and Harrison were accordingly empowered to treat with the Indians on the Miami and Wabash; and July 20 a treaty was signed with the Wyandots, Senecas, Shawnees, Miamis and Delawares, which restored comparative tranquillity. During the summer, however, there was Indian war enough to call out all of Gov. Cass' men, in aid of Gen. Brown on the Niagara. Indians can never remain long at peace, whatever may be the obligations they assume in treaty- inaking. Gov. Cass often headed his forces in person and drove the hostile tribes from place to place until they finally retreated to Saginaw.

An attempt was made to recover Mackinaw from the English in July of this year (1814), but the British works were too strong; how- ever, the establishments at St. Joseph and at Sault Ste. Marie were destroyed. In the following winter the final treaty of peace was ratified between England and the United States. The population of the territory at this time was not over 5,000 or 6,000, scattered over a vast extent, and in a state of great destitution on account of the calamities of war. Scarcely a family, on resuming the duties of home, found more than the remnants of former wealth and com- fort. Families had been broken up and dispersed; parents had been torn from their children, and children from cach other; some had been slain on the battle-field, and others had been massacred by the ruthless savages. Laws had become a dead letter, and morals had suffered in the general wreck. Agriculture had been alınost abandoned and commerce paralyzed; food and all necessa- ries of life were scarce, and luxuries unknown. Money was difficult to get, and the bank paper of Ohio, which was almost the sole cir- enlating medium, was 25 per cent below par.

Such was the gloomy state of domestic affairs when Gen. Cass assumed the office of governor. Besides, he had the delicate task of aiding in legislation and of being at the same time the sole exec- ntive of the law. In 1817 he made an important treaty with the Indians, by which their title was extinguished to nearly all the land in Ohio, and a great portion in Indiana and Michigan. This treaty attached the isolated population of Michigan to the State of Ohio, made the Territorial government in a fuller sense an integral mem- ber of the federal Union, and removed all apprehension of a hostile confederacy among the Indian tribes along the lake and river frontier.

Hitherto there had not been a road in Michigan, except the mili- tary road along the Detroit river; but as the Indian settlements and lands could not now be interposed as a barrier, Gen. Cass called the

HUNTING PRAIRIE WOLVES IN AN EARLY DAY.

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attention of Congress to the necessity of a military road from Detroit to Sandusky, through a trackless morass called the black swamp.

In the summer of this year, the first newspaper published in Michigan was started at Detroit. It was called the Detroit Gazette, and was published by Messrs. Sheldon & Reed, two enterprising young men, the former of whom published an interesting and val- uable early history of Michigan.

The " Western Sun " was the first newspaper published in the Indiana Territory, now comprising the four great States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and the second in all that country once known as the " Northwestern Territory." It was commenced at Vincennes in 1803, by Elihu Stout, of Kentucky, and first called the Indiana Gazette, and July 4, 1804, was changed to the West- ern Sun. Mr. Stont continued the paper until 1845, amid many discouragements, when he was appointed postmaster at the place, and he sold out the office.

May 6, 1812, Congress passed an act requiring that 2,000,000 acres of land should be surveyed in the Territory of Louisiana, the same amount in the Territory of Illinois, and the same amount in the Territory of Michigan, in all 6,000,000 acres, to be set apart for the soldiers in the war with Great Britain. Each soldier was to have 160 acres ofland, fit for cultivation. The surveyors under this law reported that there were no lands in Michigan fit for cultiva- tion! This unconscionable report deterred immigration for many years, and the Government took the whole 6,000,000 acres from Illinois and Missouri. The language of that report is so remark- able that we must quote it:

"The country on the Indian boundary line, from the mouth of the Great Auglaize river and running thence for about 50 miles, is (with some few exceptions) low, wet land, with a very thick growth of underbrush, intermixed with very bad marshes, but generally very heavily timbered with beech, cottonwood, oak, etc .; thence continuing north and extending from the Indian boundary east- ward, the number and extent of the swamps increase, with the addition of numbers of lakes, from 20 chains to two and three miles across. Many of the lakes have extensive marshes adjoining their margins, sometimes thickly covered with a species of pine called ' tamarack,' and other places covered with a coarse, high grass, and uniformly covered from six inches to three feet (and more at times) with water. The margins of these lakes are not the only places where swamps are found, for they are interspersed through- ont the whole country and filled with water, as above stated, and varying in extent. The intermediate space between these swamps and lakes, which is probably near one-half of the country, is, with a very few exceptions, a poor, barren, sandy land on which scarcely any vegetation grows except very small, scrubby oaks. In many places that part which may be called dry land is composed of little, short sand-hills, forming a kind of deep basins, the bottoms of many

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of which are composed of a marsh similar to the above described. The streams are generally narrow, and very deep compared with their width, the shores and bottoms of which are, with a very few exceptions, swampy beyond description; and it is with the utmost difficulty that a place can be found over which horses can be con- veyed with safety.

"A circumstance peculiar to that country is exhibited in many of the marshes by their being thinly covered with a sward of grass, by walking on which evinced the existence of water or a very thin mud immediately under their covering, which sinks from six to eighteen inches from the pressure of the foot at every step, and at the same time rising before and behind the person passing over. The margins of many of the lakes and streams are in a similar situation, and in many places are literally afloat. On approaching the eastern part of the military lands, toward the private claims ou the straights and lake, the country does not contain so many swamps and lakes, but the extreme sterility and barrenness of the soil con- tinnes the same. Taking the country altogether, so far as has been explored, and to all appearances, together with the information received concerning the balance, it is so bad there would not be more than one acre out of a hundred, if there would be one out of a thousand, that would in any case admit of cultivation."

It is probable that those Government surveyors made a lazy job of their duty and depended almost entirely upon the fur traders, who were interested in keeping settlers out of the country. But we must make allowance, too, for the universal ignorance existing at that time of the methods of developing the Western country which modern invention has brought to bear since the days of our fore- fathers. We must remember that our Western prairies were counted worth nothing, even by all the early settlers.

By the year 1818 some immigrants crowded in and further explored and tested the land; and in March, this year, Gov. Cass called for the views of the inhabitants upon the question of chang- ing the civil authority by entering upon the second grade of Terri- torial government. A vote was taken and a majority were found to be against it; but for the purpose of facilitating immigration and settlement, Gov. Cass recommended to the Secretary of the Treasury that the lands in the district of Detroit be at once brought into market. The department immediately complied, and the lands were offered for sale the following autumn. Immigration was now increased more than ever before, and the permanent growth of the country became fully established.

In 1819 the people were allowed to elect a delegate to Congress. The population was now 8,806 in the whole Territory, distributed as follows: Detroit, 1,450, not including the garrison; the Island of Mackinaw, still the entrepot of the fur trade, a stationary popu - lation of about 450, sometimes increased to 2,000 or over; Sault Ste. Marie, 15 or 20 houses, occupied by French and English families.

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The year 1819 was also rendered memorable by the appearance of the first steamboat on the lakes, the " Walk-in-the-water," which came up Lake Erie and went on to Mackinaw.

Up to this time no executive measures had been taken by the people to avail themselves of the school lands appropriated by the ordinance of 1787, except the curious act passed by the Governor and judges establishing the "Catholepistemiad," or University of Michigan, with 13 " didaxia," or professorships. The scheme for this institution was a grand one, described by quaint, sesquipe- dalian technicalities coined from the Greek language, and the whole devised by that uniqne man, Judge Woodward. The act is given in full in the Territorial laws of Michigan, compiled and printed a few years ago. It was Judge Woodward, also, who laid out the plan of Detroit, in the form of a cobweb, with a "campns Martins" and a grand circus, and avenues radiating in every direction, grand public parks and squares, etc. Centuries would be required to ful- fill his vast design. Like authors and artists of ancient Greece and Rome, he laid the foundations of grand work for posterity more than for the passing generation.

Settlements now began to form at the points where now are the cities of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Jackson, Tecumseh and Pontiac. There were still some annoyances by the Indians. The Sacs and Foxes annually made their appearance to receive presents from the British agents at Malden, and as they passed along they would commit many depredations. This practice of the British Govern- ment had a tendency to prejudice the Indians against the Ameri- cans, and it thus became necessary to take some measures for removing the Indians beyond British influence or otherwise putting a stop to this dangerous custom. Accordingly, in the fall of 1819, Gov. Cass desired the Government at Washington to cause a more thorough exploration to be made of the lake region, estimating the number and influence of the Indians, their relations, prejudices, etc., with a view to the further extinguishment of Indian title to land, etc .; but the Government deemed it advisable at this time only to take 10 miles square at Sanlt Ste. Marie for military pur- poses, and some islands near Mackinaw, where beds of plaster had been found to exist. However, the general Government soon ordered an expedition to be fitted out for such an exploration as Gov. Cass desired, to travel with birch canoes. The men composing the expedition were Gen. Cass and Robert A. Forsyth, his private secretary; Capt. D. B. Douglass, topographer and astronomer; Dr. Alex. Wolcot, physician; James D. Doty, official secretary; and Charles C. Trowbridge, assistant topographer. Lieut. Evans Mac- key was commander of the escort, which consisted of 10 U. S. soldiers. Besides these there were 10 Canadian voyageurs, to manage the canoes, and 10 Indians to act as hunters. The latter were under the direction of James Riley and Joseph Parks, who were also to act as interpreters.

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This party left Detroit March 24, 1820, and reached Michili- mackinac, June 6. On leaving this place June 14, 22 soldiers, under the command of Lieut. John S. Pierce, were added to the party, and the expedition now numbered 64 persons. They reached the Sault Ste. Marie the 16th, where Gen. Cass called the Indians (Chip- pewas) together, in order to have a definite understanding with them concerning the boundary lines of the land grants, and thereby renew also their sanction of former treaties. At first the Indians protested against the Americans having any garrison at the place, and some of thein grew violent and almost precipitated a general fight, which would have been disastrous to Gen. Cass' party, as the Indians were far more numerous; but Cass exhibited a great degree of coolness and courage, and caused more deliberate counsels to prevail among the savages. Thus the threatened storm blew over.

The next day the expedition resumed their journey, on Lake Superior, passing the " pictured rocks," and landing at one place where there was a band of friendly Chippewas. June 25 they left Lake Superior, ascended Portage river and returned home by way of Lake Michigan, after having traveled over 4,000 miles.

The results of the expedition were: a more thorough knowledge of a vast region and of the numbers and disposition of the various tribes of Indians; several important Indian treaties, by which val- uable lands were ceded to the United States; a knowledge of the operations of the Northwest Fur Company; and the selection of sites for a line of military posts.

As the greatest want of the people seemed to be roads, Congress was appealed to for assistance, and not in vain; for that body immediately provided for the opening of roads between Detroit and the Miami river, from Detroit to Chicago, and from Detroit to Fort Gratiot, and for the improvement of La Plaisance Bay. Government surveys were carried into the Territory. Two straight lines were drawn through the center of the Territory,-east and west, and north and south, the latter being denominated the principal meridian and the former the base line. The Territory was also divided into townships of six miles square.

In 1821 there was still a tract of land lying south of Grand river which had not yet been added to the United States, and Gov. Cass deemed it necessary to negotiate with the Indians for it. To accomplish this work he had to visit Chicago; and as a matter of curiosity we will inform the reader of his most feasible route to that place, which he can contrast with that of the present day. Leaving Detroit, he descended to the mouth of the Manmee river; he ascended that river and crossed the intervening country to the Wabash; descended that stream to the Ohio; down the latter to the Mississippi, and up this and the Illinois rivers to Chicago!

At this conncil the American commissioners were Gen. Cass and Judge Sibley, of Detroit. They were successful in their undertaking, and obtained a cession of the land in question. On this occasion the Indians exhibited in a remarkable manner their

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appetite for whisky. As a preliminary step to the negotiations, the commissioners ordered that no spirits should be given to the Indians. The chief of the latter was a man about a hundred years old, but still of a good constitution. The commissioners urged every consideration to convince him and the other Indians of the propriety of the course they had adopted, but in vain. "Father," said the old chieftain, " we do not care for the land, nor the money, nor the goods: what we want is whisky; give us whisky." But the commissioners were inexorable, and the Indians were forced to content themselves.

This year (1821) also two Indians were hung for murder. There was some fear that the event would be made by the British an occasion of aronsing Indian atrocities in the vicinity, and the peti- tion for the pardon of the wretches was considered by Gov. Cass with a great deal of embarrassment. He finally concluded to let the law take its course, and accordingly, Dec. 25, the murderers were hung.

In 1822 six new counties were created, namely, Lapeer, Sanilac, Saginaw, Shiawassee, Washtenaw and Lenawee; and they contained much more territory then they do at the present day. This year the first stage line was established in the Territory, connecting the county seat of Macomb county with the steamer " Walk-in-the- Water" at Detroit.

In 1823 Congress changed the form of Territorial government, abrogating the legislative power of the governor and judges and establishing a " Legislative Council," to consist of nine members, appointed by the President of the United States out of 18 candi- dates elected by the people. By the same act the term of judicial office was limited to four years, and eligibility to office was inade to require the same qualifications as the right to suffrage. The pco- ple now took new interest in their government, and telt encouraged to lay deeper the foundations of future prosperity. The first legislative council under the new regime met at Detroit June 7, 1824, when Gov. Cass delivered his message, reviewing the progress of the Territory, calling attention to the needs of popular education and recommending a policy of governmental administration. Dur- ing this year he also called the attention of the general Government to the mineral resources of the Superior region, and asked for gov- ernmental explorations therein. At its second session after this, Congress authorized a commission to treat with the Indians of the upper peninsula for permission to explore that country.

In 1825 the Erie canal was completed from the Hudson river to Buffalo, N. Y., and the effect was to increase materially the flow of people and wealth into the young Territory of Michigan. The citi- zens of the East began to learn the truth concerning the agricult- ural valne of this peninsula, and those in search of good and permanent homes came to see for themselves, and afterward came with their friends or families to remain as industrious residents, to develop a powerful State. The number in the Territorial council

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History of Jackson County, Michigan, Part 6

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago [Ill.] : Inter-state Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1166

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago [Ill.] : Inter-state Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1166