History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 11

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761

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This treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on the 22d of December, 1795.

SURRENDER OF DETROIT.

On the 12th of July, 1796, Capt. Moses Porter, at the head of a company of sixty-five American troops, took pos- session of Detroit, and hoisted for the first time upon its battlements the starry banner of the republic. In Sep- tember of that year, Winthrop Sargent, secretary of the Northwestern Territory, proceeded to Detroit and organized the county of Wayne, named in honor of the general, which included within its limits all of the lower peninsula, with portions of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.} Of this immense county Detroit was the capital. It contained, according to Weld, in 1797, about three hundred houses. Sargent was succeeded in the office, in 1798, by William Henry Harrison, who had been aid to Gen. Wayne at the Maumee Rapids, and stood very high with the Western people. This position he held until Oct. 3, 1799, when he was elected by the Territorial Legislature as a delegate in Congress.

INDIANA TERRITORY.

On the 7th day of May, 1800, Congress passed an act dividing the Northwest Territory on a line, a part of which now constitutes the line between Ohio and Indiana, and extending thence north until it intersected the line between the United States and Canada. This line, as will readily be seen by reference to a map of the State, divided the lower peninsula almost exactly in the centre, crossing the strait of Mackinac and intersecting the national boundary in Whitefish Bay, of Lake Superior, near Isle Parisienne.

* Gen. St. Clair was one of the leading spirits of the company which settled at Marietta, Ohio, in 1788. This colony was mostly composed of New England people, under the lead of Gen. Rufus Putnam, Return J. Meigs, and others. This was the first permanent settlement by white men in Ohio.

t Gen. Wayne died quite suddenly, at or near Presque Isle, now Erie, Pa., in December, 1796, at the age of fifty-one years, lacking a few days.

# Wayne County was entitled to three members in the Territorial Legislature.

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

The new Territory lying west of this line was called In- diana Territory, and William Henry Harrison was appointed its first Governor in the following year. Its seat of govern- ment was fixed at Vincennes. Under this legislation the region now constituting Kalamazoo County became a part of Indiana Territory. The seat of government for the old Northwest Territory, including Ohio and the eastern half of Michigan, was fixed at Chillicothe.

Ohio was erected into a State on the 29th of November, 1802, and from that date the whole of the lower peninsula of Michigan became a part of Indiana Territory.

TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN.

The act of Congress erecting the Territory of Michigan was passed on the 11th of January, 1805, and took effect from and after June 30th of the same year. The Governor and judges were appointed by the President of the United States, and endowed with legislative power. The Territorial officers were nominated by the President on the 26th of February, 1805. Gen. William Hull, a veteran officer of the Revolution, was nominated for Governor, and Hon. A. B. Woodward presiding judge. The nominations were con- firmed, and Judge Woodward arrived at Detroit on the 29th of June, and Governor Hull on the 1st of July. On the 11th of June, preceding their arrival, a fire broke out in the town, and in the course of a few hours every build- ing in the place, save two, was destroyed.

The new functionaries, in their report to Congress in October following, in speaking of Detroit, use the follow- ing language :

"The place which bore the appellation of the town of Detroit was a spot of about two acres of ground, completely covered with build- ings and combustible materials, the narrow intervals of fourteen or fifteen feet, used as streets or lanes, excepted ; and the whole was en- vironed with a very strong and secure defense of tall and solid pickets."*

Upon petition of the distressed inhabitants for relief, Congress passed an act granting them the old site and ten thousand additional acres lying immediately around it, and including the old French "Commons." The town was subsequently laid out upon a greatly-enlarged and improved plan.

The Territorial government of Michigan went into active operation on the 2d of July, 1805. It included within its jurisdiction the lower peninsula. When Illinois was ad- mitted as a State, in 1818, the region now constituting Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan was added to Michigan Territory, and in 1834 the territory now con- stituting the States of Iowa and Minnesota was annexed for temporary purposes.

Various treaties were made with the Indians from 1807 to the breaking out of the war of 1812. On the 17th of November, 1807, Governor Hull made a treaty with the Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyandots, and Pottawattomies, by which they ceded a large tract of country between the Maumee River and Saginaw Bay to the United States. On the 25th of November, 1808, another treaty was made with the same tribes, and also including the Shawanese, by which a strip of country lying between the Maumee

and the Western Reserve was ceded. In 1809, Governor Harrison, of Indiana Territory, made treaties at Fort Wayne with the Delawares, Pottawattomies, Miamis, Eel River Indians, Weas, and Kickapoos, for certain lands upon the Wabash ; but these were protested against by Tecum- seh, the Shawanese chief, in the following year.

In the mean time, Tecumseh (or Tecumthe, as it is also written) and his brother, Elk-swat-a-wa, the prophet, had begun laying their plans for a grand union of all the In- dian tribes against the whites as early as 1803. It was substantially the same as Pontiac's confederation of 1763, and was to embrace all the western and southern nations and tribes. The prophet visited many nations under a pre- tended inspiration of the "Great Spirit ;" and Tecumseh himself traversed the country from the head-waters of the Mississippi to the gulf, carrying the great war belt and making speeches among all the nations.

In August, 1810, the " Successor of Pontiac," as Te- cumseh was sometimes called, met Governor Harrison at Vincennes, in a council called to consider the grievances of the Indians who were not willing to abide by the treaties at Fort Wayne. The council was abruptly broken up by the insolence of Tecumseh, who, instead of bringing no more than forty warriors, came with upwards of three hun- dred. This council accomplished nothing, and in the fol- lowing year, while Tecumseh was absent on a war mission to the south, a crisis was precipitated by the prophet, who, contrary to his brother's instructions, attacked Governor Harrison at the famous Tippecanoe battle-ground, on the morning of Nov. 7, 1811, and after a two hours' night con- flict, in which the savages fought desperately, was com- pletely defeated. The mask was now entirely thrown off, and Tecumseh made open war.

WAR OF 1812.

The causes which led to the last war with Great Britain dated back to the years immediately succeeding the Revo- Intion. The affair between the British frigate " Leopard" and the American frigate "Chesapeake," in 1807, had greatly intensified the bitterness of feeling between the two countries ; and the continual outrages committed by British armed vessels upon the American merchant marine, under the " right of search," together with a constant stirring up of the Western Indians by pretended agents, fur-traders, and others, at length produced their legitimate results, and on the 19th of June, 1812, war was formally declared by the United States.

At this date the Northwest was in an almost defenseless condition, while the British already had or were construct- ing a formidable fleet on Lake Erie, and possessed a re- spectable force of regular and volunteer troops and militia in Canada.

Governor Hull was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces destined to operate on the Western frontier, which were fixed by Gen. Armstrong, Secretary of War, at two thousand, this number being deemed sufficient for the con- quest of Upper Canada.

On the 1st of June, preceding the declaration of war, Gen. Hull had taken command in person at Dayton, Ohio, from which place he commenced his march towards the

# Annals of the West.

TERRITORIAL.

Maumee, constructing roads, bridges, and block-houses by the way. The general was not apprised of the declaration until the 2d of July. From the Maumee rapids he sent forward towards Detroit his own and most of the baggage of the officers, in a small sloop, under command of Lieut. Goodwin, who had on board also about thirty men and several ladies. The vessel and contents was captured as she attempted to pass Malden.

The force under Gen. Hull consisted of four regiments, commanded by Cols. McArthur, Findlay, Cass, and Miller. The army arrived at Detroit about the 7th of July, and on the 12th crossed over and occupied Sandwich, opposite. The general issued a proclamation to the Canadians, but no important movement was made, though his subordinate officers repeatedly urged him to assume the bold offensive, and capture Malden. After nearly a month had been frit- tered away, and when the British were gathering a strong force to dispute with him the occupation of Canada, Gen. Hull, on the 7th of August, returned with his army to Detroit.

Gen. Proctor, commander of the advance of the British, reached Malden on the 29th of July, and immediately be- gan operations for the purpose of cutting off Hull's commu- nications with Ohio, and thus isolating his army. The British commander-in-chief, Gen. Brock, a most efficient and daring officer, arrived on the 13th of August, and be- gan preparations not only for the effectual defense of Can- ada, but for the conquest of Detroit and all the posts on the American side of the straits .*

Gen. Henry Dearborn, in command of the American forces at Niagara, had foolishly concluded an armistice with the enemy, which enabled them to at once concentrate a strong force against Gen. Hull. Brock pushed his advan- tages to the utmost. He sent parties to cut off Hull's communications towards the south, erected strong batteries opposite Detroit, and on the 16th of August compelled the pusillanimous Hull to surrender the place, the whole terri- tory of Michigan, and fourteen hundred good troops to a motley collection of three hundred English regulars, four hundred Canadian militia, and a band of Indians.

For this unexampled conduct Gen. Hull was tried by court-martial, found guilty of cowardice and neglect of duty, and sentenced to be shot ; in consequence, however, of his advanced age and his distinguished services during the Revolution he was pardoned by the President, but his name was stricken from the rolls of the army.

On the 17th of July the garrison at Mackinac, consist- ing of fifty-seven effective men, under Lieut. Hanks, who knew nothing of the declaration of war, was surprised and captured by a mixed force of British, Canadians, and In- dians, amounting to upwards of one thousand men.

A fort had been erected at the mouth of the Chicago River in 1804. It was garrisoned at the outbreak of the war by a force of about eighty men, under command of Capt. Heald. It was known as "Fort Dearborn." The commander had been apprised of the declaration of war by dispatches received through the hands of Winnemeg, a friendly Pottawattomie chief. The dispatches included

orders from Gen. Hull to evacuate the post, if practicable, after distributing the property among the Indians. The chief who brought the message strongly urged the rashness of any attempt to march through the wilderness to Fort Wayne, the nearest United States post, and the subordinate officers were unanimous against it. The fort was provi- sioned for six months, and could easily have been held against the whole force of the savages. But the com- mander foolishly construed his orders into an imperative command to evacuate the post, and made arrangements accordingly.

Capt. Heald was deaf to all advice, and with an infatua- tion little short of insanity destroyed all his surplus ammu- nition, and began his fatal march on the morning of the 15th of August, 1812. The sequel is well known; they were attacked within a mile or two of the fort, and after a most gallant defense were all killed or taken prisoners. The killed, among whom were Captain Wells, the famous Miami chief, Ens. Ronan, and Dr. Van Vorhees, amounted to about fifty-five, including two women and twelve children. The Indians engaged in this massacre were Pottawattomies, though some of their chiefs, notably Winnemeg and Black Partridge, were friendly to the whites. The prisoners were mostly distributed among the Indians, and subsequently brought to Detroit and redeemed. Capt. Heald and lady, both badly wounded, were taken to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, from whence they went to Mackinac in a canoe, where they were paroled by the British commander. }

On the 17th of September, 1812, Gen. Harrison was appointed commander-in-chief of the Northwestern army. His first step was to relieve Fort Wayne, hotly besieged by the confederated Indians, which he successfully accom- plished. He then with a force of two thousand men recon- noitered the Maumee Valley, and returned to Fort Wayne on the 20th of September.

Gen. Winchester, a Kentucky officer, little known, ad- vanced late in the autumn with a force of about two thou- sand men to Fort Defiance, at the mouth of the Auglaize, where he intended to winter.

In November and December of this year occurred the ex- pedition of Col. Campbell against the Mississinnewa towns on the Wabash, which was entirely successful, though the troops suffered severely from the inclemency of the weather. All the towns were destroyed, and a large number of In- dians killed and taken prisoners. The campaign of 1812 closed without any special advantages on the whole to the American cause, though the expeditions against the Indians had been fairly successful.

The American forces in the beginning of 1813 were facing north in three grand divisions. The right under Harrison lay at Upper Sandusky, the left under Winches- ter had advanced to the Maumee Rapids, and the centre under Gen. Tupper was at Fort McArthur.

On the 17th of January a portion of Gen. Winchester's command, amounting to five hundred and fifty men, under Col. Lewis, was pushed forward to the river Raisin, and Col. Allen soon after followed with another detachment of one hundred, and ten men.

* Brock was killed at Queenstown, near Niagara, in the following year.

t See Chapter XIII.

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

On the 18th the enemy were driven out of the little vil- lage of Frenchtown (now Monroe, Mich.), and the Ameri- cans took possession. Winchester arrived on the 19th with two hundred and fifty additional troops. The consoli- dated force was attacked on the 22d by a strong British force from Malden under Gen. Proctor, and, after a most obstinate battle, was induced to surrender by promises of good treatment. But, notwithstanding his promises, Proc- tor allowed the Indians to commit a most inhuman mas- sacre of prisoners on the following day. Out of about eight hundred men under Winchester at the beginning of the battle, only about forty men remained after the massa- cre of the 23d.

On the 1st of February, Harrison advanced to the Rapids, and commenced the construction of a strong fort, or rather an intrenched camp, on the south side of the river, which he named Fort Meigs, in honor of the Gov- ernor of Ohio .* Here, on the 28th of April, Harrison was besieged by a strong British force under Proctor, who had come by water up the Maumee. The whole force amounted to about two thousand two hundred men, including nearly one thousand Indians under Tecumseh, who had joined the British at the opening of the war. The siege was remark- able for disasters and successes on both sides. Col. Dudley, at the head of eight hundred Kentuckians, captured the British batteries on the north side of the Maumee, but, lured too far in his pursuit of the enemy, fell into an am- buscade devised by Tecumseh, and lost his life and nearly his entire command. Col. Miller made a successful sortie against the British position on the south side of the river, capturing the guns and dispersing the detachment with severe loss. Finding his guns made no impression on the American works, Proctor withdrew on the 9th of May and returned to Malden.

In July a second British and Indian force attacked Fort Meigs, but accomplished nothing, and again fell back down the river. On the 31st of July, Proctor appeared with a fleet and a powerful force at Lower Sandusky, where Fort Stephenson was held by Col. George Croghan, with a gar- rison of about two hundred men and one six-pounder field- piece. Proctor's force amounted to about three thousand men and a battery of six pieces of artillery.

The battery was planted and the work bombarded until the 3d of August, when an attempt was made to carry it by assault. The column, under Col. Short, was repulsed with great loss, when Proctor hastily embarked his force and withdrew. The British account of this affair states that the force only amounted to about seven hundred men with two six-pounder guns. Their loss is stated at about one hundred men.

In the mean time a strong fleet was being constructed and equipped at Erie, under the supervision of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. The fleet left the harbor on the 4th of August, and on the 10th of September, 1813, gained a complete victory over the British fleet under Commodore Barclay, near the Bass Islands, to the northward of San- dusky, capturing the entire British squadron. This naval engagement, one of the most memorable in the history of

the country, was probably fought within the limits of the State of Michigan.

Upon learning the result of the naval engagement, Proc- tor abandoned Malden, and fell back to Sandwich, intending to retreat towards the northeast via the valley of the river Thames. On the 27th of September the army of Gen. Harrison, having been reinforced, crossed the river and found Malden in ashes.

The American commander immediately pushed on in pursuit of Proctor, whom he overtook on the 5th of Octo- ber, well posted and prepared for battle, which Harrison at once delivered, completely destroying or capturing the British army, and putting the Indian contingent under Tecumseh to a disastrous rout, with severe loss, including their great chieftain, who was killed in the action. This ended the war so far as Michigan was concerned, and since that time there has been no danger from foreign foes.

AFTER THE WAR.

On the 13th of October, 1813, only eight days after the defeat of Proctor, Col. Lewis Cass was appointed the sec- ond Territorial Governor of Michigan, which office he held until he was called to a seat in the cabinet of President Andrew Jackson, in 1831.+ Under his able administra- tion Michigan may be said to have commenced her career of prosperity.

SLAVERY.

The ordinance of 1787, by its ninth article, expressly prohibits slavery or involuntary servitude (except for crimes committed) in the Northwest Territory ; yet, singular as it may seem, an attempt was made as early as 1796 to intro- duce it into what was then Indiana Territory by four men at Kaskaskia, Ill., who petitioned Congress to that effect.

In 1803 the subject was again brought forward, when it was strongly opposed by John Randolph, of Virginia.

In 1804 it was a third time introduced, and a resolution was drawn up suspending the ninth article of the ordinance of 1787, thereby permitting and, in fact, establishing sla- very in the Territory under certain regulations ; but it was laid over or postponed for future consideration until 1807, when it was finally disposed of by the Senate, which de- clared it inexpedient. Thus by a hair's breadth did Mich- igan escape the perils of a system which has cost the nation untold treasure in life and property, and brought a condi- tion upon a large moiety of the republic which many gener- ations may not see obliterated.

EARLIEST COUNTIES ORGANIZED.

The first county organized, as we have seen, was Wayne, in 1796. It was re-established and organized by procla- mation of Governor Cass, Nov. 21, 1815. Monroe fol- lowed in 1817, Macomb and Mackinac in 1818, Oakland in 1820, St. Clair in 1821, Chippewa, Washtenaw, and Lenawee in 1826, and Cass and St. Joseph in 1829. These were all that preceded Kalamazoo, which was or- ganized in 1830.

LAND-SURVEYS.

The origin of the system of subdividing the unsold lands of the United States into townships and sections dates

t His original appointment as Governor was made by Gen. Harri- son, and it was subsequently confirmed by the general government.

* Return Jonathan Meigs.

TERRITORIAL.

from an act passed by Congress on the 20th of May, 1785. The particular sections or clauses bearing upon this subject are as follows :

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

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

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

By this act also lot No. 16 of every township was re- served for the maintenance of public schools. This system was first introduced on the east line of Ohio, and has since been continued throughout all the Territories of the Union. Surveys under this act probably began in 1786 or 1787.1

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 established, as necessary pre- liminaries to the survey, in 1815.

The base line starts from a point on Lake Michigan, near South Haven, and runs thence due east to Lake St. Clair, forming the dividing line between the counties of Allegan, Van Buren, Barry, Kalamazoo, Eaton, Calhoun, Ingham, Jackson, Livingston, Washtenaw, Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb.

This line is in about 42° 28' north latitude, and the dis- tance from one lake to the other along it is about one hun- dred and seventy-three miles.

From this line the townships are numbered both north and south ; on the north reaching No. 47,§ and on the south No. 8.

The principal meridian is exactly on the meridian of the Sault St. Marie, and divides the lower peninsula a little east of the centre, terminating on the Ohio line, between the counties of Lenawee and Hillsdale. The length of this line approximates three hundred and thirty miles. In crossing the Strait of Mackinac it touches the eastern extremity of Bois Blanc Island. The distance across the strait on this line is about twenty miles.

The extreme northernmost town on Keweenaw Point, in Lake Superior, is numbered fifty-nine, making the length of the State, in a direct line north and south, not including Isle Royale, in Lake Superior, four hundred and two miles, provided the Congressional townships are each exactly six miles square.

The ranges reach No. 17 east on the St. Clair River, at

* This arrangement was subsequently modified in the West, and the ranges are numbered east and west from the meridian, and sometimes the townships are numbered both north and south from the base line, as is the case in Michigan.

t Annals of the West.

# Gen. W. H. Harrison has been credited with the origin of this system while a delegate in Congress from the Northwest Territory, but the ordinance was passed fifteen years previously.

2 47 is the northernmost number at the Sault St. Marie, but on Ke- weenaw Point the numbers run to 59.

Fort Gratiot, and No. 21 west at New Buffalo, on Lake Michigan. About three-fifths of the lower peninsula lie on the west side of the meridian. Between townships 20 and 21 north is a correction line.

Kalamazoo County comprises ranges 9, 10, 11, and 12 west of the meridian, and townships 1, 2, 3, and 4 south of the base line.

The first surveys of public lands in the State were made in the vicinity of the Detroit River, in 1816, and lands were first offered for sale in 1818, at the Detroit land-office.|| In 1822 the Detroit land district was divided, and a second office established at Monroe, at which latter office all lands lying west of the principal meridian were entered previous to 1831.

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History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 11

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott Number of Pages: 761

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761