History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 18

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1434

USA > Michigan > Kent County > History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 18

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This letter portrays sufficiently strategetic movements of Rev. Mr. McCoy in the matter, and the great influences brought to bear on the Senate to destroy the justice of its office.

END OF THE INDIAN MISSION.

The Baptist mission was located on the west side of the river. Near where now is the Bridge Street viaduct, were the two block houses erected by Mr. McCoy, Mr. Slater and their assistants. In one of those houses Mr. Slater taught school and preached.

The Catholic mission, founded by Rev. Frederick Baraga, was located below what is now known as the Pearl Street viaduct, in the heart of the Ottawa village. After Rev. Mr. Baraga left the dis- trict, Rev. Mr. Vizoiski was appointed pastor by Bishop Razer. Subsequently a desire was manifested to sell the mission lands, and to carry out this, the Baptist Board of Missions, acting doubtless on advice received from Mr. McCoy, had the necessary papers drawn up by Thomas G. Coggeshall and G. M. Mills, showing that the Baptist mission had performed great work among the Indians, and claiming for it 19-20ths of the proceeds of the land sales, allow- ing only 1.20th to the Catholic mission. President Tyler handed

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the petition to the Secretary of the Treasury, J. C. Spencer, who issued instructions to have the land sold and the proceeds dis- tributed according to the prayer of the petitioners, i. e., in the pro- portion of $6,000 to the Baptists and $300 to the Catholics. The sale was advertised in a little journal, published at Ionia, in April, 1843, so that few of the people of Kent even heard of the proposed transaction. After the advertisement appeared Rev. Mr. Vizoiski happened to be traveling in the neighborhood of the present town of Ada, when he halted at Smith's tavern to feed his horse and have dinner. While waiting here he took up the little journal and read . the advertisement. He realized the state of affairs in a moment. Having fed his horse, he did not wait to feed himself, but mounting in haste proceeded to Battle Creek, where he took the stage for Ypsilanti, and went thence to Detroit by the old-time train of the Central railroad.

Bishop Le Febre, well known among the old settlers of Kent, was at home. Father Vizoiski showed him the advertisement. Without a moment's delay both the bishop and the pastor of Grand Rapids were en route to Ypsilanti, and thence to Valley City via Battle Creek. Arrived here, no time was lost. The bishop had a conference with Lucius Lyon, Geo. Coggeshall, John Almy, and others, which resulted in obtaining from each of them an affidavit setting forth the state of the two missions; that, in fact, there never was a successful Baptist mission here up to that time, and that the Catholics were entitled to an equal share of the proceeds of the land sale.

This done, the bishop waited on Thomas B. Church, then a young lawyer, and asked him to prepare an address to the Presi- dent of the United States, setting forth truly and impartially all that was already stated in the affidavits. The lawyer drew up a classic appeal for justice, demanded the postponement of the sale until a full inquiry should be made, and further asked that the ad- vertisements in the Ionia Journal should be discontinued. Hav- ing completed his work, he showed the address to the bishop, who was so well pleased that he presented him with a $20 gold piece in payment for his professional labors. In answer to Mr. Church's instructions to have the document mailed to Mr. Spencer, then Sec- retary of the Treasury, the bishop replied that he fully understood the customs of public officials, and, therefore, would not send such an important paper to the Secretary. "On the contrary," said he, "I shall mail the address to Chief Justice Taney, a son of the Church, who will place it in the President's hands, and see that attention is given to it."

This plan the bishop carried out, and within a few months the advertisement was withdrawn, the sale of the lands stayed, and a commission appointed, comprising Chief Justice Taney, of the U. S. Supreme Court, as representative of the Catholic interest, and Judge McLean as representative of the Baptists. The Presi- dent's order was dated Aug. 24, 1843. Before the commission

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acted, a few capitalists of Grand Rapids corresponded with the Board of Baptist Missions, and also with Bishop Le Febre. They offered $20,000 for the property, and asked the parties interested to agree upon a division. This proposition resulted in an agree- ment between the Catholics and Baptists, whereby the former were content to receive $8,000, and the latter $12,000. With the $8,000, so received, Rev. Mr. Vizoiski purchased the property at the corner of Ottawa and Monroe streets, with other lots in the village. Within a few years the first mentioned property was sold for $56,000, and the other investments proved equally profit- able. The $12,000 received by the Board of Baptist Missions was not locally invested. Thus ended the era of Government black- smiths, teachers, and what may be termed a " Government mis- sion " in the valley of the Grand river. The negotiations were carried over a period of years, beginning in 1838 or '39, and ter- minating in 1849 with another protest against sale, made by Isaac Turner and Willard Sibley. The settlement of title to these lands was indeed a troublesome matter.

CHAPTER V. PIONEERS OF KENT.

While yet the blood of tyranny was being drunk by the soil of liberty, before the soldiers and leaders of the Revolution had sought their well-earned repose under the protecting folds of that starry banner which they bequeathed us, a representative of the only people on the face of the earth who cast their fortunes with the cause of American liberty, entered the valley of the Grand river and made a home within the district now known as Kent county. At this period, comparatively remote in American history, the country on the east side of the Grand river formned the territory of the Ottawa Indians, while that on the west bank formed the joint estate of that tribe and the Otchipwes. Dur- ing the Revolution and for many years after, the number of In- dian inhabitants between the Rapids and the mouth of Flat river, having villages on each bank of the river, did not exceed 1,200 souls. They were a noble people, rich in natural wealth, free from impurity, honorable and sincere.

About the period when the names of Paul Revere, Lexington and Washington were echoed throughout the civilized world, and were mentioned in the councils of savage tribes, the Amer- ican Fur Company, or at least a few men who were subsequently its principals, determined to push their posts farther west, and commissioned Madame La Framboise, a French lady, to locate a post, and establish their trade in the neighborhood of the Great Rapids of the Owoshtenong. The lady came, received permission from the council of the two tribes, and before the first echoes of the Revolution had died away in the colonies, she had suc- ceeded in building the first trading hut and placing within it a full stock of Indian supplies. . This hut was located on section 9, in the township of Lowell, about two miles west of the village. Although the American Fur Company constantly kept a supply of goods at this point, the Indians would often go to Detroit to trade, not so much, however, with a view to securing larger prices for their peltries, or to purchasing necessaries at a smaller cost, as to obtain a supply of "fire- water," which could not be had at a nearer point. As the time for the " annual pow-wow " approached, a journey to Detroit was considered necessary, for the purpose of laying in a supply of rum for the occasion. Madame La Fram- boise remained at this post until superseded by Rix Robinson in 1821. She had been a successful agent for the company, but her advanced age and the growing interests of the fur trade demanded her removal. Remnants of the old store-house in which she trans-

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acted business with the savages remained up to a short time ago. There was a part of the chimney standing as recently as the Cen- tennial Year and marks of the excavations in which the canoes were hid may be seen near by. These are the oldest relics of pioneer life in Kent county.

It will surprise the reader to learn that a woman was the first pioneer of civilization who ever set foot upon the pleasant valley of Grand river; but such, indeed, is the truth. She was a lady of more than ordinary force of character, a shrewd trader and a bold adventurer. Her life at this outpost is filled with thrilling inci- dents, many of which are enlivened by a vein of romance.

Pierre Constant was the next pioneer, though his stay within the territory now known as Kent county was very limited. The fact of his coming here and partial settlement on the western line of the county, entitles him to a place among the pioneers. Hon. W. M. Ferry, writing of him, states:

" The first trader who located in what was Ottawa county-then embracing Muskegon county-was Pierre Constant, a Frenchman of the type of that advance guard of pioneers Marquette, LaSalle, Joliet and Tonti, who, 200 years before, invaded and brought to the world the great Northwest. He was of the chevalier order of men -brave, honorable and undaunted, amid all dangers. In 1810 he engaged with the British Fur Company, then having a depot at Mackinaw, as a trader; and with his supply of merchandise coasted along the shore of Lake Michigan, and established a trading post on Grand river, near what is now called Charleston, and another on the banks of Muskegon lake. He married an Indian woman of remarkable beauty and intelligence, by whom six children were born to him. Once a year, he with his family and the results of his vent- ure in furs and peltries, coasted down Lakes Michigan and Huron to Penatauquashin, the Indian depot for Upper Canada. ·

Rix Robinson, the first American pioneer, arrived in the val- ley in 1821, as successor to Madame La Framboise, who retired that year from the service of the American Fur Company. Every chronicler of the valley bears testimony to the excellent character of this remarkable man. It is stated that he was the first white man who settled permanently within the boundaries of Kent, and as such must be considered the actual first resident. For a long time he was engaged in the fur trade with the Indians on the Grand river. Alone, he traversed the forests in the interests of the American Fur Company, surrounded with savages by nature, and sometimes by deed, but was unmolested by them. The spirit of the natives had already been somewhat subdued by the influence of Christianity, and devoted missionaries were then laboring among them. A tribe of these Indians remained near the town of Ada until 1860, when they sold their lands and removed to Pentwater. During the latter years of their residence on these lands, they cultivated the soil, and built respectable residences, had well-organ-

(Daniel Bush

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ized schools, and comfortable churches. They were of the Roman Catholic faith.

The life of this pioneer was fraught with toil and peril and act- ual suffering. " It is pleasant," said an old resident, " to sit and listen while '.Uncle Rix' tells of the dark days in the history of his experience. I have often heard him repeat the story of the nights he spent in the woods alone, far from any house ; of ford- ing streams in winter; of encounters with wolves and other ani- mals ; of the poor log house with its chimney ; of sickness and death in the family, with no attending physician, and so on through the long list. But I was not the only delighted one. What a change came over the countenance of the aged man as he recounted those scenes !"

On the organization of the township of Kent Mr. Robinson was elected Supervisor, and for many years subsequently received many honors from the people, for whom, as it were, he made a road into the beautiful wilderness. In September, 1821, he mar- ried a woman of the Mackinaw Indians named Miss-a-quot-o-quay, by whom he had one son, John R. Robinson, now residing in Isabella county, an Indian missionary. Miss-a-quot-o-quay died about 1848. Some time about 1850 "Uncle Rix" married Sippi-quay, or River Woman, a grand-daughter of Laroche or Na-nom-ma- daw-ba, the head chief of the Grand River Indians at Battle Point, a firm friend of " Uncle Rix." It is related that this chief bestowed upon the trader the rich hunting ground known as the Big Bayou, advising the tribe at the same time not to interfere with it. This great old settler died about six years ago.

Louis Campau, the pioneer of the Saginaw, was also the first set- tler of Grand Rapids, and the third pioneer of Kent county. He was a member of the influential Campau family of Detroit, and was born at that post Aug. 11, 1791. At eight years of age he was taken by his uncle, Joseph Campan, who promised'to rear the boy, and start him in business. For seven years his business was that of an under servant, going to school but little. The only school education he had simply enabled him to read the French language, and to write. His defective education he regretted; but in after life he made little effort to remedy it. As to scholarship he was simply an illiterate man. His active life was mostly spent as an Indian trader beyond the limits of civilization, or as a busi- ness man on the frontier. Until after the war of 1812, he stayed with his uncle, being promoted to be his right-hand man. He was one of the soldiers surrendered by Hull.

After the war he was hired by a company of Detroit mer- chants to dispose of the remnants of their goods to the Indians on the Saginaw river. This he successfully did. He soon com- menced on his own account as a trader among the same Indians. There he stayed, with varying fortune, until the spring of 1827, when, at the request of the Indians, he came as their trader to the Grand River Valley. At times, while at Saginaw, the Govern-

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ment made use of him in dealing with the Indians and making treaties with them. In November, 1827, he came on with a sup- ply of goods for the Indians, and four hired men, packing his goods on ponies. He was also engaged by a Mr. Brewster, of De- troit, to buy furs, in opposition to the American Fur Company. He fixed his first post at the mouth of Flat river, where the rail- road depot now is; left two of his men there, and with the rest came to the Indian village at the Rapids, on the west side of the river. Spent the winter there profitably, trading. Before the close of the year 1827, he came with his family and a larger supply of goods; built three log cabins near the river, at the foot of Bronson street. With none around him but the Indians and those depend- ent on him, he remained until 1832, when the first emigrant,- Luther Lincoln, came in. In a short time after the arrival of Lincoln Rev. Frederick Baraga, afterward Bishop of Buffalo and professor of the Cree and Otchipwe languages, came. With this zealous missionary Mr. Campau disagreed in things temporal. Believing that a village or city would be at the place, he secured a piece of land, and platted it as a village-the so-called " Campau plat." Soon the speculative fever found Mr. Campan a rich man, doing a great deal of business, building extensively, the president of a bank, etc. The collapse that followed found him a man strug- gling to save a little. His property went to assignees, and eventu- ally some small part of it was returned to him. Afterward, by doing a limited business, and by constantly selling his lots, he lived a life of gentlemanly independence nntil within a few years of his death, when, his resources failing, he lived on the bounty of his friends, who were unwilling that he should feel poverty, which he never did.

He was twice married. His first wife died at Saginaw. His second. a lady of rare excellence, preceded him in death a few years, July 31, 1869, aged 62. From the time of the death of his wife, whose character he fully appreciated, he was never himself again. He died April 13, 1871. He was a tall, fine-looking man; walking lame, from a serious injury received when a young man. He was very courteous and gentlemanly in his intercourse with others ; an able counselor in matters of business, but himself un- able to practice his own lessons. He was visionary, and an unwise manager of his own affairs. He was very benevolent, and the kind- ness of his heart caused him to possess many warm admirers, and was taken advantage of by the unprincipled. He cannot be said to have been a man of brilliant qualities, yet he secured in the community a respect and veneration which it is the fortune of few to attain. He was upright in his dealings, had finely strung feel- ings and a gentlemanly bearing, which encouraged good will and disarmed enmity. His name will be ever one of the household words at Grand Rapids. He died in 1871, full of years and honors, and rests in the Catholic cemetery by the side of her who was his

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soul-companion while living, and whose death cast so dark a shadow over the years he survived.

Prof. Everett, whose name is associated with the valley of the Grand River for many years, knew Louis Campau, and was solicit- ous enough about the future to pen the foregoing sketch. In com- piling the history of Saginaw county, the writer of this history became acquainted with the character of that well-known Indian trader and pioneer of two cities, so that he is enabled to bear testi- mony to the impartiality and comparative completeness of the biographical sketch just given.

Toussaint Campau settled with his senior brother in the winter of 1827, and continued to transact business for him for many years.

This small list includes the names of all the "pioneers" of Kent county. They claim the distinctive title on account of their early coming and their stay, and still more because of the services which they rendered the old settlers, the prime movers in the march of progress.

OTHER AMERICAN PIONEERS.

Under this heading it is deemed proper to refer generally to the men who linked their fortunes with Kent county up to the be- ginning of 1838, when the Territory of Michigan was thoroughly established and recognized as a State of the Union. The old settlers of a county are entitled to honors of a very special character. It is true they had the pioneers to meet them and offer them information; but in all other respects they were men of great self- reliance, strong in mind and body, ambitious to carve out for themselves happy homes, lovers of liberty and the Union, and therefore noble citizens. They came hither to carry out the designs of the great Economist, and in the midst of their wild surroundings looked forward to the period when the capital should be placed upon their honest labors.

In those early times, the style of living was quite primitive, and somewhat different from that of the present. Their dwellings were mostly of the composite style of architecture, being made of such material as could be most easily obtained. They employed very little of the Corinthian style, but much of the Door-ic style. Their pillars were taken from "God's first temples"-the forests. They constructed their buildings so as to be adapted to a very economical system of self-ventilation and self-heating. Being rather a hearty sort of people, they could tolerate the opening breezes and the sun's warm visitations. They were not of too delicate a mold to digest their own food, instead of employing the contents of a drug store to carry on that necessary process; nor did they consider it disgraceful to gain their livelihood by personal industry and constant labor. At a picnic given by the old settlers in June, 1881, Judge Parrish looked back to the past, and in the retrospect drew attention to the pride characterizing the people of the present. Old names, celebrated in song and scripture,

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had given place to new ones, as delicate in signification as the owners of them are weak in physical qualities. Strange forms have been introduced, society has lost halt its beauty with the loss of its primitive manners, change is marked everywhere, and nothing is the same as it was 50 years ago.

Very little do the young people of the present day know about the privations and the hardships through which the first settlers in this county were obliged to pass. The first settlers were obliged, sometimes, to go long journeys to get their grinding done. It was not very uncommon to go a distance of 50 miles to buy seed potatoes. They contrived, by various means, to pound and crush the grain for their food. It was not unfrequently, though game was plenty, that they were out of meat when the preacher came to their houses; but it was not always gloomy and sad with them. There was much good feeling and sociability among them. Their loves and their hates were demonstrative; and the sparseness of the population, and the consequent mutual dependence upon each other, as well in serious occupations as in their amusements, rendered them inore helpful and more hearty in their reciprocal deeds of kindness, and in their social intercourse. There were not a few, even in this section of the country, whose hearts would not respond to the following, rather boisterous, but cheerful and ex- pressive, language of the poet :

Oh! to roam, like the rivers, through empires of wocds, Where the king of the eagles in majesty broods ; Or, to ride the wild horse o'er the boundless domain, And to drag the wild buffalo down to the plain; There to chase the fleet stag, and to track the huge bear, And to face the lithe panther at bay in his lair,

Are a joy which, alone, cheers the pioneer's breast; For the only true hunting-ground lies in the West.

Ho! brothers, come hither and list to mv story : Merry and brief will the narrative be. Here, like a monarch, I reign in my glory- Master, am I, boys, of all that I see. Where once frowned a forest, a garden is smiling ; The meadow and moorland are marshes no more ; And there curls the smoke of my cottage, beguiling The children, who cluster, like grapes, at the door. Then enter, boys ; cheerly, boys, enter and rest ; The land of the heart is the land of the West.

It may be true that the feelings and sentiments expressed in the above lines are not the prevailing ones here at the present time,- that they are fast fading from the hearts of the new population, and that their proper meridian is still moving west-ever west. Yet there are some among us whose hearts still respond to the echoes of the earlier and more demonstrative times of the past. Many of the early settlers still linger among us; and to them, and to those who have already passed away, the present generation owes an immense debt of gratitude; for bravely have they met the

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difficulties incidental to settling a new country; and broadly and well did they lay the foundations of future prosperity.

In the following brief references to the true old settlers of Kent, mention is merely made of their coming and their stay. In the pages devoted to biography, every effort has been made to deal fully with the personal history of the county; and if the worthy should escape notice, they must owe it to negligence on their part.

It is impossible to state precisely when Rev. Gabriel Richard first appeared among the Indians of the Grand river. It is pre- sumed, however, with some authority, that his arrival here occurred early in 1799. This celebrated missionary priest was born at Saintès, Charente Infr., France, Oct. 15, 1764, came to Baltimore in 1792, and arrived at Detroit in June, 1798. He inaugurated the first newspaper published in Michigan, Aug. 31, 1809, traversed the Lower and Upper Penisulas, in 1823 was elected member of Congress from Michigan, took a noble part in everything affecting the interests of the State, and died full of years and honors Sept. 13, 1832.

It is not stated that Father De Jannay visited Grand river, but every circumstance points him out as the same priest who passed through the camp grounds in 1848.

Isaac McCoy, better known as the Rev. Mr. McCoy, visited the Indian towns at the Rapids in 1823, and proposed to the Ottawas that in consideration of their surrender of one square mile of land the Government would furnish them with a teacher, an agricult- ural instructor and a blacksmith. McCoy, who was a resident of Fort Wayne, visited Gen. Cass, at Detroit, June 28, 1822, for the purpose of securing the privileges of the Chicago treaty. The Governor had already appointed a commissioner to make definite arrangements with the Indians for the sites of the missionary sta- tions, and Grand Rapids had been designated as a suitable place for the Ottawa mission. Mr. McCoy made the journey to this place in company with a Frenchman, named Paget, in the following year. On their arrival they met with so many difficulties that they failed to accomplish their purpose. A council was held with the Ottawa chiefs, and Mr. McCoy addressed them through an interpreter, at considerable length, setting forth the plans of the Government and the advantages which the Indians would derive from a cheerful acceptance of them. Kewaykushquom, chief of the Ottawa village, replied in a brief speech, refusing to accept the conditions offered. He concluded his oration by stating that he was aware the Indian inust soon give up his hunting grounds to the whites, who still continued to crowd the land like locusts, but he was prepared to meet whatever trials God sent upon himself or his people. In the characteristic language of his nation he said : " Ga-apitchi-debweiendangibanig oma aking, nongom apitchi mino aiawag gijigong :" Those that had a perfect faith on earth, are now exceedingly happy in Heaven. The mission of Mr. McCoy

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History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 18

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co. Number of Pages: 1434

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1434