USA > Michigan > Macomb County > History of Macomb County, Michigan > Part 12
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The late Joseph Dronillard, of Petite Cote, Canada, had two daughters. Upon the marriage of one of them to the grandfather of your humble servant she received a farm ; the other received two slaves as her marriage portion. This goes to show that the negro in those days was considered a chattel. Several of our French farmers on both sides of the river had one or more of them.
Many anecdotes can be related of Africa's sons among our ancestors, and they as a class were well cared for and educated by their kind masters. I could digress and go into more details, but the present sketch will suffice to show our modern philanthropists that the slaves here in Detroit were as well treated as the families in which their lot had been cast. The question may be asked : " How did slavery die out here ?" The owners of slaves, after having received their services for a number of years generally would liberate them, or sometimes sell them to parties outside of the Territory. When the celebrated ordinance of 1787 was extended over the Northwest, Michigan assumed for the first time the first grade of govern-
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ment, and the laws of Congress were put in force, no more slaves were afterward allowed to be brought into the Territory, and slavery was known no more here !
SALE OF NEGRO MAN POMPEY.
The following is a copy of a deed furnished by W. W. Backus of Detroit :
" Know all men by these presents : That I, James May of Detroit, for and in consideration of the sum of forty-five pounds, New York currency, to me in hand paid by John Askin, Esqr., of Detroit, the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge to be fully satisfied and paid, have sold and delivered, and by these presents, in plain and open market, do bargain, sell, and deliver unto the said John Askin, Esqr., a certain negro man, Pompey by name, to have and to hold the said negro unto the said John Askin, Esqr., his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns forever ; and I, the said James May, for my heirs, executors, and assigns, against all manner of person or persons, shall and will warrant and forever defend by these presents.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four.
Signed,
JAMES MAY.
In presence of ROBERT STEVENS.
I do hereby make over my whole right, title and interest in the above men- tioned negro man Pompey to Mr. James Donnolson of this place for the sum of fifty pounds, New York currency, the receipt of which I do hereby acknowledge, as witness my hand and seal at Detroit, this third day of January, 1795.
Signed, Witness, WILLIAM MCCLINTOCK.
JOHN ASKIN.
Throughout the counties of Wayne, Monroe, Macomb, and Oakland, the slave existed. True, he bore the same relation almost to his master, as the white laborer of the South did to his master previous to 1861. Yet he was a slave, liable to be bought and sold.
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
Michigan has as good a public-school system as can be found anywhere in the Union. Ever since 1785, the acts of Congress, as well as the acts of this State since its organization, have encouraged popular education by land grants and lib- eral appropriations of money. The 16th section of each township was early placed in the custody of the State for common-school purposes, and all the proceeds of the sale of school lands go into the perpetual fund. In 1842 the Superintendent of Public Instruction reported a discrepancy of over $22,000 in the funds, owing to im-
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perfect records, probably, rather than of dishonesty of officials. September 30, 1858, the primary school fund amounted to $2,890,090.73, and the swamp-land school fund to $361,237.20. The qualification of teachers and the supervision of schools were for many years in the hands of a board of three inspectors, then the county superin- tendency system was adopted for many years, and since 1875 the township system has been in vogue. The township Board of School inspectors now consists of the Township Clerk, one elected Inspector, and a Township Superintendent of Schools.
The latter officer licenses the teachers and visits the schools. In 1877, the school children (five to twenty years of age) numbered 469,504; the average number of months of school, 7.4; number of graded schools, 295 ; number of school- houses, 6,078, valued at $9,190,175 ; amount of two-mill tax, $492,646.94; district taxes, $2,217,961; total resources for the year, $3,792,129.59; total expenditures, $3,179,976.06.
STATE UNIVERSITY.
By an act of Congress in 1804, a township of land was to be reserved in the territory now constituting the lower peninsula "for the use of seminaries of learning ; " but the most of this reservation in 1841 went to a Catholic institution at Detroit. In 1824, through the exertions of Austin E. Wing, delegate to Con- gress, Gov. Woodbridge and others, a second township was granted, with permis- sion to select the sections in detached localities, and about this time Judge Wood- ward devised that novel and extensive scheme for the " catholepistemaid," else- where referred to in this volume. In 1837 the Legislature established the University at Ann Arbor, and appropriated the seventy-two sections to its benefit ; 916 acres of this land were located in what is now the richest part of Toledo, Ohio, from which the University finally realized less than $18,000.
But the State in subsequent years made many liberal appropriations to this favorite institution, until it has become the greatest seat of learning west of New England, if not in all America. It is a part of the public-school system of the State, as tuition is free, and pupils graduating at the high schools are permitted to enter the freshman class of the collegiate department. It now has an average attendance of 1,200 to 1,400 students, 450 of whom are in the college proper. In 1879 there were 406 in the law department, 329 in the medical, 71 in pharmacy, 62 in dental surgery, and 63 in the homeopathic department. There are over fifty professors and teachers. The University is under the control of eight regents, elected by the people, two every second year. Rev. Henry B. Tappan, D. D., was President from 1852 to 1863, then Erastus O. Haven, D. D., LL. D., to 1860, then Prof. H. S. Freeze (acting) until 1871, since which time the reins have been held by Hon. James B. Angell, LL. D.
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The value of the buildings and grounds was estimated in 1879 at $319,000, and the personal property at $250,000.
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
John D. Pierce, the first Superintendent of Public Instruction, in his first re- port to the Legislature, urged the importance of a normal school. In this enter- prise he was followed by his successors in office until 1849, when Ira Mayhew was State Superintendent, and the Legislature appropriated seventy-two sections of land for the purpose ; and among the points competing for the location of the school, Ypsilanti won, and in that place the institution was permanently located. The building was completed and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, October 5, 1852; next year the Legislature appropriated $7,000 in money, for expenses. Prof. A. S. Welch, now President of Iowa Agricultural College, was elected the first Principal. In October, 1859, the building with contents was burned, and a new building was immediately erected. In 1878 the main building was enlarged at an expense of $43,347. This enlargement was 88x90 feet, and has a hall capa- ble of seating 1,200 persons. The value of buildings and other property at the present time is estimated at $111,100. Number of students, 616, including 144 in the primary department.
Each member of the Legislature is authorized by the Board of Education to appoint two students from his district who may attend one year free of tuition; other students pay $10 per annum. Graduates of this school are entitled to teach in this State without re-examination by any school officer.
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
The Michigan Agricultural College owes its establishment to a provision of the State Constitution of 1850. Article 13 says, " The Legislature shall, as soon as practicable, provide for the establishment of an agricultural school." For the purpose of carrying into practice this provision, legislation was commenced in 1855, and the act required that the school should be within ten miles of Lansing, and that not more than $15 an acre should be paid for the farm and college grounds. The college was opened to students in May, 1857, the first of existing agricultural colleges in the United States. Until the Spring of 1861 it was under the control of the State Board of Education ; since that time it has been under the manage- ment of the State Board of Agriculture, created for the purpose.
In its essential features of combining study and labor, and of uniting general and professional studies in its course, the college has remained virtually unchanged frem the first. It has had a steady growth in number of students, in means of illustration and efficiency of instruction.
An Act of Congress, approved July 2, 1862, donated to each State public lands
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to the amount of 30,000 acres for each of its Senators and Representatives in Con- gress, according to the census of 1860, for the endowment, support and mainten- ance of at least one college where the leading object should be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts. The Legislature accepted this grant and bestowed it upon the Agricultural College. By its provisions the college has received 235,673.37 acres of land. These lands have been placed in market, and about 74,000 acres are sold, yielding a fund of $237,174, the interest of which, at seven per cent., is applied to the support of the college. The sale is under the direction of the Agricultural Land Grant Board, consisting of the Governor, Auditor General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General and Commissioner of the State Land Office.
The Agricultural College is three miles east of Lansing, comprising several fine buildings ; and there are, also, very beautiful, substantial residences for the professors. There are also an extensive, well-filled green-house, a very large and well-equipped and chemical laboratory, one of the most scientific apiaries in the United States, a general museum, a museum of mechanical inventions, another of vegetable products, extensive barns, piggeries, etc., etc., in fine trim for the pur- poses designed. The farm consists of 676 acres, of which about 300 are under cultivation is in a systematic rotation of crops.
OTHER COLLEGES.
At Albion is a flourishing college under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The grounds comprise about fifteen acres. There are three college buildings, each three stories high, having severally the dimensions of 46 by 80, 40 by 100, and 47 by 80 feet. The attendance in 1878 was 205. Tuition in the prepara- tory and collegiate studies is free. The faculty comprises nine members. The value of property about $85,000.
Adrian College was established by the Wesleyan Methodists in 1859, now under the control of the " Methodist Church." The grounds contain about twenty acres. There are four buildings, capable of accommodating about 225 students. Attendance in 1875 was 179; total number of graduates for previous years, 121; ten professors and teachers employed. Exclusive of the endowment fund ($80,- 000), the assets of the institution, including grounds, buildings, furniture, appar- atus, musical instruments, outlying lands, etc., amount to more than $137,000. Hope College, at Holland, is under the patronage of the Dutch Reformed Church. It was begun in 1851, and in connection with the ordinary branches of learning, it has a theological department. In 1877 it had ten professors and teachers and 110 pupils. Up to 1875 there had graduated, in the preparatory department, begun in
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1863, ninety-five ; in the academic, beginning in 1866, fifty-three ; and in the theo- logical, beginning in 1869, twenty-four. Value of real estate, $25,000; of other property, above incumbrance, about $10,000 ; the amount of endowment paid in is about $56,000.
Kalamazoo College, headed by Baptists, is situated on a five-acre lot of ground, and the property is valued at $35,000 ; investments, $38,000. There are six mem- bers of the faculty, and in 1878 there were 169 pupils.
Hillsdale College was established in 1855 by the Free Baptists. The " Michi- gan Central College," at Spring Arbor, was incorporated in 1845. It was kept in operation until it was merged into the present Hillsdale College. The site com- prises twenty-five acres, beautifully situated on an eminence in the western part of the city of Hillsdale. The large and imposing building first erected was nearly destroyed by fire in 1874, and in its place five buildings of a more modern style have been erected. They are of brick, three stories with basement, arranged on three sides of a quadrangle. Their size is, respectively, 80 by 80, 48 by 72, 48 by 72, 80 by 60, 52 by 72, and they contain one-half more room than the original building. Ex-Lieutenant Gov. E. B. Fairfield was the first president. The present president is Rev. D. W. C. Durgin, D. D. Whole number of graduates up to 1878, 375; number of students in all departments, 506; number of professors and instructors, 15; productive endowment, about $100,000; buildings and ground, $80,000; library, 6,200.
Olivet College, in Eaton County, is a lively and thorough literary and fine-art institution, under the joint auspices of the Presbyterian and Congregational denom- inations. Value of buildings and ground, about $85,000. Fourteen professors and teachers are employed, and the attendance in 1878 was 190, the sexes in about equal proportion. There are five departments, namely, the collegiate, preparatory, normal, music and art.
Battle Creek College, conducted by the Seventh-Day Adventists, was estab- lished in 1874, with four departments, eleven professors and teachers, and an attendance of 289. It is practically connected with a large health institution, where meat and medicines are eschewed. In 1878 there were fifteen instruct- ors and 478 students. Special attention is paid to hygiene and hygienic medi- cation.
Grand Traverse College was opened at Benzonia, in 1863, as the result of the efforts of Rev. Dr. J. B. Walter, a prominent divine of the Congregational Church. The friends of this institution have met with serious discouragements ; their lands have not risen in value as anticipated, and they have suffered a heavy loss from fire ; but the college has been kept open to the present time, with an average of seventy pupils. The curriculum, however, has so far been only " preparatory." The land
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is valued at $25,000, and the buildings, etc., $6,000. The school has done a good work in qualifying teachers for the public schools.
Besides the foregoing colleges, there are the German-American Seminary in Detroit, a Catholic seminary at Monroe, the Michigan Female Seminary at Kalamazoo, the Military Academy at Orchard Lake, near Pontiac, and others. Large numbers of Michigan students study at the college of Notre Dame in St. Joseph County, Indiana.
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
No State in the Union takes better care of her poor than does Michigan. For a number of years past, especially under the administrations of Govs. Bagley and Croswell, extraordinary efforts have been made to improve and bring to perfection the appointments for the poor and dependent.
According to the report of the Board of State Commissioners for the general supervision of charitable, penal, pauper and reformatory institutions for 1876, the total number in poor-houses of the State was 5,282. For the five years preceding, the annual rate of increase was four times greater than the increase of population during that period ; but that was an exceptionally "hard " time. The capacity of the public heart, however, was equal to the occasion, and took such measures as were effectual and almost beyond criticism for the care of the indigent. At the head of the charity department of the State stands
THE STATE PUBLIC SCHOOL.
In the year 1870 a commission appointed by the Governor for that purpose, visited many of the poor-houses in the State, and found a large number of children in them under sixteen years of age, indiscriminately associated with idiots, maniacs, prostitutes and vagrants. Their report recommended the classification of paupers, and especially, that children in the county houses, under sixteen years, should be placed in a State school. The act establishing the rule was passed in 1871, in con- formity with the recommendation. As amended in 1873, it provides, in substance, that there shall be received as pupils in such school all neglected and dependent children that are over four and under sixteen years of age, and that are in suitable condition of body or mind to receive instruction, especially those maintained in the connty poor-houses, those who have been deserted by their parents, or are orphans, or whose parents have been convicted of crime. It is declared to be the object of the act to provide for such children temporary homes only, until homes can be procured for them in families. The plans comprehend the ultimate care of all children of the class described, and it is made unlawful to retain such children in poor-houses when there is room for them in the State Public School. Dependent orphans and half orphans of deceased soldiers and sailors have the preference of
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admission should there be more applications than room. Provision is made for preserving a record of the parentage and history of each child.
The general supervision of the school is delegated to a Board of Control, consisting of three members, who are appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Board appoints the superintendent, officers and teachers of the school. One officer is appointed to look up homes for the children to apprentice them, and to keep a general oversight of them by visitation or corre- spondence. To complete the work of this institution, an agent is appointed in each county.
The internal government of this school is that known as the " family " and " congregate " combined, the families consisting of about thirty members each, and being under the care of "cottage managers," ladies whom the children call "aunt- ies," and who are supposed to care for the children as mothers. Each child of sufficient years expected to work three hours every day ; some work on the farm, some in the dining-room and kitchen, while others make shoes, braid straw hats, make their own clothing, work in the bakery, engine room, laundry, etc. They are required to attend school three to five hours a day, according to their ages, and the school hours are divided into sessions to accommodate the work.
The buildings, ten in number, comprise a main building, eight cottages and a hospital, all of brick. The buildings are steam heated, lighted with gas and have good bathing facilities. There are forty-one acres of land in connection with the school, and the total value of all the property is about $150,000, furnishing accom- modation for 240 children.
INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB, AND THE BLIND.
This is located at Flint, sixty miles nearly northwest of Detroit. The act establishing it was passed in 1848, and the school was first opened in 1854, in a leased building. It is a school in common for deaf mutes, and the blind, rather from motives of economy than from any relation which the two classes bear to one another. The buildings were commenced in 1853. The principal ones now are : front building, forty-three by seventy-two feet, with east and west wings, each twenty-eight by sixty feet, center building, forty by sixty, and east and west wings, each fifty by seventy feet ; main school building, fifty-two by fifty-four, with two wings, and twenty-five by sixty feet. All of these buildings are four stories high ; center of the front building is five stories, including basement. There are also a boiler and engine house, barns, etc. The total value of the buildings is estimated at $358,045, and of the eighty-eight acres of land occupied, $17,570.
The number of inmates has increased from 94, in 1865, to 225, in 1875. Includ- ing the Principal, there are ten teachers employed in the deaf and dumb depart-
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ment, and four in the blind, besides the Matron and her assistants. Tuition and board are free to all resident subjects of the State, and the Trustees are authorized to assist indigent subjects in the way of clothing, etc., to the amount of $40 a year. An annual census of all deaf mutes and blind persons in the State, is officially taken and reported to the overseers of the poor, who are to see that these unfortunate members of the human family are properly cared.
ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, AT KALAMAZOO.
This institution was established in 1848, and now consists of two departments, one for males and the other for females. The capacity of the former is 280, and of the latter, 300 patients. In their general construction, both buildings are arranged in accordance with the principles laid down by the Association of Medical Superin- tendents of American Institutions for the Insane. The buildings are of brick, with stone trimmings, and are very substantial, as well as beautiful. The entire cost of both buildings, with all the auxiliary structures, and 195 acres of land, is about $727,173.90. The buildings were constructed during the war and immediately afterward. The asylum was opened in 1859 for the care of patients, and up to October 1, 1875, there had been expended for the care and maintenance of patients, exclusive of the cost of construction, $994,711.32. Indigent patients are received and treated at the asylum at the expense of the counties to which they belong, on the certification of the county authorities, the average cost of maintenance being about $4.12} per week. Pay patients are received when there is room for them, the minimum price of board being $5 per week.
EASTERN ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, AT PONTIAC.
These large, beautiful and very modern structures are located upon a farm of upward of 300 acres, and were erected in 1873-'6, at a cost of about $400,000. The general plans are similar to those at Kalamazoo. They are built of brick, with stone window caps, belt-courses, etc. There are accommodations for not less than 300 patients.
Michigan pursues a very enlightened policy toward the chronic insane. Pro- visions have been made for the treatment even of the incurable, so that as much good as possible may be done even to the most unfortunate. The design is to cure whenever the nature of the mental malady will permit ; but failing this, to cease no effort which could minister to the comfort and welfare of the patient.
PENAL INSTITUTIONS.
The Detroit House of Correction, although a local institution, is used to a con- siderable extent as an intermediate prison, to which persons are sentenced by the courts throughout the State for minor offenses. Women convicted of felonies are 8
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also sent to this place. The whole number in confinement at this prison for the past decade has averaged a little over 400 at any one time, more males than females. The average term of confinement is but a little more than two months, and the institution is very faithfully conducted.
The State Prison, at Jackson, is one of the best conducted in the Union. The total value of the property is $552,113. The earnings of the prison in 1878 were $92,378 ; number of prisoners, 800. Their work is let to contractors, who employ 450 men at different trades. A coal mine has been recently discovered on the prison property, which proves a saving of several thousand dollars per annum to the State. The earnings of this prison since Gen. Wmn. Humphrey has been War- den (1875), has exceeded its current expenses.
The State Prison at Ionia was established a few years ago, for the reception of convicts whose crimes are not of the worst type, and those who are young, but too old for the reform school. The ground comprises 53 acres of land, 13} of which is enclosed by a brick wall 18 feet high. Estimated value of property, $277,490 ; current expenses for 1878, $45,744 ; earnings for 1878, $5,892; number of prison- ers December 31, 1878, 250; number received during the year, 346.
THE STATE PRISON IN 1880.
The inspectors say that " in a pecuniary sense the year has been a prosperous one to all the industries connected with the prison. Contractors have had a demand for all their products at fair prices and sure pay, and as a consequence contracts due to the State have been promptly paid, and the prison authorities have had none of the troubles and anxieties they have sometimes experienced from the failure of prompt payment for prison labor. The general prosperity of the country is shown by the increased and increasing demands for the products of labor. Whether these products are from the labor or convicts of free men, the consumer does not inquire ; therefore it is not surprising, but to have been expected, that the prison industries would share in the general prosperity.
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