History of Macomb County, Michigan, Part 120

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co.
Number of Pages: 952

USA > Michigan > Macomb County > History of Macomb County, Michigan > Part 120

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

913

HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

Cleanthe Storm took place. April 2. 1867: they are the parents of four children-Rollie E., born Jannary 14, IS6S; Hila Mable. June 29, 1870; Winfield S., June 18, 1873. and Alford, November 20, 1881.

CAPT. PAUL RIVARD, born in Chesterfield September 24. 1847: received a com- mon-school education there: in 1861, he took to the lakes, shipping before the mast, and, in 1867. he was promoted to the office of first mate. which position he held until 1870, when he was appointed Captain, which office he holds at the present time. He was mar- ried in 1873, and has three children.

M. M. SANDERS. manager of the Hatheway planing mill and sash, door and blind factory. was born at Waterloo, Seneca Co., N. Y., in 1822; he is an engineer by profession, having served under Johnson, of Geneva. and followed that trade for a number of years, until he accepted the management of the New Baltimore Planing Mill, etc. He was mar- ried to Miss Elizabeth Hess, of Waterloo; to them was born one child. now aged thirty- two years.

C. SCHLOSSER. dealer in hardware, stoves and tinware, who purchased the store and the business established by Benediet in 1875; has carried on an extensive trade here ever since May 1. 1878; he carries a stoek valued at over $3,000, and his business is based on cash principles. Mr. S. was born in Alsace, Lorraine, France. September 15. 1842: emigrated to Iowa in 1869, and settled in Detroit in 1872, where he learned his trade. He married Miss Eliza Wagnar, in Jannary. 1874: they are the parents of one boy, aged four months, and one girl. aged six years.

CYRUS B. SIMMONS, P. O. Milton, was born in the town of Paris. Oneida Co., N. Y., June 4. 1810; there he received a common-school education: his father died in 1818; his mother moved to Florence, north part of Oneida County, in 1820; he came to Macomb County in May, 1834, when the most of the State was a wilderness; he has held the office of Supervisor for three years, and was elected Justice of the Peace, but did not qualify; he has ever taken an active part in education and politics: was Notary Public for one term. Mr. S. was married to Miss M. Stanford, of Rockdale, Erie Co., Penn .. in 1836; has two sons and one daughter living, who are married and settled in Michigan. His wife died in 1863 and one daughter in 1870.

GEORGE C. WALKER, successor to J. S. P. Hatheway's store. established in 1852. by the Kern Bros., and sold to Mr. Hatheway in 1855. Mr. Walker bought the mercantile interest March 20, 1882. from Mr. Hatheway, and now carries on the business of general merchant under the name of George C. Walker; he was born in Tioga County, N. Y .. in October. 1832; he came to Michigan in 1855, and located at Fair Haven.

ELISHA WELLER, born July 23, 1800, in Mansfield, now Washington, N. J. ; eame to Michigan in May, 1831: he was married in his native county to Maria Van Atta, No- vember 13, 1822, by whom he had twelve children, of whom eight are living, three girls and five boys, all of whom are married. Mr. Weller began life in Michigan as a black- smith: for years he labored earnestly at his trade, but was not exposed to the privations of pioneer life in any serious form, as he brought with him some money and necessaries of life, which proved an efficacious remedy against the evils entailed by the Michigan Narrows and the panic of 1837.

F. M. WOOLLEY. P. O. New Baltimore, elerk and part owner on a boat, was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., January 6, 1843; came to Michigan October 23, 1852. and received his education at Mt. Clemens; then went to New Baltimore, where he learned the harness maker's trade with A. J. Heath; he enlisted in the Army of the Cumberland and served for two years; was wounded and taken prisoner July 13, 1862, at the battle of Murfrees- boro, Tenn; he was paroled by the rebels and rejoined his regiment and was afterward discharged for disability; came home and engaged as a commercial traveler. March,

914

HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

1875, he accepted a position as clerk on the steamer City of Baltimore. He was married to Miss Fanny A. Wilson, of New Baltimore, in October, 1868; they are the parents of three sons and one daughter. Mr. Woolley takes an active interest in education and politics.

915

HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

RECENT HAPPENINGS.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE PIONEER SOCIETY, 1882.

The meeting of the pioneers, held in June, 1882, was attended by all those pleasing characteristics which have marked all former re-unions of the old settlers of Macomb. This annual meeting was held in the opera house, Mt. Clemens, June 13, 1882. Owing to the busy season of the year and the soldier's re-union at Detroit, which many were making preparations to attend, the meeting did not attract the numbers expected. About 200 were present, however, and the interest manifested could not have been greater.

The morning session opened at 11 o'clock. The minutes of the preceding meeting were read and approved, and a committee appointed to report officers for the ensuing year. The afternoon session was opened with singing by the choir, led by S. H. Davis. which reminded President Cady that fifty five years ago he was chorister of a company of singers who were wont to meet on the very site of the opera house.

George H. Cannon. Chairman of the committee appointed to recommend officers, re- ported in favor of Horace Cady, of Macomb, for President, and J. E. Day, of Armada, for Secretary. Mr. Cady declined the office assigned to him, and, after some debate, the pioneers decided to continue Chauncey G. Cady as President. Mr. Cady was averse to accepting, but none the less yielded, and thanked the pioneers for the new honor and past support. J. E. Day was elected Secretary, and George H. Cannon, of Washington; James B. El- dredge. of Mt. Clemens, and George W. Phillips. of Romeo, Executive Committee; John C. Cady was designated as singing master.

G. H. Cannon, in the necessary absence of the author, read Dr. Andrus' paper on the Clinton Canal and Shelby Railroad. This paper we briefly sketch. The Clinton Canal and Shelby Railroad were two of the many remarkable manifestations of the crazy fever of speculation that infatuated the people of Michigan in the period extending from 1833 to 1840. The State was sparsely settled. but still the need of water and railroad connections was strongly felt. The successful construction of the Erie Canal stimulated Michigan to a like endeavor, and a canal from the Clinton River, Mt. Clemens, to the Kalamazoo River soon took definite form. March 21, 1837, the Legislature authorized Gov. Stephen T. Mason to contract a loan for the construction of several great public works, among which were a canal from Mt. Clemens to Rochester, a railroad from Shelby to Detroit, a railroad from Detroit across the State (the Michigan Central) and a railroad from Port Huron into the interior, to be known as the Port Huron & Grand River road. In the spring of 1838, a Board of Commissioners composed of seven men, was appointed to take in charge the canal work and a survey was ordered. The work began; there was for a time a great excitement among those locally interested in the canal and the wildest hopes were arous- ed among the sturdy pioneers of Macomb County and what is now Oakland County. Every year there were changes in the Board of Commissioners, but the subordinate officers, in the main, continued undisturbed in their duties. Among those interested in the work at one time or another were James B. Hunt, William R. Thompson, Levi T. Humphrey. John M. Baird, Alvin Turner, David Shook, Edward Wesalonski and Amanza Davis, who will be remembered by some of our older citizens. A dam was built at Frederick across the Clin-

916

HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

ton to supply the locks, and. in 1845. boats were running from Utiea to Frederick. In that year, the revenue to the State from canal tolls was $46,90; year following, it was 843.44: in 1847. the income was less yet, and. in 1848, the canal was in disuse. At that time the bottom fell out of the vast scheme of improvements inaugurated by the State, and work stopped on the canal as it did on the other works. The effect of the bankruptey of the State, for such it was, virtually. on the Clinton & Kalamazoo Canal was demoralizing in the extreme. The locks were pillaged and burned. the iron stolen, and, in 1850. hardly one stone remained upon another. Such was the ignominious end of an enterprise that was to span a great State and join the waters of Lake Michigan and St. Clair. Traces of the canal are still plainly discernible along its route and at Utica it has been kept in good repair and is now utilized as a water-power.

The companion project of the canal. the Shelby Railroad, was begun about the same time, and likewise came to naught. Just before the expiration of its charter, wooden rails were laid down. and a hastily contrived ear, drawn by horse-power to Detroit. Only one trip was made, but this was sufficient to preserve the charter, and. some years after- ward. when the Detroit & Bay City was constructed. the old road-bed came into service here and there.

Excellent singing by the choir reminded President Cady of some happy reminis- cenees, which he related with zest. Lew M. Miller, of Lansing, read a paper on the Early Banks and Bankers of Macomb County. This paper reminded President Cady that he was a stockholder in the Bank of Macomb County, and didn't lose a cent by it, either, as he hastily sold out. S. H. Ewell, of Romeo. said that he had been held accountable for the failure of the Utica Bank. to which Mr. Miller made reference, as one day he presented $10 in bills for redemption, and it cleaned out the institution. They never redeemed a bill after that.

The choir sang again, and this called to the mind of President Cady the fact that some fifty years ago. the Board of Supervisors of Macomb County. then embracing a large part of Eastern Michigan, held its first meeting in Mt. Clemens. The board was com- posed of six members and met in a store belonging to Mr. Cady, just north of the court house, where Dahin's new block now stands. The board voted to have some whisky. got drunk. stayed up all night and adjourned the next morning without paying for the drink! A temperance sentiment existed among a certain class of people, who would drink nothing but eider. so he mixed five gallons of cider with five gallons of whisky, and it was high fun to see the temperance folks boozy on Cady's cider.

George H. Cannon read a paper on the life of Judge Burt, who died in 1858, one of the most remarkable men of the early Northwest. President Cady was reminded of an election argument that was used against Burt when he ran for the Legislature. The Judge had a new suit of clothes and was so careful of it that he never sat down without putting a piece of clean paper on the chair. Mr. Cady said the argument(!) was used with no in- considerable effect. Orrin Freeman. of Romeo, told tales of pioneer life, and put in a good word for Freeman's great excursions to the West.

Representative Parker was called upon and addressed the meeting briefly. Mr. Parker dwelt especially upon the history of Chesterfield, and among many facts stated that the first land located in Chesterfield was on the site of the village of New Balti- more, in 1808, being private elaim 343, taken up by Pierre Yacques. Mr. Parker was proud of the fine progress of Chesterfield Township and of it; people.

After the singing of " Northfield." in ye old-fashioned way, the pioneers proceeded to elect Vice Presidents, who were selected as follows:

Romeo-S. H. Ewell. Mt. Clemens -- N. L. Miller. Richmond-David Flagler.

Armada -- Hiram Barrows. Utica -James Alexander, Washington -- Loren Andrus.

917

HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

The new Executive Committee was authorized to settle with the Treasurer, and, after electing several honorary members, among them John Martin, of Oakland County, and L. M. Miller, of Lansing, adjournment was taken until evening.

The evening session began at 8 o'clock, and was devoted wholly to singing and rem- iniscences of Macomb County's early singers. S. H. Ewell, of Romeo, figured promi- nently in the entertainment, and read a paper, in which he mentioned many of the pio- neer singers. Horace H. Cady followed with an interesting recital of musical experiences forty and fifty years ago. Mr. Cady was then chief fugleman among the singers and came to the front on all public occasions. He sang a Fench song with amusing effect. S. H. Davis, of Romeo, sang several old songs to the great delight of the audience, and Secre- tary Day made a few remarks. This last meeting of the pioneers of Macomb adjourned to meet again at Utica.

EARLY BANKS AND BANKERS OF MACOMB COUNTY.

The following paper on the above-named subject was prepared by Lew M. Miller, of Lansing, and read before the pioneers of Macomb, June 13, 1882.

So far as can be at present ascertained, the first attempt to organize a bank in Ma- comb County was made in the year 1834. At that time this county was one of the most thickly settled in the Territory, having within tue same boundaries as at present a popula- tion of more than 6.000. The center of that population was here at Mt. Clemens, then an ambitious little settlement, and one of the most important points in the Territory. In common with the rest of Michigan, this village suffered great inconvenience from the scarcity of currency. Business was hindered. "The butcher, the baker and the candle- stick-maker" had to barter and trust in many of their commercial transactions. Great enterprises were checked, and all the possibilities of the country were lying undeveloped. Such a state of affairs could not be otherwise than irritating to those who had cast their lots in this community. A conference of public-spirited citizens was held and a commit- tee appointed to draw up a memorial to the Legislative Council. Who were most promi- Dent in this movement and who composed the committee, we now have no means of knowing; but their memorial was duly presented to the Council by John Stockton, then a member from Macomb and St. Clair Counties. on January 20, 1834. It is mentioned in the journal as "a memorial from a committee of citizens of Macomb County, praying for the passage of a law to establish a bank at the village of Mt. Clemens."

Similar, though less formal, action was taken at about the same time by citizens of Shelby and the eastern part of Oakland County. They forwarded to the Council two pe- titions, numerously signed, "praying that a charter might be granted to a bank to be called the Clinton River Bank, and to be located in the town of Shelby, county of Ma- comb." One of the petitions was presented by Elon Farnsworth. of Wayne County, on Jannary 21, and the other, on February 4, by Charles C. Hascall. of Oakland County. The memorial from Mt. Clemens and the two petitions from Shelby were referred to the Committee on Incorporations.

It did not seem expedient, however, to a majority of that committee, from the facts set forth in the memorial an I petitious, to grant any charters, at that time, to any banking institutions in Macomb County. The committee, therefore, recommended that the prayer of the petitioners be not granted, and the recommendation was concurred in.

The reasons which led the majority to this conclusion are not set forth in the report of the committee. The whole matter is dispatched with the usual brevity of early Legisla- tive journals. To us there may seem something curt in this refusal to grant a request to which Gen. Stockton and his constituents were so much concerned. Yet who can now question the soundness of the committee's conclusions? One of the majority was Elon Farnsworth, to whose opinions as Chancellor and Attorney General the State of Michigan

918

HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

was afterward wont to listen with attention and respect. Before he concluded that the proposed action was inexpedient, he had doubtless considered well the subject: and it is interesting to note that his conclusions at that time were truly prophetic. Before many years, it became his duty, as Chancellor, to allow writs of injunction against the only two Macomb County banks under the old regime that ever rose to the dignity of an injunction.

Nothing daunted by his first repulse, Mr. Stockton at once gave notice that "on a future day, he would ask leave to introduce a bill to establish the Macomb County Bank, with a capital of $200,000." Upon his motion, the concurrence in the committee's report was reconsidered, and the report tabled. Having thus cleared his way, he introduced " A bill to incorporate the Bank of Macomb County," which passed safely through the various stages, until it reached the order of third reading. There it stopped, having re- ceived but five ayes to eight nays on the question of its passage. The next day, on motion of Mr. Hascall. this vote was reconsidered, and the further consideration of the bill post- poned until the next session of the Council.

Of the provisions of Mr. Stockton's bill. we have no knowledge. Merely the title ap- pears in the journal, together with an incidental mention of $200,000 capital stock. It is probable, however, that its essential features were not very different from those of other charters granted to banking institutions in those days. Nothing more was heard of the "Clinton River Bank, to be located in the town of Shelby. county of Macomb." Its light had gone out in utter darkness.

Mr. Stockton made no further attempt to organize a bank during either of the special sessions of 1834, nor did he broach the subject at the regular session of 1835. Mean while, measures were well under way for the organization of a State government. Dur- ing May and June, a convention had met and framed a constitution, and that document was ready for submission to the people. In the interim, Gov. Mason convened the Legis- lative Council in special session. It assembled on August 17 and adjourned August 25. During this nine days' session, just when the Territory was merging into a State, was passed an act, destined to fill an important chapter in the history of Macomb County. It was entitled " An act to incorporate the Macomb & Saginaw Railroad Company, and for other purposes." It was not the "railroad company," but the "other purposes " that made the act conspicuous. The principal one of the "other purposes " was the granting of authority to the stockholders of the railroad company to establish a bank at Mt. Clem- ens, under the corporate name of "The President, Directors and Company of the Bank of

Macomb County." Gen. Stockton secured the enactment of that law. Whether he re- vived and remodeled his old bill or began anew, it is now impossible to determine. The journal of that session, might, perhaps, inform us; but that journal has long been a miss- ing book, and it is even doubtful whether there is a copy still in existence. So we have but tradition and conjecture to guide us.

Strange as it may now seem to us, the combination of a railroad and a bank was no new proposition, when made by Mr. Stockton. The same Legislative Council, to which he now proposed it, had already, twice before, been guilty of encouraging that kind of miscegenation. During the regular session of 1835, the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad Com- pany and the Detroit & Pontiac Railroad Company had been authorized by amendments to their charters, to establish each a bank; and it is significant to note that the first part of Mr. Stockton's bill was modeled after the original charters of those two railroad com- panies, and the second part after the amendments. Hence, Mr. Stockton could point to two irresistible precedents for the passage of his bill. Furthermore, as railroad projects were then quite popular, he may have shrewdly incorporated one in his bill to help his bank scheme through. Whatever may have been the means adopted. the fact remains that he succeeded in removing enough of the opposition to his project to secure the passage of

019

HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

his bill: and it would be interestnig to know whether Elon Farnsworth was finally won over to a support of the bill, or whether he persisted in his doubt of the expediency of granting charters to any banking institutions in Macomb County.

The bill became a law August 24, 1835. By its provisions, Christian Clemens, John S. Axford, Neil Gray. Azariah Prentiss, James Brown, Rodney O. Cooley and Lan- sing B. Mizner were appointed Commissioners to open books and receive subscriptions to the capital stock of the railroad company, which was to be $1,000,000, divided into shares of $50 each. When 1,000 shares were taken, the subscribers were to become a body cor- porate, by the name of the "Macomb & Saginaw Railroad Company." A single or double railroad, to be located by Israel Curtis. Jacob Tucker and Charles C. Hascall, was to be constructed from Mt. Clemens to Lapeer, and thence to the seat of justice of Saginaw County. Nine Directors were to be chosen annually, on the first Monday of October, and a President from among the Directors or stockholders.

Section 21 confers upon the stockholders of the railroad company the authority to es- tablish a bank at Mt. Clemens, with a capital stock of $100,000, divided into shares of $50 each. The banking corporation was to be known as " The President, Directors and Company of the Bank of Macomb County," and its affairs were to be managed by the President and Directors of the railroad company. Bills might be issued in denominations not less than $1, payable on demand at the company's banking house, within usual busi- ness hours, in the legal money of the United States. Upon failure so to redeem its bills. the corporation was liable to be dissolved, subject. however, to the provisions of the act relative to banks, approved April 23, 1833, which allowed a limit of sixty days, within which to make payment. Before bills were issued, the entire stock of the railroad com- pany was to be conveyed to the bank as security for their redemption, and the Directors were to give collateral security to the Territory for such redemption until ten miles of railroad had been completed. Unless forfeited sooner, the charter was to remain in force forty years. Many other provisions, limitations and restrictions, which it is unnecessary to enumerate here, are incorporated in the charter.

The bank was not put into operation for more than a year after the charter was obtained. The majority of the stock appears to have been originally subscribed for by Gen. Stockton. Among the original subscribers appear also the names of Christian Clemens, Buel Ambrose, H. H. Farley & Co., James Brown, S. F. Atwood, Aaron Whitney. Jr., R. Steward, C. S. Mather, Rodney O. Cooley, De Garmo Jones, of Detroit, Enoch Jones, Edward Brooks, Ebenezer Hall. Isaac J. Grovier. A. B. Rawles, Jacob Beekman. E. G. Pratt, George Lee, Jr .. William Canfield, Mrs. E. R. Hawkins, Miss Louisa Clemens (youngest daughter of Judge Clemens and afterward wife of Col. Henry D. Terry), Daniel Chandler, James Williams, William Roy. William Vandervoort, of Tonawanda, N. Y., James Brown and Israel F. Hatch and Lucius H. Pratt, of Buffalo. N. Y. If there were other original sub- scribers, their names are lost, for the original subscription book disappeared very early in the history of the bank. It was destroyed for reasons best known to those who destroyed it. The following persons became stockholders at an early date by subsequent purchase: Aaron Weeks, James Sweeney, Cornelius O'Flynn. Charles A. Emerson, Dodge & Kibbee. Lewis Godard, George B. Martin, Richard Butler, R. Anderson, James C. Allen, Stephen White, of Boston, Daniel F. Webster, of Peru, Ill., Caroline Webster. Laura Weeks, Mary Stockton, John Norton, Jr., J. H. Lathrop and S. F. Pratt, of Buffalo.

In October. 1836, the following Board of Directors was chosen: Christian Clemens, Rodney O. Cooley, William Canfield, C. S. Mather, Enoch Jones, Edward Brooks, Daniel F. Webster, Aaron Weeks and Isaac J. Grovier. John Stockton was elected President. By the Ist of February, two installments of stock, of 10 per cent, each, had been paid in. and the bank was about to begin operations. Charles A. Emerson was then made Cashier,

920

HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

and bills were executed for the first time, bearing the signatures of John Stockton, Presi- dent, and Charles A. Emerson. Cashier.

The first business transaction of the bank was of a decidedly peculiar nature. It dates by courtesy on Saturday, February 11, 1837, but was in reality executed on Sunday, the 12th. William Vandervoort and Lucius H. Pratt, who then owned a controlling in- terest in the stock, also stockholders, took each $10,000 of the newly signed bills, leaving notes of $10,000 each in place of them. The; also took an additional $20,000, without leaving any evidence of indebtedness, to create a credit for the Macomb County Bank with the Commercial Bank of Buffalo, as they said. With this sum of $40,000, they left the country on the Sabbath, and a knowledge of the transaction was for a long time kept from a majority of the Directors. When it became known, it created much dissatisfaction, and from that date the hard feelings and mutual recriminations which characterize the history of the bank, date. Christian Clemens, Ebenezer Hall, Isaac J. Grovier and William Canfield speak of this transaction and others with much indignation.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Macomb County, Michigan, Part 120

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co. Number of Pages: 952

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co.
Number of Pages: 952