USA > Michigan > Macomb County > History of Macomb County, Michigan > Part 26
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Stephen H. Fitch, born in Columbia County. N. Y., July 17, 1807, moved to Ontario County, N. Y., in 1824; thence to Cat araugus County, 1828, and to Romeo, May 2, 1831.
Mrs. Phoebe Waterman, daughter of Mr. Stroup, was born in Seneca County, N. Y., April 27, 1815; removed to Yates County, N. Y., and thence to Ray, Macomb Co., Mich., in May, 1827.
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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
Mrs. Chloe Steward, wife of N. Carter, born in Vermont, April 13, 1815, moved to New York State, and thence to Ray, in 1829.
Mrs. Joseph Crissman, formerly Miss Elizabeth Snover, was born in Warren County, N. J., July, 1806, came to Bokland June 1, 1832.
Wallace Westbrook, born in Sussex County, N. Y., April 16, 1824, moved to Ontario County, N. Y., thence to Bruce Township, October 15, 1848.
Daniel Miller, born in Madison County, N. Y., February 18, 1798, moved to Genesee County, thence to Washington Township, 1822. He was a soldier of the War of 1812-14.
Jesse Bishop, born at Rielimond, N. Y., May 24, 1303, moved to Monroe County, N. Y., and came to Bruce Township, Macomb Co., August 14, 1831.
Ebenezer Brooks, born at Putney, Vt., January 15, 1809; moved into Massa- chusetts in 1818, thence to Lenox, Macomb County, April, 1834.
Mrs. C. D. Brooks settled here with her husband.
Josiah T. Robinson, born in Otsego County, N. Y., January 2, 1807 ; moved into Onondaga County, thence to Monroe, next to Orleans County, and lastly settled in Clinton Township, May 18, 1831.
Major Webster, born in Monroe County, N. Y., August 29, 1801, moved to Ray Township, June 1, 1826.
Michael Bowmann was born in New York State in 1786.
Edmund L. Goff was born in Monroe County, N. Y., January 6, 1817 ; came to Washington, December 20, 1838.
Lucy Goff was born in Oakland County, N. Y., May 8, 1823; came to Shelby, Macomb Co., March, 1830.
G. W. Phillips, was born at Lima, Livingston Co., N. Y., July 17, 1829, came to Armada, August, 1831. He has been president of the State Board of Agricul- ture from 1870 to 1872; member of the Board for twelve years, and president of the M. Co. Ag. Society for eight years.
H. T. Bancroft, born in Niagara County, N. Y., April 8, 1827, moved to Armada, Mich., July 14, 1839.
L. D. Owen, born in Genesee County, N. Y., August 16, 1815 ; came to Shelby, July 3, 1825.
Mrs. G. W. Phillips, born at Romeo, December 6, 1828, daughter of A. W. Sterling.
Daniel Flagler, born at Albany, N. Y., May 14, 1814, moved into Richmond Township, Macomb County, October, 1836.
Alex. H. Shelp, born in Orange County, N. Y., January 8, 1820; settled at Mount Clemens, October 17, 1843, and at Romeo, August 17, 1846.
G. H. Cannon, was born in Saratoga County, N. Y., December 30, 1826, moved
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to Washtenaw in 1833, and to Bruce Township in 1835. Mr. Cannon has been engaged in the Public Land Survey sevice since 1849. He has contributed not a little to the geological and archaeological history of this State.
Amos Finch, born in Macomb County, July 10, 1836. Native.
E. F. Sibley, born at Brighton, N. Y., November 29, 1827; settled in Armada Township, October, 1835.
Hiram Barrows, born at Wyoming, N. Y., in 1824; moved westward to Wis- consin in 1842; came to Michigan five years later, and settled in Ray Township in May, 1847. Mr. Barrows has served the Union in the War of 1861-5.
Mrs. Anna A. Pettibone, born in Wyoming County, N. Y .; came to Michigan with her husband in 1845.
Mrs. Pierce, formerly May Lusk, was born in Monroe County, N. Y., January 10, 1810; came to Washington Township, July 3, 1848.
Mrs. Geo. (Simmons) Carter, Rev. Thomas Stalker, Elisha Calkins, and J. L. Starkweather, are among the members of the Society.
Anna Finch (Smith) born in Richmond Township, September 24, 1846, removed to Shiawassee County in 1861, returned to Armada in 1867. Native.
Nathan Hurd was born in Canada, August 7, 1825; settled in Macomb County in 1834.
Mrs. H. N. Bissell (Elizabeth Hubbard), was born at Bolton, Conn., February 25, 1820, and moved to Mount Clemens in 1854.
Rev. H. N. Bissell, born at East Winsor, Conn., June 2, 1816, moved to Milan, Ohio in 1835, and to Macomb County in 1854.
Perrin C. Goodell, born in Monroe County, N. Y., July 2, 1817, settled in Armada Township, May 17, 1831.
H. N. Richards, born at Wethersfield, N. Y., Jannary 2, 1820, settled in Lenox Township, November 15, 1842.
G. H. Stuart, born at West Bloomfield, N. Y., October 20, 1813, settled in Richmond Township, in May, 1842.
Seth Davis, born in Richmond Township, July 13, 1840, moved into Armada Township in 1873.
John E. Barringer, born in Ontario County, N. Y., July 16, 1841, settled in Armada Township, November 4, 1862.
Syrena (Smith) Flagler, is one of the old settlers of the county, and a member of the Society.
W. G. Anderson, born in Otsego County, N. Y., May 22, 1817, moved to Mazara County in 1821, and thence to Macomb County, May 22, 1831.
William E. Preston, born at Eastford, Conn., June 20, 1822, moved to Chau- tauqua County in 1854, and to Macomb County in 1865.
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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
Lavinia E. P. Preston (Leonard), was born at Woodstock, Conn., June 19, 1824, moved eastward in 1846, and to Armada in 1865.
James Flower, born in Delaware County, N. Y., October 18, 1810, moved to Genesee County, N. Y., in 1828, to Washtenaw County, Mich., in 1832, and to Armada Township in 1835.
Joseph Weller, born in Chesterfield Township, July 4, 1831. Native.
Newman Freeman was born in Washington Township, April 27, 1832; settled in Armada Township in 1844. Native.
Mary Freeman (Frost) was born in Armada Township, July 28, 1839. Native. Sallie A. Aldrich (Finch) was born at Richmond, Ontario Co., N. Y., June 9, 1818, settled at Armada in 1828.
James Banister, born at Gainesville, Wyoming Co., N. Y., March 27, 1827, moved to Ontario County, N. Y., thence to Armada, June, 1855.
Charlotte Day (Smith), born at Aurelius, Cayuga Co., N. Y., March 27, 1827, moved to Ontario County, N. Y., and thence to Armada, 1855.
Jane (Butterfield) Pomeroy, Linott Butterfield, Mary E. (Corbin) Sibley, Charles A. Lathrop, Rachel A. (Young) Lathrop, and Mrs. A. C. Bennett, are among the members of the Society.
W. D. Pettibone, born in Wyoming County, N. Y., July 24, 1834, settled in Michigan, at Armada, July 4, 1845.
John Hicks, born at Bristol, Ontario Co., N. Y., October 15, 1803, settled in Richmond Township, October 16, 1836.
Bert C. Preston was born in Armada Township, January 2, 1859. Native.
Elisha D. Lathrop was born in Armada Township, December 25, 1839. Native. Caleb Miller was born in Orleans County, N. Y., October 21, 1814.
Geo. N. Carter born in Armada Township, Macomb County, March 1, 1834.
S. H. Corbyn, of Plainfield, Mich., an old settler of the county, was admitted a member of the Society.
PIONEER REMINISCENCES.
In the following pages extracts from the records, belonging to the Pioneer Association, are given, together with many stories, characteristic of pioneer life, collected from other sources. The sketches of the O'Connor, or Connor, and the Tucker families are taken from papers on the early history of the county by Judge Eldredge.
THE O'CONNOR FAMILY.
About the year 1744, during an out-break in Ireland, when the times were turbulent there, and the beauties of the new world were somewhat known to the people of that country, two young Irishmen, some sixteen or eighteen years old, brothers, secretly boarded a vessel about leaving one of the ports for America, and
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hid themselves among the freight, until the vessel was well at sea. They were named Richard and John O'Connor.
Upon their arrival here, or soon after, they separated. and Richard working to the West, finally arrived at the place now called Painesville, Ohio, where by in- dustry and perseverance, he acquired what in those days was considered quite a property. He remained at that point for a number of years, married there, and engaged in the business of trading-mainly with the Indians.
The maiden name of the lady he married was Myers. O'Connor had, while doing business with the Indians, learned of the fact that they had a white girl in their tribe as prisoner. He immediately opened negotiations for her purchase, and finally succeeded in acquiring title. He paid in dicker what was then considered as $200. Many in our day would undoubtedly consider this a good bargain, for most of our young men indirectly pay a larger sum than this in divers costly methods of testifying regard. Gifts, treats, balls, and rides, and for a wife that proves to be a burden, instead of a help-meet.
Miss Mvers, who was thus redeemed from captivity, was taken by the Indians during one of their raids upon the defenceless frontiers of the Colonies. When taken she was about four years old. Her father, when he discovered the approach of the Indians, hid the children and attempted to flee for succor. He was living upon the Monongahela River, in the State of Maryland. He swam the river and as he ascended the opposite bank was shot dead. The Indians, in searching for plun- der, approached so near the secreted children that one of them could not refrain from an exclamation of fear. They were discovered and taken. Two of them were subsequently recaptured from the Indians. The third was kept and brought up by them as a slave, until she was bought from her captors by her future husband.
Richard O'Connor with his wife remained at Painesville until some time dur- ing the Revolutionary War, when in one of the many expeditions organized and set on foot by the British against the defenceless out-posts of the Colonies, the whole family were taken prisoners by the Chippewas. The family then consisted of Mr. O'Connor, his wife, and three or four children. As to the number of children born before their capture, there are different accounts. From one of the grandchildren we learn that there were five, John, William, James, Henry, and Susanna.
The family were ruthlessly stripped of all property, and were not allowed to retain even a kettle for which Mrs. O'Connor prayed that her captors might assign to them. They were compelled to travel on foot, when the Chippewas retreated to their home, which was situated on the Huron of Lake St. Clair (now the Clinton).
In this weary march Mr. O'Connor first bore one then another of his sons in his arms, and the mother bore continually upon her back after the manner in which
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the tribe in which she had so long been kept prior to her marriage, carried their burdens.
It was late in the fall, and the feet of the little ones suffered severely. James, particularly, had his feet cut by the hard frozen ground and for miles marked his foot-steps with blood. He had a wiry, enduring frame, and the manliness he dis- played in the weary tramp, attracted the admiration of one of the Chippewa chiefs, and when the journey's end was reached this chief claimed and took James as his special property. After their arrival here the boys were separated from the family and scattered among the various tribes. Thus it was each one in after years spoke a different dialect of the Indian language. The father, mother, and youngest child if there were but four, were kept together.
Soon afterward, within a few years, the Moravians were located by order or advice of the Commandant at Detroit, upon the Huron, at Frederick. Immediately upon their arrival, the family were one by one redeemed. First, Mr. O'Connor, his wife, and youngest child ; then the boys John, Henry, and William ; James was not so soon redeemed. The chief who had adopted him was otherwise childless, and for a time refused to deliver him up, but gave to Mr. O'Connor the privilege of visiting his son at the home of his Indian father, at stated periods. The chief learned to love James very much, and he took particular pride in his manly bearing and the vigor he displayed at all times. He was accustomed to dress the then lad in the war-paint and feathers of a young chieftain, and to teach him the various arts in which the Indian took pleasure. The boy thus acquired the habits and manners of the youth of his tribe, and learned to love them and the life he then seemed destined to lead. He, to some extent, forgot his past life and its associa- tions, and even learned to despise, and regarded with fear, his own parents.
So strong was this feeling with him that upon the announcement that his white father was coming he would flee into the woods and conceal himself in the thickets like a frightened fawn, and would reappear only at the call of his Indian father.
When finally his white father did prevail upon the chief to surrender the child he had to be confined like a prisoner for a number of days to prevent his return to the wilds again.
The songs and caresses of the mother aided by the sports of the brothers finally overcame his desire to return to the tent of the chieftain, and Mr. O'Connor again had about him his whole family. This was accomplished after the time that the Moravians took their departure from the county. It is claimed that the desire of the mother to remain near her child was one of the main reasons why O'Connor did not accompany the Mission, with which he had become connected.
Mr. O'Connor remained upon the spot he had chosen for a home, on the farm now known as the " Velt's farm" about one and a half miles west of Mt. Clemens.
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He was accustomed to till in his way the various spots along the river, that were left clear, by Nature, or had been cleared by the Indians. One of these spots was known as the " Macoance Meadows," and afterwards known as the Moe-place.
In our former article we abstracted from the paper of the Rev. Mr. Bissel, a portion thereof in which it was asserted that Mr. Richard O'Conner came to the county with the Moravians Zeisberger-Jungman and others in 1783.
We have gathered the facts we have above written from one of the descendants of Mr. O'Connor, and do not undertake to determine which version, the Rev. Mr. Bissel's or the one we have given, is the true one, though we incline to accept the family tradition as above set forth, as the more reliable.
Mr. Bissel, in speaking further of Mr. O'Connor and his family, says :- " Though we have not the precise date of Mr. O'Connor's arrival, yet he was there with his wife and four sons James, John, William, and Henry, in 1783. De- cember 16 of that year, his youngest child, Susanna, afterwards wife of Elisha Har- rington was born, and was baptized by the Moravian Missionary the 21st. She was, probably, the first child born in this county of parents speaking the English lan- guage. She died in 1848, aged sixty-five years." This Mr. Richard O'Connor was the ancestor of those families who now are known as Connors or Conners. . They have Yankeefied their name by dropping the ('. He was undoubtedly the first white man speaking English who attempted the erection of a home within the limits of this county. He died here on the 17th of April, 1808. His life was an eventful one. It may have been a boyish freak that led to his departure for this country from that land which never reared a for- getful son. Often, as he was borne over the ocean, must he naturally have regretted the step he had taken.
The many trials of his manhood through which he must have passed ere he reached and while he resided in Ohio, could they be faithfully recorded would make an interesting history. The manner in which he commenced his wooing, his sub- sequent capture, the dispersion of his family, his persistent and untiring efforts to rescue his children, his final location so far in the wilderness, away from society and civilization, in fine his whole life is a fitter foundation for a romance than it is for a plain, unvarnished historical article, written solely as this is to rescue from oblivion something of the history of those who first came to this county.
THE TUCKAR FAMILY.
During the French war, and about the year 1753, the Chippewas, who inhab- ited this section of the State, became engaged in one of the raids so frequent in those days, upon the settlements in Virginia. They surprised a family of Virginians engaged in harvesting wheat near Stoverstown in that State. The head of the
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family was ruthlessly shot down, and two boys seized as prisoners, and brought to the homes of the tribe. The boys were named Joseph and William Tuckar. Wil- liam was then about eleven years old, Joseph was some years older. These boys were retained as prisoners until near of age, when they, under the influence of the British, were allowed to visit their childhood's home. They had, however, during their captivity, been treated with considerable kindness, and had learned to love the life in the woods. They remained in Virginia but a short time, and returned to the post at Detroit where they entered the employ of traders. They soon en- gaged in the business themselves. They received supplies of goods from the traders at the post, and visited the different abiding places and camps of the Indians, relying mainly for transportation upon the canoe.
The elder brother, Joseph Tuckar, it is believed, was lost on one of these trips. He, with a comrade, had gone on a trading expedition to an island in the northern part of Lake Huron, where a tribe of friendly Indians with whom he was acquainted was accustomed to dwell. The tribe was absent on a hunting expedi- tion to the mainland, and remained away a number of weeks. Upon returning they found in one of the cabins the goods which formed the supplies of the traders, and the full equipage thereof. Sometime afterward they found upon another island a short distance off, the bleached remains of two whites, one of which they recognized as Joseph Tuckar by a peculiar, large brooch he was accustomed to wear. It was presumed that having arrived in the camp of the tribe they sought to visit, and finding the Indians absent, they had with their boat alone, gone to the neighboring island in search of the tribe, and that the boat had, while the traders were searching the island, floated off and left them no means of escape. They had evidently starved, which is the report of the tribe, as given to William Tuckar, and so friendly were these Indians to Joseph and his brother there is little reason to disbelieve it.
The outbreak of Pontiac's conspiracy in 1763 found the younger brother, William Tuckar, in the employ of the English commandant, Major Gladwin, at Detroit. To William Tuckar alone, was the garrison at that place indebted for the dis- covery of Pontiac's intentions, and the consequent saving of the post. The tribe by which he had for years been held a captive, was engaged in the enterprise of which the famous Indian chieftain was the leader. He had, according to Indian custom, been adopted into one of the leading families of the tribe, and to the younger members thereof was like a brother. He was intending to go upon a hunting expedition from the fort for a few days, and on the day before the out- break, was visiting the family in which he had been kept during his captivity, who were tented upon this side of the river, and but a short distance from the fort. While there he made known his intentions as to the sporting trip he was about to
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take, and solicited the company of one of his young Indian brothers. This was re- fused. He also, while there, made known to the family that early in the morn he was going to the general camp of the Indians across the river to get some moccasins that were being made for him by a squaw famous for her skill in that line.
As he left the camp to go to the fort, his Indian sister secretly followed him heyond hearing of her family, and with anxious countenance, besought him not to go across the river, but to start at once upon his hunting trip, and she tendered to him some moccasins she had made, in order to enable him to go prepared, without visiting the other side of the river. William's perfect knowledge of the Indian character at once suggested to him that there was some terrible reason for her anxiety, and he besought her to make it known. Her sisterly affection for him finally prompted her to disclose to him fully what she had learned as to the intent of Pontiac. The position of her family had enabled her to become conversant with all the details of the plan so soon to be executed upon the devoted garrison.
Mr. Tuckar immediately returned to the fort and informed the commandant of the post of what he had learned. Measures were taken to defeat the nefarious designs of the wily chief. The success of these measures, and the overthrow of Pontiac, are matters of general history, and pertain not particularly to that of this county.
It is more than probable that the facts here set forth as to William Tuckar's discovery of the plot of Pontiac, are the only foundation for the romantic statement as to the Indian girl, Catherine, betraying her tribe out of simple admiration for Major Gladwin, who had been but a short time at the post, and even could not speak the Indian language, that have generally been accepted as history. So prone are imaginative historians to accredit the performance of any notable deed solely to persons in high life, that one does not wonder at the ease with which the facts connected with Tuckar's discovery of the plot, have been woven into quite a romance, of which Gladwin is the pretended hero.
William Tuckar was the first person about the garrison who learned of the deep-laid scheme of Pontiac. He alone conveyed the intelligence to Major Gladwin.
Both Lanman and Sheldon, in their histories of the State mention Mr. Tuckar as a soldier in the garrison, and accredit him with having been apprised as above stated, of the conspiracy ; but for the sake of ornamental romance, it is claimed that Gladwin was also on the same day apprised by his dusky, smoky sweetheart to the same effect.
During the struggle of the garrison to save themselves from destruction, Mr. Tuckar, although really a non-combatant, did the duty of a soldier, and for sixty days and nights, was almost steadily on guard. During that time his gun was out
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of his hands but for a moment at a time. Fully aware of the nature of the enemy, he, of all the garrison, best knew the necessity of constant watchfulness.
After the overthrow of Pontiac and the restoration of comparative peace, Mr. Tuckar returned to Virginia, and married at Stover's Town, August 8, 1773, Catherine Hezel. After his marriage he returned to Detroit, and lived there until the Revolutionary war commenced. During that struggle he was employed as an interpreter by the English officers in their intercourse with the Indians. He de- clined to take the position of a combatant on their side in the struggle. His ability to speak the Indian language of the various tribes made his services of impor- tance.
Prior to the commencement of the struggle upon the part of the colonies for Independence, Tuckar had been chiefly engaged in trading expeditions among the Indians, at times acting simply as interpreter for other traders.
In all his intercourse with the Indians he acted the part of an honest, upright man. This, together with the fact that he was by reason of his importance as an interpretor of many Indian dialects, enabled him to exercise large influence. He never hesitated to use this in many cases of attempted frauds upon those with whom he had spent his earlier years. He came to be justly regarded as an especial friend of the savage. As a reward for his kindness the chiefs of the Chippewas on the 22d of September, A. D. 1780, acting for their whole tribe, executed to him a deed in the name of their people, of a large tract of land nearly all lying between the River Huron, of Lake St. Clair, and the Riviere Aux Vase, extending back from the lake some sixty miles. This deed is written upou parchment, in beauti- ful handwriting, and was drawn by one T. Williams at Detroit, who certifies there- on, as a Justice of the Peace, that the several chiefs whose names are attached to said deed, did make the characters purporting to be made by them, and that the same was their free act and deed.
The chiefs signed it by drawing in ink, their respective "totems," one being a turtle, another a crow, and the others similar symbols, and is now in possession of the Tuckar family. Not being signed by the British Governor of Canada, it was not regarded as any proof of title by the United States upon their assuming control of the country, and Mr. Tuckar was thus left in the same position as the French settlers upon the lake and Mr. Richard Connor, entirely dependent upon the liber- ality of the new Republic.
Mr. Tuckar had procured the execution of the deed by the Indians, for the purpose of making him a permanent home, a sufficient distance from the growing settlements to allow him to pass his life in the enjoyment of those pursuits so con- genial to him, and to leave hunting, trapping and fur-trading undisturbed by the bustle of life in populated communities, and yet sufficiently near a post of import-
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