USA > Michigan > Macomb County > History of Macomb County, Michigan > Part 27
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ance to give his home the position of comparative security from distant marauding tribes.
During his captivity he had undoubtedly admired the great beauty of the country lying upon the Huron. In a state of nature but few sections of the country presented greater attractions to such a man. The fertility of the soil, the great abundance of game, the loveliness of the situation, its great rural beauty were suffi- cient attractions. But added to this the spot he had determined to locate upon was a favorite one with the Indians, almost steadily it was their camping ground. On and near that spot their traditions told them, many sanguinary battles between the Chippewas and their enemies had been fought, years before the eye of the white men had seen the country of the great lakes.
Mr. Tuckar partook somewhat of this veneration and love for the spot, and when at the establishment of peace between the United States and the British Gov- ernment, the growth of his family demanded the establishment of a fixed home, he immediately prepared to remove them. He arrived with his family in the spring of 1784, and selected as a site for his dwelling a spot but little distance from what was evidently an old Indian fort used in the days of the struggle for possession of this country between the Chippeways and the Sauks.
The remains of this fort as they appeared at his arrival consisted of an embank- ment and corresponding ditch on the outside, sweeping from the bank of the stream around about one and a half or two acres of ground, to the bank again, making nearly a complete circle. The opening being directly at the river bank. Outside of this were the evidences that the soil had been cultivated and that the Indian had for a time raised his maize there. Within it were found many bits of broken pot- tery of a peculiar character. There were other similar remains of what must have been rude forts on the bank of the Huron on the lands subsequently and even to this day owned by the descendants of William Tuckar.
CHRISTIAN CLEMENS.
Christian Clemens, the pioneer settler of Mt. Clemens, was born in Montgom- ery or Bucks County, Pa., Jan. 30, 1768. He resided on the Pennsylvanian homestead until twenty-seven years old, the while giving his entire attention to agriculture. In 1795 he came to Detroit, where he engaged in the manufacture of leather. Within a short time after his arrival he bought a tract of land on the Rouge River, and laid down those precedents which were so extensively followed by those who came after him to settle in the wilderness. Mr. Clemens made his home at Detroit until 1798, when he removed to the Huron River or Clinton. Here he purchased a tract of land ; the same referred to in the chapter on the French pioneers. The first dwelling house was built by him on, or close by, the
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
site of the present red brick store of Miller, the shoemaker, on Front street. Subsequently he built a distillery on the bank of the river, below the present flouring mill, on the south bank, just below the new iron bridge ; also a still-house just east of the Fleumer Mill. He built a dwelling-house on the site of George M. Crocker's present residence. He carried on a trading store here at an early day, and founded the village of Mt. Clemens in 1818. He has held the positions of Militia Colonel, Chief Justice of County Court, Judge of Probate, etc.
The relation which Judge Clemens bore to Macomb County, and more particularly to Mt. Clemens, was so intimate, that his name must necessarily be closely associated with the general history of the county. No matter what chapter we take up, his name is found therein, and for this reason we are inclined to refer the reader to the general history, so that the part taken by the judge in building up the county may be truly estimated. His death occurred at Mt. Clemens, Aug. 25, 1844; his funeral was truly a representative one.
CHRISTIAN CLEMENS IN A BRITISH DUNGEON.
Wherever the British flag floated, there was the prison for the people-not for the criminals. Immediately after the surrender of Hull, Christian Clemens, then a leading man in the territory, was captured by the British, carried to Detroit, and confined within the old fort as a political prisoner, just as the British of to-day are doing beyond the Atlantic, and would do here had not their power been crushed forever, at least on this continent. His captivity continued until the very day before the American soldiers re-captured the position. It must be con- ceded, however, that this pioneer of Macomb was not subjected to extreme harsh treatment. During the last few days of his captivity, he was allowed to ramble round within the stockade, under the surveillance of Lieuts. Clemens and Watson, two officers of the garrison. A friendship sprung up between Lieut. Clemens and his prisoner, and the former often accompanied the judge on short visits to his family, then living near the fort. It was a common thing for the judge to scale the stockade, and make a visit to his wife and children, with whom he would pass away the evening, and return at a given honr to his quarters within the fort. For some time this procedure was followed by the pioneer of Mt. Clemens unknown to his jailors. At length the prisoner was reported missing, and a detachment ordered out to search for him. The officer in charge of the troops found the judge at his house, quietly smoking his pipe, and enjoying the society of his family. The soldiers seized him, and hurried him back to the fort, without afford- ing him any time to snatch his cap, but instead of placing him in his old quarters, they cast him into the old jail, which then occupied a site across the present Jefferson Avenue from the Michigan Exchange. Here he was rigorously confined
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and subjected to many hardships, until released on parole, the day before Ameri- can courage and honor were avenged, and Hull's true character exposed. After the pursuit and complete defeat of the British and Indians on the Thames River in Canada, Oct. 5, 1813. Lieuts. Clemens and Watson were found among the prisoners, and brought back to Detroit. Finding themselves near the home of their former prisoner, they asked permission to visit him, which request the American General granted, and the two jailers were soon within the hospitable home, among the welcome guests of Judge Clemens.
During Mr. Clemens' imprisonment under the British, Maj. Muir, the com- mandant, compelled him to supply himself with food, to be his own cook, and pay even for other necessaries of life, which even the Indians were accustomed to give to their captives gratis. How different was the treatment of prisoners by the United States authorities, soldiers, and citizens, may be realized from the greeting which awaited the former warders of Judge Clemens after they fell into the hands of the Americans.
DISTINGUISHED VISITANT.
The dances were given at the house of Judge Clemens or at the Cady House. In fact the dancers made a home in every house. Gen. Cass, Col. Larned, Gen. Brown, Judge May, Col. Clarke, of Monroe ; Maj. Biddle, Ed. Brush, and other Statesmen and soldiers of early Michigan made the village a resort, and were in the habit of taking a string band of four performers with them. Those well-known pioneers of the State, after spending some time at Mount Clemens, would pay a visit to Judge Connors, two miles west of the Clemens house, where the city ceme- tery now is. There those merry makers would pass several days, and return to Detroit fully satisfied that they had done justice to all the pleasure which the world offered them.
CHASTISING A SAVAGE.
In one of the pioneer sketches references are made to the Mount Clemens Dis- tillery. Here we shall deal with one of the most ardent admirers of that institu- tion among the savages of the district. It appears that Christian Clemens left the hamlet for Detroit, where he passed some days as a claimant himself, or a witness for other claimants, before the Board of Land Commissioners. During his absence a few members of the Otchipwe band or Witanniss Indians found out exactly where the precious whisky was stored, and determined to have a drink of it. Before the red men could carry out their plans in this direction the nabob of the Huron returned just at a moment when the naked Pachuk was helping himself to a deep, deep draught. The judge realized the situation in a moment, and seizing the old-time tongs, which lay on the hearth-stone close by, dealt the noble red man a blow, brought him to his knees, and was preparing a second edition of the iron lash, when
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the frightened savage turned a summerset, regained his feet, and fled, the while whooping and calling for vengeance. The pioneer settler made preparations for war, but his prudence was unnecessary, at least on that occasion ; for when next he saw that whisky-loving savage, he bore a haunch of venison as an offering of peace to his white chief and brother. The chronicler proceeds to state that the judge often related the story of that event, and always entertained the idea that the safety of himself and the members of his family depended on his decisive action at the moment. Such examples of Caucasian courage and prompt measures were common among the early French pioneers, and were not wanting on the part of Americans. Of the first we have Louis Campeau, at Saginaw, in 1816, and at Grand Rapids in 1826-9; of the second we have Eleazer Jewett, at the Tittaba- wassee post of the American Fur Company in 1826, and Rix Robinson at Ada in Kent County in 1823. Those old settlers played the five acts in the drama of life.
COL. JOHN STOCKTON.
Col. John Stockton, one of the leading spirits of Michigan in early days, one of her oldest soldiers and large-hearted citizens, died at Mount Clemens, November 26, 1878. The deceased served as an officer in the war of 1812 and Colonel in the war of the rebellion. At the time of his death he was in the 88th year of his age. He came to Mount Clemens in its very earliest settlement. He married Mary Allen, a step-daughter of Judge Clemens, the founder and first settler of Mount Clemens. He is the last of those early settlers who has been identified with the . interests of the village during its entire history, and was the oldest resident if not the oldest person here. He was the first Clerk and Register of Deeds in the county, having served in that capacity just sixty-seven years ago, 1818. He was also the first Postmaster and Justice of the Peace of Mount Clemens. He was generous and hospitable to a fault, and has given to the destitute sufficient to have amassed a colossal fortune .. In the political, organic and military chapters of the general history, references are made to this pioneer.
THOMAS ASHLEY.
Thomas Ashley arrived at Mt. Clemens in May, 1820. He was a native of Win- dom, Conn., removing afterward to Batavia, Genesee Co., N. Y. About the year 1811 he became acquainted with the Cady family of Batavia Township. In 1820 he set out on his western journey, and arriving at Detroit, proceeded to Pontiac, and thence to Mt. Clemens, where he built the first entire frame structure erected in the village, if we except the frame addition to the Clemens Honse, built by Col. Stockton, and the little office of lawyer Ezra Prescott. In October, 1820, his fam- ily arrived from Genesee County, and entered at once on a life in the old log house,
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which then stood immediately in the rear of Henry Connor's stables, and the new Week's block.
The family then comprised Mrs. Lucy Ashley, formerly Mrs. Lucy Cady, who married Mr. Ashley about 1810 ; her sons Henry and Chauncey G., and her daugh- ter Lucy Cady. Miss Lovinia Russell, afterwards Mrs. Ezekiel Allen, accompanied the family. In May, 1821, Horace H. Cady and his step-brother Alfred Ashley ar- rived. In 1821 the sons of Mrs. Ashley erected the old saw-mill on the North Branch two miles north of Mt. Clemens, better known as the Haskins mill. The family dwelt in the old loghonse until the erection of the frame building referred to above, in 1823 (the frame was put up in 1821), which stood opposite the new bank- ing house of Crocker and Ulrich, removed to give place to the brick block. Ash- ley was a farmer and one of the early lawyers of the county. He was among the boys of the village of Mt. Clemens, and took part with them in all the merry meet- ings of the villagers, as well as in the more serious meetings of the business com- munity.
CHAUNCEY G. CADY.
Chauncey G. Cady, born in Otsego County, N. Y., Aug. 20, 1803, son of Joseph and Lucy ( Hutchins) Cady, the former a native of Windom, Conn., and the latter of Killingsley, Coun., who removed to Otsego County N. Y. in 1801, settled with his parents in Buffalo, N. Y. in 1805 or 1806, thence to Batavia Township, Gene- see Co., N. Y. in 1806 or 1807, and made that place his home until 1820, when the · family moved into the Territory of Michigan.
Joseph Cady left Buffalo on a land exploratory expedition in 1807, and not re- turning. he was traced to many prominent villages southwards, and ultimately found to have died at Cincinnati on his homeward journey.
Mrs. Lucy Cady married Thomas Ashley in 1810, came to Michigan with her husband and family in 1820, and died on the Cady homestead in Sterling Township, about 1838 or 1839.
Chauncey G. attended the district schools in his native State for about three years. Previously, at the age of six years, he was apprenticed to a farmer named Shubal Dunham, of Genesee County, with whom he stayed three years. In 1809 he returned to his home in Batavia, and for the three successive years labored on the farm during spring and harvest, and attended the schools referred to during the winter. From 1814 to the date of his coming to Michigan, he assisted as clerk in a hotel, then kept by his step-father, Thomas Ashley. In 1820, as stated in the pio- neer record, he came to Mt. Clemens, and entered on that active life which has marked his residence here. In 1833 he moved to his original farm in Clinton and Sterling. He erected a house in each township ; that in Clinton he sold about 1870 to J. & F. Pries, and holds the present residence in Sterling. In 1841 he took an
C. G. CADY.
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active part in local politics, was elected Supervisor, and re-elected in 1845. In the latter year he was elected Representative to the Legislature, was declared elected by the R. B., and took his seat. A full reference is made to this election in the Political Chapter. In 1849 he was re-elected, and entered the Legislature of 1850-'1, being the second session held at Lansing. While Supervisor, he held the office of Justice of Peace for Clinton from 1841 to 1849. He was also elected Justice of Peace for Sterling in 1856; but on account of delay on the part of the town clerk in making returns, did not qualify. He was elected County Drain Com- missioner, and filled the duties of that peculiar office for six years without difficulty and in a manner satisfactory to the Supervisor's Board.
Mr. Cady married Miss Catharine Gerty of Harrison Township in 1829, as given in the marriage record. This lady died Aug. 27, 1865, aged 52 years. He married Miss Mary J. Royce Oct. 22, 1867.
Previous to 1826 he became a member of the Macomb County militia, under Gen. Stockton. He was paymaster of the command, ranked as major, and dis- charged at muster out of regiment in 1829. His military ontfit alone was present during the Toledo war, as he loaned it to Gen. Stockton. On the organization of the Pioneer Society in 1881, Mr. Cady was elected first President. He was mem- ber of the Convention which nominated Alpheus Felch for governor, vice John Barry ; also of State Convention in 1880 from Macomb senatorial district, as well as of several County Conventions. Mr. Cady was an old Jackson Democrat up to 1854, when he joined the Republican party, and has proved a faithful earnest mem- ber of that party up to the present time. As a pioneer of Mt. Clemens, and an old resident of the county, full references are made to him in the histories of the county and city. To-day he is the senior living settler of Macomb County, and gives promise of being able to make the same proud statement at the beginning of the next century.
WM. A. BURT.
William Austin Burt was born at Worcester, Mass., June 13, 1792. He was the son of Alvin and Wealthy Burt, natives of Massachusetts, whose parents ar- rived in the American colonies in 1740. The grandparents, as well as parents, followed a seafaring life, and so their days were passed beside the Atlantic, until the western fever urged them away from the sea coast to seek a western home. Imme- diately after the birth of W. A. Burt, his family moved into Montgomery County, N. Y., where they remained eleven years, or until 1803. Montgomery County was then on the borders of civilization, so it is not surprising to learn that the youth of eleven summers was minus books, schools, and almost everything known in the old settlements.
After the burning of Buffalo, December 30, 1813, a call was made for volun- 16
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teers ; young Burt enrolled his name as a member of the New York militia (60 days men). With this command he moved into Canada. In 1814 he served a second term with a three months' regiment. In the fall of that year he formed a partner- ship with his father-in-law, Mr. Cole, as merchants. The partners did not succeed in business, so that W. A. Burt returned to the carpenter's bench, and in com- pany with John Allen, afterwards a settler of Bruce, engaged in mill-building. He entered upon his western journey at the outlet of ChautauquaLake, August 13, 1817. On the 24th he reached Pittsburg; St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 19, and Detroit Oct. 26, 1817. He returned to his eastern home; but came again to Michigan in 1822. On his return journey he made the hazardous venture of traveling 200 miles through the wilderness. At Detroit he had a true friend in Gen. Cass. Soon after he visited Oakland County, where he built a saw mill for Webster at Auburn. Here he was soon joined by John Allen, his brother-in-law. Before the mill was completed Webster died (being the first death in Oakland), yet Burt and Allen fulfilled their contract. After this those friends built a mill at Waterford. While engaged here, Burt visited Fletcher's survey party, and subsequently explored the country as far as the Horie Settlement, now Romeo. In 1823 he purchased a tract of land in Washington township, and returned in the fall to Erie County, New York, from which locality he brought his family hither in the spring of 1824. Dur- ing the succeeding summer he erected the Taylor and Millard mills on Lower Stony Creek, and built a log house for himself on his land near that point. In 1825 he completed the Upper Stony Creek mill, or the Hersey mill, by placing in it a run of stone. That mill is now in operation, just over the line in Oakland County. Many other mills were built by Burt and Allen previous to 1826, including the concern for Alpheus Wadhams within six miles of Port Huron.
W. A. Burt was elected a member of the Territorial Legislature in the fall of 1826. In 1828 he built the Dexter mills, referred to in the History of Washtenaw. During this time he discussed with Samuel Dexter the question of the utility of the masonic order. He was the originator of a masonic society at Stony Creek, being the third lodge formed in the Territory of Michigan.
In 1831 he was elected County Surveyor, was appointed Associate Judge, April 24, 1833, and United States District Surveyor, November 23, 1833. He engaged in building the mills at the ancient village of Frederick, in 1833; but so soon as his appointment was made, he gave up the labor of a carpenter and mill- builder. His duties as United States Surveyor took him westward to the Missis- sippi. He ran the township lines where the city of Milwaukee now stands. He was appointed a Commissioner of Internal Improvement, April 3, 1838, and made the survey of the railroad to Saginaw. Previously he was the first surveyor of the old strap railroad from Detroit to Ypsilanti.
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He possessed some inventive genius, and produced an instrument by which he conveyed his thoughts to paper in printed form. He constructed a surveying instru- ment different from anything hitherto known. He cast aside the Polar Star, and made the Sun his objective point. The result of his nursing and inquiries was the Solar Compass, invented by him and made in the shop of W. J. Young, of Phil- adelphia. In the survey of the Northern Peninsula this compass was found to be a sine qua non. On September 19, 1844, Mr. Burt discovered iron ore at the place now known as the Jackson iron mine. On the drowning of Dr. Houghton, Decem- ber 13, 1845, Mr. Burt and others were called upon to complete as far as possible the reports. In the summer of 1851 he visited Europe. In 1855 he wrote a treatise on the Solar Compass.
He was engaged in the construction of the Equatorial Sextant, at Detroit, in 1858, when death summoned him away from his work, August 18, 1858. Mrs. Burt died a few years later, and both sleep in the cemetery of Mount Vernon. Regarding this settler it may be truly said, that he was one of this world's true noblemen. Honest, sincere, intellectual, he recommended himself to every one, winning the esteem of all with whom he associated.
Mr. Burt's children are : Jolin, Alvin, Austin, Wells, and William. Alvin Burt died in Wisconsin some years ago ; John, Austin and Wells reside at Detroit, William makes his home at Marquette. All these men are pioneers of the iron dis- tricts of the Peninsula, all are surveyors, and to their desire to make a thorough exploration of the Lake Superior country, the development of that portion of the Peninsula is mainly due. The labors of the survey were entered upon by Wm. A. Burt, in 1844.
THE SETTLEMENT OF THE DARLINGS.
In the year 1823, Sylvester Darling and George Wilson with their families arrived at Detroit. There they secured the services of three sailors-owners of a canoe-who started to guide them on a voyage via Lake St. Clair to Mt. Clemens. One small sail was all the propelling power the small craft had at command. All went well until near their destination. It was nearly night, and they were very anxious to land before darkness set in; but they were not to be so favored ; for when within a little more than an hour's sail from their port, an angry squall over- took them and they were driven helplessly before it. Like a feather their sail was torn from the mast, the men caught it before it was carried overboard, and refas- tened it to the mast with a clothes' line and held the bottom with their hands-no easy task in the face of a November gale. All through the hours of that memorable night the men took turns in holding the sail, for there were no oars aboard the frail craft. The women and the little children cowered in one end of the boat under the slight protection of an old awning, but the driving rain soon penetrated their
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place of refuge, and they were in a pitiful condition indeed. Who can picture the despair that overtook them : impenetrable darkness surrounded them, and they were driving on to an unknown fate. One of the sailors overcome by fear, crouched in the bottom of the boat, refusing to save himself or his fellow voyagers. The angry waves boiled and hissed round them, lashed into fury by the fierce storm. They knew not in what direction they were going, only that they were being driven away from the point they wished to gain. Thus the long night passed, and day began to dawn. The shore was close at hand, but the waves were breaking upon it with such fury they could not dare to land. There they cast anchor, ex- pecting every moment the waves to engulf them ; but toward night the waters calmed sufficiently for them to land. No signs of habitation could be seen ; they were apparently on the border of the Canadian wilderness. There they built a fire, dried their wet clothing, and cooked a little provisions for a much required meal. A brush-hut was next built to offer shelter to them from the cold winds which still continued to blow. On the afternoon of the next day they dared ven- ture out on the waters ; but after two hours battle with the winds, they were forced backward to the wild shore where the previous night was passed. Here the party remained four days until the storm subsided, when they made an attempt to go forward on their journey. . This time the voyage was successful, and it is believed no travelers were ever more joyful than were those who escaped all the dangers of that tempestuous voyage from Detroit to Mt. Clemens.
After two days passed at Mount Clemens, the party proceeded to Shelby. Not having any houses built, they entered an old log hut on the Wilcox Place, there to wait until some better building could be erected. It was a wretched place, small, and open to the weather on all sides, and, to use Mrs. Darling's own expression, You might throw a dog through the roof anywhere. In this hut a little child was born-a Darling, while Mrs. Wilson cared for her own babe not yet two months old. Here the Wilson and Darling families remained for six weeks, and just as one of Michigan's fiercest winters was upon them they moved into snug log houses on their own lands, Mr. Wilson's land lying three-fourths of a mile south of Wash- ington, and Mr. Darling's one mile farther to the south. Of the heads of these families, Mrs. Darling alone is left, and the children who encountered the perils of that voyage with their parents are old gray-headed people.
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