USA > Michigan > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Michigan : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume I > Part 33
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
The minor details of personal effort and activity are not of great im- portance in this narrative, except so far as they may serve to bring out the loyal, gallant and persistent efforts of the members of the "Third Michigan Cavalry Brigade," to honor in permanent form the memory of their old and well beloved leader, General Geo. A. Custer, and it is a pleasant memory in the hearts of Michigan soldiers and citizens of Monroe, that it is largely to their united and patriotic efforts that this purpose has been accomplished. It is, perhaps, one of the most difficult and delicate of tasks to assign special and specific honors to any in- dividual in such a successful undertaking where there was such spon- taneous volunteering and arduous work performed, but we have great pleasure in printing a letter from General James H. Kidd, of Ionia, Michigan, one of Custer's most able and trusted generals, a member of the monument commission, who also rendered yoeman service in this work, in a letter written to the author, dated March 27, 1912, he says : "In connection with the securing the statue for Monroe, to General George G. Briggs is due high honors. More than to any other man, perhaps I might say, more than to all other men together, your city owes the noble statue which adorns it; for in supervising the modeling, and the design of the appropriate pedestal, his educated taste and trained judgment on matters of art were at all times controlling factors." While none was in the least lukewarm in the legislature, during the consideration of the bill appropriating $25,000 for the statue, and fixing the location for it (which in the original bill designated the site at the state capital), too much praise cannot be awarded to Honorable B. H. Trabbic for his alertness and efficient efforts in causing the site to be changed to Monroe instead of Lansing. Also to Colonel W. O. Lee, of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, to Mayor Jacob Martin, to Charles E. Greening and to many other equally active, prompt and enterprising citizens of Monroe, unstinted praise is due in bringing about the earn- estly desired result, in locating the site of the statue at Monroe, which, it is now generally conceded to be the proper and logical location. A commission was appointed by the governor to take entire charge of the details of design and completion of the statue, of which it was stipu-
240
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
lated that at least three of its members should be from the Michigan Cavalry Brigade. The commission thus appointed was composed of the following gentlemen: General James H. Kidd, Colonel Geo. G. Briggs and Lieutenant Frederick A. Nims; Colonel Briggs being chairman. The unveiling commission consisted of the following: Colonel George C. Briggs, James V. Barry, Otto Kirchner, Governor Fred Warner, General James H. Kidd, Lieutenant F. A. Nims.
The contract with the sculptor, Edward C. Potter, was made Febru- ary 1, 1908, which provided that the statue should be ready for dedica- tion October 1, 1909; various difficulties arose to prevent the carrying out of this provision; the delicate health of the sculptor, also caused delays in the work, so that nearly a year elapsed before there was much accomplished. The wishes of General Custer's personal friends were that the date of the ceremonies of unveiling the statute might be fixed to commemorate some memorable battle in which he victoriously led the Michigan brigade. This was the original intention, but was found impracticable for one reason and another. The date was finally deter-
CUSTER MEMORIAL, MONROE
mined upon by the fact that on June 4, 1910, President Taft would be in Michigan and could honor the occasion by his presence and partici- pation together with many other notables of the United States, thus giving it the importance and significance of a national event. The occasion partook of that character, and was memorable in the annals of Monroe and of the state of Michigan.
An immense concourse of people assembled at the scene on the public square where the magnificent statue stood under the drapery of two huge American flags; it filled every available space for blocks around ; the people came from far and near to do honor to the gallant cavalryman. A grand stand accommodating 500 honored guests was filled with an interesting throng, while the President of the United States with his suite and military aids, the governor of the state. her two senators and the members of the monument commission, with Mrs. Elizabeth Bacon Custer, the General's widow, and her friends were seated at the front; just at the foot of the platform containing these distinguished visitors,
.
241
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
a grand chorus of seventy-five of Monroe's fairest young ladies were seated, with orchestra and a military band. At the left of the grand stand, in front of the speakers, chairs were occupied by representatives of the press of the whole country to the number of sixty-seven ; photog- raphers innumerable recorded the inspiring scene which eclipsed any former demonstration in the state of Michigan in dignity, sentiment, and quality of its composition and the enthusiasm of its participants.
The oration of the day was by Senator W. A. Smith of Grand Rapids, and was a most eloquent, scholarly and worthy tribute to the man and the occasion which inspired it, and was paid the compliment of tre- mendous cheers and applause.
PRESIDENT TAFT'S ADDRESS
The address by the President of the United States, William Howard Taft, was received by the great audience with tumultuous applause and every demonstration of approval. The address was not of great length, and this fact enables me to present it entire, as worthy of preservation for its beautiful tribute to the General, especially as it emphasized his great services to the Union in the development of the boundless west. Following is the address of the President :
Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Custer, Fellow Citizens of Michigan and of the United States, Ladies and Gentlemen :- After the most appropriate and eloquent oration of your distinguished Senator in Congress from Michigan, there remains but little for me to say. He spoke on behalf of the people of Michigan and spoke most of those services which Custer rendered during the Civil war, in which the State of Michigan took rightly especial pride and look back to the memory of Custer with especial gratitude.
A typical soldier; a great cavalry commander, a man whose memory brings out of the past the names of the greatest cavalry commanders of the world; Murat, Prince Rupert and others; he stands equal with all of them. From Bull Run to Appomattox, in every bloody battle of the Army of the Potamac, he was the right arm of the commander of the forces as the leader of the cavalry corps and the cavalry brigade.
A Brigadier-General at twenty-three; a Major-General at twenty-five, he showed in his life that same worth and force that we have in most of the great military commanders of the world.
But I came here, my friends, to speak today of a phase of General. Custer's carcer that is not dwelt upon with as much emphasis and gratitude as I think it deserves. He stood among the heroes of the Civil war and for four years he led his cavalry in the defense of the flag to unite the Union. But, after the war, for ten years he rendered a service to his country that we do not as fully appreciate as I wish we did. He was one of that small band of twenty-five thousand men con- stituting the regular army of the United States, without whose service, whose exposure to danger, whose loss of life and whose hardships and trials, it would not have heen possible for us to have settled the great west. (Applause). The story of that campaign of ten or fifteen years, in which that small body of men, led by the generals who had been at the head of their tens of thousands in the Civil war and who now only had under them hundreds where they had had ten of thousands before, we do not know as well as we should. The trials, the cruelty, the dangers they had to undergo in protecting the moving settler toward the west, in making the building of railroads possible, and in putting down and driving out the bloody Indians whose murders made the settlement, until they were driven out, impossible. That regular army is an army of whom the United States may well be proud, and the officers' wives, of whom Mrs. Custer is so conspicuous and charming an example, contributed their full share. (Long applause. ) And I am here not to dwell npon it but only to note, as the President of the United States, the indebtedness of the country to the regular army during those ten or fifteen years in opening the west and to testify to the effectiveness and heroism of General George Armstrong Custer in that great battle continued for a decade; that great war for civili: ation. of which he was the most conspicuous and shining sacrifice. (Long continued applause.)
At the proper time, the great folds of the stars and stripes which had hitherto concealed the noble colossal statue in bronze upon its granite pedestal, were liberated by the hand of Mrs. Custer, who gracefully Vol. 1-16
·
242
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
handled the yellow satin band by which this function was accomplished, and the noble figures of horse and rider flashed in the June sunlight, the military bands played Custer's favorite charging tune, "Garry Owen," finishing with the "Star Spangled Banner." This was the dramatic episode, the psychological moment of the occasion, and the thousands of voices rose in one loud and long cheer as they realized that here in Monroe, the home town that Custer loved, had at last been raised a lasting memorial to his glory as a soldier and his universal fame as a cavalry man. On the speakers' platform stood the school desk at which he and his classmate sat when attending the Stebbins Academy in boy- hood.
Following is the official programme:
Invocation by Right Reverend John S. Foley, Bishop of Detroit.
Report of Monument Commission by Colonel George G. Briggs.
Remarks by the Sculptor, Mr. Edward C. Potter.
Unveiling of Statue by Mrs. Elizabeth B. Custer.
Salute of 17 guns by First Battery, Field Artillery, M. N. G .; band playing Custer 's Charging Tune "Garry Owen" and "Star-Spangled Banner."
Address by The President of the United States.
Oration by Senator William Alden Smith.
Remarks by Major General D. McM. Gregg, Commander of the Second Cavalry division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac.
Poem by Will. Carleton.
Presentation of Statue by Governor Fred M. Warner.
Response by Hon. Jacob Martin, Mayor of Monroe.
"America"' by the band.
Placing of Laurel Wreaths at base of Monument by President William O. Lee, Michigan Cavalry Brigade Association. While these wreaths were being placed, "The Old Brigade" was sung by a chorus of 75 voices.
Benediction by Reverend Chas. O'Meara of Monroe, Michigan.
The Reunion and Camp Fire of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade pre- ceded the ceremonies of unveiling, on the day previous, which was a notable occasion and filled the armory and opera house to its utmost capacity: The programme was a most interesting one.
Another most pleasant and satisfactory function in connection with President Taft's visit to Monroe, was a public reception tendered him at St. Mary's Academy where many hundreds availed themselves of the opportunity to pay honor to the chief magistrate of the nation, and where special exercises were arranged for the interesting occasion, a feature of which was an address of welcome by one of the young lady students, and the presentation of garlands of flowers by a class of young ladies, to the president, who was delighted by this attention and made an appro- priate and feeling response.
The entire city was profusely decorated, and presented a gala appear- ance, national colors floating from every available point.
The parade was a military demonstration entirely under the direc- tion of William T. McGurrin, adjutant general of Michigan, one of the most striking and interesting features of which was the large number of veterans of the old Custer brigade, most of them with white heads, and faces furrowed with the seams of years, who marched sturdily through the long line of march.
243
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
There were about four hundred survivors of the four regiments, who were most hospitably entertained by the warm hearted people of Monroe, who took them into their homes and cared for them as members of their own families. They were assigned the place of honor in the parade, and during the ceremonies at the statue.
244
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
1
COURT HOUSE, MONROE
CHAPTER XIX
COUNTY ORGANIZATION
ORIGINAL TITLES TO LANDS-ORIGINAL CREATING ACT-IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF ORGANIZATION-1805, AN EVENTFUL YEAR-PERIOD OF CIVIL UNREST -COUNTY SEAT ESTABLISHIED-FINANCES AND FINANCIERS-THE OLD COURT HOUSE-EARLY LEGAL AFFAIRS-MONROE COUNTY FARM AND INFIRMARY
The first steps in the settlements of the northwest were somewhat different from those which were taken in the southern country along the Mississippi river. In the former the title to lands was vested in the Indians who occupied the lands throughout the regions of the great lakes.
ORIGINAL TITLES TO LANDS
In the south, title to the whole valley of the Mississippi was vested in France by right of discovery. It is true that De Soto, a Spaniard, dis- covered the river, but no effort was ever made by his country to colonize the land, and Spain's rights, if any, lapsed in the 131 years between De Soto's death in 1542 and the arrival of the French in 1673. On the latter date the Mississippi was made known to the world by Marquette and Joliet.
The French title of that section of the Nouvelle France commenced on the 17th of June, 1673, when we learn from Pere Marquette's quaint journal that he and his party of explorers paddled from the Wisconsin river onto the Mississippi avec une joye que je ne peux pas expliquer "with a joy that I cannot explain.'
The next step in the perfection of French title was the establishment of the settlements. The first of these was when LaSalle came over the Chicago portage and set up Fort Creve Coeur ("broken heart," because of his many sore disappointments), on the Illinois river, near the present site of the city of Peoria. This station and another, St. Louis de Rocher, at Starved Rock, were presided over by LaSalle's captain DeTonty ; he of the "Iron Hand."
Cahokia, well nigh forgotten amid the swamps by all save frog hunt- ers and crappie fishers, bears the distinction of being the first French settlement of that region that exists to the present day. It became a little French hamlet in 1699, years and years before the establishment of St. Louis, and still Cahokia is a little French hamlet. After Cahokia, came Kaskaskia, near the present Chester, Illinois, and after that, a series of river towns, also French, found their way upon the map. The French customs and the very names of these villages have long since vanished. There is no longer any "San Louie," nor any Carondelay," but their French land systems are as important today as they were in the days of the keel boat, and the coonskin cap. Very much more important, in fact, because of the immense value of these Frenchmen's farms, now that
245
246
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
they are covered, at least in St. Louis with long rows of brick and stone blocks, and their boundaries are outlined with street car tracks. The old French Town System consisted of a Town, a Commons and a Common Fields. The town was a little tract divided into small square blocks, each block individually owned by an "habitant." The "Commons" was not owned by individuals, but the title was in the town as a corporation ; it was common grazing ground for the cattle of the whole village, but the Common fields were owned by individuals, and were long narrow strips of land laid out parallel and running back to the depths of from one to two miles. The same form of early arrangement with which we are familiar in this country and also along the River St. Lawrence, and adopted as a safe guard against Indian attack; the inhabitants commenc- ing to work at the front of the farm and working back towards the forest. The entire population being strung along in a line, living closely together ; as well for more convenient social intercourse, as for mutual defense.
The American system of sections, is of course very different from the French Town System. We divide the whole face of the land into a gigan- tic gridiron of townships, ranges, sections, quarter sections and "forties," and all must conform thereto.
It is readily perceived that up to the settlement of Detroit by LaMotte Cadillac, there was nothing out of which any political future could grow. The posts, although important for military purposes, had no other sig- nificance. The French system was evidently not designed nor intended to build up self-governing communities; theoretically and mostly, prac- tically, there was absolutism; and the Royal prerogatives were never delegated to the colonial authorities, except in a very qualified way ; and while there were perpetrated great frauds and abuses, there was, on the whole; a respect for law. These matters are important in the considera- tion of the beginning of settlements along the Raisin, as a background, and foundation, only. What followed, was simply the logical progres- sion from the conditions and established customs, which formulated the later laws and procedures.
On the 14th of July, 1817, twelve years after the organization of the territory of Michigan the county of Monroe was established. Wayne county originally comprised the entire lower peninsula of Michigan, a part of the upper peninsula as well as adjoining portions of Ohio, Indi- ana and Wisconsin. From this vast tract Monroe county was set off by proclamation of Gen. Lewis Cass, then governor of Michigan terri- tory; the present Wayne county having been established two years earlier.
ORIGINAL CREATING ACT
The original proclamation by which the boundaries of this county were first established is here given: "Whereas, It is considered that the public good will be promoted by the erection of a new county in the said territory ;
"Therefore, I do, by virtue of the power and authority in me vested, constitute the whole of that portion of said territory of Michigan which is included within the lines and limits following, that is to say : Begin- ning at the mouth of the river Huron of Lake Erie, within said territory ; thence up the said river in the middle thereof until its intersection with the line between the third and fourth tier of townships south of the "base line" so called; thence due west with the said line until it shall intersect the present Indian boundary line, namely, to the western line of the first range; thence with said line due south to the southern boundary of said territory ; thence along the southern boundary thereof, easterly to the southeast corner thereof; thence northerly along the
247
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
eastern boundary of said territory to a point due east from the place of beginning; thence to the place of beginning; to be and remain hence- forward a separate county, to be called the county of Monroe. * * * * * * * *€
* *
"Given under my hand and the great seal of said territory, at Detroit, this fourteenth day of July, A. D., one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, and in the fortieth year of the independence of the United States of America.
"LEW. CASS."
A second proclamation, issued five years later, attached to it the county of Lenawee, from which it was separated in 1826: "The county of Monroe, established by an executive act of July 14, 1817, shall be bounded as follows : "Beginning at the boundary line between the United States and the province of Upper Canada, where the southern boundary of the county of Wayne intersects the same, thence with the said southern boundary, west to the mouth of the river Huron of Lake Erie; thence with the said boundary, keeping the middle of said river, to the line between the townships numbered four and five south of the base line; thence west to the line between the territory of Michigan and the state of Ohio, thence with the said line to the boundary between the United States and the province of upper Canada ; thence with the said boundary line to the place of beginning. * * *
"In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent, and the great seal of the said territory to be affixed. Given under my hand at Detroit, this tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, and of the independence of the United States, the forty-seventh.
"LEW. CASS."
IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF ORGANIZATION
The immediate occasion for the organization of Monroe county was possibly the expected visit from the President of the United States, Hon. James Monroe, who had already started on his tour through the northern states. He arrived at Detroit about the middle of August, accompanied by a party of distinguished officers of the government and of the army. On the 14th he reviewed the troops in Detroit, on which occasion Governor Cass, on behalf of the state of New York, pre- sented to Major General Alexander Macomb a magnificient sword suit- ably inscribed in honor of his gallant conduct at the battle of Platts- burgh. Generals Brown and Wool were present and possibly General McNeil, as he went north soon after. The occasion was made brilliant by every feature that could at that early day be utilized. It is nowhere recorded that the President extended his visit on this occasion, to the historie town on the River Raisin, which with the county was named in his honor. He no doubt fully appreciated the distinguished mark of the esteem and approval of the people of Monroe, conferred upon him, in naming the second city of the northwest, the most beautiful then, as it is now, in the whole galaxy that forms the brilliant crown of the union.
Monroe has never had cause to regret the choice of a name, nor to be ashamed of any act of the noble Virginian. The "Monroe Doctrine" was alone sufficient to place his name among our great statesmen and that able and patriotic state document among the most prized and venerated in our government archives or upon our statutes.
248
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
1805 AN EVENTFUL YEAR
A few years previous to this, in 1805, Governor Hull by proclama- tion established the district of Erie, a portion of which had constituted Monroe county, embracing the strip on the south to the width of ten miles, which was subsequently the cause of strife which delayed the admission of Michigan into the federal union, and was the cause of that exciting but bloodless controversy the "Toledo war."
In this year, 1805, the first session of the United States district court was held by Chief Justice Augustus B. Woodward; Frederick Bates, associate judge; George MeDougall, clerk; Solomon Sibley, Eli- jah Brush, attorneys. There being no public building suitable, the court convened at the residence of Jean Baptiste Jereaume, which was situated in Frenchtown, on the north bank of the River Raisin, in what is now the fourth ward of Monroe, and was near the point where the Michigan Central Railroad crosses the river. The grand jury called at that session of the court, consisted of the following citizens: John Anderson, Francis Navarre, Israel Ruland, Ethan Baldwin, Alex. Ewing, Isadore Navarre, Jacques Navaree, Joseph F. Moulton. Robert Navarre, Joseph Dazette, Joseph Jobien, John B. Lasselle, Bernhard Parker, Jean Chavet, Samuel Ewing, Samuel Egnew, and Joseph Pouget.
During the following year the Indian title was extinguished to all the lands in the county of Monroe, excepting a tract three miles square, known as the "Mason Reserve," which was afterwards ceded by the Indians to the Catholic church of Sainte Ann of Detroit, and subse- quently acquired by Hon. Isaac P. Christiancy, when it became known as the "Christiancy tract."
PERIOD OF CIVIL UNREST
Upon the declaration of war, June 18th, 1812, conditions in this part of the territory naturally underwent a very great change, every- thing became unsettled and apparently insecure and unsafe, for no person seemed able to predict "what would happen next" or what the effect would be upon these frontier settlements. The Indians were in a condition of unrest and their suspicious natures were worked upon by the agents of the enemy to produce a feeling of distrust and enmity towards those who were formerly their friends and neighbors and with whom they had lived on terms of peace and friendliness. On the corner of the present site of the Interurban Railway power-house, corner of Elm avenue and Anderson street, there stood a block-house enclosed by a substantial stockade or picketed space made of the trunks of large saplings of sizes of a foot or less in diameter, sharpened with the axe on one end and firmly planted in the ground, the upper portion being secured together with thongs of hickory or elm or by wooden pins, binding them securely into a stout and serviceable fence from six to eight feet in height; this structure was called the "fort" and into this the American women and children were forced to resort for protection from the Indians for several weeks. So disagreeable and dangerous did this become that many families of the Americans removed to Ohio and Kentucky. Numerous French settlers and their families likewise departed for Canada, greatly reducing the number of settlers who remained ; so that this particular section was largely depopulated and the block-house and the buildings connected with it as a part of the fort, was by orders of Proctor, burned to prevent it falling into the hands of the American forces under General Harrison.
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.