USA > Michigan > Saginaw County > History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume II > Part 15
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Organization of the Township
These were the sturdy pioneers, together with those mentioned in a foregoing chapter, who created the township of Saginaw, and afterward were instrumental in organizing the county. Oakland County, lying to the south, was organized in 1819, and in 1824 the territorial government em- powered that county to levy a sufficient tax to defray the expenses of that county. As yet the settlement on the Saginaw had not known a tax col- lector. In the same year, the unorganized counties of Saginaw, Lapeer, Sanilac and Shiawassee, were attached to Oakland for judicial purposes.
In 1830 an act was established organizing the township of Saginaw, en- bracing within its limits the entire county. This act took effect April 4. 1831, when, at a meeting of the settlers held in the block house of the old fort, Gardner D. Williams was elected to represent the township on the County Board of Oakland ; Ephraim S. Williams was elected township clerk ; A. W. Bacon treasurer ; and David Stanard, Eleazer Jewett and Charles McClean, overseers of the three districts of Saginaw, Green Point and Titta- bawasaig. Eleazer Jewett was appointed deputy surveyor of Oakland County. In the same year an act establishing a seat of justice at Saginaw City was passed, and Gardner 1). Williams and David Stanard were ap- pointed justices.
An act defining the boundaries of the county was also adopted, within which were thirty-two townships, embracing portions of Gladwin, Midland and Tuscola Counties. The modest township board administered the civic affairs of a territory larger than some of the eastern states, and accomplished its duties so efficiently that within four years the Territorial Legislative Council organized the district into a county.
Organization of Saginaw County
On January 28, 1835, an act was passed organizing this county, provided that the township board sit and act as a county board until such time as there should be three organized townships in the county to elect a board of
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supervisors, and conferred tipon said board authority to transact all business, as by law was conferred upon boards of supervisors. Embraced within the limits of Saginaw County was a territory now known as Bay County. For the first time in the history of the county did the local authorities impose a tax upon its inhabitants. No record exists of the levying of any prior tax.
The proclamation of Lewis Cass, Governor over the Territory of Mich- igan, and the legislative acts, organizing the county, are herewith transcribed : "And I have thought it expedient to lay out the following county, that is to say:
"All the country included within the following boundaries: beginning on the principal meridian, where the line between the fourteenth and fifteenth townships north of the base line intersects the same, and running thence south to the line be- tween the eight and ninth townships, north of the base line; thence east to the line between the sixth and seventh ranges east of the principal meridian; thence north to the continuation of the line between the fourteenth and fifteenth townships north of the base line: thence west to the place of beginning, shall form a county, to be called the county of Saginaw.
"And I hereby declare that the county herein 'laid out', to-wit: the county of Saginaw, shall be organized whenever, hereafter, the competent authority for the time being shall so determine, and that until then the said county shall be attached to. and compose part of the county now organized, in the following manner:
"The county of Saginaw shall be attached to and compose a part of the county of Oakland.
"In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be made patent, and the great seal of the said territory to be hereunto 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."
By the Governor:
Secretary of Michigan Territory.
"Be it enacted by the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan:
"Section 1. That the county of Saginaw shall be organized from and after the taking effect of this act, and the inhabitants thereof entitled to all the rights and privileges to which by law the inhabitants of the other counties in this Territory are entitled.
"Section 2. That all suits, prosecutions, and other matters now pending before the courts of record of Oakland County, or before any justice of the peace of said county, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution; and all taxes hereto- fore levied and now due shall be collected in the same manner as though the said county of Saginaw had not been organized.
"Section 3. That the circuit court for the county of Saginaw shall be holden on such days as shall be provided by law.
"Section 4. That it shall be the duty of the sheriff of the county of Saginaw (until public buildings are erected in said county), to provide a convenient place, at or near the county site, for the holding of said court.
"Section 5. That the township board for the township of Saginaw shall, until there be three townships organized in said county, sit as a county board for said county, and are hereby authorized to transact all business now incumbent on the board of supervisors in the respective counties in this territory.
"Section 6. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after the second day of February next.
"Approved January 28, 1835."
Platting the Town
As early as September, 1822, James McCloskey, son-in-law of Gabriel Godfroy who aided in negotiating the treaty of 1819, and his associate, Captain John Farley, entered a portion of the land on which Saginaw City was builded. Other entries were made the same month by Doctor Charles Little, Jonathan Kearsley and Louis Campan ; and Justin Smith entered land in 1823. The lands entered by MeCloskey and Farley, comprising one hun- dred and thirty-six acres, were surveyed by John Mullet, the State surveyor. who platted a portion under the name of "Town of Sagana."
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
This town on paper comprised twenty blocks with the river lots on Water Street, extending four blocks from the river, with its southeast corner near the foot of what is now known as Clinton Street. It embraced the ground upon which Louis Campan in 1816 erected the first trading post on the river, and also the council house where the first treaty with the Indians was negotiated. James McCloskey soon after sold his undivided half-interest to A. G. Whitney, of Detroit, who later sold it to Doctor Charles Little. Only six lots of the original town plat were sold by Farley & Company, of which lot No. 77 was sold May 8, 1823, for twenty-five dollars. Near the northern limits of the town was a street named Farley Street, which years after became known as Bristol Street. When the town prospered and became well settled, some of the lots of this original plat were purchased by promi- nent citizens, who erected pretentious residences thereon.
The second platting of the town was made by Samuel W. Dexter, on December 3, 1830, and comprised all the land which he had entered in 1825. extending west from the river at Cass Street to Harrison, and north on that street to Jefferson (now Cleveland Street ), and thence east to the river. Of the lots represented by this plat only eight were sold that year. On July 18, 1835, he disposed of all his interests to Doctor Abel Millington, of Wash- tenaw County, excepting twenty-four lots previously sold by him, and the public square which had been located as the seat of justice. The following year, having lost faith in the prospects of the valley, the doctor transferred his property, on April 26, to a company composed of Norman Little, John T. Mackie, Samuel Oakley and William Jennison, Junior, for the sum of fifty- five thousand dollars.
Under the direction of the new proprietors, who were enterprising men with ample capital. an entirely new platting of the town was made, and named the Currier Plat. This plat was a very extensive one, and embraced lands on the east as well as the west side of the river, showing four hundred and seven blocks, and bore the date of February 1, 1837. Streets on the west side of the river were laid off and named, a comprehensive map was drawn and printed for circulation throughout the eastern States, and an elaborate plan of improvements was prepared. As a result about nine hundred persons were attracted to this place before the close of 1837. Then the crisis came. and by 1841 only three entire blocks and fifty-eight single lots had been sold ; and on April 9 of that year all their property was sold to James Hunt, for a consideration of two hundred and twenty thousand dollars.
Locating the Seat of Justice
In the selection of the village of Saginaw as the seat of justice for the county, there hangs a tale which illustrates the fact that the acts of public officials in pioneer days were not always free from the curse of personal gain. The story was told many years ago by Thomas A. Drake. a member of the Legislative Council of Oakland County, who, with an associate commissioner, named Frost, came to the Saginaw to locate a site for the county seat. Here they found Judge Dexter, and an engineer and surveyor by the name of Ris- don, engaged in platting Saginaw City. Dexter approached the commis- sioners with his skeleton map in hand, designated one of the lots as the "court house lot", and very abruptly informed them that if they located the site for the seat of justice on that lot, he would donate it to the county, and would give to each of the commissioners one lot, perhaps two. The third commissioner was entirely satisfied with this proposition, and from that moment looked at nothing but the lots Dexter proposed to give him. Drake. however, was inclined to treat Dexter's proposition with contempt, and for a time Frost took the same view. and together they looked at other places.
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Where East Saginaw was afterward located there was an uninhabitable forest, and it was said that the whole country back from the river was a morass and utterly impassable. They resolved, nevertheless, to inspect it for themselves, and, with Eleazer Jewett for a guide, they traversed the country up and down the river, and back from the stream, until they were satisfied they had found the best place for a court house. Drake and Frost fixed upon a site, drove a stake to indicate the spot selected, and took meas- urements from different points on the river, with such bearings as would enable anyone to find it. They agreed to meet the next morning and make their report. Drake then went to Jewett's house at Green Point to spend the night, while Frost went to the block house inside the fort, where he would find their associate commissioner.
The next morning it was learned, to the great surprise of Drake, that during the night Frost had been overcome by drink, demoralized, and in- fluenced by the third commissioner to sign a report locating the site on the lot selected by Dexter. Through the love of whiskey by Frost, and the love of gain by the other commissioner, the county seat was located at Saginaw City. and the first court house was built on the site of the present county building.
Building the First Court House
The first sessions of the circuit court in Saginaw County were held in the old school house, which then served as town hall, church, lecture room, and as a place for social gatherings. But after the increase in population in 1836, and public improvements had been begun, it was thought by the lead- ing men that it was incumbent on the county officials to erect a court house that would be an ornament to the city, that it was expected would soon rise. In January, 1838, the county board consisted of Ephraim S. Williams, town- ship clerk : Jeremiah Riggs, supervisor; and Albert Miller and Andrew Ure. justices of the peace, four public-spirited men who laid the plans for the building that served the county for nearly fifty years. In determining the plan the board was largely influenced by Judge Riggs, in adopting the plan of the court house in Livingston County, New York, in which he had sat as an associate judge. He obtained a plan of that structure, specifications were made and proposals for its construction advertised for.
At a meeting of the board held March 2, 1838, a resolution that a build- ing for the use of county officials be constructed, was introduced: and the bids for the construction of the building were then opened. There were four in all, and the amounts ranged from eleven to twelve thousand dollars. As the lowest bid exceeded the amount appropriated, and all the bidders were present, it was decided to let the contract then and there to the lowest viva voce bidder. After some spirited bidding it was struck off to Asa Hill, a brother-in-law of Ephraim S. Williams, for $9,925, reducing the amount of his written proposal nearly sixteen hundred dollars. On March 3, the con- tract was signed for the erection of the building, which was deemed suitable for the needs and requirements of the public and its officials for a long time to come, and a structure of which all could feel proud. Accustomed to meeting in private houses, or in small, inconvenient halls, it was natural that they should regard the plans and specifications, and not long after the building which grew out of them, with a considerable degree of satisfaction.
The First County Bond
From the dim and dusty records of the township board it appears that the Saginaw City Bank, which had recently been organized under the general banking law. proposed to loan the county on its bond the sum of ten thou- sand dollars with which to build the court house. In the preceding January
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
the county board had convened in the township clerk's office ( which was also the postoffice), on the upper floor of a two-story building on Water Street (now Niagara), north of Mackinaw, and signed a county bond in that amount, payable in ten years, with interest payable annually. It was given to the bank and the bank officials negotiated it with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and obtained the sum of ten thousand dollars.
The contract for the building of the court house stipulated that all the money advanced should be expended in the purchase of material and in the payment for labor, and that all material purchased should become the prop- erty of the county. A building committee was appointed to see that the terms of the contract were complied with, and the collecting of the material proceeded with energy until midsummer, when Hill, the contractor, was prostrated with a malarial disease and died in the following October. As a result of this unfortunate occurrence, and the failure of the bank soon after, together with the general financial depression, all operations on the build- ing were suspended for some time.
Meanwhile, the material collected for the building lay on the ground and likely to go to waste, so something had to be done to save it. Many discussions were held by the settlers in reference to reducing the cost of construction, and it was proposed to dispense with the columns on the east end of the building. At that time there was but one house east of the site of the court house, and it was contended by others, who opposed any change of plans, that it would be unfair to the owner of this house to deprive him of a view of the ornamental columns. At length, Eliel Barber, a reliable mechanic, was hired by the county board at two dollars a day to take charge of the material and prosecute the work, so far, at least, as to save the mate- rial from waste. He hired carpenters at one dollar and twenty-five cents a day, and laborers at a dollar a day, and went on with the building opera- tions until the outside was finished and all the rooms on the lower floor were made ready for occupancy. A large room intended for the grand jury was used for a long time as a court room : and it was not until fifteen years after the contract had been let that the court room on the upper floor was finished. It was said that when first occupied the members of the Saginaw County bar were justly proud of the fine appearance of their court room.
Before the county bond for ten thousand dollars became due, the man- agers of the state finances claimed from the county the full amount with interest, but the county, having received only a portion of the money, while willing to pay that sum, refused to acknowledge any further liability on account of the bond. It was contended that the bond was only a guaranty on the part of the members of the board individually that the county would pay the bank the sum of ten thousand dollars. However it may have been. in 1842, the cashier of the bank which was still defunct, proposed to turn over a certain tract of land at five dollars an acre, to pay its indebtedness to the county, provided the amount was agreed upon and a settlement soon made. Evidently this proposal was not accepted, for on January 19, 1844, the county board adopted a preamble reciting in substance that the bank was indebted to the county in the sum of $4,667.25; that it repudiated the claim : that by a recent decision of the Supreme Court it appeared that collection could not be enforced ; and that the bond for ten thousand dollars was held by the commissioner of the State land office; and the board appointed a committee to negotiate with the commissioner on the subject of the bond. On March 4th following. this committee reported that they had agreed upon a settlement, by which the county should give a bond pay- able in four annual installments for $5.257.75, and also interest to July 1. 1844, amounting to $1,208.25, which was ratified by the county board.
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It was claimed by some persons that exhorbitant charges were made against the county by some of the parties who were authorized to make a settlement, for their services in effecting it. No records, however, exist to substantiate any accusation of this nature, and, judging from the usual com- pensation granted to public officials of that time, they were not paid more than the service warranted. It would be impossible at the present day to ascertain what the sums paid on account of the bond, and for finishing the court house, amounted to, but it was the belief of Albert Miller, who made record of the above facts, that it was not so largely in excess of the con- tract price, as was generally supposed.
The First Criminal Trial
The first intimation in the records of the commission of crime in this county was in November, 1838, when the sheriff informed the board that he had a prisoner in custody and did not know how to keep him, no place having been provided for that purpose. After some discussion he was authorized to lease of A. Butts the blockhouse for one year, with the privilege of erecting two cells therein. The prisoner was probably held on some minor charge, as he was never brought to trial, so far as the records show. The first criminal trial in the circuit court was not called until nearly three years later.
In 1841 William McDonald, who traded in furs in the old red ware- house, received a cargo of goods in a vessel commanded by Captain West. The mate who had charge while in port was a young man very well con- nected in the State, while the sailors were Willard Bunnell, a young married man who had lived here for several years, a Frenchman named Dezalia, and a young Englishman whose name is forgotten. While unloading the cargo the sailors had free access to the cellar of the warehouse where the goods were stored, and particularly Bunnell, who was well known and trusted by the trader.
On the last day the vessel was at dock, Bunnell made a discovery in an old barrel partly filled with rubbish, of a box of silver coins that McDonald had hidden away for safe keeping. Taking his companions into his con- fidence, Bunnell made an errand into the cellar late in the evening, and placed the box of money on the ledge of the window, which was protected on the outside by a grating of oak stripes an inch square. Late at night when all was quiet they cut the grating, took the money on board the vessel, and proceeded to divide it by having the Englishman pass a certain number of coins to each in succession. But Bunnell and Dezalia, during the time of division, frequently put their hands into the box, to ascertain, as they said, how the money was holding out, with the result that in the final count the Englishman and the mate had but $130 each of the $800, the amount stolen.
The robbery was soon discovered and suspicion rested upon the parties responsible for it, but no arrests were made until the following winter, when the Englishman, having brooded over the trickery of two of his companions in crime, went before Justice Williams, at Detroit, and made oath to the facts concerning the theft. The mate of the vessel and Dezalia were soon apprehended and held for trial, but Bunnell, who was one of the first in Saginaw to hear the news of the confession, at once disappeared. Hle was suspected of lurking in the vicinity. and a sharp watch was kept for him.
Late one winter's night the culprit was seen in the neighborhood, the sheriff was informed, and a posse of resolute men determined on capturing him, quickly gathered at McDonald's store, and started out before daybreak. At a place on the east bank of the river near what is now the foot of Emer- son Street, there was a deserted wood cutter's shanty, in which Bunnell had taken refuge for the night. Just at break of day he had kindled a fire and
THE FIRST COURT HOUSE OF SAGINAW COUNTY BUILT IN 1838-39 [from an early print drawn by an old pioneer]
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was thawing out his mocassins preparatory to putting them on, when he heard his pursuers close upon him. Ile eluded them for a time by quickly passing out of the door with his mocassins in his hand, and an exciting chase ensued. Being fleet of foot he would probably have escaped had not a sharp crust, which had formed on the snow, lacerated his feet so as to cripple him. and he was forced to surrender.
As there was yet no jail in the county the prisoner was taken to Jewett's tavern, where his feet were dressed and cared for by his father, Dr. Bradley Bunnell, who pronounced them in very bad condition, and kept them band- aged for some time. Henry Pratt was sheriff and acted as guard at the hotel. while waiting for his prisoner to improve so that he could be taken to the Genesee County jail at Flint. At length he was pronounced conval- escent, though apparently in great pain and unable to stand. The day for his departure was set, and the evening before, after all his friends had taken leave of him, his brother and sister ( Mrs. Lester) and wife were admitted to his room for a final interview. The sheriff occupied a room the door of which opened directly opposite that of Bunnell's, so that he could watch all the movements of the prisoner.
About nine o'clock Mrs. Lester passed out of the room leaning heavily on the arm of her brother, bowed and stricken with grief at parting with a brother under such painful circumstances. A short time after, Pratt called at the door to terminate the interview between the husband and wife. The door was opened and he saw the sufferer tossing his sore feet, and heard him groan. The wife begged for a longer interview which was rather re- luctantly granted. At midnight Pratt. being tired of his vigils, knocked at the door which was quickly opened. Instead of groans from his footsore prisoner, he was greeted with a merry laugh by Mrs. Lester, who told him that her brother had been gone three hours, mounted on the fleetest horse in the town.
As the sequel showed, Bunnell went first to Lower Saginaw, where he secreted himself for a time, and then sought refuge in the depths of the forest, living at the Indian camps until summer, when he made his way around the lakes and across Wisconsin to La Crosse. Later he was joined by his wife, and they lived there respectably for many years.
Sheriff Pratt was greatly chagrined at the ruse which had spirited away his prisoner, and in order that the law might be vindicated, he caused the arrest and examination of Mrs. Lester on a charge of assisting a prisoner to escape. The examination, which was before three justices of the peace, as the law then provided, excited considerable interest in the community and the court room was crowded. When it was adjudged that Mrs. Lester must give bonds for her appearance for trial before the circuit court, every gentle- man in the room offered to be her bondsman. The bond was made accept- able and she was discharged ; but was never called upon to appear for trial, and so the matter ended.
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