History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, Part 107

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Michigan > St Clair County > History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan > Part 107

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In the following brief sketch of the township's history, the names of the principal town officers from date of organization to the present time, are given. It is beyond the range of practicability to refer to the various acts of the different Town Boards or administrations. That the well-being of this division of the county was their object cannot be doubted, since its present prosperous condition, the growth of its educational affairs and we might add the very habits, manners, and customs of its population tell of precedents laid down by those township legislators, and followed by their constituents.

ORGANIC.

The boundaries of the original township of St. Clair, as it formed a part of Macomb County, established January 5, 1818, by executive proclamation, were: " Beginning on the north shore of the River Huron or Clinton, including the shore and running along the shore of Lake St. Clair to the mouth of the River St. Clair, and along said river to Fort Gratiot, and extending in the rear three miles and one-eighth, shall form one township and be called St. Clair." In April following, all the territory of Macomb County, north of a line drawn west from mouth of Swan Creek, was organized as St. Clair Township.

In 1820, the county was ordered to be organized with St. Clair as a township. In 1823, March 17, Plainfield and Cottrellville were organized, and St. Clair Township comprised all the county of St. Clair north and northwest of Cottrellville.

SUPERVISORS OF ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP AND CITY.

Everett Beardsley, 1827-28; William Gallagher, 1829-30; Andrew Westbrook, 1831; Ed- mund Carleton, 1832-35; H. N. Monson, 1836-37; Commissioner's Board, 1838-41; Harmon Chamberlin, 1842-47; Israel Carleton, 1848; Harmon Chamberlin 1849-54; Henry Whit- ing, 1855; William B. Barron, 1856; E. Smith, 1857; T. E. Kitton, 1858; E. Smith, 1858; Charles Kimball, 1859; Harmon Chamberlin, 1859; Benjamin Jenks, 1859; Nelson Mills, 1860-61; William Oaks, 1860; H. Chamberlin, 1860-63; Charles Kimball, 1861; William Luck, 1862; John E. Kitton, 1862; C. McMellen, 1863-65; T. C. Owen, 1863- 67; Henry Whiting, 1863; B. W. Jenks, 1864-68; G. L. Cornell, 1864-69; William Luck, 1866; John E. Kitson, 1866; D. F. Willoughby, 1866-67; John V. Kemp, 1867-69; E. Smith, 1867-69; William Grace, 1868-69; Dennis Jones, 1870; F. H. Blood, 1870; J. Stitt, 1870; G. F. Collins, 1870-73; P. S. Carleton, 1871-73; C. H. Waterloo, 1871; G. L. 'Cornell, 1871-73; J. W. Hill, 1871; William Grace, 1872-73; E. Smith, 1872; B. F. Cramp- ton, 1874-75; B. W. Jenks, 1874-75; T. H. Blood, 1874-77; E. E. Carleton, 1876; G. Strauss, 1876; G. J. Ward, 1877-80; Joseph Cook, 1877; T. H. Blood, 1878-80; B. W. Jenks, 1878; C.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

H. Waterloo, 1879; A. A. Currie, 1879; George W. Carleton, 1880; Joseph Doak, 1880; P. S. Carleton, 1881; C. H. Waterloo, 1881; Andrew A. Currie, 1881; James T. Aulls, 1881; P. S. Carleton, 1882.

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

Horatio N. Monson, 1837; Israel Carleton, 1838; Pendleton Odgen 1839; M. H. Miles, 1840; H. N. Monson, 1841; I. Carleton, 1842; John C. Waterbury, 1843; M. H. Miles, 1844; Benjamin C. Cox, 1845; I. Carleton 1846; Obed Smith, 1847; M. H. Miles, 1848; B. C. Cox, 1849; A. J. Palmer, 1850; I. Carleton, 1850; A. J. Palmer, 1851; M. H. Miles, 1852; Obed Smith, 1853; Daniel Follensbee, 1854; Nelson Mills, 1856; William Blakely, 1856; M. H. Miles, 1856; Albert A. Carleton, 1857; Benjamin Mallory, 1858; Timothy Barron, 1858; Joseph H. Marsh, 1858-66; Nelson Mills, 1859: Elias C. Williams, 1860; George Carleton, 1861; Adam Gaffield, 1862-68; Thomas Cuttle, 1863-71; John Kennedy, 1865-69; Alonzo Gustin, 1868; William H. Davie, 1870; George McCormick, 1872-76; Henry Suck, 1873; Thomas Donner, 1873-74; Thomas Cuttle, 1875; William Spence, 1876; Justus Wells, 1877; Thomas Donner, 1878; John Hall, 1878; Joseph Kesseler, 1879; George McCormick, 1880; C. W. Blanchard, 1881; John Hall, 1881; Thomas Doner, 1882.

The officers elected in April, 1882, are named as follows:

Supervisor-Palmer S. Carleton, Democratic, 2 majority. Clerk-Joseph Kesseler, Democratic, 34 majority. Treasurer-Peter Bell, Republican, 78 majority.

Highway Commissioner-Francis Jackson, Republican, 78 majority.

The remainder of the ticket was Democratic by a small majority.

EARLY HISTORY.

Among the pioneers of the town were Antoine St. Bernard, the Carletons, the Coxes, Og- dens, Thibaults, Thomas Palmer, A. J. Palmer, Fultons and Beardsleys, together with others named in the list of land buyers. That portion of the township bordering on Pine and St. Clair Rivers dates its settlement to 1765, when Patrick Sinclair established a military and trading post there, and introduced the lumber-making era. In the sketch of St. Clair City, as well as in the general history of the county, references are made to this early settlement.

The population of St. Clair town and city in 1845 was 1,009; in 1850, 1,728; in 1854, 3,080; in 1864, 3,335; and in 1880, 3,919. The area of the township including the city is 25,950 acres. The equalized valuation of city and township, $1,073,705; the number of chil- dren of school age in city and township in 1881 was 1,516.

The first patentees of land in Township 5 north, Range 16 east, were Hartford Tingley, Sections 9, 10, 4; James Kennelly, Asa Gilbert, Section 9 (1825); H. R. Jerome, Sections 15, 22; Oliver W. Miller, Sections 15, 26, 27 (1826); Thomas Palmer, Section 27, (1827); David James and William Meldrum, P. C. Nos. 305, 306, 307, of 640 acres each claim, 1808. The land purchasers in the different sections from 1827 to the close of 1836, are names as follows: Section 1-Charles A. Cook, Henry Dwight, Chester Carleton, H. H. Graves, Cummings San- born, Samuel Hutchins, Abner Coburn, Franklin Moore, Reuben Moore, William H. Carleton. Section 2-James Byrne, Sr., H. R. Jerome, Abner Coburn. Section 3-J. M. Wilson, A. Coburn. Section 4-F. Wilcox, H. Chamberlain, N. Gilbert, Daniel Stewart, Hiram Ensign, A. Coburn. Section 5-John S. Kimball, James Ogden, E. Smith, P. Blodgett, Benjamin Bissell, J. M. Wilson, F. Moore, R. Moore, C. Baxter, W. Steel, William Sweat, Joseph C. Cox. Section 6-Ira Porter, John Starkweather, R. & F. Moore, Blodgett, Bissell, and Smith. Section 7-H. B. Seymour, Baxter, Steele and Sweat, John Starkweather, Nathan Godell, Luke Hemingway.

In Township 5 north, Range 16 east. Section 8 -- F. & R. Moore, Thomas Palmer, George A. O. Keefe, Cyrus Moore, David F. Kimball, R. H. Waller. Section 9-Andrew J. Palmer, James Byrne, Harman Chamberlain, Dan Stewart, Abner Coburn. Section 10 -- Reed Jerome, H. R. Jerome, Everett Beardsley, J. M. Wilson, A. Coburn. Section 11-Eliza S. Gillett, J. M. Wilson, F. and R. Moore, A. Coburn. Section 12-J. S. Kimball, William H.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

Carleton (1835). F. Moore, A. Coburn. Section 13-14-James McClanan. Section 15-0. W. Miller, H. R. Jerome, Curtis Emerson, Otis W. Norton, James Halpine, James Dougal. Section 17 -- Andrew J. Palmer, Luther Brown, N. H. Park, Charles Spoor, Baxter, Steele, and Sweat, Dan Lockwood, James McClannan. Section 18-Pendleton Ogden, Joseph Coffin, William Cox, Gideon Cox, Ed. Fay. Section 19-Chester Loomis, O. W. Norton, R. Bell (1837), Duthan Northrop (1848). Section 20 -- Thomas Palmer and James McClanan. Sec- tion 21-Fred. J. Clute, John O'Connor, Benjamin Avery, James McClanan. Section 22- H. R. Jerome, O. W. Miller, John O'Connor, James McClanan. Section 23-Daniel Lock- wood, James McClanan. Section 24 -- Henry B. Turner, Francis Thibault, F. Moore, R. Moore, Benjamin S. Hammond, Levi Beardsley and George Palmer. Section 25-Sargeant Heath, Clark & Warren, Sam D. Woodworth, Elijah J. Roberts, Thomas Barber, Jr., Nelson Barber, Tabor Beebe. Section 26-O. W. Miller, Clark and Warren, D. Lockwood, J. Mc- Clanan. Section 27-Thomas Palmer, Nelson Tomlinson, Eben C. Holt, O. W. Miller. Sec- tion 28-William A. Pattin, Jesse H. Foster, Samuel W. Green. Section 29 -- James Mc- Clanan. Section 30-Benaiah Barney (1837). This section was purchased between 1848 and 1860. Section 31-W. T. Westbrook, Baxter, Steele and Sweat, George Hasmer. Section 32 -- John Fitts, Thomas Palmer, Baxter, Steele and Sweat. Section 33-John Fitts, Benja- min F. H. Witherell, T. Palmer, Washington A. Bacon, Baxter, Steele and Sweat. Section 34 -- Nelson Tomlinson, Roswell Keeler, J. A. Van Dyke, Hepburn McClure, James Witherell, and Jesse H. Foster. Section 35-John Winder, Clark and Warren, the latter also made a purchase of 19 acres on Section 36, in February, 1836.

In Township 5 north, Range 17 east. Section 6-J. Henderson, P. Brakeman, Soloman Yaran (1832), Andrew Mack (1835). Section 7-Israel Carleton, Margaret Moore, Clarke and Warren (1835-36). Section 17-Jonathan Kearsley, 1824. Section 18-Jean Marie Beaubien. Section 19-Rev. Gabriel Richard, J. M. Beaubien, F. Thibault, Alexander St. Barnard Franklin Moore and Reuben Moore, (1835-36). Section 20-Louis St. Barnard. Section 29- Rufus Hatch. Section 30-Stephen Mack, Samuel W. Dexter (1824), Everett Beardsley (1829), Chester Loomis (1831). There are three P. Claims in Township Nos. 255, 305, and 406, which were granted to the firm of Meldrum & Park in 1808-12.

Germany is largely represented in the citizenship of the district. The customs and habits of "Fatherland" did not suffer by their passage across the ocean, and consequently are retained in a great degree socially and religiously. Some of the villages or settlements might pass for villages on the banks of the Rhine instead of the St. Clair or its tributaries. Yet an admixt- ure of these people makes a good community, and the district has grown and developed with com- mendable rapidity, as shown by the census of 1880.

It is fair to presume that there were a large number of these settlers, who scattered them- selves about in different parts of the country. Some of them, perhaps, are still living on the lands upon which they filed their claims, which were perfected by deeds from the President, and there is no doubt that many others, in a few years, when settlements got too thick for their notions of ease, comfort and freedom, sold out their possessions, "pulled up stakes," and moved on after the Indians. Others, again, no doubt, paid the debt of nature and found a last rest- ing place near the homes they founded in the wilderness. And thus, one by one, of these, who were well known when they first came, dropped out of sight and out of memory, except the more prominent ones who were spared to make their mark in their respective neighborhoods, or write their names in the "Old Settlers' record." It is not to be supposed that, in the absence of written records, every one who was here in 1835, nearly half a century ago, can be identi- fied and located by the few survivors of that period. It would be a remarkable memory that could do this -- that could keep pace with the changes that years bring in the history of any community, particularly in a pioneer community, many of whom are of a restless, roving, dis- contented nature.

ST. CLAIR CITY.

This city and neighborhood may be justly called the site of the parent settlement of the county; for here the first immigrants pitched their tents, and here the first improvements, that amounted to anything, were made, and for many years this point was a sort of commercial me-

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tropolis or center for the entire adjoining districts. When the pioneers for the first time came to the old camping grounds of the Otchipwes on the bold and imposing bluffs extending along the west bank of the river, they beheld spread out before them to the west, as far as their vision could reach beyond the river, one of nature's most beautiful panoramas; a land to them then denied, which gave promise, through the perfection of its natural resources of a future, that some day would become excellent in every detail of civilization, if not celebrated in the annals of history. That condition, then only so dimly foreshadowed, has at last been realized; scarcely half a century has passed by, and the scenes that then only resounded to the savage cries of wild animals, and the blood-curdling yells of aborigines, now re-echo the plow-boys' whistle, the faithful call of domestic animals, the constant whirl of busy machinery, and the joyous shout of happy school-children, or the laborer's voice. It is not much more than half a centary since the wild flowers bloomed in countless profusion and variety on these lands, and civilized man had scarcely invaded the precincts of virgin nature. Now all is changed: the whole country teems with the fruits of peace and industry, and thousand of houses dot the landscape, the dwellings of happy families. What a marvelous transformation is this, and how seem- ingly impossible; yet the country is almost aged already, so precocious has been its develop- ment. Very many of those who began the work of taming the wilderness, and thus gave the first impetus to the steps of infant progress, are now no more. Fortunately for them and their successors, history comes to the rescue and furnishes a meed of praise, and perpetuates the record of their efforts and achievements for the instruction and entertainment of their pos- terity. When we pause to think of this beautiful country-now completely conquered by the white man's hand, and yielding abundantly the various productions needed to supply the de- mand of his growth-was but a few short years ago only a haunt for wild beasts and the un. restrained sons of the forest, we can scarcely comprehend the change. Neither can the efforts of those who first invaded the land and turned up the native soil to the sun's mellowing rays be understood by the young of to-day. Only those who have been here from the first, and saw the gradual progress which the passing years have wrought, can fully realize the change and appreciate the struggles and sufferings of nearly half a century in the past. Then, men here had almost to fight day by day for the barest necessities while they were making homes for themselves and their successors, and paving the way for a future of successful efforts in the work of utilizing nature's resources to supply man's necessities. Of the men who first came here in adventurous youth, but few remain to tell the tales of living in a cabin or lying down to sleep with the canopy of heaven for a covering, and the howls of wolves to disturb their slumbers. All the past seems but a phantom of the mind, a creation of some idle moment when compared with the realities of to-day: yet such is the history of progress and civilization almost every- where; the scenes of the past six decades' growth here are but a repetition in the main of the vast work of development that has been going on for nearly three hundred years in this coun- try, and that even now is coursing onward through the mighty West. Those who first stuck claim stakes here were the French. Next came the Americans, or Yankees, a restless, advent- urous kind of people, who are ever fond of change and new scenes, and for whom a pioneer life is replete with a certain wild enjoyment. Many of these, disliking the restraints and incum- brances of the older civilization, as the country improves, go on further to the front, and finally end their lives far from the place of beginning, perchance, in a wild, new country. Had they but located permanently somewhere, and let the youth of their families do the advance work, they might have lived to see and enjoy the results of their early efforts. Yet, perhaps it is well that the country is large enough, and life broad enough, to allow every man at this age to select a place to suit his fancy and convenience, even though his notion may not be pro- ductive of lasting good to himself, or those who may have to depend on him. More than the average number succeeded in life, and transmitted to their children not only the holy prece- dents of honest labor, but the home and wealth which that labor wrung from Time.

The city is handsomely laid out, well up above high water mark, and, with its manufact- uring establishments and business places, is attracting a thrifty population. The population is principally American. It has quite a number of French Canadians and Germans; who are an industrious class of citizens. The city has an advantageous location in many respects, with

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

remarkable booming and mill privileges. The schools and churches are quite in keeping with the enterprise of the people; one of the largest hotels in the West affords ample accommodation to the traveler; a well-edited paper gives the local news; while the railroad and river naviga- tion place it within easy distance of the commercial capital of Michigan.

NOMENCLATURE.

The first name given to the settlement at the mouth of Pine River was Palmer, in honor of Thomas Palmer, who platted a portion of private claims 304 and 305, in 1828. Subse- quently its name was changed to St. Clair to perpetuate the name of the American General- Arthur St. Clair, and not that of Patrick Sinclair, of the British Army. Ten years previous to 1828, Arthur St. Clair died, but in the year just given, the people began to realize the value of Washington's deceased friend, and here, on the borders of civilization, both French and Ameri- can settlers joined in naming the location of their homes after one of the soldiers of the Rev- olution; even as the people of the entire county previously adopted the name from the name of the lake.

One of the first names applied to this lake, was Tziketo, on Lac de la Chandiere. Pere Henne- pin called it St. Clare; while in De L'Isle's map of 1700, it is written L. de Ste. Claire. The same geographer in his maps of 1703-18 calls it Lac Ganatchio on Ste. Claire. The present use of the word St. Clair is a barbarism. In recognition of the explorers and as a mark of courtesy we should continue the title which they gave to the lake, and which subsequently was applied to the entire district-Ste. Claire. If the name should be anglicized, let the translation be used and the words written St. Clare not St. Clair.

The connection of Gov. St. Clair with the Northwest was highly beneficial. His visits and letters always reduced the savages to peace, and brought confidence to the early American settlers of the State. As the biography of this soldier-statesman must be instructive and interesting to a people who have selected his name as a fitting one for their city, it is thus given:

Arthur St. Clair was born in 1734, and, having entered the army, came to America in 1758. He was at the capture of Louisburg and Quebec, and at the latter place caught up the flag dropped by Wolfe, and so distinguished himself as to secure promotion. In 1760, he married at Boston a half-sister of Gov. Bowdoin, and two years later resigned his commission and settled in the Ligonier Valley, Western Pennsylvania. He served through the Revolutionary war as one of Washington's most trusted subordinates, and at the close of the war was a delegate to the old Confederation Con- gress, serving as President of that body from February to November, 1787. In February, 1788, he was appointed Governor of the Northwestern Territory, and held the office until November, 1802, when he was removed by President Jefferson. . His term in office covered the period of organization of Indian t oubles, and of the intrigues incident to settlement and struggles for political mastery. St. Clair was a pronounced Federalist, and a steadfast friend of Washington and Hamilton, and early came in conflict with the Western adherents of Jefferson and Madison. The bitterness of the political contest incident to the formation of new States for a time blinded the people to the worth of St. Clair's character and the importance of his work, and he died in poverty in 1818, at the age of eighty-four.

At a later date, a measure of justice was done the stout-hearted old Federalist, who made so courageous a fight against slavery, and who played so conspicuous a part in the formative period following the Revolution. The story of St. Clair's life has been frequently told, but there is a pathetic side to the history of his career that the many who have written simply as biographers have not cared to touch upon. At a critical period of the Revolutionary war, he advanced money to recruit soldiers, and at another period, when Governor of the Northwestern Territory, he went security for the Government to the contractor for supplies necessary to carry on a treaty with the Indians. These sums, although approved by the proper authority and pronounced justly due by Congress, were refused payment by the Government on the ground that the statute of limitations had expired. As a consequence of the non-payment of money due him by the Government, St. Clair became finan- cially embarrassed, and his property was sold under the hammer. In referring afterward to the executions which swept away his beautiful home and all his personal property, St. Clair said : "They left me a few books of my classical library and the bust of Paul Jones, which he sent me from Eu- rope, for which I was very grateful." What the old man had done to deserve this treatment the

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record shows. When hostilities broke out between the colonies and the mother country, St. Clair was residing in the Ligonier Valley, happily situated. In 1775, he accompanied the Commissioners appointed by Congress to treat with the Indians at Fort Pitt, and suggested to them an expedition to surprise and capture Detroit with 500 mounted men, which force he proposed to help equip and lead. The Commissioners approved, but Congress hesitated, which was a fatal mistake, for with Detroit in possession, the Indians would undoubtedly have been prevented from joining the British.

St. Clair drew up the resolutions adopted at the first meeting of the patriotic Pennsylvanians, held at Hannastown early after the attack at Lexington, pledging support to the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay.

It was in these resolutions, adopted on the 16th of May, 1775, that it was declared, " It is therefore become the indispensable duty of every American, of every man who has any public virtue or love for his country, or any bowels for posterity, by every means which God has put in his power, to resist and oppose the execution of it (the system of tyranny and oppression); that for us we will be ready to oppose it with our lives and our fortunes." St. Clair was made Colonel of the Second Pennsylvania Regiment, and marched to Canada to re-enforce the army there. He participated in the battle of Three Rivers, and after that untoward event, says Wilkinson, " by his counsel to Gen. Sullivan at Sorel, he saved the army in Canada." St. Clair was at Ticonderoga until November, 1776, when he was ordered to re-enforce Gen. Washington in New Jersey. Here began the friend- ship between Washington and St. Clair, which continued unabated as long as the former lived. The campaign on the Delaware, during the dark days of the ever-memorable winter of 1776-77, when the surprise of the British at Trenton and the brilliant battle of Princeton electrified the whole country and restored the fortunes of the Americans, claimed his services.

St. Clair's share in these exploits was brilliant, and won him promotion from Brigadier to Major General. Bancroft has denied that St. Clair suggested the strategic movement by which the American Army escaped from the cul de sac at Trenton, and won the victory at Princeton, but it is clearly proved by unquestionable authority. The courage and military skill of St. Clair are brought out prominently, and the important bearing this movement of abandoning untenable fortresses, and moving the forces into the interior, where the troops could obstruct the march of the enemy, had on the successful campaign on the Hudson which resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne, is clearly shown. While the uninformed public were clamoring over this giving up of the northern posts, St. Clair wrote to John Hancock in confident terms: "I have the most sanguine hopes that the prog- ress of the enemy will be checked; and I may yet have the satisfaction to experience that by abandoning a post I have eventually saved a State." Nothing in the long public career of St. Clair more clearly establishes his great qualities than his course at and subsequent to the evacuation. He had the courage to perform a public duty at the risk of his reputation, and when Gen. Schuyler, alarmed at the public censure, sought an escape, St. Clair magnanimously assumed all responsibility. Time vindicated him, and he won a place in popular favor next to that enjoyed by Washington and Greene.

· In all of the subsequent campaigns of the Revolution, St. Clair participated, and was the trusty friend of Washington, whom he supported against all cabals. Among the papers of this period are plans of campaigns and military movements submitted by St. Clair to Washington at the request of the latter.

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History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, Part 107

Author: Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co.
Number of Pages: 818