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 108

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 108

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The suffering of the army at Valley Forge, the distress and demoralization on every hand during that long struggle of eight years, and the marvelous tact and ability of Washington, which alone made victory possible, are all graphically described. The correspondence here presented between St. Clair and Washington, and President Reed and Robert Morris and other heroes of the Revolu- tion, is of deep interest and of great historical importance.

After the war, St. Clair retired to private life. His large fortune had been spent in the service. of the country, and he had now to cast about for means to support his large family.

In 1783, he was elected a member of the Council of Censors of Pennsylvania-a novel politi- cal body, unknown in any other State. St. Clair took high rank as a debater, and a plan of govern- ment, here presented, shows that he held wise views of what a republican government should be.

In 1786, St. Clair was elected to Congress, and in the following year was made President of that body, which proved to be the last Continental Congress. It was also distinguished as the Congress which passed the famous ordinance of 1787, which secured to freedom the vast territory

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

northwest of the River Ohio, of which the Illinois country and Wisconsin were important parts. Under that ordinance, St. Clair was made Governor of the vast Northwestern Territory. From first to last he was the opponent of slavery, and spoke frequently against its extension. His convictions on the subject are shown in the following extract from a speech delivered at Cincinnati : "What is a Republican ? Is there a single man in all the country that is not a Republican, both in principle and practice, except, perhaps, a few people who wish to introduce negro slavery amongst us, and these chiefly residing in the county of Ross ? [Emigrants from Virginia.] Let them say what they will about Republicans, a man who is willing to entail slavery upon any part of God's creation is no friend to the rational happiness of any, and had he the power, would as readily enslave his neighbors as the poor black that has been torn from his country and friends." St. Clair, as has been said, was, like Washington, and Hamilton, a stanch Federalist. When the star of Adams had set, and Thomas Jefferson, the head of the young Democratic party, became President, an effort was made by the anti-Federalists (known as Republicans) to secure St. Clair's removal. This failed at first, but the political necessity of admitting a new State, and securing thereby more Republican · electoral votes, finally accomplished the removal in November, 1802. This very curious political history is here correctly related for the first time. In bringing to light the real facts, the papers of Gov. Worthington, who was one of Mr. Jefferson's Lieutenants, were examined. Worthington wrote the letter to Jefferson, making the formal charges against St. Clair, and in all his course was extremely bitter. The order of removal was forwarded to St. Clair through his Secretary, who was bis personal and political enemy. The Governor resented this by writing to James Madison, Secre- tary of State, a letter at once ironical and severe. But to the people, when requested to become a candidate for Governor of the new State, Ohio, he said, in declining the proffered nomination : "I have received many injuries and been treated with blackest ingratitude. * *

* The Governor disdains to revenge the injuries offered to the man." This was a reference to the fact that he had not removed men from office who worked persistently against him.

PIONEER HISTORY.

These beautiful lands were interlaced with silver rivulets that danced to their own music. Amid these openings-nature's mighty parks-roamed the noble deer ; and over those prairies, which were like so many gorgeous pearls in richest settings, the soft wind played.

The first day of a pioneer family can well be pictured. It was in the season of the year when frosty nights were succeeded by sunny days ; when the crows crept into the woods as if they felt approaching May. The kittens ran around the cabin, and chased each other up the trees ; and the dog wandered along the riverside, for reasons best known to himself. The woodpecker tapped his drowsy music on the decayed trunks ; the turkey peered from behind the roots of the upturned trees, where she had been waiting so long to hail the blessed warmth, and inquired, " What busi- . ness have you here?" The squirrel pushed his nose out of the door of his castle, and, after looking cautiously at the intruders, threw his tail over his back, and, with an angry chirrup, trotted to the nearest stump ; and then, as the sunbeams pierced through the tangled woods, the blue-bird burst forth into a note of song, tuned the strings of her harp to the coming summer, and inquired when gentle May was coming, with her music and her flowers.

There are threads of beauty that pervade every household, wherever it may be, and whatever may be its lot. There are always pleasant thoughts, kind words and happy remembrances flying to and fro. How must the hearts of this family have rejoiced when, as the long shadows of evening were stretching over the landscape, some traveler, in his Kentucky-jeans coat and stoga boots, alighted from his shaggy old horse, and asked entertainment for the night. They looked upon it as a sort of angel-visit ; each one strived to outstrip others in acts of hospitality ; and though they could not offer him the luxuries of life, he soon felt that he was welcome to anything they had. The old fire- place, if it was winter, was soon piled with logs up to the very throat, and shook its shadows around the room in defiance of the winds that roared without. If the traveler happened to have a paper a month old, their joy was at its height and the younger members of the family ransacked its columns with the greatest delight.

This little band had, as it were, severed all connection between themselves and the past. True to their purpose, they went to work in their new home as if they were going to tear down the whole forest and pile it into boards. Amid wind and storm and suffering and privation, they helped to lay the foundation of worldly peace. Morn's early dawn and evening's gentle hush bore witness to

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

their industry ; and the happiness now enjoyed by the citizens of the city is, in a degree, the product of their labor. They were firm to their purpose as flints, and the sparks struck from them are trans- figured into images of beauty and romance. Their memory will ever be necessary to the loveliness of the city.

In the report of C. Jouett, Indian Agent at Detroit, dated July 25, 1803, it is stated that 3,759 acres of pine lands were purchased from the Indians by Patrick Sinclair, the Commander of the British Post, known as Fort Sinclair. This purchase was made in 1765, and continued in pos- session of Sinclair until 1782, when he left the country for his home in Ireland, bestowing the entire property on a Canadian, named Vatiren. In 1784, the property was sold publicly by Vatiren, and was purchased by Meldrum & Parks, then important merchantile men in the Territory of the Northwest. This firm claimed the land as their property, made valuable improvements, and in other respects did much to open up the district to settlement. In 1803, there were five farmers on this tract (together with the tenants of Meldrum & Parks), who took forcible possession of the farms they occupy in the year 1800. The other nineteen farmers claim under Indian deeds granted in 1780 and 1782.

Archibald Phillips and Col. W. Truesdail, both old settlers of St. Clair Township, speak of evidences of white settlement, where St. Clair City now stands, anterior to the French pioneer period. They are correct. When they affirm that such evidences point out another settlement than that made by Patrick Sinclair in 1765, and perhaps improvements made by his employes, they appear to forget that every existing historical idea and record regarding Du Luth's second Fort St. Joseph is set at nought by them. The old fort was located on the south bank of Pine River, ten rods from its confluence with the St. Clair. When Judge Bunce saw this locality sixty- five years ago, there was one stone chimney in its entirety, with half of another chimney. In his letter of January 27, 1883, he describes the ruins as standing in the midst of a grove of thrifty trees on the verge of the great forest, and states that it was a favorite home for wolves.

Col. Truesdail exhumed many interesting relics of the past, such as brick, found in the ruin of a chimney ; a felt hat with gold lace trimmings, silver and copper articles, a silver bracelet, en- graven with British coat of arms; needles and other evidences of early settlements, all at or near the mouth of Pine River. They are undoubtedly souvenirs of Patrick Sinclair's coming and stay in this country, and of his post where St. Clair City now stands.

ST. CLAIR MILITIA IN 1811.

It appears from original papers brought to light through the exertions of Lew M. Miller, Statistical Agent for Michigan, that on December 5, 1811, there was held a review of the Huron and St. Clair Militia, where Mt. Clemens City stands to-day. The names of the members with an inven- tory of the equipments of the two Huron River companies are given in the report made by Col. Hunt. It is one of the few records which survived the British invasion of 1812. The battalion w s then commanded by Christian Clemens. In the report it is stated that the St. Clair company failed to appear, not having had timely notice.

THE FIRST COUNTY SEAT WAR.

The lands on which St. Clair stands were purchased by James Fulton, who had in view the selection of that point for the seat of justice of St. Clair County. Fulton sold his interest in the tract to Thomas Palmer, of Detroit, after whom the village was named, and both exerted themselves to secure for the place the county offices. Capt. Ward desired to have the county seat located at Marine City. Charles Noble, of Monroe, of the Commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice, visited the points referred to, and after giving the subject of location a very full consideration, reported in favor of St. Clair. The Governor accepted the report, and proclaimed St. Clair as the capital of the county, which it remained until recently, notwithstanding varied efforts or sugges- tions made to remove it to Smith's Creek and other points.

HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES.

The following sketch of St. Clair and vicinity was read by William Grace, at the celebration in that city on the 4th of July, 1876. We make the following extracts, which are of interest, forming a part of the history of this county :

"The earliest occupancy by civilized men of the place where now stands our quiet though

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

beautiful little city is a matter accompanied with some doubt. As early as the month of June, 1686, a military trading post was established on the banks of the River St. Clair, which was called Fort St. Joseph. And while there are some who claim that this old stockade was located at or near the present site of Fort Gratiot, still stronger probabilities and better proof point to the mouth of Pine River on its southern bank, as the place of location of this old fort. Again, before the Revo- lutionary war, and in the year 1762, this point is mentioned by some enterprising voyagers as the lo- cality of the old fort, thus proving that nearly 200 years ago the spot where our city now stands had been for a brief time the abode of civilized man. But it is believed that no permanent occupancy by white men had intervened to break the solitude of the wild and almost impenetrable forest through which so noble a river for ages had flown, until the year 1790, when a small company of French settlers took up their abode on the St. Clair River, near the foot of Lake Huron. Fifteen years later and in the year 1805, the Territory of Michigan, by an act of Congress, was organized ; and three years thereafter, and on the 26th day of October, A. D. 1808, the land upon which the city of St. Clair now stands, and known as private claims, numbered 304 and 305, was confirmed by the General Land Office to John Meldrum and James Meldrum respectively. And this was thir- These private claims were subsequently teen years before the County of St. Clair was organized. sold by the Meldrums to James Fulton and others who became the first regular occupants, under local municipal regulations. Up to this time the place where we now meet in celebration was a wil- derness, and with the exception of the old fort I have already named, and a dwelling near by sup- posed to have been built for officers' quarters, and long before gone into decay, no trace of civilized life had yet come to disturb the solitude of the surrounding wild woods. The first house built was by James Fulton, and occupied by him, and since known as the dwelling house of the late Benja- min Woodworth, and now used as a blacksmith and wagon shop.

The second house was also built by said Jaines Fulton ; it was afterward known as the Monson house, and now owned by Henry Stein. Mr. B. Wheeler, the father of Mrs. C. W. Bailey, of this place, came here about the same time. He is still living in the town of St. Clair. He is most em- phatically one of the pioneers and an intelligent old gentleman.

In the year 1814, Mr. Louis St. Barnard came from Detroit and built a house on the banks of the river (Yankee street), using some of the brick in making his chimney which he took from the ruins of what was supposed to be Fort St. Joseph. Mr. St. Barnard was the father of our friend, Capt. Alexander St. Barnard, to whom I am indebted for valuable facts known to him in his boy- hood. He was born on the St. Clair River, opposite Vicksburg, in Canada, in 1809.

At the commencement of the war of 1812, Mr. Louis St. Barnard, with his family, hastened to Detroit for safety, and remained there until the close of the war, when he returned again to the St. Clair River and settled upon the farm now owned by Capt. St. Barnard, on Yankee street, and built the house I have already named.

Upon the farm young St. Barnard was reared, and has ever since lived, and at an early age became connected with the surrounding river and lake navigation, and continued in that business until he became a skillful navigator.

In 1844, he was appointed by the Government a pilot on board the United States iron steamer Michigan, and remained in that responsible capacity until the year 1868.

Soon after the building in this place of the two dwellings by James Fulton, which have already been mentioned, other buildings both here and in the vicinity around followed.

A small building was erected by one Mr. Wilson at a point north of Pine River and near the place where the office of Col. Truesdail now stands. And this was the first store and Mr. Wilson was the first merchant in the place. The second store was built and occupied by John Thorn, upon the ground where now stands the brick store and dwelling of our respected fellow-townsman, An- drew Eber. The next two stores kept here were by Thomas Palmer and the late Frederick G. Wilcox.

Prominently among the merchants succeeding these may be mentioned our veteran salesmen, Col. William B. Barron and Col. Henry Whiting, who for much of the time during the past thirty years and upward have been successfully engaged in the sale of general merchandise. To mention all others thus engaged would take up more time and space than is intended within the scope of these notes. The first hotel here was located south of Pine River, and was conducted by one John Leach. The St. Clair Exchange followed at an early day, and was built by the said F. G. Wilcox, and first kept, perhaps, by one Tomlinson. The first school in the place was in a room owned by Mr. Phillips, the father of our much respected citizens, Arch and Charles Phillips. This school was taught by the Rev. Mr. Donihoo, who was the first Methodist preacher on the ground.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

The first schoolhouse erected here was at a point near where now stands the historic hall of our old bachelor friend, C. A. Loomis. The first mill built in the town of St. Clair was situated upon Pine River, and was erected by Mr. Jerome, father of Reed Jerome, Esq., and a number of other brave and excellent sons, whose names are familiar to many of us at present. Mr. Phillips, already named, was the first blacksmith, and his sons Archie and Charles were artisans, and good ones, of the same vocation.

On the eighth day of May, A. D. 1821, the township and county of St. Clair were organized. The township then embracing the entire county of St. Clair including the present county of Sanilac and contemporanious with the municipal organization of the town and county of St. Clair, of which the present territory of the city of St. Clair then formed a part, the seat of justice of the county was located at this place.

And very soon afterward commenced that very fertile and common source of strife in new counties, known as a county seat war.

And although the county seat remained at this place for fifty years, where justice, sometimes quaintly, sometimes solemnly, and sometimes otherwise, was regularly or perhaps sometimes irregu- larly dispensed, still a battle for a change of base was waged unrelentlessly with ever-varying phases of hope and fear on the part of each of the gallant contestants, until finally in the year 1871, in consequence of greater numbers and better railroad facilities, the war came to an end by the re- moval of the much-coveted seat of justice to Port Huron.

Soon after the organization of the town of St. Clair, which, as before stated, was then co-exten- sive with the whole county, embracing an area of 1,500 square miles, the Court of County Commis- sioners, as it was then called, found it out of the question to try and run things smoothly and suc- cessfully without a building in which to try the evil-doers, and a jail in which to place some of them in durance vile ; and, consequently, the said Court Commissioners, who then consisted of Andrew Westbrook, George Cottrell and John K. Smith, hired a room in the dwelling house of James Ful- ton for a court room and at the same time contracted with the said Fulton to build a jail in the rear of his dwelling-house, and an appropriation of $35 was munificently raised for the work of putting up said structure.

And thus was the administration of justice in St. Clair County commenced with a Circuit Court in a sort of nisi prius form, occasionally held, one James B. Wolverton being High Sheriff of the county and John Thorn Clerk of the Court. Some six years afterward and in the year 1827, the people had become too proud to longer do business in such primitive style, and consequently a new court house and jail were erected. It was a log structure twenty-four by thirty-four feet in size, It was built upon the present court house square, which had been conveyed to the county for this purpose by the said James Fulton, and in the year last named it was accepted by the Board of Supervisors, who, by timely legislation, had succeeded the County Commissioners in such matters, although, as we are told, the said new building was accepted in an unfinished state. However this may be, it remained the court house and jail of the county until 1853 when it was destroyed by fire.

Directly following this conflagration a new jail and village hall was built of brick by the peo- ple of St. Clair, and the said jail is still held and occupied as the jail of the county.

In the year 1856 a new brick court house was erected upon the site of the old one, and large- ly by private contributions of the people of this locality, and the same remained as the court house of the county until the year 1871, when the county seat was removed to the city of Port Huron.

The old temple of justice has since been conveyed by the county to our people and is now known as the city hall.

This place was laid out and platted in the year 1828 by Thomas Palmer, and was known for some years as the village of Palmer. But the name was afterward changed to the village of St. Clair, and in 1850 the village was incorporated and thus severed its connections as a part and par- cel of the town of St. Clair.

THE FIRST NEWSPAPER.

Thomas C. Fay, a native of Bennington, Vt., was the first owner of a newspaper office in St. Clair County, as he was one of the first publishers, printers and book-binders in New York City. To him Thurlow Weed was an apprentice, and many others who have since been identified with the press and political circles of the country, may be said to have begun their careers in his office.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

About the years 1833-34, he shipped a newspaper press from South Carolina to St. Clair or Palmer Village, consigned to Thomas M. Perry. The press arrived, Perry took charge, and the first newspaper ever published in the county was inaugurated.

When he arrived at Palmer for the first time he was so charmed with the beauty of the local- ity, that he purchased a tract of land from Thomas Palmer. Shortly after this purchase he returned to his home at Georgetown, S. C., and shipped the press referred to. A few years before his visit to St. Clair, about 1827, he married Miss Mary M. Broderick, of Georgetown, who subsequently came with him to Michigan. Mrs. Hodgson, of St. Clair, one of Mr. Fay's children, came with her parents in 1831, and remembers vividly the quaint little village of that period.

At the time Mr. Fay came, there were only seven or eight buildings at St. Clair, principally constructed of logs, namely, the block court house, where the present city hall stands ; Sam- uel Hopkins, and Mrs. Hopkins, Senior, lived in a frame house, built by Thomas Palmer, just north of Pine River, the same in which Mrs. Stein now lives. James Fulton lived in a frame house north of Samuel Hopkins ; on the river bank, opposite Fulton's in the Indian orchard and burying-ground was a frame building, with pebble plaster, the store of Thomas Palmer ; the large frame building, partly finished in 1831, was built by Edward Hopkins, father of Samuel Hopkins, now owned by Mr. Potter, and occupied by Mrs. Mary McElroy. On the Eber Block stood a hewn log-house, built by John Thorn, used for every purpose in olden days, which was destroyed by fire over thirty-five years ago. On the river bank above the Hopkins' yacht house was the Beardsley dwellings.

Where the Sheldon brick yard now is, Capt. Bassett had a dwelling built partly of logs and frame work.

South of Edward Hopkin's house, where the Beyschley Block now is, was the frame house of the Widow Partridge, in after years the wife of Dr. Chamberlin.

The houses of Letourneau, shoe-maker Miller, stood north of Pine River ; south of Pine River were the Kitton and Truesdail grist and saw mill.

Mr. Fay died shortly after the establishment of his paper at St. Clair.

The first steam-engine built at St. Clair was that by Edmund Hodgson & Sons, in 1846, for the Sheldon tannery. It did service there until about the year 1867.

The Myron Williams card mill at Belle River was one of the introductions of the manufacture of woolens at St. Clair. In 1849, John E. Kitton and John Nichol built the old four-story struct- ure which stood on the site of the present factory. In 1856, this partnership was dissolved. The buildings and machinery were burned, October 9, 1866, involving Mr. Nichol in a loss of $12,000. In June, 1867, he began to rebuild, and in November of that year the present building was com- pleted and the manufacture of woolens recommenced.

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.

There is a volunteer fire department supplied with a Silsby steamer. The city pays the engi- neer. It was the first organization of the kind at St. Clair. The second fire company was organ- ized August 5, 1870, with J. W. Loucks, Foreman, T. J. Rooney, F. A .; E. F. Barron, Secretary ; Fred. Borntuger, Treasurer, and Alfred Jackson. Steward.

There was a destructive fire at St. Clair, April 29, 1875. The City Exchange, owned by J. L. Agens, was destroyed.

Great Rise of the St. Clair .- The water in the St. Clair River, owing to the blocking up of the ice on the flats and the strong northerly wind, on April 24, 1870, was at an unprecedented height. It had not reached such a point for a great number of years. In this city some trifling damage was done to Hudson & Hall's dock, some timbers being floated out of their position by the cur- rent. The waters rose above J. L. Agens' dock and entered the basement of his store. The base- ment of Mr. Doherty's furniture store was submerged about four inches, the family having to retreat to the upper story. F. S. Steele's cellar was flooded a few inches, and some tobacco, sugar, etc., damaged. In Henry Baughman's saloon, below S. Bendit & Co.'s store, the water rose through the floor five or six inches, necessitating the removal of the occupants. The water also rose into S. Bendit & Co.'s cellar, which is on the same level. Between Sunday morning and 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the water had risen twenty inches above the previous level, and in the hour and a half following, had fallen twenty-one inches. The sudden fall was undoubtedly owing to the breaking away of the jam between Marine City and Algonac. Some of our oldest inhabitants said that the

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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 108

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