History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens : history of Michigan, Part 11

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Chas. C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1457

USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens : history of Michigan > Part 11

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).

1843-5

Robert McClelland.

1843-9

James B. Hunt.

1843-7

John S. Chipman.

1845-7

Charles E. Stuart

1847-9

Kinsley S. Bingham

1849-51

Alex. W. Buel.

1849 51

William Sprague

1849-50

Charles E. Stuart

1851-3

James L. Conger ..

1851-3

Ebenezer J. Penniman.

1851-3

Samuel Clark.

1853-5

David A. Noble ..

1853 5

Hester L. Stevens.

1853-5

David Stuart.

1853-5

George W. Peck.

1855-7

Wm. A. Howard.

1855-61

Henry Waldron.

1855-61

David S. Walbridge.

1855-9

D. C. Leach.

1857-61

Francis W. Kellogg

1859 -- 65

B. F. Granger.

1861 -3

F. C. Beaman

1861-71

R. E. Trowbridge.

1861-3

Charles Upson

1863-9

111

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

John W. Longyear 1863-7

Josiah W. Begole. 1873-5

John F. Driggs.

1863-9

Nathan B. Bradley

1873-7

R. E. Trowbridge

1865-9

Jay A. Hubbell 1873

Thomas W. Ferry

1869-71

W. B. Williams.

1875-7

Austin Blair. .

1867-73

Alpheus S. Williams. 1875-9

Wm. L. Stoughton

1869-73

Omar D. Conger

1869-81

Charles C. Ellsworth 1877-9

Randolph Strickland.

1869-71

Edwin W. Keightley 1877-9

Henry Waldron.

1871-5

Jonas H. McGowan 1877

Wilder D. Foster. 1871-3

John W. Stone. 1877

Jabez G Sutherland 1871-3

Edwin Willits. 1877

Moses W. Field.

1873-5

Roswell G. Horr. 1879

George Willard. 1875-7

John S. Newberry. 1879

Julius C. Burrows 1873-5, 1879

The State printing is done by contract, the contractors for the last 13 years being W. S. George & Co. (Geo. Jerome), the former the active partner, who also publishes and edits the Lansing Re- publican, a paper noted for originality, condensation and careful " make-up."

TOPOGRAPHY.

Michigan is a little southeast of the center of the continent of North America, and with reference to all the resources of wealth and civilization is most favorably situated. It is embraced between the parallels of 41º.692 and 47º.478 north latitude, and the merid- ians of 82°.407 and 90°.536 west of Greenwich. The upper peninsula has its greatest extent east and west, and the lower, north and south. The extreme length of the upper peninsula is 318 miles, and its extreme breadth, 164} miles; its area, 22,580 square miles. The length of the lower peninsula is 277 miles, its width, 259 miles, and its area, 33,871 square miles. The upper peninsula is rugged and rocky, affording scarcely anything but minerals as a source of wealth; the lower is level, covered with forests of valuable timber, and is excellent for all the products of Northern States.

The total length of the lake shore is 1,620 miles, and there are over 5,000 smaller lakes in the States, having a total area of 1,114 square miles.

A RETROSPECT.

And now, how natural to turn our eyes and thoughts back to the log-cabin days of less than 50 years ago, and contrast it with the elegant mansion of modern times. Before us stands the old log cabin. Let us enter. Instinctively the head is uncovered in token of reverence to this relic of ancestral beginnings and early struggles. To the left is the deep, wide fire-place, in whose commodious space a group of children may sit by the fire and up through the chimney may count the stars, while ghostly stories of witches and giants, and still more thrilling stories of Indians and wild beasts, are whisperingly told and shudderingly heard. On the great crane hang the old tea-kettle and the great iron pot. The huge shovel and tongs stand sentinel in either corner, while the great andirons

Mark S. Brewer. 1877

112

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

patiently wait for the huge back log. Over the fire-place hangs the trusty rifle. On the right side of the fire-place stands the spin- ning-wheel, while in the further end of the room the loom looms up with a dignity peculiarly its own. Strings of drying apples and poles of drying pumpkin are overhead. Opposite the door by which you enter stands a huge deal table; by its side the dresser whose " pewter plates" and "shining delf" catch and reflect "the fire-place flame as shields of armies do the sunshine." From the corner of its shelves coyly peep out the relics of former china. In a curtained corner and hid from casual sight we find the mother's bed, and under it the trundle-bed, while near them a ladder indi- cates the loft where the older children sleep. To the left of the fire- place and in the corner opposite the spinning-wheel is the mother's work-stand. Upon it lies the Holy Bible, evidently much used, its family record telling of parents and friends a long way off, and telling, too, of children

Scattered like roses in bloom, Some at the bridal, and some at the tomb.

Her spectacles, as if but just used, are inserted between the leaves of her Bible, and tell of her purpose to return to its comforts when cares permit and duty is done. A stool, a bench, well notched and whittled and carved, and a few chairs complete the furniture of the room, and all stand on a coarse but well-scoured floor. Let us for a moment watch the city visitors to this humble cabin. The city bride, innocent but thoughtless, and ignorant of labor and care, asks her city-bred husband, "Pray what savages set this up?" Honestly confessing his ignorance, he replies, "I do not know." But see the pair on whom age sits "frosty but kindly." First, as they enter they give a rapid glance about the cabin home, and then a mutual glance of eye to eye. Why do tears start and fill their eyes? Why do lips quiver? There are many who know why, but who that has not learned in the school of experience the full mean- ing of all these symbols of trials and privation, of loneliness and danger, can comprehend the story that they. tell to the pioneer? Within this chinked and mud-daubed cabin, we read the first pages of our history, and as we retire through its low doorway, and note the heavy battened door, its wooden hinges, and its welcoming latch-string, is it strange that the scenes without should seem to be but a dream? But the cabin and the palace, standing side by side in vivid contrast, tell the story of this people's progress. They are a history and prophecy in one.

COURT HOUSE .

HISTORY OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

CHAPTER I.

IN THE BEGINNING.

Three-fourths of a century has passed away since the Territory of Michigan was organized. At that time that portion which now constitutes the county of Washtenaw, one of the fairest and best in the State or nation, was an unbroken wilderness, inhabited only by the wily savage, who roamed at will over the beautiful plains and through the heavy forests, fishing in the waters of the Huron, Raisin or Saline rivers, or hunting the game that everywhere abounded, seemingly caring nothing for the morrow, and only liv- ing in the ever present. The thought of the " pale faces " pene- trating this beautiful country and demanding it, in the name of civilization, or of might, which it is asserted by some, makes right, had probably never entered their mind. A short time only was to elapse before the inexorable demands of the whites must be met. The original inhabitants of the land must again proceed toward the setting sun. All nature must be changed. The fair plains, with their beautiful flowers, painted only by the hand of God, must be broken up by the husbandman, and grain fit for the use of civilized man sown therein; forests were to be felled and clearings made that the art of man could be exercised in the building and adornment of homes. Thus it was in 1823, when John Bryan, Daniel Cross and Benjamin Woodruff settled in the neighborhood of the present flourishing city of Ypsilanti. The soil was unvexed by the plow, and the woodman's ax had scarcely been heard. The cabin of the settler, with its smoke curling heavenward, and with an air inviting the weary traveler to come and rest, was not to be seen, nor even the faintest trace of civilization; but instead, bound- less emerald seas and luxuriant groves.

These the gardens of the deserts-these The unshorn fields, boundless and beautiful, And fresh as the young earth, ere man had sinned.

Lo! they stretch

In airy undulations far away As if the ocean in the gentlest swell Stood still, with all his rounded billows fixed, And motionless forever.

8 (115)

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HISTORY OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

The openings and prairies were decked with beautiful flowers, of which it may truly be said that "Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." The pleasant groves, unobstructed by undergrowth through which might be seen the fleet-footed deer, the cunning fox and other wild animals, who as yet had not been taught to fear man; the waters of the beautiful Huron, clear as crystal, wind- ing in and out, now being kissed by the sun as its sparkling rays were sent down, now hid by the heavy forest; the beautiful lakes, nest- ling among the hills,-all these made a picture worthy the hand of the most noted artist, and caused the men that have been named, as well as all others who for several years from time to time visited this favored spot, to behold and wonder. Truly the name of Washte- naw-grand, beautiful-was worthily bestowed upon the county.

FIRST WHITE MEN IN WASHTENAW COUNTY.

History neither records nor does tradition speak of this section of country being visited by white men until the time of the early French explorers, -- Father Segard, in 1632; Father Marquette, in 1673; and Robert de La Salle, in 1679. The latter circumnavi- gated the lower peninsula of Michigan, and, in prospecting along its borders, may have wended his adventurous way through old Washtenaw. After the settlement of Detroit in 1701, by a French colony, the speculative fur-traders who trafficked with the Indians, and the Jesuit missionaries, who had a zealous regard for the spirit- ual welfare of the aborigines, whom they endeavored to convert to Christianity, often tracked over the hills and vales of this county. In 1805 the Territory of Michigan was formed, and four years later the first successful settlement was effected in Washtenaw county, at the present city of Ypsilanti, by the French traders, Godfrey, Pepin and Le Shambre. At this time the entire population of the Territory was less than 4,000 souls, and eighty per cent. of these were French. Then came the war of 1812. After the fall of Detroit, General Harrison made an attempt to recover it from the British, or at least to protect the frontier settlements in Monroe county and its contiguity, which included the settled portions of what is now Washtenaw. He sent General Winchester with a force of 1,000 men to this section, and on the 22d of January, 1813, he was attacked by a superior force of British and Indians, under General Proctor, at Frenchtown, on the River Raisin. General Winchester was made prisoner and his troops surrendered, upon guarantee by the British commander, of protection from the Indians. In utter disregard of these stipulations, Proctor withdrew his white troops to Malden, when, all restraint being removed, his dusky allies indiscriminately massacred the prisoners. This affair is known in history as the "Battle of the Raisin." After the death of Tecumseh (October 5), at the battle of the Thames, Detroit was recovered, and the Michigan settlements began to breathe freer,

117

HISTORY OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

and have less apprehension of Indian onslaughts. Peace was declared Dec. 24, 1814.

The first Government surveys of land in the Territory of Michi- gan were made in 1816, and two years later they came into market. From this period dates the permanent settlement of the State. The Indian claim to 6,000,000 acres (including Washtenaw) was extinguished by a treaty concluded by General Cass, at Saginaw, in September, 1819, and two years later the "Chicago treaty " obliterated the Indian title to all the remaining lands in the State south of the Grand river. Thus the lands were thrown open to settlement, and the next 10 years were an important decade in the history of Washtenaw county.

The pioneer settlement of Washtenaw, as before stated, was at Ypsilanti, in 1809, when Gabriel Godfrey, a Frenchman, accom- panied by Francis Pepin and Louis Le Shambre, established a trad- ing post. The building erected for this purpose stood upon the west bank of the river. At that time, and previously, the Indians regarded these banks of the Huron with special favor, and at Ypsi- lanti their trails from a wide extent of country intersected. When one knows this country he cannot wonder at the taste of these sons of the forest. It seems to have been neutral ground between the rival tribes. They had a burial place just at the foot of the hill, where they believed they had equipped many a warrior for the con- flicts on his way toward the "happy hunting grounds." There was another near, where tradition has it a human victim was once offered in sacrifice. Large quantities of bones, arrows, stone hatchets and ornaments were dug from the ground in that locality. In the year 1811 about 2,500 acres were patented to the foregoing-named trad- ers, under the seal of President Madison, according to an act of Congress applying to such cases. This tract is marked upon the old maps as French claims. At first this post was profitable in a bartering business with the Indians, but after the treaties already alluded to, the Indians were removed so far to the westward that trade and barter grew less and less, until about 1820 it was given up, though the original traders remained most of the time. The place was then known as "Godfrey's, on the Pottawatomie trail."

The next settlement was in the spring of 1823. Benjamin Woodruff, Robert M. Stitts, John Thayer, and David Beverly set- tled about one mile southeast of the present city of Ypsilanti. This settlement took the name of " Woodruff's Grove," and became a noted point in the early history of this county. Benjamin Wood- ruff, without doubt, was the first white man to effect a permanent settlement in the county, though his claim is disputed by Eldridge Gee, who made, in 1875, the following statement to John Geddes, which statement was published in the county papers at the time: "I first visited Washtenaw county in 1822, in the month of June, in company with Epaphras Matteson (my father-in-law), Joseph Young and Giles Downer. We started from Mrs.Downer's house on the Rouge. The first night we put up in the French trading house.

118

HISTORY OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

We took the river trail and went to where Mill creek runs into the Huron river. We then came back to where Ann Arbor city now is, and from there to Saline, and from thence back to the French trading house, and from thence to Mrs. Downer's. There were no white persons then residing in Washtenaw. The trading house had no occupants. In February, 1823, I moved to Washtenaw county. I hired three men on the Rouge to help me through. We camped out three nights. On the fourth day I got to where I

thought I would stop. It was on the east half of the northeast quarter of section 33, township 2 south, 7 east. I first built a shanty of some boards I brought along, and in about six weeks built a house. It was on the 14th of February when I got to where I built."

This statement of Mr. Gee's seems incredible from the fact that none of the early settlers remember the man being there until the spring and summer of 1824. At that day any living within ten miles were considered neighbors, and Mr. Gee could hardly have been so near Woodruff's Grove in the summer and fall of 1823 and it not be known. He was never present at any house-raising at a time when it was difficult to obtain men enough to raise the heavy logs to their places. Again, Mr. Woodruff's claim was well known and never disputed for more than fifty years that he was the first settler.

The founding of a city did not seem to have been thought of by the original settlers; they simply located where experience taught them to expect good fortune.

Jason and Daniel Cross, with their families, were the next set- tlers after those already mentioned. They arrived in the summer of 1823. The first settlers mostly came up the river by the use of a flat-bottom boat propelled by poles. Soon after the settlement at Woodruff's, two families by the name of Hall settled upon the west side of the river, about opposite the grove, who called them- selves "the Kings of the River." In the autumn of 1823, John Bryan and family came in from Geneseo, New York, with the first ox-team which ever came through direct from Detroit.

The settlement at Ann Arbor was in 1824, John Allen and Elisha Walter Rumsey being the first, arriving there in February, 1824. They were followed soon after by Asa L. Smith and others.

These settlements named were the first in Washtenaw county, and the parties named were the pioneers who paved the way for its future greatness. Many of the first settlers found the struggle too severe, sold their improvements and moved elsewhere; but much the larger portion, some in middle life and many in old age, have been gathered to their fathers and are not. A few remain, with silvered locks and palsied frame, waiting for the summons to " come up higher."

These feeble beginnings were strengthened by many new-comers from the East, so that, by 1830, many new openings had been made, while the older colonies had grown materially, and Wash-

119

HISTORY OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

tenaw county had taken a long stride toward the greatness which awaited it in the future.

WASHTENAW-ITS MEANING.

Much interest has been manifested of late years, especially since the organization of the Pioneer Society, as to the meaning of Washtenaw. When the first settlers of the county came in they were told, and confidently believed, it meant "no white people." To these early settlers this meaning seemed very probable. The red men, fleeing from intruders of a different complexion, and find- ing not far away an upland region where deer were found in herds, where the beaver were abundant, and where the rivers and lakes were full of fish, would naturally give to that region some expres- sion of their deliverance and satisfaction-"No white people." But this definition of the term is not generally accepted. In 1874 J. J. Parshall, of Ann Arbor, addressed a letter to John Todd, of Owosso, and received from R. V. Williams, of that place, the fol- lowing reply:

J. J. Parshall, Esq., Ann Arbor.

Owosso, July 24, 1874.

DEAR SIR :- Major John Todd handed me your favor to him yesterday, witha request that I should answer it, as his advanced age renders it very difficult for him to write, and also because I more perfectly understand and speak the Indian tongue,-or rather the Chippewa language. I therefore give you the information sought. The word "Washtenaw" is Anglicized from the Indian word Wuste- nong, or Wushte-nong, meaning, literally, the Further District or Land Beyond,- Further Country,-Wushte, further, beyond, further on, and nong, country, dis- trict, place of. The word used in connection with the subject spoken of conveys somewhat different meanings.

How the name came to be applied to the territory comprising Washtenaw county I am unable to say, although I spoke the Indian language nearly as well as a native before the land was surveyed by the Government. It was never so known or called by the Chippewas (or Ojibwas, as Schoolcraft has it). Washtenong was the country or district of territory watered by the Grand river,-what was known as the Washtenong Seebe, or Sepea. I remain

Respectfully yours, R. V. WILLIAMS.

In 1877 William M. Gregory, of Saline, wrote to Louis Gene- reau, on the same subject. The following is Mr. Genereau's answer:

ELBRIDGE, OCEANA CO., MICHIGAN. May 28, 1877.

SIR :- I have the pleasure to answer your letter dated May 18th. You must excuse me for not answering your note before. I was absent. You wish to know of me what is the meaning of the word "Washtenaw." Well, sir, I have had chance to learn and interpret all these words. Well, sır, that word means a large stream or a large river. This was the name of an Indian who lived near the mouth and had a village, and that was his hunting and fishing ground. Did not allow any one to hunt except his relatives and friends. The Indians used to go back and forth and stop with Washtenaw, and by and by they called the river by his name, "Washtenaw sebey." This was a good many years before the war of 1812. I have an old Indian in my care and he is over one hundred years old, and he was acquainted

. with Washtenaw. This is all at present.

Respectfully yours, LOUIS GENEREAU.

120

HISTORY OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

Lippincott's Gazetteer, edition of 1855, states that Grand river, Michigan, was called by the Indians Washtenong river. A copy of Genereau's letter was sent to Rev. S. G. Wright, who had been a teacher among the Ojibway Indians, and the following reply was received :

LEECH LAKE, MINNESOTA, June 18, 1877.

DEAR SIR :- Yours of the 9th inst. is just received. I have no doubt now but I have the full sense of the word Washtenaw. The name came, no doubt, in this way: An Indian of the Pottawatomie tribe, who may have resided in early times as far east as Pittsburg, had a son whom he named "Washington," from the great general whom he may have seen or heard of. As white settlements advanced that tribe was pushed westward and settled in Michigan and the west of that State. This boy, now a man, settled on this river and called it after his name, or which may be more likely, it was so called by others, as that is common in the Indian country. Now the terminations, ong, aug, etc., always signify the place of a thing, etc., and so the place of living, or residence of this man, was called Washtenaug, Washtenong, etc. The river Washtenaw sebey and the place would come to have the same name that Washington now has among these Indians, namely, Washten- ong, or the place of Washington. I am glad to have got these facts myself and you are welcome to what light I may have added to your stock of knowledge of the question. I remain,

Very truly yours,

S. G. WRIGHT.

It will be seen from the foregoing letters that a difference of opinion exists among those familiar with the Indian tongue. The most probable derivation of the term is that mentioned by Mr. Wright, and associating the Indian idea of Washington, the Father of his country, it may readily be assumed the meaning of the term is Grand.

RIVERS OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

There are four rivers and innumerable small streams coursing through Washtenaw county. Of these the largest and most im- portant is the Huron river, which has its rise in Livingston county and first enters this county on section 6, township 1 south, of range 5 east and passes into section 1, township 1 south, of range 4 east, thence through sections 12, 13, 24 and 25, same town and range, thence through sections 30, 31 and 32, township 1 sonth, range 5 east, thence through sections 5, 4, 9, 10, 3, 2, 11, 12, 13, township 2 south, range 5 east, thence through sections 7, 17, 16, 21, 28, 27, 26, 35, 36, township 2 south, range 6 east, thence through section 31, township 2 south, range 7 east, thence through sections 5, 4, 9, 16. 15, 22, 23, 24, township 3 south, range 7 east, into Wayne county, emptying into Lake Erie a few miles below the mouth of the Detroit river. The Indians called this river the Cos-scut-e- nong sebee, or Burnt District river; meaning the plains, or oak openings, lands or country. Its tributaries are few for the latter part of its course, though for the first half they are many; each of which, with the main stream, furnish more or less mill privileges, and which are improved for various manufacturing purposes. The Huron is a beautiful, transparent stream, passing alternately

121

HISTORY OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

through rich bottoms, openings, plains, and sloping woodlands, covered with heavy timber. Its length, by its meanderings, is about ninety miles.

Raisin river heads in Wheatland township, Hillsdale county, and empties into Lake Erie, two and a half miles below Monroe, after passing, in an extremely winding course, through Jackson, Wash- tenaw, Lenawee and Monroe counties. It is the most serpentine stream of the peninsula. Its course is first northeasterly, then south, then northeasterly, then southeasterly. In a direct line from its head to its mouth, it is sixty miles: but by its meandering, it is not less than one hundred and thirty miles. It is one of the most important streams in the State, affording as much hydraulic power as any other, having high and beautiful banks and an ex- tremely rapid current; the bottom, being a limestone rock, which produces a good quality of building material, is extensively quar- ried for that purpose. Its name is derived from the dense cluster of grapes which at an early day lined both banks. It passes through the towns of Sharon, Manchester and Bridgewater, in this county.

Saline river rises near the center of Washtenaw county, in the township of Lodi, and empties into the River Raisin, in Monroe county. Its course is southeasterly, and its length, in a direct line, twenty miles.

Grand river (Indian name Washtenong) is the largest stream lying wholly within the State of Michigan. Its course from its head branches to its mouth is very serpentine. At its source are two tributaries; the East and South branches. The former takes its rise on the western confines of Sharon township, in Washtenaw county, and the South branch on the northern borders of Wheat- land township, in Hillsdale county. They both unite in Jackson county, a little above the city of Jackson. The river then pursues a northerly course to the northern boundary of the county, then westerly for a distance of about eight miles, when it returns to a northerly route, following the boundary line dividing Ingham and Eaton counties; then taking a northwesterly course, crossing the northeast corner of Eaton and southwest corner of Clinton, passing over the eastern part of Ionia; it then strikes a westerly course, passing through Kent, Ionia and Ottawa counties, and enters Lake Michigan fifteen miles south of the mouth of the Muskegon river, 245 miles southwesterly of the strait of Michilimackinac, and 75 miles north of the St. Joseph river. It is 270 miles long, including its windings, and, at its mouth, between 50 and 60 rods wide, and of sufficient depth to admit vessels drawing 12 feet water. It is navigable 240 miles for batteaux, and receives in its course as its principal tributaries, the Rouge, Flat, Maple, Looking-glass and Red Cedar rivers on the northern side, and the Thorn Apple on the southern. It is navigable for steamers 40 miles, to the Grand rapids, below which it has not less than four feet of water. At the rapids a steamboat canal is constructing; and, after it is completed, steam- boats may go up to the village of Lyons, at the mouth of the Maple,

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History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens : history of Michigan, Part 11

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : Chas. C. Chapman & Co. Number of Pages: 1457

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Chas. C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1457