History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens : history of Michigan, Part 25

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 25

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).

103

J. Willard Babbitt, dem .... 4864 John F. Lawrence, rep .... 4825 Circuit Court Commissioners. Charles R. Whitman, dem. .. 5060 D. Oliphant Church, dem ... 4705 Frank Emerick, rep ....... . 4804 Eugene K. Freenauff, rep .. . 4705 Coroners.

Martin Clark, dem ...

.5113

Lewis C. Risdon, dem.

5093

George A. Peters, rep.

4591

John G. Crane, rep. . ..

4584

Surveyor.

Smith Wilbur, dem ....

5062

447

Harrison W. Bassett, rep ... 4615

ELECTION NOV. 5, 1878. Governor.

Charles M. Croswell, rep ... . 3338

Orlando M. Barnes, dem .... 3239

Henry S. Smith, nat

1302

Watson Snyder, pro.

244

Congress.

Ira B. Card, dem. .

3168

Edwin Willits, rep.

3520

Levi H. Thomas, nat.

1293

287

548

Peter Cooper, nat.

CHAPTER XI.

SOME OF WASHTENAW COUNTY'S ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD.

Death has no favorites; whether high or low, rich or poor, every human being is summoned once and must obey. The living con- tinually mourn for the dead. In this chapter are given a few, and but a few, of the illustrious men and women of Washtenaw county who have passed away, and who, it is hoped, in brighter worlds, are in the full enjoyment of eternal happiness, and who wait for the coming of loved ones who yet remain this side of the " valley and shadow of death."

JOHN ALLEN.

John Allen, one of the founders of the city of Ann Arbor, was born in Augusta county, Virginia, May 17, 1796. His parents were James and Elizabeth (Tate) Allen, both of whom were native Virginians. The subject of this sketch spent his earlier life in his native State, and obtained there his elementary education. In January, 1824, he came to Michigan, and in company with E. W. Rumsay, penetrated the wilderness from Detroit to Washtenaw county, where the two located the site of Ann Arbor. Shortly after the location of the village Mr. Allen began speculating in land and laying out embryo cities. At one time he was the owner of many thousands of acres of land in the western part of the State. The hard times of 1837 affected him severely, and he went East to dispose of his land, but the dullness of the money market operated against him, entailing a great loss.

Mr. Allen was a man of an exceedingly hopeful disposition, and one of considerable force of character. Whatever he undertook, he brought to bear all the energies of his nature, and in every enter- prise looking to the development of Ann Arbor he was in the lead. In company with S. W. Dexter, he published for a time the West- ern Emigrant, the first paper in Washtenaw county. He studied law with James Kingsley, and was admitted to the Bar in 1832, but gave but little of his time to his profession.

Mr. Allen was twice married. First, to Miss Mary Crawford, Nov. 2, 1815, in Virginia. Mrs. Allen was of an old family of that State. She died May 6, 1819. Second, to Mrs. Ann J. McCue, widow of Dr. William McCue, and daughter of Thomas Barry, of Londonderry, Ireland.

In 1850 Mr. Allen went to California, hoping in that famous country, to soon recover the fortune he had lost. But such was not

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HISTORY OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

to be the case, for on the 11th of March, 1851, he was called to his eternal home.

Mrs. Allen, on his decease, returned to Virginia, where she died Nov. 27, 1875, in the 79th year of her age.

HON. JAMES KINGSLEY.

James Kingsley was born in Canterbury, Windham county, Conn., on Jan. 6, 1797, and moved with his parents to Brooklyn in the same county, where he attended school till about 19 years of age. He then went to Providence, Rhode Island, where he studied Latin with a professor of Latin in Brown University. After finishing his Latin course he returned to Brooklyn where he studied law and was admitted to the Bar in that county. In 1823 he went to Virginia and was engaged as private teacher in the family of Ludwell Lee, son of the famous Richard Henry Lee.

He remained in Virginia until the winter of 1826, when he went to Mississippi, settling in the town of Grand Gulf. Shortly after- ward, the yellow fever breaking out, he concluded to emigrate to Michigan, and learning that Ann Arbor was a new and thriving village in the Territory, he directed his steps hither. He came up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers by boat, landing at Cincinnati, where he purchased a horse and rode to Detroit. At the latter place he sold his horse and came on foot to Ann Arbor, reaching here in the fall of 1826. Upon arriving in the village of Ann Ar- bor he selected two lots of land about three miles north of this city, and returned the next day to Detroit and entered his lots in the land office there. He then returned here and began work by clear- ing on his land during that fall and winter tive acres, devoting all his time to his land, as no court was held till January, 1827. At that time he commenced the practice of law here, being the first attorney admitted to practice at this Bar.

In 1830 he was married to Miss Lucy Ann Clark, a sister of Gen. Edward Clark, of this city. She died in 1856, and three children sur- vive: Mrs. C. A. Chapin, of Ann Arbor; James and George Kings- ley, of Paola, Kansas.

In 1828 Mr. Kingsley was appointed Judge of Probate, which office he held until 1836-eight years. From 1830 till 1833 inclu- sive, he was a member of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, and March 3, 1831, he was appointed a Trustee of the University of Michigan. In 1837 he was a member of the Lower House of the State Legislature, and in 1838, 1839 and 1842 a mem- ber of the Senate. While a member of the Senate in 1842 he drew the charter of the Michigan Central railroad by which it went into operation -- its first charter. In 1848 he was again elected a mem- ber of the House, and in 1850 was a member of the Constitutional Convention, in which he was on the Judiciary Committee, and oc- cupied a prominent position in the proceedings and deliberations of the Convention. In 1852 he became Regent of the University,

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belonging to the first set of elected Regents, the Regents prior to 1852 having been appointed by the Senate upon the nomination of the Governor. This office he held for the full term of six years. In 1869-'70 he was again elected to the Lower House, which was the last official position held by him. He was also the second Mayor of Ann Arbor.

Judge Kingsley came to Michigan in 1826, just as the tide of population was beginning to flow into its Territory. He became a citizen here before the organization of the populous county of Wash- tenaw and when its present capital town had little more than a nominal existence. He was one of that band of noble, patriotic, enterprising and educated men, who, coming into the wilderness of a new country, laid the foundation for the State, and who will bear forever the worthy name of pioneer.

His life has been continued beyond that of most of his associates. Few of the early settlers of that day remain to speak his praise, or to drop a tear at his grave.

Although educated to the profession of the law and intending to devote his life to its practice, the field which he chose offered at the time of his settlement here little encouragement to the lawyer. No court had been here established; no business complications demanded professional services or judicial investigation. He was at the first session ever held by a Court of Record within the limits of the county. Although the last of his profession here who has fallen, his name stands inscribed first on the roll as the oldest and earliest member of the Bar. For more than fifty years he has been a promi- nent member of this community, sometimes engaged in professional labors, sometimes in more general business pursuits, and sometimes in the performance of official duties.

As a lawyer Judge Kingsley had little love for the technicalities of the profession. He knew nothing of the tricks of the pettifogger, and never soiled his hands with his practices. The labor of the office and the drudgery of the details in the preparation of causes were not much to his taste. but he was a true advocate of the great principles of the law. Right and justice always commanded his support, and in him they found an ardent and successful advocate. He was true as steel to his client, yet nothing could induce him by trick or chicanery to pervert the law. His efforts in the courts were always marked with ability and learning, but his best efforts were before the jury. Where he thought his client was the subject of oppression or of attempted injustice, he kindled with unwonted zeal, and his advocacy became both striking and powerful. His words of invective against the offender, on such occasions, were scorching, and his warm plea for justice -- plain, simple justice -- rung out in that eloquent tone which commanded the sympathy of all hearers. We can well remember such occasions, when these bursts of eloquence from his lips fell upon the ears of both jury and spectators with a power fascinating and almost irresistible.

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Nor did the kindlier feelings fail sometimes to appear in these professional efforts, The play of his fancy and the sallies of his wit not unfrequently broke the dullness of the more grave and serious business at the court.

Judge Kingsley was honored by his fellow citizens with many offices of trust and authority. During eight years he was Judge of Probate, and for many years a member of the Legislative Council of the Territory, and afterward of the Legislature of the State. He has been Mayor of the city, a member of the Constitutional Con- vention and Regent of the University.

The confidence which the community always had in his capacity, and above all in his strict integrity and honor, made him ever a popular man. The free voluntary suffrage of his fellow-citizens thrusted office upon him. The duties of his official life he performed diligently and conscientiously, and his retirement from office was without a stain upon his reputation, or the whisper of doubt as to the purity of his acts or his motives.

Judge Kingsley was a man of great simplicity of character. No display or show was ever exhibited by him. Although a man of more than ordinary stores of learning, and rich in the fruits of much philosophic reflection, it was never the subject of boast or show, and it is thought that few of his immediate acquaintances estimated him in that regard as highly as he deserved. He often exhibited the guileless spirit of a child. He would not suspect a wrong in others. IIe was kind and generous in his impulses, a true sympathizer with the poor and unfortunate, and a warm and sincere friend. The rough contact with the world seems to have affected him little, and the books which he read in his youth and the memory of his early friends remained dear to him to the last day of his life.

It was perhaps these traits of simplicity and sincerity and this character of integrity and honor which marked the course of his long life, which, more than anything besides, made him a popular favorite and knitted so strongly the tie that bound him and his more intimate friends together.

Judge Kingsley was politically a Democrat, and in many a cam- paign did yeoman service in behalf of the party, always making effective speeches from the platform, speeches well calculated to arouse the enthusiasm and stimulate the zeal of his hearers. As an official -- judicial, legislative, or executive-he was ever true to the trust reposed in him, never bartering the interests of his con- stituents for personal gain. Ann Arbor is specially indebted to him for his early and earnest effort in locating, establishing and building up the University, and those of our citizens who knew him will long hold him in remembrance. The following tribute is from the pen of Judge Lawrence:

Judge Kingsley was among the first practicing lawyers in the county. He beheld the judiciary in its infancy as a Territorial court, under the administration of Judge Dexter, who obliged some

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culprits to swear to a plea of guilty, and witnessed its rise and prog- ress through its various changes and gradations, until it had assumed a name and character inferior to none in this vast and mighty Union. In all these courts, from that of Justice of the Peace to the Supreme Court, he, as a member of the Bar, played his part and played it well.

His professional career was always honorable, just and manly. His word was as good as his bond, and it required no written stip- ulation to refresh his recollection; naturally truthful and honest, he had not learned how to prevaricate or evade, and in all his exten- sive practice no occasion ever arose to question his integrity or honor. As a practitioner he was without reproach and utterly incapable of meanness or chicanery. He was as honest in his profession as out of it. His integrity was too real to be bartered for temporary gain and too natural to be even tempted. It cost him no effort to be honest, but it was naturally impossible for him to be otherwise.

As a mere lawyer, Mr. Kingsley always held an honorable posi- tion. His mind was exceedingly acute and discriminating. In the trial of causes and in the scrutinizing of testimony no important fact ever escaped his notice. He was quick to see the strong points in his own case and the weak ones in that of his adversary. His discrimination and good judgment rarely allowed him to misapply the law to the facts.

He was a well-read and sound lawyer, and his judgment, aided by his common sense, rarely deceived his clients. While maintain- ing an honorable position as a lawyer, as an advocate and orator, in a certain class of cases, he, at the Bar of the county, was without a peer. Ridicule is sometimes the most effective argument that can be used, and when the state of the facts would allow it, no man ever better understood or wielded it, as a matter of defense, with more power or success. At the Bar and in deliberative assemblies Mr. Kingsley often resorted to this mode of defeating his opponent, and the recollection of many wonderful exhibitions of this faculty is still fresh in the minds of those who witnessed them.

No revenge, no malignity, accompanied those efforts, but a sim- ple and genuine wit, characterized by an inimitable manner of delivery, carried all before it, courts, juries and public assemblies. His memory will ever be associated with those masterly efforts of real wit and genuine eloquence, and the day may be far distant when his equal shall again appear.

The deceased is entitled to the highest encomium that can be given to a human being -- he was an honest man. In all his inter- course with men, both in his professional and individual capacity, there is and ever has been but one,and that is a universal, judgment in favor of his integrity ; and perhaps all that might be said of his varied powers of intellect and the remarkable manifestations of his natural eloquence is far outweighed by a just estimation of his real character by the familiar though homely appellation on the tongues and in the hearts of all that knew him, -- " Honest Jim Kingsley."

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Mr. Kingsley, after a long life of daily acts of kindness and friend- ship to all within his reach, lavished with a too liberal hand for his own aggrandizement, if that can be misspent which is expended for humanity, has finally left the earth without an enemy, and we trust in the life beyond the same faculties of mind and heart more fully developed will meet with equal success and appreciation in heaven.

HON. SAMUEL W. DEXTER.

Samuel W. Dexter was born in Boston in 1792, and was the eldest son of the distinguished statesman and advocate Samuel Dexter. After graduating at Harvard, he removed to Athens, on the Hudson river. From there he came to Michigan in August, 1824. He located in the vicinity of the present village of Dexter the same year; and in 1826 came with his family to reside in a house which he built on the bank of the River Huron, very near the present railroad depot in the village of Dexter. This house was used for many years as a place of worship for as many as four or five denom- inations, who there held at stated intervals regular service, and it was also a home for the different preachers who came to conduct the services.

Mr. Dexter established the first newspaper published in Wash- tenaw county, in 1829, at Ann Arbor. It was called The Emigrant.

In 1826 he was appointed Chief Justice of the County Court by Hon. Lewis Cass. He held the first court for the county of Wash- tenaw, at the house of Erastus Priest, in Ann Arbor, on the third Monday of January, 1827. In the same year he was solicited to become a Territorial delegate to Congress, but resigned all claims in favor of his friend. Major John Biddle, of Detroit, who was a brother of the famous Nicholas Biddle of United States Bank renown.

In 1831 Mr. Dexter, Austin E. Wing and John R. Williams were candidates for the office of delegate to Congress in the Territory of Michigan. Mr. Wing was the Democratic candidate. Mr. Williams was an independent candidate, and Judge Dexter was the candidate of the Anti-Masons. The vote in Washtenaw county resulted as follows: Mr. Dexter, 389; Mr. Wing, 227; Mr. Williams, 5; total vote in the county 621. The whole Territory vote was as follows: Wing, 3,188;"Dexter, 2,100; Williams, 1,100; total vote 4,588. And it may be well to state here that Mr. Dexter ran upon the Free- Soil ticket for Congress about the time of the Kansas and Nebraska excitement. David Stuart was the Democratic candidate, and William A. Howard was the Whig candidate.

In 1826 Judge Dexter established a private postoffice in his own house, and carried mail on horseback to and from Ann Arbor once a week.

He located Saginaw City in the year 1825; and also Byron, Shiawasse Co .; and in the same year he entered lands in the vicin -

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ity of Tecumseh. He also made locations in other parts of the State.

Judge Dexter was an Anti-Mason, and an avowed temperance, as well as a thoroughgoing anti-slavery man. His positions on public questions seemed to have been chosen with an utter disre- gard to their popularity. The Anti-Masonic issue passed away, but his efforts in the cause of temperance never ceased; they took the form of promoting meetings, toward the expense of which he lib- erally contributed, and of unremitting efforts to aid and assist the families of drunkards, and restore their intemperate members to a correct life. He had no desire for office, and whenever he consented to lead a ticket, to be submitted to the suffrages of his fellow-citi- zens, it was because he thought he might be instrumental in main- taining a principle, rather than in reaching a place. When once convinced that a cause was right, so great was his disregard of the elements of opposition thereto, that he seemed almost incapable of estimating them. He never consented to determine the moral ele- ments of any question by the number of people who favored or opposed it. And while it may be truly said that he was a poor politician, his course presented one of those spectacles of almost sublime attachment to what he thought to be sound principle, which are not over abundant in popular governments, but without which no reformations would ever begin. Ile knew little, and cared less, about the ordinary methods, or indeed any method of merely making money. His time was occupied with his books, and private and public charities, and the society of his friends. He was a fine scholar, because his studies did not terminate with the end of his college course. His fortune enabled him to supply himself with books at a time when they were beyond the reach of almost every one around him. He was an incessant reader, a graceful, and at times powerful, speaker, but the delight of his life was social converse; endless talk upon any subject brought forward, it mat- tered but little to him what. His reading and thought seemed to have traversed all subjects; and those who were nearest to him always thought his finest power was manifested in his most natural, but really graphic and affluent, conversations.

One peculiar feature of Mr. Dexter's character was born with him. He never invited familiarity, not because he was in feeling above anybody; on the contrary all his feelings and opinions ran in favor of the poor, oppressed and suffering. He was their constant advocate; yet there was that in the nature and make- up of the man that altogether without announcement or protest made any famil- iarity impossible.

No motives of policy, or persuasions of society, or any earthly consideration could bring him to compromise, either with individ- uals or the public at large, what he deemed to be a moral issue. This was the pole star of his life, by which all questions and conduct were regulated.

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For the last twenty years of his life, finding that certain points of the country round about were not supplied with regular means of worship, he preached to the people in various school-houses.

Mr. Dexter died at the old homestead in Dexter, Mich., Feb. 6, 1863.

Hon. George Miles was born in Amsterdam, Montgomery county, N. Y., and was of old Puritan stock. He had to rely upon his own resources in early life, which tended greatly to develop his powers. He was admitted to the Bar in 1822 in his native State. In 1837 he removed to Ann Arbor, where he continued the general practice of his profession until appointed to the Bench in 1846, where he presided with great dignity. ITis reported opinions are noticeable for their ability, conciseness and close adherence to the points involved, and compare favorably with the early New York Reports. Judge Miles was possessed of an exalted character for integrity, and he was respected and esteemed by all. He died in the prime of life.

Hon. Wm. A. Fletcher was born in New Hampshire, his younger days being spent in the mercantile business in his native State. This was in 1813. About this time he removed to New York, where he studied law, and was admitted to the Bar. In 1821 he removed to Detroit, and in 1823 was appointed Chief Justice of the County Court of Wayne county. On the 17th day of April, 1833, the legislative council of the Territory established a Judicial Cir- cuit, embracing all organized counties in the Territory, except Wayne, and Mr. Fletcher was appointed Judge of the Circuit. It being necessary for the Judge to reside in his district, he removed to Ann Arbor, where he continued to reside until his death. Upon the organization of the State, Judge Fletcher was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which office he resigned in 1842. Judge Fletcher was possessed of a clear, discriminating mind, and was a very able lawyer. He died in August, 1853.

MUNNIS KENNY.

A well-known and honored citizen of Washtenaw county was Munnis Kenny, the fourth son of Deacon Moses and Abigail Kenny, who was born in Newfane, Vt., Dec. 10, 1788. At the age of 15 he was sent to the academy of Chesterfield, New Hamp- shire, with the view of preparing him for college. At the opening of the academy in his native town, he returned home and finished his course. He then entered Williams College, where he spent three years; then entering the senior class at Middlebury College, he graduated in 1809, at the age of 21. The same year he took the degree of A. B. in Williams College. After his graduation, he began the study of law with Judge White, of Townshead. While here he married Martha, daughter of Dr. John Campbell. He then located in Townshend, where he followed his profession for several

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years, being in the meantime honored with offices in the town, and for three years sent to the Legislature.

From Townshend Mr. Kenny went to Brighton, Mass., where he remained for several years. In 1829 he removed to Webster, Washtenaw county, Mich., and located 240 acres of land, which he at once proceeded to cultivate. Having spent all his life up to this time in intellectual pursuits, and in the society of the cultured and refined, it is not to be wondered he found much in pioneer life not congenial to his taste; but he did not hesitate in the work he set out to do-the providing of a comfortable home for his family. Hospitality was one of his ruling traits. The " latch string " at his house " was always out." The new-comer was always wel- comed, and assisted in finding a home.

In politics Mr. Kenny was an anti-slavery man, and lived to read the proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, remarking, as he did, that he was satisfied.

He was one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church, in Webster, and gave much of his time and the best energies of his life to the building up of the cause of Christ.

Mr. Kenny was the originator of the Washtenaw Mutual In- surance Company, and was for many years its secretary. In the office of the company hangs a fine portrait of him, as a remembrance of the good work done in the formation of the company.

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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 25

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