USA > Michigan > St Clair County > History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.. > Part 36
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
Often deer were chased by the dogs from the forests back of St. Clair, and caught by them on the ice. and in the summer men would capture them in the water by going out in cances or boats.
The deer is a poor swimumer. On one occasion a great buck, followed by hounds, came bounding through the village green one Sabbath morning. The boys did not go to church that day, but to atone for this they presented their pastor with a ham of venison. The bears were very plenty, and disputed with the inhabitants the right to fresh meats which were not under lock and key. A citizen was out one morning early looking for his cow, and came across a very large bear with two cubs. The cubs ran up an el tree, the old bear remaining as sentinel at the foot. The discoverer summoned a neighbor, and the two, with an old fowling-piece loaded with slugs such as they could tind, with much trouble captured the three black " var. mints." A bear- as we afterwards discovered -- came to our cellar, stealing nothing, however, but soap-grease. I suppose he was manufactaring bear's oil and needed more grease,' I fixed the doors to capture the beast, but never succeeded. About this time. I changed pulpits for a Sabbath with Mr. Hyde, of Rochester, and Mrs. Thompson related to him the circumstance of the bear. Brother Hyde said that he would like very much to see such an animal. That night the bear came to the porch of the house and Mr. Hyde was taken with such a sudden fear that for a time he could not get up. Later in the night, Mrs. Thompson was awakened by a noise at her window, and there. directly before her face. was the old follow himself. with both paws and his great nose pushing against the glass. Some young men in the village undertook to capture one of these fellows in this wise: They killed a pig and laid him out on the common. and, building over it a high scaffold as a tower of safety, waited for their visitor. He came, but his presence put the boys into such a trepidation that they both fell from their loft directly upon the bear, who ran away, carrying the pig with him.
Capt. Samuel Ward came to the month of Belle River in 1820, and laid out the village of Newport (now Marine City) in 1831. This was the second village on the St. Clair. Although it did not grow much for several years, it has recently come to be quite a town, and is noted for its ship building. More steamboats and sail vessels have been built in these ship yards than anywhere else in the State. The following are the names of some of these boats: The Huron was the first, then the Champion. Detroit, Sam Ward, Frank Moore, Pacific, Atlantic, Ocean, Arctic, Oregon. Traveler. Cleveland, Caspian, Pearl, Ruby. Montgomery, Wade. Water Witch, Forester, Forest Queon. Susan Ward. Milton D. Ward, Marine City. Alpena, Koweonaw. Planet. St. Paul, Coburn, Minneapolis, E. H. Collins, Geo. S. Frost, Salina, A. E. Bissell. River Queen. Rose, James Lord. Eastabrook, Geo. Hart, William Conway, Birckhead and Bay City. A recent published account placed the whole number of steam and sail vessels at ninety. seven. The cost of these vessels was not far from $3,000,000. This is pretty well for a town that is not yet forty years old.
There has been a remarkable success in business men who have begun operations here. E. B. Ward stands at the head of these, and is supposed by some to be worth $10, 000,000, Sev eral others are worth $500.000. Some fifteen, at least. can be put down as worth over $100,000. Very many $50.000, and so on. When I first became acquainted with E. B. Ward, forty years ago. I suppose his entire earthly inheritance would be put at less than $100. The inquiry has been made. Why the remarkable snecess of so heavy business men at Newport or Marine City ? I think it originated mainly from old Capt. Samnel Ward. He was serupulously honest, frugal and industrious, and he spared no patience to impress the importance of these things upon everybody around him. Ile seemed to magnetize everybody with his spirit, and inculato them with an insatiable desire to make money. When I first knew him, he was a man of very mod- erate means, and kept a tavern at Belle River, on one of the old French farms which he had bought. and on which he had laid out his village. When he died he was a millionaire.
Port Huron was the third village on the St. Clair. The beginning of this village was made by John Thorn, on the north side of Black River. Some years after this, Daniel B. Harrington and F. C. White, of Whiteboro. N. Y., bought the strip of land lying between the Indian reservation and the St. Clair River, on the south side of Black River, and laid it out into village lots. Subsequently Dr. Noble and somo others bought the Indian reservation and added it to
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
the village. This has come to be the important place on the river. In 1832 the Black River Mill Company put up a large steam mill that greatly aided the growth of the place. The next and fourth village on the St. Clair was Algonac, laid out in 1836. Dr. Justin Rice, Degarmo Jones, Mr. Luce and Dr. Clark were engaged in this enterprise. Judge Bunce, aged eighty-six, and apparently good for ten or fifteen years more, has lived in the vicinity of Port Huron since its settlement. At one time he knew personally every man who lived in the Territory of Michigan. He was Presiding and Associate Judge of St. Clair County till his presence seemed a fixture in the court-room. He was chosen to the first Legislature in Michi- gan, and served as a member of that body from 1821 to 1824.
The same year of his arrival here he built a mill for cutting pine lumber on Beaver Creek, now catled Bunce Creek. But this was not the first mill; a mill was built there 130 years ago. All these were propelled by the waters of the creek.
The fourth and last mill is now taken down. Meldrum & Park, mentioned in the chapter on French Pioneers, built a mill on the creek called by their name, and another about a mile below the old Jerome Mill on Pine River. Both these mills were in ruins more than half a century ago. The work of getting out pine logs for these mills was performed without any team whatever. The logs were cut twelve feet long and flattened with a broad-ax on two sides. and drawn to the mill by men.
In 1823, a mission was established at Fort Gratiot for the purpose of educating and Chris- tianizing the Indians, who occupied the buildings at the fort. there being no troops there at the time. This mission was conducted by Hudson and Hart. It was never very successful. A score or more of Indian children were gathered into the school. There is now living on the Canada side of the St. Clair River an old Indian preacher who was educated at Hudson and Hart's mission school. This mission was continued three and a quarter years only. About this time, the mission at Mackinac was established, which was far more successful.
George McDougal, the keeper of the light-house above the fort, was somewhat noted in his day. He was a member of the Detroit bar, but so exceedingly rough and severe in his caustic speeches that they determined to get rid of him, and so they had him appointed to this station with a salary greater than his services would command in Detroit, and so he was disposed of.
In these early days, there were few roads. The birch-bark canoe of the Indian and the battean of the French trader were the only conveyances. For many years after Judge Bunce lived on the river. his method of getting to Detroit was in a canoe. He would start so as to reach Lake St. Clair in the forepart of the evening, and at bed-time wrap himself in a blanket and sleep while the men rowed through the whole night, and reach Detroit in the morning. The night was chosen because the lake was then least disturbed by winds, and it would bring him to Detroit in time to attend to business. In the winter, the ice was used, and a French train drawn by an Indian pony took the place of the canoe and battean.
Once while crossing Lake St. Clair on the ice, driving nearly across the middle of the lake, Judge Bunce saw an animal in the beaten road before him and he gave chase, but the animal kept ahead for miles. The snow was deep on each side of the track. After a long drive the brute tired out and jumped into the snow and stood on his haunches. The Judge raised his heavy hickory whip stock and struck at the animal's head, and so stunned the beast that he cut the animal's throat without difficulty, and put him in his train. When reaching the store he inquired of a French settler what it was. The astonished man asked the Judge where it came from. 'Oh, I got him back here on the ice.' . Got him,' shouted the Frenchman, . got him alone! Mon Dieu! you must thank the Virgin that he did not get you! ' It was a huge wild cat. In 1834, the writer of this paper was installed pastor of the Congregational Church at St. Clair, the county seat of the county. A court house had been built previous to this time, containing on the first floor the county jail and the residence of the Sheriff as jailer. On the sec- ond floor was the court room and jury room. The court was held in the jailer's family room, and the grand jury in the chambers, to which they ascended by means of a ladder on the ont- side, and entered through a window. This house was finished when I went there. In the court room religious meetings were held, and for that matter almost all meetings were held there. Although my parish was St. Clair, and the distance of a Sabbath day's journey across it,
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yet practically it extended from Lake St. Clair on the south to Lake Huron on the north, and west indefinitely, sometimes including Romeo. Into all parts of this territory I was frequently called to attend religions services, especially funerals and marriages. At different times, I had regular appointments at Port Huron, St. Clair, Newport and Algonac. I organized the first churches at each of these places. One year I preached regularly every alternate Sabbath at Romeo. Our labors also extended to the other side of the St. Clair River at Mooretown or Mooreville and Port Sarnia, before they had these names. In those days, there was marrying and giving in marriage, even as now, and we did a sort of loan office business in that line. The laws on the marriage service in Canada were burdensome and expensive. This brought almost all that business over the river, and I had my full share of it. Many of our regular attendants at publie worship came from the other side of the river.
The Walk-in-the- Water, the first steamboat atloat on the waters above Niagara Falls, had made her first trip and passed up the river as far as Fort Gratiot. The Argo, whose hull was made of two large logs dug out and put together in the form of a canoe, was on the route in 1831, and was that season superseded by the steamer General Gratiot. The following are the names of the boats which have done a passenger business on the St. Clair to the present time: Argo, Gen. Gratiot, Lady of the Lake. Andrew Jackson, Jack Downing, Gen. Brady, Macomb, Erie, Huron, Red Jacket, Telegraph No. 1, Frank Moore, Telegraph No. 2, Ruby, Pearl, Fash- ion, Forester. Canadian, Forest Queen, Dart, Reindeer, Milton D. Ward, Evening Star, Carrie Blood, George S. Frost and Grace Dormer.
The first Protestant meeting house on the river was built at Point du Chien, near Algonac, and cost some $250. It was a house of respectable dimensions for the time, but it was never finished. Religious meetings were held there until after the village of Algonac was laid out. The building of that house taxed the pecuniary resources of the whole county. There was seareely a man on the St. Clair River whose name was not on that subscription paper.
The original paper I saw and it is now in the hands of the Smith family at Algonac. It is a novelty. illustrating the uselessness of money. Almost every subscription was to be paid, and was paid, in such things as the subscriber produced or dealt in. Some promised to pay lumber, some shingles, some timber, some work, nails, sash. One woman subscribed the front door, others so many stockings, some gave needlework, etc., ete. But no paint was subscribed and none was used. At the time of buikling this church there was a Methodist class, whose headquarters were at this church. They gathered into it all persons of that faith on the St. Clair River, and so were able to number a full dozen. Some of them lived at St. Clair sixteen miles away from the place of meeting. The people in those days made more effort to attend church than they do now. One of the Deacons of my church at St. Clair, Mr. Bancroft, lived twelve miles away: still he was always at church with his whole family, and was generally among the first to put in his appearance on Sabbath morning."
THE PIONEERS OF PORT HURON.
The following paper was prepared by request for the Pioneer Society of Detroit by Mrs. B. C. Farrand: "I find in my own mind, " says Mrs. Farrand, "an interest awakened in all that pertains to the history of the Northwest-to the adventures of the carly missionaries and traders-more especially to LeCaron, Champlain and LaSalle, with whose names are asso- ciated . the great inland ocean,' . the Mer Donce' of Champlain. our own beautiful Lake Huron.
I crave your indulgence for the errors you may observe, and the anachronisms which your more extended research will enable you to correct.
So far as I have been able to learn, the French were the first of the Caucasian race to . be- hold this beautiful peninsula.' or to set foot upon this portion of its soil. As early as June 6. 1656, MI. Du Lhut, who had been in command of Michilimackinac, in obedience to the com- mand of the Governor General of New France, selected the site of the present Fort (fratiot. and erected thereon a fortified trading post. and gave it the name of Fort St. Joseph.
The order was given in these words, among others: " I wish you to establish a post on the Straits, between Lakes Huron and Erie; I desire you to choose an advantageous place to secure
17
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
the passage which may protect our savages who go to the chase, and serve them as an asylum * against their enemies and ours. * * * You will take care that each (of the fifty men) provides himself with provisions sufficient for his subsistence at the said post, where I doubt not you may trade for peltries."
Thirteen years after Fort St. Joseph was built, Cadillac established a fort and named it Fort Pontchartrain, at Teuchsagrondie, on the present site of Detroit.
Had Fort St. Joseph existed seven years before, it might have welcomed the adventurous voyager LaSalle, as his wooden bark-the Griffin-first specimen of American naval architect- ure, sailed up the rapid current of the St. Clair, the banks of which almost embrace each oth- er. We seem to hear the report of the five arquebuses as her griffined prow looked forth upon the opening ocean, and her keel first parted its deep blue waters, while naught but the stately pine trees wave an answering salute.
Until 1790. the Indian maintained his original proprietorship, and enjoyed this place of wondrous beauty all undisturbed (for Fort St. Joseph was abandoned after two years). His hunting grounds-the great forests-remained all unknown, their vast treasures as yet tempted not the cupidity of the white man, and the rapids at all seasons of the year furnished an un- limited supply of all kinds of fish. So attractive was this place, that 3,000 Indians have been encamped here at one time, within the memory of those now living here; wigwam touching wigwam, and extending far above the present Military street on both sides of Black River.
During the summer of 1790, just mentioned, seven Frenchmen, with their wives and fam- ilies, arrived at this spot. They came up the river in canoes, and erected shanties for the pur- pose of forming a settlement. They brought with them no means. Enterprise and health con- stituted their capital. For many years they lived amicably with the Indians, who permitted them to appropriate portions of the soil for their gardens, and to fell trees with which to erect their cabins of logs.
These Indians had a tradition of a great council held at Pe-tag-wa-no (now Point Edward, in Sarnia) at the beginning of the Revolutionary war. The great question was, Which should they help. the Americans or the British ? They had been in council six days, and could not agree, and then sent for the great prophet and chief of the Huron tribe, We-me-ke-uns. This chief had a grotesque appearance. Besides being very large and powerful, he had three noses -a smaller one on each side of the face. He stepped forward into the council and said: . My Brothers-the Great Spirit tells me that we poor Indians had best keep silence, for the Ke-she- mo-co-mon (meaning the Big Knife, or the Americans) will drive us away beyond the Rocky Mountains. These beautiful forests will not be our home. It may be, you and I will be gone to the happy hunting-grounds of our fathers, but these things will surely come. The Ameri- cans fight for themselves, and the English for their king The Americans are few, but they have a great advantage; they will drive the English back over the great waters, and will fight to the last. So there is no hope for us. Remain in peace. The Great Spirit hath spoken.'
This chief lived one hundred and twenty-five years before he went to the happy hunting grounds of his fathers. His wife preceded him four years: was one hundred and one years of age, and left fifteen children to mourn her early departure.
The names of the French settlers were Anselm Petit, Francois Lerviere, Baptiste Levais, Duchien, Jarvais, Coarneais and Moreaux.
M. Jarvais erected a saw-mill on what is now known as Indian Creek, but was then called la Riviere Jarvais. Three miles up Black River was Quotsboron. the site now of Harrington's mill. Black River was then called by the more euphonious name of la Riviere Delude, al- though the association was no more pleasant, from the fact that a man by the name of Delude had found his grave in its dark waters.
The settlement, though called Desmond for a few years, was more frequently called la Riviere Delude, until the platting of a village, in 1835, by the Hon. Daniel B. Harrington, to which he gave the present name, Port Huron.
The Indians had several acres of land under cultivation on the lowlands of Big Marsh, just above the present crossing of the Grand Trunk Railroad over Black River, up to the time of
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
the great land speculations of 1836 37. The second saw-mill was built by MI. Petit, under contraet, for Park & Meldrum, of Detroit. Park & Meldrum were slaveholders, and employed slave labor. One of their employes served seven years to obtain one of their slaves for a wife; and the descendants of this woman are now living on the banks of the St. Clair River, in the county of St. Clair. It is to be hoped that this slave-wife was truty a free woman after her marriage.
At the breaking-out of the war of 1812, disturbances seemed to threaten the settlers. The Indians were not as friendly as heretofore, and in the summer of 1813, during the holding of an Indian couneil. the settlers were warned by a squaw. to whom somo unusual kindness had been shown, that their death or capture had been determined upon, and that they should at once remove. Accordingly the next morning they started for Detroit in boats. On their route they met Mr. King, one of the settlers on the Canada side, on his return from a trip down the river, and told him of the troubles and fears at la Riviere Dehide. He was unable to appre- ciate the situation, and said he had few fears and should proceed home and take the risk. The next day he was killed, and also a man with him by the name of Rodd. Their wives and chil- dren were taken as captives to the head of Lake Huron. Some of the children of King are now living in the vicinity of Saginaw, and the widow of Rodd is the same Old Mother Rodd who was so well known in this locality, and who died a year since, aged one hundred and fifteen years. A son of hers now resides on the Indian reservation opposite this place.
King was an Englishman, Rodd a half-breed. Of the Indians engaged in this massacre were 'Old Salt,' .Black Foot.' . Wapoose ' the medicine man, and . Old Wawenash,' the old Chippewa chief who died in Sarnia only a few years ago. Wawenash shot King.
After the elose of the war, the settlers returned to their homes and Fort Gratiot was built, the settlers assisting. The fort was garrisoned by a company under command of Col. MeNeill. Maj. Burbank and Capt. Whistler.
A re-enforcement of French settlers arrived in IS15 -Mr. Peter Brandemoor, M. Causley, M. Duprey, and the two brothers Burnham-so that there began to be the appearance of a set- tled community, and a good deal of confidence and security experienced.
In 1819. Mr. Jeremiah Harrington. the father of Mr. Daniel B. Harrington, arrived from the State of New York and . found the place used mostly by the Indians as a hunting ground and fishery.'
In 1820. the county of St. Clair was organized, and its records for several years thereafter placed in a eigar box for safety.
In 1828, the houses for the Indians on the Sarnia side were built, just as they now are, by the British Government. A e mtract for some of the building materials was taken by Mr. Joua. than Burtch of this place: the shingles were furnished from the American side of the river.
The first village plat was made by Mr. Edward Petit, son of one of the original settlers, and was named Peru. Twelve acres were platted on what is now known as " the Flats. "
No church edifice existed for many years, either Protestant or Catholic. Early Protestant religious services were conducted by Dr. Norman Nash. then on his way to the Green Bay Mis sion. He preached at Fort Gratiot and baptized several children.
Occasionally a Catholic Priest mule a visit here and administered baptism. Old Father Bada was the first who visited this place. Pere Richard camo as far as Cottrellville.
The records of the town and of St. Clair County, as well as those of Fort Gratiot, are easily accessible, and as they embrace a period of little more than fifty years are not very voluminons.
As a means of argnainting you more perfectly with the early days of this region, and also of reseuing from oblivion awaiting them. unless speedily saved. I have recorded some incidents in the life of a native of this city, who, so far as we can learn, was the first white child born within the limits of what is now known as Port Huron."
Mrs. Farrand concluded this contribution to Michigan's history with a biographieal sketch of Mr. Petit, which is given in the personal history of the city.
ST. CLAIR MILITIA, 1505 11.
In 1805, Gen. Hull was appointed Governor of Michigan Territory by President Jefferson.
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Shortly after he entered upon the duties of his office. On September 10, 1805, he, as Com- mander-in-Chief, issued the following orders for military organization : 1st. A regiment of in- fantry of eight companies from all parts of the Territory except the district of Erie, to be known as the First Regiment. (The Erie district embraced the territory all south of Huron River, Monroe County ) 2d. A regiment in the Erie 'district to consist of seven companies of infantry, and one of cavalry -- the cavalry company to be by voluntary enrollment, and to con- sist of thirty-two rank and file; this regiment to be known as the Second Regiment. 3d. A legionary corps to be made up by voluntary enrollment from any part of the Territory except the Erie district, and to consist of one company of cavalry, one company of artillery, one com- pany of light infantry and one company of riflemen, the corps to be commanded by one Lieu- tenant Colonel, commandant, and one Major. Under date of October 1, 1805, the following appointments were made : James May, Adjutant General, with rank of Colonel; Matthew Ernest, Quartermaster General, with Colonel's rank; Francois Chabert de Joncaire, First Aid-de- camp to Commander-in-Chief, with rank of Colonel: George McDougall. Second Aid-de-camp to Commander-in-Chief, with rank of Lieutenant Colonel; Solomon Sibley. Third Aid-de-camp to Commander-in-Chief, with rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
The officers of the First Regiment were A. B. Woodward, Colonel; Antoine Beaubien, Lieutenant Colonel; Gabriel Godfroy, Major; William McCoskry, Surgeon; Rev. Gabriel Richard, Chaplain; Chris. Tuttle, Adjutant: Charles Stewart. Quartermaster. The Captains were Jacob Visger. D. Duncan, George Cottrell. Louis Campeau, James Henry, Louis St. Ber- nard. Joseph Cerre dit St. Jean, Joseph Campeau, Jean Cissne. The Lieutenants were Samuel Abbot, John Meldrum, Whittmore Knaggs. Jean Marie Beaubien, Christian Clemens, James Campean, Thomas Tremble, Francois Chovin, Joseph Wilkinson. The Ensigns were Allen C. Wilmot, George Cottrell. J. B. Cicott, James Connor. John Dix. F. Rivard, F. Tremble. Jean Ruland and John Burnett.
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