USA > Michigan > Jackson County > Jackson > Jackson city directory and business advertiser. With a history from the first settlement of the city, and a general portrait of its business at the present time, for 1867-1868 > Part 6
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
the block now occupied by Gilbert, Ransom & Knapp and the Jackson City Bank. Mr. B. gives us the following picture of Jack- sonburgh as it appeared when he first came on the ground occu- pied by the last named block : Spindling tamaracks and cat-tails grew, the earth was boggy, springy and wet. The United States surveyors, in running out the land on which a large part of Jack- son is situated, described it in their report as WORTHLESS. J. N. & D. F. Dwight had a store on the site of Boughton & Rodgers ; the next structure was a long, story-and-a-half wooden row where Patton Morrison's store is. Mr. B's father bought an old building, just below this partly enclosed and finished off, and the lot 66 feet front, running back 16 rods, for $300. Next east lived old uncle Michael Hoose, where Gregg's bakery is. "Bascom's" was on the site of Lang's store and Jackson Hall. Josephus Case occupied a wooden dwelling just below, part of which he used for his black- smith shop. Below, a house occupied by Horace Blackman, still standing-Mrs. Warner now lives in it. Paul B. Ring's tavern was on south east corner of public square. Norman Allen had a building which he occupied for a dwelling and grocery, near the site of the First National Bank. Dr. Backus occupied a building as a dwelling and office, now owned by Mrs. Emmons. The Baptist Church was erected this year (elsewhere described.) There were some improvements on the east side of the river. The road from Spring Arbor entered by Jackson street ; the mail was carried through from Clinton to Grand Rapids on foot, in a man's coat pocket ; very good road to Adrian. In 1838 he tells us that Mr. Gibson contracted for the erection of ten buildings (1} story,) and sold them before they were finished.
W. H. Monroe came to Jackson in January, 1837. He came via the Maumee, Toledo and Monroe. The journey from New York State in those days was no pastime. Mr. M., was thirty days getting through the great swamp east of Toledo, which is 31 miles long-then traversed with a wretched road-now, the cross- ing is an excellent turnpike. From Monroe here, Mr. M., came in a sleigh in two days. He soon engaged in business with his nephew, Nelson Monroe, succeeding Geo. B. Cooper & Co. Sold out the stock subsequently to a Mr. Gilbert. At this time Mr. M., boarded at the Jackson Exchange, kept by P. B. Ring. In 1838. G
Carlton & Van Antwerp, Printers, Jackson.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
he bought the tavern and kept it as a public house several years, when he sold to a Mr. Whelman. In 1844 he went to Lake Su- perior as one of the Jackson Mining Company. This company settled Marquette. Remained most of the time there until he sold out in 1848. In 1849 Mr. M., with a party from Jackson, consisting of Luther Myrick, R. C. Baker, Luther Cross, started for California, and were the first to cross the plains-were 5} months in reaching the land of gold, suffering every kind of hard- ship. They commenced digging for gold at the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada, 40 miles from Sacramento, and were quite success- ful. There were at that time but few people in California, and Sacramento had less than 100 inhabitants. Mr. Monroe returned home in 1865. In the beginning of 1837, Mr. Monroe says, there were 26 buildings in Jacksonburgh, including every kind : four stores. During the time he was in business, sold a great many goods as his trade extended over a region of 30 miles ; Indians were his best customers, from whom he purchased furs, and sell- ing goods in exchange. The place was quite sickly. Provisions even at this time were brought in from Ohio, and were high. Albert Foster was blacksmith, and uncle Jesse Williams was here then-a carpenter. Wm. R. Thompson ran a stage from here to Ann Arbor, and thinks that a Mr. Montgomery had a tri-weekly lumber wagon stage line to Marshall. Dr. John McClean, Ira C. Backus and Dr. Russ were our physicians.
Henry A. Hayden came to Jackson in 1837. He soon became connected with the Michigan Central Railroad, and aided in run- ning the experimental survey from Detroit to the mouth of the St. Joseph river. The party started in the summer, and on the first of November pitched camp near where the Central crosses the riv- er, having established the line thus far. After going through to the end of the route, he returned to Ypsilanti, to which place the road was finished in 1837-8. He was detailed in the spring of 1838 to superintend the construction of the road between Ann Arbor and Dexter. In September he was sent to this place and took charge of the division fifteen miles east until the completion of the road, in the winter of 1841-2. He was then detailed for general supervision of repairs on the road between this place and Detroit. which position he held until 1845. In the meantime Mr. H. had
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
succeeded Mr. Willard Parker in the forwarding and commission business in the Old Warehouse (now converted into the old Wa- verly Mills). He continued in that business, besides conducting the Jackson Lake Mills, until 1845. In the spring of 1851 Mr. W. R. Reynolds and Mr. Hayden purchased the Ætna Mills and commenced milling operations in the fall of the same year, making about 8000 barrels of flour a year ; now increased to a capacity of 20,000 to 25,000 a year. In 1853 they bought the Kennedy Mill (Steam Mill), built by J. R. Kennedy in 1846, which they subse- quently enlarged and improved, until now it is one of the finest mills in the State, and capable of turning out 60,000 barrels each year, a performance which has been frequently done. In 1862 he became identified with the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad. In the fall of 1863 the organization was perfected and Mr. Hayden was elected President of the Company. Contracts were let the next spring, which resulted in opening the road for business to Leslie and Mason in the fall of 1865, and to Lansing in the spring of 1866. Last winter the Company purchased the property, privileges and franchises of the Amboy, Lansing & Traverse Bay Railroad, form- ing a continuous line from Lansing to Owosso, distance 65 miles. Contracts are now let from Owosso to Bay City. It is expected to have the road open to Wenona by the fall of 1867. Mr. Hayden still continues his connection with the Kennedy and Ætna Mills -the firm being H. A. Hayden & Co .- and is also engaged in building machine shops for his road.
In the spring of 1837, the first newspaper was started in Jack- son. It was called the "JACKSONBURG SENTINEL, issued every Saturday, office on the north east corner of Jackson street and the public square," etc. It was a good-looking 20 column paper, set in "Long Primer" throughout, with full-face headings. The columns are filled with legal advertisements, mostly mortgage sales, there being thirty-seven of this class in the number before us. There is a great paucity of " local items," and as you turn over the dreary pages, volume after volume, you scarcely find a paragraph of interest save in the advertising department. In the SENTINEL of October 14th, 1837, the following " local" ap- pears : " Jackson County Bank .- The books of this institution were closed yesterday. More than three hundred thousand were
Carlton & Van Antwerp, Printers, Jackson.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
subscribed, and thirty-four thousand in specie actually paid in. The capital stock being $1,000,000, and the amount required at the time of subscribing $10,000, of course the balance was re- turned. As soon as the requisite measures are complied with, the Bank will commence operation." In No. 37, Dec. 23, 1837, there is an article upon Jacksonburgh and its prospects. It says, "the county is now organized into thirteen townships, and contains between 8000 and 9000 inhabitants, as is ascertained by the census taken this fall; three years ago the population was ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY-ONE, thus showing an unparalleled increase for the last three years," etc. "Jacksonburgh is situated in the center of the county, where there is a respectable water- power ; this water-power is well improved, but there is sufficient for all other purposes to build up a large town." It then speaks of the Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad which was to connect Jacksonburgh with Detroit and the mouth of St. Joseph on Lake Michigan and " all intermediate points," and of the Jacksonburgh and Palmyra railroad which was to terminate at this place, giving " direct and convenient communication with Monroe, Toledo and other points on the Maumee." "The Grand River from Jackson- burgh down said river can easily be made navigable, either by canal or slack-water navigation, or both combined, so as to con- nect this place with all communications by railroads or canals that intersect the river. Flat-bottom boats do now frequently pass down from this place to the Grand Rapids, with from ten to fifteen tons burthen. At this place (Jacksonburgh) there are inexhausti- ble quarries of FREE STONE, well adapted to building purposes, and which will soon be wanted, and will be transported over a great portion of the State. Lime, of the best quality, is also in- exhaustible. Bituminous Coal is also found under indications which warrant the belief that it will be found in abundance. Three varieties of iron ore are discovered under circumstances that warrant the same belief."
The same paper contains the proceedings of a meeting of citizens of Spring Arbor, held Dec. 15th, 1837, for the purpose of discuss- ing the propriety and practicability of connecting the waters of Grand River with those of the St. Joseph, by a canal running through said town. Resolutions were passed applauding the
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
scheme, and Thomas J. Pardee, John Fitzgerald, Drusus Hodges and Sylvester Abbott, were appointed a committee to obtain money " to complete the survey now being made between the above nam- ed rivers." Wm. Smith was chairman, John Belden, secretary, and the meeting was addressed by Dr. B. H. Packard, Asa A. Flint, William Smith and S. A. Abbott.
Advertisements appear for the following persons : Wm. Ford, Wm. Ford, Jr., and J. Ford give notice that they shall " petition the next Session of the Legislature to change Ford's Addition to the village of Jacksonburgh, on the east side of Grand River as will enable the subscribers to take up and repossess in their own right certain parcels thereof, to wit: all that part of Cooper street lying north of Ford street ; all that part of Columbus street lying south of St. Joseph street ; all the east one-half of Le Grand square ; all of State House square, and all that part of all streets extending between Canal streets and Grand River, as lie south of Elizabeth street."
The estate of Lemuel Blackman is advertised ; petition of the minors by their guardian, W. R. De Land, praying for license to sell certain real estate, Leander Chapman, Judge of Probate; H. H. & J. M. Gilbert advertise stray cattle. W. Budington, domes- tic cloths by the piece or yard, and woolen stocking yarn for sale. " The Inhabitants of the township of Jackson," give notice they will petition the Legislature at their next session, for an act to in- corporate the village of Jacksonburgh. Fairchild Farrand, as- signee of mortgage, gives notice that he will sell on the 5th day of March, 1838, at the house of L. Bascom, in the village of Jacksonburgh as aforesaid, "where the last circuit court was held," lot one in block one north of range number one east, reserving nevertheless from 16 to 20 feet square, heretofore deeded by J. N. Dwight to Samuel Cline," etc. From this notice it appears that Phineas Farrand was here in 1836, for the mortgage was executed in June of that year to Samuel Hamblin of the same place. Phineas Farrand has a mortgage sale notice in his favor. Dr. Russ is township Treasurer ; and Wm. D. Thompson is County Clerk, and application is made to them to establish the Bank of Sand- stone, in the village of Barry in the county of Jackson, with a capital of $50,000, books to be opened for subscription at the
Carlton & Van Antwerp, Printers, Jackson.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
house of Gould Butler, in the village of Barry, Dec. 27th; also for the Merchants Bank of Jackson County, at Brooklyn. L. Chapman is attorney, with office over D. W. Owen's store. "Chally shawls and pitch forks for sale by N. Monroe." J. C. Baily, Regis- ter of Deeds and Justice of the Peace, office two doors east of G. B. Cooper & Co's store. L. Bascom's tavern house is the vendue place for all the mortgage sales, and appears to have been the place of holding courts. Wolfley & Rockwell, "at the stand formerly occupied by C. P. Cowden, on the east side of Grand River in this village," advertise a "splendid assortment of fall and winter goods." "Their stock consists of dry goods, groceries, hard-ware and queen's-ware, together with every other article sold in a retail store in this country, also a small quantity of first-rate WINE AND BRANDY, " expressly for persons in sickness," (dated Dec. 2d, 1837.) Phineas Farrand is an attorney. W. Ford & Son, "will pay cash for any quantity of wheat, corn, rye and barley, delivered at the Jackson Mills. N. B .- Flour and shorts for sale." Jacob Beeson, H. P. Cobb and H. Stevens, Commissioners to locate a State Prison, give notice that they "will meet at the National Hotel, in Detroit, Dec. 26th, 1837, at which time proposals for a site for a State Prison, and for furnishing materials for building the same, will be under consideration. Written proposals may be addressed to H. P. Cobb, Detroit. Among the names which ap- pear in this number of the " Sentinel" is Ami Filley, A. F. Fitch, P. B. Ring, E. Smith, Isaac & Wm. Van Fossen, Leonard Stowe, Amasa B. Gibson, James Vedeto, Ira Jacobs, Hiram Thompson, William H. Monroe, Michael Hoose, Wm. Bothwell, Layton Col- lar, Lemuel S. House, Thomas Allen, John Southard, Wm. J. Moody, Frederick Beck. Most of these names appear immediately under the head of mortgage sale. Mr. Ami Filley offers $200 reward for any information which may enable him to ascertain what has become of his boy, and if alive, where he may be found, and describes certain marks. "More than two months have elapsed since the absence of my child, and as yet nothing has been heard by which to form any conception of his mysterious escape. Every effort has been used to find him by the generous citizens in this section, and myself, but all to no purpose." The Stockholders of the Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad Bank are
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
notified to meet at the County Clerk's office, on the 9th day of January, 1838, to choose nine Directors of said bank. This bank went into operation Feb. 29th, 1838, with $100,000 capital. The " Sentinel" publishes part of the President's Message and news of of the Patriot war in Canada.
The following statistics which we gather from another source show that Jackson had become a thrifty county in 1837. It had five grist mills, 21 saw-mills, 17 merchants; raised 162,599 bushels of wheat, 10 bushels of rye, 63,191 bushels of corn, 93,058 bush- els of oats, 3,012 bushels of buckwheat, 2,702 pounds of flax, 400 pounds of hemp; had 14,493 head of neat stock, 971 horses, 889 sheep and 16,465 hogs.
The following letter, written early in 1838, gives an excellent idea of the county at the period of which we write. It was writ- ten by a gentleman then well known to the public, and one of our most substantial and respectable farmers. Although it is a de- scription of a particular section, it will serve as a sample of the en- tire interior of the State :
" In answer to your inquiries, relative to that portion of Michi- gan where I reside, I would remark that I have been a resident of Jackson county for about four years ; the west part of the county, where I reside, and with which I am best acquainted, I consider second to no other section of country in our own or any other of the States of the Union for general farming purposes. The land is generally a rich sandy loam, freely interspersed with small peb- bles of limestone, generally undulating, and sufficiently elevated to admit of the healthful drainage of its liberally interspersed small streams of water, that afford a sufficient supply of hydraulic power for all farming, mechanical and manufacturing purposes. About two-thirds of the land is covered with a sparse growth of bur oak, white and red oak and hickory trees. The bur oak and hickory plains are very beautiful, generally free from underbrush, resem- bling orchards, and covered, in the summer months, with a succes- sion of the most beautiful wild flowers. Farmers, unacquainted with the character of our country, can have no idea of the great difference in the expense of effecting a settlement and improve- ments on our plains, or on heavily timbered lands ; as an evidence of which, I would state the fact that within the short time that I
Carlton & Van Antwerp, Printers, Jackson.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
have been a Michigan farmer I have improved and put under the plow five hundred acres of land, three hundred of which are now to wheat. These improvements have been effected with compara- tively limited means-every FIRST crop paying the entire expense of each improvement. I have found the expense of taking off the timber, fencing, plowing, harrowing, and seeding the land, on free plains, to be about eight dollars an acre ; and then the farmer has the great advantage of having his land clear, or nearly so, of stumps, a great obstacle to the farmer on timbered lands. From my own experience and observation I am satisfied that it is better for a FIRST settler to pay ten dollars an acre for plains, when he can accommodate his farm (as may generally be done) with a suffi- cient quantity of timber, than to pay one dollar where the land is all covered with a heavy growth of timber. Our farmers have been decidedly more successful in growing different crops of grain on the plains than upon the timbered lands. Wheat, oats, corn, barley, potatoes and the English grasses have a most prolific growth. In conclusion, I would observe that the above remarks are characteristic of and strongly applicable to the entire interior of our State, which constitutes a district of country most favorable to the general agriculturist, and as a wheat coun- try, probably the very first in America."
In the year 1837 three Commissioners were appointed by the Governor to " visit and examine such places in this State as in their opinion presented the greatest advantages for the location of a State Prison, and such other facts as they may deem essential in respect to the natural advantages of such places, and that the Commissioners be authorized to receive propositions," etc., (See advertisement quoted from the "Sentinel" on a preceeding page,) and report at the next session.
The next Session, 1838, the following act was passed: AN ACT TO LOCATE THE STATE PENITENTIARY. Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Mich- igan, That the State penitentiary shall be located near the village of Jacksonburgh, on twenty acres of land described as follows : commencing at a stake ten chains north of the quarter post, on the east line of section number thirty-four, township number two south, of range number one west, thence west fifteen chains to
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
the center of Grand river ; thence north thirteen and one-third chains to a stake, thence east fifteen chains to a stake, thence south thirteen and one-third chains to the place of beginning, containing twenty acres of land: PROVIDED, The penitentiary shall not be so located, unless the proprietors thereof shall execute to the State of Michigan a good and sufficient title in fee simple of the following pieces of land and privileges, viz : the above described twenty acres of land owned by Henry B. Lathrop, ten acres of land owned by William Ford and son, ten acres of land owned by Russell Blackman, ten acres of land owned by James Ganson, and ten acres of land owned by Henry H. Gilbert, all adjoining to or near the said first described twenty acres of land, also the right and privilege of using the waters of Grand River owned by said Henry B. Lathrop ; and in case the water power on the lands of Henry B. Lathrop shall be deemed insufficient, or the great expense of improving it shall prove objectionable, the proprietors shall then furnish the State with the water power equal in amount to that which would be sufficient to carry two runs of millstones ; and also the right and privilege of a certain spring of water on the land of James Ganson.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the Governor of the State of Michigan to appoint some suitable person to take all of the said titles to land and other privileges, have them recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county of Jackson, and after being so recorded, to deposit them in the office of the Secretary of State.
Approved March 3, 1838.
Appropriations were made from time to time for the completion of the Prison, and stone walls about twenty feet .in height took the place of the "tamaracks," and the Prison now presented a front 500 feet in extent, including a three-story center building, for an officers' and Agent's house, and the two wings, containing 640 cells for convicts.
The walls of the Prison enclose an area 500 feet in width and 600 feet in length, inside of which are erected workshops for the working of convicts at the various manufactories carried on at the Prison. The labor of the convicts is let at a stipulated price per diem, varying from 58 to 65 cents per day, and the expenses of the current year are estimated at about $25,000 above the earnings. H
Carlton & Van Antwerp, Printers, Jackson.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
A separate apartment has been constructed for the imprisonment of convicts in solitary confinement, instead of capital punishment, and there are now 10 men convicted of murder confined in that apartment. Connected with the Prison is also an apartment for female convicts, in which are now 16 inmates.
Work commenced on the Prison for the first time in June, 1838. Benj. Porter was Agent, S. W. Stowell, contractor. Mr. John Cock- burn, now living in this city, is one of the persons who were engaged in putting up the first structure. He had the fortune, too, to make the arrest of the first person ever incarcerated within its walls, the culprit being a negro, who was found guilty of stealing goods from Giles' store near the public square. The first structure known as " the State Prison," was made of tamarack poles set deeply into the earth, standing upright as thickly together as they could be put, making a continuous and comparatively impassable line around the prison. The only way a person could get to the prison from the village, was by following the course of the river, and stepping from one log to another and on fallen trees across the numerous small streams. Even as late as 1842, this was the case. Mr. Joseph Tunnicliff, Jr., came here in that year, and commenced the practice of medicine. A poor apology for a bridge, he says, spanned the river at the crossing on Main street. Me- chanic street north of Main street was a dense forest, and there was no walk or road to the prison, and the only way to get there was by the route above described. The prison was notoriously known as the " TAMARACKS." Patrick Carlin was killed Sept. 26, 1838, by the falling of a scaffolding at the prison.
OFFICERS OF THE INSTITUTION.
Inspectors,-Hon. Thomas F. Moore, President, Adrian. F. H. Rankin, Flint. William Page, Jackson.
Agent,-H. H. Bingham.
Deputy Keeper,-J. R. Martin.
Clerk,-J. W. Hulin.
Chaplain,-Rev. H. Hodskiss.
Physician,-Cyrus Smith, M. D.
Matron,-Miss E. M. Williams.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON.
The following Table, showing the number of Convicts received, discharged, deceased, pardoned and escaped, since the commence- ment of the Prison, to and including Nov. 30th, 1864, may not be uninteresting.
YEAR.
No. No. Received. Discharg d
Pardoned.
Escaped. Deceased.
Reversal of Sentence.
1839
56
3
6
1840,
45
27
7
11
1841,
52
13
11
1842,
44
12
3
4
1
1843,
57
25
7
3
1
1844,
42
37
2
1
2
1845,
43
15
8
2
2
1846,
40
15
6
1
1847,
43
24
14
2
2
1848,
34
21
15
4
1
1850,
50
22
2
2
2
1851,
83
41
9
1
3
1852,
87
39
9
1
3
2
1853,.
71
42
24
1
3
1855,
141
47
21
6
8
1856,
136
63
20
5
3
1857
170
63
24
3
18
2
1858,
195
80
40
2
10
1
1859,
212
92
41
1
11
5
1860,
272
139
38
2
6
1
1861,
140
177
44
9
1862,
110
189
30
4
8
1863,
104
139
30
4
9
1
1864,
105
103
36
2
5
2,464
1,507
466
68
118
13
1849,
30
30
16
2
9
1
1854,
103
49
9
From 1864 to the present time there has been added to the above total about 500. The greatest number of convicts ever in the prison at one time was in June last, when the number reached about. 650. In 1861, there were 621 convicts and an average through the year of 578.6, at an annual expense of $33 to each convict for- provisions. The aggregate disbursements of the prison for the year 1861, (except for buildings and repairs) was $48,283 04, making $83 44 to each convict. In 1864 it was $143 62 to each convict (292.) From 1846 to 1864, there has been expended about $65,000 in buildings, etc. In the same time the prison ex- penses, for keeping convicts, exclusive of buildings and repairs, have been about $600,000. This will give an idea of the import-
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