USA > Michigan > Men of progress : embracing biographical sketches of representative Michigan men with an outline history of the state > Part 6
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or into service, except that when called out on company days to exercise, he may appear without a knapsack." The act required the militia thus enrolled to be "arranged into divi- sions, brigades, regiments, battalions and com- panies, as the Legislature of each State shall direct." Each battalion was required to have at least one company of grenadiers, light in- fantry or riffemen; and for each division at least one company of artillery and one troop of horse. There were specific provisions for officering and ordering the militia forces thus organized.
The Legislative Council of the Territory, by act of April 23, 1833, after repeating the act of Congress, provided for carrying it into effect. The act is quite elaborate, covering, together with the act of Congress, some twenty-six pages of print. A company mus- ter, "for the purpose of improving in martial exercise," was required to be held on the first Tuesday in May of each year, and a regimen- tal muster, or "general training," once a year in the month of October. The officers, both commissioned and non-commissioned, and the musicians, of each regiment, were required to hold a three days' drill in the month of Octo- ber of each year. A court-martial was pro- vided for, to try offences and delinquencies, and a schedule of fines was prescribed, rang- ing from nominal up to one hundred dollars, according to the character of the offense and the rank of the offender. Fines for non-at- tendance at musters ranged from two to five
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
dollars, and for appearing at musters without the required arms, one dollar, with twenty- five cents for lack of bayonet and belt, pouch, spare flints, knapsack, etc.
The early militia trainings were an inherit- ance from earlier times. They had their counterpart in the ancient wappen-schaw (or weapon show), of Britain, which was a mus- tering of the yeomanry and gentry with their weapons of offense and defense, for the pur- pose of practice and review. The armament, either by voluntary act or by requirement of law, became a necessity in colonial days, as the best and only defense against the Indians. It became a patriotie duty no less than a ne- cessity in the war of the revolution and the war of 1812, and it was continued as a matter of pride with the citizen-soldiery for many years thereafter. It was, in short, but a leg- aey from the ages, when war, or the means of prosecuting war for the purpose of offense or defense, was the chief study of the race. The arms, be it noted, were not furnished by the State, but each person was required to fur- nish his own. As early as 1840 the system had fallen into disfavor. The musters were held, but there was no pretense of complying with the law regarding equipment. Men ap- peared in the ranks armed with sticks or with any kind of bludgeon that came handy, and many times in grotesque costumes. The whole tendeney was to throw the system into ridicule and contempt, into which it had in fact fallen. It finally gave way, and with it the crop of colonels, majors and captains that had grown upon it. What had for years, if not for ages, been a system invested with dig- nity, evoking the pride and eliciting the re- spect of the people, became a burlesque and a by-word, the best evidence, perhaps, that it had outlived its day.
The act of 1833 provided for the organiza- tion of independent companies, but left the equipment to the members. Amendments were made to this act in 1838, 1840, 1841, 1844 and 1845. A revision of the militia law was made at the Legislative session of 1846 (page 241 of the session laws of that year), by
which the act of 1833 was superseded. By this act the general parades or musters of the militia were dispensed with, but the organiza- tion was continued under what may be termed a skeleton form. The militia was divided into two classes: The "enrolled militia," embrac- ing all who were liable to military duty not belonging to volunteer companies, and the "acting militia," embracing all thus belong- ing. The volunteer companies were to be provided with arms and equipment by the State, but were to provide their own uniforms. They were required to parade on four Satur- days in May, and to hold a rendezvous or en- eampment for three days, beginning on the second Tuesday in June. There was no pro- vision for paying the expenses of such gath- erings.
Gen. John E. Schwarz had been adjutant- general of the State for many years, but after the political revolution of 1854 he was retired, and Col. F. W. Curtenins, of Kalamazoo, was appointed to the place. In his report for the year 1858 he deprecates the apathy that had prevailed in military circles, and states that when he first entered upon his duties in the year 1855, of the ten or twelve volunteer com- panies having a nominal existence, there were but three that were entitled to recognition. All the others had been disbanded, and of the three it was said that they were made up of foreign-born citizens. But he reports that since the year named "an unusual flow of mili- tary spirit has abounded," and that there were then (1858) thirty-three companies on the muster-roll. A speculative thought may be indulged here, as to whether this outcrop of the military spirit was in any way prophetic of the storm that burst in 1861. Was it stimulated by a certain inner sense of some- thing to occur, but which was undefined and unexpressed at the time, for it is said that "coming events cast their shadows before?"
A convention of those actively interested in the military was held at Kalamazoo, Novem- ber 30, 1858, for the purpose of memoralizing the Legislature in favor of certain changes in the laws. Some ten points on which legisla-
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
tion was asked were formulated, the more im- portant of which were some provision for rais- ing a military fund, and a restoring of the provision for courts-martial and courts of in- quiry, which had been abolished by the act of 1846. The Legislature, at its session of 1859, responded to this memorial by Acts No. 54 and 169. A military fund of $3,000 per year was provided for, and also a State mili- tary board, with other changes designed to add to the efficiency of the service. The vol- unteer uniformed companies went practically out of existence during the early days of the war. They formed the unelei for the organ- ization of the active force which took the field in behalf of the goverment in response to its call for troops.
The Legislature, at its special session in 1862 (Act. No. 16), revised the militia laws. The uniformed companies that had before been known as the "acting militia" were given the name of "State Troops." The offices of adjutant-general and quartermaster-general. which had been discharged by one person, were made separate, and the office of inspec- tor-general was created. It was provided that the State Troops should have "so many pa- rades, encampments and other meetings of instruction, and full dress parades in each year, not exceeding ten full days, as may be prescribed by the State military board." One or more camps were authorized to be held each vear, to continue not more than five days. The necessary expenses of transportation were to be paid by the State, and thirty-five cents per day to officers and privates alike for subsis- tence. The adjutant-general (Gen. John Robertson), in a special report to the gov- ernor, November 27, 1866, states that up to that time only three companies had been mus- tered into the service under the act of 1862. In 1872 nine companies were reported. In 1874 there were two regiments of eight com- panies each, which had increased to three regi- ments in 1876. In 1886 there were four regiments of eight companies each, forming a brigade, with a total force of 2,489. In 1898 there were the same number of regi-
ments, but two of them with twelve coni- panies each, making forty companies in all. being the statutory limit.
Prior to 1860 regimental encampments had been held, but somewhat irregularly. After the close of the war the force did not reach a point in numbers calling for such an assem- blage until in the early seventies, when regi- mental encampments were held at different times and places during the decade. Begin. ning with 1880, brigade encampments have since been held each year, except in 1881 and 1885. In the former year, instead of the en- campment, six companies were detailed to at- tend the centennial celebration at Yorktown, Va., commemorative of the surrender of the British force under Cornwallis, October 19, 1781. In 1885 the encampment was deferred in apprehension of some disturbances in the State at which the services of some of the force might be required. The first brigade encampment was held at Kalamazoo in 1880. Since that time these encampments have been held at Island Lake, a point on the Detroit, Grand Rapids & Northern railroad, near Brighton (omitting 1881 and 1885, as above), except as follows: 1888, Mackinaw Island; 1889-90, Battle Creek; 1891, Whitmore Lake.
The State troops have been called out to guard against popular disturbances on several occasions. The first was in 1877, during a general prevalence of unrest throughout the country. Regiments were ordered into camp at Jackson, Grand Rapids and Detroit. The order was simply to go into camp, without reference to the possibility of their active in- terference being required (as it proved not to be), but the precaution doubtless averted vio- lence that would very likely have followed some acts of lawlessness that had been com- mitted. In July, 1885, in consequence of disturbances threatening possible violence in the Saginaw Valley, four companies, at the request of the sheriffs of Saginaw and Bay counties, were ordered by Gov. Alger on duty in that locality. In 1894 similar disturb- ances in Gogebic county induced Gov. Rich
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
to order a rendezvous of four companies at Ironwood. Fortunately, in neither case, was the active interference of the military called for
Act No. 198, Public Acts,. 1893, made a number of changes in the law of 1862. The "State Troops" (so denominated by the last- named act), are, by the act of 1893, to be known as the "Michigan National Guard," and a per capita tax of four cents on each in- habitant of the State is provided, in place of fifteen cents on the voting population, as by the prior act. The National Guard seems to have been effected by the Spanish war very much as the volunteer militia were by the civil war. The adjutant-general, in his report for 1898, says: "The National Guard, as it ex- isted at the outbreak of the Spanish war, does not now exist. It must be built up again de novo. Of the members of the National Guard on the rolls, it was found, upon ex- amination, when they were called upon for service in the field, that twenty-three per cent. of them were physically unfit. The adjutant-general recommends "a complete and thorough reorganization of the National Guard, to the end that only those free from bodily defects and mental infirmities may be- come members."
By Act No. 184, Public Acts, 1893, the organization of a naval force as part of the
military equipment of the State, is authorized. It provides for the enrollment of those en- gaged in the commercial marine, similar to that required as to the land forces, and they are similarly classified. Those unconnected with any corps are to be known as the "reserve naval militia," and the organized force is to be known as the "Michigan State Naval Bri- gade." The provisions of the act follow, as nearly as may be, the same lines as the law governing the land forces. Three companies or divisions of the naval militia have been or- ganized-two at Detroit and one at Saginaw. The naval militia made a record in the war with Spain, which is noted under another head.
John E. Schwarz was appointed adjutant- general in 1836 (the first under the State gov- ernment), and held the place for four years, until the political revolution of 1839-40. He was reappointed in 1844, holding the place until 1855, when he was retired by another political change, but having served in all fif- teen years. John Robertson was appointed in 1861, serving until the time of his death in 1887, a continuons service of twenty-six years. No apology is needed for mentioning these two veterans, where it would be imprac- ticable to enumerate other officers of the State militia.
EDUCATIONAL.
EARLY AND CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES.
The Ordinance of 1787-Land Grants by Congress- Provisions of the State Constitution-First Super- intendent of Public Instruction-A Comprehen- sive System Outlined.
Whatever interpretation may be given to the elause of the ordinance of 1787, which speaks of "religion, morality and knowledge,' the pledge and solemn injunction that "schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged," has been serupulously observed, both by Congress and by those who have been called to administer the affairs of the States coneerned.
Liberal grants of land have been made from time to time by Congress for the endowment and support of universities, colleges and schools. The University of Michigan was established by act of the governor and judges of the territory, although not definitely located and organized until a later day by the State. Aets granting charters to local col- leges and seminaries form a prominent feature of early legislation under the State govern- ment, institutions of this class, however, hav- ing largely given place to the modern high school, which covers a mneh wider field. The aet of 1805, organizing the territory of Michi- gan, reaffirmed the provision of the ordinance, and the territorial authority, as early as 1827, enacted laws for the establishment of schools in accordance with the intent. In 1828 Con- gress placed the school lands under the super- vision of the governor and council, to protect and lease, so as to make them productive. The aet of Congress of June 23, 1836, making eer- tain propositions to Michigan as conditions of her admission into the Union, declared: "That section numbered 16 in every township, of the publie lands, and where such seetion has been sold or otherwise disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may
be, shall be granted to the State for the use of schools." The constitution of the State de- clares: "The proceeds from the sales of all lands that have been or hereafter may be granted by the United States to the State, for educational purposes, and the proceeds of all lands or other property given by individuals, or appropriated by the State for like purposes, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the in- terest and income of which, together with the rents of all such lands as may remain unsold, shall be inviolably appropriated and annually applied to the specific objeets of the original gift, grant or appropriation." Another pro- vision of the State constitution largely aug- ments the primary school fund through speci- fie taxes received from corporations. Through the measures enumerated (and others that might be mentioned), it will be seen that the early condition is being religiously fulfilled, with an added and accumulating interest (speaking in a financial sense), as if in grati- tude for the wisdom and foresight that im- posed the beneficent obligation.
The first constitution of the State (1835) contemplated the organization of the eduea- tional forces into a complete system. The ap- pointment of superintendent of public instrue tion was provided for. While the superinten- dent has a general supervision of all eduea- tional institutions in the State, the primary schools (which include as well the graded and high schools) are the more especially under his superintendenee. The first superinten- dent was Rev. John D. Pierce, a minister of the Congregational church and a man of broad and comprehensive views. The act of the Legislature defining the duties of the superintedent, required him, among other things, to submit to the Legislature "all such matters relating to his office and the public
31
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
schools as he may think proper to communi- cate." The duty was devolved upon him of preparing a system for common schools and a plan for a university and its branches. In his first report to the Legislature he submitted his plan, which defined the rights, powers and duties of school districts; the duties of district officers, of township officers, school inspectors and townships; proposed the establishment of libraries, and plans for school houses; the
establishment of academies as branches of the university, and a method of organization for the university. The officers of the system proposed for school districts were moderator, vice-moderator, director and assessor, and three township school inspectors, with the township clerk as clerk of the board .*
*Public Instruction and School Law-F. W. Shearman, Supt. Pub. Inst., 1852.
THE STATE UNIVERSITY.
Act of Congress, 1804-Judge Woodward's Pedantic Scheme-Second Act of Establishment, 1821- Branches-Local Academies-The Branches Aban- doned.
The University, as standing at the head of the educational structure, is properly given first place under the general head, "Educa- tion." The initiative of the University may be traced to the Act of Congress of 1804, by which a township of land was reserved to each of the divisions of the Northwest Territory, as prospective States, for seminary purposes.
The first act looking to the establishment of a university in Michigan was by the gov- ernor and judges, in the year 1817. The act was drawn by Judge Woodward, one of the judges of the territory, a pedantic personage, with a fondness for airing his Latin. To the mind accustomed to the use of plain English in the affairs of life, the phraseology of the act is ludicrous, to say the least. The docu- ment is reproduced in the University Semi- Centennial (1887), with note, stating the copy as published* has "apparently many errors of transcription." The University copy is said to be "an exact transcript of the draft in the handwriting of Judge Woodward, now pre- served in the University library." Any ver- bal variances between the two copies may per- haps be accounted for on the theory that the act as adopted differed more or less in its wording from the manuscript copy.
But little progress was made in the estab- lishment of the "Catholepistemiad," beyond
the erection of a small building and the open- ing of a school, nor is there any record that the lottery authorized by the act ever materi- alized. That a lottery should at the time be deemed a legitimate means of promoting a higher education in which religion was to play a prominent part, stands in contrast to the sentiment of the present time, when lotteries are outlawed by both the State and national governments.
In 1821 the Woodward scheme was super- seded by act of the governor and judges, en- titled "An act to establish a university." The institution was to be located in Detroit and to be under the management of twenty-one trus- tees, of whom the governor of the territory, for the time being, should be one, the others being appointed by the governor and judges. The corporate name of the institution was "The Trustees of the University of Michi- gan," and they were empowered to establish, from time to time, such colleges, academies and schools, depending upon the said Uni- versity, as they may think proper, and as the funds of the corporation will permit." They were given control of the land grants, and were empowered to receive gifts or dedications of money or property. The work begun under the Woodward act was continued under the new regime, but with no great progress. Some local academies may have been estab- lished, which subsequently became branches of the University. There was at Pontiac a two-story frame building, with a cupola, known as the Academy, in which a school was
*Public instruction and school law, 1852.
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
taught, presided over by Prof. Geo. P. Will- the act of 1822, or whether they were built iams, subsequently and for many years an as loeal academies by local enterprise, there should be records to show. They may have had their origin through both agencies co- operating. But under whatever auspices, they undoubtedly suggested the idea of branches of the University, as recommended by the superintendent of publie instruction, and in- corporated in the organic act of 1837. But however the idea of branches of the Univer- sity may have originated, the system was prac- tically abandoned in 1846. honored member of the faculty of the Uni- versity. This school was in operation in 1837 (if not earlier), and must have antedated the organization of the University under a board of regents, and its establishment at Am Ar- bor in the year mentioned. There was also building at Ann Arbor, the counterpart of the one at Pontiac, and similarly designated, with manifestly an equal antiquity. Whether these buildings were the work of the trustees under
THE UNIVERSITY UNDER STATE CONTROL.
Organic Act of 1837-Located at Ann Arbor-Pro- posed Separate Departments for Females-State Loan for Building Purposes-First Opened in 1842 -The First Professorships-Financial Embar- rassment-Elements of Hostility-First Gradu- ating Class-Dismissal of Members of the Faculty -Professor Ten Brook's Work.
The real history of the University dates from the year 1837. By the organic act of that year, the government by trustees was superseded by a board of twelve regents and a chancellor, to be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The chancellor was made ex-officio president of the board. From the language of the act it would seem that the chancellor was to be appointed in the same manner as the twelve regents, but by a subsequent sec- tion the twelve were to be classified by equal divisions, to serve one, two, three and four years, and there is no further mention of the chancellor in the act. The governor, lieu- tenant-governor, judges of the Supreme Court and the chancellor of the State were made ex- officio members of the board. The "chancel- lor" first spoken of should not be confounded with "the chancellor of the State," an officer standing at the head of the Court of Chan- cery, subsequently abolished. On March 18, 1837, the names of twelve persons as regents were sent to the senate by Gov. Mason, but there is no mention of a chancellor. The or- ganic act was approved and went into effeet March 18, 1837. By a subsequent act, March
20, the location of the University was fixed at Ann Arbor, and by a still further act passed at the special session, June 21, it was provided that the chancellor should be elected by the board of regents (not being one of their own number), and that they should have power to prescribe his duties. The Governor was also made president of the board, and in his ab- senee the board was empowered to elect one of their own number president pro tem. From this action, it is not altogether clear what the functions of the chancellor were to be-pos- sibly such an offieer was looked to prospec- tively as the executive head of the several de- partments when they should be organized. The discussion or mention of the matter is perhaps unimportant except as a reminiscence and as bearing upon a slight tempest subse- quently raised, and to which reference is made farther on. Three departments of the University were provided for: That of liter- ature, science and the arts, of law, and of medicine. A provision that will read a little curiously at this time contemplated, that in connection with each branch of the Univer- sity "there shall be established an institution for the education of females in the higher branches of knowledge, whenever suitable buildings shall be prepared." The manifest intent being that the branches being for males only, a separate institution, though under the same management, should be provided for females.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
In the discussions attending the organiza- tion of the University, there was a manifest unwillingness on the part of some to encour- age the establishment of private seminaries, and a disposition to withhold charters from some that were proposed, the controlling thought being to center everything in the University and its branches. The conferring of degrees was reserved to (or at least strongly contended for), as the exclusive prerogative of the State institution.
The land for the immediate site of the Uni- versity was donated by the people of Ann Arbor, and consisted of forty acres lying to the eastward of the then village. By act of the Legislature, April 6, 1838, a loan to the University of $100,000 was authorized, in the form of twenty-year bonds of the State, at six per cent., the interest and principal, as they became due, to be taken care of by the University. The proceeds of this loan were employed in building the first University buildings, consisting of a main building (which served the several purposes of stu- dents' dormitories and study rooms, recitation rooms, library, and apartments for apparatus and museum), and four dwellings for profes- sors. The University was opened in its pres- ent home September 20, 1842, in charge of two professors-Prof. Williams, before men- tioned, and Rev. Joseph Whiting, both hav- ing been principals of branches. The former was an Episcopalian, and the latter a Presby- terian. They were each allowed a salary of $500 per annum and occupancy of one of the dwellings. Dr. Douglass Houghton, then the State geologist, had a couple of years pre- viously been appointed professor of geology and mineralogy, but with duties wholly vol- untary and without salary. Dr. Asa Gray had held the chair of zoology and botany on terms similar to those of Dr. Houghton, and on his resignation Dr. Abram Sager was ap- pointed to succeed him. In 1844 Rev. Ed- ward Thompson was appointed to the chair of intellectual and moral philosophy, and one tutor was employed. This comprised the working force of the University at the time
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