USA > Michigan > Outlines of the political history of Michigan > Part 10
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and Sir James Mackintosh were the two nearest of kin, the former being one degree nearer than the latter. A claimant was also found for the estates of Annandale, but unsuccessfully.
1 7 N. Y. Doc., 895.
138
SETTLEMENTS HINDERED.
[CHAP. VII.
offenders outside of their own borders, and mili- tary law was very distasteful to English courts and people.' There was much lawlessness among the roving adventurers outside of the posts,2 and especially about Mackinaw, which was for some time after the massacre left without commander or garrison. It was not restored till 1764 or 1765.
The Lords of Trade opposed any extension of settlements, on the notion that the settlers would become manufacturers, and the English tradesmen would lose their market. The public men who favored settlements, instead of exposing the folly of using colonists as inferiors and con- tributors of all their energies to serve the greedy demands of home-abiding Englishmen, met the arrogant claims by urging that new settlers would enlarge instead of narrowing the market, and could not furnish their own domestic articles. The spirit that drove America into revolution was manifest in the whole correspondence of the govern- ment agents. Unfortunately there was an interest in this country opposed to civilization. The fur trade was still a power, and anything which drove out the wild beasts and opened the land to cul- ture was in the way of this powerful ministry of barbarism. The early associated fur traders were the worst enemies to improvement which this region ever encountered; and in the sequel they very nearly succeeded in changing our political destiny. But the natural disposition of British
1 7 N. Y. Doc., 877, 895.
2 7 N. Y. Doc., 871-2.
139
LANDS SOUGHT FOR.
CHAP. VII.]
and Americans to seek their fortunes in new countries was not to be repressed. Although not numerous, settlers came in by degrees as soon as the end of hostilities made it safe; and in 1767, and probably sooner, there were found in Detroit persons of British birth and descent whose families and descendants are well known there. From the beginning of the occupation the Commandants were beset with applications for lands, and they were compelled to give per- mission to occupy, although they could do no more. It had been customary for the French Commandants, with or without the ratification of the Governor or commanding general, to dispose of lots of land within the fort and adjacent domain, although Mr. Navarre, in 1767, stated that the power did not exist in the domain.1 But grants of land for farming purposes were within the control of the authorities at Quebec, and the action of the Commandant at Detroit was nugatory unless confirmed. The Indian title had not been given up, except east of the fort to Lake St. Clair, and a trifling distance west. The Royal Proclamation distinctly forbade private Indian purchases.
In 1765, when Colonel John Campbell was in command, George Croghan held a council at Detroit, where eighteen Indian tribes were repre- sented, and was more fortunate than Bradstreet in getting their confidence. Croghan was the
I I St. Papers.
140
INDIAN CONCESSIONS.
[CHAP. VII. .
ablest British agent that ever dealt with the Indians in the Northwest. On this occasion he persuaded Pontiac to enter into friendly relations with the British, and the grant to Dr. Anthon previously mentioned, made at this council, was probably the first Indian grant made in this region to any one." It was not good within the letter of the King's proclamation, but such grants made in treaties have generally been respected, and while this was by separate deed, it was very likely one of the means whereby the chief was conciliated. The suggestions he made to appoint as agents persons in whom he had confidence, were deemed worthy of consideration by Sir William Johnson, and it would have been a very cheap privilege to allow him to give away his own lands to a British officer and surgeon, who had earned his gratitude. There were, however, many dealings with the Indians for private grants, which were connived at or openly favored by later Commandants, without any color of right.
It appears incidentally that the inhabitants of Detroit had been regularly taxed to keep up the fortifications. In 1765, when Colonel Campbell was expecting to leave, a remonstrance was sent to him against these taxes as oppressive. The burden, however, does not seem to have been a new one. Not long after, a subscription was made by the traders and others, to put the fort
I At the same time, or within a few days, Pontiac made several other grants in the same vicinity, all four arpents by eighty.
141
EARLIEST JUDICIAL COMMISSION.
CHAP. VII.]
and stockade in complete order. In 1766, a receipt is found for three pounds York currency, on a farm outside the fort, levied by Colonel Campbell for lodging troops.'
In 1765, Philip Le Grand appears to have been acting as justice of the peace, and notary, proba- bly appointed by Bradstreet. He seems to have held the office for several years. In 1776, he acted in a matter where Philip Dejean was inter- ested. He could not have done much except when the latter could not act, and there are some indications that Dejean was expected by General Gage to practically supersede Le Grand. The common law powers of a justice did not extend to the trial of causes, but only to the examination and committal of offenders.
In 1767, we find the first steps taken to pro- vide for the administration of justice. On the 24th day of April, 1767, Captain George Turnbull, of the 60th or Royal American Regiment, Com- mandant of Detroit and its Dependencies, issued a commission to Philip Dejean, merchant in Detroit, of a somewhat peculiar and comprehen- sive character, which ran as follows :
"I do hereby nominate and appoint you Jus- tice of the Peace, to Inquire into all complaints that shall come before you, for which purpose you are hereby authorised to examine by oath such Evidences as shall be necessary that the Truth of the matter may be better known; Pro-
I Wayne Records.
142
SECOND JUDICIAL COMMISSION.
[CHAP. VII.
vided always that you give no Judgement or final award but at their joint Request, and which by bond they bind themselves to abide by, but settle the Determination of the matter by Arbi- tration, which they are likewise to give their bond to abide by, one or two persons to be chosen by each; and if they cannot agree and have named Two only you name a third, and if Four, a fifth, and their Determination or award to be approved by me before put in Execution. I further authorise and Impower you to act as chief and sole Notary and Tabellion, by drawing all wills Deeds &c, proper for that Department, the same to be done in English only, and I also appoint you sole Vendue Master for such sales as may happen here, in the usual and accustomed manner. Given under my hand and seal at Detroit this 24th day of April 1767." (signed) Geo. Turnbull.
On the 28th day of July, 1767, Robert Bayard, major commanding, gave him a further commission, as follows :
"Whereas it has been represented to me by the Trading People and others reciding at Detroit that some Tempery form of Justice for the recovery of Debts &ca, was become absolutely necessary, and having taken this matter into consideration, and finding the utility of such an Establishment, I have accordingly granted them a Tempery Court of Justice to be held twice in every month at Detroit, to Decide all actions of Debts, Bonds,
143
JUDGE DEJEAN INVESTIGATED.
CHAP. VII.]
Bills, Contracts and Trespasses, above the sum of Five Pounds' New York Currency, and confiding in Philip Dejean for his uprightness and Integrity, I do hereby nominate and appoint him the second Judge of the said Court of Justice at Detroit. Given under my hand and seal at Detroit, the 28th day of July 1767. "(Signed) "Rob' Bayard, Major Comms at Detroit. To Philip Dejean Esqre."
The first judge was doubtless the Commandant, who always retained control of affairs.
Major Bayard at the same time established a fee-bill, approved by a committee of citizens. Mr. Dejean, of whom we shall hear further, was a merchant who had been unfortunate in his busi- Within the next year he seems to have ness.
given occasion for complaints-apparently for extortion. But for some reasons not apparent- (although from his after life it may be assumed it was a peculiar influence at head-quarters) no one dared to come out openly and oppose him. On the 28th of May, 1763, at Dejean's request, Captain Turnbull called a court of inquiry, "in consequence of complaints made against him," who reported that they, "having Duely heard and carefully examined into the Grievances set forth by the said Philip Dejean Esqre, are of opinion First, That the Fees established by the Committee appointed by Major Robert Bayard on the estab- lishment of the Court of Justice at Detroit are
I Twelve dollars and a half.
144
DEJEAN APPROVED.
[CHAP. VII.
just and reasonable and ought not to be less. Secondly, That evry Prisoner confin'd in the Guard House, whether for Debt or Misdemeanor, shall on his being sett at Liberty, pay One Dol- lar, and evry Batteau or Canoe arriveing here loaded with Merchandize belonging to any Person or Persons not possessing in Property any Lot or Building within this Fort, shall pay Two Dollars, and the monies ariseing from thence to be aply'd as in the time of the French Govern- ment to keep in Good and sufficient Repairs the Fortifications around the Town, as will more fully appear in our former Petition to Capt" Turn- bull for that Purpose. Thirdly, No Person having appear'd before us to make any Com- plaints against said Philip Dejean with respect to his publick office, we are of opinion that they were ill-founded and without cause." This is signed by James Sterling, Colin Andrews, T. Williams, Willm Edgar, John Robison, Eustache Gamelin, P. St. Cosme, f. Cabacier, Cicotc, T. Mollere, A. Barthe.
It would seem that some movement was on foot to remove Dejean, as on the 26th of May a very brief certificate, whereby the signers "do vote for and unanimously approve of Philip Dejean to be Judge and Justice of the District of Detroit and its Dependencies" was signed by thirty-three persons, of whom five were French, and the rest English, Scotch and Dutch. On the 13th of June, 1768, a petition in French
145
CHAP. VII.] MISCONDUCT OF ROGERS.
was drawn up addressed to General Gage, and signed by twenty-five signers, to the same effect, the principal reason given being that Dejean "understands both English and French, and is therefore much better able to decide the difficul- ties which may arise between the ancient and new subjects of His Britannic Majesty." General Gage did not disturb the appointment.1
About this time a court of inquiry was held to pass upon Bellestre's title to several lots in Detroit, and he appeared before them and estab- lished his claims.2
Meanwhile Mackinaw had been re-established. In 1766 complaints were made that affairs were not going on properly there. The next year evidence was obtained that Robert Rogers, who was sent there in 1765, was intriguing by lavish presents and otherwise to get influence with the Indians, for the ultimate purpose, as was then supposed, of getting a separate colony or other establishment for his own emolument. He ob- tained the means by drawing large drafts which were not honored, and became involved very heavily, and completely demoralized the savages. He was afterwards charged with having meditated surrendering Mackinaw to the French or Spani- ards, and was taken down to Montreal under arrest, and as some say in irons, and tried by court martial. He could not have been convicted
I Wayne Records, A , 35.
2 Id., B., 128.
10
146
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF ROGERS. [CHAP. VII.
of treason, for he was soon afterwards at large, and went to Algiers and entered the service of the Dey.
The narrative of his doings at Mackinaw, as given by the depositions which led to his arrest, shows that he must have had some designs inconsistent with honesty as well as loyalty, but it is difficult to say just what they were. A letter was intercepted from Colonel Hopkins, (who appears to have been well acquainted in Detroit, but through some discontent or other cause to have entered the French service,) urging Rogers, in a vague way, to gain over the Indians, and offering to use influence, if he should desire it, to get him employment from France. But the writer was evidently desirous of having the American colonies independent, and urges Rogers
to strive for that ultimate end.' The letter is one of the earliest writings looking towards American independence. Rogers was unquestion- ably a dishonest and selfish adventurer, who was inordinately ambitious and unscrupulous, and his course gave much uneasiness to the British authorities. It is not likely he determined his course by any standard but his own profit or advancement. When the Revolution opened he played a double part, professing patriotism ; but as the Americans had no faith in him he joined the British and obtained a colonel's commission,
1 7 N. Y. Doc., 988, 993. 8 N. Y. Doc., 36
147
MINES ON LAKE SUPERIOR.
CHAP. VII. ]
but never distinguished himself, and passed into utter obscurity.'
The British Ministry, in March, 1768, wrote very strongly to Sir William Johnson in regard to both Rogers and Chabert de Joncaire, as dan- gerous and treacherous men, whose conduct revealed the necessity of " the utmost circumspec- tion and attention of His Majesty's servants in America, as in the present state of some men's dispositions in that country, when one corres- pondence of that dangerous tendency is discovered, there is reason to apprehend there may be more of the same kind."?
The recent cession to Spain of the French possessions on the Mississippi very naturally sug- gested the danger of dealings by the discontented colonists with Spain. The idea of any independ- ent resistance was not at that time familiar in England.
The Lake Superior country at this time assumed a temporary importance. Alexander Henry, on his second journey, examined the mineral country, which had been known long before to the French, though not worked. In 1768, Hillsboro' informed Sir William Johnson
I He raised a corps of American Tories called the Queen's Rangers, and after he went to England (about 1777) he was succeeded in its com- mand by Simcoe, who was afterwards Governor of Upper Canada, and bitterly hostile to the United States .- See Canniff's Settlement of Upper Canada, p. 71.
2 Hillsboro' to Sir W. Johnson, 8 N. Y. Doc., 36.
148
MINING ON LAKE SUPERIOR.
[CHAP. VII.
that an application had been made for a grant of all the lands within 60 miles of Lake Superior, and desired him to report on the subject.1 His report has not, it is believed, been published, but Henry seems to have gone on his second expe- dition to explore for copper, and was probably in the scheme. He visited the east shore of the lake, and examined Michipicoten and Caribou Islands. At Point Iroquois, on his return, his companion, Mr. Norburg, of the 60th Regiment, found a semi-transparent blueish stone of eight pounds weight, which, on assay, produced sixty per cent. of silver. It was deposited in the British Museum. A mining company, consisting of several noblemen and other prominent men, including Sir William Johnson and Alexander Henry, opened a mine on the Ontonagon River, and did some work; but the inconvenience of access and other difficulties led to its abandon- ment. The great copper boulderª which Henry had visited in 1766, and from which he had cut with an axe a piece weighing 100 pounds, was the attraction which led to the enterprise. It was an object of superstition among the Indians, who never disturbed articles left on it.
1 8 N. Y. Doc., 92.
2 This was about thirty years ago taken to Washington by Julius Eldred, of Detroit, and it is now in the possession of the Government. Several masses much larger have since been taken from the mines, but this is the largest mass ever found as a boulder at a distance from any mining ground.
149
CHAP. VII. |
CONDITION OF THE SETTLEMENTS.
As no such grant was ever set up afterwards, and as the Indian title was not extinguished till within the last forty years, it is probable nothing was obtained beyond a license. The ideas of these early speculators were not limited by mod- erate bounds. The first attempt to get access to the mines in our day was in 1822, when a company of persons in New Jersey sought to get a grant of 40,000 acres of the same lands, to be selected in parcels and not in one tract, at a rent to be fixed at that tinie.1 The proposition was not accepted.
The Mackinaw settlement was long without any great importance. The post had become less valuable than in the days of the French. At Detroit, although some of the people had gone westward, there was a steady but slow increase, and the inventories of estates show that domestic animals were abundant. By confounding the estimates of the people within the fort with those of the settlement, some confusion and apparent contradictions have arisen. The settlement, as early as 1774, extended on both sides of the river, for several miles above and a few miles below the fort. Although no Indian land grants were lawful, yet as before mentioned, several were connived at. The Potawatamie village and cemetery, then below, but now within Detroit, were conveyed by that tribe to Robert Navarre the younger, and Isidore Chêne, on the charge
1 4 St. Papers, Pub. Lands, 341.
150
AFFAIRS AT DETROIT.
[CHAP. VII.
that the several grantees should dwell there and care for the dead. The Navarre sale was approved by Major Bassett, in 1772. That to Chêne was sanctioned by Lieutenant Governors Hamilton (in 1776), and Sinclair (in 1781.)' In 1774, Major Bas- sett, on the complaint of the inhabitants that their lands were encroached upon, appointed James Sterling to survey them, and directed that his sur- veys should be conclusive. The people, since the Pontiac war, had not been disturbed, and many who had before lived in the fort were now dwelling on their estates.
The King's Receiver collected the same dues which had before accrued to the French Govern- ment for annual rents and fines of alienation. Captain Turnbull in one case (and very likely in others) commuted the dues of a farm four arpents wide for "six slay loads of wood, French measure." The traineau, drawn by one pony, usually held about one-third of a cord, so that this made about two cords, in lieu of one bushel of wheat, and four livres, two sols, cash or peltries.2
The commission de grand voyer (road commis- sioners) had charge of roads and bridges, and apportioned the taxes for their support. Where a bridge was a private charge, it was allowed to re- lieve the owner from other bridge taxes to the amount of its expenses.3
In spite of their increasing prosperity, the British refused to give the people any government.
I Wayne Records, A., 256-7. 2 Id., 116. 3 Id., 158.
151
OPPOSITION TO COLONIES.
CHAP. VII.
Although Johnson and Shelburne, as well as others, had urged it, and the two Franklins were unwearied in their efforts, the Board of Trade settled down upon the selfish course which was so soon to arouse resistance in all the English-speaking colonies. Their whole policy was " to prevent manufactures."1 This they thought " would not be promoted by these new colonies, which being proposed to be estab- lished, at the distance of above fifteen hundred miles from the sea, and upon places which, upon the fullest evidence, are found to be utterly inaccessible to shipping, will, from their inability to find returns wherewith to pay for the manufactures of Great Britain, be probably led to manufacture for them- selves." They meet the argument that such colon-
ies will raise provisions, in this way. "The present French inhabitants in the neighborhood of the lakes, will, in our humble opinion, be suffi- cient to furnish with provisions whatever posts may be necessary to be continued there ; and as there are also French inhabitants settled in some parts of the country, lying upon the Mississippi, between the Rivers Illinois and the Ohio, it is to be hoped that a sufficient number of these may be induced to fix their abode, where the same convenience and advantage may be derived from them.
The settlements already existing, as above described, which being formed under military establishments, and ever subject to military authority, do not, in our humble opinion, require any further superintendence
I Mills, 30.
152
QUEBEC ACT. [CHAP. VII.
than that of the military officers commanding at these posts.""
The necessity of conciliating that part of the Province which was well settled, and had been before under laws and civil institutions, led to the enactment, in 1774, of the Quebec Act, whereby, ostensibly, the whole country was to be assured these privileges. It was delusive everywhere, and the Historian Garneau finds a lack of words to express his indignation at the course pursued under it.2 By our Declaration of Independence it was denounced as unfavorable to liberty. If the Detroit colonists heard of it, it was but as a distant rumor of something which did not affect them. No news- papers then circulated in the Province, and the Michigan colonists, perhaps, would not have seen them if they had existed. Nevertheless, stirring times were approaching.
I Mills, 32.
2 Garneau, passim.
CHAPTER VIII.
MICHIGAN UNDER BRITISH LAW.
IN 1774, an act was passed by the British Parliament, commonly called the Quebec Act, by which the entire British possessions west of New York, north of the Ohio, and east of the Mississippi River, were incorporated into the Province of Quebec, and made subject to its government. The laws of Canada, as they had been in force before the Conquest, were nominally made the rule of decision in civil matters, and the English law in criminal matters; and this has been quite generally supposed to be the scope and chief design of the statute. If this had been so, the strong condemnation of this Act in the Declaration of Independence would have been exaggerated. It is there described as an act " for abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its bounda- ries, so as to render it at once an example and a fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies."
Although this statute was smuggled through the House of Lords, and urged in the Commons, as an act of justice to the Canadians, it was
154
QUEBEC ACT.
TCHAP. VIII.
contrived and really intended to prevent settle- ments in the colony, and discourage Englishmen from going there, by depriving them of the benefit of English law, both civil and criminal. Hillsborough and Thurlow had combined to resist all new settlements, and when Franklin had at last succeeded in obtaining the consent of the council to establish a colony south of the Ohio, Thurlow contrived to prevent the sealing of the order.' When the Quebec Act was sent down to the House of Commons, the course of the Minis- try was such as would not be tolerated in modern times. Burke, Colonel Barre, Fox, and many other distinguished men, opposed it bitterly. But, before discussing its provisions, calls were made on the Government for information and documents in the public offices, and for the official opinions of the law officers of the Crown on various matters laid before them. This information they failed to get. The law officers who were summoned before the House refused to make any disclosures, on the ground that their opinions belonged to His Majesty. Dr. Marriott, the civilian, not only refused to make disclosures of the tenor of his official reports, but treated the other questions put to him in a strain of impertinence not often parallelled. The opposition succeeded in correcting a few defects, and in procuring for the inhabitants a right to make wills according to either English or French law. But beyond this they had no success.
1 5 Bancroft, 47.
155
QUEBEC ACT.
CHAP. VIII.]
The statute, while establishing nominally the Canadian and English law, as furnishing rules of decision in civil and criminal cases respectively, made no attempt to determine what were to be deemed the old laws of Canada, although there had been much dispute upon that subject. Chief Justice Hay, of Canada, who was a witness before the House, admitted he knew nothing about the French law; and when an objection was made to the act that it put all the existing judges out of office, it was answered by an assurance that they would be continued. The whole legislative power was put in the hands of the Governor, (and in his absence the Lieutenant Governor or Commander-in-Chief) and a council of not less than seventeen nor more than twenty-three, all appointed by the Crown, whose acts might be reviewed by the King in council. All the ordin- ances of the Province, whether under French or British authority, were annulled. No provision was made for a future assembly, except as a possibility. Ordinances of the new legislative
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