USA > Michigan > Outlines of the political history of Michigan > Part 14
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207
ORDINANCE OF 'EIGHTY-SEVEN.
CHAP. IX.]
Ordinance of 1787, if it is regarded as a statute, is the only instrument of that nature ever passed by the Congress of the confederation. It was not, however, properly a statute; for all public statutes are subject to repeal. This instrument was not subject to be altered in its most im- portant provisions, although as to others it prob- ably was liable to alteration. It is somewhat singular that, in adopting a large stream for the southern boundary of the Territory, Virginia, in- stead of making the middle thread of the Ohio River the dividing line, retained jurisdiction over all the stream.
This important Act of State, adopted on the 13th day of July, 1787, may most properly be called a constitution; since it vested the whole original legislative authority in other bodies than Congress, and in some particulars was meant to operate as a permanent compact between the United States and the people of the Territory. Its general features were as follows: It established temporary rules of descent and succession, and for the manner of disposing of property inter vivos and by will. A governor was to be appointed from time to time by Congress, for terms of three years, but removable. A secretary was to hold for four years unless removed, and three judges were to hold during good behavior. A majority of the governor and judges were to adopt from the States such laws as were suited to the Terri- tory, to be in force till disapproved by Con-
208
ORDINANCE OF 'EIGHTY-SEVEN. [CHAP. IX.
gress, or altered by the future Legislature. The Board afterwards obtained the power of alteration and repeal. The Governor made all appointments except judges and secretary, (who were appointed by Congress,) and could lay out counties and townships, and appoint magistrates and other civil as well as military officers, at his pleasure. In this he had the amplest prerogative. When the popular assembly should be organized, all this was subject to their legislative control. But Congress retained no powers of immediate legislation for itself.
As soon as there should be five thousand free male inhabitants, an assembly was to be elected, with one member for each five hundred free male inhabitants, until the assembly should contain twenty-five members, when the number was to be .fixed by them. An upper house or council, of five members, was to be selected by Congress, from ten persons nominated by the representatives. Representatives were to serve two years, and coun- cillors five. The Governor had an absolute veto, with power to assemble, prorogue, and dissolve the Legislature.
Six articles were declared to be articles of com- pact between the original States and the people and States of the Territory, to forever remain un- alterable, unless by common consent. These were, First, Religious toleration. Second, A declaration or bill of rights and liberties. Third, That " reli- gion, morality and knowledge being necessary to
CHAP. IX.]
ORDINANCE OF 'EIGHTY-SEVEN. 209
good government, and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Also that the Indians should be protected in their rights and security, and fairly dealt with. Fourth, Perpetual union, and proper contribution to the general burdens; immunity from taxation, and respect for United States lands and titles ; equality of taxes for non-residents ; and free use of ways and waters for citizens of other States. Fifth, That not less than three, nor more than five, States should be formed ; - if three, to be divided by north and south lines from points named ; if four or five, they were to be divided by the same lines running north and up to an east and west line through the extreme south point of Lake Michigan ; and all north of that line was to form one or two States, as Congress should de- termine. Each State had assured to it a right to be admitted into the Union, as soon as it should contain sixty thousand free inhabitants. Sixth, That neither slavery nor involuntary servitude should be allowed except in punishment of crime ; but fugitives from labor should be subject to reclamation.
When the Constitution of the United States came into complete operation, in 1789, one of the first acts of Congress adapted the ordinance to it, by transferring to the President and Senate the powers of a purely executive nature which had before been vested in Congress. The only other change made the Secretary acting Governor,
14
210
INDIAN RESPECT FOR DIGNITIES.
[CHAP. IX.
during the Governor's absence, removal or resignation.
One term of the Supreme Court was held each year at Detroit ; and Judge Burnet informs us that from 1796 until 1803, when the separa- tion took place, neither he, Judge Symmes, nor Mr. St. Clair. (who was the Governor's son and attorney general) ever missed a term. He gives a lively account of the difficulties and hardships, as well as amusing incidents, attending the long horseback rides from Cincinnati to Detroit, and to the other counties. Among other things, he describes a curious game of foot ball at the Au Glaize village, where the Shawnee Blue Jacket, and Buckongahelas, the old Delaware chief, resided, between men and women, in which, by the prowess of a gigantic squaw, the game was decided for the women. On their return several weeks after, they found Blue Jacket had obtained a large quantity of whiskey, and the people were all
drunk. He tells with much humor how a very ancient squaw insisted on preferring Mr. St. Clair above the rest, whom she scornfully char- acterised as " milish," not to be compared to the " big man - Governor's son" whom she honored with a profusion of drunken motherly kisses.
Judge Burnet, (who in this regard speaks from his own observation, and is confirmed by his contemporaries,) expresses himself very strongly upon the wrongs done the Indians, in not pro- tecting them from the vices of the whites, until
211
INDIAN CHARACTER
CHAP. IX.]
they could have become settled down in peaceful industry. He says distinctly that until 1795, after the Treaty of Greenville, they were dignified and independent in their intercourse with the whites, and received as equals, and that they were in no respect an inferior race by nature, and were as capable of improvement as any people. History shows that, for a couple of centuries after the first settlement in Canada, the Indian tribes were in several instances the only farmers in the country, and supplied the whites. In Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, their villages were neat, and their lands well laid out and well tilled. Those who have attended Indian councils can bear wit- ness to the keenness of their intellects, and the wonderful accuracy of their memories; and such of them as have received an education are as well advanced by their training as any people. If white men were compelled to live as nomads, and hold no lands as private homesteads, all the resources of education and civilization would be equally thrown away upon them. The cold blooded policy which has first demoralized the Indians, and then refused to help them because they were demoralized, is a disgrace to humanity.
The establishment of a regular course of justice opened a wide field of litigation, and for several years the court business at Detroit was large and lucrative. The British and other travellers who visited the country in 1796, and shortly there- after, expressed their surprise at the number and
212
SOCIAL LIFE AT DETROIT.
[CHAP. IX.
wealth of the merchants, and the extent of their business, and stated that all kinds of articles were nearly as cheap in Detroit as in New York and Philadelphia. The people were gay and pros- perous, and indulged as freely in the pomps and vanities of dress and amusements as their contem- poraries in the elegant circles of the east. The truthtelling inventories of the estates of the in- habitants who had done with the world, include plate and silks, and all manner of luxuries, as well as the " titres de noblesse"' which had ceased to be important among the new fledged republi- cans. On the 4th of June, 1800, during the term of court at Detroit, the court and bar, and all the officers who could be spared of the two regiments quartered at the fort, with a host of citizens, were invited to Sandwich to a banquet and ball in honor of the King's birthday; and a company of between four and five hundred, from both sides of the river, enjoyed a pleasant and courteous
intercourse. The next day, the court and bar, with others, were taken on a Government vessel to Fort Malden, (then not completed,) and after hospitable treatment proceeded across the lake. The magnates of the fur trade had not lost their Scottish habits of conviviality ; and Judge Burnet's stories of Angus Mackintosh's liberal feasting and wassailing remind one of Scott's pictures of the same period in the land of their origin.
I Many Canadian gentlemen received letters of nobility for services in war and discovery. In making up the inventories of estates it was customary to include all papers and titles. Such an item occurs in the inventory of Fontenay Dequindre, and probably in many more.
213
DETROIT DESCRIBED.
CHAP. IX.]
As there are not many printed descriptions of Detroit belonging to the period of the first American occupation, some extracts from the Letters of Isaac Weld,' an Irish gentleman of subsequent literary prominence, who visited this region in the autumn of 1796, may be worth copying.
" The houses in this part of the country are all built in a similar style to those in Lower Canada; the lands are laid out and cultivated also similarly to those in the lower province; the manners and persons of the inhabitants are the same. French is the predominant language, and the traveller may fancy for a moment, if he pleases, that he has been wafted by enchantment back again into the neighborhood of Montreal or Three Rivers. All the principal posts throughout the western country, along the lakes, the Ohio, the Illinois, etc., were established by the French ; but except at Detroit and in the neighborhood, and in the Illinois country, the French settlers have become so blended with the greater number who spoke English, that their language has every- where died away.
" Detroit contains about three hundred houses, and is the largest town in the western country. It stands contiguous to the river, on the top of
I Mr. Weld spent parts of the years 1795, 1796 and 1797 in America, and much of his time was passed in the United States. He was a good observer, though very bitterly prejudiced. Mr Ticknor met him in Ireland many years afterward, and he then assured Mr. T. that his views had become changed .- I Ticknor's Biography, p. 424.
214
DETROIT.
[CHAP. IX.
the banks which are here about twenty feet high. At the bottom of them there are very extensive wharfs for the accommodation of the shipping, built of wood, similar to those in the Atlantic sea-ports. The town consists of several streets that run parallel to the river, which are inter- sected by others at right angles. They are all very narrow, and not being paved, dirty in the extreme whenever it happens to rain ; for the' accommodation of passengers, however, there are footways in most of them, formed of square logs, laid transversely close to each other. The town is surrounded by a strong stockade, through which there are four gates; two of them open to the wharfs, and the two others to the north and south side of the town respectively. The gates are defended by strong block-houses, and on the west [north] side of the town is a small fort in form of a square, with bastions at the angles. At each of the corners of this fort is planted a small field-piece, and these constitute the whole of the ordnance at present in the place. The British kept a considerable train of artillery here, but the place was never capable of holding out for any length of time against a regular force; the fortifications, indeed, were constructed chiefly as a defence against the Indians."? P. 351.
I Mr. Weld, like most strangers, mistook the points of the compass, by failing to notice the bend at the town, which fronts southward and not eastward. The gates were at the east and west ends.
2 In this the writer is in error. Major Lernoult constructed this fort during the American Revolution, to defend the place against the Americans.
215
DETROIT.
CHAP. IX .]
" About two-thirds of the inhabitants of Detroit are of French extraction, and the greater part of the inhabitants of the settlements on the river, both above and below the town, are of the same description. The former are mostly engaged in trade, and they all appear to be much on an equality. Detroit is a place of very considerable trade ; there are no less than twelve trading vessels belonging to it, brigs, sloops and schooners, of from fifty to one hundred tons burthen each." " The stores and shops in the town are well furnished, and you may buy fine cloth, linen, etc., and every article of wearing apparel, as good in their kind, and nearly on as reasonable terms, as you can purchase them at New York or Philadelphia.
" The inhabitants are well supplied with pro- visions of every description ; the fish in particular, caught in the river and neighboring lakes, are of a very superior quality. The fish held in most estimation is a sort of large trout, called the Michillimakinac white fish, from its being caught mostly in the straits of that name." P. 352.
" The country round Detroit is uncommonly flat, and in none of the rivers is there a fall sufficient to turn even a grist mill. The current of Detroit River itself is stronger than that of any others, and a floating mill was once invented by a Frenchman, which was chained in the middle of that river, where it was thought the stream would be sufficiently swift to turn the water-wheel; the
216
MILLS.
[CHAP. IX.
· building of it was attended with considerable expense to the inhabitants, but after it was finished it by no means answered their expect- ations. They grind their corn at present by wind mills, which I do not remember to have seen in any other part of North America." P. 354.
The author was mistaken concerning the absence of water power. There is a consider- able though gradual rise from the Detroit River northward, and the water is distributed from a reservoir upon high ground within the city so as to reach the upper stories of high buildings. Within living memory, there were streams within the present limits of the city on which water-mills once existed. Campau's mill has been referred to already. A mill also stood on the Cass Farm, upon the River Savoyard. Two mills were driven by the waters of Bloody Run, one near the " Pontiac Tree," where the stream crossed what is now Jefferson Avenue, and one near the Fort Gratiot Road. Mr. Tremblé also had a water mill on Tremblé's (now Connor's) Creek, at or near the starting point of the Moravian Road.
The wind mills, which have now mostly dis- appeared, were once seen on every headland and point, and their white sails revolving in the wind presented a pleasant spectacle on a fair summer day. They were all built alike, in circular form, with a broad sloping stone foundation and up- right wooden body, surmounted by a conical roof, which was turned by a long timber sweep, so as
217
CHAP. IX.] MARIETTA COLONISTS.
to bring the sails into position. One of these wind mills, on the American side opposite Sand- wich or Montreal Point, (on the Gobaie Farm, since known as the Knaggs, and Bela Hubbard Farm) had the reputation of being haunted, but the legend has escaped the antiquarian, and is now lost.
The town of Marietta, Ohio, was founded in 1789 by a colony from New England, embracing some of the ablest men that came to the West; and the pattern they set, of caring for schools and churches in the very beginning of their undertak- ing, was of infinite service in shaping the future of the Territory. Most of them had seen honorable service, and borne rank in the Revolutionary Army, and they were men of culture and refinement, as well as good sense and energy. In after days Michigan received many valuable citizens from that colony. The first new settler in Detroit after the occupation was from that place. Solomon Sibley arrived in 1797. He was then a promi- nent lawyer, and, as the first member in time, was also during his professional career second to no one in character or ability. After filling other pub- lic stations, he became one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, and so remained until he felt com- pelled to retire in old age from deafness. He was one of those men of sturdy honesty and native sagacity, whose learning and judgment are never obscured by egotism or warped by eccentricity, and who by manly frankness and solid wisdom
218
GENERAL CASS
[CHAP. IX.
are the best guides and safest reliance of young commonwealths. Those distinguished pioneers found it easy to adapt themselves to the ways of the wilderness, and the training of the schools did not unfit them for the work of the settler. When, three or four years later, Judge Sibley brought home from Marietta his young bride (a daughter of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, and granddaughter of Commodore Whipple, both of Revolutionary repu- tation,), they halted their horses one evening at the hospitable home of Major Jonathan Cass, where Lewis Cass, then fresh from Dartmouth, was pound- ing samp in a hollow stump. This was the first meeting of two gentlemen who were destined to be friends and coadjutors through many years of stirring events, and both of them lived to see the Northwest Territory transmuted into populous and prosperous States.
The early days of all communities are full of amusing occurrences. Where newspapers are not in circulation, and there are no frequent comings and goings of travellers, each town and hamlet furnishes its own comedies and dramas, and every one feels bound to contribute what he can to en- liven it. The Bar is somewhat noted for its prone- ness to such mischief, and the young barristers, who found plenty of leisure in the intervals of Court, did their full share. The distinguished elders of the Common Pleas were on one occasion, re- corded in their journal, led into furnishing their quota. They held their sessions in the ball-room
219
ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES.
CHAP. IX. |
of Mr. Dodemead, who kept a noted tavern near the present Michigan Exchange. His bar-room having proved tempting to the soldiers, Colonel Strong, the Commander, placed a sentry at the door to keep them out. Colonel Elijah Brush, the Public Attorney, noticing this on his way up stairs, proceeded to startle the Court by suggesting to their Honors a doubt whether, as being under military duress, their proceedings might not be in- valid. The Court, after due consideration, refer- red the matter to the waggish counsel to be reported upon. In due time he made his report, so skilfully drawn as to leave the main question in hopeless obscurity. The commanding officer, however, removed his sentinel, and the civil au- thority regained its liberty.
In 1798, the Territory had acquired the num- ber of inhabitants which entitled it to a General Assembly, and three members were allotted to Wayne County. The elections were then held viva voce, and not by ballot. Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visger, and Charles F. Chabert de Joncaire (the Chevalier de Joncaire before mentioned), were chosen Representatives. The Legislature was sum- moned to meet at Cincinnati, on the 4th of Feb- ruary, 1799. The first Council consisted of James Findlay (afterwards Colonel during the war of 1812, and with the army at Detroit,) Judge Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati ; Henry Vanderburgh, (after- wards a Judge of Indiana Territory) ; David Vance and Robert Oliver, (a Colonel of the Revolution.)
220
TERRITORIAL LAWS.
[CHAP. IX.
General William Henry Harrison was chosen Delegate to Congress.
The previous Territorial Code adopted by the Governor and Judges was found very imperfect, and the Legislature had much work to do in sup- plying its defects, especially in regard to that large class of cases involving remedies not found in common law proceedings, and usually granted in equity. The courts had not been granted equity
powers. The delegate was instructed to obtain for the Territory the title to the sixteenth section of lands in each township, and the entire township of land, which had been promised by the Govern- ment in aid of schools and colleges. The Legis- lature also passed laws for the protection of the Indians, and especially to prevent the sale of ard- ent spirits. There was a strong feeling against the extent of the Governor's veto power, as well as his assumed power to control the entire di- vision and erection of towns and counties; and Congress was petitioned to restrict them. Gover- nor St. Clair was very much inclined to use the veto power, and did it so freely that legisla- tion was almost suspended, and the organization of the State became desirable to avoid further trouble.
The munificent scheme of devoting a certain proportion of the public lands to education, was devised in the earliest days of the Re- public. In 1785, the sixteenth section in each township of six miles square was first pledged to_
221
SCHOOLS. LAND TITLES.
CHAP. IX.]
the support of the schools of such townships, and in the great Symmes purchase one township was to be used for the purpose of higher education. This early recognition of the necessity of schools and colleges, enforced in the form of a perpetual compact between the Government and the people and States in the Territory, has been a source and stimulus of intelligence, the importance of which cannot be estimated. The duty of the State to educate her children, generously and thoroughly, can never be disregarded without violating the pledges on which the rights of the State and Ter- ritory were created.
While the population of Wayne County was large compared with that of other parts of the Territory, there was a serious obstacle in the way of its advancement. The Indian title had only been extinguished in a strip six miles wide be- tween the River Raisin and Lake St. Clair; a small tract about Mackinaw, and a few detached parcels that afterwards fell within Ohio. The De- troit settlement was regarded as the most pros- perous in the Northwest. That at Mackinaw was likely to become important. But until more lands should be brought into market there could be no rapid growth. No steps had yet been taken to ascertain what lands had been lawfully transferred under the French and British rule, and this also stood in the way of further settlement. Efforts were made to bring these matters into adjust- ment, but some years passed before any progress was reached.
222
DIVISION OF THE TERRITORY
ICHAP. IX
In 1800 an act of Congress provided that after July 4th of that year the Territory should be divided, throwing into the new Territory of Indiana the country included in two of the three originally proposed States contemplated by the Ordinance of 1787. The line between Indiana and the remainder was run due north from Fort Recovery to the National boundary in Lake Superior, passing a few miles west of Mackinaw. It was for a time in doubt whether Mackinaw was in Indiana or the Northwest Territory. General Harrison was first Governor of Indiana, and Judge Vanderburgh's residence there made a vacancy in the Council, which was filled by the selection of Judge Sibley. The seat of government was removed by Con- gress from Cincinnati to Chillicothe, a step which caused much discontent, and which was regarded as an infraction of the stipulations of the Ordi- nance of 1787, which gave the Legislature of the Territory plenary powers of legislation. The Council thereupon passed a bill fixing the meet- ings in rotation at Marietta, Cincinnati and Chilli- cothe. The House agreed in the right to do this, but disagreed as to the places, and nothing more was done at that time.
Accordingly, in November, 1801, the Legis- lature assembled in Chillicothe, where they re- mained in session, until January 23, 1802. At this session the town of Detroit was incorporated, with a Board of Trustees, and with power to make by-laws and ordinances for the regulation
223
DISTURBANCE AT CHILLICOTHE
CHAP. 1X. |
of the town. Judge Sibley was succeeded in the House by Jonathan Schiefflin of Detroit, who played a prominent part during the session. The removal of the seat of government to Chillicothe was very severely criticised by various members, and the people of that town were charged with intriguing for it, and the Governor had also expressed himself against it. Mr. Schiefflin had been especially emphatic in de- nouncing it. A mob of townspeople, coun-
tenanced by prominent citizens, created a riot, and assembled before the house where the Gover- nor and Schiefflin lodged. They at length forced the door, when Mr. Schiefflin met them with a brace of loaded pistols, and drove them back into the street. They kept up their disturbances two nights without serious harm to any one. But the Legislature, to signify their sense of this con- duct, adjourned to meet at Cincinnati the next November.
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