USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 68
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The SALINE river, which rises in Bridge- water and flows through Saline, Lodi and York townships and empties into the River Raisin in Monroe county, was named from the salt-licks on its banks, where the deer used to go for the salt.
MILL creek, which rises in Sharon and flows through Sylvan and Lima into Scio, where it empties into the Huron at Dexter, was named from the saw-mill erected near its mouth by Judge Dexter in 1824.
HONEY creek in Scio township, a tributary to the Huron, was named from the honey found in such profusion near its banks by the early settlers. An old settler has said that the plains for several miles up and down this stream on either side, before they were disturbed by man, were one vast flower bed during the summer sea- son, and single trees were found in this locality by early settlers from which were taken more than three hundred pounds of honey.
PAINT creek in Ypsilanti and Augusta town- ships was named because of the finding of a blu-
STONY creek in York and Augusta town- ships gets its name from its stony bottom, though probably not from any point in Washtenaw county.
SUGAR creek in York and Augusta townships is probably named from the maple sugar early made on its banks.
ALLEN'S creek, in Ann Arbor, is named after John Allen, one of the city's first settlers, who bought the land on its banks from the govern- ment.
FLEMING'S creek, of Superior, was named after Judge Robert Fleming, who bought the first land in Superior in 1823.
NAMING OF LAKES.
WHITMORE lake was named after Oliver Whitmore, and the name was conferred upon it by Jonathan F. Stratton, who was the only sur- veyor then in Washtenaw county. Mr. Whit- more lived in Pittsfield near Ann Arbor, and ac- companied Mr. Stratton on a prospecting tour, or, as it was called in those days, a "land-looking tour." At the approach of night they pitched their tent on the bank of this lake, and the next morning when they got ready to start, Mr. Strat- ton proposed that they call the lake Whitmore lake, and when he came to make maps of this section he so named the lake on them.
BASE lake was so put down on the map be- cause the base line for the Michigan government survey runs through it.
PORTAGE lake was so named because it was the place from which the Indians, who had come up the Huron, transported their canoes to some other body of water. The Michigan Gazetteer of 1838, in speaking of this name, says: "Por- tage seems to have been applied in every case where the river, creek or lake so called, was in the vicinity of some other, and so near as to fur- nish points from which the Indians and fur trad- ers embarked and transported their canoes and baggage across to some neighboring lake or creek. Thus between the Grand and the Huron,
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the St. Joseph and Kalamazoo rivers, there were portages and hence the creeks and lakes, the the places of arrival and departure received this name."
INDEPENDENCE lake was so named in 1827 when a few scattered settlers had a Fourth of July celebration there, during which Luther Boyden proposed to christen the lake Independ- ence, and it was so christened.
CAVANAUGH lake was named for a Mr. Kavanaugh who lived on the shores of the lake on the farm now owned by William Snow. The name was originally spelled with a K, but was changed to its present spelling about twenty years ago.
FOUR MILE lake was so named because it is four miles on a direct line west of Dexter.
HALF MOON lake was named from the half- moon-like shape of the contours of its shore lines.
NAMING OF CITIES AND VILLAGES.
ANN ARBOR city was named after the first two women who settled within its borders, Ann Allen, the wife of Jolin Allen, and Ann Rumsey, the wife of Elisha Walker Rumsey. Various sto- ries have been told as to how the name originated, but all agree as to where the "Ann" in the name "Ann Arbor" came from. The version which has back of it the most evidences of historical truth is that which pictures the two Anns, the only two white women in the wilderness, often uniting the meals for their families under a nat- ural arbor situated between the houses of Rum- sey and Allen, which, from the frequency with which the two women used it, came to be called Anns' Arbor. The location of this arbor has been lost with the lapse of time, old settlers locating it in various parts of the city. The story is dif- ferently told by various writers, based upon the remembrances of the early settlers. One version has it that Allen and Rumsey when they first ar- rived pitched their tents on the banks of Allen's creek, and built an arbor out of boughs, which in honor of their wives they called Anns' Arbor. It must be remembered, however, that Ann Allen was not in Michigan at that time, not arriving until after her husband had built a log house for
her habitation. Another version has it that on the first arrival of Allen and Rumsey they built a shelter out of boughs on land afterward occu- pied by Judge Cooley for his home, and that this was called Anns' Arbor. Still another version locates Anns' Arbor near where the Episcopal church now stands. Some of the old settlers, however, maintain that the pioneers of this city were struck with the general appearance of the country hereabouts, which they claimed was a natural arbor, and locating here, naturally hon- ored their wives by calling it Anns' Arbor. Cal- vin Chipman, at the semi-centennial celebration here in 1875, claimed the credit of having taken the vote which gave the city its name. He said he came here in 1824 and assisted in erecting the first log house in June, 1824, and that afterward, when Mr. Rumsey lived in a log house near the present site of the Episcopal church, he built an arbor close by it; and that Mrs. Rumsey one day, when a number of the early pioneers were gath- ered around, remarked to her husband: "What a beautiful arbor we have! Why not call it Anns' Arbor?" Mr. Chipman claimed to have immedi- ately put the question to a vote, and the proposi- tion carried unanimously, and the town was thus named. The Western Emigrant, in its first issne, November 18, 1829, contained a letter written from this point by a Canadian who was looking over the territory of Michigan, to his friends in Canada, and in this letter, after describing the beauties of Ann Arbor in glowing terms, tells the source of its name as follows: "This village is the county seat of Washtenaw. It is called by a singular name, after the wives of the origi- nal proprietors, Allen and Rumsey, both of the name of Ann, the husbands in honor of their heroic partners who had endured the hardships and privations attendant upon the settlement of a new country, calling the village by their names- Anns' Arbour, alias Ann Arbor." A search of the files of all the early papers discovers no fur- ther reference to the origin of the name. The re- membrances of most of the early settlers seem to have favored the arbor under which the two Anns held their "tea parties"; and we are inclined to believe that this is the true origin of the name Ann Arbor, which is unlike the name of any other
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town in the world. The name was originally spelt "Ann Arbour," for the English at that time spelt arbor with a "u." The "u" was dropped about the time that Michigan became a state. The first papers used the letter "u" in spelling the name. This was in territorial days. The Michi- gan Gazateer of 1838 uses the letter "u" through- out the book, but corrects it with an "errata."
YPSILANTI city was named by Judge Augus- tus B. Woodward, who was chief justice of the territory, and one of the three men who platted Ypsilanti. He lived at Detroit and never resided within the county. At the time the village was platted the Greek revolution was in progress and General Demetrius Ypsilanti, with three hundred men and three days' provisions, held the citadel of Argos three days against an army of 30,000 men, and at the end of that time forced his way through the Turkish army at night, saving his troops without the loss of a man. Judge Wood- ward was greatly taken with the heroism of Ypsi- lanti, and insisted on naming the new village Ypsilanti. John Stewart, the first settler and one of the men who platted the village, insisted on the village being called Waterville: and William W. Harwood wanted the village to be named Palmyra. Finally Stewart and Harwood com- promised on the name Springfield, Stewart being satisfied with getting some mention of water in it ; and they sent a surveyor to Detroit to record the plat under that name. Woodward absolutely refused to accept the name, and by his persistence finally brought the others over to accept the name Ypsilanti rather than have the plat as their sur- veyor had laid it out fail to be recorded. Demet- rius Ypsilanti was a brother of Alexander who took the leadership to promote the independence of Greece in 1820. The Ypsilanti family exist to-day in Greece, and are looking forward to some day visiting the city of the new world named for their illustrious ancestor.
CHELSEA was named by Elisha Congdon. who gave the ground to the Michigan Central for their station which was the starting of the village, after his old home, Chelsea, Massachu- setts.
DEXTER was named after Judge Samuel W Dexter, who laid out the village.
DIXBORO was named after Captain John Dix, who settled there in 1824, and built a flour- ing mill and ran a saw-mill there. He went to Texas in 1833 and died there.
MANCHESTER was named from the fact that most of the early settlers came from Man- chester township, Ontario county, New York; and it was the common habit of pioneers, in giv- ing names to their new locations, to select the names of their home towns.
MILAN was named after Milan township, Monroe county, in which part of the village is located.
MOOREVILLE was named after its founder, John Moore.
SALINE was named from the salt-licks on the banks of the river at an early date.
STONY CREEK was named after a creek of the same name, on the banks of which it is lo- cated.
WHITTAKER was named after B. Frank Whittaker, a merchant who did business south- east of what is now the village for a number of years, and then started a general store at the vil- lage. He afterward went to Belleville, Ohio, where he died.
WILLIS was named after Willis L. Potter, a farmer, who owned most of the land on which the village is built. The village was first called Potter, but as there was already a village of that name, the name was changed to Willis.
NAMES OF TOWNSHIPS.
ANN ARBOR town was named after the vil- lage which was a part of it when it was organized.
AUGUSTA was named by Judson Durkee, who at the meeting to petition for the setting aside of the township from Ypsilanti, in 1836, proposed the name. He had come from Augusta, New York.
BRIDGEWATER, when it was set apart from Manchester in 1833, was called Bridgewater at the solicitation of George Howe, after the village of that name in Oneida county, New York. Be- fore the separation the two towns had been called Hixon, after Col. Daniel Hixon, the first settler.
DEXTER township was named in honor of
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Judge Samuel W. Dexter, the first land owner and settler, at whose house the first town meet- ing was held.
FREEDOM was named at the meeting to peti- tion for its organization as a township. in Decem- ber, 1833. at the house of Henry M. Griffin, when twenty-two voters were present. Great interest was taken in selecting the name. Alexander Peekins moved that the proposed town be called Freedom, and on a ballot taken this name had a large majority.
LIMA was named by Oliver L. Cooper. after Lima, New York, a village from near which he came when he emigrated to Michigan.
LODI received its name from Lodi Plains.
LYNDON was originally called the "Prom- ised Land." having reference to that part of the township west of the short hills.
MANCHESTER was named after the village of Manchester which is within its borders.
PITTSFIELD was named at a meeting held for the purpose of selecting a name for the pro- posed new township, in the McCracken school house in 1834. at which thirteen were present. Each person wanted to select the name of the town from which he came. Some of these thir- teen names were long ones, and the majority wanted a short name. Finally, on motion of Ezra Carpenter. seconded by Roderick Bowley, the name of Pitt was selected in honor of Pitt, the great prime minister of England. When Michi- gan became a state the town was known as Pitt. By 1840 the advocates of a longer name tri- umphed and the affix of "field" had been added, an "s" being put in for euphony, making it "Pitts- field."
SALEM township was named after Salem, New York, from near which many of its promi- nent pioneers came.
SALINE township received its name from the same source as the village and river of that name, from the salt-licks which were there when the first settlers came.
SCIO was probably named after Scio town- ship in Allegany county, New York.
SHARON was named after Sharon, Connecti- cut. There was a big strife over the name. Peti- tions for three different names were sent to the state legislature-Sharon. Amenia and Romulus.
The two latter names were urged by settlers from towns of those names in New York. Dr. Ama- riah Conklin hustled through the township with the Sharon petition, the loveliest name among ten thousand. As Andrew Robison used to put it : "We are satisfied with a good name and would not change it for any other this side of Paradise."
SUPERIOR was named by Henry Kimmel, who believed that he had located in a superior part of the county where the land was better than in the other sections.
SYLVAN township was named by Mrs. Ed- win E. Conklin, who was the daughter of Calvin Hicox, on account of the sylvan appearance of the country.
WEBSTER was named in 1833 after Daniel Webster. Munnis Kenny suggested the name and Luther Boyden endorsed the selection.
YORK was named by William Moore, one of its inhabitants and a member of the territorial legislature, because most of the inhabitants came from the state of New York.
YPSILANTI was named from Ypsilanti vil- lage, now city, which was within its borders.
CHAPTER IV.
TWO BLOODLESS WARS-THE BLACK HAWK WAR SCARE-THE TOLEDO WAR.
While Michigan was still a territory two blood- less wars, at least as far as Washtenaw was con- cerned, thoroughly aroused the pioneer settlers. The first was known as Black Hawk's war, which broke out in 1832 on the Mississippi river, but which spread terror through Washtenaw.
It was the belief of all the settlers that if Black Hawk succeeded in defeating the troops which had been sent against him that his band of In- dians would endeavor to make their way into Canada. If this was so their trail would lead them through Washtenaw. As a matter of fact. Black Hawk was forced into Wisconsin, where he was captured : but even after his capture. the Washtenaw pioneers were in terror of his arms. There were no telegraphs in those days, and com- munication was slow, and the friendly Indians
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who traversed Washtenaw were full of stories of what Black Hawk's warriors were about to do. The Ottawas and Pottawatamies asserted that when the leaves of the trees are as large as the squirrels, the Sacs would invade the settlement and kill the white settlers. All through Wash- tenaw the pioneers organized for defense, many even starting with their families for the east in order to put them out of reach of the Indians. A writer from Dexter, where an independent rifle company was organized, commanded by Colonel J. D. Davis, with headquarters at Plymouth, has left the following account of the excitement :
"One bright May morning, in 1832, at about eight o'clock, a man was seen riding on horseback in great haste over the hill, from toward Ann Arbor. As he rode into the village he met the commander of this company on the street, and in an excited manner announced that the Indians under Black Hawk had made war upon the whites and were marching toward Detroit, murdering every man, woman and child they could find ; that they were at White Pigeon Prairie, eighty thou- sand strong at that moment, and would be upon 11s, at the same time delivering to the captain of the company a military order signed by Colonel Davis, dated at Plymouth at six p. m. of the pre- vious day, which was couched substantially in the following language :
HEADQUARTERS, IST REGT., MICH. RIFLE CORPS, Plymouth, May 9, 1832, 6 p. m. CAPTAIN DEXTER RIFLES,
Sir :- You are hereby commanded to be and appear with your full company armed and equipped as the law dictates, for actual service, at Ten Eyck's tavern, ten miles west of Detroit, on the Chicago turnpike, on tomorrow, May 10th at ten o'clock a. m., then and there to meet the regiment and other military forces, to march at once against the Black Hawk Indians.
By order of Major-General John R. Williams, commanding Michigan Forces.
J. D. DAVIS, Colonel Ist. Regt. Mich. Rifles.
company must be assembled (with some of them nine miles away) and marched on foot, for there was no conveyance, forty miles in just an hour and a half. That, of course, was impossible, and strange as it may seem at this distance of time, that company was called together, and at just two o'clock that afternoon every member was in ranks with rifle and blanket, and in less than thirty minutes they took up their line of march to the stirring music of fife and drum. They actually marched to Ypsilanti that same evening, where they rested until the morning light, when they again took up their line of march toward Detroit, and about eleven o'clock a. m., they met the forces under General John R. Williams, about four miles west of Ten Eyck's, on the march westward, ho! to meet the enemy. Here the company joined the advancing army, and re- turned over the same road they had traversed in the early part of the day.
"By the time the troops had reached Saline the reports of the whereabouts of the enemy began to be quite conflicting, so much so that the troops halted there for two days, when authentic infor- mation was received that Black Hawk was cap- tured in Wisconsin, his forces dispersed and the Indian war ended. The Michigan troops were therefore disbanded and permitted to re- turn to their homes.
"The Dexter Rifles returned after an absence of six days, but during its absence the inhabitants of the village and surrounding country had be- come very much excited and alarmed. They had held counsel together and resolved to build a block house of the saw logs that lay upon the mill yard upon the west side of the creek, as a place of safety for the women and children, and other works of defense were to be erected. In fact, so great was the consternation, it was said (with how much truth I cannot vouch ), that one man, owning a farm but a short distance from the vil- lage, with a small lake upon it, actually sunk his farming utensils in the lake, in order that the In- dians should not destroy them."
THE TOLEDO WAR.
"The bearer of this order was George Warner. It was now May Ioth, at half past eight o'clock The Toledo war occurred in 1835, and prob- a. m. In order to obey this order literally the ably no question ever excited more intense in-
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terest in Washtenaw county than did this war, in which not a life was lost. The question in dis- pute was whether a strip of territory six miles wide, which includes the present city of Toledo. belonged to the state of Ohio or the territory of Michigan. The question became prominent when Michigan attempted to form a state government. A census which had been ordered in 1834 showed that the territory had considerable more inhab- itants than were necessary to admit it into the Union, as had been guaranteed under the ordi- nance of 1787, and congress was memorialized to admit the territory as a state. A constitution was adopted at a convention held in Detroit, from May II to June 25, 1835. at which convention Washtenaw was represented by Gilbert Shattuck, Abel Goddard. William Moore, Robert Purdy, John Brewer, Alpheus Collins, Michael Stubbs, Richard Brower. Rufus Crossman, Nathaniel Noble, Russell Briggs, Orrin Howe, Emanuel Case, Edward Mundy and Orrin White.
The people of Michigan believed that by the article of compact contained in the ordinance of 1787 "between the original states and the people and the states in the said territory." which should "forever remain unalterable unless by common consent" that the southern boundary of Michigan should be an east and west line drawn through the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, run- ning east from its intersection with a due north line from the mouth of the Miami river to Lake Erie. At the time that the ordinance of 1787 was adopted the true location of the southern ex- tremity of Lake Michigan was not known, and it was supposed to be further north than it ac- tually was ; and in admitting Ohio to the Union, Ohio's northern boundary was made on the sup- position that the southern extreme of Lake Mich- igan was further north than the facts afterward developed it to be. This was the basis for the controversy carried on between Ohio and Mich- igan, known as the Toledo war. Early in 1835, Governor Lucas of Ohio procured legislation for taking possession of the disputed territory, which included Toledo, and for the election of officers in Toledo and the organization of the present county of Lucas, in which Toledo is situated. Commissioners were appointed by Ohio who ran
the northern boundary line, and the election was called for April Ist. Michigan believed that Ohio was about to seize her territory, and the territorial legislature adopted legislation making it a penal offense for anyone to accept or exercise any pub- lic office within the territory except under a com- misssion from the United States government, or from Michigan. Before long troops were called out by both Michigan and Ohio. Governor Ma- son ordered General Joseph W. Brown of the Michigan militia to resist any attempt on the part of Ohio to carry out the threatened measures, and appealed to Andrew Jackson, the then pres- dent of the United States, who referred the mat- ter to the attorney-general, whose opinion fa- vored the claims of Michigan. For the president to have endorsed this decision of this attorney- general would have meant his loss of the votes of the state of Ohio, and possibly the states of Indiana and Illinois, which two states were in- terested in the decision favoring Ohio, as it would form a precedent for their gaining terri- tory on their northern boundary. The president sent two peace commissioners to the scene of the trouble, but their efforts at compromise were un- availing. Toledo, which was the real subject of the controversy, was indivisible, and hence there could be no compromise in respect to it.
In the meantime, Michigan had organized a state government under the claim that it had the right to do so under the ordinance of 1787 with- ont action of congress; and Stephen T. Mason, acting governor of the territory, was elected the first governor of the state, and Edward Mundy, of Ann Arbor, lieutenant-governor. Senators and representatives were also elected, who de- manded admission into congress. Governor Ma- son ordered out the Michigan troops and took possession of Toledo. No opposing forces were encountered and the Michigan troops were soon led back over the line and disbanded. But when these troops started out it was really believed that actual war was on. Washtenaw was called upon to furnish two hundred and fifty troops. and the men were ready. They met at Ann Arbor, where they were kept in very uncomfortable quarters for a few days in the latter part of March, and then, upon receiving intimation that
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the national government did not favor the action of Ohio, they received permission to return to their homes. They were again called out, how- ever, and Morrell Goodrich, in a paper read be- fore the Washtenaw Pioneer Society, has left a description of their part in the war, as follows: "The Toledo war occurred in 1835. By general order, No. 1, of that year, Stevens T. Mason, act- ing governor of the Territory of Michigan, and Adjutant-General Larned, the cavalry company of this place, which was in full bloom and under command of Captain Peter Slingerland, commis- sioned by Governor Mason, myself holding the commission of first lieutenant of said company, by the same authority, was ordered to rendezvous at the hotel kept by my father in Ann Arbor, for general inspection, and for the purpose of arm- ing and equipping ourselves for the defense of our frontier line between our territory and the state of Ohio, a dispute having arisen as to the origi- nal survey, whether the line that is now estab- lished was correct or not. The disputed terri- tory embraced a strip of land some seven miles in width, extending west to the Indiana line. We met as above stated, were inspected and passed muster ; but when the time came to advance upon the enemy, a difficulty arose as to the horse that I had employed in doing duty in our company. It belonged to my father, and he refused to let me have it, for he wisely said he could not afford to have so valuable an animal slaughtered or cap- tured by the foes of our glorious territory, unless the authorities would become responsible for the full value of the animal. Our colonel informed the proper authorities of our situation, and very soon an order came to have the horse got in line. Accordingly it was equipped according to law, and the line was formed early in the morning. Two appraisers were appointed, viz .: my father and Mosely Maynard. The business of appraisal was through with in a hurry. The horse was numbered eighty-five. The company took dinner at father's house. We were immediately ordered to Ypsilanti to join a mounted company of that place. The number of that company was eighty- five. When we arrived at Ypsilanti we were ordered to consolidate the two companies. The question then arose (a very important one) what
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