USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 69
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to do with the extra set of officers. Colonel Owen Welch, who was then as young and vig- orous as we were, as many of us at the time had reason to know, proposed the following plan: That the officers of each company should throw dice and the high- est number thrown at three trials should decide the elections, and the men so elected lead their countrymen on against the brave Buckeyes in the terrible contest now looming up in the distance between the two contending parties. The first in order were Captain Peter Slingerland, of Ann .Arbor, and Captain Forsyth of Ypsilanti. Cap- tain Slingerland was elected by six dots. Then came my turn with the first lieutenant of the Ypsi- lanti company. I beat him by four dots. Ypsi- lanti got the second lieutenant, and Ypsilanti the ensign. That question settled, our colonel was transferred to the militia. Then came general or- der, No. 4, which was to promote our captain to major, to take charge of our detachment until we could join the rest of our brigade at headquarters at Monroe or Toledo. This made a vacancy in our ranks, and as a result I was promoted to the captaincy, and the balance of the officers were promoted for the same cause, and in the same way, by our commanding officers. There was only one more office to be filled, and that was done by the two companies. My impression is that an Ypsilanti man was appointed, but it might have been James Welch, of Ann Arbor ; I am not sure. "Our headquarters were on the east side of the river, in a hotel kept by Dr. Andrews. How proud and haughty (not to say insolent ) we were that we came out ahead of the Ypsilanti boys. They appeared rather down-hearted, but whether it was caused by their failure to secure the promi- nent officers, or the terrible prospect before them, I can not say ; but we cheered them up and gave them the best the house afforded in provisions, and a superabundance of good whiskey (not the forty-rod of the present day.) It had the effect to make them as well as us, valorous and remark- ably courageous. We were gritty as hyenas, and boasted greatly of our ability to whip our cursed enemies, the Buckeyes, who were unpardonable trespassers on our soil-the very soil that our great congressmen had bequeathed to us and our
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posterity. We would show them that we could whip them five to one. We would not leave a man of them to tell the awful tale to their friends. of their destruction; their braves should fall be- neath our conquering heroes, and terrible should be the slaughter. Words like these fell from the lips of our noble chieftains, and were echoed back by the noble patriots, who composed the rank and file of our beautiful territory. Our country being rich in resources, the boys went their length in rations for that night at least. The next morning the major issued his first order. order No. 6. It was to this effect: Drilling the brigade from six to eight o'clock, and then from ten to twelve. then from two to four. This serv- ice continued only one or two days. as we were soon ordered to the front. or to the headquarters. then at Toledo. Our first day's march carried us to Knagg's tavern. ten miles west of Monroe, on the River Raisin. Our quartermaster, of course. went on in advance of our columns to prepare quarters for the night. for our own men, but no others. The officers had no reason to find fault with him. for he made ample provision for them. He obtained permission from Major Knaggs that the officers should occupy the house ; the horses were to occupy the barn. He got good quarters for the men in a small field near the house and barn. Here they pitched their tents for the night, after receiving strict orders from myself not to touch a thing belonging to the major. not even the smallest thing should they appropriate that belonged to Major Knaggs. The major was present when the order wasgiven and heard it. I was very explicit, and told them dis- tinctly that should they disobey the order a most terrible penalty would be certain to follow. I said, should any be caught in the act of stealing from the major, or of doing any harm to him or his property, for any such misdemeanor. I should certainly report them to headquarters and have them court-martialed. The men gave three hearty cheers for the captain. all pledging themselves to obey my order to the letter. So I left them in charge of the ensign and lower officers tintil morning. The officers were provided with a bountiful supper by Major Knaggs at his own expense. Moses Rogers was second sergeant and
my orderly. He took care of my horse as well as his own. We all, officers and privates, fared as well as could be expected under the circum- stances.
"Next morning we were all on hand at rev- eille, which took place at five o'clock. The first man I met after the roll was called was Rogers. I asked how matters were. He said that the quar- termaster had furnished treble rations, the horses were getting fat, and that the cooks were prepar- ing breakfast for all the officers and men, and that I had better eat with them, for they had been to a little extra trouble to get rations for the offi- cers. I left him and passed on. The next man I met was Knaggs. He was in a terrible rage, and as mad as a hatter. I said, "Knaggs, what is up?" He said the boys of my company had stolen five or six swarms of bees that belonged to him, all his ducks and chickens. all his decanters. tum- blers, with three or four casks of liquor out of his bar, and what else, God only knew. He said he would soon find them out and have them brought to justice. I said to him it could not have been my men, for they would not disobey my orders, especially after giving the charge I did last night, and which he heard. "It cannot be possible." said I. "but I will have the roll called after breakfast, and put them in line, and have them examined by Major Slingerland and yourself. I will also be present. and if we find any who shows signs of guilt. I will have him dealt with severely by a court-marital." This seemed to satisfy the old man for the time being. Very soon we were called to breakfast, and found that the quartermaster had made ample preparations, as the following bill of fare will indicate: Roast beef, roast pork, ducks, chickens, turkeys, geese, butter, honey, wheat bread and coffee of the first quality, were among the eatables. I asked the boys how they got all these extra rations. The only answer given to the major and myself was, that the com- missary had furnished them. That officer being present. we questioned him. He said he did fur- nish a part of the whole of them, and pleaded in justification that the territory was rich and could afford her fighting men good rations. I related to him the charges made by Knaggs to myself. He said he would clear the company
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from all such charges, "for," he said, " the mili- tia have encamped near another tavern, about one mile above us, and they were caught stealing honey and chickens, and had even killed a fine ox that was owned by the tavernkeeper." I said that did not excuse the men under my command. If any of them were found guilty, the major and myself would certainly have them severely pun- ished. At that moment Major Knaggs came in, and to my great surprise accused my men of stealing his honey, poultry, etc. He said the proof was plain enough, for they might be seen on the table. The commissary stated that he bought the beef, pork, and other eatables yester- day, and he could prove it by Hatch, the teamster for our company. Hatch said the commissary had stated the facts, and further stated he had been up to the other camp, and had King and a number of others up for stealing honey and other things, including ducks and beef. This rather cooled Knaggs down somewhat, but he said he would not be satisfied, until I had the company in line and had them all examined. I was entirely willing, and even anxious, that his desire should be complied with. I, of course, wanted to clear the boys, if not guilty, and was willing to do anything for them I could as their chief officer. So I ordered James Welch, my orderly, to form the company into two ranks, open file of three feet space, giving the major a good chance to ex- amine each man. He commenced on the right of the company, and all went well until he came to one of the corporals, by the name of Wicoff. I noticed that his left arm and chest were badly swollen, the arm was a size or two larger than the other. Knaggs at that moment came up, and said we had at last got the right chap. I asked Wicoff what the matter was with his arm, and what means that swollen face, and what is the cause of this excessive roundity of person just at this time. He said, 'I was detained yesterday to guard the baggage wagon, with four others detailed for the same purpose under me. I became tired of riding on horseback, and tied my horse to the teamster's wagon, and got on the load with him ; the wheels suddenly falling into a deep rut, I was thrown from the wagon, and struck on my face and left arm, causing extreme pain, and enormous swell-
ing of my chest. In fact, it came near killing me.' I said to him: 'I, for one, give great credit to your statement ; but I fear the major will re- quire you to prove it.' 'I do,' said Knaggs. I then called an orderly-Welch-to inform me whether Wicoff was detailed as he had stated. He said he was. Hatch, the teamster, being ques- tioned, corroborated Wicoff's story. The four men who were detailed with him stated the same thing. This satisfied Knaggs. So the coast was now clear, and we finished the rear rank, finding no further evidences of disorderly conduct, and the matter ended satisfactorily to Knaggs.
"About that time, Captain Crane's detachment came past, bringing reports that the militia were stealing everything they could lay their hands on. So my company got clear for this time, and were ordered by Major Slingerland to mount and pro- ceed forthwith to Monroe, which order was promptly obeyed. We arrived there about noon and took dinner in the courthouse square. The dinner consisted of the remains of the rations furnished by the commissary the day before, as I have stated, except the contents of Major Knagg's bar. The men, the night before, by or- der of the commissary-a respectable man from Detroit, appointed by Governor Mason-ordered a guard of eight men to draw from Knagg's bar its contents, and start business down by the side of the River Raisin. They obeyed orders, and deposited the liquor in a still place in the river, and there it lay safely until the line of march was taken up the next morning, and then it was care- fully taken up out of the river, placed in one of the baggage wagons, and conveyed to Monroe, where the company dealt it out to the men for their grog rations at their dinner. Knaggs fol- lowed on the trail ; but he was not any wiser, for he never found out about the liquor. Major Slin- gerland took the commissary in hand about the matter, but could get no satisfaction further than that he had given Knaggs an order on the terri- tory for an amount that would cover the value of his liquor. So ended that chapter.
"From Monroe we were ordered to proceed immediately to the disputed territory on the line that divided us from Ohio. We arrived there on the evening of the day we left Monroe. On ar-
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riving there, our company formed a line in front of a tavern. The quartermaster went into the house to secure quarters for the officers and stabling for the horses. The landlord drove them out, not with the point of a bayonet, but with an axe ; and ordered us from the premises, calling us rebels and traitors to the country. He said he would have the regular army called out to de- fend him and his property. But it was of no use to resist the invincible host from the Wolverine state.
"Orders were given, however, as usual, to re- spect the man's property, and our army was or- dered to pitch their tents in the most convenient place that could be found. A strong guard was stationed to keep off the enemy and protect our- selves. The officers found quarters in the house. and the commissary furnished abundant rations for the officers, men and horses, from the land- lord's cattle yards. roosts and granaries, all. of course, in accordance with army regulations. The landlord and his family were put under guard. lest they should pass through our lines into the territory of our enemies, and thus frustrate the grand objects and designs of our government, for we were aware of the fact that should the Buck- eyes be notified of our extreme weakness (only one hundred and fifty strong) they might make a Bull Run advance on us and use us up. Cap- tain A. D. Crane, with his Dexter braves, and another company, were far in the rear and unable to give us immediate aid. and we had to do the best we could under the circumstances.
"We kept our enemies under heavy gnard that night. A picket guard was ordered out. A scouting party was also sent out. In the morning the scouts returned with the cheering news that it was all quiet at the front. They also reported that they were very fortunate in capturing many of our enemies. But I was so unfortunate as not to see any of the captured men. What a night that was for us poor officers and soldiers. Think of the blood that was shed and the awful carnage that followed such a terrible war. The fatigue resulting from our long marches was, of course, almost intolerable. The terrible conflicts with our foes, how they loom up in history ! After this fearful night, we breakfasted on the remains
of beef, chickens, and honey, provided by our commissary the day before.
"We were soon ordered to mount and march in close columns, lest some our our men might straggle off and be gobbled up by the enemy. We were now in the enemy's country and orders came from Major Slingerland to make Toledo our headquarters, that being the place where our gov- ernor had made his headquarters. In due time, we arrived there and made our report to the ad- jutant-general. We soon went into camp upon the farm of Major Stickney, of the Ohio militia. He was grit to the backbone. He threatened summary vengeance upon our men if they were so presumptious as to put a finger upon anything belonging to him. But his threat availed nothing with our invincibles. His barns were filled with hay and grain of all kinds. Our wornout horses gratefully acknowledged the kindness of our quartermaster in the ample provisions made for their wants, and with appetites almost unpar- alleled in the annals of war, resulting from long marches and short feed. they stowed away large quantities of the major's fodder. not thinking, I suppose, of the awful threats of the owner.
"While the men were engaged in removing the major's fodder from his barns to our camp, he with his rebel horde, consisting of about twenty men and boys, fell upon our men with pis- tols. pitchforks, clubs and other deadly weapons, but our brave boys, feeling the importance of the work before them, were invincible, and had but little trouble in keeping the rebels at bay. When one portion of our formidable army became fa- tigued, another force would be employed. This kind of skirmishing was kept up for a whole week, each day, until the major's forage was used up.
"During all this time our army was duly drilled, with scouts in the country to report the probable strength of the enemy. The reports were duly forwarded to headquarters by orderlies who were on duty day and night. and it is not yet known how many horses were killed in the great haste to give information to the commander-in- chief. This was all important, as it was feared that unless constant dispatches were conveyed to our army, the rebels would surprise us and an-
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nihilate our entire force. Thus we defended our beautiful country. But soon an adjustment of the matter was effected, and our noble army re- turned to their homes and their disconsolate fam- ilies, without the loss of a single man or an ounce of human blood. But notwithstanding our brav- ery and the immense suffering from long and fre- quent marches, our government has entirely for- gotten us in the bestowment of pensions, either in money or lands."
In this connection, while not strictly a part of the history of Washtenaw county. it may be in- teresting to note the final outcome of this war. The president of the United States was displeased with the action of Acting-Governor Mason, and in September, 1835, appointed to succeed him. John S. Horner, of Virginia, a young man who was ignorant of the people and the territory, and whose appointment was not recognized by the people of Michigan. While he assumed to exercise the rights of government, his actions were re- garded as of no importance : and Michigan for a time had a dual government. that under Gov- ernor Horner, to which hardly anyone paid at- tention, although it was really the lawful gov- ernment, and that under Governor Mason, who assumed to be governor of a state, whose admis- sion to the Union had not yet been sanctioned by congress or the president. Horner attempted to popularize himself by making a trip through the state. He got no further west than Ypsilanti. however. Here he put up at a tavern kept by Dr. Andrews on the west side of the river, expecting to meet the principal men of the section ; but when he stepped out on the veranda of the hotel to speak to the people, whom he supposed had as- sembled to do him honor, he found an audience which had robbed every cow in that part of the country of cowbells, and as there were not enough cows to furnish bells for the entire num- ber, tin pans and every other device for mak- infg noise, were carried by those not fortunate enough to have cowbells. Those present say they never heard such a noise before, and hope that they never will again. The landlord pulled the governor inside to protect him from personal vio- lence, but missiles were thrown through the win- dows and the governor remained all night in ter-
ror. Early the next morning he started back to Detroit, and this ended his trip around the state, which he soon left, recognizing that he was gover- nor in name only.
The anomalous condition in Michigan, whose people claimed that it was a state, while the United States authorities regarded it only as a territory. could not long continue. Congress passed a resolution admitting Michigan as a state on condition that it resign the disputed territory to the state of Ohio, and in its place accept what has since been known as the upper peninsula. In pursuance of this act a state convention was held which has since been called the first convention of assent. This convention met at Ann Arbor on September 26, 1836, and the following dele- gates from Washtenaw county were members of the body: Seth Markham, Michael P. Stubbs, Marcus Lane, Ebenezer H. Conklin. George P. Jeffries, Elnathan Noble and George W. Glover. This convention refused by emphatic vote to ac- cept the condition imposed by congress for the admission of Michigan as a state. The convention then adjourned. But a presidental election was coming on and people of Michigan naturally de- sired a voice in that election. Public lands were about to be distributed, and it would be an un- fortunate thing, so they believed, if Michigan was not in the Union to partake of their distribution. The senators and representatives who had been elected to congress were naturally anxious to oc- cupy their seats, and those having political aspira- tions were likewise eager for a chance at the federal patronage. The "Jackson Party" looked with more favor, of course, upon the action of a democratic president, than did the whigs, and a movement was soon on foot to hold another con- vention. The delegates to this convention were really never regularly elected. The convention originated in the caucuses of the democratic party, and represented that party almost exclut- sively. This convention, since called the second convention of assent, met at Ann Arbor no De- cember 14 and 15. 1836, and adopted a resolu- tion giving the assent of Michigan to the pro- vision of the act of congress. This assent was recognized by the federal government as a valid assent, and Michigan was duly declared ad-
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mitted into the Union by a proclamation of the president, dated January 26, 1837. At this sec- ond convention of assent, Washtenaw was repre- sented by Nelson H. Wing, Salmon Champion, Jr., Nathaniel Noble, Lyman Downs, James Houston. Esek Pray, George W. Jewett, Solomon Sutherland, Samuel Denton, Samuel B. Bradley, Elisha Congdon, Stoddard W. Twitchell and Jesse Warner.
It will be seen that the final act on the part of Michigan necessary to be taken for admission to the Union was taken in the village of Ann Arbor.
CHAPTER V.
TRANSPORTATION. BUILDING OF TERRITORIAL ROADS -RAILROADS-INTERURBAN LINES.
The first transportation in Washtenaw county was by means of Huron river, and Huron river is put down on the maps of the early days as a navigable river. To-day it is not regarded as such, but in the old days flat-bottomed boats used to come up the river as far as Ypsilanta. although the larger ones did not come farther than Raw- sonville. As has been seen in a previous chapter. most of the early settlers brought their supplies from Detroit by means of boats poled up the Huron river to the point called Snow's Landing. now Rawsonville. In 1829, a letter from a trav- eler published in the first paper ever published in Washtenaw describes the Huron river as "a stream navigable for boats of from five to ten tons to a place fourteen miles below here (Ann Arbor ) called Snow's Landing, and with little expense it may be rendered navigable fifteen miles above." In August, 1833, the citizens of Ypsi- lanti decided to build a boat for the navigation of the Huron. The boat was built at a cost of one thousand three hundred and thirty-four dollars and fifty-four cents, and was called the "Enter- prise." It made several trips between Detroit and Ypsilanti, and was able to carry about one hundred and fifty barrels at a time. It was never a profitable venture. L. Pratt, an officer of the vessel, on one occasion, wrote from Detroit that he had goods on board for Samuel Champion, Jr.
and Mark Norris, two or three tons for Truaxes at eighteen cents per hundred, a ton for Smooth Rock at twenty-five cents per hundred, that he was out of potatoes and had borrowed one dollar from Troop & Woolsey, that he had hired two hands, one at fourteen dollars per month, and the other at six shillings per day : and that he hoped to get to Flat Rock about May 23, 1834. A brick- maker finally chartered the boat for the brick carrying trade, and in December, 1834. the En- terprise was wrecked. As early as 1823 boats of twenty tons had come up the river as far as Raw- sonville, and for some time after that Andrew Muir navigated the Huron river from Rawson- ville to its mouth in a small boat, making frequent trips.
It was not until 1825 that a public highway was surveyed through Washtenaw county. In that year Orange Risdon surveyed a road from Detroit to Chicago, which ran through Ypsilanti and Saline and out of the county on section 33 of Bridgewater. A second road known as the terri- torial road was started in 1829, and its building has been described by General Edward Clark in the following well written reminiscences :
"In the summer of 1829, the opening of a ter- ritorial road through the counties of Washtenaw, Jackson and westward to the mouth of the St. Josephi river, was the subject of discussion by the people in the counties named. It was known to the parties that the federal government was en- gaged in making the Chicago road a military road from Detroit to Chicago, through the southern tier of counties in the territory. At that time the road leading west through the next tier of coun- ties north, had its western end at Clement's farm, on section 24. in the township of Lima, in Wash- tenaw county, some seven or eight miles west of Ann Arbor. Believing that the land and other inducements were as good in the second tier of counties as in the first, an effort was made to have opened a competing road and draw a part of the emigrants to Michigan on a new route ; at any rate to give them a choice. Mr. Botsford volun- teered to go through from Ann Arbor to the Chi- cago road and post notices and call the attention of the people on the route to the importance of the subject, if notices were written calling a meeting at Ann Arbor. The offer was accepted.
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the notices were written, and a meeting was held. It was resolved to petition the legislative council at its next session, to appoint commissioners and a surveyor to lay out a road. A petition was cir- culated and signed, it is believed, by every man on the contemplated route. The act was passed, and Orrin White, of Ann Arbor, Seeley Neal, of Superior, and Jonathan F. Stratton were ap- pointed commissioners. Mr. Stratton was sur- veyor as well as commissioner.
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