USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 84
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In January, 1846, at the age of 22, he was ad- mitted to the bar, and the December following was married to Miss Mary E. Horton, who died in 1891. Theirs was a true love match and their married life was in every way a happy one. She was a woman of fine character and was of great assistance to Judge Cooley in his work, and her death was a great blow to him, from which he never fully recovered.
He began to practice law at Tecumseh in Janu- ary. 1846, with Consider S. Stacy as a partner. Two years later he removed to Adrian, forming a partnership with F. C. Beaman and R. R.
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Beecher. This continued until 1852, when he re- moved to Toledo. He returned to Adrian in 1854 and formed a partnership with Charles M. Cros- will, which continued until 1859, when Judge Cooley removed to Ann Arbor, at which place he lived until his death in 1898.
His law business was always a profitable one. Hardly a case of any importance was tried in this county for years in which Judge Cooley did not appear on one side or the other. In 1857 he was chosen by the legislature to compile thie general statutes of the state, and some idea of the man's great energy may be known from the fact that within a year he had completed the compilation which bears his name and which was his first important contribution to the legal litera- ture of Michigan, and so well was the work done that it is still a guiding star to the legal profession and subsequent compilers have seen no cause to depart materially from the lines he laid down. In 1858 the supreme court, as now constituted. was organized and Mr. Cooley was made re- porter. Here again he set a standard difficult to attain. The eight volumes that bear his name are equal to any like productions ever published. and won him wide recognition in other states.
In 1859, when the University of Michigan established a law department, Judge Cooley was made one of the first professors and his name was on the faculty list of the university from that time until his death. For 25 years he lectured on legal and constitutional subjects and when Professor C. K. Adams was made president of Cornell he took AAdams' place as professor of his- tory. During his late years his lectures were only occasional. As a teacher he was loved, honored and respected. His method was thoroughness itself. No problem was so perplexing that he could not make a solution clear.
In 1864, after six years of work as supreme court reporter, he was nominated for supreme justice on the republican ticket and was elected over the late ex-Governor Felch. He remained on the supreme bench until 1885. During the period of his justiceship in conjunction with col- leagues of unusual ability, he did much to give the Michigan supreme court an enviable reputa- tion throughout the United States for the sound-
ness and clearness of its decisions. He wrote the opinions in many of the most important cases, and these opinions, logically and splendidly ex- pressed, stand as valuable precedents for future decisions in this as well as other states. In fact, no state has ever had as able a bench as Michi- gan had when Cooley, Campbell, Graves and Christiancy were justices of the supreme court. Throughout his long service on the bench, Judge Cooley spared himself nothing. The duties of the high position which he held are sufficiently arduous when stripped of their clerical labor, which the judge may properly delegate to others, but to these essential duties Judge Cooley added the drudgery of office work. He was always his own amanuensis, writing his own opinions with his own hand and often giving the court reporter the syllabus which should precede his opinions as finally published Even when copies of his de- cisions or opinions were requested they came from his own pen and every reasonable demand for an address, or for attendance at a public occasion, was met with cordial acquiesence and a prompt fulfillment of his promises. His usual custom was to sit at his office desk writing steadily from 8 a. m. to 6 p. m., with a 20-minutes intermission to look over his mail and an hour for dinner, and when he would appear at his office the next morning he would bring a great roll of copy which he had written during the previous even- ing.
Three years before he retired from the bench he was asked by the presidents of the Baltimore & Ohio, Pennsylvania, Erie & New York Cen- tral railroads to serve on a board of arbitration which was to settle a question of a difference in rates. His colleagues were Senator Thurman, and ex-Minister Washburn. The board did much to stop ruinous rate wars and discrimination against various cities.
In 1886 Judge Cooley was appointed by Judge Walter Q. Gresham received of the Wabash rail- road. It was a trying position, involving the operation of a long and complicated system, both ends of which were under hostile management. In three months he had the road on a paying basis.
When the interstate commerce commission was
PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
organized. Judge Cooley was made its first chair- man. He was, in fact, the life of the commission. and many of the decisions made in the carlier months of its existence bear the impress of his masterly mind. In 1891 he was obliged by ill- health to resign. Since that time he lived quietly a retired life in Ann Arbor, occasionally deliver- ing a lecture in the university.
Judge Cooley was twice mentioned for the su- preme court of the United States: first, when Stanley Mathews, of Ohio, was appointed, and again when Melville W. Fuller was selected for Chief Justice Waite's place. Inasmuch as Judge Cooley's political views were in almost complete accord with those of President Cleveland there are those who believe he would have been ap- pointed had he allowed his friends to make the necessary effort.
Great as were his contributions on the bench and on the lecture platform, it is through his books that Judge Cooley will be best remembered. The most famous of these is "Constitutional Limitations," which appeared in 1808. and which has since passed through seven editions. Two years later came his edition of Blackstone: in 1874 his edition of Story's Commentaries; in 1876 his book on Taxation: in 1870 his work on Torts : in 1880 his manual of Constitutional Law. and in 1885 his History of Michigan, published in the American Commonwealth Series. He was also a voluminous contributor to magazines and reviews such as the Century. the North American Review and the Forum. He wrote law articles for the last edition of Appleton's Encyclopaedia. James Bryce. the famous Englishman, who wrote the "American Commonwealth." was in almost constant communication with Judge Cooley, and his book acknowledges the valuable aid which Judge Cooley gave him.
JOSEPH ESTABROOK.
Joseph Estabrooks, who was so thoroughly identified with education in Ypsilanti. and who has left an impress upon that city, was born July 3. 1820. at Bath. N. H. He was a descendant of Joseph Estabrook, who had graduated from Har- vard college and had been pastor of a church at
Concord, Mass .. for 44 years. The family moved from New Hampshire to New York in 1833, and a few years later to Clinton. Lenawee county. Michigan. Mr. Estabrook's early education was obtained in the district schools. Later he worked on a farm during the summer and taught school during the winter in order to procure means for a college course, and in 1843 he entered Oberlin, graduating in 1847. Some years later he obtained the degree of A. M. from Oberlin, and a short time before his death Oberlin con- ferred upon him the degree of D. D. He taught school in Clinton and Tecumseh and in 1853 be- came principal of the public schools of Ypsilanti. in which position he remained until 1866, when he was appointed superintendent of the schools of East Saginaw. He held this position until 1871. when he was appointed principal of the Normal School at Ypsilanti. He then became connected with Olivet College, where he remained until his death. He served as regent of the university for six years, and as stite superintendent of public instruction for four years. He was a man of great physical ability with a well developed in- tellect. and an unusual depth and strength of emotional nature. He was a well beloved teacher and the lapse of time has not dimmed his memory in Ypsilarti.
CHAPTER XVII.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
Washtenaw had been laid out as a county in 1822, and the county was first organized by legis- lative act to take effect December 31. 1820. In the spring of 1827 there were about 1.500 people. in the county, and in July, 1827. it was estimated that the inhabitants numbered 2.000. Previous to the organization of the county. it had been connected for judicial purposes with the county of Wayne. The county seat of Washtenaw was se- lected as early as 1827. and the selection has been made by a commission composed of R. Smyth. J. L. Lieb. J. M. Closkey. F. C. Sheldon. T. Row- land and S. Cotant. The condition on which Ann Arbor was selected was that a block should
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be donated on which a courthouse might be built, and also a block on which a jail might be built. The block for the courthouse was donated by John Allen, and the block for the jail by E. W. Rum- sey. These were the men who had first settled Ann Arbor and who had platted the new village in May. 1824. As a matter of fact, at the time Ann Arbor was selected for the county seat, it was the only platted village in the county.
The first public building in the county was, of course, a jail, and it was located on what was known in the old days as the jail square. This jail square was between 4th and 5th Avenues, and between Liberty and Washington streets. This first public building was built in 1829. and has been thus described by a pioneer writer :
"About the year 1829, the citizens of Ann Ar- bor and vicinity contributed, each according to his ability, some timber, lumber, work or other materials necessary for the construction of a building that would answer for a county prison. Such an edifice was built on the "old jail square." with rooms for the jailor and one cell. The cell was made of timber 'bents.' The shoulders of the posts of each bent projected over the ends of the timbers of which the floor was made. Heavy pak planks were spiked on the walls and floor. The door was made of timber. At the next term of the county court after the jail was built, Judge Dexter, the presiding judge, ordered the grand jury to visit the jail and inspect it, and report if in their opinion it was suitable for the purposes for which it was constructed.
"Quite a number of the jurymen had served as grand jurymen before, and being of genial dispositions, and loving a little fun when there was nothing else to do, framed a set of by-laws which imposed fines for various offenses, such as being absent at roll-call, etc., payable in beer. Every member who had not served as a grand juryman, or held office in a grand jury, was made to pay his initiation fee. When the order for visiting and inspecting the jail was received by the foreman, Col. Orrin White, and made known to the jury, it was voted that they should form in a body and march in double file, led by the foreman and secretary ( Gen. Edward Clark. of Ann Arbor ) under the supervision of the officer in charge. This vote was obeyed. On
arriving at the jail the cell door was thrown open and the foreman and secretary stepped in, when the door was closed upon them and locked. The merry faces of the 'old ones' were at the diamond hole and the question asked, 'Did you see a gal- lon of beer each?' Little notice was taken of this at first but finally the beer was promised, the door was unlocked and the balance of the jury came in, but not until after a plan had been agreed upon by the two prisoners. While the others were inspecting, the foreman and secre- tary quietly moved around the cell toward the door, and before their object was suspected they were outside and the door closed and locked. Once more the question was asked, 'Do you see a gallon of beer each?' When the fine was prom- ised. the door was opened. The report of that jury to the court was that the jail was worthy of the acceptance of Washtenaw county. No prisoners ever escaped from it only 'by due pro- cess of law.' Israel Branch was the first jailor of the county."
The old jail within which the foreman and sec- retary of the grand jury which inspected it were thus confined was burned a few years afterwards.
It was several years after the county of Wash- tenaw was organized before a courthouse was built. In the winter of 1833 the Territorial Legislative Council authorized the county of Washtenaw to issue bonds for the purpose of building a courthouse, and in 1834 the old court- house was erected on the site where the pres- ent courthouse now stands. It was a two story brick building painted brown, with a small hexa- gonal wooden cupola. The entrance to the build- ing was at the front and close to the ground. There were three doors in front on the ground floor and a hall which ran the length of the build- ing. Above each of the doors in front was a second story window with small panes of glass and outside shutters. On each side of the court- house there were six windows for each story. The courtroom was in the second story and the county offices in the first story. This building was used for many years after it became inadequate for the work of the county, and at the time it was torn down had served its purpose as a court- house for forty-four years.
.An attempt had been made to build a new
PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
courthouse for quite a number of years before any action was taken. The people of the county. through fear of increased taxation, did not feel the need of a new courthouse as did the people of the city of Ann Arbor. In 1876 the Ann Arbor city council offered to donate for the city of Ann Arbor $20,000 in addition to Ann Arbor's share of the regular county taxes, on condition that the county would use $40,000 for the erec- tion of a new courthouse building. This pro- duiced. finally, action on the part of the board of supervisors in their session in October. 1876, and resolutions were passed by the board, recognizing the great need of a new courthouse. These reso- lutions set up the fact that the courthouse then in use had by decay and by reason of long use become dilapidated. inconvenient. uncomfortable. unhealthy and unsafe for occupancy. that the records and documents of the several county offices were in danger of being destroyed by fire. that the laws of the state explicitly required that all organized counties should be provided with a suitable courthouse. that the courthouse then in use was no longer suitable, and that, as the city of Ann Arbor had generously offered to donate a large proportion of the necessary sum required to build a courthouse, it was the opinion of the board that the public interest and safety, and the permanent preservation of the important records and documents of the several county offices de- manded the immediate erection of a new court- house building, with fireproof vaults attached to the offices of the county clerk. the register of deeds, judge of probate and county treasurer. The question of authorizing a loan by the county of $10,000 was submitted to the people at the April election of 1877. and was carried. The city of Ann Arbor contributed $25,000 towards the building of the courthouse on condition that it Inil a council room in the building.
The contract for building was awarded on plans furnished by G. W. Bunting, of Indian- apolis. to MeCormick and Sweany, of Columbus. Iniciara. on June 28. 1877. for $56,900. Work was immediately commenced, and on October 25. 1877. the cornerstone of the new building was laid with imposing ceremonies. The city was filled with people from early morning, and was deco-
rated throughout with streamers and American flags. A big procession marched through the streets, many in the procession being University students, and the speaking on the occasion took place on a stand erected on the courthouse square on the corner of Ann street and Fourth avenue. Judge Edwin Lawrence was president of the day. The Judge had been chairman of the board of building inspectors, and took occasion to refer to the criticisms which had been passed upon the the work by the citizens, cach of whom felt that he had a right to criticise. The prayer on this occasion was made by the Rev. Dr. Cocker of the University, and the orator of the day was Chaun- cey Joslyn, of Ypsilanti. The cornerstone was laid by Ex-Governor Alphous Felch, and speeches were then made by Professor William P. Wells, of Dexter. Densmore Cramer. of Ann Arbor, and Hon. J. Webster Childs, of Augusta.
The new courthouse was much more imposing than the old one. It is Sox127 feet in size and about 54 feet high. In the center rises a tower to a height of 152 feet from the basement. On each corner of the building is a sunll tower, and in the center on each side was placed a figure of justice, which figures are now somewhat dilapi- dated. The building cost to erect, furnished, $83.000 ; and a $1.000 clock, the gift of Luther James, was placed in the tower.
When the building was first erected it was said to be fireproof but that motion has entirely dis- appeared from the minds of the people. About five years ago an attempt was made to fireproof the office of the register of deeds and to provide steel enses for the records of deeds and mort- gages and the plats of the county. An effort is now being made to do the same thing for the records of the county probate office. Where the fireproof vaults mentioned in the resolutions of the board of supervisors for the building of the courthouse. are located, the officers of today are unable to determine.
The second jail in the county of Washtenaw was erected on North Main street, about four blocks from the courthouse. in 1837. by John Allen and Robert Davidson, at a cost of $17,000. and was considered at the time an extremely handsome building. After the county had deter-
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
mined that a third new jail was necessary, this building was sold to John J. Robison, who tore down the jail part of the building and erected several smaller houses from the bricks thus ob- tained, and fitted up the sheriff's residence por- tion of the old jail for a residence for himself, where he lived for some years. This building still stands.
In 1885 the third and present jail of the county was erected. It is located on the corner of Ann and Ashley streets and has already become on occasions too small for the number of persons to be confined there. This new jail and sheriff's residence cost $21,000.
The county farm was located in the township of Pittsfield on section 4. on land purchased of Claudius Britton. On this land the county poor house was erected. This building is still in ex- istence. It has been added to from time to time and the new additions are marked from the old by steps up or down in passing from floor to floor. It is now quite old and dilapidated, and although for a long time it has been kept scrupulously clean, it is not a building of which a county as wealthy as Washtenaw can feel proud, and is one of the things that should be looked after in the near future by being torn down and a new build- ing erected.
In the fall of 1904 an effort was made to se- cuire the crection of a county building to be called the detention hospital, for the care of contagious diseases. The contagious disease bills of the county had become as large as the bills for crimi- nal prosecutions. Individual cases of smallpox had cost the county as high as $3,000, and it be- came a problem on the part of the board of super- visors to limit this expense within reasonable bounds. On account of the location of the medical colleges at Ann Arbor, and the need of instruc- tion for medical students in contagious as well as other diseases, it was found that an arrangement could be made with the university for the medi- cal attendance and nursing of contagious disease patients at the same rate charged by the state in the regular hospitals for diseases other than con- tigious. It was planned to bring all the con- tagious disease patients from various parts of the county, for which the county must pay, to this
hospital by means of ambulances, and thus avoid the heavy expense for medical care and attend- ance which had been in vogue. At the election the following April, this question was submitted to the people and they were asked to vote $15,000 for the erection of a contagious disease hospital. This proposition was defeated. The city of Ann Arbor voted almost unanimously for the erection of the hospital but the townships turned down the project. Afterwards an attempt was made by the city of Ann Arbor to build a hospital of its own for this same purpose, and the project carried at the polls, although the saving in expenditure for contagious disease patients thus gained would be a saving for the taxpayers of the entire county instead of for the city of Ann Arbor alone. But by this time the regents of the University had changed their minds upon the matter and declined to accept the tender of a contagious disease hos- pital and agree to maintain it together with fur- nishing the necessary medical attendance and nursing. Thus the project again fell through.
CHAPTER XVIII.
RAPID SETTLEMENT.
So rapid was the settlement of Washtenaw that by 1830. or seven years after the first pioneer arrived in the county. the population was 4042, while Wayne county, settled 129 years before ( 1701) had a population of 6781. only 1739 in excess of Washtenaw.
Then began the heyday of settlement. The flood of emigration from the east quickly took up the available land in the county and in 1837 the townships of Pittsfield, Superior and Webster contained a larger population than they do today. In the four years between 1830 and 1834 the county gained over 10,000 in population, having 14.027 in 1834 as against 4042 in 1830. Wayne county, including Detroit, had grown no faster. and in 1834 exceeded Washtenaw by only 1.718. In the next three years the tide of immigration showed no appreciable diminution, and in 1837
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
Washtenaw had a population of 21.817. Wayne, in spite of a heavy growth in Detroit's population, exceeded these figures by only 1,583. Is it any wonder that our pioneer forefathers dreamed of establishing the metropolis of Michigan in Washtenaw ?
The census of 1837 is the first one that has come down to us that gives the population of the county by townships. There were twenty town- ships then, just as now, with the same bound- aries, except that Ann Arbor township then in- cluded what is now the city of Ann Arbor, and that Ypsilanti township then included what is now the city of Ypsilanti. The names of the townships were the same as now, with one excep- tion. Pittsfield was then known as Pitt.
The increase in population became less rapid after 1837. In 1840 Washtenaw had 23.571 popu- lation, a gain of but 1.754 in the three years, but even at that Washtenaw's gain had been larger than that of Wayne, which now had only 597 more inhabitants than Washtenaw. In 1845 Washtenaw had 26.979 population, a gain of 3.408 in five years. Detroit had then increased to such size that the supremacy of Wayne county in popu- lation in the state was not thereafter to be ques- tioned. By 1850 there had been a further in- crease of 1558 in population in the county.
Between 1850 and 1854 the population of the county was stationary. In fact the census showed a loss of thirteen. the tide of immigration had grown much less, only enough to take the places of those who, accustomed to being in the van- guard of civilization, had emigrated farther west. there to become pioneers of other states. But be- tween 1854 and 1860 Washtenaw again showed symptoms of rapid growth and in 1860 the county had a population of 35.686, a gain of 7,132 in six years. Then came the war in which Washtenaw furnished 4.000 soldiers to the Union armies ; and in 1864 the population dropped to 34.048. With the close of the war prosperity again came to Washtenaw and in 1870 her population was 41.440: in 1880 it was 41.848: in 1884 it was 41.604: in 1890 it was 42.210: in 1894 it was 43.500: in 1900 it was 47761. and in 1904 it was 46.776. These latter figures are deficient
as a city census, with the name of each inhabitant taken, made in Ann Arbor in that year. showed a population of 17,149. instead of 14.599, as given in the state census. In one township an error of 100 was made in the compilation, and a cor- rect taking of the census would have shown a population of at least 50,000 in the county.
A study of the census figures will give a comprehensive view of the growth of the county. The first census taken in the county was the ter- ritorial census of 1827. but the record of it can not be found and the only portion of this cen- suis now extant relates to the city of Detroit alone, which on that date had 2.152 inhabitants. The first census of Washtenaw of which the figures are extant was the national census of 1830. This census was published in two parts : first, as returned. and again as revised. There were five townships in Washtenaw at this time. Ypsilanti. Ann Arbor. Dexter. Saline and Panama, but in the original returns Panama is given twice, and the returns by townships were Ypsilanti, 071 : Ann Arbor, 965: Dexter. 837: Panama, 319: Panama, 472, and Saline, 478. This makes a total of 4.042, counting Panama twice. In the revised returns as published by the census bureau the population by towns is not given, the statement being made. "The assistant not having properly divided the towns." But the population of the county as a whole is given as 4.042, which agrees with the unrevised figures in which Panama is twice given. It is impossible to say at this late date whether the county was actually divided into six census districts. each of two enumerators labeled his returns Panama, or whether there was a duplication of returns. In the county in 1830 were 7 colored people, all of whom were in Ann Arbor. There were 14 unnaturalized foreigners in Ypsilanti and 13 in Ann Arbor. It is surprising to note the num- ber of children in the county. More than half of the inhabitants were under 20 years of age. Of the 4.035 white inhabitants. 2.276 were under 20: of the remainder. 1.322 were under 40, and only 437 above that age. A third of the popula- tion was between twenty and forty, and a third of the population was under 10. The most nu-
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