USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 85
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606
PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
merous age was between 20 and 30, there being 858 between these ages. Of the white population. 2,261 were males and 1.774 females.
By the territorial census of 1834 the popula- tion of the county was 14,920. The returns of this census have been lost and the only place they can be found is in a gazateer, and also an almanac for 1838. The returns by townships are not given.
The first state census was taken in October, 1837, when the population of the county was 21,- 817. The population is given by townships and an interesting comparison may be made between this census and that of 1900 by townships, so that the growth from the time Michigan was first admitted to statehood may be traced by townships to the last national census. The cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti are included in the townships in 1900, the same as they were in 1837, for the purpose of the comparison :
Population 1837.
Population
Township.
I900.
Ann Arbor
2,994
15,545
Augusta
559
1,739
Bridgewater
923
I,OII
Dexter
596
696
Freedom
795
1,013
Lima
895
961
Lodi
1,063
1,12I
Lyndon
361
665
Manchester
805
2,146
Northfield
793
1,266
Pittsfield
1,208
1,050
Salen1
1.354
1,158
Saline
1,130
1,668
Scio
1,442
1,893
Sharon
782
98_
Superior
1,378
1,039
Sylvan
480
2,496
York
1,197
1,952
Ypsilanti
2,280
8.611
Webster
832
747
Total
21,817
47.761
It will be seen that Augusta has tripled in population in the past 63 years. This is due in
part to the villages of Willis and Whittaker, which have sprung up within that time. But it is due also to the thorough drainage system put into the township, which has largely increased its productiveness. Lyndon has nearly doubled in population, although it still continues to be the smallest township in the county in popula- tion. This increase is due, of course, to the fact that at the time the census of 1837 was taken only four years had elapsed since the first settler had located in Lyndon. Manchester had grown from 805 people to 2,146. This was due to the development of Manchester village with a population of 1,200, within the township. North- field showed an increase of 473, due in part only to an increase in population of Whitmore Lake. Saline has grown 538 in population, due to the increase in numbers in the village of Saline. Scio had increased 451, due to the growth of the population of the village of Dexter. Sharon's growth of 202 was due entirely to the increase in the agricultural population, as there is no village within its borders. Sylvan showed an increase from 480 in 1837 to 2,496 in 1900. But the village of Chelsea, which was not in existence in 1837, in 1900 had a population of 1.635. so that outside of the village the population had grown from 480 to 861. It will be remembered that in 1837 Sylvan had been recently settled. York had increased 753 in population, but this was due to the establishment within its borders of the village of Milan. There had been no in- crease in its agricultural population. The town- ships of Pittsfield, Salem, Superior and Web- ster showed an actual decrease in population. These townships, it will be remembered, are purely agricultural.
In 183; the village of Ann Arbor had about 2,000 inhabitants, and the village of Ypsilanti had about 1,000. Dexter and Saline, the two other villages of the county, did not exceed be- tween them 800 in population. So that the vil- lage population of the county in 1837 was about 3.800, and the rural population about 18,000. In 1000, the city of Ann Arbor contained 14.509 inhabitants, the city of Ypsilanti 7.348, while the population of Chelsea was 1.635, Dexter 900,
007
PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
Manchester 1,209, Milan 1,141 and Saline 584: a total of 21.857 of city population and 4.469 incorporated village population, leaving the rural population of the county, including that of the unincorporated villages of Whittaker, Willis, Whitmore Lake, Salem and Dixboro at 21,435. an increase of only about 3.400 in 63 years.
In the national census of 1840 the population of 9 townships in the county are given separately, and the other II townships containing the greater part of the population, are lumped to- gether and called the residue of the county. The village of Ann Arbor is in the residue. The population of Washtenaw in 1840 was 23,571, an increase of 1.754 in three years. Superior had 20 more people than in 1837. Ypsilanti had grown by 139, Salem had increased 110, Pitts- field had lost 57, York had lost 51, Augusta had increased 87. Saline had made the largest in- crease, 260. Lodi had increased 14 and Freedom 161. The residue of the county had increased 1,171. The 1840 census for the first time gives some idea of the occupation of the people : 4.482 were employed in agriculture, 963 in manufac- turing and the trades, 117 in the professions and engineering, 112 in commerce, 13 in navigation and 9 were revolutionary pensioners.
There were 70 colored people. Of the whites, the males exceeded the females by 1,339 and the majority of the inhabitants were under 20. To be exact, there were 5,954 males and 4.862 females over 20, and 6.466 males and 6,219 fe- males under 20. As it was a new country it was natural that the men should outnumber the women.
In 1850 the population was 28.567, of whom 231 were colored. There were at this time five people in the county over 90 years of age. The township of Ann Arbor contained 4,868. This was a year before the village of Ann Arbor was carved out of the township and incorporated as a city. The township of Ypsilanti contained 3.051, while the township which had the smallest num- ber of inhabitants was Augusta, with 808. In the year 1850 there were 5,142 houses in the county. There were 655 births during the year and 339 deaths. The University of Michigan, in the census, is put down as having 153 students
and 12 teachers, while the public schools of the county contained 8.302 pupils and had 160 teach- ers. There were 250 adults in the county who could neither read nor write. The live stock amounted to 5.070 horses, 8,016 milch cows, 4.378 working oxen, which, by the way, have absolutely disappeared from the county. 9.944 other cattle. 94.105 sheep. 16,911 swine and the live stock was valued at $687,612. During the year there had been produced 528,042 bushels of wheat. 0,641 bushels of rye, 389.218 bushels of corn, 211.465 bushels of oats, 250.775 pounds of wool. 3.348 bushels of peas and beans. 133.227 bushels of potatoes. 7.070 bushels of barley, 42.478 bushels of buckwheat. 586.906 pounds of butter. 109,379 pounds of cheese. 40.387 tons of hay, 3.843 bushels of clover seed. 1.218 bushels of grass seed, 712 pounds of flax, 61,007 pounds of maple sugar. 689 gallons of molasses and 26,266 pounds of beeswax and honey.
The public libraries in the county numbered 12, containing 4.901 volumes ; the university li- brary contained 5.000 volumes, and one school library contained 1.500 volumes.
There were 5 Baptist churches with seating ac- commodations for 1,930, 4 Congregational churches with a seating capacity of 1.900. 3 Epis- copal churches with a seating capacity of 825, I Free church which seated 700, I Church of Friends which seated 100, 3 Lutheran churches which could seat 625, 13 Methodist churches with a seating capacity of 5.375, 7 Presbyterian churches with a seating capacity of 2.450, 5 Roman Catholic churches with a seating capacity of 2,100 and 2 Universalist churches with a seat- ing capacity of 400, or a total of 44 churches with a seating capacity of 16,405. a little over half of the people in the county.
In 1860 the population of the county was 35,- 686, of whom 634 were colored and 3 were Indians. The population of Ann Arbor was 5,097 and of Ypsilanti 3.955. while the smallest number of inhabitants were in Lyndon township. Augusta having increased to 1,140, and Lyndon having only 821. There were 28,692 native born citizens in the county, and 6,994 foreign born.
The census enumerators in 1860 valued the
698
PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
real property of the county at $16,921,418 and the personal property at $6.405,834. There had been a considerable increase in the number of live stock within the county, there now being 9.787 horses, 4 mules, 11.485 milch cows, 3,336 working oxen, 15,682 other cattle, 171,529 sheep, 20,640 swine; and the agricultural products for the year had been 686,803 bushels of wheat, 22,194 bushels of rye, 819.335 bushels of corn, 313.232 bushels of oats, 20,040 pounds of tobacco, 583.724 pounds of wool, 10,019 bushels of peas and beans, 326.354 bushels of Irish potatoes, 578 bushels of sweet potatoes, 26,188 bushels of bar- ley, 46.498 bushels of buckwheat, 1,076 gallons of wine, 985,194 pounds of butter, 119.44I pounds of cheese, 69.478 tons of hay, 9.975 bushels of clover seed, 2,500 pounds of hops, 2,068 pounds of flax, 14,017 pounds of maple sugar, 3.633 gallons of sorghum molasses, 2.350 pounds of beeswax and 49,972 pounds of honey.
In 1860 there were 238 different manufactur- ing establishments in the county, employing 876 males and 94 females. The annual cost of the labor was $283,474, and the annual value of the products was $1.957.748. The greatest manufac- turing industry of the county was its flouring mills, of which there were 21 with a capital of $260,500, employing 68 men at a wage cost of $23,040, paying $813,214 for their raw material, and producing manufactured products worth $977.820. In numbers there were more saw- mills than any other form of establishment, there being 33, employing 63 men and producing a manufactured product worth $121,300. There were 21 blacksmith shops, employing 50 men ; 23 boot and shoe shops, employing 80 men and 3 women ; 10 carriage shops, employing 51 men ; 5 brickyards, employing 44 men ; 9 tailoring shops, employing 33 men and 43 women ; 2 con- fectioneries, employing 5 men : 4 breweries, em- ploying 12 men; 3 printing establishments, em- ploying 18 men ; 10 tin shops, employing 26 men : 2 wrapping paper factories, employing 24 men and 34 women; and besides there was a scattering of many other industries. In all, there was a capital employed in manufacturing in the county of $849.400.
There were now 55 churches in the county, with a seating capacity of 21,930, and with church property worth $162,000. It is evident that II new churches had been built within the 10 years.
In 1870 the population of the county was 41,- 434, of whom 1, 125 were colored and 2 were Indians. These Indians lived in Ypsilanti. The population of Ann Arbor city alone was 7.363. and of Ypsilanti city 5.471. The only villages that are given specially by the census are Dex- ter, with a population of 1,161 and Chelsea, with a population of 1,013. The most populous town- ship was Manchester, with 2.516, closely followed by Scio, with 2.495. The native population num- bered 32.708, and the foreign-born population 8.726. There were 18,224 who had one or both parents foreign-born, and most of these seem to have had both parents foreign- born, for there were 17.426 with foreign- horn fathers and 16,678 with foreign-born mothers. Of the 32,708 native- born in- habitants, 21,028 were born in Michigan, 7.592 in New York, 674 in Ohio, 520 in Pennsylvania, 453 in Vermont and 152 in Indiana. Of the 8.726 foreign horn, 3.742 were born in Germany, 1,823 in Ireland. 1,440 in British America, 1.287 in England and 175 in Scotland.
There were 637 over 10 years of age who could not read, and 860 who could not write. while there were 10,282 in attendance upon the public schools. There were now 73 church or- ganizations, having 62 church buildings with a seating capacity of 26,525, and property valued at $536.400. Of these organizations, 15 were Baptist, 5 Congregational, 6 Episcopal, 9 Lu- theran. 17 Methodist, 9 Presbyterian and 8 Ro- man Catholic.
The estimated value of farm products in Wash- tenaw in 1870 was $4.912,618. The production of wheat had jumped to 1,049.130 bushels, of corn to 874,822 bushels, of oats to 418,138 bushels and of barley to 120.543 bushels; while there had been 906,011 pounds of wool sheared and 1.248,586 pounds of butter produced. There were 3.585 farms in the county, I farm containing over 1,000 acres, 3 farms being between 500 and
690
PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
1,000 acres, 1,117 farms being between 100 and 500 aeres. 1.36; farms between 50 and 100 acres, 804 between 20 and 50, 173 between- 10 and 20, and 120 between 3 and 10. There were now 544 manufacturing establishments in the county. employing 1.942 hands, of whom 207 were women. Their capital stock was $1.717,670, the wages they paid amounted to $470.434. the raw material cost $2.419,136, and their manufactured products amounted to $3.668.462. The flouring mills had decreased in number to 19. but they now employed 87 hands and produced products worth $1.469.642. There were 3 paper mills. employing 129 hands and producing $204.079 worth of paper. The cooper shops numbered 30. employing 116 hands, while the carriage and wagon shops were 32 in number and also em- ployed 116 hands. There were 6 tanneries, em- ploying 30 men : 5 printing establishments, em- ploying 50 men: 3 cigar shops, employing 16 men : 5 woolen mills, employing 70 men, and be- sides a number of other factories.
By 1880 very little increase in population had been made in the county, the number now being 41.848. Ann Arbor city had grown to 8.061 and Ypsilanti city had decreased to 4.984. The population of the villages of the county were given as Chelsea, 1,160; Manchester, 1,156: Dexter. 1,008, and Saline. 729. The colored popu- lation had grown slightly, being now 1,216, and the county still contained its two Indians. The native population had increased to 33.903 and the foreign born population had decreased to 7.945. Ann Arbor city contained a foreign born population of 1.792 and Ypsilanti city a foreign born population of 780.
The 3.913 farms in the county contained 339 .- 150 acres of improved land. There were in 1880. 1.604.857 bushels of wheat raised in the county, 1. 187.756 bushels of corn, 754.484 bushels of oats. 70.005 tons of hay and 233.245 bushels of potatoes. There were 1.090.549 pounds of wool sheared from 185,194 sheep.
The number of manufacturing establishments reported in the county in 1880 had dropped to 277. but they now employed 1.283 males above 16 years of age. 146 females above 15 and 41
children. They used a capital of $1.693.614. paid wages amounting to $456,641. paid $2.026,095 for raw material and turned out a manufactured product worth $3.018.568. There were 5 imple- ment manufactories, employing 82 men: I boot and shoe factory, employing 20 hands : 8 bakeries, employing 20 hands ; 9 carriage and wagon shops, employing 97 hands : 7 tailoring shops, employ- ing 19 hands: 9 cooper shops, employing 44 hands: 21 flouring mills, employing 82 hands : 5 foundries, employing 31 hands: 7 furniture shops, employing 121 hands ; [ house furnishing goods factory, employing 25 hands : 18 sawmills, employing 49 lands : 4 paper mills, employing 124 hands, and 5 woolen goods factories, employ- ing 60 hands.
For the next 10 years the population of the county remained stationary. In fact, for the 20 years. from 1870 to 1890, the county had in- creased in population only 776, and the popula- tion was now placed at 42,210. Ann Arbor city had grown nearly 1.400 in 10 years, and now had a population of 9.431. while Ypsilanti city showed an increase of 1.145 and had a popula- tion of 6.129. The population of the villages was: Chelsea. 1.356: Saline, 706: Manchester, I, IGI : Dexter. 879, and Milan, 917. Milan showed the best gain in population for the 10 years, its population in 1880 having been 320. The native born population was now 34.471 and the foreign born1 7.739. while the colored population was 1,221. There were 6 Chinamen in Washtenaw county, as against 2 in 1880, and there were 4 civilized Indians. There were now 9.192 dwell- ings in the county and 9.656 families.
In 1800 there were 50 oxen left in the county. and the number of milch cows was 3,570 and other cattle 13.563. There were 3.895 farms valued at $21.000,000, and producing $2,802.920 worth of farm products. The production of wheat had dropped to 1.046.374 bushels. while the production of corn was 1.093.628 bushels and of oats 941,826 bushels. There were 665 .- 617 bushels of apples from 309.907 trees. 3.062 bushels of cherries from 8,993 trees, 13.608 bushels of peaches from 62.871 trees, and 7,020 of pears from 12.346 trees.
700
PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
CHAPTER XIX.
HISTORY OF ANN ARBOR CITY.
Ann Arbor was originally platted in 1824, the plat being acknowledged on May 25, 1824. before Richard Smith, a justice whose residence is un- known as well as the fact from whom he received his commission. The plat and survey was the work of Philo H. Judd and the land included in the plat belonged to John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey, whom, we have seen, were the first settlers of Ann Arbor. The original plat extended from Allen creek on the west to Davidson street on the east, and from Jefferson street on the south to Lawrence street on the north. It was not long before the limits of the city as thus confined were too small for the growing population and the first addition to the village plat was made by Anson Brown and Edward L. Fuller on June 25. 1832. This addition was north of the river in what is now the fifth ward. Mr. Brown was a merchant who came to Ann Arbor in 1827 and for some time ran a store on Main street near Wash- ington street. He was an extremely energetic man and determined that the future city of Ann Arbor should be north of the Huron river; and if he had lived long enough he might have suc- ceeded in carrying out his desires. The village grew rapidly and the Ann Arbor Land Com- pany's plat was made in July, 1836, by Jonathan Stratton ; the Ormsby and Page addition in July. 1838, by Caleb Ormsby and David Page; the Eastern addition in 1839: the Maynard addition in 1839; Bower's addition in 1844; Maynard's second addition in 1846; Traver's addition in 1851 ; Ransom F. Smith's addition in 1867; His- cock's addition in 1859; Felch's addition in 1859: Brown's addition in 1860; James B. Gott's addi- tion in 1862; Hill's addition in 1866; besides many other small additions which we have not mentioned, the idea simply being to show the con- tinuous growth of the village and city.
By 1834 the population of Ann Arbor was 830 and it had a number of stores, taverns and other business houses. In 1838, Ann Arbor is de- scribed in the Michigan Gazeteer as "A village, postoffice and seat of justice for the county of
Washtenaw. in a township of the same name, sit- uated on the west bank of the Huron river. It has a courthouse, jail, a bank, two banking asso- ciations, four churches, one each of Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal and Universalist, two printing presses which issue two weekly newspapers, a bookstore, two druggists, a flouring mill with six run of stone, a sawmill, woolen factory, carding machine, iron foundry, an extensive plow manu- factory, two tanneries, seventeen dry-goods stores, eleven lawyers and nine physicians. Here is a flourishing academy, number of pupils about 70. The legislature has established the location of the University of Michigan at this place. It is passed through by the Detroit & St. Joseph road and by the state railroad between these two places. There is likewise a charter for a railroad connecting it with Monroe. Ann Arbor bears the reputation generally of being one of the most pleasant and flourishing inland towns in the state. It is regu- larly laid out on an elevated and dry soil. There is considerable hydraulic power in the vicinity. Population estimated at 2,000." From the esti- mate of the population contained in this Gazeteer it will be seen that Ann Arbor in 1838 contained as many people as Detroit had in 1830, so that the village was one of the most important in the state, being excelled only by Detroit.
As has been seen the conventions which secured the admission of Michigan into the Union were held in Ann Arbor, and for some years Ann Ar- bor was a popular place for the meetings of the state conventions of the various parties.
In 1829 the population had been estimated at between 300 and 400 so that it will be seen that a growth from 300 to 830 in 1834 to 2.000 in 1838 was a pretty rapid growth for a new town. The village was well described in 1829 by a Canadian traveler whose letter to his friends in Canada was published in the Western Emigrant. Among other things he said: "The population of the vil- lage at present is estimanted at between three hundred and four hundred, with weekly acces- sions. There will probably be between fifteen and twenty good buildings of brick and frame erected during the present season. There is some expectation of a press going into operation in a short time. Should this take place it will add
701
PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
much to its present flattering prospects. I would not have been this particular in my notice of this village had it not been for the unexampled rapidity that has attended its first settlement. In requires the exercise of all the faith of even the most cred- ulous to believe the reports current here with re- gard to the time of its settlement. Five years last February this flourishing, and I might almost say populous county was a dreary wilderness, and to use a phrase usually applied to the light-footed race of aborigines of America, "the haunt of savages," the home of wild beasts. Then nothing was heard but the shrill yell of the hardy sons of the forest and the blood-chilling howlings of hun- gry wolves. Now your ears are slit by the neigh- ing of horses, the rattling of carriages. the cling- ing and grating noise of axes and hammers, the spiriting, stirring bugle announcing the approach of stages, the "Oyez." and the "Once. twice. thrice" of the auctioneer. In short, it is a place of business. A stage arrives here three times a week from Detroit. Roads are open in almost every direction, the marshes and streams bridged. the ridges graduated, and every improvement bearing rather the appearance of magic than the produc- tion of man. When Allen and Rumsey located the land on which this village is situated. there were no inhabitants in the county except a few families who had the season before followed an Indian trail of the river ten miles below this to the place called Woodruff's Grove. This place takes its name from an enterprising individual by the name of Woodruff who has done much toward the set- tlement of the county, now residing in or near the thriving village of Ypsilanti, and who is now the high sheriff of the county. The first settlers suffered much on account of the scarcity and the high price of provisions. They were not able to procure them nearer than Detroit, and were desti- tute of a road until they opened it."
The location of the university at Ann Arbor was looked upon by the early settlers as bound to greatly increase the population of the town. On March 23, 1837, the State Journal announced that the bill to locate the institution had passed both houses of the legislature and that it would prob- ably receive the sanction of the governor. "as he is interested, we are told, to a considerable amount
in the Ann Arbor scrip. A more judicious selec- tion could not be made." The charge of graft occasionally heard in these days, it will be noticed, was made in those days, the governor being of the opposite political party from the State Journal. The State Journal goes on to say : "Since the loca- tion of the university at this place, property has changed hands to a considerable extent and specu- lation bids fair to run high. Our enterprising citizens have already commenced purchasing sites for permanent and elegant residences, and are making calculations for erecting numerous dwell- ing houses that would prove ornaments to any place. Ann Arbor now appears to be one of the most flourishing country villages in Michigan, and with proper care and taste in the building of its public edifices and private dwellings, will cer- tainly be one of its most beautiful. We are pleased to see the liberality and public spirit that has been manifested in relation to ornamenting and enclosing our public grounds, and we hope that no attention will be wanting on the part of our citizens to fully improve the advantages that Nature has so liberally bestowed upon us." To mark the change in public opinion from time to time, or rather the change in men's ideas of what constitutes beauty, it will be noticed that it was a matter of congratulation on the part of the State Journal that the courtyard square was surrounded with a fence, and this was spoken of as beautify- ing the city. Later this same fence became the subject of much controversy, and the advocates of improvement were particularly delighted when it came down.
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