USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. I > Part 12
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In September, 1761, he came to Detroit but remained only a short time, during which, however, he suffered from fever and ague. In the fall he was granted a leave of absence and permission to return to England. On March 30, 1762, he married in England, Miss Frances, daughter of Rev. John Beridge, and immediately returned to Detroit. In the latter part of July, 1762, he was made commandant. The greater part of his term as commandant was taken up in defending the post against the Indians under Pontiac, the story of which is told elsewhere. In the fall of 1764 he again obtained a leave of absence and returned to England. It is doubtful whether he ever came back to America. If he did he took no conspicuous part in affairs. The inscription on his monu- ment in the Wingerworth Churchyard in Derby is as follows:
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"Here lieth the remains of General Henry Gladwin. He departed this life on the 22nd day of June, 1794, in the sixty-second year of his age. He was distinguished by all those private and social duties which constitute the man and the Christian. Early trained to arms and martial deeds, he songht fame amidst the toils of hostile war, with that ardour which animates the heart of the brave soldier. On the plains of North America he reaped lanrels at the battles of Niagara and Ticonderoga, where he was wounded. His eourage was eonspienous and his memorable defense of Fort Detroit against the attaeks of the Indians will long be recorded in the annals of a grateful country.
"Also Mary and Henry, son and daughter of the aforesaid General Henry Gladwin and his wife, who died in infancy; Martha Gladwin, their daughter, died October 17, 1817, aged thirty-two.
"Also Frances, sister of the late John Beridge, of Derby, M. D., and widow of the above General Gladwin, died October 16, 1817, aged seventy-four years."
In this inscription there are several statements which do not agree with those in the "Gladwin Papers," published in the "Michigan Historical and Pioneer Collections." In the latter Gladwin's date of birth is given as 1730, and the date of his death as June 22, 1791, which corresponds more nearly with the statement on his tombstone that he was "in the sixty-second year of his age." His wife is mentioned in the Gladwin Papers as the daughter of Rev. John Beridge, while the epitaph says she was the sister of John Beridge, M. D. That the monument was ereeted several years after his death is evidenced by the fact that the inscription includes two persons who died as late as 1817, though it might have been ereeted earlier and that part of the inseription added. It is quite likely that his death oeenrred in 1791.
COL. JOHN BRADSTREET
On August 26, 1764, Col. John Bradstreet arrived in Detroit with a large supply of provisions and a considerable military foree for strengthening the garrison. IIe presented his credentials to Major Gladwin and on the last day of · the month assumed command. IIe has been deseribed as "a man of little principle, who beguiled the Indians into treaties they did not understand, and granted lands fraudulently obtained, which eaused much trouble in later years."
One of Bradstreet's first aets was the consummation of a deal with the Indians by which they ceded for the use of white settlers a strip of land be- ginning just west of the fort and extending to Lake St. Clair. This brought on a conflict of sehemes for private interest which retarded the growth of the town. The fur traders antagonized any attempt at settlement, because the farmers would drive away the beaver and other animals, and thus injure their business. Others took a broader view of the matter. They foresaw that, if the population could be increased to a point to justify the establishment of local manufactories, the people could be supplied with many of the necessities of life without having to depend upon the long canoe voyages from Montreal or Niagara, and at the same time be relieved from paying the high priees charged by the English tradesmen. Bradstreet's poliey was of sneh a vacillating nature that neither side to the controversy received much encouragement. The traders hesitated to enlarge their stock of goods and the title to the land was so un- certain there were but few purchasers.
One important change that came under Bradstreet's administration was the reduction of taxes and the manner of their collection. Under the old French
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regime, the inhabitants paid, as a rent to the crown, an annual tax of from one to two sols per front foot of their holdings. The early English commandants required the farmers to pay a tax for the support of the garrison and to furnish one cord of wood for each acre of frontage on the river. In 1762 the tax on the inhabitants amounted to £184, 13s. 4d. This was paid in skins or farm products. The same year the wood tax was increased to two cords per acre. In 1764 the tax was reduced by Bradstreet to £158. The next year, the first money, known as "New York Currency," began to circulate in Detroit. After that the payment of taxes in skins and produce was gradually discontinued.
On September 14, 1764, Colonel Bradstreet left seven companies of his command as reinforcement for the garrison, with Maj. Robert Bayard as temporary commandant, and set out for Sandusky. He remained at Sandusky until the 18th of October, when he embarked his men and supplies in bateaux for Niagara. Near Cleveland a severe storm suddenly came on, in which twenty- five of the bateaux, nearly all the baggage and ammunition and a few of the men were lost. The rest of the journey was made by land, but upon the march through the wilderness the men became separated and the last of them did not reach Niagara until late in December. There is no record to show that Colonel Bradstreet ever returned to Detroit.
LIEUT .- COL. JOHN CAMPBELL
Bradstreet 's successor was Lieut .- Col. John Campbell, of the Seventh Regi- ment. He was appointed in the fall of 1764, but did not arrive in Detroit until early in the following year. Under British domination, the mild rule of the French was succeeded by a sort of petty despotism, the commandants exercis- ing both military and civil authority. The citizens were relieved to some extent from oppressive taxation by Colonel Bradstreet, but under Campbell taxes were higher than ever before. On August 7, 1766, the following protest against his policy, in the matter of supporting the garrison and making repairs on the fort, was presented to him by a group of the civilians.
"Detroit, August 7, 1766.
"To John Campbell, Esq., Lieut .- Col. and Commandant at Detroit and its de- pendencies.
"Sir-We have taken your order of the 3d inst., respecting the furnish- ing of materials by us for repairing this fort, into consideration and find it absolutely impossible to comply with it. The requisition made of us few individuals would amount to at least £4,000, New York Currency-a sum by far too great for the whole settlement and all the trading people from dif- ferent places now residing here to pay. However, that we may not be looked upon to be actuated by a spirit of opposition, we have taken all the pains in our power to obtain the fullest information we could in regard to the obliga- tions we are supposed to lay under for keeping up the repairs of this fort upon its present plan. We find, sir, that till the year 1750 the fort was about half the extent it now is. The inhabitants till then were obliged to furnish one picket for each foot of ground they possessed in front within the fort and pay annually two sols per foot to the Crown by way of quit rent. It was with difficulty that the circumstance of this place could accomplish the payment of their dues to the French King; of which he proved his sensibility by easing the inhabitants of the heavy burden of furnishing pickets; for from that time the fort was enlarged upon an entire new plan at the sole expense of the Crown.
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The annual tax of two sols per foot in front was continued till the surrender of the country to the English, since which the service has required such taxes of us that they have been almost unsupportable. Permit us, sir, to mention them, and you will see that we stand in greater need of assistance than to be obliged to pay any new demands.
"Captain (Donald) Campbell, the first English commandant at Detroit, on his arrival here levied a tax on the proprietors in the fort, for lodging the troops, which amounted to a very considerable sum ; besides, each of the farmers was obliged to pay a cord of wood per acre in front. The second year the pro- prietors again paid for quartering the troops and the farmers furnished double the quantity of wood they did the year before.
"The third year Colonel Gladwin continued the same taxes, and in 1762 the tax within the fort alone amounted to £184, 13s. 4d. In the year 1764 the taxes came to £158, New York Currency. In the year 1765 you said to Messrs. Babee (Baby) and Shapperton (Chapoton) that the taxes for the future should be the same as in the French government, which as we have pointed out, was two sols per foot for the lots within the fort. The farmers were subject to a quit rent of two shillings and eight pence New York Currency, and one-fourth bushel of wheat per acre in front, which was accordingly paid to Mr. Shapper- ton, who was appointed to receive the same. After this we could not help being surprised at the tax for the current year, viz., one shilling per foot in front for lots within the fort and ten shillings per acre for the farmers in the country. The heaviness of this tax is most severely felt, as you may judge by the delay and difficulty the people had in paying it."
Campbell left Detroit soon after this protest was submitted and was ap- pointed superintendent of Indian affairs, which position he held until the close of the Revolutionary war. In General Haldimand's correspondence frequent mention is made of orders to Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell to send supplies to various posts. In Campbell's report of supplies sent to Detroit, Michilimackinac and Niagara during the year ending June 30, 1781, he states that Detroit re- ceived 10,254 gallons of rum-more than was sent to both of the other posts.
CAPT. GEORGE TURNBULL
Just when Capt. George Turnbull, of the Second Battalion, Sixtieth Regi- ment, became commandant at Detroit is not certain, but it was undoubtedly in the autumn of 1766, after the departure of Campbell. A letter to Turnbull from Gen. Thomas Gage, dated October 6, 1766, acknowledges the receipt of the former's return of stores, etc., sent by Major Bayard, who was Campbell's assistant. The following extracts from General Gage's letter throw some light upon conditions in Detroit at that time:
"With respect to the inhabitants, you will take care that no taxes what- ever are laid upon them. *
* As for the King's rights, I can by no means give them up, agreeable to the desire of some of the inhabitants in a memorial bronght me by Major Bayard. It is not in my power to do it. * * * After Mr. Van Schaack's proposal about the cattle, I can make no bargain abont it. A contract is made at home to supply the troops and I must keep up to it and take provision from the contractor. But I shall be very glad that the soldiers have an opportunity to exchange their salt meat for fresh. * * * I don't hear that the works ordered were finished when Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell and Major Bayard left Detroit."
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When Detroit was surrendered by the French in 1760 no provision was made by the English for the establishment of courts of law in the surrendered territory west of Quebec. On April 24, 1767, Captain Turnbull appointed Philippe Dejean to hold courts, hear evidence and settle disputes. His office really combined the duties of chief justice, notary and sheriff. More of the insincere Dejean and his checkered career is written in the chapters entitled "Law and Order in Early Detroit."
Dejean's conduct did not meet with the approval of the citizens, however, and a committee of investigation made a report, May 21, 1768, after having been appointed for the purpose by Commandant Turnbull, exonerating the notary. This report follows :
"The committee, to whom was referred the question of fees collected by Philip Dejean, find :
"First, That the fees established by the committee appointed by Maj. Robert Bayard, on the establishment of the Court of Justice at Detroit, are just and reasonable and ought not to be less.
"Second, That every prisoner confined in the guard house, whether for debt or misdemeanor, shall on being set at liberty pay one dollar, and every batteau or canoe arriving here loaded with merchandise belonging to any person or persons not possessing in property any lot or building within this fort, shall pay two dollars; the moneys accruing therefrom to be applied, as in time of the French government, to keep in good and sufficient repair the fortifications around this town.
"Third, No person having appeared before us to make any complaints against said Philip Dejean, with respect to his public office, we are of the opinion that they were ill-founded and without cause."
This report was signed by ten of the committee members and on June 14, 1768, Dejean was reappointed notary.
FIGHT OVER ILE AUX COCHONS (BELLE ISLE)
On May 4, 1768, King George III and his Council gave to Lieut. George MeDougall, of the Detroit garrison, permission to occupy the Ile aux Cochons (Hog Island), so long as Detroit remained a military post, or so long as he was there stationed. This permission was given on condition that the consent of the Indian claimants of the island should be obtained, and that any improve- ments made by MeDougall should be of such nature that they could be utilized for the needs of the garrison. Nothing was said, however, about the rights of the Detroit citizens to the island as a public commons, where they could harbor their cattle and other domestic animals. That the citizens had a legiti- mate right through a royal grant years before, during the French regime, has been proved, but the English authorities willfully ignored the claim, which brought about much bitterness and litigation.
On June 5, 1769, the Chippewa and Ottawa Indians sold the island to McDougall for five barrels of rum, three rolls of tobacco, three pounds of vermillion and a belt of wampum at that time, and three barrels of rum and three pounds of vermillion when the purchaser took possession.
The inhabitants, through a committee composed of Jacques Campau, J. Bte. Chapoton, Eustache Gamelin and Pierre Reaume, addressed a letter on May 18, 1769, to Captain Turnbull, requesting that their rights to the island be recognized, and that he communicate with General Gage and Governor Carle-
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ton regarding the matter. Turnbull refused to do as the citizens requested, and on the 24th following they wrote to the "Gentlemen of Trade" at Montreal, also to Carleton and Gage, outlining their grievances, their inalienable rights to the island, as a "commons," and imploring a restitution of their rights. These letters are printed in full in the history of Belle Isle upon another page. Nothing eame of them, however, and on October 13, 1769, the authorities of Detroit held a meeting with the citizens and the question was debated. The tide turned in favor of MeDougall eventually and he came into full possession of the island in the spring of 1771.
Capt. George Turnbull held the post of commandant at Detroit until the latter part of 1769, and was probably succeeded for a few months by Maj. Thomas Bruce. Farmer states that the latter officer was in office from June 2d to September, 1770.
CAPT. GEORGE ETHERINGTON
In September, 1770, Capt. James Stephenson, an officer in the Second Bat- talion, Sixtieth Regiment, was appointed commandant, and he remained the incumbent until January 8, 1772, when he was sueceeded by Captain George Etherington. Captain Etherington held the post but a few months.
Etherington had been one of the officers at the fort in Detroit when Major Gladwin beeame commandant in 1762. Soon after taking charge Gladwin sent Etherington to Michilimaekinae, where he arrived about the middle of Sep- tember.
June 2, 1763, was the day set by the Indians cooperating with Pontiae for the capture of the fort at Miehilimaekinae. On that day a large number of Indians appeared before the fort and engaged in a game of ball. This was no unusual oceurrence and Captain Etherington and Lieutenant Leslie stood watching the game, not knowing it was but a part of the plot for the reduction of the fort. Soon the ball was knocked inside the fort, apparently by aeeident. Both sides rushed to reeover it and in this way the savages gained entranee. The massaere immediately began and only thirteen of the garrison eseaped death. Captain Etherington and Lieutenant Leslie were carried into eaptivity and about the middle of July they were taken to Montreal by a party of Ottawa Indians. Etherington was censured for not taking greater precautions against a surprise and for a time was assigned to duty in positions where there was not much responsibility.
MAJ. HENRY BASSETT
Of all the English commandants at Detroit, perhaps none was more ener- getic in trying to improve eonditions than Major Bassett, who came into the position in the fall of 1772. His efforts in this direction ran chiefly toward the adjustment of disputes over land titles and in endeavoring to prevent the sale of intoxicating liquors to the Indians.
Soon after he became commandant, Jacques Campau applied to him for a grant of twelve arpents of land fronting on the river. In support of his application, Mr. Campan filed a statement to the effect that on the day of the battle of Bloody Run (July 31, 1763), some two hundred and fifty British soldiers found refuge at his place and robbed him of property worth about sixty pounds. Major Bassett interested himself in Campan's behalf, but as is
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usual with claims against a government, there was considerable delay before he received the land.
Major Bassett, in the fall of 1772, fenced in a small area of the King's Com- mon for a place to keep his horse. This caused a complaint from the inhab- itants and on April 29, 1773, the commandant wrote to Governor Haldimand as follows :
"The King's domain joining the fort is about twelve acres. It will soon be claimed as a common if your Excellency does not order the front to be picketed. I made a small field, which met with such opposition that I had to remove the fence. I have a copy out of the Archives of Canada where it is called the 'King's Domain,' and the French commanding officers proved it and did as they thought proper. Since the English settled here, no officer that commanded (Colonel Campbell excepted) has ever given themselves much concern about it. The traders were very much displeased at the Colonel for taking in a field just where I have done. If your Excellency will allow me to picket the front of the domain I'll do it in the most frugal manner and oversee it myself, or if your Excellency will allow me £250 Sterling, I'll take it in and put up handsome, large gates. I'm very sure it will cost more, but for the convenience of the officers of the garrison I'll pay the rest out of my own pocket. It will be the saving of a fine tract of land and if this should be made a government it will be very valuable."
When it became known to the people of Detroit that the major was seeking authority to inclose the tract, about forty-two acres in all, they sent a remon- strance to Quebec, saying Bassett was trying to get possession of the land for his own use, thus defcating his project.
In the autumn of 1773 a trader from Pittsburgh named McDowell was occupying a house near the fort. He refused to sell liquor to an Indian, who became enraged at the refusal and a little while later pushed his gun through the window and shot McDowell dead. Major Bassett wrote to the governor, giving an account of the tragedy, and added :
"Trading will never be safe while the sale of rum continues; the leading chiefs complain that the English are killing their young men with spirits. They purchase poison instead of blankets and the necessaries of life. They say they lose more young men by rum than they lose by war. It is not in the power of the commandant at this post to prevent, for the traders land it down the river and have a thousand tricks to deceive the commandant and cheat the poor savages."
This was not the first complaint Major Bassett had made against the traffic in rum and its effect upon the Indians. But those engaged in the fur trade considered it an important factor in their business and, as rum aided them in coining the Indian character into pounds, shillings and pence, their influence with the higher authorities was greater than that of the commandant.
One of Major Bassett's last acts as commandant was to cause a survey of lands to be made. In his report of April 21, 1774, he says:
"In consequence of repeated complaints made by several of the inhabitants that their neighbors have encroached on their farms, and that they do not actually possess the quantity specified in the primitive grants, and for which they pay rents to His Majesty; therefore, Mr. James Sterling being an ex- perienced and approved surveyor, I have appointed him King's Surveyor at
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Detroit; and for the future his surveys only shall be looked upon as valid and decisive; and all whom it may concern are hereby ordered to conform thereto."
THE QUEBEC ACT
On June 22, 1774, the British Parliament passed what is known as "The Quebec Act," for the government of all the English colonies west of New York and northwest of the Ohio River to the Mississippi. Then, for the first time, the post at Detroit came under the civil administration of England. Hitherto, the control over the town had been purely military, although the military often usurped civil authority. When Detroit was surrendered to the English in 1760, the Indians claimed all the present province of Ontario except a few small seigneuries, and the Quebec Act, as stated, was the first to provide for the civil government. It has been described as "An act which established a regime something between a feudal system and a despotism. Its object was to deprive settlers of the benefits and protection of English law, so that life in the West would be such as to discourage settlers. In substance it placed set- tlers under the old French law of the province in civil matters and under the English law in criminal cases. The Quebec Act was one of the offenses of Parliament that led to the Revolution."
The act was one of those referred to in the Declaration of Independence, where the King and Parliament are charged with endeavoring "to prevent the population of these states" and "for abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province." By its provisions the legislative power was vested in a governor, a lieutenant-governor, who was also commander-in-chief of the military forces, and a council of not fewer than seventeen nor more than twenty-three persons, to be appointed by the King. In April, 1775, Detroit was annexed to Quebec, but none of the governors-general ever exercised any civil authority over this region, the post commandant combining the functions of military officer and civil magistrate.
JOHN CONNOLLY
John Connolly, that turbulent Tory of Revolutionary days, once had a virtual appointment as commandant over the post at Detroit, where he intended to effect a union of the British forces and the Indians, but he never filled the position. Connolly, a friend of Washington's and a relative of Colonel Croghan and Alexander McKee, was nevertheless one of the most troublesome charac- ters produced in that class of men known as Tories. Connolly was born at Wright's Ferry, York County, Pennsylvania, the son of John and Susanna Howard (Ewing) Connolly. In his younger days Connolly obtained considerable military experience and spent much time among the Indian tribes, studying their eustoms and ingratiating himself with the chiefs. He first settled in Augusta County, Virginia, but in 1770 he was in Pittsburgh, practicing medicine, a pro- fession which he had studied.
In 1772 Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, gave to Connolly 4,000 acres of land covering part of the site of the present Louisville, Kentucky, which was then a part of Fincastle County, Virginia. The possession of this land gave to Connolly the ambition in later years to set up an independent government of Kentucky, which desire, however, failed of materialization.
Connolly held various military offices in the Virginia militia in 1773-75 and took active part in the boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Vir-
SOUTHEAST CORNER FARMER AND JOHN R STREETS House built about 1811
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ginia. He usurped power over the country in and around Pittsburgh and was a practical dictator, his rule drawing forth many complaints on account of unnecessary cruelty and high-handedness.
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