USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. I > Part 17
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ROBERT NAVARRE: ROYAL NOTARY
In 1730, or about that time, Robert Navarre came to Detroit as sub-intendant and royal notary. He was a man of good education and soon attained to great importance in the village. He was church and village treasurer, surveyor, school teacher and general scrivener.
Although there were no courts in Detroit under the French rule, the people never bowed abjectly to the rule of their superiors, but were always tenacious of their rights. Judge Campbell says, in his history:
"The powers of La Mothe Cadillac could not have been less than those belonging to the highest feudal lordships of France. He asserted plenary power of justice, uncontradicted. But it was not necessary to establish tribunals of any kind as long as the settlers were confined to the fort and necessarily subject to the commanding officer's governance. There was usually in every post which was proprietary and not purely military, that indispensable official in a French
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settlement, a publie notary. Every public as well as private transaction was made in his presence as a solemn witness and recorded. The absence of any evidence that Detroit had such an officer in La Mothe's time shows that affairs were rudimentary."
The appointment of Navarre to the post of Detroit would mark an era in legal proceedings if it were possible to obtain all the records that the officer kept. Not until recent years was even a part of these records discovered, but now a portion of them has been found, also there has been brought to light the publie registry kept by Cadillae up to the time of his departure in 1711. The authority usually granted a notary permitted Navarre to aet in the capacity of a judge or justiee in certain eases; possessed of many well-known qualities in addition to the office of sub-intendant it is more certain that he acted in the capacity of judge during the entire period of French occupation from 1734 until 1760.
The complete absence of records in the two eastern Canadian capitals, Montreal and Quebec, of Detroit's judicial affairs, supplies evidence that all of these matters were attended to locally, and that Navarre and the different commandants governed Detroit, in these particulars, without outside assistance. No matter of local importance was taken up and discussed without the approval of Navarre. He saw that the taxes were levied and collected. He collected the tithes and church dues. He listened to the complaints of citizens against the increase of taxes or the unjust treatment of citizens by the officers. He was the judge between quarreling citizens and it was by his judgment that delinquents were forced to pay their just debts or become bankrupt. He was so universally liked and considered so just in his decisions that upon the sur- render of Detroit to the British in 1760 the latter eoneluded to retain Navarre in his office of notary.
It was absolutely necessary to have all marriages performed by the village priest, and it appears almost as necessary that the ante-nuptial contract which was uniformly entered into by the parties should be drawn up by and executed ' before the notary and sub-intendant, Navarre. It might be stated that the Navarre family in later years supplied another judge, a direct descendant of the old notary in the person of Henry Navarre Brevoort, judge of the circuit court for Wayne County.
The old French commandants, justices and other officers were originally buried in the old Ste. Anne cemetery, but were reinterred in later years in the Mt. Elliott cemetery, where the graves have been practically obliterated.
In 1760 Detroit was turned over by the French to the British. Judge Cooley says that the conquest of Canada was far from being either beneficial or agree- able to the conquered people. The French rule had been arbitrary and irre- sponsible and the English rule was not less so.
"The British commander at onee assumed supreme authority and for the purposes of the administration of justice created a series of military courts to which was given jurisdiction of all controversies, with no appeal in case of dissatisfaction, except to other military authorities, or to the commander him- self."
In making this statement the historian is only partly correct. Almost the first act of Major Robert Rogers on his taking possession of Detroit in 1760 was to retain Navarre in the position he had held so long. It is not, however, to be understood that Navarre retained all the powers he had possessed under
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the French rule. He was employed more for political purposes and as an inter- mediary between the incoming English and the discontented French.
PHILIPPE DEJEAN: FIRST ENGLISH JUDGE
The first judge, under English rule, was Philippe Dejean. It has been stated that Dejean was a bankrupt merchant from Montreal and that he came west to better his fortune by leaving his debts and creditors behind and starting a new life in an unknown country. Apparently he was a man well versed in forms of legal procedure, but it appears, also, that he was subservient to those in power and much inclined to do what was right or wrong without question, as requested by his superiors.
Such actions made him a convenient tool, but not a respected citizen. The date of his appointment as notary and justice is not known, but it was several years after the coming of the English Philippe Dejean was a native of Toulouse, son of Philippe Dejean, who was counsellor of the king's presdial and seneschal court (an inferior court), and of Jeanne Bogue de Carberie, his wife. Philippe Dejean's (our judge) first wife was Marie Louisa Augier. His second wife was Theotiste St. Cosme, daughter of Pierre St. Cosme and Catherine Barrois, his wife. At the time of the second marriage (about July 25, 1778) Dejean had a son, Philip or Phillippe, aged four years, by the first marriage. From an article in the Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings it appears that Dejean was a friend of La Fayette.
FIRST DETROIT PUBLIC RECORDS
The public records of Detroit begin with this officer. It cannot now be determined whether these records appertained to the office of justice or notary, though they probably belong to the latter office. Dejean being both justice and notary, the records were in his possession and kept by him. The first few pages are filled with French documents that were evidently in possession of Navarre and antedated the British occupation. Then about 1767 commence the current records of the place. Deeds, notes of hand, contracts of various kinds, wills, marriage agreements and miscellaneous papers of all kinds were recorded. It was not a court docket, nor are there any evidences of law cases being carried on as we understand that kind of work. No judgments were rendered. There was no court for the probate of wills and it is difficult to tell just what effect the recording of a will among these records would have.
In the record is the will of Peter MeIntyre of Toronto, April 21, 1768. He gives to George McBeath, merchant, a tract of land on the North River, above Albany, two miles above Stillwater on the east side of the river, joining on a small river or creek now in charge of Archibald Campbell, Esq., containing two hundred and fifty acres, as will appear by the deed recorded by John Smith, notary publie in New York. This will was witnessed by Obidiah Robins, Edward Chichester and P. Dejean, justice of the peace.
Following this will is a deed of the same land by McIntyre to McBeath for two hundred and thirty pounds, New York currency. There are several instances of where the notary dishonored commercial paper. These records contain many odd matters that may be of sufficient interest to be mentioned. A full descrip- tion would be out of place, but an occasional reference will give some idea of their contents. At this time Detroit was but a village, composed mostly of French habitants who were natives of the country, and a garrison of British
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soldiers. The Pontiac War, which broke out in 1763, ended the following year but confidence on the part of the English was not restored, for there was no love lost between the Indians and the English. The Scotch, Irish and English traders were rapidly supplanting the French, and the latter were moving out of the village to the adjacent farms which they owned. The tide of immigration that had set in at the coming of Rogers in 1760 was nearly suspended in 1764 on account of the Indian troubles, but it gradually increased in the following years. The soldiers in the garrison were sufficient in number to protect the place and were paid by the government. The village was surrounded by a picket line that served as a protection against the Indians. This picket line was continually in need of repairs and the burden of performing this work was the cause of levying taxes on citizens and farmers. Even the small amount necessary to be raised for this purpose seemed a heavy burden to bear, and both those living within and those living without the palisades grumbled at the cost and complained of the amount of the taxes. There was no fire depart- ment to support, no policemen to pay, no schools to be maintained. Such things were unheard of at that time. There was no Protestant church and no minister in the place, and if the Catholies were oppressed by the collection of tithes for their church, their remonstrances were never heard of outside the walls of Ste. Anne. There was no bank in the village and the larger trading houses issued and accepted drafts on the mercantile houses of Montreal as a means of transacting the business of exchange. These drafts were not always promptly paid and when dishonored the notary was called upon to protest the paper.
One of these protested documents appears in the public records under the date of April 22, 1768. The order is drawn by Thomas Gale, of Sandusky, on Francis Stone, merchant, in favor of Obidiah Robins & Company for one hun- dred and twelve beavers in peltry, one buck and one lot merchantable does and beavers, or in good merchantable beaver, it being for value received for a quan- tity of rum bought of them. Not being paid, Philip Dejean, notary and tabillion public, "protested the paper and recorded the protest with a footnote to the effect that the original of the bill was stolen from his office on April 21, at about 9 o'clock in the morning."
DEED FROM PONTIAC
The next paper of interest is a deed from the great Indian warrior, Pontiac, to George Christian Anthon, of a parcel of land on the south side of the Detroit River, "for the good will which I bear and which is borne by the whole of the Ottawa Nation unto the said Doctor George Christian Anthon". The interest of this deed centers on the parties to the conveyance. Pontiac was the great chief of the Ottawas, a determined enemy of the English, and one of the most important and enterprising Indians known to history. His name will always be connected with the story of the siege of Detroit and will appear on the pages of history with those of Brant, Tecumseh and Black Hawk. It is hard to under- stand how he could have come to like Doctor Anthon sufficiently to present him with a large tract of land eight hundred feet wide on the river, but probably the doctor had rendered some assistance to the Indian for which he was grateful.
The name of Dr. George Christian Anthon is familiar to the generation of students who are now past middle age. He was a surgeon and physician in the British Army and was employed for some years in the garrison at Detroit. He was born in Germany, August 25, 1734 and came to New York as a British
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prisoner of war in 1757. His first visit to Detroit was with Major Rogers in 1760. In 1761 he was appointed surgeon-mate in the Sixtieth Regiment of Royal Americans. He remained in Detroit until the retirement of Colonel Gladwin in 1764 and with the colonel he went to New York. He was again in Detroit in 1765, for the deed above mentioned is dated September Sth of that year. He did not remain long, but came again in 1767 and stayed until the close of the Revolutionary war. He was twice married, both times in Detroit and both times to members of the family of Navarre.
His first wife was Mariana Navarre, who died in 1773, leaving no children. His second wife was Genevieve Jadot, who was fifteen years of age at the time of her marriage to the Doctor in 1778. Of the issue of this marriage, three of his sons became prominent in after life. They were: John Anthon, a promin- ent lawyer in New York; Rev. Henry Anthon, rector of "St. Mark's in the Bowery"; and lastly the lexicographer, Prof. Charles Anthon, one of the most eminent Greek and Latin scholars that America has produced.
OTHER NOTARIES
Turning again to the old records we find the additional names of J. Bte. Campau and Gabriel LeGrand as notaries, and the latter also as judge ond jus- tice of the peace. It would seem that while the two offices might be combined in the same individual, their uniting was not a necessity and their powers and duties were dissimilar. Campau was a member of the old family by that name and had endeared himself to the Americans by furnishing the protection of his house to the soldiers who were surprised and stunned by the attack of the Indians at the battle of Bloody Run in 1763. He did not have much work to do as a notary, and the little he did was exclusively among the French citizens. Le- Grand was also employed almost exclusively among the French people. He seems to have been incompetent for some reason and, not finding sufficient em- ployment in Detroit, he wandered off to Kaskaskia to reside, and there succeeded in getting the land titles so badly mixed up that the land commissioners made loud complaint of his inefficiency. These notaries drop out of sight in the village history, but the name of Dejean is carried along for many years.
COURT FOR PETTY CASES
There is some evidence that prior to 1768 a court was appointed for the trial of petty causes, for on page thirty-two of Volume "A" of these old records is a document reading as follows:
"Detroit, May 23, 1768.
"By order of George Turnbull, Esq., captain in the Second Battalion of His Majesty's Sixtieth Regiment, commandant of Detroit, of Phillipe Dejean, Esq., justice of the peace, in consequence of sundry complaints made against him, we, the undersigned subscribers, having duly heard and carefully examined into the grievances set forth by the said Phillipe Dejean, Esq., are of opinion;
"That the fees established by the committee appointed by Major Robert Bayard on the establishment of the court of justice at Detroit, are just and reasonable and ought not to be less. That every prisoner confined in the guard- house whether for debt or misdemeanor, shall, on his 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 property, any lot, or building within the fort, shall pay two dollars, and the moneys ensuing from thence to
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be applied as in the time of the French government, to help keep in good and sufficient repair the fortifications around this town as will more fully appear on our former petition to Captain Turnbull for that purpose.
"No person having appeared before us to make any complaint against said Phillipe Dejean with respect to his publie office we are of the opinion that they are ill-founded and without eause."
This document is signed by James Sterling, Colin Andrews, T. Williams, William Edgar, and John Robinson, all bearing English names, and Eustache Gamelin, St. Cosme, J. Cabasie, Cieot, F. Mollere and A. Barthe, representing the French population. Of the above names, James Sterling was a well-known trader and interpreter and the hero of the romance, "The Heroine of the Straits." Thomas Williams was the father of John R. Williams, the first elected mayor of Detroit. He was, in later years, a justice of the peace, and there is frequent mention of him later on. William Edgar was an extensive trader and for some time a member of the firm of Macomb, Edgar and Macomb, the largest trading house in Detroit. He left Detroit during the Revolution, "sent down" as he was suspected of adherence to the United States. Hle afterwards returned to the West and settled in Illinois, where Edgar County is named after him.
As Bayard was in command of the post in 1766, it is probable the court re- ferred to as established by him was begun in that year.
FIRST ELECTION IN DETROIT
The first election of Detroit was held in 1768 and the publie record of that event is as follows:
"May 26, 176S.
"We, the undersigned subscribers do vote for and unanimously approve of Phillipe Dejean to be judge and justice of the district of Detroit and its de- pendencies.
"Sam Tymes, John Steadman, David Edgar, Reaume, Hugh Mitehell, John Vicegerier, William Edgar, Isidore Chene, James Abbott, Colin Andrews, John Robinson, George MeBeath, George Knaggs, Edward Pollard, James Casety, Benjamin James, Allan MeDougall, John Farrell, Thomas Barber, H. Van Schaack, Thomas Williams, Richard MeNeal, Thuner Vessecher, Jacob Lansing, Hugh Boyle, Samuel Kennedy, La Bute, Alex. Mercier, George Meldrum, Robert MeWilliams, Louis Prigian."
The qualifications necessary for the privilege of voting on the occasion are not given, nor does it appear that any questions were asked of the proposed voters. Everyone voted who wished to and was able to sign his name, and some voted who could not write.
Some of the eleetors were prominently connected with Detroit in later years, such as James Abbott, who was the father of that James Abbott who lived on the site of the present Hammond Building, and was one of the early postmasters of Detroit; George Knaggs, the Indian fighter; James Casety, who in later years was a "rebel sympathizer" and was sent down to Quebec as a prisoner for that reason; Thomas Williams, referred to above, and George Meldrum, the owner of the Meldrum farm east of Meldrum Avenue and the ancestor of the Eberts family of the present Detroit.
Citizens were apparently ignorant of our modern method of voting by secret ballot, and it would seem that the paper of which the above is a copy was drawn up and carried around for the signatures, and that the system of
STE. ANNE'S STREET, NOW JEFFERSON AVENUE, DETROIT, 1800
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viva voce voting, which prevailed toward the end of the Eighteenth Century, was not in vogue in 1768.
To make the election still more secure, a petition in French was also drawn up and sent to General Gage, to indicate the joy and satisfaction of all the people, both French and English, on the choice of Dejean as justice. This petition bears the names of Pierre Cosme, Stephen Lynch, Richard McNeal, Lachlan McIntosh, Medard Gamelin, Dominique Labrosse, J. Poupard, Lafleur, J. M. Legare, E. Gamelin, Claude Campau, Joseph Rouget, Isadore J. Gagnier, Charles Moran, Barthe, Marantet, Godet, Simon Campau, Antoine Gamelin and Mumford.
The names of petitioners and electors are given herein for the purpose of identifying the people of early Detroit with their descendants who are still here. Scarcely a name appears in these lists that cannot be traced to some family of the Detroit of the Twentieth Century. All of these papers, as well as the final approval of Major Bayard and the commission by Captain Turnbull, became the property of Dejean and were preserved by him in the records he kept.
POWERS OF THE JUSTICE
The commission by Captain Turnbull is of interest to show the powers and duties of the justice, and is as follows:
"By George Turnbull, Esqr. captain in Second battalion of his majesty's Sixtieth Regiment or Royal American Regiment, commandant of Detroit and its dependencies: To Phille Dejean, merchant at Detroit:
"I do nominate and appoint you justice of the peace to enquire into com- plaints that shall come before you, for which purpose you are hereby authorized to examine by oath such evidence as shall be necessary that the truth of the matter may be known.
"Provided always that you give no judgment or final award, but at their joint request, and which by bond they agree between themselves to abide by, but settle the determination by arbitration, which they are likewise to give their bond to abide by each, and if they cannot agree and have named two only, you are a third, and if four, a fifth, and their determination to be approved by me before put into execution.
"I further authorize and empower you to act as chief and sole notary and tabillion by drawing all wills, deeds, etc., proper for the department, the same to be done in English only, and I also appoint you sole vendue master as may happen here in the accustomed and usual manner.
"Given under my hand and seal at Detroit this 24th day of April, 1767. "GEORGE TURNBULL."
It will be seen that the powers of the justice were very limited and con- sisted of little more than the ability to administer oaths to witnesses and to appoint the odd member of a court of arbitration. Seemingly there was no- where vested any authority to carry an award into effect unless the military arm of the commandant was used for that purpose. Attached to the foregoing commission is an authorization from Major Bayard which explains duties of the justice and the object in appointing him. It is as follows:
"Whereas, it had been represented to me by the trading people and others residing at Detroit, that some temporary form of justice for the recovery of debts has become absolutely necessary, and having taken this matter into con- sideration and finding the utility of such an establishment, I have accordingly
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granted them a temporary court of justice to be held twice in every month at Detroit, to decide all actions of debt, bonds, bills, contracts, and trespasses above the sum of five pounds, New York currency, and confiding in Phillippe Dejean for his uprightness and integrity, I do hereby nominate and appoint him the second judge of the said court of justice at Detroit.
"Given under my hand and seal at Detroit this 20th day of July, 1767.
"Robert Bayard,
"Major-Commander of Detroit."
There has been some speculation as to the meaning of the term "second judge" and Judge James V. Campbell, in his political history, is inclined to think that the commandant considered himself, on all occasions, as the first judge, and that consequently Dejean was inferior judicially to that officer, whoever he might be.
The instructions to Judge Dejean to keep his records in English were totally disregarded. He was qualified to record in both French and English, and he employed the language he was requested to use by the parties to the convey- anees. The records soon came to include transfers of real estate almost ex- elusively, and by the year 1769 the recording of personal transactions nearly ceased. Occasionally, however, miscellaneous papers and other documents of a more general historieal nature reached the hands of the judge and were entered in his records.
CUILLERIER MURDER CASE
An instance of this nature occurs in the records for 1769. In order to under- stand this entry it will be necessary to return to the year 1763, at the outbreak of the Pontiac War. One of the very first depredations committed by the Indians was the destruction of the houses on Belle Isle and the murder of the family of Mr. James Fisher, who was residing there. After the war was over one Jean Myer accused Alexis Cuillerier of drowning the child of Mr. Fisher on that occasion. At the time these accusations were made there was no civil or criminal eourt organized at Detroit capable of trying such a case, and moreover the evidence was not very conelusive; and then Cuillerier was the brother of Angelique Cuillerier, who had divulged Pontiac's conspiracy to Major Gladwin, and she was the wife of James Sterling, an influential trader in the post and military storekeeper.
All of these things served to assist Cuillerier in eseaping a severe punishment for his erime and, instead of sending him to Montreal for trial or trying him in Detroit by a military tribunal, the commandant expelled him from the village and banished him from the community. Affairs afterward took on a different aspeet for Cuillerier. Several witnesses appeared and testified in his behalf, and from the testmony of some of the inhabitants "concerning the infamous character of that perjured villain, Jn. Myer, who has since given himself a very glaring and but too strong proof of said testimony by premeditatedly murdering James Hill Clark, trader at the Maumee River," Cuillerier was declared to be found innocent of the crime charged to him and was recalled from banishment by Captain George Turnbull, June 4, 1769. Captain Turnbull did not aet in this affair until the entire facts had been laid before General Gage and the consent of the latter had been obtained. If Myer was accused of murder, he must have been taken to Montreal for trial, for no note of his arrest or trial oceurs in connection with these records.
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