USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. I > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
The vacant ground referred to by Mr. Wilkins was the tract known as the "King's commons," lying between the Brush farm on the east and the Cass farm on the west, and extending back from the town line to a distance of nearly three miles from the river. Following the American occupation in 1796, several memorials were presented to Congress, asking for the enactment of a law which would confirm to the citizens of the town the right to continue the use of the land as a public commons. The memorial of January 17, 1805, states in part :
"We state as a fact generally believed in this country and confirmed by many aged persons now living in this district, that a grant was made by the French Government at the time the town was laid out, vesting and conferring in the then inhabitants, their heirs and successors, both the ground plat of said town and the commons, which have ever since been held, used and enjoyed as such by the inhabitants, to the exception of some unwarrantable encroachments by individuals upon the same. *
* # But unfortunately for the citizens of the said town, neither the grant itself nor the record thereof can now be found, the grant being either lost or wrongfully withheld, and the record removed to places without the district and wholly unknown to your memorial- ists."
Congress requested the governor and judges to investigate the matter and on October 10, 1805, they reported :
"The circumjacent ground, the bank of the river alone excepted, was a wide commons; and though assertions are made respecting the existence, among the records of Quebec, of a charter from the King of France conferring this commons as an appurtenance to the town, it was either the property of the United States, or, at least, such as individual claims did not pretend to cover."
Letters from a number of Detroit citizens to the "Gentlemen of Trade" of Montreal, to Governor Carleton and General Gage, written in 1769, and recently discovered in the archives of the St. Sulpice Seminary at Montreal and trans- lated from the original French, refer to the right of the citizens to the public Vol. I-21
322
CITY OF DETROIT
commons, as a part of the "ban-lieue." As these letters refer mostly to the common ownership of the Isle aux Cochons (Belle Isle) at that time as a com- mons, the letters are quoted in their entirety in the history of that island in another chapter.
The last memorial on the subject, of which any record can be found, was presented to Congress, February 10, 1808. It asked that "the title to a certain parcel of land, amounting to about two thousand acres adjoining the city of Detroit, may be granted, in fee simple, to the corporation thereof, for the free use in common of all the memorialists, umder such reservations as to the wisdom of Congress shall seem meet."
This memorial was referred to the committee on public lands, and was never returned for action. The governor and judges thus retained control of the commons, a vast tract in length a distance of three miles from the river front and in width the distance between the Cass and Brush farms. The ille- gality of their control is unquestioned, but the power of authority was theirs, and claiming the right under the act of April 21, 1806, they laid out the com- mons north of Adams Avenue into what was known as "Park Lots." including the ground on both sides of Woodward Avenue and extending northward nearly to the present boulevard. On March 6, 1809, forty-one of them were sold at auction. This sale was opposed by the people and a petition was presented to the governor and judges, praying them to annul the sale and to return the lots to the people for use as a public commons forever. This petition was not granted. The laying out of the commons south of Adams Avenue was also protested against.
The Park Lots constituted a part of the 10,000-acre tract donated by Con- gress in 1806. The Park Lots themselves were surveyed by James MeCloskey in December, 1808, but the remainder of the tract was not surveyed until 1816, when it was divided by Joseph Fletcher into twelve lots of eighty acres each, and forty-eight lots of 160 acres each.
GOVERNOR AND JUDGES AS A LAND BOARD
In distributing the "donation lots" that is, the lots awarded to those who had lost their homes in the fire-the governor and judges experienced con- siderable difficulty. Through the delay in the adoption of a plan for the town, the people were compelled to live in such abodes as they could improvise. In this manner they lived through the hard winter of 1805-6, very dissatisfied with their lot and impatient with the ruling powers.
The first meeting of the governor and judges as a land board occurred September 6, 1806, nearly fifteen months after the fire. At that meeting and subsequent meetings the same month, the plan was adopted providing for the sale of all corner lots, and certain others, those less valuable to be given to the fire sufferers.
A public meeting was held October 6, 1806, to protest against this method of distribution and a few days later the people were requested to present a plan as they would approve, and this they did on October 16th. This plan was substantially adopted one month later. Under its provisions, the in- habitants of the town at the time of the fire were divided into three classes: (1) Those who owned lots at the time of the fire; (2) Those who owned or
₹
IR
AKE
HARDWARE HC WEBER ICU
DETROIT , OPERA
KERNS
-
BILLTANDY
SAKER
CAMPUS MARTIUS IN 1919
325
CITY OF DETROIT
occupied houses; (3) Those who resided in the town, but were neither lot owners nor householders.
Persons in the first class who had improved their lots subsequent to the fire were allowed to retain their holdings; some of them having lots in excess of size were asked to pay a few cents per square foot for the surplus. By the end of the year the governor had decided the rights of all the claimants, and every person in town, male or female, and whom were judged eligible, to the number of 251, were awarded donation lots. But another difficulty arose. Some three weeks after, the question arose as to the eligibility of those who had come to Detroit since the occupation by the British and who had not taken the oath of allegiance. The decision was against this class, consequently about two-thirds of those who had drawn donation lots were deprived of them. However, the act of 1806 was given a liberal interpretation and everyone re- ceived donation lots, whether entitled to them or not. These donation lots were given with many strings attached and they were traded about and trans- ferred by many owners. The donation files in the city records disclose the fact that there were only 158 receipts given for donation lots.
The governor and judges were required, by the original act of Congress, to report their proceedings, but they failed to do so until Congress, by the act of May 30, 1830, required them to transmit a plat of the city. They made no report to Congress upon their management of the Park Lots and 10,000-acre tract, even to the disposal of a single lot or the receipt of a single dollar re- ceived from the sale of lots. Great quantities of land were at their disposal and they were unhindered in manipulating it to their own satisfaction, which they did, if we are to believe the frequent memorials and official protests from the indignant citizens. Farmer writes in his History of Detroit :
"That no account was rendered is made apparent by the fact that the memorial of a committee of citizens to Congress, in January, 1823, printed in the Detroit Gazette, says that no statement of the receipts or expenses of the Territory had ever been made public, and that even the appropriation laws had not been published, except in one or two instances. The article also sets forth 'That the Governor and Judges, as trustees of the Detroit Fund, had already been in the management of that trust for sixteen years, and no court- house is as yet built, or any steps taken towards building one; no account has ever been rendered of their proceedings in the management of said fund, either for the information of the people for whose benefit the grant was made, or to Congress who made the grant. That one of the judges is directly and volun- tarily interested to a very large extent in the funds of that trust; and we have interest has a direct influence on the management of the concerns of that reason to believe, from his conduct as a member of the Land Board, that that trust.' "
The last session of the governor and judges as a land board was held July 1, 1836. It was a singular thing that for over two decades after the establish- ment of a regular city government the governor and judges had maintained control over the property committed to them originally and that not for several years after their authority ceased were their affairs closed up.
CHARTER OF 1815
On October 24, 1815, Gov. Lewis Cass approved an act of the Territorial Legislature granting a new charter to Detroit and restoring the control of local
326
CITY OF DETROIT
affairs to the people, with the exception of the distribution of lots as mentioned in the preceding paragraph. The form of the charter of 1815 was somewhat similar to the one of 1802. The act defined the city limits, increasing the area of the incorporated district to 1.36 square miles, and authorized the election of five trustees on the last Monday in October, to serve until the first Monday in May, 1816, after which date officers were to be elected annually.
Solomon Sibley was the first chairman of the board of trustees and asso- ciated with him was James Abbott. The trustees elected at the regular annual election May 6, 1816, were: Peter Desnoyers, Abraham Edwards, George Mc- Dougall, Stephen Mack and Oliver W. Miller. MeDougall was elected chairman, but resigned about two months before the expiration of his term and Oliver Williams was chosen to fill the vacancy.
The last board of trustees under the act of 1815 was elected in 1823 and was composed of James Abbott, Calvin Baker, Louis Dequindre, Henry J. Hunt and John P. Sheldon. Mr. Abbott was named as chairman and was the last man to hold that office. Before the expiration of the year for which this board of trustees was elected, the Legislature passed an act providing for a new form of government for Detroit.
THE COMMON COUNCIL
By the act of August 5, 1824, the city government was vested in a mayor, recorder and a common council of five members. The aet provided that a special election should be held on the first Monday in September, the officials then elected to serve until the first regular annual election on the first Monday in April, 1825. It also defined the city boundaries and authorized the mayor and two aldermen to act as a court in the trial of cases for violation of the city laws and ordinances, The mayor was also to preside at all meetings of the council.
At the election on September 6, 1824, John R. Williams was chosen mayor ; Andrew G. Whitney, recorder, which office was appointive by the couneil until 1849, then elective; Shubael Conant, Orville Cook, Peter J. Desnoyers, Melvin Dorr and David C. Mckinstry, aldermen. The first regular eleetion was held on April 5, 1825. Mayor Williams was reelected and Recorder Whitney was rcappointed, and the following were chosen aldermen: Orville Cook, Robert A. Forsyth, David C. MeKinstry, Thomas Rowland and William Woodbridge.
The first session of the common council was held on September 21, 1824, Mayor Williams presiding. Just where this meeting was held is not certain, but it must have been some place where the light was insufficient, as at the next meeting, four evenings later, the marshal was instructed to "purchase for the use of the council and mayor's court four brass candlesticks, two pairs of snuffers, ten pounds of sperm candles and a box for the safe keeping of the same."
As the city at that time owned no building in which council meetings could be held, the aldermen sometimes met in an office belonging to one of the mem- bers; a few meetings were held at Woodworth's Steamboat Hotel, on the north- west corner of Randolph and Woodbridge streets; and a few others in the old council house, on the corner of Randolph Street and Jefferson Avenue. After the city came into possession of the military reservation in 1826, one of the fort buildings known as Military Hall was moved from the reservation and fitted up as a meeting place for the common council. Meetings were held therein
327
CITY OF DETROIT
until 1834. From November 19, 1834, until the completion of the city hall the next year, meetings were held in the old council house or in a room in the Williams Block, on the corner of Bates Street and Jefferson Avenue. The small room assigned to the council in the city hall was not satisfactory and only a few sessions were held there in 1835. Quarters were then secured in the old Firemen's Hall, on the northwest corner of Bates and Larned streets. The first session was held here December 24, 1839, in an upper room. This remained the meeting place until July 18, 1871, when all branches of the municipal government were moved to the new city hall, which had just been completed.
CHARTER AMENDMENTS
In the meantime a number of amendments had been made to the city charter by action of the legislative council or the Legislature. By the aet of April 4, 1827, the municipality was reorganized under the name of "The Mayor, Re- corder, Aldermen and Freemen of the City of Detroit." New boundaries were defined, increasing the area of the city to 2.56 square miles. The act provided for the annual election, on the first Monday in April, of a mayor, recorder (appointed by council), five aldermen, clerk, marshal, treasurer, supervisor, assessor, collector and three constables. Another act, approved eight days later, increased the number of aldermen to seven and the same day the city was erected into a civil township.
The first election under the new charter amendments was held April 7, 1828. The resultant officers were: John Biddle, mayor; Benjamin F. H. With- erell, recorder; John J. Deming, clerk; Henry S. Cole, treasurer; Samuel Sherwood, supervisor; Jeremiah Moors, assessor; Abram C. Caniff, collector; Jedediah Hunt, marshal ; Henry M. Campbell, Levi Cook, Jeremialı Dean, John Farrar, Charles Jackson, John Mullett and John P. Sheldon, aldermen ; Thomas Knowlton, Elias S. Swan and James M. Wilson, constables.
Under the new act the common council was given power to construct sewers; to alter the plan of the city between the Brush and Cass farms north of Larned Street ; to lay out lots anew, and to exchange lots with owners or compensate them in money; and to exercise jurisdiction over the Detroit River for half a mile above the city limits, to prevent the pollution of the water.
CITY DIVIDED INTO WARDS
According to the United States census of 1820, the population of Detroit was 1,442. Ten years later it was 2,222. By the census of 1836, taken pre- paratory to the admission of Michigan into the Union, the number of inhabitants had increased to 6,927. The annexations of 1827, 1832 and 1836 had increased the incorporated area to 5.26 square miles and the government established in 1827 was inadequate in many respects to the needs of the rapidly growing city. Michigan was admitted to statehood January 26, 1837, and the third session of the State Legislature passed an act providing a new charter for Detroit. This act, which was approved by Governor Mason, March 27, 1839, divided the city into six wards; provided for the election of two aldermen and an assessor for each ward; changed the time of the annual election to the first Monday in March, beginning in 1840; and enlarged the powers of the city couneil in the matter of taxes and public improvements.
The first election under the new act was held April 1, 1839. De Garmo
328
CITY OF DETROIT
Jones was elected mayor; Alexander D. Fraser, recorder (appointive) ; George Byrd, clerk; John C. Williams, treasurer; Shubael Conant, supervisor; Abram C. Caniff, collector; Albert Marsh, marshal. At this election, for the first time in the history of the city, aldermen, assessors and constables were elected by wards. The result was as follows:
First Ward-George C. Bates and' Henry H. Leroy, aldermen ; Thomas J. Owen, assessor; David B. Wilcox, constable.
Second Ward-Chauncey Hurlbut and John Palmer, aldermen; David Cooper, assessor; George Miller, constable.
Third Ward-John J. Garrison aud Andrew T. MeReynolds, aldermen ; Atla E. Mather, assessor ; William W. Johnson, constable.
Fourth Ward-Peter Desnoyers and Charles Moran, aldermeu; Noah Sut- ton, assessor; John Reno, constable.
Fifth Ward-Charles M. Bull and Alexander H. Stowell, aldermen; David W. Fiske, assessor: Robert Nichol, constable.
Sixth Ward-James Stewart and William F. Chittenden, aldermen ; William Barclay, assessor; John Daly, constable.
By the act of the Legislature of April 13, 1841, the council was given power to regulate the construction of drains and sewers; to pass ordinances for the prevention of fires; to control the erection of buildings; to prohibit the im- portation of paupers; to require a residence of thirty days in a ward pre- ceding elections, instead of ten days; to regulate the building of sidewalks. and defining more specifically the jurisdiction of the mayor's court.
In 1848 another ward was created from the old fourth ward and the act provided that the mayor, recorder and a majority of the aldermen should be necessary to form a quorum for the transaction of business. The following year the city limits were extended and the eighth ward was formed, which increased the number of aldermen to sixteen.
CHARTER OF 1857
Between the years 1849 and 1857 a few changes of minor character were made in the city's fundamental law. By an act of the Legislature, approved by Governor Bingham on February 5, 1857, the corporate name of the city was desiguated as "The City of Detroit"; the incorporated arca was con- siderably enlarged; the time of holding city elections was changed to the "first Tuesday after the first Monday in November"; provision was made that the aldermen then in office should continue as such until January, 1858, and that at the November election in 1857 two aldermen should be elected from each of the ten wards, one to serve for one year and one for two years, after which one alderman should be elected from each ward annually. The new charter also provided for a board of sewer commissioners; established a recorder's court ; fixed the mayor's salary at $1,200 per annum (which was afterwards reduced) ; defined a voter's place of residence as "the place where he takes his meals"; empowered the council to drain lands within three miles of the city limits; to number the houses and to license various kinds of business; authorized the assessor and aldermen to attend the annual meeting of the board of supervisors as representatives of the city's interest ; and limited the rate of city tax to one per cent of the assessed valuation of property. It also provided for only one assessor instead of one from each ward as formerly, the assessor to have two assistants. Prior to this time the mayor or, in his absence,
--
+
DETROIT SKYSCRAPERS-DIME BANK, PENOBSCOT AND FORD BUILDINGS
331
CITY OF DETROIT
the recorder, presided over the council, but the new charter authorized the council to elect its own president.
At the election on November 3, 1857, the following officers were elected, to take office on the first Monday in January, 1858: Oliver M. Hyde, mayor; Henry A. Morrow, recorder; Francis W. Hughes, clerk; John Campbell, treas- urer ; Winslow W. Wilcox, assessor. Under the new law a collector was elected in each ward. Those elected in November, 1857, from wards No. 1 to No. 10 respectively were: John Collins, Jeremiah Calnon, James Sherlock, Charles Lotz, Thomas J. Barry, Earl F. Plantz, John Reno, Thomas Holley, George W. Burchell and James Dubois.
In the following list of aldermen elected in 1857, the first named was chosen for one year and the second for two years: first ward, William C. Duncan and Gurdon O. Williams; second ward, George Niles and William H. Craig; third ward, Edward V. Cicotte and Henry Miller; fourth ward, Edward N. Lacroix and Solomon Wesley; fifth ward, William Gibbings and A. Smith Bagg; sixth ward, John D. Fairbanks and Mark Flanigan ; seventh ward, Edward Doyle and George Miller; eighth ward, Henry Gordon and Patrick Gallagher ; ninth ward, William L. Woodbridge and Henry Wilson; tenth ward, Henry Zender and Theodore L. Campan.
CITIZENS' MEETINGS
With the incorporation of Detroit in 1802, the New England custom of submitting all questions of public expenditure, the amount to be expended and the manner of raising the money to an annual town or citizens' meeting was adopted. At these meetings every taxpayer had the right to be heard, marked differences of opinion were frequently manifested, propositions to appropriate money for really beneficial purposes were often defeated, and at other times carried by a very close vote. Nevertheless, the custom prevailed nntil the voting population of the city became so large that the citizens' meetings grew unwieldy.
The last meeting of this nature was held in the spring of 1872. By an act of the Legislature, approved by Governor Baldwin on April 15, 1871, pro- visions were made for the appointment of a board of park commissioners and the purchase of land for a public park. A. Smith Bagg, John J. Bagley, William A. Butler, George V. N. Lothrop, Merrill I. Mills, Robert P. Toms, Charles C. Trowbridge and Charles I. Walker were appointed commissioners, and they selected a tract of ground, with a half-mile river frontage, in Ham- tramck Township for the park. This selection of a park site was unsatisfactory to a large number of the citizens, though it was approved by the conneil, which passed a resolution on November 21, 1871, authorizing a bond issue of $200,000 for park purposes.
The storm of protest refused to subside and the mayor called a citizens' meeting, to be held in the circuit court room in the new city hall on Wednesday, December 27, 1871, to vote on the question of issuing the bonds. The room was packed and there was so much confusion that the vote was in doubt. This led to another meeting on May 1, 1872, at the Griswold Street entrance to the city hall. Again there was a large attendance, but perfect order in an ont- door meeting was impossible, so again no decision was reached. This was the last citizens' meeting. It was so generally unsatisfactory that thoughtful men agreed that some better system of approving tax estimates and appropriations
.
332
CITY OF DETROIT
should be adopted. In answer to this popular demand, the Legislature passed an act creating the
BOARD OF ESTIMATES
The law establishing the board of estimates was approved on March 28, 1873. It provided for the election on the first Monday in April of five members from the city at large, to serve for two years, and two from each ward, one to serve for one year and one for two years. After the first election one member was elected annually from each ward and five were elected biennially from the city at large. The city controller, city counselor, president of the common council, chairman of the committee on ways and means, presidents of the vari- ous boards and commissions, and the senior inspector of the House of Correc- tion were members ex-officio, with the privilege of taking part in the discussions, but without the right to vote. The council was required to submit all estimates to the board between the first Monday in March and the 15th of April. The board had power to reduce the estimates thus submitted, but not to increase them.
At the election on April 7, 1873, Henry P. Bridge, William C. Duncan, Peter Henkel, Thomas W. Palmer and Eber B. Ward were elected members at large; Francis Adams and William Foxen, from the first ward; Benjamin P. Mumford and Hiram Walker, from the second ward; William R. Candler and William G. Thompson, from the third ward; William N. Carpenter and Joseph Kuhn, from the fourth ward; Robert W. King and Albert Ives, from the fifth ward; William Duncan and Nicholas Senninger, from the sixth ward; James M. Miller and Edward Eecard, from the seventh ward; Daniel Guiney and Thomas Griffith, from the eighth ward; David M. Richardson and Michael Haller, from the ninth ward; and Charles Byram and Milton Frost, from the tenth ward.
Another change was made in the city government by the act of April 12, 1881, when the Legislature abolished the board of estimates and conferred all the powers exercised by that body upon a board of councilmen, to consist of twelve members elected at large. The first twelve members, elected November 8, 1881, were: Henry D. Barnard, Thomas Berry, Samuel G. Caskey, Stephen B. Grummond, Albert M. Henry, Joseph T. Lowry, John McGregor, Henry R. Newberry, Samuel A. Plummer, Albert II. Raynor, Frederick W. Swift and Samuel C. Watson.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.