USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. I > Part 49
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The democratic convention was held in Detroit, July 10th. Its platform was brief, but continued an adherence to the traditional hard money doctrine of the democracy in the following language: "We declare that gold and silver coin are the money of the constitution, and that all paper money should be convertible into such coin at the will of the holder. We are opposed to the further forcible reduction of the volume of currency, and we approve the action of Congress pro- hibiting such reduction." Orlando M. Barnes was the candidate for governor.
The campaign that followed was the hottest up to that time in Michigan politics; eminent speakers were brought from other states, the Republican list including James G. Blaine, James A. Garfield and Gen. Stewart L. Woodford. Hundreds of school-house meetings were held and a series of joint debates were arranged. Such was the popular interest that people often remained after the meetings propounding their financial theories till after midnight. The campaign resulted in a republican triumph. The vote on governor was, Crosswell, 126,280; Barnes, 78,508; Smith, 73,313. The republicans also elected all nine congress- men and a good majority in both branches of the Legislature.
THE MICHIGAN CLUB AND ITS WORK
A political movement that was far-reaching in its effects was inaugurated in Detroit early in 1885. The election in 1884 was a disappointment to the repub- licans. The party majorities in the state on governor and president were much smaller than usual, the First Congressional District was lost and for the first time since the civil war a democratic president was elected. In a conversation between Col. John Atkinson, the defeated republican candidate for Congress, and the chairman of his campaign committee, Henry A. Haigh, emphasis was given to the need of better organization and a campaign of education. A conference with party leaders was arranged by Colonel Atkinson and the idea took definite form in January, 1885, when a number of Detroiters of business and political prominence met at the Russell House and drew up a plan for a club, the object of which should be "the promotion of the study of political and social science, and the collection and dissemination of knowledge concerning the civil and polit- ical institutions of the state and nation." Articles of incorporation were signed a month later. The charter members were twenty-five in number, all prominent business and professional men, only three or four of whom would in the ordinary acceptation of the term have been styled politicians. On the 22d of February the first officers were chosen. Christian H. Buhl was president and Henry A. Haigh, secretary. This was considered the natal day of the organization and was the date of all future annual meetings, elections and banquets. The organ- ization was christened "The Michigan Club," and the name continued for twenty years to be a synonym for intelligent and efficient political action. As the first step an attractive and centrally located club room was opened and sup- plied with good political literature. Arrangements were made for general meet-
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ings and for club talks at smaller gatherings, eight of the former and sixteen of the latter being held the first year. A Young Men's League was also formed and held eleven meetings. By the end of the year the club had reached a member- ship of 2,000 and the League had 250 members.
A SERIES OF NOTABLE BANQUETS
The culminating event of the year was the first annual banquet held in the Princess Theater on the evening of February 22, 1886. This was well staged and set the pace for subsequent functions. The banquet hall itself was a scene of elaborate and tasteful decoration. The menu, though mostly of cold dishes was appetizing and was well served, the music was well selected and the speaking was of a superior order. Sen. Thomas W. Palmer was toastmaster and Governor Alger gave the address of welcome. The speakers for the evening were Sen. William M. Evarts, of New York; Gov. J. B. Foraker, of Ohio; Congressman Richard Guenther, of Wisconsin; Gen. John A. Logan, of Illinois; Sen. Charles F. Manderson, of Nebraska; Sen. Omar D. Conger and Congressman Roswell G. Horr, of Michigan. Letters of regret were read or filed from James G. Blaine, John C. Fremont, John Sherman and a host of cabinet ministers, United States senators and other political lights. Senator Evarts had for the text of his address "Washington the Nationalist, the Federal Union, the Consummate of his work." Other toasts appropriate to the day were: "Washington the Republican," "Washington the Surveyor and Farmer," "Washington the Soldier," "Wash- ington the Protectionist," and "The Day We Celebrate." Still others were, "Our State Governments," "The American Citizen" and "Our New Empire, the Rowdy West," the response to the latter being by Senator Manderson.
This first banquet was typical of those that followed. They were all marked by elaborate decorations both flag and floral, an elegant spread, and political addresses of the highest order and upon a great variety of subjects. Among the speakers within the next five years appear the names of Senators Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts; John P. Dolliver, of Iowa, one of the most eloquent ยท of political orators; Warner Miller, of New York; Jacob H. Gallinger, of New Hampshire; Blanche K. Bruce, of Mississippi, the only colored man ever elected to the United States Senate; John M. Thurston, of Nebraska; William P. Frye, of Maine and Anthony Iliggins, of Delaware. Gen. Stewart L. Woodford, of New York, was on the list three times, and Gen. Horace Porter once. A number of cabinet officers and governors of other states attended, while many Michigan governors, senators and congressmen helped swell the lists. At other banquets there were toasts to "Washington the Revolutionist," "Washington the Union- ist," "Washington the Soldier," "Washington, the Prototype of American Re- publicanism," and "Washington, the Virginian," the response to the latter being by John S. Wise of that state. But the toasts were not by any means all devoted to the Father of His Country. In the course of twenty years they covered most of the essential principles and purposes of the Republican party and a number of its slogans.
The banquet of 1SSS was a notable one from the fact that the three principal speakers were all recognized as Presidential aspirants or at least as Presidential possibilities. They were Joseph R. Hawley, who was Connecticut's "favorite son" with other New England support in two national conventions, Benjamin Harrison and William Mckinley, who were the next two republican presidents. Presidential prospects were freely discussed at club gatherings, and Presidential
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timber was not lacking on the programs. During the first five or six years the following were on the list of speakers and they all figured later as candidates in Republican national conventions: Thomas B. Reed, of Maine; John Sherman, of Ohio; John A. Logan, of Illinois; Russell A. Alger, of Michigan; Charles W. Fair- banks, of Indiana and William B. Allison, of Iowa. Among the speakers in the later years of the club were Frank O. Lowden and Gen. Leonard Wood, both of whom cut a large figure in the national republican convention of 1920. Of all the Presidential possibilities who addressed the club, Hawley and McKinley were favorites. Senator Hawley spoke at two banquets and sent letters of regret to two others. McKinley was among the chief speakers at three banquets before 1896 and once after he became president.
PROPAGANDA WORK
The organization and literature of the club played up individuals strongly. An account of the proceedings one year showed sixteen on the general executive committee, 120 members picked from all over the state on the reception commit- tee, and twelve other committees with from six to fifteen members each. The presidents were generally business men, and not politicians nor office holders. The first nine in succession were Christian H. Buhl, James L. Edson, Clarence A. Black, William H. Elliott, Hazen S. Pingree, Horace Hitchcock, Thomas Berry, George S. Davis and Magnus Butzel.
In the odd numbered years when state elections were held in the spring it became the custom to hold the republican state convention in Detroit on the 22d of February or the day before. The Michigan Club kept open house on these occasions. General Alger also commonly opened his home for a reception to club members and convention delegates. This was always a brilliant social event, while the smoking room and the room adjoining were the scenes of more or less political conference. How many governors, congressmen and other offi- cials were made and unmade in these two days of convention, banquet and club house conferences the public could never conjecture.
The banquets were the most conspicuous of the club's functions, but its other activities were great. In the second year the directors held twenty-five meetings, steps were taken through the Young Men's League to organize every election precinct in the city, and branch clubs, with an average of 400 members each, were organized in fifteen counties. The fourth annual report covering mostly the calendar year 18SS showed continued work in the organization of branches, and a League of Michigan republican clubs. The parent club was also identified in a conspicuous way with the republican national convention at Chicago, where it established headquarters. In the campaign which followed the club had ninety-one speakers on its list and arranged for 131 meetings in Wayne County.
The influence of the club was not confined to its own county or state. Two of the speakers at its first banquet, William M. Evarts of New York and Governor Foraker of Ohio were so much impressed with the value of the club plan for political work that they took steps to secure similar organization in their own states, in both of which large numbers of separate clubs were subsequently estab- lished, and consolidated into state leagues. The movement extended still further, for upon invitation of the republican club of New York, delegates from clubs throughout the country met in that city in December, 1887, and organized the Republican League of the United States. At this meeting, the Michigan Club, as the first organization of its kind in the country, was given a prominent
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place and the delegates were among the leaders in the councils of the convention. The League of College Republican Clubs was a later outgrowth of the same movement. The original organization in Detroit thus became a veritable incu- bator of political elubs.
THE LATER POLITICAL CAMPAIGN
Aside from the three here summarized the political movements in Michigan did not vary greatly from those in other northwestern states. The free silver campaign of 1896 was the most hotly contested of any. It weakened old party lines and shattered old alliances. It appealed to business men, as such, more strongly than any other; was marked by more meetings, more speeches and a far greater volume of literature than any other contest. It was in this campaign that noonday meetings at the factories were first conducted on a large scale. A large room on the ground floor of an office building, then under construction, was used for meetings every noon for several weeks. Open air meetings on the Campus Martius had such a hold upon participants that they were reluctant to let go. Arguments and exhortations were vocal from the city hall steps from 8 o'clock in the morning till 2 o'clock the next morning. Even on election day when half their hearers had already voted three of these curbstone orators were still vociferous in the enunciation of their views. It was the greenback campaign over again with added intensity and duration. The circulation of documents was enormous. On the silver side it had been going on for two years. On the other side sixty different documents to the number of more than 4,000,000 copies were sent out by the republican state central committee alone, and large books of reference were furnished in great numbers to the speakers. The result was a substantial majority for McKinley, both in eity and state. As a progressive state Michigan naturally went to Roosevelt in 1912, but returned to its repub- lican allegiance in 1916, and remained there very decidedly in 1920.
CHAPTER XX SLAVERY AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
BY WILLIAM STOCKING
SLAVERY AND THE COLORED PEOPLE IN MICHIGAN-ADOPTION OF THE HIGHER LAW-THE BLACKBURN RESCUE AND RIOT OTHER SLAVE RESCUES-THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD AND ITS OPERATION-THE ANTI-NEGRO RIOT OF 1863-PLANS FORMULATED HERE FOR THE JOHN BROWN RAID IN 1859-A NOTABLE CELEBRATION OF NEGRO ENFRANCHISEMENT.
Although the ordinance of 1787 dedicated the Northwest Territory to free- dom from both Indian and negro slavery, both existed in Michigan for some time after that, as an aftermath of the British rule. The few Indian slaves were mostly captives from the Pawnee Tribe, frequently mentioned in the early records as "Pani slaves." The original source of supply of negro slaves was southern plantations from which marauding bands of Indians brought fugitives. The number in bondage at one time was never large, though most of the lead- ing families were in possession of one or more of this class. They were generally employed as house servants or personal attendants, and in the War of 1812 several accompanied their masters into the field. Joseph Campau, George McDougall, James Duperon Baby, James Abbott, Judge James May, Gen. John R. Williams and John Askin are among those mentioned in the early annals as possessing this kind of property. In 1792 the Canadian authorities forbade the further importation of slaves, but the order was not strictly observed. After the surrender of the forts in 1796, in spite of the ordinance of 1787, slaves were still held in accordance with the stipulation in the Jay Treaty that the inhabitants should be protected in their property. Slavery, however, whether Indian or negro, was a very minor incident in the life of the town. It gradually died out and the sentiment not only of Detroit but of all southern Michigan became in time quite hostile to it. The Constitution of 1835 expressly pro- hibited slavery in the state. In 1837 one of the first antislavery societies in the west was organized in Detroit. It was short-lived, but the feeling that gave rise to it had already found expression in two very practical ways, passive resistance to the enforcement of the existing fugitive slave law and active aid to fugitives escaping from the South.
ADOPTION OF "THE HIGHER LAW"
There was a large body of men in the North, and Michigan had its full share of them, who were law abiding in most respects but who were uncom- promisingly hostile to the Fugitive Slave Law. That act was legally adopted and was of unquestioned constitutionality. But the "Higher Law" doctrine held by these men was that congressional enactment could not make binding upon the conscience nor the acts of citizens a law which was in itself morally
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wrong. They considered the whole slavery system an iniquity, and the fugi- tive slave law as not only wrong in principle, but as harsh in its terms and wantonly eruel, irritating, mischievous and unjust in the methods of its enforce- ment. In some states they sought to destroy its efficacy by personal liberty laws, but as individuals they simply disobeyed it. For the most part, however, they did not counsel revolution, secession nor armed resistance. Many of them supplemented the higher law by the doctrine of "passive resistance."
If a man of this type knew of a fugitive concealed in Detroit or making his way to Canada he did not consider it a part of his duty to inform the United States marshal of that faet. If he was caught aiding or abetting the eseape of the fugitive he would not resist arrest. If he was imprisoned he would bear it with composure. But as God was his judge no power on earth could make him assist to enforce a law which he considered morally wrong and an outrage upon the rights of man. The attempts made in Detroit to enforce the old Fugitive Slave Law led to a few very dramatic events, and had much to do with the enaetment of the severer law of 1850.
THE BLACKBURN RESCUE AND RIOT
Runaway slaves frequently found their way to Detroit, generally with the view of crossing over to Canada, though some took the risk of remaining here. Among the latter were Thornton Blackburn and his wife who ran away from their master at Louisville, Kentucky, and came to Detroit in the year 1830. The husband labored for Thomas Coquillard until the summer of 1833, when his master, having obtained information of the whereabouts of his two slaves, sent his agent to this eity to claim them as "fugitives from labor." After a trial before Justice Chipman, the runaways were delivered into the eustody of Sheriff John M. Wilson, and lodged in the jail, which then stood where the downtown publie library now (1920) stands. This oeeurred on Saturday; and, on the following Monday, the slaves were to be delivered on board the steamer "Ohio," which had been delayed two days beyond her usual time to receive them. Wilson and his deputy, Lemuel Goodell, were, each to receive S5C for the safe delivery of the fugitives at the dock, at the foot of Randolph Street, then the leading business point in the city. On Sunday Mrs. Black- burn was visited in the jail by two friends, Mrs. Madison J. Lightfoot and Mrs. George French. The latter exchanged elothes with Mrs. Blackburn, who walked out of the jail unsuspected. Mrs. French was released from her voluntary incarceration on a writ of habeas corpus, was subsequently rearrested, but finally eseaped to Canada. When being taken from jail to the boat on the Monday following his arrest Blackburn himself was reseued by a mob of colored men and their friends, rushed out Gratiot Avenue, then around the eity to the Rouge and across the river to Sandwich. In the melee attending the reseue one negro was shot and the sheriff sustained a fractured skull, his teeth were knocked out and he was otherwise injured.
There was great excitement over this event which was afterwards known as the "First Negro Insurrection." The military were at once ealled out. A company of horsemen, with General Williams at their head, patrolled the streets. Bugles were sounded, and the firebells added to the alarm. The announcement was made at every corner that "the niggers have risen and the sheriff is killed." Every colored man and woman found in the streets was arrested and lodged in the jail, which was crowded to the door. Those who
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were innocent of participating in the riot were set free on giving bail for their good behavior. Those who could not give the proper security were kept in prison. The guilty ones were fined in various sums, or sentenced to work on the streets, with ball and chain at their feet. The more guilty had to work and pay a fine in addition. Lightfoot was confined three days, because he was supposed to know who gave Blackburn the pistol, and refused to tell. French made tracks for Windsor. Mrs. Lightfoot was fined $25 for being "the prime mover in the riot." This she never denied although the real leader was a one-handed barber named Cook. Blackburn and his wife were arrested on the other side, detained for a while, then released and went to Amherstburg. They finally moved to Toronto where Blackburn became prominent and acquired considerable property. Ten years later he took the risk of going in disguise to Louisville and stole his mother from slavery.
OTHER SLAVE RESCUES
The contemporary records give accounts of fugitive slaves rescued from their southern pursuers, though no others quite so dramatic as the Blackburn case. There were always bright and resourceful blacks and plenty of their white friends ready to aid in baffling the slave hunters and the latter complained that even the local officials were either indifferent or obstructive.
One of the last cases under the old law, the Cromwell-Dunn case, illustrated both these phases. Robert Cromwell, a young colored man, left his master, David Dunn of St. Louis, taught school for some years in Indiana and then moved to Detroit. Dunn learned of his whereabouts, came to Detroit, and secured his arrest and detention in the United States courthouse. Cromwell, however, was aided to escape to Windsor, while Dunn was himself arrested, under Michigan law, on the charge of abduction. In default of the high bail demanded he remained in jail six months before his case came to trial and then barely escaped conviction. The ultimate result of this case was not so favorable to the fugitives in general. Dunn was a man of political prominence in Missouri, on intimate terms with Sen. Thomas H. Benton and the recital of his experiences had much to do with the enactment of The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.
One of the first cases brought under that law was that of Silas Rose. He had escaped from slavery in Kentucky and had lived in Detroit several years. After the law went into effect he was betrayed by a fellow workman on the Woodbridge farm, was tried in the United States Court and remanded to his former master. Preparations were made to resist his rendition, the Scott Guards were called out and there was every indication of a serious conflict. But a more peaceful course was adopted. A subscription paper was headed by General Cass and money enough was raised to purchase Rose's freedom.
The enactment of the second Fugitive Slave Law, that of 1850, had a depress- ing effect upon the colored people of Detroit. Many of them sacrificed their property to get away, not knowing how soon they might be carried back into slavery, and it was found necessary by the leading men of the community to assure them that the danger was more imaginary than real. But a sense of security could hardly be established among them. The aiding of fugitives to escape, however, continued to prosper, the number of fugitives crossing at this point became larger than ever, as many as forty-three having been run over in one night, and if the negroes were afraid to live in Detroit, the slave-
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hunters also gave the place a wide berth. Isolated minor eases of slave arrests happened from time to time, but little exeitement attended them, and no more slaves were returned from this point.
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
During this whole period Detroit people took a very active part in the fugi- tive slave rescue work that went under the name of "The Underground Rail- road." This secret line of communication between Kentucky and Canada had many ramifieations and devious routes. The principal "way stations" in Michigan were White Pigeon, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and Marshall. Dependable "agents" were at all these stations. The most successful one was Erastus Hussey, a Quaker, living in Battle Creek, who in the course of his long service aided 1,300 fugitives to eseape. Charles T. Gorham, a leading eitizen of Marshall, was onee tried and fined for his participation in the work. Zachariah Chandler headed a paper with a subseription for paying the fine, but Mr. Gorham preferred to settle with the court out of his own funds. In Detroit the shrewd and efficient "agent" was George DeBaptist, a eolored man, and associated with him was another well known colored resident, William Lambert. DeBaptist began his rescue work in 1829, when as a mere lad he aided a fugitive to escape from Richmond, Virginia. In 1838 he became the station agent at Madison, Indiana, which was one of the main crossing points from the slave to the free states. He remained there eight years and during that period he started 108 fugitives toward the north in his own wagon, besides assisting many times that number in other ways. After eight years at Madison he moved to Detroit and continued the work there. The following is con- densed from an account once given by Mr. DeBaptist to the writer of the methods pursued in the rescue work: The principal stations on the Ohio river were Cin- cinnati and Madison from these there were lines extending through the South. From the Ohio River, a chain of stations, a short distance apart, extended to . White Pigeon in this state. The fugitives were generally the most intelligent negroes of the South. Frequently they were nearly white, and some were pure white. Agents of the road were constantly traveling in all the southern states. It was their business to convey passengers as far as the Ohio. On the arrival of a fugitive near that river, notice was sent to agents on this side. As it was not safe to write in any letter any intimation of the business of the road, seeret means of communication were devised. For instance, Mr. De- Baptist would receive a letter stating: "There is a chance to purchase a horse that will suit your purpose. He is a mahogany bay, young, well broken, large and is just the thing for a minister. You can see him on Tuesday afternoon. Price $100." From this letter, the agent would understand that a large mulatto, who was a church member, desired his aid to eseape north; that he would be at the station in Louisville, Tuesday night, and that he had $100 to pay his expense. If the letter had described a light brown filly, he would have known that the fugitive was a light colored girl. If it was said that the price would be cheap, he would know that the fugitive had no money, or but very little, and must be provided for by the railroad company. Or the letter would state that "I have secured for you a pair of black and tan pups-good ratters, but young. They will be ready for you next Monday." That would mean two fugitive children. Sometimes the writer would state that the animals, what- ever they were, would be sent across the river. In that case, on the night of
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