USA > Michigan > Saginaw County > The county of Saginaw, Michigan : topography, history, art folio > Part 7
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October 8, 1805, the Marshall was authorized to contract with any person offering the lowest bid for the support of each pauper, but limiting his authority to contract for a greater sum than twenty-five cents per day. It appears also therein that an Indian named Ke-wa-bish-kim, had been con- victed of the murder of one Chas. Ulrich, in the year 1821, and on the 21st day of January, 1822, the Governor and Judges appropriated $176.55, to pay to Austin E. Wing, sheriff of Wayne County, for services rendered by him in the Supreme Court, and for executing said Indian. To Thos. Rowland, they also appropriated $33.88 for erecting a gal- lows for the execution of said Indian.
Samuel B. Beach, by legislative act, was duly authorized to plead and practice in the several Courts of law and equity, in the territory.
126
March 8, 1822, there was appropriated to Chas. Larned, one hundred dollars for his salary as Attorney-General for one year. It is somewhat interesting after all, to peruse these brief references to the legislation of the Fathers of the terri- tory. I have selected them because strikingly in contrast with the legislation of today, and the salaries paid to men now occupying official positions.
It is indeed interesting to "look upon this picture and upon that." A charming simplicity is exhibited throughout these antiquated tomes, the territorial laws, and withall, a direct- ness, clearness and brevity not equalled by modern legislation.
The men who set in motion the territorial government, and erected and established its early laws, were men eminently fit "to lay the foundations of an empire."
THE INDIAN TREATY OF 1819.
In 1819 the Aborigines held absolute sway over the fer- tile and beauteous valley of the Saginaw and the surround- ing country, and were kept in a condition of semi-allegiance and peace, chiefly through fear of the strong arm of the government, the weight of which they had but a short time previous felt at or near the banks of the rivers Thames and Raisin. In the year last mentioned, the famous treaty with the resident tribes, by that patriotic Father of the territory and state, General Lewis Cass, was made, and by it the Indians parted with the fee of the land, reserving therefrom certain lands, among which was the James Riley Reservation, so known, now lying within the corporate limits of the City of Saginaw, comprising that beautiful area of land lying north of South Saginaw and south of Bristol Street, and which is now mainly occupied by the elegant homes of many of our affluent citizens.
ORGANIZATION OF OAKLAND COUNTY.
Oakland County was organized in 1819. In 1822 the ter- ritorial government empowered that county to levy a sufficient tax to defray the expenses of the county, not exceeding one per cent. of the appraised valuation. As yet, Saginaw had not known a tax collector. In the same year, the unorgan- ized counties of Saginaw, Lapeer, Sanilac and Shiawassee, were attached to Oakland for judicial purposes.
In 1830 the township of Saginaw was created, embracing within its limits the entire county. In 1831 an act for the es- tablishment of a seat of justice at the City of Saginaw was passed. In the same year an act, defining the boundaries of Saginaw County was adopted, and included within such boundaries were thirty-two townships, embracing portions of Gladwin, Midland and Tuscola Counties.
ORGANIZATION OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
January 28, 1835, an act was passed organizing this county, provided that the township board of Saginaw sit and act as a county board until three townships should be organized, and conferred upon said board authority to transact all business, as by law was conferred upon boards of supervisors. Em- braced within the limits of Saginaw County, was the territory now known as Bay County. For the first time in the history of the county did the local authorities impose a tax upon its citizens. I find no record of the levying of any prior tax.
In 1857 Bay County was organized, since which time no material change has taken place affecting the boundaries of Saginaw County.
A GLIMPSE AT THE LOCAL HISTORY OF SAGINAW. PRIOR TO ITS ORGANIZATION IN 1835.
Persons now familiar with the magnificent growth of the county, with its wealth and population, can scarcely realize that the first settlers in the valley located therein in 1815. They were mostly of French origin and half breeds; their avocations chiefly trading with the Indians, hunting and fish- ing. Notably among them was Lewis Campau, an intelligent, shrewd, far-seeing operator. A man who will be remembered as its first genuine pioneer so long as the records of the county shall exist.
In 1820, one Henderson, was appointed Indian agent by the United States government, a position which was after- wards filled by James Frazer and others, until the final dis- memberment of the Indian bands of the valley. In the office of the Register of Deeds of Saginaw is a small volume, known as "Transcribed Records," which contains copies of conveyances and other instruments relating to the title to real estate within the county, transcribed by authority from the records of Oakland County; real estate transactions which
occurred while Saginaw was attached to Oakland County for judicial and other purposes.
Recorded in said Transcribed Record Book, are eighty- three instruments, of which, there are sixty-six deeds, ten mortgages, three patents, two assignments, a plat of the vil- lage of Sagina, and the Dexter plat of Saginaw City. The first of said plats was recorded May 8, 1823. Farley and McClaskey proprietors; and the second, January 7, 1835. The first entry (original) made in "Liber A of Deeds" of Saginaw County, was entered therein April 3, 1835, and shortly after the passage of the act organizing Saginaw County. The first two conveyances found in said Tran- scribed Records are dated respectively, February 24, and May 8, 1823, and which purport to convey to Louis Campau lots 77 and 139, of the Town of Sagana; McClaskey and Farley being the grantors therein named.
The two lots last mentioned are located near the Mill of A. W. Wright & Co. Lot 137 fronted on the river, and forms a portion of the site upon which said Mill now stands. Upon said lot 137, Louis Campau erected a massive two. story log structure, shortly after his said purchase. This house was of great strength and solidity-built of huge squared logs and was evidently erected to subserve a double purpose, -a pleasant residence, and a structure of sufficient strength and safety to protect an armed and plucky family from an assault by the Indians. This building for many years was a somewhat cherished landmark, an ancient souvenir of the pioncer age of the County. The recollection of the writer is, that it was destroyed by fire sometime in the sixties. For many years its occupant was one John B. Desnoyer, who evidently occupied it and subsisted upon the charity of the Campau family, and with whom he was connected. Mr. Desnoyer was a gentleman of the old French school, intelli- gent, voluble, communicative, polite. In memory I can see this aged French gentleman as he appeared to me forty-six years ago on the occasion of numerous visits I made to him. I fancy I see the easy grace and refinement of manner when he greeted me, and proffered a pinch of Maccaboy from his well filled silver snuff box. To the writer Mr. Desnoyer . related many a tale of frontier life, of Indian warfare, of his experience on the frontier as trapper and trader. They were then most interesting to me, and the repetition thereof would seem equally so to the reader of today.
Shortly after the death of this antique French gentleman, the old house fell a victim to the flames.
In 1821 or 1822, the general government constructed a block house, or barrack, for the use of a company of sol- diers, whose presence were even then deemed necessary to hold the Indians in awe. It was erected near the site of the present Taylor House, and remained there until some time after 1850. Its occupancy by the United States troops, was of short duration. The Company sent here, lost by death one or more of its officers, and the location was then regarded as one unfavorable to the health of the garrison, and it was abandoned.
One of the earliest white settlers of the valley was Eleazer Jewitt, then, (if I recollect aright, his statement to me,) in the employ of the American Fur Company, which had estab- lished an agency at Saginaw. He located then at Green Point, and spent the remainder of his life in Saginaw, filling many important public positions faithfully and well. I recall a reminiscence related by Mr. Jewitt of his early sojourn. in Saginaw. There were no swine in the county, and the Judge, (as Mr. Jewitt was afterwards familiarly known, ) purchased in one of the older counties a number of shoats, and drove them through. In doing so, he stopped over night with his pigs at an Indian encampment on the Flint river. The Indians coveted the pigs, and on the morning of his depar- ture, manifested a disposition to detain them. The Judge started them homeward, and at the first hostile demonstra- tion, he leveled his rifle and drew a bead upon the foremost Indian, which had the desired effect, and he drove in his porkers unmolested.
In relating this adventure, the Judge remarked that he felt at the time a strange commotion in his hair, and a cold sen- sation down his spinal column. The Judge was clear grit, as were all of the early pioneers of the valley; accustomed as they were to face dangers which daily threatened them. With the Judge, on that occasion, it was "root, hog or die." (The reader will pardon this classical illustration ).
In 1830 came the Hon. Albert Miller, late of Bay County, who was followed closely by the Williams Brothers, Joseph
and Thomas Busby, Elijah N. Davenport, Noah Brach, Judge Ure, Norman, W. L. P. and Charles D. Little, Hiram L. Miller, Charles L. Richman, Peter C. Andre, the McCar- thys and Thompsons, Beachs and Shields, of Thomastown and Tittabawassee, Lull and Spalding, Swarthout and Elmer, of Saginaw Town. Of all the persons I,have herein named, the only survivors remaining, are Charles D. Little, Peter C. Andre and Thomas Busby, the latter now residing at Ypsi- lanti, in this state.
To Mrs. Eleazer Jewitt and Mrs. Gardner D. Williams, belongs the honor of giving birth to the two first white chil- dren born in the valley.
SKETCH OF THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF SAGINAW TOWNSHIP.
A history of the rise and progress of the County and Township, however brief, would be at fault without some recognition of its official proceeding. To the young, a close study of such record would prove beneficial and instructive, because it discloses the way in which the foundation of civil government is laid by the founders thereof, and upon which its future super-structure-civilly and morally-is reared. I take the liberty to present a portion of the record of the township and county :
First meeting October 2, 1835. Board met at the house of E. Davenport, in the village of Saginaw.
Present, G. D. Williams, Supervisor; Albert Miller, A. F. Mosely, Justices of the Peace; E. S. Williams, Town Clerk.
Board allowed in payment of officer's fees $71.60, in- cluded in which was the sum of fifteen dollars for attorney's services for the year 1835.
For township expenses $ 93 94
For building bridges 100 00
For collector fees 9 6g
1836. Amount voted to be raised for the year $2,400.62, which included an item for building jail $1,570.59.
1837. Amount voted to be raised for all purposes $2,- 279.04. At an election held the people voted to issue bonds in the sum of $10,000, for the purpose of building a Court House.
1838. J. Riggs succeeded G. D. Williams as Supervisor, otherwise the board remained as at its first meeting.
Board met February 20th and adopted a plan for a Court House, and advertised for bids for its construction.
May 3d sealed proposals were opened by the board, of which there were four. Amounts severally bid, were as fol- lows: $11,000, $11,500, $11,950, $12,000. Without accept- ing either bid, the board proceeded to sell at auction the job of building the Court House, and it was struck off to Asa Hill at $9,510. His bid was accepted March 6, 1838.
The board allowed the sum of $9.20 for making the cen- sus of the county, "being at the rate of $1 for every one hundred persons."
The population of the county at this time, assuming the above statement to be correct, must have been 920.
At the October session of the board, the following sums were voted to be raised, viz:
For Wolf Bounties. $ 28 80
For interest on Court House bonds 700 00
For State tax 1,709 00
For support of poor 100 00
Town expenses 646 81
November 14, 1838. Sheriff of the county informed the board that he had a prisoner on his hands and did not know what to do with him, no place having been provided for that purpose, whereupon he was authorized by the board to lease of A. Butts the block house for one year, with the privilege of erecting therein two cells. (This is the first intimation in the record of the commission of crime in the county.)
By the revised laws of Michigan of 1838, a board of county commissioners was provided for, to be elected and to hold office for three years. The act conferred upon such board substantially the authority now vested in the boards of supervisors.
Said record of November 19, 1838, discloses the fact that Duncan Mclellan, Cromwell Barney and James Frazer were elected such commissioners.
1840. Commissioners' meeting July 15. Board appro- priated $40 to pay year's salary of prosecuting attorney.
The board settled with county treasurer; found his account correct, and the condition of the assets in his hands which the board accepted and allowed, were as follows:
BARTOW & ENRIGHT'S OMNIBUS, CARRIAGE AND COUPE LINE. LIVERY IN CONNECTION. LOCATED AT 218-228 N. BAUM STREET, SAGINAW, E. S.
ELEVATOR. SAGINTA YMILLS.
SAGINAW MILLING CO., LOCATED WEST END GENESEE AVENUE BRIDGE.
H. COLEMAN'S LIVERY AND UNDERTAKING ESTABLISHMENT, 201 N. WASHINGTON AVENUE.
OLD BREWERY OF J. G. SCHEMM, 1866.
RES. OF J. G. SCHEMM, 823 N. HAMILTON STREET.
LN
BREWERY OF J. G. SCHEMM, 926 N. HAMILTON STREET, 1896.
127
Due on promissory note. $ 209 37 128 13
Check of Fitzhugh on Bank of Saginaw .. 50 00
Deposit in Bank of Saginaw
426 57
Uncurrent funds .
38 18
On hand, current funds
145 75
State scrip 2,300 00
Due from treasurer. 235 84
I give this entry in full, as it indicates the accommodating character of both the board and the treasurer, and also the effect of " Wild Cat" banking, as the banking system of the time has been properly characterized, on the county funds.
October 9, 1840. Board made appropriations as follows, viz:
For expenses of Town of Saginaw .$673 64
For State tax.
604 50
For County expenses.
544 63
For making assessment roll. 30 00
The board rejected the assessment roll of the Township of Tuscola for irregularities, doubtless to the great relief of the citizens of that township.
At this session of the board license was granted to G. D. Williams to operate a ferry at any point within one mile north or south of Mackinac Road, at the following rates:
Each foot passenger 1212 cents.
One man and horse
25
One man, wagon and horse
.37 12
One man, wagon and two horses. 50
Cattle and horses each IO
Sheep and swine each .0614
January 7, 1839. Commissioners investigated the official acts of the county treasurer, touching his liability for not hav- ing collected the sum of $4,467.25, part of the $10,000 nego- tiated by the Bank of Saginaw on the Court House bonds.
October 9, 1839 .. Board appointed three superintendents of the county poor.
October 12, 1839,
Board made appropriations as follows, to-wit:
To pay expense of the Feb. term of the Circuit
Court $ 77 06
To pay expense of July term of the Circuit Court . 241 07
To pay for school purposes 80 64
To pay township expenses 512 73
For the first time these records disclose the fact of an as- sessment of property, the valuation of real and personal property being then given at $621,652.75. At this session of the board bids were solicited for making a copy of the as- sessment roll of the county; several bids were submitted, and the job was let for $24.50 to Timothy Howe, the lowest bid- der. The bids ranged from $24.75 to $35.00.
July 12, 1841. Board held its first meeting for the pur- pose of equalizing the assessment rolls, three townships hav- ing been organized, viz. Saginaw, Tuscola and Tittabawassee.
1842. Taymouth appears as a township. July 6 board equalized the assessments.
Value of real and personal property in Saginaw . $125,190 50
" Taymouth. 27.791 25
" Tuscola. .. 13,090 04
" Titt'b'wassee 57,259 86
Total. .. .. $223,331 65
At this time, the cashier of the late Saginaw City Bank, then defunct, proposed to turn out certain land at $5 per acre, to pay its indebtedness to the county, provided the amount was agreed upon and a settlement was soon made.
It would seem that this negotiation was not consumated, for on January 19, 1844, the Board adopted a preamble recit- ing in substance that the Bank was indebted to the connty in the sum of $4,667.25; that it repudiated the claim; that by a recent decision of the Supreme Court it appeared that collec- tion could not be enforced; and that the bond for $10,000 was held by the Commissioner of the state land office; and the Board appointed a committee to negotiate with the Com- missioner on the subject of the bond.
1844. March 4th. Such committee reported that they had agreed upon a settlement as follow : The county to give a bond payable in four annual installments for $5,257.75 and also interest to July 1, 1844, amounting to $1,208.25. The
Board ratified the act of the Committee. The township of
Hampton was organized in said year.
1846. Township of North Hampton organized. Aggre- gate value of assessed property as equalized, was as follows :
Saginaw Town. .$196,755 58
Tittabawassee 110,825 84
Taymouth 37.465 87
Hampton 32,145 68
Tuscola 31,968 00
North Hampton
41,595 33
Total. $450,779 30
1848. Town of Bridgeport organized. Noah Beach first supervisor.
1849. October 13. The Board fixed the annual salary of the Prosecuting Attorney at $250, payable in county orders, quarterly in advance. It may be observed that at this time, county orders were worth in the market about 60 per cent. of their face value.
1850. The Board directed, that the $606.00 of uncur- rent funds in the County Treasury, be placed in the hands of the Prosecuting Attorney to be collected; he to retain for his. services such liberal share as he may think proper, not exceeding one half the amount.
As the writer was unable to find any report of the success or otherwise of the attorney in making the collection, he con- cludes that the uncurrent funds named, and the aforesaid loss by the Bank of Saginaw City, was the extent of loss of Sagi- naw through the "wildcat" banking system.
In August, the township of Buena Vista was organized. Curtis Emerson, its first supervisor. The total valuation of taxable property in the county as equalized was $455,197.25.
The United States census for this year gives the popula- tion of the county at 2,651. It will be remembered that in that enumeration Midland County was included, and also the territory now comprised within the limits of Bay County.
1853. The townships of St. Charles, Birch Run and Blumfield were organized.
1854. The townships of Zilwaukee and Frankenmuth were organized, with Benjamin F. Fisher and George Schmidt as supervisors.
1855. The townships of Kochville, Louis Loeffler, super- visor; Pine River, Hiram Burgess, supervisor; and Arcadia, Francis Wilson, supervisor.
If I am not mistaken, the two last named townships now form a part of Gratiot County, but at the date mentioned, Gratiot was attached to Saginaw for judicial and other pur- poses.
1860. The number of townships in the county at this date, had increased to fifteen, exclusive of the cities of Saginaw and East Saginaw; Tuscola, Midland, Bay and Gratiot coun- ties having been organized prior thereto. The equalized valuation of taxable property in the county this year was $2,561,478.47.
The board of supervisors at the October session, appro- priated for contingent expenses of the county, $8,794.11.
1870. At this date there were twenty-one townships in the county, irrespective of the cities. The equalized value of its taxable property was $9,011,423.26.
1880. The number of townships has increased at this date to twenty-seven, and the equalized value of its taxable property was fixed at $17,977,451.52.
1890. Amount of taxable property in the county as equalized by Board, was $26,319,078.
POPULATION.
As given in 1840, U. S. Census. 892
= " 1850, " "
2,609
= # 1860, 4 4
12,693
= " 1870, " "
39,097
" # 1880, 4 4 =
59,095
" " 1890, " "
82,273
FLUCTUATION IN VALUES OF PROPERTY ASSESSED, AND ITS CAUSES.
It will be observed, that the equalized value of assessable property in 1850, was $166,455-47 less than in 1839. It may not be amiss to ascertain why such a decrease in values occurred; the writer suggests the following reason therefor :
The Bank of the United States was chartered by the
United States Government shortly after the war of 1812-15. This bank had its branches in each of the principal cities in the states; its bills were at par throughout the entire country, and in commercial transactions throughout Europe. Its capi- tal was $50,000,000. It was the depository and financial agent of the government. Its charter expired in 1836,
During the second term of President Jackson's adminis- tration, the General became very hostile towards the bank, because of some real or fancied opposition of Mr. Biddle, the president of the bank, to the financial policy of the govern- ment.
About 1832-33 the bank applied to congress for a re- newal of its charter. Both branches of congress passed an act to that effect, which President Jackson vetoed, and con- gress failed to pass the bill over the veto. The bank held in deposit several millions of government money, which Mr. Taney, then secretary of the treasury, caused to be removed and deposited in various local banks throughout the States, to be used as banking capital, upon which to issue bills sufficient to replace the bills of the U. S. Bank, soon to be re- tired. The result was that every State in the Union adopted laws authorizing the creation of banks of circulation. Many of these banking laws were most carelessly drawn, especially in relation to their ultimate responsibility.
New banks sprung up like mushrooms all over the country, and in 1836 and 1837 flooded it with their bills. An era of speculation was created thereby. The bank of Saginaw City was one of that fungous growth, as the sequel proved it to be, as well as the others.
The county then was a comparative wilderness, isolated, with no commerce, but little trade, and the population of the entire territory north of Oakland County did not exceed one thousand white people. But the speculative mania seized some of the ardent, enterprising people of Saginaw, (as it did to adventurous speculators throughout the United States,) and the bank was established; whether profitable or not to the county or its people, does not remain a matter of doubt. The bills of these banks flooded the country, and an era of speculation was inaugurated, unequalled in the history of the nation.
Lots in Saginaw City, as the records show, sold as high as $2,000, while an eighty acre lot, within a mile of the river, sold for $80,000. Nearly the entire county, bordering on the east side of the Saginaw and Shiawassee rivers to the south side of the Cass river, and extending for a mile or so along the north bank of the Cass, was platted and brought into market for sale. These plats covered acre upon acre of land submerged at all seasons of the year; its only occupants the muskrat, the bull frog and wild fowl.
In the year 1837, under the auspices of Mr. Norman Little, a new plat of the City of Saginaw was made which, like the Rod of Moses, swallowed up the smaller plats of Saginaw, for it not only embraced the "Town of Sagina" and the "Dexter Plat" before mentioned, but spread itself into mag- nificent distances, embracing a great deal of territory; and however extravagent such a lay out may now seem, the entire territory, then platted as the City of Saginaw, is now covered with beautiful homes and stately edifices. Associated with Mr. Little in this enterprise, were Mr. Jennison, the father of Judge Jennison of this State, Messrs. Mackey and Oakley. Subsequently Messrs. Yates and Woodruff acquired a consid- erable portion of said platted territory. These persons were men of wealth, and they commenced improvements of a char- acter that could only be inaugurated under the influence of the mania for speculation of the time. At that time vessels made but semi-occasional voyages from Saginaw to Detroit, and the road "through the woods," to use a familiar expres- sion, to Flint, was little better than a wood road or Indian trial, and traverseable at certain seasons only, with oxen and sled, or on horseback. The city and county were then in their infancy. Attracted by the beauty of the location and of the surrounding country, with its latent wealth of coal and salt, its bountiful forests and splendid water communication, these men sought to build up a beautiful city. They con- structed an immense warehouse, three stories in height, and 60 by 100 feet in length and breadth. It was built on the margin of the river, at the foot of Cleveland street. This syndicate also built a large hotel, known as the "Webster House," on the northwest corner of Cleveland street and Michigan avenue. Like the large warehouse, it was of gen- erous proportions, had its Grecian Portico, with fluted columns sustaining the entablature, spacious verandas, a fine basement,
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