USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The history of Detroit and Michigan; or, The metropolis illustrated; a chronological cyclopedia of the past and present, Vol I > Part 152
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July 17. Centenary celebration of founding of Methodism in England.
August 16. A locomotive was first used on the Pontiac R. R.
September I. The steamboat Great Western was burned at Detroit.
October 17. The M. C. R. R. was opened to Ann Arbor. An excursion train with the Brady Guards and 800 citizens visited that city.
December. First Firemen's Hall opened.
1840. February 14. The Fire Department So- ciety was incorporated.
April 15. A log cabin was raised on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Randolph Street.
June 10. The Whigs leave on five steamboats for the great Whig meeting at Fort Meigs.
June 30. The following advertisement appeared in the daily papers :
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THE ANNALS OF DETROIT.
SILKWORMS .- GREAT CURIOSITY.
By calling at George Fowler's store, corner of Atwater and Bates Streets, may be seen over 5,000 thriving silk worms, fed from the white mulberry trees, raised in this city. They have already passed two stages of moulting. Admittance 12} cents for the season, which will continue four weeks. Children half price. HUGH A. YOUNG.
August 4. The boiler of the Erie exploded near Malden. Five persons were scalded and one killed.
September 28. Vice-President Richard M. John- son, who killed Tecumseh, visited Detroit to attend a Democratic barbecue on Cass Farm.
September 30. Great Whig meeting at Detroit. 1841. January 26. The Western Farmer was first issued.
March 3. The first appropriation for a survey of the lakes was made by Congress.
April 10. A meeting of citizens was held to ex- press sorrow at the death, on April 4, of President Harrison.
April 20. Funeral procession, bells tolled, etc., to honor memory of the late President Harrison. Oration by Hon. Ross Wilkins at Presbyterian Church. This year the bells began to ring instead of tolling for a fire.
May 18. Fire Company No. 4 organized.
August 4. $50,000 was appropriated by Congress for the construction of Fort Wayne.
August 31. Mt. Elliott Cemetery was estab- lished.
September 29. A volunteer night-watch was or- ganized.
November 9. The city marshal, by direction of the Common Council, tears down and demolishes a disreputable house owned by T. Slaughter and Peg Welch.
December. Rev. Peter Paul Lefevere, acting Ro- man Catholic bishop of Detroit, arrived.
December 29. The M. C. R. R. was opened to Jackson.
1842. January 1. The entire block between Woodward Avenue and Griswold Street, Jefferson Avenue and Woodbridge Street, was burned.
January 15. The ordinance prescribing the price of bread was repealed.
February 17. The Board of Education was cre- ated.
July 4. Large Sunday School celebration, a grand affair. Procession about 12 mile in length, number- ing not far from 1,000 children.
July 8. Ex-President M. Van Buren visited De- troit.
August 18. Thursday. Professor De Bonneville commenced a course of lectures on animal magnet- ism at the City Hall.
August 29. The corporation of Detroit was made the successor of the Governor and Judges as a Land Board.
December 5. Henry Barnard lectured in Detroit on schools and education.
1843. January 15. Funeral service in honor of ex-Governor Stevens T. Mason at Episcopal Church. Large procession of military and civil officers. He died in New York on January 4.
February 15. Arrival of General Cass from Eu- rope. He was escorted to the Exchange by military and citizens and welcomed with an address by the mayor.
June 27. The recorder was authorized to trans- fer all the fire engines, etc., to the Fire Department Society.
June 29. St. Mary's Catholic Church, corner St. Antoine and Croghan Streets, was consecrated.
July 4. The railroad was completed to Pontiac.
October 4. First State gathering of uniformed militia consisting of two regiments. They went into camp on the Cass Farm for eight weeks.
October 9. A grand review of troops was held.
October 11. The celebrated Copper Rock from Ontonagon, Lake Superior, arrived,-length 4 feet six inches; width 4 feet; thickness 18 inches. Brought by Mr. J. Eldred. This same rock was seen by Alexander Henry in 1776, and he cut a 100 pound piece from it with an axe.
1844. March. The M. C. R. R. track was re- moved from Woodward Avenue. In this year the first express office was opened in Detroit and the Grand Circus parks began to be improved.
May 30. Four Sisters of Charity arrive,-the first in the city.
June 10. A free school for boys and girls was opened by the Sisters of Charity.
June 25. About 9 o'clock A. M. the steamboat General Vance, owned by Samuel Woodworth of Detroit, blew up while lying in the dock at Windsor. Mr. Woodworth was killed and Major Truax with two or three others seriously injured.
September 6. The Scotch Presbyterian Church was first used.
September 21. The Allgemeine Zeitung, a Ger- man paper, was first issued.
October 17. An immense Clay and Frelinghuy- sen mass meeting of citizens of Wayne and St. Clair counties was held. The principal streets were deco- rated with flags, banners, patriotic inscriptions, etc.
1845. March 3. Five-cent letter postage was provided for.
June 9. St. Vincent's (now St. Mary's) Hospital was opened on Larned Street.
June 17. A public meeting of citizens was held to express regret for the death of General Andrew Jackson.
June 19. Lyman Beecher was here at a conven- tion of Presbyterian and Congregational ministers.
July 2. Funeral obsequies in honor of General
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THE ANNALS OF DETROIT.
Jackson; procession, and an address by Hon. Theo- dore Romeyn.
July 4. Formal naming of Belle Isle.
July 10. The Baker Farm, between Chicago and Grand River Roads, divided into pasturage lots and sold at auction. In this year a portion of Jeffer- son Avenue was paved with wood, and public hacks were first introduced.
August. A volunteer night-watch was organized.
August 11. An order arrived for the three com- panies of the Fifth Regiment of Infantry, then in Detroit, to rendezvous at Jefferson Barracks pre- paratory to going to Texas.
August 16. A complimentary dinner was given at the Exchange to the officers of the Fifth Regi- ment.
August 19. Fire Company No. 5 was organized. September 14. Congress Street M. E. Church dedicated.
September 22. Fire Company No. 6 was or- ganized. Electric telegraph first explained and illustrated in Detroit.
October 7. First fire-limits ordinance passed.
November 3 and 4. Last two-day election held. 1846. January I. Wales Hotel opened.
January 12. City Tract Association organized.
February 2. M. C. R. R. opened to Kalamazoo.
March 2. Local option law. - Citizens vote against licensing saloons.
April 2. Bethel Church on Woodbridge Street dedicated.
May 13. Congress declares war against Mexico.
May 14. Body of Dr. Houghton, State geolo- gist, brought to Detroit.
May 15. Funeral of Dr. Houghton.
May 31. First building of Christ P. E. Church dedicated. In this year the first power press in Michigan was set up in office of Free Press.
August 2. St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, on Congress Street, dedicated.
August 30. First Congregational Church, Jeffer- son Avenue, dedicated.
September 23. M. C. R. R. transferred to a corporation.
October 8. Elmwood Cemetery opened.
1847. January 23. Rev. Prof. Finney was here for the week ending January 23; he preached in the Congregational Church every evening.
February 4. A meeting was held in the interest of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal.
February 25. Meeting in City Hall to devise means for sending relief to the starving poor of Ireland; a committee was appointed, consisting of C. C. Trowbridge, Henry Ledyard, E. A. Brush, Theodore Romeyn, and Wm. Gray; they interested not only citizens of Detroit but persons in the interior of the State, and sent to New York 2,348 barrels
and packages of provisions, including 2,175 barrels of flour.
March 7, Sunday. A farewell missionary meeting for Rev. Judson D. Collins, of Michigan, was held at the Congress Street M. E. Church; he was the first M. E. missionary to China.
March 9. Bill passed locating State Capital at Lansing.
March 17. Close of last session of Legislature held in Detroit.
April 24. First troops leave for Mexico; prema- ture national salute fired by order of Mayor and Common Council, in honor of victories not then won; also a general illumination; firemen out in torchlight procession.
July 2. Exhibition at the capitol of the cele- brated painting, Peale's "Court of Death;" also of the mode of telegraphing.
July 4. Most extensive celebration ever held, participated in by military and firemen, including several companies from abroad; torchlight pro- cession in the evening.
August 15. Postage stamps first received in Detroit. During this year the city was first divided into fire districts.
September 19. First brick church of African Methodist society dedicated.
October 20. First Board of Trade organized.
November 29. First telegraph dispatch from De- troit sent to Ypsilanti.
1848. January 7. Young Men's Benevolent So- ciety organized.
March 1. First telegraph dispatch received from New York. Horace Greeley here the same day.
May 9. Extensive fire between Bates and Beaubien Streets, Jefferson Avenue and the river. Lieutenant U. S. Grant visited Detroit this year for the first time.
May 30. M. C. R. R. begin using Third Street depot.
June 8. The tearing down of old jail on Gratiot Street was begun.
June 29. SS. Peter and Paul's Catholic Church consecrated.
July 8. The first troops returned from the war in Mexico.
1849. January. Fire Companies Nos. 7 and 8 organized.
February 21. Election of City Physicians pro- vided for.
March 5. Detroit Savings Bank incorporated.
April 10. The steamboat Mayflower made her trial trip.
April 23. M. C. R. R. completed to New Buffalo.
May 28. M. C. R. R. line of boats to Buffalo be- gan. In this year the strap-rail on M. C. R. R. was replaced with T rail, street paving with cobble-
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THE ANNALS OF DETROIT.
stone began to be general, and union public schools were first provided.
June I. Harmonie Society organized.
July 2. Rev. E. Leahey, D. D., a monk of LaTrappe, attempted to lecture at City Hall in opposition to Catholicism, but was not allowed to proceed. He was escorted home by Bishop Lefevere and Mayor Howard. The next night he tried to lecture in Fowler's old school on Jefferson Avenue. There was an immense crowd outside the building, but no one in the audience- room, and no lecture was given. The Brady Guards were in readiness for action, as a riot was feared.
July. Lieutenant U. S. Grant arrived.
July to September. Nearly 300 deaths from cholera.
September 19. Introduction of large imported French plate-glass show-windows by Geo. Doty, jeweler, -the largest west of New York City.
September 20 and 27. Millard Fillmore visits the city as guest of Mayor Howard.
September 25, 26, and 27. First annual Fair Michigan State Agricultural Society ; held on Wood- ward Avenue, south of Duffield Street.
October 6. George Bancroft, the historian, here. October 14. Lafayette Street M. E. Church dedi- cated.
October 22. Peninsular Bank began business.
November. Detroit and Pontiac plank-road first opened.
November 19. Daily Tribune first issued.
December 12. Pontiac R. R. on Gratiot Avenue torn up by citizens.
December 23. Mariners' P. E. Church dedi- cated.
1850. February II. Pontiac R. R. on Gratiot Avenue for second time torn up by citizens.
February 26. For several successive days the curiosity of citizens was exercised in regard to a man who paraded the principal streets wearing a lady's long shawl, and there was constant inquiry concerning the "man with the shawl."
March 21. Citizens of Detroit protest against changing route of M. S. & N. I. R. R.
April 2. Police Court created.
April 7. Second Presbyterian Church, corner Lafayette Avenue and Wayne Street, dedicated.
May 16. Presbyterian General Assembly con- vened.
June 2. First M. E. Church, corner Woodward Avenue and State Street, dedicated.
June 3. Second Constitutional Convention began at Lansing.
June 19 to 28. John B. Gough lectured in Pres- byterian Church on Temperance.
July 4. Corner-stone of Firemen's Hall laid. 62
July 17, Wednesday. Funeral obsequies in honor of President Zachary Taylor. Procession, and an address by Hon. Geo. C. Bates at First Presbyterian Church.
August 26. Detroit and Saline plank-road first opened.
September 11. Frederika Bremer arrived.
November 5. Second Constitution of Michigan adopted by vote of the people. Prosecuting Attor- ney first elected.
November 6. St. Mary's Hospital, Clinton Street, opened.
November 19. M. C. R. R. freight depot burned. Loss $150,000. Amin Bey, commissioner of Tur- key, visits the city.
November 27. First Young Men's Hall com- pleted.
1851. January I. State Constitution of 1850 be- comes operative.
February 1-22. Fine Art Exhibition at Firemen's Hall.
March 3. Three-cent letter postage provided for.
April 18. Funeral of General Hugh Brady,- very large procession; services at Presbyterian Church.
April 19. Saturday, 33 persons, known as the M. C. R. R. conspirators, arrived.
April 28. Great railroad conspiracy case com- menced ; continued most of the time for four months. In this year the first German M. E. Church was dedicated.
June 3. The trial of James J. Strang, otherwise known as King Strang, the Mormon, began.
June 7. Biddle House first opened.
June 10. Michigan State Musical Convention, under direction of Professor Charles Hess, at First M. E. Church.
June 23. Great meeting at City Hall to promote building the G. W. R. R. In this year Ives' Dry Dock was built, the first wheat elevator erected, and steam power first applied to printing in Detroit.
August 4. Charlotte Cushman performs in city. September 23. Miss Sarah Hunt's Ladies' Semi- nary opened.
September 24. Streets first lighted with gas.
September 24-26. Third State Fair ; held on Third Street between Michigan and Grand River Avenues.
September 25. Verdict of guilty against twelve of the persons indicted as railroad conspirators.
September 26. Sentences of imprisonment, vary- ing from five to ten years, pronounced against rail- road conspirators.
October. Grand River plank-road first opened.
October 23. Firemen's Hall No. 2 first opened. Theresa Parodi and Amalie Patti sing in Detroit.
November 24, Monday. Reception of Dr. Kin-
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THE ANNALS OF DETROIT.
kel, the distinguished German patriot, poet, and scholar. Thousands of citizens congregated before the Biddle House to bid him welcome.
December 15. Meeting of lawyers to consider establishing a Law Library. Committee of five ap- pointed.
1852. January 12. An immense meeting asks for release of O'Brien, Mitchell, and Meagher.
January 23. M. C. R. R. car manufacturing shops at Detroit burned.
April 12. Zion German Reformed Church, Cro- ghan Street, dedicated.
May 21. M. C. R. R. trains run into Chicago for first time.
May 22. M. S. & N. I. R. R. completed between Toledo and Chicago. In this year Pontiac cars begin to use Brush Street Depot.
July 4. S. S. celebration, 2,000 children at Pres- byterian Church.
July 7. State Temperance meeting of Secret Temperance Societies, procession, etc. Temper- ance mass meeting in Woodbridge Grove. Addresses by Neal Dow and Father Taylor, the sailor preacher of Boston.
July 13. Funeral obsequies in honor of Henry Clay ; large procession ; address by Rev. Dr. Duffield at Presbyterian Church.
August 20. Steamer Atlantic, while on her way to Detroit, collided with propellor Ogdensburgh off Long Point, Lake Erie, and was sunk. 131 per- sons were lost, many of them residents, or friends of citizens of Detroit.
September 22-24. Fourth State Fair ; held on Third Street between Michigan and Grand River Avenues.
September 27. First Young Men's Christian As- sociation organized.
October. St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum established.
October 26. Meeting of citizens held on call of mayor to express regret at death of Hon. Daniel Webster.
December 10. O. M. Hyde's immense Floating Dock launched.
December 19. St. Paul's P. E. Church dedicated, -second building.
1853. January 1. Advertiser first printed on steam cylinder press.
January 5. A large and exciting meeting at City Hall, to oppose the building of more public institu- tions.
January 9. First brick Lutheran Church on Mon- roe Avenue dedicated.
January 24. Great railroad meeting in interest of Oakland & Ottawa R. R.
February 14. Board of Water Commissioners established.
February 15. Second Art Exhibition began. It ended March 15, 1853.
March 29. Permission first given to sell meat elsewhere than at market. License, $50 a year.
April 3. Daily Free Democrat first issued.
May I. Michigan Volksblatt first issued.
July 21. Bar Library Association organized.
September 8. Unitarian Church, Lafayette Ave- nue, dedicated.
September 15. Great Union S. S. celebration ; procession, and excursion on steamboats May Queen and Keystone State.
September 28-30. Fifth State Fair; held on Third Street between Michigan and Grand River Ave- nues.
October 13. Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, originator of the Bloomer costume, lectured in Firemen's Hall on "Woman's Rights."
November 20. French M. E. Church dedicated.
December 26. Large meeting of the friends of a general railroad law.
1854. January 10. First Presbyterian Church burned and half the block between Larned Street and Jefferson Avenue up to the Boston Store.
January 17. Grand celebration on the occasion of the opening of the G. W. R. R .; immense pro- cession ; dinner at M. C. R. R. Depot.
January 18. Daily Enquirer first issued.
January 22. M. C. R. R. passenger office burned.
February 27. The Transit, the first railroad ferry-boat, made her trial trip.
June 25. Scotch Presbyterian Church entered, and furniture mutilated.
June and July. Over 200 deaths from cholera.
September 21. Fort Street Congregational Church dedicated.
September 26-29. Sixth State Fair; held on Third Street, between Michigan and Grand River Avenues.
1855. February 10. River frozen over ; a shanty erected at middle of river for the sale of liquor.
February 13. Legislature prohibits use of county jails for the detention of fugitive slaves.
March 6. Notice in daily papers that the Messrs, Sutton had photographed by Turner's process with great success.
April 24. M. S. & N. I. R. R. in operation between Toledo and Buffalo. Council forbids the running of fire engines on sidewalks of paved street.
May 2. Fire Companies 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 dis- band.
May 3. Employees of M. C. R. R. and of Jackson & Wiley organize a fire company.
May 15. New fire companies organized for Engines 5, 6, and 8. The prohibitory liquor law went into effect; nearly all the drinking places were closed. In this year the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal
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THE ANNALS OF DETROIT.
was opened, and interments in Beaubien Farm Cemetery ceased.
July 25. Over one hundred Indian chiefs hold a council to settle difficulties in regard to treaty of 1836.
August 2. General M. E. Sunday School cele- bration of the city M. E. churches.
September 4. Old Cass warehouse, occupied by G. O. Williams, corner of Front and First Streets, burned ; loss $30,000.
September 13. New Odd Fellows' Hall, facing Campus Martius, dedicated.
October 3 to 5. Seventh Annual State Fair ; held on Third Street, between Michigan and Grand River Avenues.
November 18. Fort Street Presbyterian Church dedicated.
December 9. Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church dedicated.
December 25. Railroad completed between De- troit and Monroe.
1856. May 6. Meeting of American Medical Society.
May 25. First St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Gratiot Avenue, consecrated.
June 9. Fire Company No. 10 organized.
June 10. Fire Company No. 9 organized.
June 15. Walnut Street M. E. Church dedicated.
June 18. The trial of White, King, and Ayer, for great express robbery, began; $50,000 was stolen.
July. Railroad completed between Detroit and Toledo.
July 15. Present Board of Trade organized.
August I. R. G. Dun & Co.'s agency established in Detroit.
August 12, Tuesday. Sixth annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Education begun.
October 2. Great Republican meeting on vacant lot corner Woodward and Adams Avenues.
October I to 4. Eighth Annual State Fair; held on the Race Course in Hamtramck.
1857. January 7. State convention of firemen. February I. State Bank of Michigan organized. February 5. New city charter obtained; city much enlarged. Recorder's Court created.
February II. Fire Company No. II organized. February 16. General banking law passed by Legislature.
February 22. French and German Presbyterian Church, Catherine Street, dedicated.
February 28. W. W. Ryan lectured at City Hall on his important (?) secret of foretelling the weather. March. Fire Company No. 12 organized.
March 4. First union morning prayer-meeting held.
March 13. Train on G. W. R. R. breaks through bridge over canal near Hamilton; over eighty lives lost; travel suspended for two weeks.
May 15. Relief meeting held to aid citizens in Gratiot and adjoining counties in need of food; $1,000 subscribed.
June 16. Industrial School Society organized.
June 24. State Sunday School convention at Dr. Duffield's church. Masonic Hall dedicated. Meet- ing of North American Sängerbund began.
July 16. First telegraph cable laid across river. July 22. Bark C. J. Kershaw sails for Liverpool direct.
August 24. The Ohio Life and Trust Company failed.
September 28. Russell House first opened.
September 29 to October 2. Ninth Annual State Fair; held on Race Course in Hamtramck.
November. Water Works Reservoir on De- quindre Farm first used.
November 30. Marine Hospital opened.
December 5. Citizens' meeting at City Hall; expenditure of $50,000 for workhouse voted down.
1858. May 18. Corner-stone of the new Post- office and Custom House laid.
July 4. First through train arrived from Grand Rapids.
July 8. Firemen's Hall reopened. The walls had been raised and a new roof put on.
July 24. Celebration of the 157th anniversary of the founding of Detroit, under the auspices of the Michigan State Historical Society. Large proces- sion of city officers, firemen, Masons, Odd Fellows, soldiers, and citizens. Addresses at Firemen's Hall, in English by C. I. Walker and in French by E. N. Lacroix. Elaborate supper at Russell House in the evening.
July 25. First Bethel Church of Evangelical Association dedicated.
July 28. The draymen hold an indignation meet- ing because the railroads began to use their own drays.
August 16. Receipt of Queen's message by tele- graph cable. Buildings illuminated, 100 guns fired, torchlight procession, etc., on the following day.
August 21. Firemen's Library and Reading Room opened.
August 30. D.& M. R. R. completed to Grand Haven. First session of the High School.
September 1. First through train arrived from Milwaukee.
September 2. First trial of a steam fire engine.
September 5. Second German M. E. Church dedicated.
September 7, Tuesday. Commencement of forty- ninth meeting of the American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions.
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THE ANNALS OF DETROIT.
September 28 to October I. Tenth annual State Fair; held on the Ladies' Riding Park, on west side of Woodward Avenue, north of Davenport Street.
November 10. Old University Building torn down.
December 4. Young Men's Christian Union or- ganized.
December 31. Tribune Building, northeast cor- ner Woodward Avenue and Woodbridge Street, burned.
1859. January 25. Centennial celebration of Burns' birthday. Dinner at the Exchange, and a supper and toasts at the Biddle House.
February 3. Walter Harper provides for estab- lishment of Harper Hospital.
March 12. John Brown arrives in Detroit and holds conference with colored men concerning pro- posed Harper's Ferry raid.
April 25. Fire on corner of Gratiot and Brush Streets. An old warehouse and eight buildings burned.
April 28. Reception to Wm. Smith O'Brien, the Irish patriot.
May 3. Daily meetings of the Board of Trade began.
May 19. Annual Session of the Congregational General Association commenced at the First Con- gregational Church.
September. Detroit Female Seminary opened.
September 29. J. B. Corey obtains judgment of $20,000 against city because of injuries received by his wife, who fell into a sewer excavation on Gris- wold Street.
September 30. Citizens' meeting authorizing a loan of $250,000 for the erection of a new City Hall and $50,000 for a Workhouse.
October 4 to 7. Eleventh Annual State Fair; held on west side of Woodward Avenue, north of Davenport Street. General N. P. Banks delivered an address.
November I. Merrill Hall first opened.
November 5. Second trial of steam fire engine.
November 19. St. John's P. E. Church dedicated.
November 21. Grand Trunk R. R. opened from Detroit to Port Huron.
1860. January 19. Midnight procession of the Sons of Malta.
January 25. Michigan State Retreat for the In- sane opened.
January 30. New Post Office building, corner of Griswold and Larned Streets, formally opened.
April 2. Meeting of firemen at Firemen's Hall to protest against Common Council creating office of fire marshall and curtailing powers of chief engineer.
May 18. Rev. H. Grattan Guiness preached in First Presbyterian Church.
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