ſ. 2 „… *，::..maetſ§¶√∞r:- ，-* * * · · · · · · · · · · · * * · · · · · · · · * * · · · **~*~*~~~ ~~ · · · · · ·��* * * · * • • • ******** · .. i vås, s. . . . . . . . . ， - .. . . . . ，. … • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2. tº. żººrſ ºp 3 § ¶ • • §.ŅN （~~ * º.º.）; №ØNN „^N.）‘ “ ’,\}į ſºº C), '; ; ; ;- -§@\,Ļº S. ×]*,\\\, § w>?'.:（~}^‘º.s'， . | }~~' §. 37 ſ| 4|„Y\å\\^~~^ >|×ſººſ}.} ', ! ， !|\,\！\\ \ ț¢{{}}<%•,· +||·?}••••••% C. M. BURTON. The Building of Detroit BY CLARENCE MONROE BURTON I9 I2 THE BUILDING OF DETROIT AN ZN NZ NZ The little village enclosure prepared by Cadillac in 1701 for the protection of his colony, covered a square arpent of land. An arpent, the French measure of that time, was one hundred and ninety-two feet and nine inches, so that the original village was in the form of a square, each side of which was that distance in English feet. This space was surrounded by a palisade made of young trees, one end embedded in the earth and extending some twelve or fifteen feet above the ground. Cadillac brought with him, in 1701, one hundred Frenchmen, half soldiers and half artisans. He was also accompanied by one hundred Algonquin Indians. They at once began the erection of a church building and small dwellings for themselves. Of course all of the buildings were of logs, but not such log houses as we were accustomed to see in later years. The logs or small trees were set on end and driven into the ground, or a trench dug to put them in. They were placed as closely together as possible and the interstices were filled with mud or clay. The logs extended above the ground only sufficient distance to permit the occupants of the house to stand upright under the roof that covered the enclosure. The houses were rarely ever over six feet in the clear. The roof was made of straw or other light material and covered with skins. Z. The outside skin cover may not have been a permanent part of the roof, but such roofing was used in several instances where there were wars with the Indians, and the skins were put on to protect the houses from the fire balls shot by the savages. In one or two instances there are accounts of the roofs being removed in order to prevent the Indians from setting them on fire. This method of shooting arrows carrying balls of fire is mentioned in the report of the war with the Fox Indians in 1712. The Fox Indians were encamped that year on the hill where the Moffat building now stands. There were no window glass in the place. The doors of the dwellings were simply set in place, without hinges or with such | | | All. DETROIT-"Cadillac's Village” in 1701. 9 hinges and fastenings as could be worked out of wood by the owner. Only a very few houses had iron hinges or fastenings, brought up from Montreal. Where there were window openings, they were covered over with skins scraped thin so as to admit as much light as possible. These skins would thicken by exposure and had to be stretched and scraped occasionally. There were wooden floors in only a few of the better class of dwellings, and in most houses the floor was the earth beaten hard and smooth. There was a church and warehouse within the enclosure. These were larger buildings than the dwelling houses. The warehouse was filled with goods, but the church could be utilized for all sorts of gatherings of the people. As the houses were very small it was impossible to have fires in them and the cooking was done either on the street, in front, or in the church or warehouse. Probably the people all gathered together in the evening in these public build- ings in the very cold weather and kept warm by one fire, only leav- ing to go to their individual houses to sleep. Some of the dwellings were larger than others and it is possible that fires would be built in the larger houses and the ādjacent dwellers would participate in this warmth. There was a public bake house, and then, as now at some of the old French villages, all bread was here baked and sold. Some one set fire to the warehouse in 1703 and in the confla- gration thus started the warehouse, church and some of the dwell- ings were burned. ^In the interval between 1701 and 1703 the population had increased considerably. Peace had been declared between the French and the Iroquois Indians and people were permitted to come from Montreal to Detroit over the lake route, that is through lakes Ontario and Erie and through the Niagara and Detroit Rivers. Before that time all travel had been up the Ottawa River to Lake Nipissing and through that lake and the French and Pickerel Rivers to the Georgian Bay. This newly opened route was one induce- ment to people to move westward and another inducement was the coming of Madams Cadillac and Tonty (the latter being the wife of Cadillac's lieutenant), with their families and servants, and the coming of the wives and families of the colonists who were already on the ground.) This new addition to the population in 1702 forced the com- mandant to extend the village limits and to place the picket line farther out. - 10 Cadillac thought a good deal of his colony and worked hard to build it up, to make it a success and to make it respectable. He advocated the building of a hospital, a school for the Indians as well as for his own people and the establishment of a militia com- posed of Indians, with French officers. He also advocated the intermarriage of the races. He had always held out strong induce- ments of protection to the Indians of the entire country to settle at Detroit for mutual protection and better trading. In this he was so successful that there were four large villages of Indians built within a short distance of the French village, and during the winter of 1701-2, six thousand Indians lived here. Cadillac knew that he could not make his settlement permanent unless he could give his people absolute titles to the houses, lots, gardens and farms they occupied and used. His idea was that the man who owned his home was the best kind of a citizen. As early as 1704 the French Government authorized him to deed lands to the people, but it was not until 1707 that he knew that he was per- mitted to do so. At that date all, or nearly all of the lots within the village were occupied with houses and a long tier of garden lots on the easterly side of the present Randolph street was used by the soldiers in the garrison. A good many farms along the line of the river, both above and below the post, were also occupied and cultivated by the French people. ) Cadillac gave deeds of all of these lands and lots to persons to whom he sold them. None of them were actually given away. They were sold upon conditions contained in the conveyances. These conditions were not all alike but were all of similar import. The deed to Michel Campau of a site of 53 feet on St. Antoine Street by 17 feet on Ste. Anne Street contained the provision that Campau should pay five livres and six denier annual rent and should pay the further sum of ten livres for the privilege of trading. This would make his annual tax about three dollars and ten cents. This tax was to be paid in skins, or in silver when there was coined money in the village. A livre was about twenty-five cents of our money; a denier was a small coin of different values at different times. At this time it was probably less than a sou or cent. Campau was to have all of his grain ground at the public mill, owned by Cadillac, and was to pay for grinding, eight pounds per minot. A minot was about a bushel of English measure. The toll fixed by Cadillac for grinding wheat was one eighth, but in 1709 the government required him to lessen his demand to one-four- teenth. "1So noms 189 – — ¡ ¿ - †ī£; -~\\T →*** _- +---- ? $.&& � � - ----+===+ * |- | 3% r Js 34. \-- l to|- t *2. |\,—{& -!} -… →=*|×___----- « • •=****|---→ *, „ Tº{| {�！ |uJ|-Ș|-†ȚAla- 2__ --~~~~№\，\! O，----i _.. →|----† ` ~→ $ !T_Ř|-----ș ||-į|$ :| ___---------*[]！==+---+-----> { scarc. 60, ree - ore tack O ETROIT tº 17O6. Madrceres prever,4,--- ºrcs ºr PLAN FROM CONVEYANCES OF CADILLAC Made in 1707 and 1708 12 If the land owner wished to sell his lot he must obtain permis- sion from the commandant who had the first privilege of buying, and if the sale was permitted, the seller had to pay a fine upon alienation. This fine was about one fourth of the value of the prop- erty. If it was paid promptly he was usually allowed to pay one eighth of the entire purchase price. There were some trades that could not be carried on without permission of the commandant, such as blacksmith, edge tool maker, locksmith, armorer and brewer of beer. In order to obtain permis- sion to engage in these trades a license had to be obtained from the commandant and a fee had to be paid for the privilege. In some conveyances there was a condition that the vendee should join others in setting up a May pole before the house of the Commandant on the first of May in each year. Exemption from this condition could be purchased each year upon payment of three livres in money or skins. If the grantee of a piece of land did not improve it, it reverted to the government. - The first conveyances were made by Cadillac in 1707 and put- ting all the deeds together we are able to draw a plan of the little village as it was at that time. The picket line had been set back so that the village was about 720 feet long, extending from the present Griswold Street to Wayne Street and about 250 feet wide, extending from the present Jefferson Avenue nearly to Larned Street. Some of the old lot lines of 1707 can still be determined. The principal street was Ste. Anne Street and the smaller and less important streets were named St. Louis, St. Joachim, St. Antoine and St. Francis. There was also a Rencontre Street or alley, and in later years a Campau alley. With the exception of Ste. Anne Street, which was about 18 or 20 feet wide, the streets were very narrow, not over ten feet in width. In front of the church the street was about 40 feet wide. o Cadillac made about 150 grants of land in the years 1707 and 1708. Of those that have been found there were sixty-eight deeds of village lots, thirty-one farms and thirteen gardens. There were a number of lots in the village that Cadillac retained for his own use. He owned the church, the warehouse, the wind mill and sev- eral other places. A description of one of his buildings will show the nature of them all: “A house of stakes in earth 33% feet long by 19 feet wide and 8 feet high, half of planks above, with joints in a good ridge and the rest of stakes, and below half of beams with square joints, half mortised and the other part of split stakes, with four cabinets, with 13 their doors and locks closing with keys. The said house having window shutters and a door closing with a key.” The name of the village was Fort Pontchartrain, so called from Louis Phelypeaux, count de Pontchartrain, who was Minister of Marine in 1699, when Cadillac visited France to obtain premission to establish a colony on the Detroit. The name Pontchartrain clung to the place a good many years. It was occasionally called Fort Pontchartrain du detroit, that is Fort Pontchartrain of the strait, from its location on the strait between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Gradually the name Pontchartrain was dropped in referring to the place and the word Detroit was allowed to remain as the name of the post. In 1711 Cadillac was removed from his position as commandant and was appointed Governor of Louisiana. He had no sooner left Detroit than contentions arose among the people who were remain- ing there and the place began to deteriorate and fall into decay. The town was divided in two by a new picket line which must have run not far from the present Shelby Street. The new commandant lived in the western part and the picket line around this portion was kept in good order, while the eastern end of the town was soon in a delapidated condition. The church and the buildings at that end of the village were overrun with Indians and could not be kept in repair. To add to the confusion the court party at Paris, in 1716, suc- ceeded in obtaining an order setting aside as void, all of the deeds that Cadillac had made. A farmer or householder would certainly take very little care of a parcel of land in which he had no claim to ownership. If the government did not know this at first, they began to realize it when they observed that the people were leaving the place and there was serious thought of abandoning and destroying it. It was not until some years later that power was given to convey lands to settlers at Detroit and it was not until that time that the place began to thrive and grow in population and importance. The map of Detroit as it was in 1708 shows the beginning of the building of the future great city. The actions, or neglect of the French Government prevented the place from growing much for nearly half a century. The history of the place in this interval is very interesting and is instructive in showing how little it takes to prevent an enterprise from being successful. There are no records available at present to indicate the next enlargements of the village. In 1749 we find a map made by 6 zgrºforſøoffºx， s，ºžº， ~ ~ 3×7，7&&& 2zzº， y Z/z/JH HÌ Eº-№=[[№ſ EEEEEEEE| 6222 zººyºzzá^~~~// ±^^ wzorºv&º sºwz// 49J. .. *FEEEEEEEEEEEE| ºzºzºyè， zeºzºººººº ! • , ſå №ĒLĒĒĒĒ （， zszØ4， ºzszzé， y 7EITHITHLETITE ：º（'， //24/zzz/2//r/4/42/ZZT zwzze/º4////& Zazwa (2 /O > sººſ/««««^£7 zwycza««««O ~o ºsºº4， y 15 DeLery which shows that the old eastern and western lines had been re-established and that the northern line had been pushed out as far as Larned Street and the southern was located on the brow of the hill below Jefferson Avenue, or possibly even at the foot of the embankment, which was here very abrupt. Just inside of the palisade was the chemin de ronde or road around the village. As before stated, the palisades around the village extended from twelve to fifteen feet above the ground and on the inside of this picket line there was an elevated walk built against the fence so that the sentry or soldiers could look over the top and see what was going on without the village. Next to this walk was a passage for per- sons on foot. This was the chemin de ronde. In the larger village there were lookout houses at each of the four corners of the enclosure and a gate at the eastern extremity of the principal street. The names of the streets are not laid down on the DeLery map. DeLery made another map in 1754 which differs somewhat from his map of 1749 in that he extends the eastern picket line a considerable distance farther east than it is shown in his first map. The only buildings within this new part are a storehouse and bake shop. It is possible that these buildings were located as he had indicated them, but if they were they must have been outside of the original palisade. The building of the palisade was an expen- sive matter and it is not likely that the people would tax themselves to erect it only to tear it down and rebuild on the old line in the space of eight or ten years. The next map is found in Bellin's Atlas of 1764. It is the last French map made and was probably drawn up earlier than the capitulation in 1760. After that date the French Government took very little interest in the place. In 1760 the place had passed from the French to the English control. No change had taken place in the form of the picket line at the time Bellin's Atlas was published. This Atlas is a French work so that probably the materials for it were obtained before the year 1760, but were not used until a year after the French-Indian war closed. There are but few differences between the maps of 1749 and 1764. On the map of 1749 the village cemetery is located a short distance north and east of the church. This would place it either in Griswold Street or just east of it and nearly as far north as the Equity Building or Larned Street. In the map of 1764 this cemetery is not shown. The names of the streets omitted from DeLery's map of 1749 are given in 1764 as St. Louis, Ste. Anne, St. 16 Jacques and St. Joseph, running east and west, but the cross streets, five in number are not named. - - On the bank of the river is the Boucherie (slaughter house), but it would appear that little consideration for the health of the people was shown in locating it above the village instead of below it. The public buildings are located as on the map of 1749, the Commandant's house, the Barracks, the Church, the Powder Maga- zine just in the rear of the church, and the home of the priest a short distance west of the church. On the map of 1749 the little brook that formerly ran through Congress Street is named Huron Creek and on Bellin's Atlas it is called Rurtus Creek. Both maps show that nearly every lot in the village was built upon. The lands in the neighborhood were gen- erally cultivated and there were many houses built along the banks of the river. A few houses, also, were erected on the common, which extended from what is now Wayne Street to Randolph Street and from the river northerly as far as Adams Avenue. As this land was claimed to be the property of the entire community the citizens were very jealous of any attempt on the part of the commanding officers to take possession of any part of it for private use, and, on one occasion, at least, they compelled the commandant to remove a fence he had put up to enclose a pasturage for his horse. There was an order of the commandant issued during the siege of Detroit in the Pontiac war in 1763 to destroy a house on the common in which the Indians had taken shelter. This indicates that at that time there was at least one house on this land. There were several houses built on what we know as the Cass farm. These houses were just west of the village and a short dis- tance north of it, along what is now Larned Street west of Cass Avenue. After the British took possession in 1760 it was soon found that it was necessary to maintain a large garrison. This was found need- ful in the Pontiac War as a war measure but as the English did not get along as well with the Indians as the French had, it was thought best to keep a large number of soldiers all of the time. Quarters were found for them in the old village at first, but after a time a large yard on the west side of the village was enclosed for retaining the soldiers. This was called the Citadel. It was in the form of a quadrilateral, somewhat narrower at the upper end than the side nearest the river. This contained a barracks and parade ground. The easterly side of this citadel was the picket line of the old village, but the other three sides consisted of a new picket line, similar in DeLERY'S PLAN OF DETROIT, 1754. A. Commandant’s House B. Barracks C. Powder Magazine D. Bakery F. Chapel H. Priest’s House I. Royal Garden K. Ornamental Gardens −<~< SSS 18 construction to the old one. Within this new enclosure were placed from two hundred to three hundred soldiers at the commencement of the Revolutionary War and during the war it was used as a place of detention for many of the prisoners brought here. The Citadel was built in 1764. Colonel (afterwards General), Israel Putnam went to Belle Isle with two hundred ax men and cut the timber from the lower end of the island and floated it down the river to make this addition to the fort. Charcoal was also burned on the island by the same soldiers and they also built two scows for carrying stone up the river from Stony Island. The stone was used for the powder magazine. Captain John Montresor says in his journal that the pine timber used in 1764 in putting up the citadel was brought “from the pinery the opposite side of Lake St. Clair.” On the ninth day of September, 1764, the ground was marked out for the citadel and work was begun on it. It was entirely completed in the course of the next month. There were no other changes in the village for several years. Soldiers were stationed here during the Revolutionary War and the place became very important as the headquarters for the Indian department of the British possessions. It was from Detroit that many of the Indian hordes were sent out that committed the depredations, mur- ders and burnings in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. The new fort was begun in the year 1778 but a long time was occupied in its construction. There were several reasons for build- ing the fort. Henry Hamilton, who was the Lieutenant Governor of Detroit, had gone down to Vincennes (Indiana), with all the available troops and he had left Detroit in charge of Capt. Richard Berringer Lernoult in the fall of 1778. This officer was informed that the Americans from Fort Pitt (Pittsburg), would soon attack him and he hurriedly marked out the location for the fort and set all hands at work to rush it to completion. Before he was half through with his work there came a succession of violent rain storms that washed away all of the earth work he had made. He was somewhat discouraged, but feeling the necessity for the fort he started in anew and had it in a fair way for defense by the middle of the succeeding year. The fort covered the grounds now occupied by the postoffice and the lands extending easterly from that point even to Griswold Street. It was large enough to hold all of the soldiers in the garrison, and the old citadel was thereafter used, in part at least, to hold prisoners of war. The barracks in the citadel had accomodations in 1782 for 392 persons. £9/l N | L |O & LE Cl 24, 74 / 3. ~222 ~zzº-ſazz/ ~~~ 2-970. - 2/7 JºyaXZ. 27/wo'ſ •e 2/7 JLIORIL'HCI (10 JLH OCI In CINVI.I | |} № |- N | § N Ņ N §), ș \\ §. |tº e p ≡ Þ N~ © ~ 1———————— , -!§§§§§§§ ”…….w y- e§ § § § Š š Ş #####| ?$ $ $ $ $ $ # ## Ē ſiiſ§§ §§§§§ [## Ē | S.S # Ē # #5șș^} # Ēģ ţ Ț |&& 20 There was a new picket line built in 1779 up what is now Gris- wold Street to Michigan Avenue, along that street as far as Wayne Street and thence down the line of that street to the river, or to the old picket line. This included the fort, parade grounds, gardens and cemetery of the soldiers. The garrison cemetery was at the northwest corner of this enclosure, at the intersection of Wayne Street and Michigan Avenue, and here, in excavating for the erection of new buildings, in recent years, many bodies have been uncovered. A map of the village and new fort was made about the time the fort was completed. The English retained possession of Detroit until the year 1796 although by the terms of the final treaty of 1783 they should have surrendered it to the Americans in that year. Their retention was unlawful and an act of force and as they knew they wrongfully held the possession they felt very little interest in the place or in its protection or material advancement. They made as few improve- ments as possible and the picket line and fort gradually decayed and were in a delapidated condition when the surrender came to the Americans under Anthony Wayne in 1796. An entire change of management took place under the Americans in that year. New courts were established, based, of course, upon the court procedure of the thirteen states, which was in turn based upon the laws of England. There was not a great alteration in the management of the affairs of the village. Some of the old citizens who preferred to live under English rather than American laws moved across the river into Canada, but their loss was more than made up by new people who came here from Ohio and New England. Wayne County was organized in 1796. This county, named after General Wayne, included all of Michigan and parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Detroit was still under the Northwest Territory and so remained until the State of Ohio was formed, when it became a part of Indiana Territory in 1803. The first charter of Detroit was granted by the Assembly of the Northwest Territory that met at Chillicothe and the act or charter was passed on the eighteenth day of January, 1802. In 1805 Michigan Territory was formed and Detroit was the Capital. A few months after the territory was organized the first Governor, William Hull and two of the territorial Judges, Augustus B. Woodward and John Griffin, arrived in Detroit. The third judge, Frederick Bates, was already in the place and had resided there several years. g - º lifix !?: g//222 £, º ºl |-ºj OE 7/WO/7 '* :-} º —F=— º: D*796 23: * *::::::: Aſ ºf £42.5/259 :::::::1 ãº: ^ C42 Aozºr Aoazczzazez. >= # 45. A oA’z S/Azazz d à C. C47//02/c cºvacy. º º #3 42. Aoyzzześ Gaze fº, | W - #ºn tº et º * º 3%||||}|\\\\\{** "uišīš % | |\ \} \ §§ , , ," ^. f ^ / ºf . º.º. ** * iſ ºr *. if: -- t ^. * £ } N. * f `s Y-, al £% - - - - Gººnd Awaydz. § Tºo * > * | | * *> ! I * | ? º ! I } | 1 - Wood/222, i ; - | | - QY - *> | i º, u | t Sº, i------|| -/7/4/yzar Gºos”. } l k S, i | !, —-y t - *- - - -r § *-------- Fº ----> “| 47 || 49 *9 *]; / J2 J.3 || 3.4 |s|≤|x| J&P ! la | 1 : | | Iº Jºž S’ 7-aº are 7: — t º Craor, 1. y - t | |S| ºz Jó) J9 || 4:0 || 4/ 44 43 |44. | 1 * • * | r: a & ſ: 34 JJ Jó | n SP 7/7/5/5'7". § -- ! ºf Eft 26 27 | 29 || 23 |a|, J2 JR giF Cºrzº &x /º/vy *Sºr/PAFAry: &2 647E §EEE|[…List- &º 2 3 ſt §r-#2 zºº.ºz. ^3 | /7/4/7%ry - - § H G2aºper, sºs -º N §§ * | Aoxºacir occueiro As'y y//E" /J 4%/7/3/Governoº # E = =ss W: º wº •ºa. º lººs-E-3: sºlºrs== £º lººs-Hºº-sº §º-> gº 2–~ - -—IT * . => --> --~~=— DETROIT IN 1796. 22 On the eleventh day of June, 1805, before the Governor and Judges arrived on the scene, Detroit village was utterly destroyed by fire. Only one building in the entire enclosure was left standing. The weather was so warm that the people could sleep in the open air without great discomfort. The fire had originated in the bake house in the village, in the forenoon, and sufficient warning was given so that nearly all of the household goods and furniture was saved. The public records were all saved and the church records and furnishings. Some of the people moved into the fort on the hill while others lived in tents, in improvised shanties and other shelter on the com- mons and in the farm houses along the river. There were some large buildings near the foot of Woodward Avenue that belonged to the naval department and these were taken for dwellings. Food was scarce and the country was scoured to supply the sufferers. Appeals for aid were sent in every direction and one of the most liberal donors was the sister City of Montreal. In order to provide houses for the coming winter great efforts were made to increase the supply of lumber from Black River at the present Port Huron. The lumber supply came from that place and indeed it was rumored that the parties who were interested in lumbering there were the ones who started the fire that consumed the village. There were no large saw mills, such as were built in later days, to provide sawed lumber. The sawing was done by hand, but there were other timbers cut and hewn that were floated down the river to build a new city on a more extensive scale. . It was a fortunate thing for the future great city that the little village was so completely destroyed on that June day in 1805. The former village was now a plain and the old picket line was in ruins. The fire made it possible to enlarge the boundaries and rebuild on a larger scale, with wider streets and public squares and parks. Some of the people who had owned lots within the old palis- ade wanted to build on their own property but they were dissuaded from this by request of all the people, expressed at a general public meeting. They could not delay rebuilding somewhere, and a plan for dividing the commons into village lots and distributing them among the citizens was prepared, and some lots sold or given away according to this plan. The records of the governor and judges do not begin until September, 1806, a year later, and we have no copy of the plan which was prepared before that date. Houses were erected on some 23 of these lots and subsequently the titles were confirmed by deeds. We are, however, compelled to leave this portion of the history of the city in a somewhat incomplete form for want of details that may hereafter be brought to light. During the winter of 1805-6, Governor Hull and Judge Wood- ward went to Washington where they prepared a bill for the relief of the Detroit situation. They labored all winter on the project and were successful in seeing the bill enacted into a law on April 21, 1806. This act authorized the Governor and Judges to lay out a new town, to include the site of the old one and ten thousand acres adjacent, excepting the Military Reservation. As all the lot owners in the former village claimed an ownership to certain parts of the town and as it was impossible to give them their original holdings unless the old town with its narrow streets and small lots was retained, the citizens concluded to lay out a new town and give lands there to the old lot owners in exchange for their former pos- sessions. The judges were to adjust claims for these lots. Every person over seventeen years of age who was in Detroit at the time of the fire was to have a lot in the new town, containing five thou- sand square feet. The lands remaining were to be sold and the avails used for building a court house and jail. The Governor and Judges, consisting of Governor Hull, Augus- tus B. Woodward and Frederick Bates, met at the Governor's house September 6, 1806, and appointed Judge Woodward as a committee to take the proper steps to carry into effect the act of congress of that year. On the following Monday, September 8, it was resolved to at once lay out a town. The basis of the town was to be an equi- lateral triangle, each side to be four thousand feet and “having every angle bisected by a perpendicular line upon the opposite side, such parts being excepted as from the approximation to the river, or other available circumstances, may require partial variation.” Titles to lands were to be ascertained and established and new lots were to be granted to the lot owners in the old town, in such manner as appeared to the judges to be just. As the Legislative body was now fully organized Peter Audrain was appointed Secretary, Asa Jones, Sergeant at Arms at twenty-five dollars per month. Joseph Watson was authorized to prepare all deeds and mortgages for the board and was permitted to charge one dollar for drawing a deed or mortgage and twenty- five cents for a bond or other writing. It was resolved to incorpo- rate the City of Detroit at once. A bill relative to the City of 24 Detroit was presented on the twelfth day of September and on the following day it was passed. They held a legislative session on Sunday the 14th, and enacted a law for the appointment of a surveyor. The law estab- lishing the Detroit Bank was passed September 15th, and there was no further meeting until September 30th. The plan for the City was drawn up before this date for on September 11 an order was entered for the sale of “five lots on Court House Avenue, opposite to Scott's, Wilkinson's, Abbott’s, Abbott and Smith's and Godfroy, Jr.” As the lots owned by the persons above named are located on both sides of Woodward Avenue below Jefferson Avenue it appears that “Court House Avenue” was the original name of Woodward Avenue. Main Street of that date, is the present Jefferson Avenue. They now had a plan for a city to work upon, but no surveys, and on September 30th they directed that twenty lots be surveyed on Court House Avenue, between the Circus and the little Square, that is between the Grand Circus and the Campus Martius, and that they be sold at auction. These lots were all to be sixty feet wide by one hundred feet deep. It was also resolved that no more lots on either side of Main Street or between that street and the river should be granted as donation lots. It was also resolved not to give any lots on Court House Avenue east of the Court, nor any of the corner lots on the Military Square (Campus Martius), as donation lots. This resolution implies that there was a building on Wood- ward Avenue which was used for holding Court and that it was between Jefferson Avenue and the Campus. The plan of Detroit certified to by Abijah Hull was prepared in 1806 and was possibly the same map used for the donation of lots in the early part of that year. On the 12th day of December, 1806, the Governor and Judges made the following report to Congress: “We have the honor to report to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in obedience to the act entitled ‘An act to provide for the adjustment of titles of land in the town of Detroit and Ter- ritory of Michigan, and for other purposes,’ that we have laid out a town or city, of which a plan accompanies this report, and have made progress in the adjustment of titles and the distribution of the donations contemplated by the said act, and expect shortly to com- plete the same.” The map or plan which accompanied this report, and which is herewith reproduced, was made by Abijah Hull and is dated Janu- 25 ary 1, 1807. The report accompanying it was presented to Congress about February 9, 1807. The report and plan were both mislaid and remained undiscovered until April, 1909, when a copy was obtained by the writer hereof. Mr. Thomas Smith, who was a surveyor on both sides of the river, made a report in 1821, in which he stated that there was a plan of the City made in 1805 which was taken to Boston and to Washington and was then deposited with the legislative board of Michigan Territory, “but unfortunately the necessary precaution was not taken and the plan fell into the hands of Mr. Hull, Sur- veyor, who drew from it several other plans differing from the orig- inal and also differing from each other.” The original plan at a later date, fell into the hands of Aaron Greeley, Surveyor, “in whose house it was seen in a broken window, keeping out the weather and in whose hands it disappeared.” The plan of 1807 includes the farms owned by private individu- als on both sides of the city proper for a considerable distance and it was expected that in future additions to the city the proprietors would conform to the general and original design. The streets running north and south and east and west are all two hundred feet broad and the other principal streets are 120 feet wide while the cross streets are sixty feet in width. The lands owned by the public (that is the Governor and Judges plan), are limited by the dotted lines shown on the map. This plan was origin- ated by Judge Woodward. There have been frequent statements that it was laid out on the form of the City of Washington, but it is so materially different from the plan of that city, as to warrant the statement that they are in no sense similar. Its counterpart does not exist in any city of the world. Imagine the present city, with a river frontage of eleven miles, constructed on this plan. A Grand Circus Park every 4,000 feet of that distance and twice as many semi-circular parks and hundreds cf triangular parks like Capitol Square and the public library. There would be as many squares like the Campus Martius as there were Grand Circus Parks. Even the natives would get bewildered in the labyrinth. As before stated although the general plan of the city was laid out, the details and surveys were not made and it was some years before that portion of the city south of Adams Avenue was fully planned. There were from time to time, changes made in the Streets and the plans were somewhat altered as new conditions arose. The names of the streets are not indicated on any of the ----- - -------- ------ ------ PHotoGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL PLAN MADE - - - - - - ----- -º-tºur- ------ - - - * - I - |N (Woodward's Plan) 1807. 27 early maps, save that on William Hull's map made in 1809 the name of Main Street is given to the present Jefferson Avenue. Some kind of a sketch of the lots was in use prior to 1807 and this had the lots numbered on it, and some conveyances show this early numbering. In the surveys made of the different sections after 1807 the lots were differently numbered and great confusion resulted. The land that was north of the old village site, extending to Michigan Avenue, and including the fort and all lying westerly of Griswold Street, was occupied by the Military Department. In the act of 1806 it was provided that the title of all of the lands so occu- pied should still remain vested in the government. A map showing this land was found in the War Department some years ago. It gives the location of the properties at that time reserved for mili- tary purposes and indicates where the little stream or brook crossed the reservation. Here also is shown the citadel previously referred to. If there were any maps showing the entire plan of the City which were in existence in Detroit before the War of 1812 they were lost or destroyed at that time. Other public records were not greatly disturbed by the capture of the place by the British on August 16th, of that year. The boundary lines of the City as they have been laid down at various times, are as follows J 1802. By the Act of January 18, 1802 of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the Northwestern Territory, the City of Detroit was bounded easterly by the division line between the Brush and Beaubien farm, westerly by the line between the Cass and Jones farms and extended northerly from the river two miles. 1806. It has already been stated that the plan of September 8th, 1806, provided that the basis of the town should be an equilateral triangle, each side of which should be 4,000 feet. The Act of Congress of September 13th, followed this form and provided that measure- ments should begin 84 feet, 10% inches from the northwest corner of the house of Charles Curry; thence north 60° east 2,000 feet; thence west 2309 feet; thence south 30° east 1154% feet to the place of beginning. This should be section one of the new city. As before stated, this measurement included lands belonging to private 28 parties who did not want to plat their lands in this form, so that the lines were forced to stop at the Brush and Cass farms. The park lots or lands lying north of Adams Avenue were sold at auction March 6, 1809. The purchaser paid a small part at the time of the purchase and gave his notes for the remainder to be paid in yearly installments. The deed contained the terms of payment and was not to operate as a complete conveyance until the entire purchase price was paid. It was not delivered until the last note was taken up. The prices seem now to be very low. Park lot 8, lying between Winder and Adelaide Street, extending from Woodward Avenue nearly to Brush Street sold for $115 in 1809. It contained 10 acres of land. This land was divided into small dwelling lots years ago. Recently one of these small lots, fronting on Woodward Avenue, with a depth of a little more than one hundred feet, sold at the rate of $1,000 per foot front. 1815. The boundary lines of the City as laid down in the Act of 1802 were reinstated or revived by the Act of October 20, 1815. 1824. In 1824 the City assumed the form of local government that has been maintained until the present time. The first elected Mayor, John R. Williams, took office in the spring of that year and he was assisted by a council elected at large from the little city. The first Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan met in Detroit in June, 1824, and on August 5th, following, they passed an act enlarging the city limits. Thus the City was extended to include all the land between the west line of the Jones farm, the east line of the Brush farm and a line three miles from the river, being nearly the line of the railroad crossing on Woodward Avenue. 1827. In 1827 another act was passed for the purpose of fixing the official and legal name of the corporation. This act provided that “all freemen of said city from time to time being inhabitants thereof, shall be and continue to be a body of corporate and politic by the name of “The Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and Freemen of the City of Detroit' and by that name and their successors shall be known in law,” and thus sue and be sued. · · · · · · · · · ·········· · · ················· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ···---···）, „ ... ....… -- * }} | ‘ “ ’ “ ’ ” •••• • ►va » waee ----- * . . . ~~" - IJ Awe-a- gº sº : ***** | f ºase, ſ : - & g PLAN OF GOV. WILLIAM HULL IN 1809 To Show Military Reservation. 30 In 1830 Congress passed an act requiring the Governor and Coun- cil to transmit a plan of the town, and John Farmer was employed to draw up the proper documents. At about the same time John Mullett prepared, and J. O. Lewis engraved a plan of the City. These plans are nearly alike in form, and are made up from such papers and surveys as could be found. In their report accompany- ing the Farmer map, the Governor and Judges say that the original plan of the city “fell into the hands of the enemy” in 1812. A petition to Congress by Joseph Campau and some other citi- zens, dated January 1, 1831, makes some other statements regarding the old plans. This petition states that there were several plans prepared at different times; two or three plans were prepared by Thomas Smith, one by Aaron Greeley, one by Abijah Hull, one by John Mullett and the last, “probably the most exceptionable was recently drafted by John Farmer.” The Mullett and Farmer plans included the land known as the Governor and Judges land, but did not include the Military Reser- vation. That Reservation embraced nearly all of the land north of Larned Street and west of Griswold Street, extending northerly to Michigan Avenue and westerly to the Cass farm. This tract was owned by the Federal Government and was given to the City of Detroit in 1826. The fort was razed and the dirt used to fill the Campus Martius and the old creek through Congress Street. The land was then platted and placed on the market for sale about 1830. The park lots above referred to constituted a part of the Ten Thousand Acre Tract. They were laid out for garden lots and sold by the Governor and Judges from the year 1809, as opportunity for sale offered. The lands constituting the Ten Thousand Acre Tract were disposed of in the same manner. In 1832 the City was again enlarged by taking in the Lambert Beaubien, Antoine Beaubien, Charles Moran, Louis Moran, Rivard and Riopelle farms, all situated on the easterly side of the city. The limits now extended, on that side, to Riopelle Street. In 1835 the expansion of the city began by the arrival of thous- ands of new comers moving westward from New England and New York. Governor Cass placed the first plat of his farm on record in July and a month later a portion of the Brush farm was platted and placed on the market. The next year (1836), the city line was moved eastward to include the Witherell Farm. By the act of Feb- ruary 15, 1842, the limits were contracted by placing the easterly line at Dequindre Street, thereby excluding the Witherell farm from the city. ******* *** * § 1. Ay af IDIETROIſ T. by Jºe ºv Mºzza,Tºr. 6. 2.-- *fervº-e Af. ***, r*.,..., &A. * **, *a-2 *~~~~4 Auz.A., 40, - 42, -**~~~~. * **, Arrez,. ; i | §!g Coevsºarsº Sras a " , F----if-i-i’ | % ſº zy-fº - - EEEEEE 1.I.3," -º-º: a-ºra - º **. * || ||. > *g ºf ºz zº- ‘l ºf g - ſ -- £asaware ºrea's r | J.J.E. _*2 {#sº-ºpiºis P- ſº gº tg --- r-r-, s * !,'...} : | | |S|*|* * * * **** FEEEEEEE ..ºf 4. to } #: a. Jºaºa A. JoAv Avawwa. ſ —T-1. ... [...]...ſºit EEEEE| [FHERE!!! FEEFlºlºg: sEREEEEº “: H # # #|Tüß • M t | Jº º º :*::::: #lſº º *4 * 3ras a r º, sº *** * foodººsa: ** IT) ſº, º'-lastrºles - . . . . . * * *. Jº - - - -- " *... "... #EEEE º É - T., lº g’s -:- |C º le. as "Hi Hij . . . -- ~. W.I.ſ.º. rºl - 4 - --- º-litriºt (rºſº . . ; , sº **t ~, ~ se : l ºf pº | - H - - & Yºs U---, º [\º ‘. . ** • *** - - - - ->>º - - - - - - - &A. º T-- ! Sº, *. - *- * rºº # • rº fºe ºvskºvº - Jrs - * --> * jº º 1–1– 3. ****, * , sº ºlº - º, Fºº º .N.' º º - º t ºr ſºlº & ºléº. - º - : ſ | La- sº-------- **** MULLETT's MAP of THE Governor AND JUDGES PLAN .AND M | LITARY RESERVATION IN 1830. 2 32 THE CASS FARM COMPANY OF 1835. The year 1836 was one of the most prosperous in the annals of Detroit. The territory had been looking towards statehood for some years. The census of 1830 had shown a population in Detroit of 2,222, which had increased to 6,927 at the taking of the census in the year 1836. In 1835 the State Constitution was adopted and State Officers elected so that in 1836 we were a state de facto if not de jure. It was only in consequence of factional fights and opposition, without reason, in Congress, that the State had not been admitted in Decem- ber of the preceding year. Lines of steamboats and sail boats on Lake Erie began pour- ing in their loads of emigrants as soon as navigation opened and the City was filled to overflowing with those who came from the east to settle. Most of these pioneers came to locate on the farm lands throughout the State, but many of them remained in the City per- manently. More than one thousand persons landed in Detroit each day during the season of navigation of 1836. Hotels and private houses were all filled to overflowing. New buildings, both for dwellings and business purposes were going up all over town. The real estate in the interior of the town, the Governor and Judges plan, was changing hands rapidly at ever increasing prices. The owners of the farms adjacent to the old plan soon platted portions into dwelling lots and these were put on the market and sold rapidly. g The newspapers contained many items of real estate sales illustrating the tendency of the times. The Free Press of Feb. 18, 1836, had this to say on the subject: “It is not our purpose or inten- tion to bolster up, by exaggerated accounts predicted upon rumor , alone, the legitimate advances of real estate in Detroit. As a proof of the rapidly increasing prosperity of our city we would instance a sale of ten acres of land situated upwards of one mile from the Detroit river, on the Pontiac Road, without any buildings upon it, for one thousand dollars per acre.” Noah Sutton was employed by the city to take a census of its inhabitants. He also ascertained other matters of interest which he reported. There were in the city 55 brick stores, of which 22 were four stories in height. There were also 140 frame stores, 774 frame dwellings and 39 brick dwellings. There were 1008 buildings in the city. There were 14 schools with 600 scholars. 33 One of the largest real estate enterprises that flourished at that period was what was known as the Cass Farm Company. This organization was similar to the corporations of our time, though in fact it was a copartnership. It was organized June 18, 1835. The organizers were the foremost business men of the City, ten in num- ber: Edmund A. Brush, Charles C. Trowbridge, Eurotas P. Hast- ings, DeGarmo Jones, Shubael Conant, Elon Farnsworth, Oliver Newberry, Augustus S. Porter, Henry Whiting and Henry S. Cole. Subsequently and before the affairs of the Company were disposed of DeGarmo Jones and Henry S. Cole died. (DeGarmo Jones died November 14, 1846, and Henry S. Cole died June 10, 1836). Cather- ine H. Jones, widow and devisee of DeGarmo Jones took his place in the enterprise and the estate of Henry S. Cole fell into the hands of the executors of his will, one of whom was his widow Victoire Cole. - The Company at first purchased all of the Cass farm south of Larned Street, from Governor Lewis Cass for one hundred thou- sand dollars and they gave him a mortgage for the full amount. The additional security was the obligation of the purchasers and the moneys they expended in improving the property. Before we go further in the history of this company we will ascertain what the Cass farm was. It was a large farm of more than five hundred acres, reaching from Cass Avenue to Third Avenue of the present City and extending from the Detroit River three miles in depth to the railroads on the north. It had originally consisted of three farms and the origin of record title reaches back to the time when this country was under the French Dominion. The King of France granted one parcel to Jacques Godet, April 1, 1750. Jean Bte. Des Butes dit St. Martin got two deeds April 1, 1750 and March 15, 1759. The other parcel was granted to Fran- cois Barrois, April 1, 1752. The next owners were Charles Cour- tois, Francois Berthelet and Charles Beaubien. About the time the War of the American Revolution came to an end in 1783, the firm of TMacomb, Edgar and Macomb, merchants (composed of William and Alexander Macomb and William Edgar), purchased all three parcels. Money was apparently very plentiful at that time for the consideration in the deeds indicate that they paid about £5,060 Quebec currency, equal to about $12,650 of American money. The property subsequently came to be owned by the estate of William Macomb and by the terms of his will passed to his three sons, David, William and John. Lewis Cass purchased the property from these heirs at various times about the year 1816 for twelve thous- &’gºrzewºzycaº. R~ }y ºrȘ $ $ $ $ §ų § §..< Nº ŅĢĒŘș §. © ș”Șģ* & àŠ $ $ $ |š į§§ ' $ } \J * *Š{ * � � KJ gº EEEEEE /9 yaº Avoyar - ..." • |s|≤. CŞıEEEEE S raº razz: Š�}[77][EI] ~$1EEEJ EEEEEEE|§),！�EĞİTTİ# blº <> � ĒĒĒĒĒĒĒĒĒĒ%ZGEREET EĞER sąavºav$Żww.wooo« ſýſ�EFFEE; } §§7ğKºçºEFFER] EE|E. Ēģ��taip： ſº | & wº KEEE fºſ-EEE gº.g ſº #|E} BE ######## F# -*w- : SSºss Sºft s:##$!!. st-; * r * 2 . . . S-Ns F#sº ###$$ | #: º §§ SH: Wood &A’zacz , {{HHH ！ №©® š#|#, ######È ; *Ģ�-Ży\\39S[−] [75]ș ſ-{ a ： * *©q， ， 7;ſº\ * {§§��ËËĚĚĒĒĻ, Ģ, / ș șšș , și�(§«№àĞ\;|[#|$ #ļķ#ffff• §§§§§§}�Ģģ�?\\\JE * Elſ ºff, ’ $ $ „š§§§//yar-rint=ſ%rs §§§§$§§��§|#| |#|###### §§§§ §§§žęſėſi įſiſi, ſ / U S-SUQ GQS， & Q &•ſaeſſaey , ! ����$ （ºff}\\&| # ###/ $ ~~:…! �ºsººvėsºs， 1% *~~ EȚIE] DIT] #Ë Ē ĒĒĖĖĘří] , THE ORIGINAL PLAN PERFECTED AFTER THE FIRE OF 1805. 35 and dollars. It was practically unproductive, for aside from the small portion he wanted for the use of himself and family, it was leased for farm purposes at a small rental. But the times changed so completely between 1830 and 1835 that the front portion of the farm was now needed for business and dwelling purposes. The front, below Larned Street was mostly covered with the waters of the Detroit River and this had to be all filled in in order to make it of any use. The work of filling in was begun in 1835. A contract was given to Abraham Smolk to do this work for the Company. The entire tract was conveyed by the owners to Augustus S. Por- ter, August 17, 1835. Mr. Porter was to act as trustee for the com- pany and make conveyances of the property as it was sold in par- cels. Porter appointed Charles C. Trowbridge his successor to act in case of his death or disability. The formation of this company and the enterprise it demonstrated is thus referred to in the Free Press of March 23, 1836. “City Improvements: We are highly gratified to learn from authentic sources that our enterprising fellow citizens, Messrs. Newberry, Conant, Jones and others, proprietors of the Cass front, are making preparations for erection of a splendid hotel on the site of Governor Cass' old residence. It is a subject of congratulation that our citizens are becoming alive to the importance of an imme- diate addition to the comforts and convenience of travelers. It is true that we have two commodious and excellent hotels and a host of others good enough in their way but it is a subject of public notoriety that hundreds of passengers were compelled last season to remain over night on board the steamboats, or leave the city, for want of lodgings and even now at this inclement season when navi- gation is closed, applicants are daily dismissed from public houses for want of accommodations. “Facts warrant us in saying that the emigration to Michigan this season will be such as to astonish even the most sanguine; and we predict that the month of May will flood Detroit with persons seeking a temporary or permanent abode. The rapid growth of this city, its situation on the great chain of lakes at the very center of Michigan and the important public improvements by railroads now being constructed, have attracted the attention of foreign capital- ists and thousands of them will seek an abiding place among us.” “The construction of the Cass Hotel on the liberal scale intended, will remedy many of those evils of which complaints have justly been made, and its beautiful situation, commanding a lofty view up 36 and down the river, cannot fail to secure to it a large share of public patronage.” It was at this time also that the National Hotel, subsequently called the Russell House, was erected where the Hotel Pontchar- train now stands. On May 18th the following appeared in the paper: “Detroit—The increasing prosperity of Detroit exceeds the warmest anticipations of our citizens. This fact is evinced by the increasing demand for stores and the increased and increasing value of rents. Every tenement on Jefferson Avenue from the American Hotel to the Exchange that can possibly be obtained for a store has been rented for that purpose. Some occupants of stores in the most business part of the city have sold out their leases for the year at an advance of 100 per cent of what they were taken in the winter. We know of one individual who hired a store for one year from the first of March, who has sold out his lease for the remain- der of the term at an advance of nearly 120 per cent. At the present rate of rents real property on Jefferson Avenue occupied for stores must yield a profit of an average of 25 per cent on the estimated value of the fee simple.” A year of work in filling in, building wharves and selling took place before we find any report of their sales. The demand for lots had been good and there were plenty of sales and many buildings were erected. On October 20, 1836, the trustee reported that they had expended $53,388.27 in improvements and had sold lots on con- tract and for cash to the amount of $191,936.37. Of these sales $113,552.90 were considered good. Not enough money had been received to warrant any payments either to Cass on his mortgage or to the members of the Company. Before this sale took place the following notice of it appeared in the daily press: A.Y.E. LA FAYETTE | -n - w H ^ 1. i 2||— |_____）~~~--~~~~ , !ºn o NA S ! ！! 9 L3 3 84 Ga: fº --× 3 QT g • ！»sołoLłº* Ê-3• • • • ► --★ → + +“I HA © 8}^}; § ?}-4.V.A.! 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S S v > — — — — — J aſ ºn 1 & - THE FORT Showing its Location on the Present Plan of the City. 38 “GREAT SALE OF THE FRONT OF THE CASS FARM, DETROIT. “The owners of this splendid property, comprising from 15 to 20 acres, having a front of wharfing on the ship channel of the Detroit River of 1,400 feet in length, well laid out in lots to suit the purpose of warehousing and commerce, will be offered for sale at public auction at the Michigan Exchange in the City of Detroit on Tuesday the 20th day of September next. The improvements made by the proprietors in wharfing this front and in reducing the high bank on which the Mansion House of Governor Cass stood, to an easy and convenient grade from Larned Street to the channel of the river, is one of the most important and extensive that has been undertaken by individuals in the west. The grade of Jeffer- son Avenue is made to conform to this improvement and this is the only point where this important street descends to the water lots. The proprietors have been engaged in this work for about a year and are rapidly completing it, having from 60 to 100 men con- stantly employed. The property in rear was brought into market last year where the lots are fast filling up with buildings.” At the sale the water lots brought from $146 to $200 per foot front. The lots in the rear were sold at from $65.00 to $235.00 per foot. “The high price at which these lots were sold (the Free Press stated), affords a gratifying evidence that though there is a tempo- rary pressure in the money market, yet real estate is advancing and advantageous sales of eligible property are effected without diffi- culty.” The great financial depression that swept over the entire coun- try in 1837 was not felt at once in Detroit and the sale of the Cass front went on at high speed. Messrs. Porter and Conant made an inventory of the property of the company on October 12, 1837, and found that they had in unsold lots $307,307.50 and in good contracts $113,552.90, making a total of $421,860.80. The times of depression had come however and it was not only impossible to sell more lots but the contracts already made were being forfeited and the lands were falling back upon the company. The matter was a failure and it only remained now to make the best of it and get out with as little loss as possible. Nothing whatever on the principal had been paid to General Cass on his mortgage and the interest was paid only to January 1, 1837. 39 In 1839 Mr. Brush visited Cass in Paris, where he was living as the minister to France, and in the interest of the company made a proposition to him which was accepted. By this agreement the remaining lots were divided into ten portions and one portion allot- ted to each member of the company. The mortgage to Cass was discharged and in 1840 he took a new mortgage from each member for $10,000, covering the share of each. The ten members gave Cass their unsecured bond for $17,500.00, the interest unpaid on the original mortgage. In November, 1840, Trowbridge gave up his interest to Henry R. Schoolcraft, John Hulbert and the Rever- end William McMurray. These men had purchased interests under Mr. Trowbridge some time before this, but now he stepped out of the company completely and turned over his share to his successors without further compensation. Affairs remained in this way for some years. The times were getting harder and harder and as no sales could be made the partners could not pay their mortgages. Their money was gone and to force payment of the mortgages would have compelled them to seek the court of bankruptcy. Farnsworth, Porter, the executors of the Cole estate, Whiting, Hast- ings, Brush and Conant all surrendered their interests to Cass in 1843. Oliver Newberry and Mrs. Catherine H. Jones, only retained their interests in the estate. Thus ended in disaster one of the greatest real estate trans- actions that ever took place in Detroit. It started out on the wave of prosperity that swept over the country in 1835, and ended in the gulf of disaster and despair that followed in the wake of the finan- cial crisis brought about by rotten wild cat banks and the depreci- ated currency of 1837. 1849. The Forsyth, LaBrosse and Baker farms were annexed on the westerly side in 1849 and the western boundary line was fixed at the easterly line of the Woodbridge farm. 1857. The boundary lines of the city as enlarged by act of February 5, 1857, ran as follows: beginning at the intersection of the National boundary line with the line between the Alexis Campau farm (pri- vate claim 78), and the Porter farm (private claim 21), and running thence northerly to the Detroit, Monroe & Toledo Railroad, thence along the line of that railroad to the rear end of the Woodbridge "Z || 8 | -! O H\//\/\• E. H. L 9 N | H [A CI HO_LE XA S S || H. L. d. ſh WAE BH CI S N \//\B. W \/ I T T | /\/\ №jºzov z?roz- rȚE |-~~№©šì |--№sſiirrº№S， -D= ±）'， ，，ºa， &&**-2*s-， : º ºs 3 * * sº ..º.º.º.º. ºś sº º: ‘. º: sº **** *... . . . . . ºf "...ºſ. º “...º. ºr; “; #