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Clarence Monroe Burton 
 Detroit's Historian 
 
CLARENCE MONROE BURTON 
 1853 - 1932 
 
 Scholar, Businessman 
 
 Friend to Students 
 
 Collector of Source Materials 
 
 on the Old Northwest 
 
Clarence Monroe Burton 
 
 Detroit's Historian 
 
 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH BY 
 
 Patricia Owens Burton 
 
 *^3^,ik 
 
 Published by 
 BURTON ABSTRACT & TITLE COMPANY 
 
 Detroit, Michigan 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/clarencemonroebuOOburt 
 
Copyright 1953 by 
 Burton Abstract & Title Company 
 
 Illustration on cover: 
 
 "View of Detroit, 1794," from a water color by an 
 unknown British Army officer. Presented to the City 
 of Detroit by Lady Nancy Astor. Now owned by the 
 Burton Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library. 
 
 Illustration on end papers: 
 
 Plan of Private Claims in Michigan Territory, as surveyed 
 by Aaron Greeley in 1810. From an engraving in the 
 Burton Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library. 
 
 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 BY CONJURE HOUSE, DETROIT, MICHIGAN 
 
Preface 
 
 The one hundredth anniversary of the birth of the late Clarence 
 Monroe Burton will fall on November the eighteenth of this year. 
 The Directors of the Burton Abstract and Title Co., which Mr. 
 Burton founded, feel that the event should be marked in some 
 suitable way and have decided that a biography of Mr. Burton 
 should be prepared and published. 
 
 The task of preparing the biography was assigned to Patricia 
 Owens Burton, the wife of Edson N. Burton, a grandson of the 
 late C. M. Burton. Since the work of preparing the manuscript 
 was started Edson N. Burton has succeeded his father, the late 
 Ralph Burton, as president of the Company. 
 
 The author of this work never knew C. M. Burton and is 
 therefore able to write more objectively than one who knew him 
 during his life. Her information has been obtained by a study 
 of manuscripts, journals, old newspapers and similar records 
 supplemented by interviews with those who knew him. 
 
 C. M. Burton spent most of his life gathering and preserving 
 the records of the City of Detroit and it seems appropriate that a 
 record of his life should be preserved for the people of Detroit. 
 
 THE BURTON ABSTRACT AND TITLE CO. 
 
 By Frank Burton, 
 Chairman of the Board 
 
 Detroit 
 August 1953 
 
Chapter I 
 
 1HE GREAT motor city, Detroit, has 
 celebrated recently its 250th Anniversary. The celebrants were 
 widely varied between those full of hope and courage and those 
 who think that world conditions are too hopeless ever to be 
 righted. Atomic destruction, economic degeneracy, and world 
 upheaval. How are they so different from the hardships that our 
 ancestors faced? In 1953 Clarence Monroe Burton would have 
 celebrated his hundredth anniversary, and he would have had an 
 answer for the defeatists. His story began back with the '49ers 
 and their thrilling search for a new life. 
 
 The middle years of the nineteenth century were interesting to 
 everyone as the great new country of America grew and expanded, 
 but the brave pioneers who traveled toward the west, searching 
 for gold, were probably the most colorful of all the people in our 
 history. In 1853, a caravan of sixteen wagons started out from 
 Battle Creek, Michigan. With this group was Charles Seymour 
 Burton, young doctor and newspaper editor, his loyal and coura- 
 geous wife, Annie Monroe, a poetess of some local fame, and 
 their young son, Charles Francis. They had moved from their 
 home state of New York in 1849 and had become prominent 
 citizens of the small Michigan town. Dr. Burton founded the 
 
Battle Creek Journal. Annie, believed to be related to President 
 James Monroe, wrote many poems which were printed in Harpers 
 Monthly, Godey's Lady Book, and various newspapers. Neither 
 she nor her husband had ever experienced such an undertaking 
 before, or anything to compare with it. 
 
 Long on the road, their caravan reached the Bret Harte 
 country when the gold rush was heavy. They had started with 
 horses but switched on the way to oxen. The trip was tedious, 
 but Charles had reserved one saddle horse for Annie. Upon 
 reaching their destination, they immediately set up residence in 
 a homemade log cabin. The town where they settled was called 
 Whiskey Diggings, and it was situated on the Feather River in 
 Sierra County. They were 85 miles from Marysville and 400 miles 
 from San Francisco. Here, surrounded by rough miners, mostly 
 Indians and Chinese, Annie gave birth to her second son. Clarence 
 Monroe Burton entered the world on November 18, 1853, assisted 
 only by an old miner called "J oe " Stender. It was a stormy, 
 snowy day, and Dr. Burton had gone over the mountain to care 
 for another patient. 
 
 Although his mining ventures were successful, Charles soon 
 tired of this rugged living and planned to return to his eastern 
 home. In later years Clarence wrote, "Father was desirous of 
 returning to the States." In 1854 they sailed from San Francisco on 
 the Yankee Blade bound for Panama. Annie boarded the ship 
 with a small son on each side and a large gold nugget sewed into 
 the hem of her dress. There had been a three-way partnership in 
 Whiskey Diggings among Dr. Burton, "Joe" Stender, and Griffin 
 Hazard, and when they dissolved the partnership, Dr. Burton 
 bought the nugget, which was almost lost in the adventure 
 encountered aboard the Yankee Blade. It was discovered, after the 
 ship was on its way, that a band of criminals aboard intended to 
 seize the ship and rob the passengers. This was accomplished on 
 the second day out and resulted in the sinking of the ship and 
 drowning of many passengers. Those who survived lived on 
 
oysters and clams until they were spotted. The captain of the 
 Goliath saw them and carried word to the steamer Pacific which 
 came to their rescue. All of the Burtons survived, but between the 
 weight of the nugget and that of the baby, Clarence, Annie was 
 nearly a casualty. She and the child were taken to the house that 
 Helen Hunt Jackson referred to as "the marriage place of Ramona" 
 in "Old Town," San Diego. Father and elder son later joined them. 
 The Vigilance Committee eventually captured most of the thieves. 
 In San Diego Charles bought a team of oxen and a wagon which 
 they used to drive back to San Francisco. 
 
 After this trying experience, they remained in San Francisco 
 until 1855, when they returned to New York by way of the Cape. 
 After selling the nugget in New York for $825, they celebrated a 
 joyous reunion with the Monroes. There was much visiting of 
 relatives and displaying of grandchildren, and, of course, they 
 told the thrilling stories of their western trip over and over again. 
 Finally, the holiday was ended, and they returned to Hastings, 
 Michigan, where William, Ella, and Edward eventually were added 
 to the family. However, these three could never boast of the 
 exciting early life of Charles and Clarence. 
 
 In the small community of Hastings, Clarence Burton grew up 
 and received his primary education in the Hastings Village School. 
 His father continued his medical practice, including homeopathy 
 and surgery, and found time to begin a second newspaper, the 
 Hastings Banner. They lived on a 27-acre farm on the outskirts 
 of town. One day when Clarence was three years old an Indian 
 came to the house. Clarence and his brother Charles, then seven, 
 were all alone. They were not frightened, though, as the Indians 
 were quite harmless at that time. Stealing was their only reputed 
 crime as the days of scalping had passed. However, this Indian 
 was quite inebriated, so as he staggered through the door, the 
 boys stepped back and remained quiet. Their guest sat down by 
 the fire and began stuffing his mouth with some corn meal that 
 had been left to dry. As he became full, he grew sleepy, and when 
 
 ■3 
 
he began to nod lazily, they crept by him ana out the door. Then 
 they ran to the woods for Brewster, the hired man, who returned 
 to the house and aided the Indian back to fresh air with the toe 
 of his boot. In the melee, a whiskey bottle fell to the floor. It 
 was emptied and during all the years that the Burtons lived in 
 Hastings the bottle was used for cut flowers. 
 
 Another day the men were busy threshing wheat. In the midst 
 of their work, they dropped Clarence into the wheat bin to test 
 the bottom for holes. While he was inside, an old Indian chief 
 approached his father and asked if he could have the boy. 
 Dr. Burton said that he would trade Clarence for a pony, and 
 they undertook to finish the bargain. The matter was left to the 
 child and he agreed to go with the Indian. They could not decide, 
 however, whether Clarence should have the pony or it should 
 belong to his father, so the whole thing was dropped, much to the 
 disappointment of the boy and the general amusement of the 
 adults. 
 
 And so passed Clarence's childhood, much like that of any 
 other normal boy, attended by small tragedies and some fame in 
 the fields of baseball and marbles. 
 
Chapter II 
 
 IN THE FALL of 1869, Clarence Burton 
 entered the University of Michigan, where his brother, Charles, 
 was already in residence. He must have felt the same sensation 
 of awe that creeps over each student who first becomes a part 
 of that great institution. Probably, in all of the United States, there 
 is no town so beautiful as Ann Arbor when the leaves first take 
 on their autumn colors. 
 
 To Clarence, Ann Arbor was a new and better world than 
 anything he had known before. Unlike most of the sons of 
 Hastings he never had any desire to return. Hastings had to him 
 meant too much hard and distasteful work. 
 
 Clarence was a studious boy little given to the frivolities that 
 occupy the attention of many young people. He welcomed the 
 opportunity to study and to be associated with men of education. 
 To the end of his life he retained a deep affection for Ann Arbor. 
 At first he started with science, but after three years of study, he 
 turned his interests to another field. Among his early notes there 
 are some from a course called "An Introduction to English Litera- 
 ture." Typical of the inconsistencies of boyhood, he devotes an 
 entire section to the causes of poor spelling, and, in so doing, spells 
 "versatility" "versitillity" and "accuracy" "acrucy." 
 
In 1872 he entered the Law Department of the University, and 
 two years later he received his degree. It was many years before 
 he received his Liberal Arts diploma, however. Because of the 
 large enrollment that the University has always boasted and the 
 high cost of materials on such a scale (even at that time), it was 
 necessary to charge an extra sum for the famed sheepskin. Always 
 an economical fellow, Clarence refused to pay this sum. Neverthe- 
 less, years later (after the Burton name had become famous) the 
 University awarded him the diploma. He refused to make the 
 journey to receive it, and so it was accepted by his eldest daughter, 
 Agnes. 
 
 Despite his singularly serious nature, these college years did not 
 slip by without some of the normal upsets that a student will en- 
 counter. There was an abrupt interruption in Clarence's college 
 life when he was asked, along with several other boys, to remove 
 himself from the campus. The story, although it has many versions, 
 seems definitely to center around Van Amburgh's circus. For some 
 reason, the boys had words with the circus attendants and the 
 words soon progressed into a conflict of flailing hands and arms. 
 The circus men were larger, older and better experienced in such 
 matters and so accomplished a rapid victory. One or two of the 
 students were bruised in the tussle, and they all left with bitter 
 feelings. Whether or not it was coincidence, the following day found 
 some of the animals wandering far from their cages and making 
 themselves at home in the streets of Ann Arbor. Clarence insisted, 
 whenever the story was told, that he had nothing to do with the 
 matter, but research shows that he left the university quietly along 
 with the other boys. A reminiscence of the class of 73 reported 
 that CM. Burton "left for incurring the displeasure of the faculty 
 by bolting his regular recitation to take a one-day course in zoology 
 under Van Amburgh." 
 
 During the following year he did some astronomical work with 
 Prof. James C. Watson and spent the rest of the time in teaching. 
 
 Back in school and studying law, Clarence was required to 
 
 -6- 
 
present a test case. His fellow student in the case was Thomas 
 Bradley. They concocted a suit that involved the transporting of a 
 thousand dollars worth of white flour, and did such an excellent 
 job of putting it over that there was some confusion around town 
 about the actual existence of such an arrangement. 
 
 On Christmas Day in the year 1872, while still in Law School, 
 Clarence married Harriet Jane Nye, daughter of Nelson B. Nye, 
 United States Marshal. There were eight children born to this 
 marriage. The first, Mary Agnes, was born while they were still in 
 Ann Arbor. 
 
 Clarence came to Detroit alone in 1874. The town then con- 
 sisted of 80,000 people. He was too young to be admitted to the 
 Bar, and he began his working career with much too modest a 
 salary to care for a wife and child. His work was with the Lake 
 Survey where he used some of the knowledge gained from Profes- 
 sor Watson. Harriet remained with her family until a better pros- 
 pect was in sight. To overcome his loneliness, Clarence spent many 
 evenings standing in front of the Biddle House on Jefferson Avenue 
 where he could hear the music from Charles M. Welch's band. 
 Welch was also the owner of a variety theater, but Clarence had 
 no money for amusements of that sort. Occasionally, he and George 
 Gartner (who was later a Judge of the Circuit Court) would go 
 to a saloon on Randolph and Congress, but Clarence did not enjoy 
 this as he never drank beer or any alcoholic beverage. He went 
 willingly to a place on Monroe Street, though, because the pro- 
 prietor, a man named George H. Gies, played the "orchestrion." 
 
 On November 19, 1874, Clarence was licensed to practice law 
 in Wayne County, having turned twenty-one on the previous day. 
 He then went to work with Ward and Palmer where he was to 
 receive a yearly salary of $100. Still, by gaining extra employment 
 and sleeping on a cot in the office where he worked, he managed 
 to buy a book or two and even to save a small portion. When he 
 boosted his yearly income to $300, he summoned the courage to 
 bring his wife and child to Detroit. They lived in a three-room 
 
house at 83 Henry Street, where they existed almost entirely on 
 bread and molasses. For one whole year they did not have a 
 scrap of meat or butter. Later in life, when some would point to 
 Clarence Burton's wealth and imply that he did not understand the 
 problems of the poor, he would refer to this early poverty. 
 
 After awhile, they managed to save $10 to pay down on a con- 
 tract for a house on Walnut Street between 7th and 9th (now 
 Brooklyn and Trumbull). The owner was Peter Updike, and he 
 set the price of the house at $1800. It was difficult to pay off this 
 amount on such a meager income, but the needs of the Burtons 
 were simple as theirs was a quiet life. They went out very seldom, 
 even in later years when it would have been more possible. Of 
 course, it was uncomfortable to travel by streetcar in those days 
 because the cars were unheated and pulled, rather unsteadily, by 
 horses. Clarence was always very much interested in public trans- 
 portation, and he noted that, at this time, Saginaw had streetcars 
 heated by wood stoves. However, partly because of thrift and 
 partly by choice, Clarence never rode anywhere if he could walk 
 instead. When economy was no longer so necessary, he would 
 often remark that the streetcars were so crowded that he did not 
 like to put an additional strain on the horse. 
 
 Hard work and concentrated saving finally showed some results, 
 and in 1881, Clarence and Harriet moved from Corktown to the 
 more aristocratic Brady Street. At that time, the Brush Farm ran 
 between Brady and Watson Streets and the land that is so crowded 
 now was then used for grazing cows. The Burtons had become a 
 family of five as Charles had been born in 1876, and Clarence in 
 1878. It was typical that the first born should have been named for 
 Clarence's beloved older brother. 
 
 John Ward was a well known attorney and partner in the firm 
 of Ward and Palmer. Although he spent his entire life a bachelor, 
 he had many friends and was held in great esteem by all who 
 knew him. Originally as an employer and later as a guiding friend, 
 he did much to aid Clarence Burton to fame and financial success. 
 
 •8- 
 
In 1866 Ward and his nephew, Eugene Skinner, started an office to 
 make abstracts of title. By the time Clarence was employed by 
 Ward the abstract records were collected, and soon after Clarence 
 was persuaded to join the company. As far as Skinner was con- 
 cerned, his heart was never in the abstract business. It was his 
 first job after leaving the Federal Army where he had served as a 
 captain. His ambition was to be a doctor of medicine. Con- 
 sequently, when he began his studies, he sold his share of the 
 concern to Clarence who was doing the actual running of the busi- 
 ness. Little did they know that their "enfant trouve" would grow 
 into one of the largest abstract businesses in the country. 
 
Chapter III 
 
 DEVOTING HIMSELF wholeheartedly to 
 the abstract business, C. M. Burton grew to be a noted authority 
 on real estate. Even at the beginning, Ward and Skinner gave him 
 much of the responsibility of the business. 
 
 John Ward had lived a solitary and lonely life. He was a famil- 
 iar figure among Detroit businessmen. Because of one crippled 
 leg, he walked with a limp and leaned heavily upon a walking 
 stick. Probably because of this affliction, he never married. Casual 
 aquaintances thought him a stern and serious man, but many 
 people whose lives had touched Ward's would deny such a con- 
 clusion. At times he felt towards Clarence Burton as father to 
 son, as his attentions to the Burton family proved. Once a week, 
 he would send a carriage from the livery stable to take Mrs. Burton 
 and the children for a ride. He sent concert tickets and remembered 
 each of their birthdays. At once, he was a kindhearted friend and 
 a hardhearted businessman. 
 
 The firm of Ward and Palmer had made a specialty of extending 
 loans on real estate securities, and C. M/s job was to examine the 
 land titles. His nights were spent in the examination of abstracts, 
 and he seemed to have a natural knack for the work. It was this 
 experience and a natural adaptation that gave John Ward the 
 
 ■10- 
 
confidence to put his business into Clarence Burton's hands. 
 
 In 1883 Clarence was admitted by Ward and Skinner as a 
 partner and later he bought all of John Ward's interest. In 1891 he 
 organized the Burton Abstract Company. For many years the 
 business failed to show a profit, but C. M. was indomitable and, 
 as Detroit grew, he grew with it. He was known as an austere 
 employer, but he drove himself as severely as he did all who 
 worked with him, and he was respected and loved. In regard to 
 detail of every sort, he was relentless, and he had no patience with 
 the slovenly or the slothful. However, for those who lived up to his 
 expectations, he would go to any lengths. There was never a labor 
 problem of any sort in Clarence Burton's business because he 
 trusted those he employed as he did his family. It is true that he 
 demanded and disciplined, but he also cared for his people. When 
 the city sold tickets to be used for the streetcars, C. M. bought 
 them in large quantities and distributed them to his help. It would 
 be impossible to guess how many times he helped a needy person 
 with individual assistance and money from his own pocket. 
 
 Many of those who are still employed at the Burton Abstract 
 and Title Company can remember the days when C. M. Burton 
 would arrive at the stroke of eight every morning, stride briskly 
 through the front door with the carriage of a military man, and 
 call each person sharply by name as he passed. Arriving in his 
 office, he would remove his hat and coat, put on an alpaca coat, 
 adjust his black tie and stiff wing collar, and rapidly begin his 
 day's work. His business called for precision, and his personality 
 fitted his needs. He kept every account personally in his own hand- 
 writing. 
 
 In 1893 the office was moved from 11 Lafayette (the present 
 Transportation Bldg.) where it had been since 1874 to the Home 
 Bank Building which is now the Industrial Bank at Michigan and 
 Griswold. Julia Michaels, who was employed at the Congress Street 
 location until 1952, remembers the old building and tells of receiv- 
 ing five dollars weekly for her services. After one year she timidly 
 
 ■11- 
 
approached C. M. Burton for a raise, and was given an additional 
 one dollar a week. After forty-seven years of working for the 
 Burtons, Miss Michaels still spoke of C. M. with awe and some 
 apprehension. She told of the days when she and Fanny Thomas 
 would cautiously wait for C. M. to go to lunch, in order to carry 
 out such mischief as warming a pan of water on the radiator, 
 and of how they would both quiver with fear if he called them in 
 for consultation. One day Miss Michaels was reduced to tears at 
 C. M/s scolding concerning a sheriffs deed. It was on this occasion 
 that she discovered his gentler side for he relaxed his expression 
 and apologized for his gruff manner. 
 
 In 1914, having grown too big for its quarters, the company 
 moved to the Free Press Building, and in 1919, on to the Randolph 
 Building. George Heartwell joined the company at that time, 
 working in the office of the Register of Deeds. Except for an inter- 
 ruption during the First World War, he has been with the com- 
 pany ever since and, at this writing, heads the Abstract Depart- 
 ment. Rudolph Schmidt started with George as a messenger boy, 
 and until his death in 1953, was an integral part of the company in 
 his job as examining attorney. 
 
 One of the great thrills of C. M. Burton's life came in 1924 
 when he moved into the Burton Building. As he arranged his 
 treasured books on the shelves and prepared to do business on his 
 own property, he looked around proudly and thought, "This is 
 the symbol of my ideals and the result of my labors." And so it 
 was then and still is today. 
 
 12- 
 
Chapter IV 
 
 0, 
 
 W JANUARY 2, 1886, a deed was recorded 
 which indicated the purchase by C. M. Burton of property on 
 the south side of Brainard Street. This property, formerly a 
 section of the Cass Farm, was to be a very important part of 
 C. M. Burton's life, as well as an important contribution to the 
 city of Detroit. Here the rest of the Burton children were born, 
 and here was the real beginning of the famous book collection. 
 
 Two more sons, Fred and Louis, had been born on Brady 
 Street, Fred in 1882 and Louis in 1884, and shortly after their 
 move to Brainard Street, Frank joined the family. Frank Burton 
 is now Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company. 
 
 It seemed that all through his life, Clarence Burton was settling 
 the affairs left muddled by others. There lived on the north side 
 of Brainard Street directly across from the Burtons a family of 
 four, Edward and Augusta Adams, and their two small daughters. 
 Although neighbors for many years, the two men could never have 
 been called friends. Consequently, it was strange that when Edward 
 Adams lay on his death bed, he called Clarence Burton to his side. 
 "My little girls," he pleaded, "please take care of my little girls." 
 Clarence promised that he would and this promise was fulfilled. He 
 acted as guardian for the Adams girls until they were both married. 
 
 •13- 
 
In fact, they came to him and asked his advice before they prom- 
 ised to marry. 
 
 It was after moving to Brainard Street that C. M. Burton began 
 to take an active interest in politics and civic affairs. He defined 
 himself as a Republican when necessary but actually was indepen- 
 dent in his beliefs. W. K. Kelsey, the Commentator of the Detroit 
 News, once said he was "the most independent man in a time 
 when there were many individualists in public life . . . independent 
 and indefatigable/' His energy was indescribable. He walked, some- 
 times four times a day, the distance between his home and office. 
 
 On May 9, 1890, the Detroit News Scientific Editor playfully 
 summed up some of the town's prominent men in one sentence: 
 
 Alanson Sheley — "Human vigor defying the inevitable. ,, 
 
 D. J. Campau — "Trotters, newspapers, politics and single- 
 blessedness. " 
 
 Mayor Pingree — "Gondolas, youthful exuberance of spirits, 
 prosperity, cement, and a general rattling around/' 
 
 C. M. Burton — "An antiquarian keeping step with the nine- 
 teenth century/' 
 
 On August 15, 1890, C. M. Burton's sixth son was born and 
 was named Ralph. Just before Ralph's birth, Clarence made a 
 trip to Whiskey Diggings accompanied by his mother and Agnes. 
 It was then necessary to hire a private conveyance to get from 
 Marysville over the mountains to Gibsonville and Whiskey Dig- 
 gings. Unfortunately, very little of historic interest was gained by 
 the trip. 
 
 C. M. was always nervous when away from his business, and 
 that year he hurried home only to become involved in a lawsuit. 
 The City Treasurer, a man named Tuite, had refused him the 
 right to examine and copy city records and stubs of orders. Taking 
 it to the Supreme Court, C. M. won a decision that made public 
 records accessible to the public at all times. Mr. Tuite was fined 
 $25 for contempt of court. The newspapers called the decision 
 "very sound." Not letting the matter drop at this point, C. M. 
 
 14- 
 
appeared before the Committee of Ways and Means and objected 
 to the Council's reimbursing the City Treasurer for the fine.* 
 
 More and more, the name of Burton was turning up in the 
 news. The Detroit News, at that time, ran a cartoon called "People 
 We Meet." On June 14, 1891, there was a drawing of two men in 
 conversation and the caption read, "C. M. Burton lends an ear and 
 hears a tale of woe." The other man in the cartoon was Frank Egan. 
 
 The next child born to the Burton family was Harriet, named 
 for her mother and the last child her mother was to have. 
 
 With so many children to care for, his hobby of book collecting, 
 and a business that was all consuming, it was almost unbelievable 
 that C. M. Burton could find time for anything more. However, in 
 1895 he began his writing, bringing forth as his first effort, A Sketch 
 of the Life of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, Founder of Detroit. 
 Another published work soon followed which was called A Chapter 
 in the History of Cleveland. The job of collecting books and histori- 
 cal items was well under way by this time, but an entirely separate 
 chapter must be reserved to describe the resulting treasures. The 
 difference between Burton and most collectors was that he never 
 hoarded the things that he found. He wanted them used to best 
 advantage. His generosity came into light when he donated to the 
 University of Michigan, Stevens' Facsimiles of European Archives 
 Relating to American Affairs at the Era of the Revolution. In 
 recognition of this, the University awarded him the Bachelor of 
 Science Degree and later the Master of Arts, nunc pro tunc. 
 
 Shortly after this, he took office as Detroit School Inspector 
 which job he held for 17 years. 
 
 One day, as he was working diligently on his books, a caller 
 arrived, and introduced himself as Charles W. Seabury. He showed 
 Clarence a gold watch which had been given to his father by the 
 survivors of the Yankee Blade. The elder Seabury had been captain 
 of the steamer Pacific, the ship that had rescued the victims from 
 
 *Burton vs. Tuite 78 Mich 363; 80 Mich 218. 
 
 15- 
 
their island. Charles was a traveling salesman, and his home was in 
 Detroit. He had learned about C. M. Burton from John Edwards 
 who was consulting engineer for the Detroit Water Works at that 
 time. Edwards had been the engineer on the Yankee Blade at the 
 time of the accident. Later, with the help of John Edwards, 
 Clarence found the old miner from Whiskey Diggings who had 
 assisted at his birth. Later this man (Joe Stender) went to live on 
 a farm near Hastings belonging to Dr. Charles S. Burton where he 
 spent the remainder of his life. 
 
 John Edwards was a very important man in the history of the 
 Detroit Water Works. He designed and installed the large pumps 
 at the Jefferson Avenue plant so admired by boys of Detroit in the 
 1890's. He remained a lifelong friend of Dr. Burton and the 
 doctor made frequent trips from Hastings to Detroit, ostensibly 
 to visit his sons, Charles and Clarence, but actually he spent most 
 of his time in the pump house at the Water Works. 
 
 16 
 
Chapter V 
 
 JthEAL TRAGEDY entered his life for the 
 first time on February 6, 1896, when Harriet (Nye) Burton died, 
 leaving Clarence the lonely father of eight children. He lost him- 
 self in his work, and soon finished the writing of Cadillacs Village 
 or Detroit Under Cadillac, which included a list of Detroit property 
 owners from 1707-1710. On July 11th, 1896, Evacuation Day was 
 celebrated. This was the one hundreth anniversary of the departure 
 of the British and the raising of the American flag in Detroit on 
 July 11, 1796. C. M. published a book about it which sold for a 
 dollar and fifty cents a copy. 
 
 The following year, again choosing Christmas for his wedding 
 day, Clarence married Lina O. (Shoemaker) Grant. Although 
 their life together was very brief, her influence persuaded him to 
 go forward in public life. 
 
 An alderman named Sumner was being highly criticized for 
 trying to hold down so many jobs at once, and so Clarence was 
 convinced that he should run for the office. However, on June 4, 
 1897, he wrote the following letter to the Free Press: 
 
 "In the morning's paper you make mention of my name in con- 
 nection with the aldermanship of the second ward. It would doubt- 
 less be a high honor conferred on anyone to represent the 
 
 17- 
 
wealthiest ward in the city, but I would respectfully withdraw my 
 name from connection with the office. 
 
 For some time I have examined, with such care as an outsider 
 can examine, the proceedings of our common council and I have 
 found its transactions so directly contrary to my ideas of the proper 
 management of municipal affairs, that I know that my advent in 
 the council would only result in useless votes on my part, and con- 
 tinued disappointment. 
 
 My ideas are that no more public improvements should be 
 made, at the present time, than are absolutely necessary for the 
 preservation of the property now owned by the city, and that the 
 utmost economy should be exercised in all departments of the 
 municipality. 
 
 The tendency of the council now is to make work for the 
 purpose of giving employment to laborers otherwise unemployed, 
 and the result is that our taxes have been increased until the burden 
 is almost unbearable, and the doors of our city have been thrown 
 open and an invitation extended to the unemployed of Michigan, 
 our neighboring states and Canada, to come here and be supported 
 at the expense of the better class of people, the taxpayers of 
 Detroit. 
 
 There are some good men in the council, but there are not 
 enough to control, and I do not believe that my vote would to any 
 great extent assist in the needed reform, and in lowering the tax 
 rate at this time. 
 
 I can only wait and hope that our people, the taxpayers, will 
 come to their senses before it is too late. 
 
 Every land owner curses the council when he pays his taxes, 
 and I don't want to be included in their number. 
 
 C. M. B." 
 The day after this bold message was printed, another followed 
 that agreed with everything that Clarence had said. Not being so 
 brave or so honest, the second letter writer signed himself "Tax- 
 payer." 
 
 18- 
 
On the morning of Ralph's eighth birthday, C. M. and Lina 
 left on a four weeks journey through the east. They took a boat 
 downriver, to Toledo, and strangely enough, it was Mr. Burton's 
 first visit there. Stopping for the night, they visited an amusement 
 park and CM. wrote home that "it gave evidence to fair patronage 
 of hosts of beer drinkers . . . and the merry-go-round proprietor 
 yelled 'all-abound' whenever his horses were riderless." In spite of 
 his own serious nature, C. M. Burton's letters to his children were 
 always filled with lively pictures of things that would be interesting 
 to their young minds. 
 
 Two weeks after they returned from this trip, Lina Burton dis- 
 covered that she would need an operation. Although they were 
 assured that the operation was not a serious one, death followed 
 just thirty-six hours after it was performed. Once again Clarence 
 Burton was left to go on alone. 
 
 19 
 
Chapter VI 
 
 1 T HAS often been said that every man needs 
 a hobby, and at this time of great sorrow, C. M/s historical library 
 was a great comfort to him. Furthermore, the collection, which 
 had grown from his youthful resolution to buy a book a day, was 
 beginning to claim world-wide fame. In 1899 Charles Moore, 
 a distinguished historian of Detroit who was Chief of the Manu- 
 scripts Division of the Library of Congress, went to B. F. Stevens 
 of London, an agent to the American Historical Society, to procure 
 some papers that had belonged to Colonel Henry Hamilton, the 
 British Officer from whom General George Rogers Clark won 
 the territory known as the Old Northwest. Stevens referred Mr. 
 Moore back to C. M. Burton. 
 
 This same year produced one of C. M/s most famous works, 
 In the Footsteps of Cadillac. 
 
 Books were always sacred things to Clarence Burton, and he 
 handled all of his collection with the utmost care, but he always 
 welcomed scholars, and even the casual searcher, to his library. In 
 fact, he advertised in the City Directory that students and other 
 collectors were invited to peruse the books and documents. He 
 had a special fireproof addition built on the Brainard Street house 
 especially for the library and included in this section was an iron 
 
 ■20- 
 
spiral staircase. One day when Frank was about thirteen years old, 
 he and Mannie George Frank (a lifetime friend who now does 
 the advertising for the Burton Abstract and Title Company) 
 crept up the iron staircase. Finding C. M. away, the boys flourished 
 their wooden swords and proceeded to duel on the stairs in true 
 knightly fashion. Suddenly, to their dismay, an austere figure ap- 
 peared at the head of the staircase. CM. had returned. Instead of 
 punishing them, however, he laughed it off, and put them to work 
 opening and sorting cases of books. This was a daily chore as 
 books poured in constantly from Canada, and from archives and 
 dealers in London, France, and all parts of the United States. 
 Having so many books and records, CM. was frequently consulted 
 by writers of Americana, and he gave freely of his time and in- 
 formation. He learned so much about genealogy that he answered 
 pertinent questions through the Detroit News Tribune. 
 
 No amount of trouble was too much when it came to digging up 
 the old documents that were to fill out the collection. When he 
 learned of the existence of the John Askin papers, Clarence went 
 after them with an old cart pulled by one horse. He found the 
 papers in an abandoned chicken coop and rode home on top of 
 them to insure their safe arrival. These were the original records 
 kept by John Askin from 1760 to 1820 while he was a merchant, 
 fur dealer, and commissary of the British Army in Detroit. Besides 
 being of great interest, the papers cleared up many disputed points 
 of the War of 1812. The Canadian Government tried to get them 
 after C M. had bid for them. 
 
 At the same time, he procured the original manuscript on the 
 Chicago Massacre of August 15, 1812, as told by a survivor who 
 had reached Detroit. This was sought by the Chicago Historical 
 Society, which offered several thousand dollars for it, but C. M. 
 refused to sell. Of course, in regard to Cadillac, the collection 
 eventually included copies of everything available by and about 
 him. Many of the other rarities of the Burton library were acquired 
 by C. M/s constant appeal through the papers for readers to bring 
 
 -21- 
 
him books, pamphlets, printed sermons, etc. that could be termed 
 Michigan works. When he discovered a document bearing the seal 
 of Cadillac, he signed a blank check and forwarded it to Montreal. 
 On occasion, a manuscript would turn up that was an heirloom and 
 positively not for sale. At such times, he would wheedle permission 
 to copy the document word for word, which he did himself in 
 longhand, since this was before the common use of photostat and 
 microfilm machines. Occasionally he used a camera. 
 
 When asked how he had started the collection, CM. said that 
 in the beginning, he had no particular goal but rather would collect 
 things as they pertained to what he was studying. While he was 
 learning about a certain period, he would trace all the original 
 pamphlets, broadsides, portraits, and printed works on the subject. 
 When that subject became tiresome or the material was exhausted, 
 he would go on to another. Gradually he confined himself to 
 America and finally to Michigan and Detroit. 
 
 The years between 1885 and 1907 were spent searching for and 
 bidding on old books and manuscripts. After that the books became 
 scarce, so more time was spent in reading them and writing. The 
 search was not without obstacles, but after much persistance he 
 overcame most of these. One example of such a triumph was gain- 
 ing permission of entry into the War Department in Washington 
 with a photographer. Months were spent in photographing military 
 documents and correspondence, especially on the subject of the 
 western operation of the War of 1812. 
 
 •22 
 
Chapter VII 
 
 IN THE late Spring of the year 1900, 
 Clarence Burton again took a wife. She was his cousin and her 
 name, by strange coincidence, was almost the same as that of his 
 mother. Instead of Annie Monroe, it was Anna (Monroe) Knox. 
 Mrs. Knox had four children by her former marriage, and, in 1901, 
 she presented Clarence with a daughter, Elizabeth. 
 
 Whenever it was necessary to state his political party preference, 
 C. M. referred to himself as a Republican. Although he was more 
 a man of principle than of party loyalty, in 1903 he was announced 
 as the Republican candidate for nomination to the Board of 
 Regents of the University of Michigan. He felt a certain relief 
 when he was not elected as he had planned an adventurous trip 
 down the French River in Ontario. 
 
 Clarence, his son Frank, and John Wheeler Reid started on 
 their trip in the Summer of 1904. John Reid had been a draftsman 
 in the abstract office for many years until he went to the City 
 Engineer's Office where he became the Grade Separation Engineer. 
 Later he was City Engineer and eventually Commissioner of the 
 Department of Public Works. After his retirement he served as 
 Senator in the Michigan State Senate until his death in 1940. The 
 three of them came close to representing three generations when 
 
 ■23- 
 
they started on their trip, as Clarence was 51, John 31, and 
 Frank 18. 
 
 Clarence wanted to retrace the route taken by the French 
 traders when they first came to Detroit. They decided to travel up 
 the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario picking up their packs at 
 Niagara. There they would cross to Lake Erie and go north to the 
 site of Detroit. This was the route used by LaSalle, but later French 
 traders had found another because in 1615 Champlain (then 
 Governor of Canada) had incurred the wrath of the Iroquois 
 Indians by interfering in a quarrel between the Iroquois and the 
 Hurons. After that the French were not safe around Lake Ontario 
 and Lake Erie, and so used a dangerous route from the mouth of 
 the St. Lawrence up into Montreal, and through the Ottawa River 
 to a small creek east of Lake Nipissing. Our travelers followed this 
 path and made a land crossing to a small creek which almost ran 
 through the town of Callender and from there into Lake Nipissing. 
 There is still a bronze tablet by the roadside where the creek once 
 crossed and led northward to the North Bay. 
 
 They continued west through Lake Nepissing to its outlet into 
 the French River and then into the Georgian Bay across to 
 Mackinac Island and south through Lake Huron to Detroit. 
 
 CM. was familiar with the area from Detroit to Mackinac and 
 Georgian Bay, but he wanted to learn more about the route from 
 the Bay to Lake Nipissing. Consequently, they went by railroad to 
 North Bay, Ontario, where they bought provisions for the rest of the 
 journey. There were two birchbark canoes of Indian workmanship, 
 one very well built and one rather bulky and awkward. Each was 
 16 feet long and cost $16.00. They also purchased cooking utensils, 
 blankets, tents, etc. They hired an Indian guide known only as Joe. 
 He belonged to the North Bay Indians and CM. believed him to 
 be an Ottawa. 
 
 In North Bay they arranged for passage aboard a steamer 
 which took them 22 miles to a waterfall where Lake Nipissing 
 empties into the French River. This was known as La Grosse 
 
 24- 
 
Chaudiere which means the boiling caldron. They set up camp 
 that night by the waterfall and CM. cooked his first outdoor meal. 
 It was not easy for him to sit on the ground and eat salt pork from 
 a tin dish, but Frank and John loved the outdoor life and soon 
 helped the older man to become oriented. Sleeping was hard for 
 all of them as the ground was composed of Canadian granite. On 
 the first morning Frank wandered a short distance from camp and 
 heard a shout apparently from someone in distress. Running to 
 the water's edge he found an Indian who had speared a sturgeon 
 and was having trouble landing it. Frank came to his aid and 
 they soon had the fish under control. The fisherman spoke no 
 English but Joe soon arrived and acted as interpreter. They found 
 that the old man was chief of the North Bay Indians and that his 
 name was Dugas. He claimed to be 104 years old, and Frank 
 learned two years later that he was still living. Joe defended his 
 claim by stating that his own age was 56 and that Dugas had been 
 an old grayhaired man when he had been a child. 
 
 Dugas owned the sixty-four square miles of reservation in his 
 own right, except for the yellow pine timber reserved by the 
 Canadian Government. He had turned down $750,000 for the right 
 to cut off the red or Norway pine because he said it would ruin 
 the land for hunting game. Also he feared that such a large sum 
 would tempt him to buy a house, and both of his sons had died 
 of tuberculosis after buying houses. He lived in a wigwam and 
 left it only once a week to spear a sturgeon, which he sold in 
 North Bay for 75 cents. This enabled him to buy flour and bacon. 
 
 The bed of the French River lies tlirough the Ontario batholith 
 which is a huge granite formation. Much of this is uncovered, and 
 earth has collected in the crevices allowing small trees to grow. 
 In some places it is low enough for a thicket of trees but none 
 of them grow to any size. 
 
 Frank was interested in the surrounding rock as he had had 
 some training in minerology. Examining the rocks and crystals, he 
 discovered that the country rock is a pink granite mostly composed 
 
 25- 
 
of pink microcline and white silica interspersed with mica and a 
 few other minerals. Along the lower end of the French River close 
 to where the railroad is now, he observed a granite cliff and in it a 
 nugget of metalic copper almost spherical in form and about the 
 size of a marble. It was too tightly imbedded to be dislodged, and, 
 at any rate, probably did not indicate the presence of a mineral in 
 commercial quantities, but nevertheless Frank was most surprised 
 to see copper buried in granite. 
 
 The French River is a chain of irregular lakes so that sometimes 
 it runs a definite course and at other times spreads out into a rocky 
 expanse. The course was hard to determine except to Joe, and 
 they made frequent stops to fish and look around. 
 
 They left La Grosse Chaudiere with Joe and C. M. in one boat 
 and Frank and John in the other and soon encountered some rugged 
 rocks. Joe slowed down to wait for Frank and advised him to keep 
 close to the right side when passing the rocks. He then paddled 
 on allowing Frank to follow about a hundred yards behind. When 
 Frank passed the largest rock, his father and Joe were out of sight. 
 There was nothing ahead but white, boiling water interspersed with 
 jagged rocks. The boat was out of control and traveling at a rapid 
 rate, but when Frank passed the next rock he saw his father's boat 
 bobbing in the water ahead. He ceased paddling and concentrated 
 on steering. There was smooth water to the right but only jagged 
 rock to the left. Soon they were below the falls in still water and 
 Frank breathed a deep sigh of relief as he had learned to shoot the 
 rapids the hard way with no warning. This was the worst stretch 
 in the entire trip. 
 
 It is only 60 miles from Lake Nipissing to French River Village 
 on Georgian Bay but it took them three weeks to make the journey. 
 They would divide the baggage between the two boats and stop 
 as soon as they saw a good camping site. While Joe prepared supper 
 (C. M. gave up the culinary detail after a few tries), the other three 
 would fish and explore. 
 
 They saw very few humans until they reached the French River 
 
 •26- 
 
Village, except for the lumber camp where Joe suggested they 
 stop to buy bread and pies. The night before they reached the 
 camp, Joe set out a number of small trees weighted down with 
 rocks and attached fishing lines to the outer ends. He baited the 
 lines with bacon rind and soon the catfish began to jump. They 
 caught quite a number this way which they carefully packed and 
 covered with brush. 
 
 Early the next morning, they started for the lumber camp. 
 After they arrived and became acquainted with the men, C. M. 
 asked if he could buy some bread and pies. He was sent to the 
 cook who turned him down without a murmur. The cook in such 
 camps is employed and paid by the men and is expected to furnish 
 them with good food at all times. If he fails, they get a new cook. 
 This explains his indisposition to share what he has cooked for the 
 day. C. M. was disappointed but they were all invited to stay for 
 dinner and accepting, sat down to the best meal of their trip. When 
 they left and were some distance from the camp, Joe announced 
 that he had 12 loaves of bread and 12 pies. When CM. asked how 
 he arranged it, Joe merely replied "the fish." 
 
 A few days later C. M. found some ripe gooseberries, and after 
 living on salt pork, fish and bread, they were a pleasant surprise 
 to all. Walking down to the water to wash the berries, he tripped 
 and spilled them all over the rocks. Disgusted, he left them there, 
 but Frank discovered that the rocks were striated, (probably from 
 the scraping of smaller rocks wedged in the glaciers during the 
 glacial period). The precious gooseberries had fallen into the 
 striaes like beads on a string. Frank collected them, washed them, 
 and cooked them down with sugar making a delicious gooseberry 
 sauce. 
 
 Further down the river, they made camp upon a rocky basin 
 where the current came through in such a way that it kept the 
 water fresh. The basin was 500 or 600 yards in diameter and they 
 stayed there for several days catching many varieties of fish. 
 
 Once they spent the whole day without catching a single fish 
 
 •27- 
 
and C. M. remarked about it disgustedly at supper. Joe looked 
 surprised and said, "Why I thought you were just fishing for fun." 
 C. M. nodded but added that he had wanted at least one fish for 
 supper. Joe asked what kind, and C. M. replied "a pickerel." "How 
 big?" asked Joe. CM. decided on four pounds as a good weight. 
 Ignoring all the fishing tackle, Joe took an old string out of his 
 pocket with a hook on the end and a rock for a sinker. He baited 
 it with bacon rind and walked down to the water. Glancing around 
 for a minute, he picked a spot and dropped the hook. After a few 
 seconds he pulled it out, and held up a pickerel which actually 
 turned out to weigh four pounds. CM. turned to John with a look 
 of annoyance and said "I would like to see him pick out an 
 abstract." 
 
 Frank had been carrying his father's revolver in a holster. It 
 was a 38 Smith and Wesson. Out in the boat one day, Joe asked 
 him if he could shoot a duck. Trying, he got one with the first 
 shot. Joe was delighted as they were all tiring of fish, and the 
 bacon was running out. After the duck fell, an eagle flew over and 
 the Indian dared Frank to shoot the eagle. Frank explained that 
 a revolver bullet would not go that high or hit such a small object. 
 All the same, he took aim and fired and the bird fell screeching out 
 of the air and into a swamp nearby. Frank was surprised and 
 aghast. 
 
 A day or two later, Joe became moody and refused to cook 
 any more fish. A fishbone had lodged under his fingernail and 
 festered. When CM. scolded him for his stubbornness, Joe became 
 angry and reached for an ax. Frank was frightened for his father 
 and pulled out his revolver. That was the last they saw of Joe. 
 They waited for him to return the next day since he had left 
 without his coat and had no food or matches, but he never came 
 back. They finally left his belongings on the ground and went on 
 alone. 
 
 Frank took over as guide and John did the cooking. They had 
 to stop only once for directions, and soon they reached the French 
 
 •28- 
 
River Village. There is one place where the waterway opens into 
 five channels and only one goes to the Village. They had to ask 
 which channel to take, but otherwise found their way by following 
 the bend of the seaweed, the red pine logs and other indications 
 which they had learned to observe. The Village was a very small 
 settlement and provided no accomodations for travelers. They pur- 
 chased supplies and went up river to set up camp. There they 
 waited for a steamer which took them to Collingswood where they 
 boarded a train for Toronto. It was ten in the evening when they 
 reached Toronto and they could not find a restaurant open at that 
 hour. Frank jokingly suggested McConkey's which was an exclusive 
 restaurant frequented by the fashionable ladies and gentlemen of 
 Toronto particularly for after-theater snacks. Evening dress was 
 the accepted attire at McConkey's, and our travelers were dressed 
 in camping clothes with a month's growth of beard. John had 
 managed a shave somewhere, but they were all dirty, and their 
 clothes were caked with clay. Undaunted, C. M. spotted Mc- 
 Conkey's and insisted upon going in. Frank was appalled, but his 
 father had all the money so he was forced to follow. 
 
 The waiters looked at them suspiciously and attempted to get 
 rid of them, but CM. walked into the middle of the room and 
 sat down at the most conspicious table. He then ordered roast 
 duck which was the most expensive item on the menu. Nervously 
 the head waiter eyed the clock, as the theater was soon to let out. 
 Making his decision, he dashed away to get the duck on the table 
 as soon as possible. The travelers finished their dinner and got up 
 to leave. Eight waiters were lined up on the stair expecting 
 trouble, but C. M. paid the bill and left a $2.00 tip (quite a sum 
 in those days) and marched out with a regal air as the first 
 theater groups began to dribble in. 
 
 They sent the canoes ahead and started for Detroit. Upon 
 arriving home, C. M. stored the canoes in his garage as he wanted 
 to return to North Bay in the future and start down the Ottawa 
 River to make another part of the journey which the coureurs de 
 
 29- 
 
bois made coming from Montreal to Detroit. This trip was never 
 made however, and the canoes were later destroyed by a tree which 
 fell across the garage. 
 
 SO 
 
Chapter VIII 
 
 0, 
 
 N THANKSGIVING Day in 1906, Clarence 
 and Anna left home for their first trip abroad. There had been 
 weeks of preparation, poring over maps, and buying new clothes. 
 Now the moment had arrived. 
 
 They boarded the train for New York with a twinge of un- 
 easiness and a great feeling of excitement. Traveling was not so 
 common then as it is today, and crossing the state line was likely 
 to make one feel very far from home. Just as the Burtons were 
 becoming overawed by the strange scenery and so many strange 
 faces, they looked up to see Frank Pingree entering the car. And 
 so, the first night was spent in affable company. 
 
 In New York they went to see Robert Mantell portray Julius 
 Caesar. C. M. wrote that his performance was "fairly good." This 
 was an excellent recommendation for the show, as C. M. was 
 always a severe theater critic. After the show, they went directly 
 to their staterooms aboard the Caronia and began making them- 
 selves comfortable. There were messages to be read from E. W. 
 Pendleton, Mrs. C. K. Manning, and Mrs. Sara Manning, along 
 with a box of flowers from Charles K. Manning and a single rose 
 from little Knox Manning. These were all relatives of Mrs. Burton, 
 and Knox is now a famous news commentator in Hollywood. 
 
 •31- 
 
Although their quarters were most satisfactory, the first night 
 passed with little sleep, and at six o'clock they were up again to 
 watch the passage out of New York harbor. 
 
 Once again they encountered a friend in the person of Mr. 
 Deming Jarves. However, they saw little of Mr. Jarves during the 
 journey since he was not seated at their dining table. C. M. was 
 disappointed in both the meals and the company. He described 
 the food as "not as good as we have at home." The hours between 
 meals were spent in reading, and C. M. haunted the library, partly 
 because it was warmer than the rest of the ship. His first notes were 
 devoted entirely to the subject of dinner. He wrote, "To some of 
 the passengers dinner is a swell affair and dress coats and tuxedos 
 are frequently seen." Their table party included a Mr. Evans 
 whom C. M. described as a "man about town," Mr. McArthur "a 
 Scotchman who seems not so racy as Mr. Evans/' the two Mr. 
 Thompsons, father and son, and Dr. Robinson from Hamilton, 
 Ontario. His greatest complaint was that the table conversation 
 revolved around outdoor life instead of books and affairs of the 
 moment. 
 
 There was a paper printed aboard ship every day which in- 
 cluded some excerpts and quotations from the classics such as 
 Addison, Beaumont and Fletcher, and Pepys, and some news ob- 
 tained before sailing and by wireless telegraph. C. M. immediately 
 found the printing place of this paper and persuaded the editor 
 to include interesting bits of information about the passengers. 
 Through this information, he became acquainted with a Father 
 Crowley who was in the bad graces of the Church for defending 
 the public school system against the Catholic school system. Always 
 interested in such matters, C. M. found a companion for argument 
 and the exercise of higher thought processes. They would sit for 
 hours and argue about the bill under discussion in England which 
 would establish free schools separate from church control. The 
 House of Commons had passed the bill, but it could not get by 
 the House of Lords. 
 
 •32- 
 
On the sixth day of their journey, C. M. wrote, "Mrs. Burton 
 insisted that I should dress up for dinner as the others did, so I 
 put on my black clothes and went in as I would to a party, only I 
 wouldn't go to a party/' 
 
 The eighth day of December, they woke up to find themselves 
 anchored in the Irish Sea, and later in the day they landed in 
 Liverpool. Except for Canada, this was C. M.'s first glimpse of 
 foreign soil. 
 
 33 
 
Chapter IX 
 
 DRIVING THROUGH Liverpool, the first 
 thing C. M. noticed was the lack of property available for pur- 
 chase. Coming from America, which was still in the early stages of 
 growth, it seemed odd to see buildings on every bit of land. In 
 Liverpool, most of the property was owned by the city and leased 
 for seventy-five year periods. The lessee was required to pay the 
 full amount at auction (usually over two-thirds the value of the 
 property) and then had only the taxes to pay periodically. 
 
 After questioning several Liverpool residents, C. M. set out to 
 search for information about Felicia Dorothea Hemans, the author 
 of The Landing of the Pilgrims, and, in so doing, he found out 
 many interesting bits of history. Information about Miss Hemans 
 was readily accessible, but when he inquired about General Henry 
 Proctor, who had charge of Detroit in 1812-13, he found that there 
 had been four men by that name. During the search, they got into 
 a house on Duke Street supposed to have been Procter's where 
 C. M. reported, "There was a fine specimen of carved side-board, 
 quite old; also a mantel and fireplace/' 
 
 They visited the Cathedral at Chester where they saw the flag 
 that covered the body of General Wolfe when he was killed. 
 From Chester they went to Stratford, where they occupied Wash- 
 
 ■34- 
 
ington Irving's room at the Red Horse Inn. They visited Shakes- 
 peare's home and the attached museum, and CM. was more 
 impressed with the fire-protection than the objects being protected. 
 At Warwick he tried on Oliver Cromwell's helmet, but it slipped 
 down over his eyes. They went on to Oxford and finally to London 
 where they engaged an apartment on Guilford Street. 
 
 Their first good look at London came through the windows of a 
 cab. They rode for two hours looking at the National Art Gallery, 
 Trafalgar Square, Newgate Prison and many other places. C. M. 
 memorized the locations of all the buildings to which he would 
 return for careful observation. 
 
 On the following day, they secured a letter of introduction to 
 the manuscripts department of the British Museum, and C. M. 
 found there the original articles of capitulation of Henry Hamilton 
 to George Rogers Clark in 1779. At that time, there were 3,000,000 
 books in the museum, a number which impressed CM. deeply. He 
 spent the better part of two days perusing some of the manuscripts. 
 Before leaving he procured for himself a copy of a manuscript 
 journal by John Lees describing a journey to America and a short 
 stay at Detroit in 1768. This he published in 1911. 
 
 Next they visited the National Portrait Gallery. At this point, 
 their sightseeing was interrupted by the advent of holidays and 
 bad weather. C M. complained bitterly about the cold and the 
 peculiar attitude of the British toward working. It annoyed him 
 that they celebrated Christmas for four days, the 23rd because it 
 was Sunday, the 24th because it would be needless to work for 
 just one day before Christmas, the 25th, and the 26th because it 
 was Boxing Day. Investigating the issue, he was relieved to find 
 that Boxing Day has nothing to do with pugilism. He learned that 
 in England the day after Christmas is reserved for opening 
 boxes placed in the church, and dividing the money among those 
 who serve the church without pay. It stems from an ancient custom 
 when the monks used to say a special mass for sailing vessels and 
 place a small box aboard each ship in which the sailors would put 
 
 -35- 
 
their small contributions. Out of this custom came all of the alms 
 boxes that are a part of Christmas, both in the church and on the 
 streets. 
 
 The English had a habit of closing their libraries and museums 
 at random, without announcing their intentions. This was a great 
 source of annoyance to C. M., as he would make long trips to visit 
 a certain building only to find it closed. The Burtons' Christmas 
 was spent in sightseeing and eating a disappointing dinner which 
 their landlady had prepared. 
 
 On Boxing Day there was a snowfall, so C. M. ventured out 
 alone, still vexed with sleepy London. Things became a little 
 brighter when he found in the British Museum an interesting paper 
 directed to Lord and Admiral Howe from George III. The latter 
 had sent a proposition to the American Commissioner that he would 
 grant amnesty to all of his American subjects who would come 
 home and behave themselves. 
 
 86- 
 
Chapter X 
 
 % 
 
 IRING OF so much serious business, Anna 
 proposed a trip to Middlesex. They spent a busy afternoon walking 
 through the streets and looking at the vendors' carts. CM. refused 
 to purchase anything however, as he distrusted this form of 
 selling. 
 
 There was a young man who often came to call at the Guilford 
 Street house where they were living. In fact, he had sold the 
 property to their landlady. One day C. M. engaged him in a con- 
 versation about London taxes. He continued upon each meeting 
 to question the young fellow until a complete understanding of 
 the matter was reached. In this manner, he always got the most 
 out of every acquaintance that he made. 
 
 New Year's Eve was spent more happily than Christmas Day. 
 They went to see "The Vicar of Wakefield/' C. M. paid $1.25 for 
 each seat and an extra twelve cents for programs which consisted 
 of a single sheet. He thought that exorbitant for such a skimpy 
 program. The show was advertised as an opera, but CM. wrote 
 that it was only Oliver Goldsmith's story with some singing added. 
 Nevertheless, they enjoyed it. The next morning they attended 
 services at Westminster Abbey and later had dinner at Ye Old 
 Cheshire Cheese which had once been frequented by Samuel 
 
 •87- 
 
Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith. 
 
 After all this frivolity, C .M. was ready to get back to business. 
 He was directed to Mr. Magg's bookstore where he bought a set 
 of the publications of the Records Commission. The entire lot cost 
 him twenty pounds. 
 
 Almost giving up in desperation, he finally found the volume 
 for which he had been searching in the Public Record Office. It 
 concerned the meeting between Oswald and Benjamin Franklin. 
 This meeting is not further discussed and its intent remains a 
 mystery unless it had something to do with Franklin's son William 
 who was arrested for being a Loyalist and so went to live in Eng- 
 land. Such a matter probably would not have historic value. 
 
 To end a perfect day, C. M. called at the tailors for his new 
 overcoat. That night he added a postscript to his journal regarding 
 the coat "Which I much admire. It is very heavy and very fine/' 
 Never a vain man or one to collect personal possessions, C. M. still 
 enjoyed being well dressed. 
 
 On January 5, 1907, he finally found the record of the death 
 of General Henry Procter at Bath, October 31, 1822. This had been 
 one of the things he had wanted most to find, and as is often the 
 case, it was the most elusive. 
 
 Getting back to his opinions of the English life, he devoted 
 a full page of his journal to describing the bath. "Tub too small to 
 get in with two pails of hot water, and one pail of cold." He 
 wrote that the English were slow to accept new things such as 
 stoves and bathtubs. More than anything, it disturbed him to see 
 new houses being built without these conveniences. 
 
 He had applied to the Foreign Office for a certain book, and 
 when he received it, after a long wait, he discovered that it con- 
 sisted of copies of the letters that he had read before. As a further 
 inconvenience, he was asked to leave his notes in the Public Record 
 Office to be examined and later forwarded to him in Detroit. He 
 felt, at times, as though he were being treated like a spy. 
 
 38 
 
Chapter XI 
 
 CJn JANUARY 9th, they went to Wimpole 
 Street and saw the house of Henry Hallam. From there they went 
 to Temple Hall where Shakespeare's plays were staged. After 
 visiting a few courtrooms, CM. decided they were too small and 
 stuffy, and he was unimpressed with the lawyers' wigs and gowns. 
 He took a great interest in the cases being heard, and always 
 looking for differences between the English and American customs, 
 he was surprised to learn that contested wills were seldom brought 
 into English courts. 
 
 For most of their sightseeing, they rode in the tube. C. M. 
 was particularly fascinated with the electric underground which 
 ran under the Thames. However, on their last day in London, they 
 went by electric streetcar to Shepherd's Bush. In some places, the 
 streets were so narrow that the streetcar tracks overlapped. 
 
 On the 15th of January, they sailed from Dover to Calais. 
 That night CM. wrote that he finally had found a decent meal. 
 From Calais they went to Ghent where they stayed at the Hotel 
 de la Poste. In Hautern they were entertained by the Burgomaster 
 Josef Verbrugghen. Rose Burton, the wife of C M.'s son Charles, 
 had relatives in Hautern, and CM. had gone to the Burgomaster 
 to inquire about the family. Their name was DeMeyers, and the 
 
 •39 
 
 Library 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 ** UR8ANA CHAMPAIGN 
 
Burgomaster found them through a Mr. Oste, the local wine 
 merchant. Mr. Oste also insisted upon entertaining the travelers, 
 and when they arrived at his house, he urged them to have some 
 wine. They both strongly refused, having always abstained from 
 taking any alcoholic beverage, and they left the wine merchant in 
 a state of bewilderment. 
 
 Later that evening, they lost their way and CM. approached 
 a young man saying "Ou est l'Hotel de la Poste?" The young 
 man pointed directly across the street without saying a word. A 
 little taken aback C. M. said "Thank you— that is— je vous remercie, 
 Monsieur/' and the fellow replied "Don't mention it." C. M. was 
 so surprised that he neglected to introduce himself. 
 
 On January 17th, they went to the Cathedral of St. Bavon 
 where they saw paintings by Van Eyck and Rubens. From Ghent 
 they went to Brussels, and C. M. noted that all the buildings in 
 the public square were uniform because they were owned and 
 maintained by the city. 
 
 After visiting Waterloo, they dined in Antwerp and C. M. 
 claimed that he was punished for not drinking wine. They had to 
 pay two francs, or forty cents, extra for dinner because they 
 ordered no wine. The restaurant probably made its main profit 
 from the sale of wine, and therefore charged an extra sum if none 
 was ordered, comparable to a cover charge. 
 
 They examined Antwerp quite carefully and then left for 
 Amsterdam where they were to stay at the Hotel Europe. Amster- 
 dam delighted them with its many bridges and canals. They went 
 through the house which had been occupied by Peter the Great 
 while he was learning to make boats. There were only two rooms 
 and one of them included a cupboard which Peter had used for 
 sleeping. Still bitter about the climate, CM. commented "I think 
 he got into it and shut the doors to keep warm." 
 
 40- 
 
Chapter XII 
 
 jCIT THE Hague, they visited the building 
 where the Peace Conference was held, and C. M. sat in the chair 
 that was supposed to have been occupied by Motley when he 
 wrote his history of the Netherlands. After visiting Delft and com- 
 menting on the cleanliness all around them, they left for Berlin. 
 The trip to Berlin was dreadful because they rode an old unheated 
 train and had no sleeping accomodations until 2 o'clock in the 
 morning. No food was served until 3 o'clock the following after- 
 noon. However, they considered all of this worthwhile when they 
 finally reached Berlin. 
 
 They visited the palace of Kaiser Wilhelm I, and it was most 
 interesting, but CM. thought it sacrificed dignity to warmth. The 
 stovepipes were stuffed with pillows to keep out the cold. He was 
 more interested in the Lutheran Cathedral and in the palace which 
 stored relics from the time of Frederick the Great. 
 
 During their stay in Berlin, there was a general election for 
 members of the Reichstag. The Kaiser had dissolved the old one 
 when it refused to grant him money for improving the Navy. It 
 seemed that some of the people feared that he would misuse such 
 a fund. They held a parade in conjuction with the election, and 
 when the Emperor's yellow automobile passed, the Burtons fol- 
 
 -41- 
 
lowed it to the voting place. Much to their surprise, they found 
 the voting being done in a saloon. C. M. was able to procure a 
 copy of the ballot. There was a ticket for each candidate and one 
 blue envelope per voter. One ticket was to be inserted in the 
 envelope and the whole deposited in a box. This was the same 
 system that we used in the United States before adopting the 
 Australian ballot. 
 
 On January 25th, the Burtons left Berlin for Paris. On arrival 
 they looked first for a boarding house, but finally settled for a 
 room at the American Hotel for four dollars a day. CM. thought 
 this was very dear, but the hotel had an automatic elevator, some- 
 thing he had never seen before. 
 
 They went to the Arc de Triomphe and to the Louvre. They 
 saw the Institut de France and a house where Napoleon had lived, 
 and they entered the Church of St. Sulpice. Next they visited the 
 College de la Sorbonne which had become a part of the University 
 of Paris. 
 
 For one cent, they took a steamboat ride which carried them to 
 the tomb of Napoleon. Back at the American Embassy, they got 
 a letter of introduction to the Bibliotheque Nationale. 
 
 They went to the Grand Opera and saw Tamara, but C. M. 
 was more interested in the seating arrangement than in the 
 singing. He described the rows of seats, "first, men only, then the 
 elite, then the smaller fry, and finally the music students. " Evidently 
 they had no side boxes or, at least, he did not notice who occupied 
 them. 
 
 At Versailles they saw the Galleries. One picture by Vernet 
 called "The Capture of the Smalah of Abd-el-Kader" was painted 
 by order of one of the Rothschilds, but after it was completed, 
 Rothschild refused to take it. 
 
 At the Bibliotheque Nationale, a Mr. Beauchesne endeavored 
 to help CM. find two volumes on Cadillac written from the memo- 
 randa of Pierre Margry, the French archivist. These he had copied. 
 
 On another sightseeing trip, they went through the catacombs 
 
 42- 
 
which contains the bones of over 3,000,000 people. Some of the 
 bones and skulls were laid out in view. 
 
 At the Church of Notre Dame des Victoires, they heard a 
 high mass by Archbishop Amied. Their guide took them way up 
 front by the altar. He complimented the service by saying that it was 
 very impressive. In the Archives Nationales, C. M. found a 
 letter from John Law to the Controller General of France that 
 referred to the Mississippi Bubble which effected the near ruin 
 of France. 
 
 43 
 
Chapter XIII 
 
 IN MONTAUBAN, the Burtons had dinner 
 with Chanoine Portier, "who," CM. wrote, "was so stout that he 
 had to edge sideways down the hall when escorting Mrs. Burton 
 in to dinner." 
 
 On February 8th, they started for St. Nicholas de la Grave, 
 where they saw Cadillac's birthplace, and carefully examined the 
 building and the dooryard in the rear. A tablet on the front 
 stated Cadillac's birth date and the fact that he had founded 
 Detroit. 
 
 There was only one church in the town. They visited it and 
 wandered through all the streets. They saw an old chateau, which 
 had been converted into a school for boys, and an old dungeon. 
 Their visit was such an exciting event for the townspeople that 
 the principal dismissed the school. Boys dressed in knickerbocker 
 trousers, belted pinafores, and wooden shoes flocked into the street 
 to stare at the guests. The local doctor presented C. M. with an 
 old brass lamp and told him of the Cadillac burial place at Castel 
 Sarassin. 
 
 All of this excitement was new to them, and, at the end of their 
 visit to St. Nicholas de la Grave, they were both exhausted. Back 
 in Milan they made arrangements to go by train to Venice, and 
 
 .44. 
 
during the trip, they experienced some more excitement. A young 
 man, riding on the train, was locked in the washroom. He made 
 quite a disturbance trying to attract the attention of someone who 
 would free him from his dilemma. Just as his rescuers were success- 
 ful in opening the door, however, he leaped from a window of 
 the moving train and was never heard from again. 
 
 The train passed through Verona and Padua, and CM. wrote, 
 "It stormed so that I saw neither Romeo nor Juliet, although the 
 latter is buried at Verona. The two gentlemen of Verona were not 
 on the street either." 
 
 At Venice he was surprised to see that their "bus" was a gondola, 
 and they had to ride for over half an hour before reaching the 
 Hotel Roma. The gondolier nearly succumbed to exhaustion on 
 the way. He was very honest, though, and told them that gondoliers 
 never hurry since they are paid by the hour. 
 
 In Florence, they visited the homes of Elizabeth Barrett Brown- 
 ing, Benvenuto Cellini, Dante, Amerigo Vespucci, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 
 Michelangelo, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Andrea del Sarto. C. M. 
 expressed great regret over the massive architectural workman- 
 ship that was nothing but ruins. They went into a church in Rome 
 where they saw a sacred bambino covered with rings, pins of gold, 
 watches and jewelry that had been offered to it for its miraculous 
 curing powers. The priest gave them each a card bearing a picture 
 of the image. 
 
 Visiting St. Peter's he found it curious that they were willing to 
 admit the measurements of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The 
 measurements of it and of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York 
 are permanently imbedded in the floor at St. Peter's. C. M. asked 
 why the people went up the steps on their knees, and was told that 
 they pray as they go, saying a different prayer on each step. He 
 was told that Martin Luther went halfway up on his knees and 
 then walked the rest of the way. 
 
 In order to see the Pope, C. M. had to hire a dress suit. They 
 were guided through the passageways by a very merry monk, and 
 
 45- 
 
soon arrived at the Vatican to find many others standing about 
 the room. A German next to him reported that they were all to 
 kneel when the Pope entered the room. This custom seemed strange 
 to C. M., so he and the German sat on chairs instead of kneeling. 
 The Pope circled the room offering his hand to everyone for his 
 ring to be kissed. During this procedure a guard approached C. M. 
 and asked if he would please stand instead of sitting, which he 
 promptly did. Then he was asked for his letter of admission which 
 presented a problem as he had left it at the door. There was much 
 commotion about finding his card, so C. M. left rather than cause 
 any further embarrassment to anyone. He later regretted the 
 entire incident and wished that his visit had been less conspicuous. 
 He added that the Pope had a kindly face and gave an impressive 
 benediction at the end of the interview. 
 
Chapter XIV 
 
 ILT THE church of the Abbadia delle Tre 
 Fontane, they tell a story of the beheading of St. Paul. When the 
 head was severed, it bounced three times, and from each spot, there 
 issued a spring of water. Visitors and members of the parish were 
 allowed to drink from the fountains, and, in return, left donations. 
 
 At St. Peter's he noticed a bronze statue that had only four 
 toes. The right big toe was completely worn away. Taking his 
 handkerchief, he wiped the foot to see if the toe had worn away, 
 or if it had never been there. As he stepped back, two gentlemen 
 came forward and kissed the foot. Later he learned that this was 
 the famous toe of St. Peter that the faithful kiss in adoration. 
 
 Returning from the Borghese Gallery one afternoon, they saw 
 some boys playing ball. Each boy had a tambour made of a ring 
 of wood with a piece of skin drawn over it, like a tambourine only 
 with a piece of leather on one side for a handle. A rubber ball is 
 tossed in the air, then struck with the tambour toward another 
 boy who returns it. It was one of the fastest games that C. M. had 
 ever watched. 
 
 The next day was spent in the Palatine examining the ruins. 
 It was also a day of bad news because the Burtons learned that 
 their large trunk had been lost. From this day on, many precious 
 
 •47- 
 
hours were wasted at the American Express office trying to locate 
 the trunk. Of course, they had to shop and replace the things that 
 they needed most urgently. 
 
 On the morning of February 26th, they started for Naples, 
 and when they arrived, they felt as though they were home again, 
 for the traffic in Naples drives to the right as in the United States. 
 Immediately they booked passage on the Memfi to Alexandria. 
 It was a wonderful trip through the Mediterranean, and on the 
 way, they got an excellent view of Mt. Vesuvius. 
 
 They landed in Messina on the second day, only to find it 
 dirty and hot and too heavily populated. They were relieved to be 
 off again though a little dissatisfied with their simple fare of tea 
 and one egg. 
 
 There was an Italian on board who turned out to be quite a 
 wag. He had been in America often and talked fluently with the 
 nine Americans and one German. The German spoke every known 
 language, and all in all, it turned out to be an amiable group. In 
 fact, it was discovered that the German and one of the Americans, 
 a Mr. Case, had met years earlier. The weather was poor during 
 most of the trip so there was no entertainment but conversation. 
 
 When they landed in Alexandria, C. M. found it difficult to 
 tell the men and women apart. The Christians wore a red fez for 
 identification, but everyone else dressed alike. 
 
 They procured a guide whose name was Herman Charry, and 
 who had had a most colorful career. He claimed to have rescued 
 Miss Stone, a famous missionary who had fallen into all varieties 
 of catastrophe. The guide led them to Cairo where they happily 
 discovered that everyone spoke English "a leetle." 
 
 -48 
 
Chapter XV 
 
 VJN THE fourth of March, they journeyed to 
 the Pyramids. It was an easy trip as a streetcar ran directly to the 
 spot. This must have seemed odd as one would expect to ride to 
 the Pyramids on camelback. 
 
 CM. was surprised to find that the Sphinx was being recovered 
 by sand. Before they left, their guide took them to the spot where 
 Moses was found by the riverbank. 
 
 The next day they went by railroad to Port Said and took a 
 boat to Jaffa. CM. told the steward, "in strictest confidence that 
 his boat stunk. ,, The steward understood no English, of course. It 
 was unlike C M. to be so indelicate even in the privacy of his 
 own journal. The ship must have been most offensive. He later 
 tipped the steward one dollar to get him a better room, but the 
 second was as terrible as the first. The steward tried to make them 
 comfortable, but the food was unbearable and the trip almost 
 the same. 
 
 At Jaffa, they engaged a guide to take them to Jerusalem. On 
 his advice, they went to the market place and bought some open 
 sandals. 
 
 They reached Jerusalem just before dinnertime on March 7th 
 and went directly to their hotel on David Street. Their room 
 
 •49- 
 
looked out on the Tower of David which was the only good thing 
 CM. could say about it. He thought Jerusalem was appallingly 
 dirty and he was grieved to see children begging and crying for 
 alms. He was contemptuous of anyone who did not work for his 
 living, and he critized the American monks more than the street 
 beggars. 
 
 The second day there, they took a horse and carriage to Jericho, 
 and on the way, they passed the house of the Good Samaritan. 
 Later they washed their hands in the Dead Sea. 
 
 The following day, they visited the tomb of Lazarus, taking the 
 road which Jesus took on his day of execution. After this they 
 returned to Jerusalem and left again for Jaffa. They had to take 
 a rowboat out to their ship, the Prince Abbes, as there was no 
 wharf. The rowboat waited for a large wave to wash it up to the 
 side of the ship where steps had been lowered. Then six Arabs 
 seized the passengers one at a time and lifted them aboard. All of 
 the cargo had to be loaded in the same manner. 
 
 Back in Port Said, they saw a steamer full of Arabs who had 
 made the pilgrimage to Mecca. 
 
 In Alexandria they visited the Catacombs, and bought a rug 
 for thirty-five dollars. They got themselves and their clothes on 
 the steamer Osmanich which was considerably nicer than the 
 boat to Jaffa. The going was rough, however, and many of the 
 passengers were sick. If C. M. ever got seasick, he never admitted 
 it. 
 
 The day they passed Candia, there was a very bad storm, so 
 they did not see much. Finally, they got off at the Piraeus and 
 took a car to Athens. Athens was very impressive after Jerusalem. 
 The streets were wide and the buildings grand. They regretted 
 that they could not stay longer but they had to get back to their 
 ship. 
 
 50 
 
Chapter XVI 
 
 AFTER THE Piraeus, their next stop was 
 Smirna, but there was no time to get off the ship. They were 
 soon entering the Dardanelles where the Turkish Fleet stood guard. 
 
 In Constantinople, they bought some more rugs and had them 
 sent home. 
 
 They were surprised at the profusion of dogs in the streets 
 as their surroundings did not look like a favorite section for pets. 
 Later they learned that the dogs acted as scavengers, and because 
 of the lack of better sanitation methods the townspeople left them 
 alone. 
 
 CM. was also surprised that the Moslem women, so particular 
 about veiling themselves from public eyes, thought nothing of 
 smoking in the streetcar. 
 
 Having engaged passage on the Sernia going to Naples, they 
 were much distressed to find that it was on the rocks. This inconven- 
 ience was nothing, however, compared with what was ahead. First, 
 Cook's refused to refund their passage money. Then they got into 
 a great tussle over the rugs they were trying to send home. The 
 first man they spoke to charged them $1.80 for the handling of the 
 rugs. Later they learned that there was no such charge, and there 
 was much commotion about it which resulted in the manager's 
 
 -51- 
 
accusing the subordinate of dishonesty. The money was eventually 
 refunded. 
 
 The next day they took the rugs, planning to put them aboard 
 the Moeltke. C. M. had persuaded a local messenger to help with 
 them, but again they met with difficulty. The first customs officer 
 refused to look at the rugs and mysteriously waved them on. So 
 they started toward the ship. On the way, another man leaped 
 toward them, snatched the bundle and hurried toward the customs 
 officer. C. M. struggled with him, forcing him to let go of the rugs, 
 and again they started for the ship. This time a sentinel who was 
 in charge would not let them board the ship. After making three 
 tries, the porter backed out, fearing trouble. C. M. finally threw 
 the rugs over his own shoulder and carried them aboard himself. 
 For some strange reason, he was not stopped. 
 
 That night they went to see the Howling Dervishes. One of the 
 priests laid a three year old child on the floor and jumped up and 
 down on her until she was carried screaming from the scene. The 
 Burtons were aghast and it left them so disturbed that they were 
 glad when the time came to leave for Budapest. 
 
 After passing through Phillipopolis (a stop which must be a 
 strain on the conductor who does the calling) they reached 
 Budapest. C. M. liked the city almost as well as he had liked 
 Berlin. It seemed as the trip neared its end that they were putting 
 more and more importance on cleanliness, even to the exclusion of 
 historic interest. 
 
 On Palm Sunday, CM. started early and took a short ride on 
 each streetcar line. There were small evidences of spring every- 
 where which made the train ride to Rome quite pleasant. 
 
 Back in Rome there was still no news about their trunks, but 
 when they reached Naples there was a great supply of mail await- 
 ing them, and they were cheered a little. C. M. discovered that 
 he had been nominated for Detroit School Inspector, and this, 
 accompanied by other news, turned their thoughts more and more 
 toward home. 
 
 •52- 
 
Chapter XVII 
 
 L/N THE twenty-eighth of March, they made an 
 extended tour of the National Museum and then planned to leave 
 Rome for Palermo. They took the Rieve Margaretha which stopped 
 at Termini. There they visited Casimo Sanzoni, a brother of 
 Antonio Sanzoni of Detroit. He insisted that they stay for dinner, 
 which they did, and they were served spaghetti and vegetables. 
 There was no meat on the table because it was Good Friday. 
 
 After leaving the Sanzonis, they saw a religious parade. It was 
 dignified but colorless, so the Burtons left before the end. 
 
 Their next stop was Pompeii, and they were delighted with 
 everything there, including the people and the buildings. Looking 
 over the old relics, C. M. was struck with the fact that we use the 
 same things yet today, fish hooks, hinges, and bathtubs. 
 
 On Easter Sunday, they stopped at the Cappercini Convent. 
 All of the congregation and the visitors were feasting and C. M. 
 was relieved to see healthy, happy people again and even more 
 impressed with the surrounding scenery. 
 
 On April Fool's Day, they joined in the merriment and watched 
 the Cana villagers dance the Tarantelle. 
 
 The following day found them en route for Capri with C. M. 
 suffering miserably with spring fever. During these days, he spent 
 
 -53- 
 
more time in his journal describing the blue indigo water than the 
 points of historical interest. 
 
 One day they tried to get up to the top of Vesuvius, and they 
 did make it most of the way, but a heavy fog finally forced them 
 back. Returning to the hotel, they were consoled for their dis- 
 appointment with the news that their trunks had been found and 
 would be sent on the Moeltke. When they boarded the Moeltke, 
 they found their long lost belongings and were happy to learn 
 that they had a fine stateroom for the trip. 
 
 At noon on April 7th, they left the harbor of Naples and CM. 
 soon learned that Mr. and Mrs. George Whitney Moore of Detroit 
 were on board. 
 
 The first few days were spent on the Mediterranean but out of 
 sight of land. The ship ran along the south coast of Spain, but land 
 was out of view of the travelers. 
 
 On April 10th, they got up at 5 A. M. to see the Rock of Gibral- 
 tar, but C. M. was greatly disappointed because it did not look at 
 all like the insurance advertisement. 
 
 Later they passed through the Azores, and the journal reported 
 that they had, at that point, traveled 1,741 miles since leaving home. 
 The waters they were passing through at the time contained many 
 whales, and one day they passed some fishermen who had just 
 landed one measuring thirty feet. 
 
 The trip was slow and relaxing, and C. M. was losing all track 
 of time. He was surprised one morning to hear the band playing 
 some religious music and to realize that Sunday had come again. 
 This was probably as close as he ever came to complete rest. 
 
 As they neared the Gulf Stream, the weather became cold 
 and stormy and every day was spent huddled in rugs in an effort 
 to keep warm. As the weather slowed their ship, they began to 
 fear that they would not reach New York on time. Two days before 
 they arrived, a wave broke over the bow and flooded the third 
 class sleeping quarters. Many people left their beds and went 
 screaming up on deck. Panic ensued because they believed that 
 
 -54- 
 
the ship was sinking. 
 
 On April 20th, they passed the Statue of Liberty and soon 
 dropped anchor in American waters. 
 
 55 
 
Chapter XVIII 
 
 JLJACK IN Detroit, C. M. soon fell into his old 
 routine of all work and no play. Immediately, he became involved 
 in the 1907 State Constitutional Convention which absorbed almost 
 all of his time. 
 
 After talking to friends at home, he found that his letters from 
 overseas had caused some disapproval. The Detroit News had 
 published his report on Jerusalem, calling it the 'dirtiest city' he 
 had seen, and many Jewish organizations were offended. Most of 
 his other letters were cheerful, however, and so were read and 
 enjoyed by many. 
 
 The Burtons were all turning into world travelers. Shortly after 
 his parents' return, young Clarence left for the London Throat 
 Hospital, where he was a surgeon at the Royal Eye Infirmary and 
 the Royal Ear Hospital. 
 
 In 1908, C. M. was elected City Historiographer, which office 
 he held until his death in 1932. Earlier in 1908, Mayor Thompson 
 had written in the Detroit Journal that perhaps he would not 
 reappoint C. M. to the office of School Inspector. He stated that 
 C. M.'s activities in the "con-con" had displeased him. C. M. had 
 charged in a meeting of the convention that the mayor did not 
 want to settle the traction problem but wanted to keep it as an 
 
 56- 
 
active political issue. The mayor claimed that they had discussed 
 the issue in his office and had come to an agreement about it. It 
 was the old familiar argument involving municipal or private 
 ownership of transportation. Because the mayor had appointed 
 C. M. while he was touring Europe, he felt that C. M. should show 
 more gratitude. 
 
 Later an anonymous letter writer complained of C. M/s attitude 
 at the Constitutional Convention. Evidently city polities, even then, 
 were not as smooth as they should be, and C. M. felt that our 
 democracy was turning into a demagoguery with many would-be 
 leaders capitalizing on social discontent. 
 
 In 1909, C. M. edited the Compendium of History and Biog- 
 raphy of the City of Detroit and Wayne County. This represented 
 long hours of tedious labor and used all of the data collected in 
 previous years. 
 
 After the strain of producing this work, plus all of his other 
 involvements, C. M. decided that he needed a rest and planned 
 to build a summer home at Goderich in Canada. He printed the 
 following letter in the Goderich Signal: 
 
 "Notice to contractors: Tenders will be received by the under- 
 signed for the erection and completion of a summer house ( or 
 bungalow) on his property in the town of Goderich. Plans 
 and specifications may be seen at the office of the Goderich 
 Signal. The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted. 
 
 C. M. Burton, 27 Brainard Street. Detroit." 
 
 When he finally got to Goderich for his rest, he spent the time 
 
 working day and night digging out the history of the town. Later, 
 
 he returned to Detroit with more information about Goderich than 
 
 its oldest inhabitant had ever known. 
 
 57 
 
Chapter XIX 
 
 A 
 
 MONG CM.'s contemporaries in Detroit was 
 a man named James Scott. Scott was an extremely wealthy 
 bachelor whose wealth was his main distinction. C. M. never 
 referred to Scott as a friend, but, by chance, they saw a great deal 
 of each other. In fact, because they lived in the same part of town, 
 they usually met every morning and conversed on their way down- 
 town. C. M. had never found wealth an excuse for idleness, so, 
 in this respect, the two men conflicted, Scott being a man of eternal 
 leisure. Most of his days were spent in gambling and drinking with 
 an odd assortment of friends. 
 
 Consequently, C. M. was more surprised than anyone when 
 James Scott died and left him executor of the Scott estate. He 
 was doubly surprised when he read the strange provisions of the 
 will. Scott had requested a tomb in Elmwood cemetery large 
 enough for ten bodies, nine besides his own. At first, the public 
 thought that the other nine places were to be occupied by old 
 cronies from the local saloon, but it was finally disclosed that 
 Scott wanted his wife, the former Alice Yates, his mother and other 
 members of his family moved from their former resting places. 
 This request was never filled, as Scott died in 1910, and Elmwood 
 stopped building mausoleums in 1900. 
 
 -58- 
 
The next provision of the will stated that a fountain was to be 
 built with a life-size statue of the benefactor. The fountain was to 
 stand on Belle Isle, and was to be called the James Scott fountain. 
 Because of the noxious way his life had been spent, there had 
 always been strong public feeling against James Scott, and it surged 
 in opposition to such a lasting memorial. There was a great con- 
 flict over the issue, as all agreed that the fountain would be a thing 
 of beauty for the city, and yet, many believed that it would be a 
 gift built with "tainted" money. The clergy represented one of the 
 strongest "anti-fountain" groups. 
 
 However, after fifteen years of argument in the city council, 
 the fountain was finally erected. A famous architect, Eugene 
 Duquesne, was imported and even the objectors had to agree that 
 the fountain was a beautiful sight. The design alone had cost 
 $10,000. At that time, it was the largest fountain of its kind in the 
 world. To compensate for some of the strong objections, it was 
 placed on a comparatively inconspicuous part of the island. The 
 statue and the chair were molded in bronze and the base in marble. 
 The engraved words read, "For the enjoyment, and the advance- 
 ment of his native city, James Scott bequeathed to Detroit his 
 fortune to be used for the construction of this fountain erected 
 MCMXVIII. From the good deed of one comes benefit to many. 
 James Scott 1831-1910." 
 
 In the Free Press of Dec. 7th, 1941, Iffy the Dopester called 
 the fountain, "Scott's last joke on the town that hated him," ex- 
 plaining that Scott planned to punish those who had criticized 
 him during his lifetime by forcing them to look forever on a statue 
 of "his fat countenance." 
 
 59 
 
Chapter XX 
 
 L/# M. 's INTEREST in local history was being 
 widely appreciated, and, in 1913, he was elected to the Michigan 
 Historical Commission, a membership which he held until his death. 
 He was very busy that same year with the Detroit Charter Com- 
 mission. These activities and the writing of another book, The 
 Building of Detroit, finally caused him to resign as School Inspector. 
 There was talk that he was dissatisfied with the Board of Educa- 
 tion but he strongly denied this. His unceasing energy made him a 
 subject of humor to a newspaper writer by the name of Nash, who 
 pictured C. M. as follows: 
 
 "Hiawatha has departed, to the radiant clouds departed. Did 
 he drop his buckskin mantle, aboriginal investure? If he did, 
 there's one man knows it, knows who got it, how he used it, 
 knows if it is in a museum, or was cut up into slippers, those 
 thrice-famous Indian slippers manufactured at Mt. Clemens. 
 One man knows whatever happened since old Fort Detroit 
 was founded, has an abstract of the title and a copy of the 
 letters, of the documents and letters. You may think he does 
 not know you as you pass him in the forest, as you see him 
 in the council of the chiefs and antiquaries, of the bookish 
 antiquaries. Do not worry, do not flurry! When you die you'll 
 
 •60- 
 
find he knows you, knows your lineage back to Adam, knows 
 if you like fried potatoes or prefer them creamed or scalloped. 
 Many a gent has died obscurely, passed away in peace 
 obscurely, and there seemed to be no record that the warrior 
 had existed, but one man kept eye upon him, and on twenty 
 minutes notice, on a telephonic notice, he could write a 
 charming pamphlet, on 'The Life of Scroggs the Hodman/ Oh, 
 it's good to have a scholar who makes everybody famous, who 
 remembers all the dead men, all the long departed warriors, 
 though they seem obscure while living, will ascend to fame 
 hereafter, written up by C. M. Burton, in a book by C. M. 
 Burton, edited by C. M. Burton, published, too, by C. M. 
 Burton." 
 In spite of this, and other comedy at his expense, C. M. regarded 
 newspaper men from an Olympian height, never caring what they 
 wrote about him whether in praise or blame. Some thought him a 
 fuss-budget but actually his mind demanded accuracy in the 
 smallest details and he was always ready to offer valuable infor- 
 mation. 
 
 The Detroit News, at that time, ran a daily. column entitled, 
 "If I Were Mayor," and they called upon various well known towns- 
 people to contribute ideas. When C. M/s turn arrived, he was 
 quoted as saying, "I would be pleased to see an appropriation 
 sufficient to build school houses so that every child in the city could 
 be accommodated ... I would then improve the sewer system and 
 the water works and build a subway on Woodward Avenue. I do 
 not believe in municipal ownership of the streetcars. I favor the 
 three cent fare and think it should never be raised." 
 
 Some controversy had arisen in town as to whether CM. could 
 sit on the Charter Commission and be City Historiographer at 
 the same time. It was suspected that the saloonkeepers were behind 
 the argument as they had anonymously organized to defeat him 
 when he was a candidate for the commission. This upset C. M. 
 more than many knew because he received no compensation for 
 
 61- 
 
his job as Historiographer and, in fact, frequently supported its 
 needs from his own pocket. A sympathetic reporter from the 
 Detroit Free Press subsequently wrote in gratitude for his work 
 saying that C. M/s enthusiasm never failed though his requests 
 were always cut out of the budget. 
 
 Although it would sometimes appear that CM. had too many 
 outside interests to keep his business properly attended, nothing 
 could be farther from the truth. In 1912, the Burton Abstract and 
 Title Company had grown to such proportions that C. M. an- 
 nounced he would begin giving guaranteed certificates of title to 
 help avoid the long abstract delays. 
 
 In spite of his shyness with some individuals, C. M. was a 
 popular lecturer. In the summer of 1914, he gave a stereopticon 
 lecture entitled, "The Development of Detroit," to the real estate 
 class at the Y. M. C. A. The lecture was timely as the town was 
 spreading in all directions, and C. M. was growing with the times. 
 He had contracted for a new home to be built on Boston Boulevard, 
 and it was unusual enough to be reported in the papers as a thing 
 of public interest. The house was to be fireproof, built of brick tile 
 and stucco with concrete floors throughout. Hardwood floors were 
 to be laid over the concrete. The structure was steel, and there 
 were to be three stories, eighteen rooms, besides six bathrooms. 
 ( He did not intend to copy his English friends. ) Some of the rooms 
 were paneled in mahogany to the ceiling and the stairway was 
 solid mahogany. There were fireplaces in the library and the living 
 room. At the back was a sunroom and terrace, more the vogue 
 in those days than the screened porches we favor today. A bedroom- 
 sleeping porch was over the sunroom. All the rooms on the first 
 floor had sliding glass doors, and the piece de resistance was the 
 large art window on the stairway. The basement contained a 
 billiard room. There were 158 openings to provide for fifty lights. 
 All in all, it was a long way from the house on Henry Street. 
 
 •62 
 
Chapter XXI 
 
 AFTER BUYING the property on Boston 
 Boulevard, C. M. set about drawing up contracts for his now 
 famous gift to the city. First, he presented his book collection to 
 the Detroit Library Commission. The gift was named the Burton 
 Historical Collection and became a part of the Detroit Public 
 Library. C. M. was given the official title of consulting librarian 
 and was helpful to the departmental staff in the further develop- 
 ment of the collection. 
 
 As the library found itself overcrowded with this new addition, 
 C. M. then deeded the Brainard Street house to the Library Com- 
 mission. He had made one condition, that the city would store the 
 collection in fireproof quarters. 
 
 In order to protect himself, CM. reserved the right to occupy 
 the Brainard Street residence until July 1, 1915. He then had the 
 house deeded back to him in exchange for a $50,000 endowment 
 fund. An act of legislation was required to accomplish this. 
 
 Recently, George W. Stark, in an address to the committee 
 raising funds for the Detroit Historical Museum, called the Burton 
 Collection, "The finest documentary collection bearing on the entire 
 history of the old Northwest." This same occasion was graced with 
 a speech by Miss Agnes Burton who presented the Committee 
 
 •63- 
 
with a check for $10,000 as the Burton family's contribution to the 
 Museum. 
 
 Stark's statement was no exaggeration. The collection was, and 
 is, the largest library of Americana in the middle west. It consists 
 of many unpublished documents, and copies of records in the 
 Archives of Canada, England, France, and the United States. C. M. 
 spent fifty years gathering the material that he left at his death. 
 The Cadillac papers, which were published by the Michigan 
 Historical Collection of Lansing, were collected, compiled, trans- 
 lated and edited from the Marine Archives of Paris, under C. M/s 
 direction. 
 
 In September, 1915, the Burton Library with its name changed 
 to Burton Historical Collection was opened to the public on 
 Brainard Street, and Miss Gracie B. Krum took over as public 
 library representative. With her assistance, C. M. started on his 
 next publication which came out in 1916 and was entitled, 
 Barnabas Campau and His Descendants. The distribution of this 
 book inspired him to write a form letter to collectors and libraries 
 about a matter that had been bothering him for a long time. He 
 requested that city records covering the distribution of lots after 
 the Detroit fire of 1805 be placed among the Collections' books of 
 history. Formerly, they had been listed as public documents, and 
 had become dust covered and forgotten. The letter caused some 
 confusion as many recipients took him to be a publisher. They 
 even quibbled about the price of the pamphlets he enclosed, being 
 ignorant of the fact that he lost money on every such group of 
 pamphlets that he sent out. He charged only a small fee because 
 he did not want the pamphlets discarded in haste or thought of as 
 charity. 
 
 With the Collection settled in its new home, CM. turned his 
 attention back to business. In April, 1915, he organized the Burton 
 Investment Company, to erect in Detroit one-hundred moderately 
 priced homes. The building activity was begun near the Hudson 
 Motor Company and near the Chalmers Motor Company. Louis 
 
 ■64- 
 
Burton and C. B. Houserman were in charge of the work. C. M., 
 Fred, and Louis Burton were the stockholders. 
 
 65 
 
Chapter XXII 
 
 IN 1919, C. M. was faced with his first large 
 loss from a faulty abstract. Morris Beckowsky sued the company 
 for $15,000 because a mortgage had been omitted. Keller's Ink 
 Company used the incident in an advertisement because the 
 admission was blamed on faded ink. Judge Hunt awarded the 
 plaintiff $15,986.50, and from that time on C. M. was extremely 
 particular about the ink and paper used in all of the record books. 
 When referring to the incident, C. M. often blamed it on the war. 
 Many of his employees and some of his own family were in the 
 armed services, and he was short of help. 
 
 The postwar years brought many changes to Detroit. People 
 and events seemed to move faster in a sudden burst of youthful 
 progressiveness. The roaring twenties were in an embryonic stage, 
 and though C. M. never roared, he did change a little. All of his 
 adult life, CM. had worn nothing but stiff-front white shirts with 
 wing collars and black ties. For Christmas in the year 1920, his 
 son Ralph (whose individuality had never been daunted by his 
 father's stern mien) presented him with a dozen striped shirts 
 and several colored ties. Confused, C. M. kept insisting that he 
 had received the wrong package, but he was finally persuaded 
 to try them on. Ralph then called the office and warned the girls 
 
 •66- 
 
that C. M. would arrive in the new attire. He cautioned them to 
 comment favorably, which they did, and CM. never wore a stiff 
 front shirt again. 
 
 Later in the spring of 1921, Mr. and Mrs. Burton traveled to 
 Portland to visit Mrs. Burton's son and daughter-in-law, Dr. and 
 Mrs. William S. Knox. Mrs. Burton's daughter, Mrs. S. C. DeWitt, 
 of Toronto, accompanied them. This was one of the few trips in 
 C. M.'s lifetime that was taken solely for pleasure. 
 
 Upon his return, another big job awaited him. He immediately 
 began the editing of The City of Detroit 1701-1922. The five 
 volumes finally came out in 1922. While working on these volumes, 
 he half-heartedly ran for Congress from the 13th District, but was 
 defeated by Judge Vincent M. Brennan. However, during the cam- 
 paign he received a most favorable compliment from James 
 Schermerhorn, editor, who wrote, "Although still our youngest 
 historiographer, bless the bloom of his unfading cheeks! We cannot 
 expect Mr. C. M. B. to be with us over another century or two. 
 When the places that knew him know him no more, may the evil 
 day be long delayed, it will be necessary to look elsewhere when 
 anyone wants to know anything about the early or late history of 
 Detroit." 
 
 The Detroit News printed an article recommending him for 
 Congress, and it was indorsed by 126 people including J. Burgess 
 Book, Jr., Miss Esther J. Cousins, Clarence M. Dickerson, I. C. 
 Freud (later a movie magnate), James H. Garlick, Alvan 
 Macauley, and Mrs. C. R. Wilson. They called themselves the 
 Burton-for-Congress-Club. 
 
 His platform was "to represent all of the people all of the time. 
 Detroit must be an ocean port. No entangling alliances or secret 
 treaties. No troops on foreign soil unless for United States protec- 
 tion. Adequate care and compensation for soldiers, wounded or 
 maimed/' Then, as now, these issue were uppermost in the public 
 mind. The current popularity of the St. Lawrence Seaway question 
 would have delighted him. 
 
 ■67- 
 
In the Detroit election of 1924, C. M. wrote to the Detroit News 
 protesting the dreadful practices of the Grand Trunk Railway and 
 lauding the efforts of the city administration to control them. He 
 encouraged re-election of the same group and used the same 
 quotation so recently tautologized, "Don't trade horses when 
 crossing a stream." 
 
 68 
 
Chapter XXIII 
 
 IN 1925, Anna Burton died, and once more 
 C. M. was alone. He had nine of his own children to raise, but he 
 was not interested in marrying again. 
 
 He became more deeply engrossed in his work, and, when inter- 
 viewed, was quoted as saying, "Success? Nothing but love of work 
 and the ability to stick. Wars destroy countries, but this country 
 will never be destroyed by war. Rome, I daresay, has on several 
 occasions had a population over a million; today, but half that, all 
 due to war. We are a tremendously big country. If Paris were 
 destroyed that would virtually mean France. It would mean the 
 better part of Italy if Rome were wiped out. Here if we lost 
 a single city, it would mean just that, the loss of one city." 
 
 Shortly after Anna's death, the city of Detroit passed a resolu- 
 tion praising C. M. for the public interest which impelled the 
 donation of his book collection. It was adapted unanimously by the 
 Common Council after preparation by John C. Lodge, the Presi- 
 dent. The resolution was introduced by William P. Bradley. 
 
 The following year CM. began writing a daily feature in the 
 Detroit Times which was called "This Date In Michigan 25 Years 
 Ago." The idea caught on and similar columns are popular yet 
 today. Mr. George Averill runs such a column in his Birmingham 
 
Eccentric. Humor made up most of the Times feature. C. M.'s 
 sense of humor was the dry variety as discovered in a letter that he 
 wrote to the sheriff stating that he had been listed for petit jurors, 
 and was ineligible for three reasons: One, he had been a lawyer 
 for thirty years; two, he was seventy-three years old; and three, 
 his ears would not permit him to hear even his own voice in the 
 courtroom. 
 
 In 1928, CM. became a member of the Grist Mill Club which 
 was composed of Detroit's old-timers interested in the history of 
 the city and state. 
 
 After many years of carrying on the work of City Historio- 
 grapher largely at his own expense, CM. filed a petition with P. L. 
 Monteith, City Controller, asking that an appropriation for $10,000 
 be placed in the 1929 budget to be paid him for collecting, arrang- 
 ing and publishing his annual historical report. This petition was 
 referred to the Council and placed in the budget. He explained 
 that the project for the coming year would involve a burdensome 
 printing bill and the employment of a clerk, which he believed 
 the city should assume. Thereafter, his expenses were greatly 
 lightened. 
 
 In regard to all of his works, CM. was extremely modest. In 
 1930, the Rockefeller Foundation gave Oxford University a grant 
 for the purpose of enlarging the venerable Bodleian Library. 
 A group of English scholars visited America to survey libraries 
 and were guests of the Detroit Library. A luncheon was given, 
 and, of course, C M. was invited. He arrived when all the other 
 guests were seated, and, upon his entrance, Sir Frederick Kenyon, 
 Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum, greeted 
 him as the Bodley of Detroit. C M. lowered his eyes and murmured 
 a shy "thank you." 
 
 Still as upright and full of energy as he had been forty years 
 earlier, it was a reluctant CM. Burton who retired in 1930 from 
 the abstract business. He was persuaded to leave his business 
 
 ■70- 
 
duties to his son, Louis, but never gave up reading and writing 
 until the end of his life. 
 
 Many of the employees who worked in the Abstract Office 
 during C. M. Burton's time are still there, and while some have 
 left the office for a time, they have returned. The list below is as 
 complete as possible and shows the first year of employment for 
 each. 
 
 Victor C. Gnau 1892 
 
 John M. Denne 1897 
 
 Arthur H. Denne 1899 
 
 Eva R. Smith (Retired) 1901 
 
 Julia A. Michael (Retired) .... 1905 
 
 Jessie Gray (Retired) 1906 
 
 Ralph Burton (President .... 1911 
 (deceased — 1953) 
 
 Rudolph C. Schmidt 1912 
 
 ( deceased — 1953 ) 
 
 Hazel H. Ross 1912 
 
 Iva M. Powers 1914 
 
 Zacch W. Harrison 1915 
 
 Helen Peters 1916 
 
 George K. Heartwell 1917 
 
 Norman W. Sumner 1919 
 
 Leo J. Tremel, Jr 1919 
 
 Cecelia Parpart 1919 
 
 Amy E. Trezise 1919 
 
 Anastasia M. Garrez 1920 
 
 Ida Kay 1922 
 
 J. Benton Reed 1923 
 
 Kenneth A. Tremel 1923 
 
 Edgar F. Rupp 1923 
 
 Sophia M. Ovorus 1924 
 
 Edna M. Dawson 1924 
 
 Cyril M. Hammond 1925 
 
 71- 
 
Albert J. Murphy 1925 
 
 Wanda Greniewicki 1925 
 
 Anna Grace Walker 1926 
 
 Carl H. Knack 1926 
 
 Kenneth H. Barnett 1926 
 
 Clarence W. Dill 1926 
 
 John Gartner 1927 
 
 Lillian I. Jones 1929 
 
 Clarence M. Burton (Grandson) 1931 
 No attempt has been made to include old employees who have 
 left the Company, but it should be mentioned that Edward N. 
 Munro entered the office in 1898 and served for many years as man- 
 ager until his death in 1945. Charles W. Burton started in the 
 office about 1894 as part time worker and became a full time 
 employee after leaving college in 1898. Later he left to engage in 
 other work and returned as President in 1939 serving until his 
 death in 1945. Louis Burton entered the office in 1920 and served 
 until his death in 1939. After 1932 he was president. Fred Burton 
 started in the office about 1898 and became a full time worker in 
 1903. He remained until 1928 when he became president of the 
 Fred Burton Abstract Co. of Oakland County where he remained 
 until his death in 1952. George Janiga Jay worked from 1913 until 
 1946 when he left to become president of the Land Title and 
 Abstract Co., and Gilbert M. Thurston served from 1920 until 1949 
 when he left to take over the Cheboygan Abstract Office. 
 
 72- 
 
Chapter XXIV 
 
 I±T THE City College Commencement of 1931, 
 C. M. received an honorary degree, Doctor of Letters. He was 
 cited as "an authority on the law of land titles; collector of one of 
 the largest and richest libraries of Americana in the country; 
 generous donor of that collection to his city, which he serves as 
 historiographer; librarian, author, editor, scholar. He has revealed 
 to us the historic associations of the place wherein we dwell." 
 
 Two years after his retirement, C. M.'s life of never ending toil 
 began to catch up with him. He became seriously ill, and, one 
 Sunday, after several months of illness, he suffered a cerebral 
 hemorrhage and died. Dr. Stephen Knight was with him as were 
 most of his children. On Wednesday, Oct. 26, 1932, he was buried 
 in Grand Lawn Cemetery with the Reverend S. S. Marquis, 
 rector of Christ Church Cranbrook, officiating. And so ended a 
 fine and beneficial life. 
 
 As in the case of every great man, C. M. left more than 
 memories behind. His business and his historical collection remain 
 as symbols of the way he drove himself, relentlessly and with un- 
 selfish purpose. 
 
 As recognition of the city's appreciation, there stands a 
 school named for him at Peterborough and Cass Avenues, and a 
 
 ■73- 
 
tree that was planted in his memory outside the Main Library. 
 
 Perhaps the most enduring monument to the memory of 
 Clarence Monroe Burton is the Burton Historical Collection of 
 the Detroit Public Library, which each year is more appreciated 
 by the citizens of Detroit and by a growing number of historians 
 and writers throughout the country. Here is his original library, 
 gathered between 1874 and 1914, plus thousands of fine items made 
 possible by City appropriation and by the $50,000 Endowment 
 Fund set up by him during his lifetime, and trebled by the Detroit 
 Library Commission's investments. To his gift to the City also 
 have been added many special classes of materials already in the 
 Public Library, and hundreds of books and groups of manuscripts 
 given by an interested public. 
 
 The 250th anniversary of Detroit's founding, observed in 1951, 
 sent hosts of researchers to the Collection's materials, and the 
 official committee's first plans for the celebration were based upon 
 the documentary evidence so wisely assembled by C. M. The 
 cooperation between the Collection and the fast-growing Museum 
 of the Detroit Historical Society fulfills a dream that Mr. Burton 
 cherished during his later years. He hoped to see these two in- 
 stitutions working as one to preserve all of the source materials 
 needed to convey to posterity a full picture of Detroit's past. 
 
 While the books, newspapers, maps, pamphlets and photographs 
 in the Burton Library — now increased to over 175,000 items — were 
 of great importance, it was the manuscript material that gave the 
 gift its lasting significance. The citizens of Detroit and the scholars 
 who wish to delve into the city's early history, are fortunate that 
 so many records of our French period were rescued from oblivion, 
 during the 1800's. It is but rarely that one can find examples of 
 them now. Where would one turn to locate such treasures as these 
 discoveries of C. M.: the Cadillac Papers mentioned earlier, in- 
 cluding the fine document dated 1695 and bearing his seal, which 
 settles a question often raised — the number of pearls in the crown 
 forming part of the Cadillac coat of arms; the Pontiac Journal, kept 
 
 •74- 
 
by a notary in the fort during the siege of 1763 — the wanderings of 
 which alone make a fascinating story; the Cicotte Ledger, so called 
 because it was kept in the Cicotte family for a long time, but 
 really an official register containing lists, under the names of heads 
 of families, of all the assistance — seeds, animals, tools, etc. — given 
 by the French government in 1749 to the habitants settling here; 
 the little Potier Account Book, 1733-1751, which was kept in a 
 minute hand by Father Pierre Potier at the Mission for the Huron 
 Indians near Sandwich; letters of Father Gabriel Richard; and the 
 numerous small collections that relate to the earliest business trans- 
 actions in Detroit! 
 
 Some French period papers have been given to the Burton 
 Collection in recent years; for instance, those of several branches 
 of the Campau family. Among these is the Belle Isle deed of 1768, 
 with the belt of wampum given by Ottawa and Chippewa Indians 
 who ceded the island to Lt. George McDougall. A fine group of the 
 papers of John R. Williams (1782-1854) was bought by the Col- 
 lection recently with some of the income from the Endowment 
 Fund. They are business records in the main, and are important 
 for the large number of French customers mentioned, with itemized 
 accounts of their purchases between 1780 and 1812. 
 
 The records of military men associated with Fort Pontchartrain, 
 Fort Detroit, Fort Lernoult, and Fort Shelby, as the post at Detroit 
 was called in successive periods of its history, form a considerable 
 bulk of material in the Collection. CM. sought the orderly books of 
 Generals Wayne and Winchester and of other leaders. Many of 
 these he secured, but others are still lacking. One of Winchester's 
 orderly books was bought by the Burton Collection a few months 
 ago, and it is not unlikely that others are extant. A large group 
 of the papers of Major Jacob Kingsbury, commandant of the fort 
 in Detroit in 1810 and 1811, was acquired for the Burton Collec- 
 tion by the Friends of the Detroit Public Library. These papers 
 contain much information that would have delighted C. M., and 
 they arouse many conjectures as to what might have happened 
 
 •75- 
 
if Kingsbury's health had permitted him to remain here longer and 
 if the decision to surrender Detroit during the War of 1812 had 
 been left to him instead of to General Hull. 
 
 The early years of the American period are represented by 
 papers of the Governor and Judges, as a body and as individuals. 
 Judge Augustus B. Woodward's papers show him to have been an 
 extremely busy person who engaged in real estate business, drew 
 up constitutions for clubs and societies, including the Detroit Ladies 
 Society of 1818, and carried on other legal activities on the side. 
 
 Both during C. M/s lifetime and since, the Collection has 
 acquired important materials about the War of 1812; about the 
 Civil War, and the part played in it by Michigan; and about 
 World War I. However, the largest section of the Manuscript 
 Division, as now set up in the Burton Historical Collection, is that 
 containing the papers of statesmen, businessmen, clergymen and 
 lawyers from 1837 to the present. The papers of William Wood- 
 bridge, C. C. Trowbridge, James Joy, Governor Austin Blair, Judge 
 Solomon Sibley, General Alpheus Williams and the Reverend 
 George Duffield, bring one to the eve of the automobile manufac- 
 turing era. And numerous other groups throw much light upon 
 present day developments. 
 
 One of C. M/s great interests was the registers of the earliest 
 churches of Detroit. Those of St. Anne's Church, which he arranged 
 to have copied and indexed, and "The Genealogies of French 
 Families in Detroit," compiled for him in twenty-five typed vol- 
 umes, by Father Christian Denissen, are invaluable for the history 
 they contain of the earliest French settlers here. In addition to the 
 transcripts of the St. Anne and the Assumption Church registers 
 that he secured, the Collection now owns the records of numerous 
 other churches, both Catholic and Protestant; some originals, and 
 others handwritten, typewritten, or microfilm copies. 
 
 It is impossible to mention all of the categories, but no one 
 achievement of the founder of the Burton Collection has meant 
 more to users than his indexing of many of the holdings of his 
 
 76- 
 
library: the earliest Detroit newspapers; the first City Directory, 
 for occupations; and numerous other works — a task of such magni- 
 tude that one wonders how one man could have done all of it. 
 The tradition of indexing goes on and today the Burton Collection 
 staff can locate in a few moments a biography of almost any 
 Detroit or Michigan citizen of greater or lesser note, or a photo- 
 graph of him needed as an illustration for a book. Authors all over 
 the country write of their gratitude for this service. 
 
 CM. would rejoice, if he were living, to see the signs of a great 
 revival of interest in local history, following the year-long celebra- 
 tion of Detroit's 250th birthday, and he would surely feel a genuine 
 satisfaction if he could see the tremendous use today of the library 
 he gathered. Truly his influence did not cease with his death in 
 1932. 
 
 There have been found in the course of research more friends 
 of C. M. Burton than he probably ever knew, for everyone who 
 lived in his day claims him proudly as a friend and has nothing 
 but good to say of him. He will go down in local history as bearing 
 a genius as great as that of our own Henry Ford, and the aesthetic 
 insight of a Thoreau or an Emerson. 
 
 77 
 

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