Merriman, Mrs. B. G. Mosher, Mrs. L. J. Burr, Mrs. J. E. Beebe and others. The society adjourned and met again on Saturday, the 9th inst. After being called to order by the president, Rev. D. T. Grinnell addressed the society, encouraging them in the good work already begun. The office of the treasurer having become vacant, Mrs. A. O. Bliss was unanimously elected. The following additional directresses were appointed: Mrs. Sherwood, Mrs. Whitmore, Mrs. Stetson, Mrs. Harwood, Mrs. McNaughton, Mrs. Connable, Mrs. Seaton. The treasurer of the society reports that she has received, up to this time, funds and articles as follows: For memberships, $6.15; contributions, $20.25; a quantity of handkerchiefs, pillows, pillowcases, towels, calico, delaines, &c.

Nov. 28th. Three hundred dollars worth of

necessary garments have been made by the Soldiers' Aid Society, and sent to the Ninth Regiment within the last two weeks.

In the latter part of July, 1862, the first regiment organized in Jackson (the 20th), was ordered to rendezvous at this place, Fidus Livermore, Esq., being appointed commandant of the camp. This regiment was very speedily filled up by volunteers from Jackson, Washtenaw, Eaton, Calhoun and Ingham counties. It was mustered into the service August 19, 1862, left for the seat of war September I, and numbered on the day of its departure one thousand and twelve officers and men. It soon after became incorporated with the illustrious Ninth Army Corps.

The Twenty-sixth Regiment was mustered into the service at Jackson, December 12, 1862. Its organization began July 21. It left the state the day after it was mustered.

There was organized in Jackson during the fall of 1861 three companies for the First Michigan Infantry three-years service. One of them was commanded by Capt. E. B. Griffith, one by Capt. Edward Pomroy and one by Capt. G. C. Lyon. They were all mustered into the service at Detroit, and assigned to the Army of the Potomac.

July 30 a company of one hundred men was organized by Major Hopkins for the Michigan Engineers and Mechanics, which left in September for Louisville, Kentucky, and served during the war in the Army of the Cumberland.

During 1861 a company was organized in Concord and adjoining towns for the Sixth Michigan Infantry (afterwards heavy artillery), which served in the department of the Gulf.

During the winter of 1862 Company F, First Michigan Sharpshooters, was recruited by Capt. H. A. DeLand. This regiment was mustered into service in the spring of 1863, and assigned to duty with the famous Ninth Corps. During the same fall another company of cavalry was raised by Capt. D. W. Smith for the Ninth Cavalry and joined the Army of the Cumberland. Another company was raised by Capt. James R. Slayton in the spring of 1862 and attached to the Thirteenth Michigan Infantry, which was assigned to the Fourteenth Corps, in the Army of the Cumberland. Capt. J. H. Reeves raised a company in 1862, which was attached to the Twelfth Michigan Infantry in the Army of the Mississippi.

These are only a part of the organizations recruited in Jackson and vicinity during the war. Including the two companies in the Seventeenth Infantry, and three in the Twentieth Regiment, Jackson county sent upwards of five thousand men to the front during the Civil war, and that they were brave and patriotic men is attested by the fact that their regiments all won splendid reputations upon the most desperate conflicts of that trying period of our history. In subsequent pages we shall treat the war history of the county in greater detail.

During the years 1862 to 1864 a provost marshal's office was located in Jackson. The district was composed of five counties, Calhoun, Eaton, Ingham, Jackson and Washtenaw, with Capt. Robert J. Barry as provost marshal, Capt. S. N. Fowler, draft com

missioner, and Dr. H. B. Shank, surgeon. The total enrollment for the district was 16,589 men liable to military duty. There were two drafts ordered in Jackson county calling for 197 men. Of these, 106 commuted or sent substitutes, while 91 responded to the call in person.

All during the war Jackson was the actual military headquarters of the state. Governor Blair resided here, and his office was constantly thronged with officers, applicants and citizens. Over six thousand commissions were issued by the Governor during the war. In 1863 a military camp was organized where sick and convalescent soldiers were gathered, and for the reception and organization of recruits for the regiments in the field. The camp was commanded by General Cutler. After the close of the war it was converted into a camp for muster-out and discharge. It was located near the west limits of the city, where the Imperial Wheel Works are now situated. After the war, Jackson was for nearly a year a continual camp of returned warriors. The following regiments reported to Jackson to be paid off and discharged: Twentieth Infantry, June 4. 1865; Twenty-sixth Infantry, June 7, 1865; Thirteenth and Fourteenth Batteries, June 21 and 22, 1865; Battery F, June 24, 1865; several artillery companies from the 21st of June to August 2, 1865; Twenty-fifth Infantry, July 2, 1865; Eighteenth Infantry, July 2, 1865; Eeventh Infantry, July 7, 1865; First Infantry, July 12, 1865; Battery M, July 12, 1865; Tenth Infantry, July 22, 1865; Thirteenth Infantry, July 27, 1865; First Sharpshooters, July 31, 1865; Second Cavalry, August 26, 1865; Sixth Heavy Artillery, August 30, 1865; Ninth Infantry, September 19, 1865; Eighth Cavalry, Sep

tember 26, 1865; Eleventh Infantry (re-organized at Jackson, March 16, 1865), September 23, 1865; Eleventh Cavalry, September 28, 1865; Sixth Cavalry, November 30, 1865; Seventh Cavalry, December 20, 1865; Twelfth Infantry, February 27, 1866; Third Cavalry, March 10, 1866.

The last camp in Jackson, Camp Blair, was continued until about the 1st of June, 1866, when the last vestige of the pomp and circumstance passed away by an order discontinuing the camp. The disbanding and paying off of so many men made trade good, and our merchants realized the full benefit of this condition of things. Indeed, the business of Jackson during the war was immense, and added greatly to our prosperity and material wealth. Throughout the war the ladies of Jackson were very active and efficient in giving “aid and comfort" to the brave men who had left home to defend their country. A great amount of sanitary stores were collected and sent forward. After the war closed, a committee of citizens, of whom many were ladies, were appointed to make arrangements and take measures to provide for the returning Michigan regiments such refreshments and attention as they might stand in need of on their arrival in the city, Jackson having been a rendezvous for returning troops. The most liberal and generous provision was made to this end, and from June 4, 1865, to June 1, 1866, over 10,659 Michigan troops had been received and entertained by the committee in the most satisfactory manner.

AFTER THE WAR.

The growth of the city since 1865 has been steady and satisfactory. The events have been so recent, and the people who have

mostly witnessed it are so well acquainted with it as not to be deeply interested in the simple details, other than they will be woven

into the history of events and improvements which will be traced under their appropriate headings.

The fact that the great and successful Republican party was born "under the oaks” at Jackson is a sufficient excuse for placing a detailed account of that significant event in a history of Jackson county, especially made by one who was an active participant in the convention and many of the important movements leading up to that event.

The constant agitation of the slavery question had been an impending peril in national politics ever since the adoption of the constitution. It had resulted in much friction and had always to be settled by some kind of compromise. Among the earliest. of these difficulties was the admission of the state of Missouri, which, while it admitted Missouri as a slave state, was accompanied with a compromise or agreement that no more slave states should be allowed or admitted north of the parallel of latitude thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north. This was the southerly line of Missouri and covered all the Louisiana purchase to the line of the Rocky mountains, that being then the western limit of the United States.

The Mexican war, in 1846, resulted in the acquisition of Texas and the Mexican states of New Mexico, Arizona and upper California, all of which, except a part of

California, was south of the compromise line and which was immediately claimed by the South for slave territory. The discovery of gold in California started an immense immigration to that state in 1849, which continued for several years. Those from the slave states took their slaves with them and there immediately sprung up rival parties, trying to secure recognition of a slave-state or a free-state constitution. After a bitter and prolonged contest, the free-state men won and, after an equally bitter contest in congress, California was admitted into the Union as a free state.

These events caused a sort of new alignment in national politics, many northern Democrats supporting the "Wilmot Proviso," which was virtually a declaration against the admission of any more slave states into the Union, while the southern Whigs took sides largely with the proslavery Democrats of the South. In the presidential election of 1852 both parties tried, to a large extent, to dodge or straddle the issue, but the Abolition party and the Free-Soil party, which had defeated General Cass as the Democratic candidate in 1848, kept the issue in the public mind and the result was the defeat of the Whig ticket, headed

by General Scott, and the loss of almost the entire Whig element in congress from the South. This sweeping political victory for the slave element was followed by legislation in congress repealing the Missouri Compromise and substituting in its place Mr. Douglas' doctrine of "popular sovereignty" in dealing with the slave question in all future territories and states, as had been done in California. About this time the supreme court of the United States handed down the decision in the celebrated "Dred Scott case, arising under the fugitive slave law, which affirmed the constitutionality of slavery, and made it practically legal in all the territories.

Mr. Douglas had introduced into congress his bills to organize the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, with the "squatter sovereignty stump speeches in their bellies," as the venerable Thomas H. Benton characterized it, and these were being pushed through congress. The whole country was soon aflame with excitement. Men from the south invaded the unorganized territories with their slaves, while emigration societies were formed at the North to send free state men into the same territory. All during the year 1853 there was outlawry and brigandage on both sides. All through the North mass meetings were held to denounce the Kansas-Nebraska bills, while armed bands, organized in the slave states, invaded Kansas and devastated the settlements of northern emigrants with fire and sword. "Border Ruffians" and "Bleeding Kansas" were standing headlines in all the newspapers, and a state of actual warfare existed for months.

It was in the month of December, 1853, in these midst of these conditions, the Free Democratic state central committee issued a call for a Free-Soil party state convention

to be held at Jackson on the 22d of February, 1854. This call recited the conditions which existed at Washington and invited all opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the surrender of any free territory to slavery to participate. Taking advantage of this offer a number of influential Whigs and editors of Whig papers were invited to meet at Jackson the same date and confer upon the situation. Those who attended this conference were Henry Barnes, of the Detroit Tribune, George A. Fitch, of the Kalamazoo Telegraph, Charles V. DeLand, of the Jackson Citizen, Harvey B. Rowlson, of the Hillsdale Standard, Seth Lewis, of the Marshall Statesman, C. B. Stebbins, of the Adrian Expositor, Aaron B. Turner, of the Grand Rapids Eagle, and Zephaniah B. Knight, of the Pontiac Gazette. Among leading Whigs were H. H. Emmons and William A. Howard, of Detroit, Whitney Jones, of Eaton county, James M. Edmonds, of Washtenaw, A. H. Morrison, of Berrien, and George W. Lee, of Howell.

These gentlemen met at the Marion House and organized by electing Henry Barnes president and George A. Fitch, sec| retary. They formulated a proposition for calling a convention of all who were opposed to the repeal of the Missouri compromise and making an attempt to organize a fusion of Free-Soil Democrats, Anti-slavery Whigs and all opponents of pro-slavery legislation upon a state ticket in opposition to the regular and pro-slavery Democracy. The Missouri Compromise had not then been repealed, and the Kansas and Nebraska bills had not passed and the time did not yet seem ripe for the effort at fusion.

The Free-Soil convention was presided over by Hon. William T. Howell, an old

Democrat, with Jabez Fox, editor of the Michigan Free Democrat, as secretary. After due deliberation the convention decided to nominate a full ticket, but upon it they put the names of several hitherto well-known Whigs. Subsequently the convention listened to speeches by Kinsley S. Bingham, S. B. Treadwell, Fernando C. Beaman, FreeSoilers, and Henry Barnes and Halmer H. Emmons, Whigs, and adopted a resolution authorizing their state central committee, in their discretion, to call a subsequent mass meeting to act upon any proposition for a fusion, and if one was possible "to withdraw the ticket this day nominated, and act with any new organization they may designate or deem advisable."

The committee consisted of Hovey K. Clarke, of Detroit, F. C. Beaman, of Adrian, K. S. Bingham, of Livingston, Erastus Hussey, of Calhoun, Nathan Power, of Oakland, D. C. Leach, of Genesee, and Lovell Moore, of Grand Rapids.

The following are the proceedings and resolutions adopted by this convention, as taken from the Citizen of that date:

INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.

This Convention convened at the Court House in this village on the 22d ult., and was organized by appointing Gen. W. T. Howell, of Jonesville, president eight vice-presidents and three secretaries.

About three hundred delegates were present; the following resolutions were discussed and adopted at the afternoon session :

The Independent Democracy of Michigan assembled in convention on the anniversary of the birthday of WASHINGTON, deem it an appropriate occasion to express our veneration for the character of this illustrious man, and our appreciation of the wisdom and patriotism which laid the foundation of our national prosperity in that admirable instrument, the Constitution of the United States. We desire now and always to proclaim our attachment

to that union among the people of the United States, of which the Constitution is the bond; and that the great purpose "to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity," is, and ever shall be ours. And, as a political party organized to promote this purpose, we believe it to be our duty, a duty which is especially and solemnly enjoined upon every man who has sworn to support the Constitution, to support every measure calculated to advance this purpose, and to resist with the energy of inflexible principle every scheme which may defeat or retard it.

We therefore Resolve,

I. That we regard the institution of domestic slavery, which exists in some of the states of the Union, not only as a foe to the domestic tranquility and the welfare of such states, but as subversive of the plainest principles of justice, and the manifest destroyer of the blessings of liberty. As an institution we are compelled to denounce and abhor it. Yet we concede that in states where it exists, it is

politically beyond our reach; but as we cannot deny our responsibility concerning it, so long as it finds protection under the laws of the federal government, so we will never cease to war against it, so long as the purpose of the Constitution shall remain unaccomplished to secure the blessings of liberty to all within its power.

That in following in the footsteps of the fathers of the republic, who regarded freedom the national, and slavery the sectional sentiment, we best vindicate their claims to enlightened patriotism, and our own to be considered loyal supporters of the government they established; and that opposition to any extension of slavery, and to any augmentation of its powers, is clearly the duty of all who respect the doctrine or the practice of the wisest and ablest of the framers of the Constitution.

That the attempt now pending in congress to repeal the enactment by which the vast territory north of the Missouri Compromise line was dedicated to freedom is an outrage upon justice, humanity and good faith, one by which traitorous ambition confederating with violaters of a solemn and timehonored compact, is seeking to inflict upon the nation a deep and indelible disgrace. We denounce the scheme as infamous; and we call upon the people to hold its authors and abettors to the most rigid and righteous accountability.

That executive patronage has grown to be an evil of immense magnitude; consolidating the power