The equalization of the assessment rolls was a most important portion of their proceedings. William D. Thompson presented an appeal asking fifteen dollars and fifty cents for services performed by him as county clerk. Leander Chapman, judge of probate, was allowed five hundred and fifty dollars, and as district attorney received his salary of one hundred dollars, with twenty-two dollars and thirty-five cents for expenses. The board gave notice to the electors that it recommended the raising of five thousand dollars for the purpose of completing county buildings, and erecting a fire-proof safe for the county records. William J. Moody, district attorney, was allowed twenty-five dollars for a half year's services. The board also ordained that four thousand six hundred dollars and seven cents be raised during the current year to defray contingent expenses of the county and for the purpose of paying state tax. November 10, the subject of the five thousand dollar loan was taken up, with the following result: "Whereas, the electors of the county of Jackson have by their vote authorized the board of supervisors to negotiate a loan of a sum of money not exceeding five thousand dollars, for the purpose of erecting a fire-proof register's office and the completion of the court house and jail yard, it was therefore resolved that the board authorize Amasa B. Gibson to effect said loan of five thousand dollars for the accomplishment of said object." A fire-proof register's office was next ordered to be constructed, twentyfour feet in the clear; to be built of wrought stone, one story high; to be partitioned into four rooms. This order was conditioned on the loan being obtained. The business of the year was concluded in December. The first meeting of 1838 was held March 6, with Supervisors Thomas McGee, James Ganson, C. M. Chapell, Benjamin Davis, E. B. Chapman, S. Patrick, A. Brewer, John Barnum, J. Mills and — Hubbard present. The session was continued to March 8, but the only business transacted was the auditing of the numerous accounts, aggregating five hundred and nineteen dollars and eleven cents, and the reception of a petition from Sylvanus Parkinson and other inhabitants of Concord township, asking the alteration of the Monroe (state) road. The meeting of October 1, 1838, was carried over to the following day for want of a quorum. On the 2d the following members of the board presented themselves: Jerry G. Cornell, Spring Arbor; Henry Acker, Concord; Benjamin Copeland, Napoleon; Jotham Wood, Jackson; C. M. Chappell, Sandstone; Daniel Porter, Hanover; John Barnum, Parma; Jesse B. Burroughs, Pulaski; Nicholas Townley, Tompkins; E. B. Chapman, Rives; Isaiah Whitman, Springport; A. Brewer, Grass Lake; J. Mills, Leoni; James Preston, East Portage; E. Rumery, Liberty. William R. DeLand was appointed deputy clerk by William D. Thompson, county clerk, and ex-officio clerk of the board. The equalization of assessment rolls was the principal business before the meeting. The supervisors appointed a committee of three, at their sitting of October 18, to examine and report on the rooms in the court house, fixing the amount of rent, annually, for each room according to its size, situation and value. This committee reported as follows: "That the north and middle rooms on the west side of the hall, occupied as the registry and probate offices, were worth sev enty-five dollars each; that the southwest room, same side of the hall, occupied by P. Harrand, was worth one hundred dollars, and that the north and middle rooms, on the east side of the hall, were worth fifty dollars each per annum." A debate ensued, but the report was adopted. subsequently elected at the next election. William D. Thompson was the first county clerk, and Samson Stoddard the first county treasurer. In this connection a good story is told of Clerk Thompson. The law allowed owners of stock to record "marks" in a town book kept by the clerk. Some had a slit in the right ear and some two slits, etc. Mr. James Ganson chose “a piece off of each animal's tail." Some time after that John Batchelder came in asked to have the same mark recorded. Mr. Thompson told him that mark was recorded. "Then what shall I do?" said Mr. Ganson, "my cattle are all bob-tailed now?" "Well," said Mr. Thompson, "we will fix The last meeting of the old board of supervisors was held October 19, 1838, when warrants were issued to the several collectors. The following accounts were ordered to be paid: Bildad Bennett, for services as constable, two dollars and twenty-five cents; A. P. Crowell, bill of costs, two dollars and forty-four cents; Bildad Bennett, constable bill, twenty dollars and thirteen cents; O. Russ, constable bill, one dollar and thirty-that by recording it two pieces off each anione cents; N. Sullivan, printing fifty blank warrants, two dollars; W. R. DeLand, deputy clerk of board for two last sessions, twenty-five dollars. BACK TO TOWN AGAIN. Having followed the growth of the county several years in advance, we will turn back to the village once more. In 1833 Lyman A. Coleman came to Jackson and established another general store, on the north side of the public square. He was soon afterwards appointed postmaster to succeed Mr. Bennett, who resigned. In 1835 he returned to New York, where he was married. While riding with his newly wedded wife, in the village of Livona, Livingston county, New York, he was thrown from his carriage and instantly killed. George B. Cooper succeeded him in the store and as postmaster. When the county was organized, William R. DeLand was appointed county judge and Amasa B. Gibson sheriff, and both were mal's tail," and so it was done. Subsequently The first marriage in the new county was celebrated in 1833 when Thomas Godfrey and Salinda Sutherland were married by Justice of the Peace William R. DeLand. Subsequently two of the Blackman girls were married, to-wit: John T. Durand and Silena D. Blackman, and William Acker and Lucy M. Blackman, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Mr. Bennett. These last two are the first marriages recorded in Jackson county, the first being of record in Washtenaw county. In the spring of 1835 Benjamin W. Rockwell came to Jackson from Cleveland, Ohio, and built a large frame store on the site of the Loeb store. It was painted yellow, and for many years was known as the "Yellow Store," and the firm of E. S. & B. W. Rockwell was one of the leading ones in the county. In the spring of 1835 the firm of Jerry Ford & Sons appeared on the scene. The father has been heretofore mentioned in connection with Perrine & Van Dorn. The Fords began clearing the east side of the river, and, after making surveys, determined to build a new dam that would develop the full water power. The present dam was the result. They also set about building a new saw-mill, a flouring-mill, and a woolen-mill and a foundry. These projects were all car ried out in time, though some of them were not completed until 1838. This action of the Fords was a great Godsend to Jackson, and soon gave it a new impetus in material growth. The condition of Main street was most deplorable during these years. The ground was all low and swampy from Blackstone street to Page avenue. It had been "crosswayed" for part of the way, but in the rainy season was almost impassable. Lemuel Blackman had two yoke of stalwart oxen, and he used them most of the year hauling emigrants and teamsters' loads through the town, securing quite a revenue for his help. Finally big ditches were opened and much work done, but the street was very bad for years, until it was at length paved with cobble stones in 1848. CHAPTER V. COURTS. cate the county seat of Jackson: BY LEWIS CASS, In dealing with the court of Jackson | action of the commissioners appointed to locounty, it is desirable to give only its history from the beginning to that period when its organization may be said to have been completed, and its rules understood and observed. Therefore, in the succeeding pages the legal transactions of the circuit court are summarized up to 1838. SEAT OF JUSTICE ESTABLISHED. The territorial governor, Hon. Lewis Cass, issued the following proclamation under date February 2, 1831, confirming the Governor in and over the Territory of Michigan. A PROCLAMATION. WHEREAS, By an act of the legislative council, approved July 31, 1830, authority is given to the governor of the territory to appoint commissioners to locate the seats of justice in the several counties where the seats of justice may not have been located, and to receive their report and confirm the same if he approve thereof; and then to issue a proclamation establishing the seats of justice so located; AND WHEREAS, Henry Rumsey, Chauncey S. Goodrich and John Allen, Esquires, were appointed commissioners to locate the seat of justice of the county of Jackson, and have proceeded to execute the said duty, and have, by a report signed by them, located the seat of justice of the said county of Jackson at the said village of Jacksonopolis, in the said county: Now, therefore, By virtue of the authority given in said act, and in conformity with the said report, I do hereby issue this proclamation, establishing the seat of justice of the said county of Jackson at the said village of Jacksonopolis, in the said county. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the great seal of the territory to be affixed. Done at Detroit, on the second of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, and of the independence of the United States the fifty-fifth. By the Governor: JOHN T. MASON, LEWIS CASS. [L. S.] Secretary of the Territory. PIONEER COURTS. The formation of counties throughout the state in 1829 was followed by acts of the ·legislative assembly of the territory, relating to the government of such counties, their partition in townships, and the establishment of county and circuit courts in each district so organized. These acts were approved June 29, 1832, and among others relating to this county was one dealing with the courts, in the following terms: "That a county court should be established in Jackson county, possessing all the privileges of the other county courts in the territory, a session of which must be held on the first Tuesday of September each year, and the first session to take place at the house of Horace Blackman. The county of Jackson was created one circuit, and a session of the court ordered to be held on the second Tuesday of September each year, the first session to be held at the house of Horace Blackman.” Always prompt in matters of this kind, the territorial authorities appointed Dr. Oliver Russ judge, Samson Stoddard clerk of court, and David Keyes sheriff. The necessary legal notice was extensively posted, and in accordance with the spirit of the act, the first court of justice in Jackson county was proclaimed open on the first Tuesday of September, 1832. A grand jury was impaneled, which comprised almost every responsible man then in the neighborhood. Attorneys John Allen and Olney Hawkins, of Ann Arbor, were present, with a few determined litigants ranged in the back-ground. The court room-a parlor in the log house of Horace Blackman-was densely packed with the jurors, lawyers, litigants and the curious. The Judge sat patiently waiting the time when the multitude would cease their converse, and settle down to hear the lecture to which he was determined to treat the jurors. It came. Sheriff Keyes read the proclamation a second time, and declared the session of the court to have begun. The Judge rose from his seat with a good deal of dignity, took a long look at his assembled friends, and then entered on one of those peculiar addresses heard only in the courts, or at meetings of the people recently settled in a new country. He said: "Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, Friends and Countrymen: We are just emerging from the barbarous period of our lives, and that is comprised in the few months which have passed away since we left our eastern homes in search of western ones. The state has not forgotten us; but, on the contrary, has recognized our courage by bestowing upon us all the forms of government known in much older counties, and above all she has blessed the county by placing me a judge over you. Gentlemen of the jury, I am proud to assure you that your duties at this session of the court will be of the lightest character, but I trust the time is not far distant when intelligent men, such as you are, will be not idle in such a cause, or lawyers such as I see before me, be without a train of clients. The advancing civilization of our time requires that litigation and trouble of all sorts should accompany it, and I must congratulate the state for placing among us, so early in the history of our county, an institution which may, undoubtedly, cause more trouble and anxiety than it will be ever able to relieve. "Gentlemen, in closing this little address, I must not forget to remind you that this is only the beginning of the end. The time will soon be at hand when the juror may lose the curiosity which this court now awakens, and seek a means to escape a visit to the county court house, that will soon offer us, at least a larger room to examine and deliberate in. The case of John Doe will come before you; treat it as it deserves." The jurors were satisfied, the crowd was satisfied; but the happiest mortal in all that gathering was the Judge himself, who looked with a smile at the folowing entries, made by Mr. Stoddard, clerk of the county court, in one of the early record books: John Doe, selling liquor to Indian; damages, $20. Attorney, John Allen. Thomas Godfrey vs. Daniel T. Warner, trespass; damages, $100. Attorney, O. Hawkins. Fee bill-Summons, 50c.; docketing, 121⁄2c.; same, 6c. Date-Sept. 4, 1832. Remarks-Summons issued returnable at next term of court. Re turned, served by David Keyes, Sheriff; fee, $1.06 4. Under date of September 7, 1832, the fee bill, in the case of Abel Millington vs. Sanford Marsh and Daniel T. Warner, com The action of Stephen Grant and Trumbul Cary against Elijah Spencer, claiming damages of one thousand dollars, was brought before the court in 1832, and a capias was issued returnable at the next term of the circuit court. The Bank of Michigan vs. John Wickham, H. W. Bassett and H. Blackman, a case noticed under date December 18, 1832, is treated to the laconic remark, "Capias issued returnable at next term of circuit court. Returned, served by David Keyes, sheriff." All the cases were returned to the circuit court, the judge asked three hearty cheers for the Stars and Stripes, which were freely given, and then, placing one foot on the chair and his hand under his chin, spoke to the members of that grand jury for over an hour, and might have continued for the succeeding sixty minutes had not the last of the fatigued pioneers followed the example of his friends, leaving Messrs. Stoddard and Keyes for the audience. It is related by one of the surviving first settlers that the Judge was very desirous to indite John Doe, then a tavern-keeper in the township, for selling liquor to Indians. In his charge to the grand jury he referred to it; but the jury requested the Judge to make out a bill against the breaker of the laws, as they were not conversant with legal forms in their adopted state. Russ snatched up a pen and wrote: "John Doe to Jackson County, Dr., to selling liquor to Indians, twenty dollars." |