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The Western Reserve Historical Society

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The Western Reserve Historical Society The Western Reserve Historical Society 1 8 One day in the summer of 94, I obtained information that at a certain house on the Canadian side of the Detroit river, at a place, styled by the owner Strabane, there was a quantity of letters and documents in the possession of s . At one of the old familie the earliest practicable moment , I visited the place and has tily examined such papers as the a possessor w s willing to permit me to see. Within a few days thereafter I again visited him and obtained permission to take a few of the papers with me to copy. Among these papers I found the Indian deed referred to in the following and pages, feeling that it might be of interest to your society s C . C . I wrote to your late pre ident, judge Baldwin , of my ‘ find . I received an immediate reply from judge Baldwin, in which he stated that the existence of the deed had been s s a s s u pected by him for many ye r , and that on one occa ion he had gone to Montreal to see if he could find evidence of fir its existence, but that my letter had given him the st cer tain knowledge of its contents . I continued my visits to my s fin all Canadian neighbor for ome time, and y succeeded in all his s n ow purchasing from him of document , and they are in my possession . When my purchase was consummated , I again wrote to judge B aldwin and he came to Detroit to make a personal examination of such of the papers as per tained to Cleveland . H e was greatly pleased with what he his s a i saw, and at reque t I prep red the follow ng paper, which m n ar om . ii . o ce a orti n th d cumen contai ns the substan of th t p o of es e o ts . a ers I obtained however do not rela e c us ivel T he p p , , te x l y , v n er lar el in ro o ti on t o the w to t hi s nor e e v y g y, p p r hole, h are the corres ond en ce of a man lar el s ubject . T ey p g y us nes s and li tical afla rs an d elat t he in terested in b i po i , r e to n r t ern art hi Vin oenn as De ro t M ck a c e ti e nor h p of O o, , t i , a in , a a the firs t a li en t Nia ara the an adi an Upper C nad , p r am at g , C ’ le t o tro before a rea and th r mt s an d e c i n at De it j y s T ty o e at er , in all respects constitute the mos t valua ble set of pri vate le t ters I have ever seen . There are between an d o f t and t e ten r m1 60 to the t of the ea t o f hem , hey x d f o 7 da e d h e h mVi e col or in 1 8 1 8 . re are tt ers fro a t th ir l ct . T e le go , V M cIn cen s Art ur St. Clai r. Willi amand An us tos h in ne , h r, J , g , ohn skin r. os Bra A an enr o mmodo re J A , J , J eph nt, lex der H y, C e n Gran o n An ers o n arl all of M avia Al xa der t, J h d n, e y the or n re c rs Zeisber er Hecken veld er Sensem an d t r s p a he , g , , an o he , Wm. v. m. u u tu enr Ha r so Go W ull u s s H y r i n, H , j dge A g Brevoort oodward M or Ancrurn en r al nd W , aj , G e Engla , Aren Schu ler DePe ster enr Bird saa d me t y y , H y , I c To d, Ja s d re l D. W. mt di d n Ma i and m n e a And w g l , S i h, an y In a de s h and other ofi cial documents. T is collection is of so rece n t an acquisition that I have n ot yet had time to arrange an d n it ro ose but a e re oro e am bi d , as I p p . I h v p tty th ughly x ined it. ard n the orti on cor orated the e ed ess Reg i g p in p in ann x ay , oul sa urs d al I w d y that, of co e . I o not posse s l the co rre s ondence and a ers wri en on a c p p p tt th t subje t, but I hope that what I here produce will be added to by others who os s ss ormio n the same b l o s ec p e inf at n u j t . until u timately the entire transaction of this Indian purchase may be m ade a er of wr en hi s or and t a we ma a d a matt itt t y. h t y thus d a ch p ter to the story of Cleveland . Res ec ll o rs p tfu y y u . ! N . BU RT O N . ' s raorr ruar 1 8 . D , Feb y , 95 A C H A P T E R IN THE HI RY F L E VE L AND ST O O C . Detroit, until the commencement of the present century, was the most important of all the Western posts in that great tract of territory which is comprehended under the titles of e New France and Louisiana, Canada, and later under the nam - of the North West Territory . It was the most important M Alle hanies . place west of ontreal , west of the g Cadillac , s its mm 1 01 its founder, fore aw co ercial importance in 7 , a and lthough , before coming to settle here, he had been M in command of ackinac, he knew that Detroit would soon outstrip that place in trade and population, and wrote to M ! IV Mich llimack Pontchartrain ( inister under Louis ), that i M was inac (as ackinac then called) , would be so completely deserted in a few years that the Jesuit priests there would have no one to bury them when they died, but that their bodies would be food for vultures and wolves . Cadillac and the succeeding commandants were empow ered to sell and convey lands about the post of Detroit, and they made many transfers of farms and village lots . The number and extent of these transfers have never been fully determined . Indeed , it was supposed that there were only a u own very few made under French r le, but my investigations have recently unearthed some seventy- five deeds made by s Cadillac alone, and further earches now being made by me , will, I believe, disclose several hundred, and perhaps form a ’ complete record from Cadillac s day till the Engli sh conquest 4 A ca mn nt m recorded b the R o al in t 76o. T hese early deeds were y y Nota r ei h r ke as his r iva te ry, and his records we e t e pt p ro er or sen to the m o ernment in Pari s to be p p ty, t ho e g v buried in the rapidly accumulatin g and unassorted i n the F oreign Depar tment or Departmen t of Marine. f the coun r in 1 60 When the Bri ti sh took possess ion o t y 7 , the record of transfers was carried on in much the sa me man ner a d r F h u c tha ecords wer ke t s un e renc r le, ex ept t the r e p as the propert y of the public and not the pri vate books o f the t 1 60 mi ou t o f no ary. From 7 until the for at on of the C n y a ne in 1 6 h W s t r co r was rr ered W y 79 , w en the e e n unt y su end ’ r at of 1 to the United States under the terms of Jay s t e y 794 , these records in Detroit filled tour or five volumes an d were retai ned by the British when they retired from the po st . A ar s ds a s p t of the e recor , but not all of them, were, a few yme r s n e r o i ce, r turned to Detroit and placed in the regist y o e, and of them I have a complete copy . I e of se ur o n th early part the pre nt cent y, and ab ut the time of the destruction of the village of Detroit by the fire of 1 80 he s s n ed 5 , t United States Commis ioner on la d claims Open an othcc in Detroit and recorded such evidences of ti tle as e the old French people brought for that purpose .
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