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Word was circulated that if the citizens took refuge in the distillery, they would be safe. Like wild-fire, the message went from mouth to mouth, until every man, woman and child were on their way to the place of promised safety.

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HON. G. D. WILLIAMS.

GARDNER D. WILLIAMS, late of the city of Saginaw, was a descendant of a Welsh family. His ancestor, Robert Williams, settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1638, only eighteen years after the arrival of the Mayflower.

The branch of the family from which Judge Williams descended remained in Roxbury for five generations. His father, Oliver Williams, removed to Concord, Massachusetts, about the year 1794, where the subject of this sketch was born, September 7, 1804.

Meanwhile, Captain Roberts proceeded to the northwest side of the Island, landed his forces, and began his march toward the fort. At the farm near the landing they took possession of a number of cattle, and, before the dawn of day, reached the hollow which may be seen a short distance to the rear of the fort. Upon a little ridge, which separates this hollow from the parade ground, they planted a gun in the road, and anxiously awaited the approach of day. The dawn appeared, and the unsuspecting garrison began to move. As Lieutenant Hanks looked out from his quarters, he was surprised at the unusual quiet that prevailed in the town below. No smoke was seen curling from the chimneytops, and no footsteps were heard in the streets. This looked strange, and he ordered Lieutenant Darrow, with two men, to go down and ascertain the reason.

When this officer arrived at the distillery, the truth flashed upon him. Under a strong guard which had been sent by Captain Roberts, the inhabitants of the place were awaiting the decision that would again make them subjects of the British Crown. Darrow entered the distillery, and shook hands with its inmates;

Oliver Williams came to Detroit in 1807, leaving his family in Concord. He engaged in business there as a merchant, and was one of the largest dealers in Detroit. He brought from Boston at one time, for his trade, $64,000 in goods. About the year 1811, he built the sloop "Friend's Good Will," on board of which he visited Mackinaw in 1812. At that place, his vessel was chartered by the government to go to Chicago for furs. He proceeded to that place under the charter, and took on board ninety-nine packs of furs belonging to the government, besides a quantity of his own. On his return voyage, his vessel was captured by the British at Mackinaw, that post having capitulated in his absence. The capture was effected by a ruse of the enemy. On approaching the fortress, Mr. Williams saw the American flag flying, and a sentry in American uniform on guard, and had no suspicion that the post had changed hands. He was undeceived only when too late to escape. He lost his vessel and cargo; and it is little to the credit of the government that it never made up to him the loss. The British changed the name of the vessel to the "The Little Belt." It was one of the vessels captured by Commodore Perry, in the battle of Lake Erie.

The family of Oliver Williams, including Gardner D., arrived at Detroit November 5, 1815, where they continued to reside until 1819. At that

but, when he started to return to the fort, the guards proposed to make him prisoner. Taking a pistol in each hand, and demanding permission to return, he faced the guards, and, followed by his men, walked backwards till beyond their reach, when he returned, without molestation, to the fort. But Lieutenant Hanks did not have to wait for the return of Darrow, to learn the state of affairs below, for the sharp report of a British gun soon told him all. The report had scarcely died away, when a British officer, with flag in hand, appeared and demanded a surrender, emphasizing the demand by a statement of the overwhelming numbers of the invading army, and a threat of indiscriminate slaughter by the savages at the first motion towards resistance.

When the inhabitants of the town had been gathered under guard at the distillery, Messrs. Davenport, Abbot, Bostwick, Stone and Dousman, who were among the leading citizens, were advised to go at once to the landing, and give themselves up to Colonel Dickinson, who had been left at that point by Captain Roberts, for that purpose. This they accordingly did. They were then urged by Colonel Dickinson to petition Lieutenant time, they removed to Silver Lake, in Oakland county, being among the first to settle in that now populous and thriving county.

In 1827, Judge Williams, accompanying his brother Ephraim L., went to Saginaw and engaged, for the American Fur Company, in the fur trade. Here he continued to reside until his death, December 10, 1858.

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During his eventful life, he held several important offices. He was a member of the first convention to form a constitution for the State of Michigan. He was successively a member of each branch of the State legislature, commissioner of internal improvements, county judge, and treasurer of Saginaw county. He was the first mayor of the city of Saginaw, and held that office at the time of his decease.

He was no ordinary man. Though deprived of opportunities in youth for education, yet by native force of character he was equal to the requirements of all the positions he was called to occupy. He had broad views of public affairs, and enjoyed the full confidence of his fellow citizens. He was eminently honest, kind and genial. He was married in 1829, and left three sons surviving him, who, continuing the lumbering business established by the father, and in which he was a pioneer, have amassed liberal fortunes. They are respected socially, and classed among the best citizens of the Saginaw valley.

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Hanks to surrender the fort at once, stating that the Indians would be entirely unmanageable in case there should be any resistance. This they did promptly. Lieutenant Hanks' position can now be easily imagined. Not having received intelligence of the declaration of war, he was wholly off his guard, and unprepared to defend himself. The British troops, though less in numbers than the garrison under his command, had a position which commanded the fort, and were supported by nearly a thousand Indian warriors, who had been instructed to show no mercy, in case that any resistance was made. Under these circumstances, Lieutenant Hanks surrendered the fort at once, and his men were paroled and sent to Detroit.

Some have censured Lieutenant Hanks for his precipitate surrender; but, when it is considered that the first act of resistance would have been the signal for an indiscriminate massacre of the garrison, the justice of such censures may well be questioned.

After the surrender, the citizens were assembled at the Government House, and the oath of allegiance to the British Crown administered to them. They were generally willing to take the oath, but Messrs. Davenport, Bostwick, Stone, Abbot and Dousman refused to turn traitors. These men were immediately sent away with the soldiers, and were not permitted to return till after the declaration of peace. Captain Roberts and his men were highly complimented by the British government, and richly rewarded, for thus surprising and capturing the fort. Prize money, to the amount of ten thousand dollars, was distributed among the volunteers and soldiers, and merchandise and arms given to the Indians.

Having thus easily and cheaply succeeded in wresting from the American people one of their most important military positions, the English at once set about strengthening themselves in their new possession. Fearing that they would not be able to hold what they had so easily gained, they hastened to construct a fortification on the crowning point of the island, which, in honor of their reigning sovereign, they called Fort George. The remains of the old fort, afterwards called Fort Holmes, may still be seen.

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CHAPTER XXV.

GENERAL HULL'S COWARDICE - HE EVACUATES CANADA

ALLEGED TREASON A DETACHMENT SENT TO MEET COLONEL BRUSH-THE FORT SURRENDERED TO THE BRITISH-INDIGNATION OF THE ARMY -COLONEL BRUSH ESCAPES-DETROIT AGAIN UNDER THE BRITISH FLAG.

WE WILL now return to General Hull's army, at Sandwich, Canada. Here the troops quartered for four weeks, during which time a detachment, under the command of Colonel McArthur, marched up the Thames river, and returned with large supplies of flour, wheat, beef, cattle, and about a thousand sheep. The latter were all sent over the river, and were permitted to range at large upon the extensive common back of the fort, where they remained until after the surrender of the army, when they were killed by Indians, and the meat appropriated to their use. A reconnoissance in force, under Colonels McArthur and Cass, marched to the vicinity of Malden, where they dislodged a picketguard, posted at the bridge over the Canard river, fourteen miles from camp, and four miles above Malden.

Another reconnoissance, by the Light Infantry and a small detachment of the Fourth U. S. Regiment, commanded by Captain Snelling, was made about the twentieth of July, by which it was ascertained that the enemy had withdrawn his outpost at the Canard bridge, and had stationed a vessel, named the Queen Charlotte, off and near the mouth of the Canard river, in a position of observation. A plan was formed by these officers and others to construct some floating batteries, place a twenty-four pound gun upon each, and, with the addition of a few gunners and sailors then in Detroit, to descend along the shore of the river on the first dark night, and capture the Queen Charlotte. This project met with a refusal at headquarters, and all that could be obtained

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