F 561 M47 214489 v.6 1883 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, by the "PIONEER SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN," In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. Reprint 1907 PREFACE The Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan, in giving to the public the sixth volume of "Collections," cannot but congratulate the pioneers of Michigan upon the success that has attended their efforts to secure from all parts of the State authentic narratives of those who were most prominent in its settlement, and in the gradual extinguishment of the Indian Claims and the removal of most of the tribes from the State. The wise but · guarded liberality of the legislature in granting aid to the society which is reimbursed from the proceeds of the sales of the "Collections," has enabled the committee of historians to publish the proceedings of the society and a part of the valuable material which it has collected much more rapidly than could otherwise have been done. This and the interesting annual meetings of the society, have been of great service in the influence they have borne of the work that is being done in collecting and preserving material for the future historian. `Our work of necessity is of a miscellaneous character, but all having a tendency to bring out most distinctly by whom and in what manner our pioneers laid the foundation of the government, and of the various departments and institutions of the State in which we all so justly take great pride. The material collected and carefully filed, indexed, and preserved, so as to be easily obtainable when required for use, is much greater than that printed in the six volumes; and if the society shall in the future receive from the State and from individuals the same helping hand as heretofore, it will in a few years form a collection of historic matter bearing on its settlement, as complete if not more so, than any State in the Union. We confidently expect and thankfully receive contributions of historical matter from ose who can aid us in preserving our early history. Every communication of this is carefully preserved and published as rapidly as the means of the society will interest taken in the work being done is manifested by the largely increased ince at our annual meetings, and more particularly by the largely increased sale "Collections" as the volumes are issued. We submit volume six to the society and Czublic, can that it will be found of equal interest and value with the volumes MICHAEL SHOEMAKER, Chairman, O. C. COMSTOCK, HEZEKIAH G. WELLS, N. H. GOODRICH, HARRIET A. TENNEY, Secretary, Committee of Historians. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION Pursuant to the instructions of the executive committee, of the Pioneer and Historical Society of the State of Michigan, as authorized by law (Public Acts, 1907, File No. 62, Section 4), the undersigned has undertaken to revise and prepare for publication, a second edition of such volumes of the Pioneer Collections as have gone out of print. Great care has been taken to do nothing that would interfere with the usefulness of the index to the first fifteen volumes, that is, the paging of the first edition has been preserved and the erroneous spelling of names has been indicated, without erasures. Only such mistakes as were obviously due to faulty printing or copying have been changed without an explanatory note in an appendix, so that many crudities of style and diction will still be encountered. Statements of facts of historical importance have been briefly investigated and commented upon, editorialy, with citation of authority, where accuracy or clearness required, but the correctness of the very large number of dates, descriptions and statements of minor or trivial consequence have been left unchallenged because not enough time is available for painstaking verification. STATE LIBRARY, June 20th, 1907. H. S. BARTHOLOMEW CONTENTS Officers elected, June 14th, 1883. Annual Meeting, June 13th, 1883. Report of Recording Secretary. Page. Remarkable Instance of Capital Crime-C. Colton. Michigan, My Michigan-W. C. Ransom. Canada and the United States... The Michigan State Agricultural College-President Abbot. |