cation of settlement. The earliest of these townships were sometimes of great extent. Some of them included several counties, as the township of Greene, humorously famous among pioneers for its size. 149 Frequently the first political township in a county was coterminous with the county, and this large township would be later subdivided along the lines of the government townships into political townships of varying

areas. 150

In the educational and cultural advantages offered by Michigan Territory there was not much to invite 149. Mich. Hist. Colls., X, 63; Territorial Laws, II, 787. For the very large townships in northern counties see ibid., II, 480-481.

150. As a small political area organized on petition of the people for township government, the township indexes population on a smaller scale than does the county; hence it is supplementary as a measure of settlement within the counties. The name, date, position, size, and boundaries of a township may tell much. The date and position of the first townships organized in a county are quite certain evidence of how the population was distributed; and the rate of township organization is fairly dependable as a means of contrasting the larger features of settlement within the counties. The names and boundaries of townships may often give a clue to the motive of settlement, and to the sources of the population; but caution must be used in basing judgments upon the relative areas of townships; relative size, area for area, is likely to be very misleading, and should be compared with other evidence. Small townships naturally give the impression of density of population; and the large ones, of sparseness; but a township diagram of any county for any census will invariably give evidence that this relativity of area is not of itself a safe guide to relative density of population. Townships have varied in size for sundry reasons-physiographic, ethnic, economic, social; various. other conditions have influenced feeling about who should be included in the townships.

settlers. 151 The importance of this element as an inducement to settlers, however, should be duly appreciated. Many of the leading pioneers had been educated in eastern schools and colleges; and the universal respect for education is shown by the social status of the teacher, which was equal to that of the minister or physician. The influence of the devoted pioneer priests and preachers, like Father Gabriel Richard, John Monteith, and John D. Pierce, in elevating the general tone of social life must have been considerable. 152 It was probably a general sentiment among intending emigrants that was reflected in an editorial of the Northwestern Journal of January 13, 1830, commenting on the "multiplication of schools, of places of worship, of religious teachers, and the improvement of the moral habits of the people:" that "there are very many by whom a satisfactory answer to the questions 'can we educate our children there, and enjoy ourselves and secure to them the blessings of Sabbath instruction,' would be demanded before they would determine to emigrate."

Though the foundations of Michi n's public school system, at least in practice, were laid after Michigan became a State, something was done by legislation in the earlier period. National land grants for schools provided a part of the financial basis both for primary and higher education. 153 Governor Cass had the thorough-going New England sense of the importance 151. Mich. Hist. Colls., VII, 36-51.

152. J. D. Hoyt and R. C. Ford, John D. Pierce, Founder of the Michigan School System (Ypsilanti, 1905), 40-41, 44-46. 153. A. C. McLaughlin, History of Higher Education in Michigan, 17, 18; Mich. Hist. Colls., VII, 19.

of educating the masses as a basis for citizenship and did his utmost to promote schools.154 It is probable that his inspiration was back of the apparent awakening of interest in public education reflected in the legislation of 1827 providing for common schools in the townships, 155

However, the log schoolhouses built by the settlers, meagerly equipped, and probably frequently officered by schoolmasters of the type of Ichabod Crane, remained throughout this period the sole public educational advantage within reach of the vast majority of children. 156 Academies appeared at Pontiac, Ann Arbor, and a few other centers of settlement. 157 The Ann Arbor Academy had a considerable reputation, drawing pupils from prominent families in Detroit.158 Some slight beginnings that looked towards a university made 154. McLaughlin, Lewis Cass, 123, citing Journal of the Legislative Council, 1826, pp. 5-6.

156.

155. Territorial Laws, II, 472; see also ibid., III, 1012, 1377. A brief review of Territorial school legislation in Michigan is given in Michigan Joint Documents, 1880, pp. 307-309; and of the organization of the Territorial school system in Hoyt and Ford, John D. Pierce, 47-52. Mich. Hist. Colls., I, 429. See the sketch of a typical pioneer school of about this time at Ypsilanti, probably of the better type, "Annual report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1880," in Michigan Joint Documents, 1880, pp. 306-307. The visitation was made in 1839 by the editor of an eastern school paper, The Common School Assistant, in whose columns for September of that year appeared his report-good teachers, but poor ventilation, bad desks and seats, windows poor, ceilings low, and the settlers unwilling to have any change made.

157. Territorial Laws, III, 849, 879, 881, 975, 992, 1069, 1120, 1205, 1379.

158. Mich. Hist. Colls., I. 400.

their appearance. 159 Toward the end of the period. there were formulated those plans of Isaac E. Crary and John D. Pierce which appearing first in spirit in the State constitution of 1835 were brought to practical realization by the earliest State legislation 160 and were to mean much for later settlement.

159. Territorial Laws, I, 879; II, 104; McLaughlin, Higher Education in Michigan, 29-31; Mich. Hist. Colls., VII, 37; B. A. Hinsdale and I. N. Demmon, History of the University of Michigan, passim; Michigan Joint Documents, 1880, pp. 353-355, 358, 360-363.

160. Mich. Hist. Colls., I, 38; V, 184-187; McLaughlin, Higher, Education in Michigan, 34-35; Michigan Legislative Manual, 1837, pp. 43, 44, art. 10, sec. 2, 3. Hoyt and Ford, John D. Pierce, 79-87; Michigan Joint Documents, 1880, pp. 309-313.

CHAPTER III

THE EASTERN SHORE

THE 'HE lands now in Monroe, Wayne, Macomb and St. Clair counties were the earliest portion of the southern peninsula to receive Canadian-French settlers, and they contained always a larger proportion of that element of population than did any other part of Michigan Territory. They were also the first counties to receive American settlers, for they had a common shore line facing Canada and the eastern states. A continuous network of streams afforded drainage, a degree of navigation, and well distributed water power. In view of the initial advantages which these counties shared they had a slower rate of settlement than might have been expected. This was due partly to peculiarities of soil, timber and position.

The surface soil in much of Monroe and Wayne counties was a stiff clay which, as a recent map of the surface geology indicates, was probably the bottom of an ancient lake. At the time of the first settlement this soil was covered densely with forests of ash and elm. The difficulty of clearing it was a serious discouragement to farmers and this accounts partly for the slowness with which these lands received actual settlers as compared

1. Soil map in pocket of the Mich. Geological Survey Report,