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Mikem
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Username: Mikem

Post Number: 2531
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.43.15.105
Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 11:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

A letter I came across in an historical magazine, decribing Detroit in the 1840's. A newlywed grand-daughter is writing to her grandfather back in Boston...


quote:

Springwells, December 11, 1844

My dear Grandfather,

I am almost ashamed to commence a letter to you now, it is so long since it ought to have been finished; but I have always been told it was but a poor compliment to fill half a sheet with apologies, so pray excuse the omission, and believe that I am now very happy in spending an hour or more in telling you of my wonderful seeings and doings within the last twelve weeks.

Only think I have been a wife almost three months, but though I do feel a good deal more staid and sedate than when I was in Wiscasset last July, I have as yet discovered no gray hairs. To be sure, my hair is leaving me very fast, and I soon expect to wear caps, but this I do not consider to be caused by the rapid approaches of old age, or even the cares of a large family. Perhaps mending old hose, which have been accumulating in my husband’s wardrobe during his long bachelorship of twenty—five years, may have something to do with it. But away with such nonsense and let me remember that I am writing to a minister, not to one of his crazy posterity just like myself.

Allow rue to begin my sober strain with the assurance that I an in the enjoyment of a fair amount of health and happiness, and, as far as I can see, my husband might with truth say the same for himself. But I can tell you, grandfather, it is not the pleasantest thing that ever was done to leave one’s native home and all the friends who made it dear, to settle in the West. As glad as you just supposed I should be to find my old friends around me here, I have no wish to have them come. I say, stay in New England as long as you possibly can, be contented with a little less money and many more comforts. To be sure I have no reason to complain very bitterly, for I am in a civilized part of the West. But it is not Boston, and that is enough for me as yet. Perhaps at some far distant day I will be perfectly contented, but I must live a good many years yet to see that time. However, I beg you not to think I would go back to Boston to live unless I could have Mr. Herrick. I am still so romantic as to prefer a new home with my husband to an old one without him. But I charge you, dear Grandfather, not to let one of your young girls fall in love with any man who in your good judgement bids fair to be a fit subject to the Westward Ho! Fever. But now let me try to fulfill in a measure my promise to you. Were I blessed with the pen of a ready writer, perchance I might fill the rest of this sheet with somewhat of interest. But alas! the mantle of my mother did not fall upon me.

I will begin with Detroit, with which, though it is not my abiding place, I have had some opportunity of becoming acquainted. It is, as you are aware, situated on the Detroit River, which opposite to the city is three—fourths of a mile wide, but though not so very wide it is a most beautiful river, so deep and clear. From the first of May ‘til the first of November three and sometimes four large steam boats pass up or down the river to or from Buffalo daily. The smallest of these boats is larger and handsomer than the Kennebec boats, and those of the first class are fitted up in a style scarcely surpassed by those of the Royal Steam Packets which I have seen, Of course the engines, etc., are not on so grand and massive a scale, neither are the hulls so large and strong; but the saloons, dining—rooms and cabins are furnished with pianos, oil paintings, couches and lounges. There are no open berths, but all staterooms; those on the deck opening onto the deck as well as into the saloon, so one may sit in his own little room undisturbed by his neighbors, and have a view of the coast as he sails along.

But I have left Detroit, and wandered down to Lake Erie. Opposite to our city, on Victoria’s ground, is Windsor, and a little further down the river is Sandwich, and still farther down is Fort Malden, all in sight of my windows in Springwells. More than a hundred slaves, escaped from bondage, reach Detroit every year, and cross to Windsor in the steam ferry boats. Poor fellows, I do hope they are treated kindly when they once plant their feet on British ground.

Detroit is regularly and handsomely laid out, and contains many fine public buildings, as the geography would say, but I don’t believe that would tell you how deep the mud is in the winter. I will, however. It is not generally much above the hubs of the cart wheels.

Mr. Herrick requested me to read to him what I had written, as a dutiful wife should. I complied with his request, and the result was he thought he should be obliged to write to you himself in order to correct some of the false impressions I should be likely to give you. But, as you see, grandfather, he will tell you as many fibs as I should, for he would fain have you believe Michigan a perfect El Dorado, whereas I would gladly give you the unvarnished truth. But to return from my aberrations.

There are two very wide streets running parallel with the river, Jefferson Avenue and Fort Street, the latter so—called from having for many years been the site of extensive fortifications. The avenue is 120 feet wide, and between three and four miles long, and so perfectly level and straight that one can see nearly the whole length of it. There are two banks, a post office, and large blocks of brick stores, most of them five stories high, on the lower parts of the street and above these are dwelling houses with good plank sidewalks and fine trees planted at equal distances in front of them. Besides these trees, almost every house stands far enough back from the street to have a good garden. By far the greater proportion of the houses are of wood; still there are many handsome ones built of brick. Fort Street is occupied mostly by dwelling houses, and is by some considered pleasanter than the avenue, but it certainly is not so fashionable. I have one very serious objection to the manner of building among the Wolverines, as we, the inhabitants of Michigan are styled — they almost uniformly build without cellars. I never inquired the reason for this, but imagine the want of stone is at the bottom of the trouble.

I do not know that I have ever heard the number of churches in the city, but I know of but six, a Presbyterian [First Presbyterian] , an Episcopalian [St. Paul], a Methodist [First Methodist Episcopal], and three Catholic, the Irish [Holy Trinity], Dutch [Ste. Mary’s German), and French [Ste. Anne]. I believe there is also one for the Dutch Reform [probably St. John’s German Evangelical]. The Irish are building a splendid Cathedral [Sts. Peter and Paul) , but I fancy it will be several years before it is finished.

The city is well supplied with water from the river. A large circular six—story building stands on the bank of the river, in which, in the upper story, there is a large reservoir. Into this the water is forced by steam, and from thence it is sent to all parts of the city.

There are a great many very wealthy merchants in Detroit, and as a general thing, the people live in a great deal of style. The gentlemen when in the streets or in their stores and warehouses dress less than most mechanics in Boston, but at parties they are combed and curled at a great rate. The ladies dress more for the street than the gentlemen, but evening is the time for them to shine. I went to a large party Thanksgiving evening given by a French Catholic; his wife was of French descent, and of course many of her guests were also. I am quite sure I never saw so many beautiful ladies in all my life together, as I met at that one party. But, as I wrote to Mother, I may not have been more struck by their beauty from the fact that I had been born and brought up in a city noted for its ugly women. The ladies go into company at fourteen, and, if not married at eighteen, are decidedly passe, an old maid.

General Cass, of great renown, is a resident of Detroit...he lives in a very large house, the furniture in which is exclusively of French manufacture. He brought home from France seven sets of china, on one of which is emblazoned his coat of arms. How he came by a coat of arms he only knows. This set is as yet unpacked, being reserved for the White House... The whole family are completely Frenchified, using none but the French language in common conversation. But enough of the Aristocracy... [Derogatory remarks have been deleted.]

Officers of the Army are quite the fashion here, and, as might be expected, they spend most of their time flirting with the beauties. In one summer some few years since six ladies married into the Army, and all of them were in the habit of riding down the river to a lane in the woods about three miles from the city, which since then has always been called Lovers’ Lane. Mr. Herrick promised to take me there when we first got here, but after all left me to go with Mr. Dorr, with whom we are boarding.

General Brady, who, you remember, flourished in the War of 1812, lives in Detroit, and is deservedly beloved by all his fellow citizens, save Gen. Cass, who, by the way, not long since told Gen. Brady that Gen. Harrison never made a misstep in the last war, but added he, “He never took any step without consulting me.” This Gen. Brady says he knows to be a false assertion. Gen. B. is more than eighty years old, but very tall and perfectly erect. Though still in command, I do not think he ever wears anything save perhaps his brass buttons to distinguish him from the mass, but no one who ever saw his mild, benevolent face can forget it. Pennsylvania presented him with a splendid sword with jeweled hilt and gold scabbard; on the latter are representations of all the battles in which he fought. The mother of Gen. Macomb lives in Detroit, and, though quite advanced in years, she is one of the finest ladies in the city.

I have told you all I can think of in regard to the city and its inhabitants, and must now say a little of our whereabouts. We are, as you probably know, boarding in Springwells, about two miles and a quarter from Detroit. The house is delightfully situated, being removed from the banks of the river only by the front yard and the road. our windows being in the front of one of the wings afford us a fine prospect; we can see many miles both up and down the river. You may well imagine that the boats in the summer add much to the interest of the river view, and I am told in the winter there are many sleighs passing to and fro on the ice. But, though it is already the fourteenth of December, I do not see but the water flows as freely as in the summer. Still, I believe we must look for some cold weather before next spring; but at any rate it is a comfort to think that it cannot last six months when it does come. The springs are three or four weeks earlier here than round Boston, but of course still more in advance of cold, cold Maine. Day before yesterday I walked round in the garden and orchard and picked some young and green clover leaves, and found that the buds on the peach trees were very much swollen, so much so that it is feared the crop of peaches will be but small next summer.

But the mud! The roads are at times horrible. I have had an opportunity of trying cart riding — and think on the whole carts are far preferable to carriages.

The soil is very fertile, and as you know, wheat is the staple production. Fruit and vegetable are raised with very little labor, at least compared with that which New England’s hard soil requires. Around Detroit the land is one unbroken level, but in the interior of Michigan I am told that there are a few hills. Not a stone or even a pebble have I seen since I left Buffalo, but such as have been imported. Mr. Dorr has a small pile of stones in one corner of his garden, with prickly pear and periwinkle running over it. These stones came, I believe, from New York state. The forest trees grow to a very great height, and consist, as far as I have seen, principally of oaks and maples. I have been told that pines are found farther north. The wild flowers are exceedingly beautiful. Many of the finest garden flowers in N. E. grow in the greatest abundance in the woods near us. I forgot to tell you that Mrs. Dorr has a fine green house in which at this time she has but one thousand pots, but she has often had fifteen hundred. Lemons, oranges, and shaddocks hang on the trees, almost ripe enough to eat. I think she has a greater variety of the cactus tribe than I ever saw in the Conservatory in Boston.

Mr. Dorr is quite a wealthy man, and lives in a good deal of style. Mrs. I like very well; she is very kind and attentive. Mr. Herrick and I have a delightful room, well warmed and situated, and I hope we may continue here for some time. There is, however, one pretty serious objection, it is too far from Mr. H’s business. He has not as yet bought him a horse, but hopes to find one soon that will just suit him. He now rises at five o’clock, washes, dresses, combs and brushes, studies till the girls can get his breakfast, and as soon as he gets that dispatched, off he starts for his day’s work. We have our breakfast at eight o’clock, full an hour after .he is gone. He cannot spare time to dinner or to tea, but stays at the store til after eight, and then walks home. So I don’t see much of him after all.

I must now bid you a kind goodbye. Please accept my husband’s love with mine,

Rebecca Marsh Herrick




Editor's comments:

John I. Herrick was probably born in Boston, Massachusetts, 21 September 1819, son of Isaac and Lydia (Parker) Herrick. After his father died in 1826, he lived with his maternal grandfather, John Parker of Lexington. He first began work as a clerk in Boston at age 18, but transferred his activities to Detroit in 1843 where he established himself as a bookseller with George McKenzie. John Herrick is listed in the Michigan Almanac for 1844 as a publisher at 98 Jefferson Avenue.

He was married in Boston 15 September 1844 to Rebecca Manning Marsh, by the Reverend Thomas Worcester, he shown as of Detroit on the certificate filed in the office of the Boston City Registrar. Rebecca was born in Boston 24 January 1831, daughter of Joseph M. Marsh and Tryphosa (Colter) Parker of Dresden, Maine. After the marriage he returned to Detroit with his bride.

In spite of his long hours and dedication to the business John went bankrupt. Deciding to change professions, he entered, in 1860, the ministry at the New Swedenborgian Church in Peoria, Illinois, and two years later moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1862, he volunteered as a chaplain in the Twenty—Ninth Wisconsin Volunteers, Civil War. Apparently he was never in robust health, and, in 1872, his voice having failed, he began the practice of medicine in Chicago, Illinois. The date and place of death are not recorded.

This letter, written from Springwells, Michigan, a township then just west of Detroit, and now a part of that city, is to Rebecca’s grandfather, the Reverend Freeman Parker of Boston. She paints a vivid picture of Detroit in 1844; little escaped her attention. As a young bride, she fortunately had no knowledge of the troubles that still lay ahead. Regardless of her distaste for the rugged conditions in the west, she apparently was not willing or able to persuade her husband to return to the civilization of Boston.
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Andyguard73
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Username: Andyguard73

Post Number: 55
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 64.25.200.14
Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 11:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What a great find Mike! Thanks for sharing.
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Hornwrecker
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Username: Hornwrecker

Post Number: 1186
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 63.41.8.12
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 12:27 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Great letter Mike. I've been looking for references for Dorr at that time, too bad a first name isn't given. I did find a reference to a dock owned by Dorr & Jones in 1825.

HORSE-BOAT FERRY.

The subscribers have recently built a large and commodious Horse Boat for the purpose of transporting across the Detroit River, passengers, wagons, horses, cattle, &c., &c. The Boat is so constructed that wagons and carriages can be driven on it with ease and safety. It will leave McKinstry's Wharf (adjoining that of Dorr & Jones), for the Canada shore, and will land passengers, &c., at the wharf lately built on that shore by McKinstry & Burtis. The Ferry wharves are exactly opposite.

D. C. MCKINSTRY.

J. BURTIS. DETROIT, September 22, 1825.


http://www.hhpl.on.ca/GreatLak es/Documents/Frontenac/default .asp?ID=c003

There were also four Great Lakes ships with the name of Dorr, wrecked in the 1800s.

http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/d.htm

(Message edited by Hornwrecker on May 18, 2006)
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 574
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 207.200.116.139
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 12:31 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Outstanding post, Mike. Delightful read! I've come into a number of family (but not Detroit)related letters from the mid 1800s myself recently, and it's such fun to look at those days through the writings of one who was there.
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Detroitstar
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Username: Detroitstar

Post Number: 47
Registered: 01-2006
Posted From: 65.42.16.138
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 12:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That was a great read. The grammatical form of that time really makes me stumble when reading it. I cant even imagine what they would think of our english today.
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Alexei289
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Username: Alexei289

Post Number: 1141
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.61.183.223
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 1:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

wow... people were really vocabulary educated at that time.. rarely are words used to describe multiple things.. and a variety of verbs are used... and really no pronouns..
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Livernoisyard
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Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 716
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 69.242.223.42
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 1:40 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

So where did this 13-year old live back then? Apparently on the Detroit River about three-quarters of a mile east of Junction. Just what street might that have been?
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Alexei289
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Username: Alexei289

Post Number: 1143
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.61.183.223
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:01 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think its amazing that if a girl married at 13 or 14 back then... to a 31 year old officer in the army... this would have been a joyous occasion to just about everyone...
And that if a girl WASNT married by 18.. that she might as well forget marriage all together...

change this to todays time and that guy would be considered an abomination of all things normal..

no point that im trying to make.. i just think of how incredibly different times were back then..

Imagine living in a world.. where wars with native tribes were the norm... and if you lost your job.. u LITERALLY could starve to death..
and if u didnt starve to death...and had employment.. you could be lucky to reach age of 45 or 50...

an 80 year old person back then seemed like a town icon...

the context of how life is now lived... in really just 150 short years (really not a quantum leap if you think of the span of human history)... many of our great or great great grand fathers lived in this era... not a great many generations behind...

these types of things facinate me...

a day when Detroit was considered the west... and like today... people escaped the Land of the Free... for freedom in British Canada..
(people 19 and up do so today as well)
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Lilpup
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Username: Lilpup

Post Number: 1031
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 64.12.116.204
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:18 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The 1837 City Directory shows a Josiah R. Dorr and his business. A Knaggs family history published by Burton in 1902 states that Josiah Dorr owned the old Labadie house on the northwest corner of River and 24th - only about 1.5 miles from the foot of Woodward - I suspect the letter writer's distance estimate was off.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 3757
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 24.11.154.56
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

lol, I thought this was going to be the retread of the journal of the forum if we'd been back in early Detroit. Does anyone remember that, hitching posts and all?

Great find, Mike.
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 196
Registered: 11-2005
Posted From: 67.107.47.65
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 9:03 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

lol, I thought this was going to be the retread of the journal of the forum if we'd been back in early Detroit




So did I. :-)

I'm surprised she was married so young. I didn't think Boston people were doing that even then. I thought that was more of a country thing.
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Rjk
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Username: Rjk

Post Number: 305
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 68.41.145.5
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 9:37 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Fantastic, that was a lot of fun to read. Great post on your part.
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Jams
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Username: Jams

Post Number: 3347
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.252.68.130
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 10:03 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Mikem,
As usual with your info, you bring the history of this City to life to a personal level.

I enjoy so much the reminscences of this City's history in a first person's observations.
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Livedog2
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Username: Livedog2

Post Number: 277
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 24.223.133.177
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 10:48 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thank you, Mikem!

What a delightful look into the Detroit of the 1840's by a very enthusiastic, literate young lady.

It is information such as this and presented in this manner that makes this forum so valuable to me.

Thank you, again, Mikem!

Livedog2
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Mikem
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Username: Mikem

Post Number: 2534
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.43.15.105
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 1:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

wow... people were really vocabulary educated at that time.. rarely are words used to describe multiple things.. and a variety of verbs are used... and really no pronouns..



I can't tell you how disappointed I was to finish the letter without finding a single "Mayhaps"...

quote:

I think its amazing that if a girl married at 13 or 14 back then... to a 31 year old officer in the army... this would have been a joyous occasion to just about everyone...



About a century ago my 35 year old grandfather married my 16 year old grandmother. My mother says if she didn't know better, he should have. She was pregnant 10 times by age 25, producing 7 children. I have the feeling the joyousness wore off quickly.

(Message edited by MikeM on May 19, 2006)

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