Eric has been publishing newsletters on historical topics and items of interest for the community for the last few months. I find them very useful for keeping me up to date on items of interest. I think you will find them useful too. Please click on the link to check the newsletters out.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Detroit News Article on Defoe Shipbuilding
The Bay City boy who became a major shipbuilder
By Vivian M. Baulch / The Detroit News Online
Harry J. Defoe was born in Bay City Sept. 2, 1875, son of a Great Lakes sailor, Joseph DeFoe, and nephew to a local boat builder, John DeFoe. As a boy Harry liked to whittle toy sail and tug boats and float them in the Saginaw River. As a teenager he built working steamboats from wood and scraps of metal.
Harry became a teacher and even served as a school principal but his heart was focused on the river and its vessels.
In 1905 Harry founded The DeFoe Boat & Motor Works along with his brother, Frederic, a New York lawyer, and his brother-in-law George H. Whitehouse, a fish wholesaler.
Harry designed boats, selling full size patterns similiar to women's dress patterns. He also built the boats in his shipyard on the river at 5th Street. The U.S. military noticed and in 1917 the Navy ordered five torpedo chasers with Winton gasoline engines, followed by an order for eight 98-foot steel harbor mine planters. These were steam vessels with heavy derricks.
DeFoe expanded his yard buying and after the war began to build yachts, including the 90-foot yacht which later became famous as the "Honey Fitz," so named by President John F. Kennedy after his grandfather, one-time mayor of Boston. Another well-know owner of a Defoe yacht was Ralph Evinrude who made outboard motors.
During Prohibition Harry got a contract for 15 wooden, 400-horsepower speed boats used by racers like Detroit's Gar Wood, not to mention local rumrunner. Charles Kettering wanted his with self-starters. When DeFoe declined, Kettering said, "Give me two men and I'll make it self-starting tonight." DeFoe got the message and began making his boats with starters.
When the Depression hit, the government tried to rescue the industry and DeFoe benefited with orders for Coast Guard vessels, a Detroit River mail boat, and a few other projects.
The advent of World War brought and end to the depression and more government contracts.
DeFoe invented the "upside down and rollover" method of shipbuilding. In the "roll over" a big cradle, the exact size and shape of the ship, was built bottom side up. Welders attached the steel to the skeleton eliminating difficult overhead welding and reducing man-hours by 90 percent. Then the vessel was flipped upright for its completion.
Defoe built 58 sub-chasers faster than the Navy could deliver the powerplants. By the end of the war the firm had built in addition to the sub-chasers 47 infantry landing craft, 17 destroyer escorts, 10 freight and ammunition carriers, nine high-speed troop transports, four rescue tugs and three harbor tugs.
Tags: Harry Defoe, Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, Saginaw River
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
Trolley to Depart Bay City Scene
It is very unfortunate that the difficult economic situation in public transportation has spilled over into Bay City's historical tours. Hundreds of people have learned about Bay City architecture and the achievements of residents from Anne Edison Taylor, who was the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel to William Clements, the donor of the Clements Library on the campus of the University of Michigan. The trolley's festive appearance has added to the holiday spirit of many city events. Hopefully, some solution can be found that will preserve this service for the community.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
CLEWS Your Home for Historic True Crime: Michigan and the Death Penalty—A Brief and Horrible Experience
Between the Simmons and the Fitzpatrick cases, Michiganders developed a sour taste for the death penalty, and in 1847, Michigan became the first state in the Union--indeed, by some accounts, the first democracy in the English-speaking world--to abolish the death penalty.
Simmons was not the last man hanged in Michigan, though the authorities would have had it that way. In 1938, the federal government hanged a bank robber by the name of Tony Chebatoris for killing a bystander during a holdup in Midland. Then Governor Frank Murphy begged President Roosevelt to move Chebatoris's execution out of state, but the federal authorities insisted on hanging him in Michigan.
To this day, the ghosts of Stephen Simmons and Patrick Fitzpatrick still haunt the state, and there is never any serious talk about bringing the death penalty to Michigan.
The trial of Tony Chebatoris took place in the Federal Court House in Bay City, Michigan.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Washington Theater Program for Oct.29, 1911
This is a program from the Washington Theater located on Washington and Sixth Street in Bay City Michigan. It is for October 29, 1911.
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Seaman's Cemetery looked like This
The friends of Pine Ridge have been doing a great job of correcting situations like this that existed just three years ago in Pine Ridge Cemetery. Much of the brush has been cut and an effort has been made to find the lot lines and paths that marked the design of this part of the memorial at one time.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
History of Fort Recovery
History of Fort Recovery
(Editor’s Note: The excerpt was taken from "The Battle on the Banks of the Wabash -- The Battle of Fort Recovery 1794" written by Fort Recovery’s elementary principal Nancy Knapke)
Two very significant battles in American history took place in Fort Recovery: the first in 1791 on the banks of the Wabash when Arthur St. Clair suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of 1,000 to 1,500 Indian warriors; the second in 1794 when Mad Anthony Wayne’s men successfully defended the fort against a relentless, two day onslaught of 2,000+ Indians who were under the command of Little Turtle and Blue Jacket. This last battle led to the signing of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.
After the Revolutionary War many citizens of the 13 states began to come across the Appalachian Mountains to settle the rich lands of the Northwest Territory. The Native Americans greatly resented this intrusion onto their land and proceeded to employ every measure possible to frighten the settlers back to the East. Hearing the pleas for protections coming from the Northwest Territory, President Washington sent General Harmar and the small American army to "teach the Indians a lesson."
The general and his army were the ones to be surprised and embarrassed. After Harmar’s humiliating loss, Arthur St. Clair was put in charge of raising an army and finding a way to make the Ohio Country safe for settlement by the white man. He was an appropriate choice since he had military leadership experience during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War and because he was very familiar with the Northwest Territory, having served as its first governor.
With this army Arthur St. Clair began his journey up through the Northwest Territory in the fall of 1791. Since the army was proceeding through virgin forest land, the progress was very slow. With hatchets and axes, the army proceeded to cut a road from Fort Washington (Cincinnati) to the north. St. Clair believed that if a series of forts were built through this territory, the mere presence of the forts would encourage the Indians to behave.
It was on November 3, 1791, that St. Clair’s American Army arrived on the banks of the Wabash River thinking that it was the St. Mary's River. Although everyone was aware that there was much Indiana activity about the area, the tired and demoralized men pitched camp without erecting any kind of fortifications.
Early the next morning, the Indians attacked in numbers never anticipated. The Kentucky militiamen who were to be the first line of defense, were rendered helpless at the sight of the war painted faces and the sound of blood curdling cries as the Indian warriors swooped down upon them. Not only did the militia not hold their line of defense, but they totally threw the artillerymen into a state of confusion as they rushed across the river and straight into the artillery camp. The militia had hopes of finding safety within the main body of the army.
Within one hour’s time, the Indians had the American Army totally surrounded and within three hours, 900 to 1,200 soldiers lay dead or mortally wounded. It was obvious from the beginning that it would be an impossible victory for the army, but because they were surrounded, retreat was impossible. Finally, Colonel Darke lead a charge which drove a wedge through the Indian army and enabled those soldiers and civilians who were able to escape down the road to Fort Jefferson. General St. Clair did survive the battle -- even though he had four horses shot out from under him. Major General Richard Butler and many other officers lost their lives during the battle.
Mad Anthony Wayne was appointed by Washington to succeed St. Clair as the Commander-in-Chief of the army. Wayne made it clear from the outset that he was in charge and that he would have an army of 2,600 well trained, disciplined men....
On June 30, 1794, a combined Native American Army of over 2,000 warriors, under the command of Little Turtle of the Miamis and Blue Jacket of the Shawnees, made a frontal attack upon the fort. Around the outside of the fort were camped 100 sharpshooters under the command of Major McMahan. Before McMahan and his men could be safely worked within the protective walls of the fort, the Major and 50 of his men were killed. But the addition of the 50 surviving riflemen to the garrison of 200+ soldiers within the fort proved to be instrumental to the defense of Fort Recovery.
Following the attack on the morning of June 30, a two day battle ensued. The obvious difference between the circumstances of this battle and that of 1791 was the presence of the fort. Although the odds in the second battle were much worse as compared to St. Clair’s defeat, the structure of the fort gave the soldiers the protection they needed to successfully defend themselves. As a result, after two days of bloody battle the Indian confederation gave up their assault on Fort Recovery.
Modern historians recognize the significance of the battle in Fort Recovery. It was the 1794 battle that "broke the back of Indian resistance and lead the way to the signing of the Treaty of Greenville and to the opening up the Northwest Territory for settlement by the white man."
Monday, June 16, 2008
Logs from the 1870's and 1880's on the Cass River
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This is a typical log from Michigan's logging era that was recently found submerged in the Cass River near Vassar, Michigan. The Vassar Historical Society has built this shelter near their new museum on North Main Street where the log can be viewed at anytime.
The logmarks on the ends of this log have yet to be identified but are clearly visible.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Shipwreck Explorers Discover HMS Ontario - 1780 British Warship in Lake Ontario - Shipwreck World
Shipwreck Explorers Discover HMS Ontario - 1780 British Warship in Lake Ontario - Shipwreck World
The HMS Ontario is the type of wreck that appears only in movies but this time we seem to have the real thing. The pictures are beautiful. It may be like stepping on that ship in 1780 on the day it left Fort Niagara.
1780 British warship found in Lake Ontario - Science- msnbc.com
1780 British warship found in Lake Ontario
Intact 80-foot sloop is oldest ever found in the Great Lakes
This image shows the decoratively carved scroll bow stem of the sunken 228-year-old British warship HMS Ontario, a British warship built in1780 that has been discovered in deep water off the southern shore of Lake Ontario.
1780 British warship found in Lake Ontario - Science- msnbc.com
This has to be one of the biggest finds for history of the American Revolution in this decade. The video they plan to make should knock your socks off.
Monday, June 09, 2008
MHAL - Bay
This list of the newspapers published in Bay City is extensive. Many papers are listed but no library source to read them is given. This makes the site a good place to start but with a very long journey ahead.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wenonah Park with a view of the Sage Mill
This view from Wenonah Park to the West Side must come from after 1908. The Sage Mill buildings can still be seen in the background eventhough the mill had closed in 1892.
Monday, March 24, 2008
North American Comet Catastrophe 10,900 BC Part 1
This may be the end of a view of the populating of the Americas. Now, the truth of this event from outer space has to be established and the truth of whether that was an end to the Clovis people now believed to have originated in Europe or whether they merged with the new arrivals from Asia to become Native Americans has to be discovered.
Investigations of a buried layer at sites from California to Belgium reveal materials that include metallic microspherules, carbon spherules, nanodiamonds, fullerenes, charcoal, and soot. The layer's composition may indicate that a massive body, possibly a comet, exploded in the atmosphere over the Laurentide Ice Sheet 12,900 years ago. The timing coincides with a great die-off of mammoths and other North American megafauna and the onset of a period of cooling in Northern Europe and elsewhere known as the Younger Dryas Event. The American Clovis culture appears to have been dramatically effected, even terminated, at this same time. Speakers will discuss numerous lines of evidence contributing to the impact hypothesis. The nature and frequency of this new kind of impact event could have major implications for our understanding of extinctions and climate change. (less)
Discovery Channel :: News - Archaeology :: Study: Comet Wiped Out First Americans
May 30, 2007 — A large extraterrestrial object exploded over the heads of the first Americans about 13,000 years ago, wiping them out and making big mammals and other prehistoric creatures disappear, according to a new U.S. study.
Presented last week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in Acapulco, Mexico, the controversial research proposes that the extraterrestrial blast triggered a catastrophic millennium-long cold spell.
The dramatic climate change would have been the major cause for the sudden disappearance of mammoths throughout much of Europe and America and the demise of the Clovis people, the New World's most sophisticated hunters.
"The impact occurred precisely when the megafauna suddenly disappeared from North America. The Earth, which was warming from the last ice age, was plunged suddenly into a 1,000-year period of cooling known as the Younger Dryas," nuclear scientist Richard Firestone of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in California, told Discovery News.
Discovery Channel :: News - Archaeology :: Study: Comet Wiped Out First Americans
The History Channel has a program, Journey to 10,000 BC, which presents all this material along with the view that the Americas were populated from both Europe and Asia. The program shows the relationship of Clovis points to those done in Spain. It also speaks about the meeting of humans from Europe and Asia and of the possible results. These groups merged and became the Folsom People.
Friday, March 07, 2008
WENONAH FIRE REMEMBERED - Bay City Times Extra - MLive.com
WENONAH FIRE REMEMBERED - Bay City Times Extra - MLive.com
The Bay City Times did a special section on the fire. The audio portions of the report are especially useful. There are also some pictures that I have not seen before so I recommend visiting the site by clicking on the link above.
Fred Welsh
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
BayCityHistory.blogspot.com
Hi everyone, I posted a new episode to my podcast, Fredericks podcast.
Click this link to check it out:
Impressions of Mackinac Island 1837
- Frederick
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Old Fort Niagara - a collage on Technorati
Old Fort Niagara was one of my first historical site visits. I went there about 1953 when I was eight. It has always stuck with me even though I have never managed to get back. This fort was key to many events in the old French Fur Trade area of the continent. For those reasons, it relates to happenings in the Saginaw Valley. Events here reflect styles shown further west.
Video Search michigan
This would have been the station that many people from Bay City arrived at when they left from the Michigan Central Station in Bay City.
Monday, February 11, 2008
David M. Donnelly, by Catherine McClintock, annotated
Born in Michigan 1864 Contrary to a general1y accepted belief, Dave Donnelly was not born with a big cigar in his mouth and a ten-quart Stetson hat on his head, but came into this world in conventional style, garbed in a cloud like all good babies. He was probably noisier and more active than the average, but as the third son of James C. and Esther Norman Donnelly, and one of six children, he quickly learned to conduct himself properly with a fine regard for the other members of his family. Dave was born on May 12, 1864, in St. Clair county, Mich. His father was a carpenter and millwright, and built Batchelor's [also spelled Bachelor's in some records] mill on the St. Clair river which was afterwards moved to Bay City, Michigan, rebuilt and renamed the McGraw mill, at that time the largest one in the United States. Dave lived at home and attended school like other boys and girls until he was 12, when he decided that it, was time for him to clear out and support himself, which he did by working on a farm 'where he earned $3 per month, in addition to room and board. During his second year on the farm, at harvest time, he earned 35 cents per day, a princely sum. Tiring of farm work, Dave went into the bakery business at the age of 14 and learned a good bit about that trade which later stood him in good stead when he went into the Michigan woods to have a fling at the lumber business. Starting as a roustabout, he was given a job as a helper in the cookhouse of which he eventually had complete charge. He worked in the woods until he was 23, and then decided that he would have a look at the wild and wooly West, and fulfill his urge to be a cowboy. After riding herd on the plains of Montana and Idaho for six months, Dave came to Skagit county, where once again he took for the woods, working as cook for Pat McCoy on the Samish Flats (McCoy also logged extensively on Bow Hill and owned businesses in Bow after 1902). Marriage in 1894, then Wickersham and Woolley On September 17, 1894, Dave and Mary, the charming daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Pat Halloran of Edison, were married, and to them were born five children: a daughter, Esther who died in 1931; and four boys; Cecil and Hubert, who live in Sedro-Woolley, J. Norman of Seattle, and David M. Jr., of Oregon. Mrs. Donnelly died on September 19, 1928, after prolonged and painful illness [her burial record shows Sept. 19, 1926]. Following their marriage, the Donnellys moved to Wickersham, where Dave went into the meat business, and in 1895 came to Sedro-Woolley to establish their home. Dave bought out Burmaster and his partner in the meat business and built a slaughter house, two years later selling a half interest in his business to Carstens. They built up a large trade here and in the surrounding country, supplying 53 shingle mi1ls, 11 sawmills and 15 or 16 logging camps with meat, and for . seven - years they averaged an annual volume of $147,000. They bought a 162-acre ranch on the Cook road from M.B. [Merritt] Holbrook, part of the old [Mortimer] Cook estate, and when Carstens and Donnelly sold out to Frye-Bruhn, Dave retained the Cook road place. He was elected county commissioner from the third district and during his term of office fought for and won the road to Clear Lake as it is now located. Various factions contended that this road should be built a couple of miles up the river above Hankin's mill, insisting that the Skagit could not be ferried successfully where the river bridge now is, and also that the slough trestle would be too costly. Such competition merely stiffened Dave's resolve and he proved that the road could be built by the simple process of getting it done. In his early days here, Dave bought real estate which he developed and sold, including the Bingham and Holland block, and the property on Metcalf from Britchford's to West's grocery, between Ferry and Woodworth. Surprise: bankrolled the Skagit County Courier Unknown to many, Dave bought the [Burlington Journal]newspaper plant in Burlington from a Mr. Baumer [actually Bowmer, moved it to Sedro-Woolley, where he established it in a building at the rear of Condy's jewelry store, with U. E. Foster as editor, the transaction having been handled by Attorney J.H. Smith. He later sold out to Foster. As president of the Skagit county Republican central committee, Dave had some glorious political encounters, one of which particularly gives him much pleasure in retrospect and that was when he routed the Non-Partisan League, which had made great headway n the county. He was also the first chairman who ever won the county over in an off year. During his eight years of presidency of the Skagit County Fair association, Dave established the Skagit show as one of the leading exhibitions of its kind in the Northwest. Dave was postmaster of Sedro-Woolley for 12 years and four months] and since his retirement from that office has devoted himself to his various properties, including mill and timber interests-in Oregon, the Donnelly Motor company of Sedro-Woolley and the Donnelly Meat company of Lyman. Dave made his home on West Talcott street in the house where he and his family have lived for 38 years. Recently, he enjoyed a trip back to his old home in Michigan, where he had not visited for fifty years. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus lodge of Mount Vernon, - the local chamber of commerce, and was a charter member of the Sedro-Woolley Rotary club. Although he is not as young as he used to be, Dave is just as peppery and full of fight as ever. When he slaps the old Stetson on his head, and sets his cigar to windward, he is ready for come-what-may and can still take it in his stride. Always a hard-fighting, straight-hitting Republican, Dave at this writing, believes that it is time for all of us to submerge political bias and put on a united front for Americanism. [Journal ed. note: this last paragraph seems odd, as if it were written while Donnelly was still alive. We suspect that she had already interviewed him and planned a column
Technorati Tags: McGraw Mill,David M.Donnelly
Monday, January 21, 2008
History of the Great Lakes. Volume I
If a history of the Great Lakes is your interest, this is a great place to start. We were lucky enough to find an online link to this resource. Take a look for yourself.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Center for Civil War Photography
The CCWP is a non-profit organization devoted to one of the most exciting and compelling areas of Civil War scholarship and discovery. New photographic finds from our nation's greatest conflict are still being made on a regular basis. Nearly every Civil War soldier had his photograph taken by one of the more than 5,000 American photographers active at the time, and a select group of documentary photographers took thousands of images on the battlefields and in the army camps, often in 3D.
Within this site you will find basic and complex information about Civil War photography and its practioners, as well as reproductions of many war photos.
Center for Civil War Photography
Thanks to a recent article in MyBayCity.com by Dave Rogers, I found out about this site. Bay County had hundreds of people serving in the Civil War in all theaters. Take a look and see what you can find.
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Year 1999 A.D.
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Year 1999 A.D.
Link1999
This is much better than the usual prediction. Predictions do more to form the future by causing us to think about it than they do as predictions.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Indian and Pioneer History of the ... - Google Book Search-Gerritt Smith in Bay City
It is remembered also, that in this school house, a Temperance
meeting was held, and an address delivered by Hon. Gerritt
Smith, of Petersboro, N. Y., a name well known in the United
States.
Indian and Pioneer History of the ... - Google Book Search
The schoolhouse mentioned was next to the James Shearer mill which I believe was later Pitts and Cranage. This is the first reference to Gerritt Smith being in Bay City that I am aware of.
Autobiography of Rev. Charles H. Sage in Bay City Free Methodist Church in 1898
In the fall of 1898 I went before the stationing
committee to see if I would be permitted to remain
at Marine City another year. I was told that I was
just the man they wanted to see. They had a church
and parsonage in Bay City that was in debt and all
run down, and they said they would put a financial
agent in the field to collect and pay the debt, and
they wanted me to go and repair the property and
try and resurrect the society. I held off, but they
pressed me, declaring that they did not have another
man who could do as well as I. They urged me to
try it. I saw the necessity in the case and although
I was nearly seventy-three years old, I consented to
go. We left our home for another man to step into,
without rent, and we moved up to Bay City. We
found the property in a dilapidated condition. The
window glass was about all out of the parsonage;
the roof was leaking; the house was dirty and black;
the chimney was smoking, and the weeds and thistles
were waist high around the building. When the
church was built there was a good society, but
through bad management, extreme notions and
fanatical freaks, the membership and congregation
had nearly all left. When a preacher thinks he
knows it all and that no one else has salvation but
himself and his clique, it is time to call a halt. At
one time the property was sold to the colored people
on contract, but they failed to meet the contract,
and our people were obliged to take it back. A
good sister gave us the use of one room which we
used as a parsonage. It served for kitchen, dining-
room, bed-room, sitting-room and parlor. We put a
part of our goods in the church. There were no
members to look to; no congregations from which
to take collections, and no means furnished for the
repairing. I had a little money with me which belonged
to another, and a little of my own, but all of
it did not go far; the financial agent called to see
me and gave me two dollars. The chairman and
agent went out to solicit, but received only a little,
as the people had no confidence in the Free Methodists.
I went at the work with a will, working
early and late, and began holding regular meetings
in the church. I paid out five dollars for window
lights alone, and put them in myself. I shingled the
roof and built a chimney; repaired the kitchen; built a
new sidewalk and a woodshed, and, in fact, kept at
it until we were quite comfortable for the winter.
Some of the members came back and a few were
converted during the year.
In the spring I began to work on the outside of
the building. The buildings were quite large but I
nailed the old siding on so it was solid, and then
gave the buildings three coats of paint on the outside
and two on the inside, besides calcimining the
church. I did all the calcimining and painting excepting
two or three days' work. Sister King, from
Saginaw, helped varnish the seats and chairs. My
wife did nearly all of the pastoral visiting and led
one-half of the meetings, besides doing much other
work that rested upon her. Before conference the
work was completed and the bills were all paid; and
the financial agent had collected enough to pay the
debt, so that all was clear.
I was used up, and when I went to conference
that fall was suffering with erysipelas. I told the
stationing committee that my work was done at Bay
City, and they need not return me there, but when
the appointments were read the general superintendent
said, "Bay City, C. H. Sage." For the first time
in my life I backed up and would not go, and I felt
perfectly clear in the course that I pursued. A
change was made and I went back to Marine City.
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Thursday, January 03, 2008
Independents last home match - The Bay City Independents
Bay City Baseball
Bay City has had a long interest in Baseball. I found a local site that gives information on current games and activities and on the long history of the sport in the city.
James G. Birney Frees His Slaves
I was never clear on when James G. Birney freed the slaves he inherited. This quote makes that crystal clear.
James G. Birney's Family
Two of Birney's sons, William Birney (1819-1907) and David Bell Birney (1825-1864), were prominent as officers on the Federal side during the Civil War in America.
Father: James Gillespie Birney
Mother: Martha Reed (d. 1795)
Sister: Anna Maria Birney (b. 4-Jul-1793, d. 30-Mar-1859)
Wife: Agatha McDowell (d. 1839)
Son: James G. Birney (b. 7-Jun-1817, d. 1888)
Son: William Birney (b. 28-May-1819, d. 1907)
Daughter: Margaret Birney (b. 1821, d. 1822)
Son: Robert Dion Birney (b. 1823, d. 1863)
Son: David Bell Birney (b. 29-May-1825, d. 18-Oct-1864)
Son: Arther Hopkins Birney (b. 1827, d. 1833)
Daughter: Martha Reed Birney (b. 1829, d. 1833)
Son: George Birney (b. 1832, d. 1856)
Daughter: Florence Birney (b. 1835)
Daughter: Georgina Birney (b. 1836, d. 1836)
Daughter: Ellen Birney (b. 1838, d. 1838)
Wife: Elizabeth Fitzhugh (b. 1803)
Son: Fitzhugh Birney (b. 1842, d. 1864)
Daughter: Anna Hughes Birney (b. 1843, d. 1846)
James G. Birney was over fifty when he had his last child. He had two wives, and thirteen children. Six of those children died under age five.
Technorati Tags: james G. Birney,James Birney,William Birney,David Bell Birney,Civil War Generals,Bay City
James Birney - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio Historical Society
James Birney - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio Historical Society
James Birney was an abolitionist opponent of slavery in the years before the American Civil War. Birney was born on February 4, 1792, in Danville, Kentucky. His parents were wealthy slave owners, but like a number of other slaveholders in the Upper South, they believed that it was only a matter of time before slavery would end. Some of these people were morally opposed to slavery, believed that it was un-Christian and un-American to own another person. Other slave owners believed that slave labor was becoming too expensive. Birney shared his parents' views. He attended several schools, including Transylvania College and the Priestly Seminary at Danville. Birney graduated from Princeton University in 1810, and he began to study for a legal career in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1814, he opened a law practice in Danville. Birney became a slave owner in 1816, when he married and received the slaves as a wedding gift. In 1818, Birney moved his family to a plantation near Huntsville, Alabama. He became involved in politics and served as a member of Alabama's constitutional convention. He also became a member of the Alabama legislature. His political career suffered when he became an outspoken opponent of Andrew Jackson and called for his fellow slave owners to support the gradual end of slavery. In 1833, Birney moved his family back to his ancestral home in Kentucky. Birney was rarely at home, as he lectured across the South, calling for the gradual end to slavery and the colonization of the former slaves in Africa. He realized that gradual emancipation was not a practical way to end slavery. He began to endorse the immediate end of slavery and freed his own slaves in June 1834. At the same time, he also began to publish an anti-slavery paper in Danville. Residents favoring slavery threatened Birney's publisher. The publisher fled the community, and no other publishers were willing to assist him. Birney moved his family to Cincinnati, Ohio, in October 1835. On January 1, 1836, Birney began publication of a new paper, The Philanthropist, which called for the immediate end to slavery and equal rights for African Americans with whites. Many Cincinnatians opposed Birney's views. Some of these people were former slave owners and believed that African Americans were inferior to whites. Other people opposed slavery but believed African Americans would move to the North and deprive white people of jobs. On January 22, 1836, a group of white Cincinnatians urged the city government to prohibit Birney from publishing his paper. Birney was undaunted. To prevent Birney from printing, a mob of white Cincinnatians destroyed the newspaper's printing press on July 12, 1836. Undeterred, Birney remained in Cincinnati and continued to publish his newspaper. The mob returned on July 30, 1836, and destroyed the printing press again. Birney resumed publication of The Philanthropist in September 1836, and he continued to publish it in Cincinnati. In 1847, he moved the paper to Washington, DC, and renamed it the National Era.
James G. Birney was one of the founders of Bay City and a trustee of the reorganized Saginaw Bay Company that did the land development for the town. The historical archives in Ohio have much information on him but seem to be unaware of his time in Michigan. I regard Birney as our most distinguished resident and a man deserving much more study.
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