The first attempt the Patriots made to invade Canada was in January 1838. A group of Patriots or Pirates, met on January 1, 1838, and they raised $135.00 and ten rifles to aid their cause.
Before dawn broke on January 5, about 20-25 Patriots crept to the Detroit jail where they seized jailor Thompson and his arms and ammunition. The next day they seized the schooner Ann and fortified with the arms from the Detroit jail and reinforcements of over 100 men, they set sail for Fighting Island across from Ecorse.
An English steamer chased the Ann and when the Ann reached Ecorse a United States marshal and a posse of citizens hailed her. The Patriots aboard the Ann ignored the hail and as a stiff breeze filled her canvas, the Ann passed on down the river. A number of smaller boats joined the Ann and she landed at Gibraltar with at least 300 people aboard. Later that same evening a party of sixty men from Cleveland led by J.T. Sutherland arrived on the steamer Erie. The group of Patriots hatched a plot to capture Fort Malden in Amherstburg.
Fort Malden in Amherstberg in 2010
Their plot didn’t play out the way they had planned. At Amherstburg, loyal Canadians waited for them and cut the halyards of the leading schooner Ann with their first volley. The schooner drifted aground at Elliotts Point and all on board were captured or killed. Colonel Prince and his men took part in this rout.
The Patriots would attempt again to invade Canada in February with equally disastrous results. J.H.C. Forster’s Painting of the Battle of Fighting Island, February 25. The Patriots would be routed and would give up their efforts to capture Canada across the Detroit River.
For a more complete account see Kathy Warnes, “Downriver and the Patriot War- 1838“, Definitely Downriver.
John C. Carter, “Patriot Chronicles: The Battle of Fighting Island“, Windsor Star, February 2, 2014.
The Patriot War along the Michigan-Canada border : raiders and rebels / Shaun J. McLaughlin. Charleston, SC : The History Press, 2013.
To free upper Canada : Michigan and the Patriot War, 1837-1839 / by Roger L. Rosentreter. Thesis (Ph.D)–Michigan State University. Dept. of History, 1983. 237pp. 123 767 THS Also available online to the MSU Community.
The state Capitol in Lansing opened on Jan. 1, 1879.
At the dedication, Gov. Charles Croswell said it was “evidence of the lasting taste, spirit and enterprise” of Michigan’s citizenry. It was Michigan’s third Capitol.
Eight years earlier, Gov. Henry Baldwin had proposed building a new Capitol. Lansing had become the state capital in 1847; Detroit had served as Michigan’s seat of government for the first decade of statehood.
The price tag for the project was approximately $1.5 million, so painters made pine, plaster, tin and iron look like walnut woodwork and marble.
It was one of the first state capitols modeled after the then newly rehabbed U.S. Capitol.
For the full article, see Zlati Meyer, “This week in Michigan history: The Capitol opens”, Detroit Free Press, December 29, 2013.
Stefani Chudnow, “The Lion of Lansing: A Brief History of Michigan’s Capitol Building“, Awesome Mitten Blog, March 28, 2017.
C.W. Post launched what is today one of the largest cereal companies in the U.S. on Jan. 1, 1895, in a small barn in Battle Creek.
His first product was Postum, a coffee substitute. Post was determined to create “a healthful coffee to be made of nourishing grains, that would have a good snappy flavor and, satisfying the user’s palate, would feed and rebuild the nerve centres broken down by coffee or other stimulants and narcotics,” according to a company booklet published in 1906.
After hundreds of tries, the final recipe included wheat, pure New Orleans molasses, potash, lime, iron and diatase.
Sources :
Historical Society of Michigan
Zlati Meyer, “C.W. Post founded what would become namesake cereal co.”, Detroit Free Press, December 28, 2014.
For more information about Postum, see Wikipedia entry
Also check out Post Heritage
Ogemaw County voters elected Merrie Abbott County Prosecutor in 1898, but the Supreme Court removed her the following year in a bizarre turn of events. Abbott and her husband had been practicing law together in West Branch when she became the Democratic nominee and then narrowly won the seat by what a news account described as “a majority of four votes on a recount.” She “holds a very peculiar position,” the article said, “as she is the only woman in Michigan ever elected to a constitutional office, and the first to hold the office of County Prosecuting Attorney in the United States.”
It continued, “Her campaign only lasted three weeks, but she conducted it personally, speaking in all the public places throughout the county, and no amount of bad weather or wretched roads could prevent her filling engagements. While her platform was that of the party which nominated her, she added to it some planks of her own, one of which was conservatism on the woman’s suffrage question. Mrs. Abbott makes few intimate friends among women, as she has neglected the social set of West Branch and does not attend its functions. Among the womenkind the fact that she is a ‘lady practitioner’ is looked upon as a handicap.”
How some things have changed.
Abbott was “just old enough to vote,” the article noted, but couldn’t: That’s because gender proved the ultimate handicap, regardless of the will of the electorate. After she took office on January 1, 1899, Attorney General Horace Oren started legal proceedings to remove her because the state constitution allowed only “electors” to serve. The Supreme Court was all male, of course, and the 4-to-1 majority sided with Oren, saying, “The office of prosecuting attorney is a constitutional office which can only be held by one possessing the qualification of an elector.” Alas, women in Michigan wouldn’t win the right to vote until 1918.
The more open-minded dissenter, Justice Joseph Moore, labeled the decision “illogical” and observed that a woman could practice law and “represent her client in the most important litigation in all the courts, and no one can dispute her right. She may defend a person charged with murder. Can she not prosecute one charged with the larceny of a whip?”
At any rate, due to the Michigan Supreme Court decision saying that women could not serve in elected office, she was ousted on October 17, 1899.
Source : Eric Freedman, “Appearing for the People”, Dome, July 19, 2013.
Originally titled the “Tournament East-West football game,” the Rose Bowl was first played on January 1, 1902, starting the tradition of New Year’s Day bowl games. The inaugural game featured Fielding Yost’s dominating 1901 Michigan team, representing the East, who crushed a previously 3-1-2 team from Stanford University, representing the West, by a score of 49-0 after Stanford quit in the third quarter. Michigan finished the season 11-0-0 and was considered the national champion … The game was so lopsided that for the next 15 years, the Tournament of Roses officials ran chariot races, ostrich races, and other various events instead of football. But, in 1916 football returned to stay.
Michigan vs. Stanford – First Rose Bowl Game – 1902 , Michigan In Pictures, December 28, 2006.
Did you know that following Pearl Harbor, the Rose Bowl was moved to Duke University in 1942? (the Red Tape Editor was a Duke undergraduate!) For more information, see Wikipedia’s Rose Bowl entry
Henry Benjamin “Hank” Greenberg (January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed “Hammerin’ Hank” or “The Hebrew Hammer,” was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation. He hit 58 home runs in 1938, equaling Jimmie Foxx’s 1932 mark for the most home runs in one season by any player between 1927 (when Babe Ruth set a record of 60) and 1961 (when Roger Maris surpassed it).
When I was playing, I used to resent being singled out as a Jewish ballplayer. I wanted to be known as a great ballplayer, period. I’m not sure why or when I changed, because I’m still not a particularly religious person. Lately, though, I find myself wanting to be remembered not only as a great ballplayer, but even more as a great Jewish ballplayer.”
~Hank Greenberg, after his career
Source : Yom Kippur and Hall of Famer Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg, Michigan In Pictures, October 8, 2011.
Emilia Schaub was born in 1891 to German immigrants in a log cabin in Leelanau County. Schaub holds many firsts in Michigan’s history. While practicing law in Detroit, she was the first woman in the nation to successfully defend an accused murderer. After she decided to return home to Leelanau County, she became Michigan’s first woman to be legally elected and serve as county prosecutorin 1936. Schaub was also the first woman from Leelanau County to practice law in Michigan.
During her tenure as prosecutor, Emelia championed the rights of the local Ottawa and Chippewa bands. She wrote to federal officials, then took her case to President and Eleanor Roosevelt to help secure the bands’ right to continued possession of tribal lands. Frustrated at the federal level, she turned to Leelanau County, where she succeeded in having lands held in trust ‘‘for Indian community purposes.’’ Her efforts led the tribe to make her an honorary member in 1942. The land base she secured made it possible for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians to secure federal acknowledgement in 1980.
Emilia Schaub retired as prosecutor in 1954 and turned to general practice in her home community. She continued as a general practitioner for nearly 40 years, making occasional court appearances even after her 100th birthday.
As she reduced her legal work, her civic efforts expanded. She helped organize the Leelanau Historical Foundation, serving as that organization’s president, museum director, and on their board of directors until 1986, when she was 97 years old. She was also a charter member of the Traverse City Zonta Club and the first secretary of the Leelanau Chamber of Commerce.
One of her greatest roles throughout her professional life was that of mentor. At the dedication of the State Bar’s Legal Milestone in 1994, now Chief Justice Elizabeth Weaver recalled that Emilia Schaub’s friendship dated to Weaver’s first appearance in the Leelanau County courts. Emilia Schaub vouched for the young attorney’s integrity and ability then, and their friendship continued. ‘‘I have shared Emilia’s friendship and help to me because it is just one example of the thousands of us she has quietly befriended over the past 100 years.’’
Emilia Schaub YouTube video.
Ann Miller, “Michigan Lawyers in History — Emilia Schaub: 100 Years of Leadership”, Michigan Bar Journal.
Note : In 1898, Merrie M. Abbott was elected prosecutor of Ogemaw County. Although she assumed the duties of office on January 1, 1899 and served capably, Abbott was ousted by Supreme Court order on October 17, 1899 because women were not allowed to be “electors”, i.e., serve in public office.
Source : Eric Freedman, “Appearing for the People”, Dome, July 19, 2013.
Wjhen Matilda Lodge was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Michigan by Luren Dickinson on January 1, 1940, she became not only the first woman Lieutenant Governor in Michigan, but also the first woman first woman Lieutenant Governor in the country. She retired after one year of service.
Source : List of female lieutenant governors in the United States wikipedia entry
Dennis Wayne Archer (born January 1, 1942) is an American lawyer, jurist and former politician from Michigan. A Democrat, Archer served on the Michigan Supreme Court and as mayor of Detroit. He later served as president of the American Bar Association, becoming the first black president of the organization, which, until 1943, had barred African American lawyers from membership.
Source:
Let the future begin / Dennis W. Archer, Elizabeth Ann Atkins. Atkins & Greenspan Writing, 2017 available via MelCat. The autobiography of Dennis W. Archer, born in Detroit, who rose from humble beginnings in the small town of Cassopolis, Michigan, to become a celebrated attorney, a Michigan Supreme Court Justice, a two-term Mayor of Detroit, and the first person of color to serve as President of the 400,000-member American Bar Association. Thanks to education, hard work, impeccable integrity, and family values, Dennis Archer has blazed a trail of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession while laying a rock-solid foundation to transform Detroit into the comeback city of the millennium. He achieved this with the support of his wife Trudy, their sons, Dennis Jr. and Vincent, relatives, friends, and colleagues. This inspiring book shares how he did it, and provides a blueprint for how to emulate his success and commitment to helping others
On January 1, 1954, the MSU Spartans defeated UCLA 28-20 in their first Rose Bowl appearance. Although MSU joined the Big Ten Conference in 1950, 1953 was the first year in which they played a full schedule and were counted in the conference standings. Although they tied Illinois for 1st place in the conference; they did not play each other that year to determine the tie-breaker. Since Illinois has gone in 1952, MSU was allowed to go in their first year of eligibility.
The Spartans have returned to the Rose Bowl in 1956 (beating UCLA 17-14), 1966 (losing to UCLA 12-14), 1988 (beating USC 20-17), and in 2014 (beating Stanford 24-20).
Source : 1954 Rose Bowl wikipedia entry