Your Home in History: Final Paper
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
Submitted to Professor Stewart,
in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the completion of
HIUS316 B01
By
Lindsey Slade
March 4, 2024
1
This paper will explore the history of Monroe County, Michigan and if there was a
conflict over slavery in the area. Monroe is where my family and I recently moved in November,
and I wanted to learn more about the area. It is a city that is rich in history, and it explores and
exemplifies the struggles that America has gone through throughout its history. For example in
the city’s square, the statue of General George Armstrong Custer sits right in the front with the
horse's head down signifying his defeat at the Battle of Little Big Horn. The city has many
historical plaques pertaining to historical sites and specific events that happened. I’ve talked with
many locals and they all thought that this was a slave-free state. I was able to go to our local
library and they were able to help with the history of Monroe with books from the era. The
research center wasn’t able to find much about slavery in the area, but did inform me that part of
the Underground Railroad was located in Detroit. However, through my research, I found out
that there was slavery in the area.
The name Michigan actually comes from the Chippewa language, Mitchaw meaning
great and Sagiegan meaning lake. The French and different tribes of Indians first occupied the
land, before the United States bought it. The Frenchman heard that the land was fertile and that
there was furs as well as gold and copper. Ultimately, it was a lot to discover about the area
including the lakes that surround the state. Detroit was one of the earliest cities visited in 1610
and located on Champlain’s maps. The most dependable reports of Michigan are from Jesuit
missionaries. Now where the city of Monroe is located, there were actually two Indian villages
there. The Ottawas and Pottawatomies occupied the area and before them was the Erri-er-ro-
nous. Frenchtown, which is only three miles from Monroe, Canadians settled in the area in
1784.1
1 Wing, Talcott E. History of Monroe County Michigan. 37.
2
The settlement of the area was delayed because of falsified information about the soil and
climate about Monroe County. The surveyors reported that the upland was made of the majority
of sand-hills and swamps with a bunch of lakes. They said that very little of the land would
actually be useful when it comes to planting crops in the area, which was false. Their report said,
“not one acre in a hundred, if one in a thousand would, in any case, admit of cultivation.” This
made people in the east convinced that the Michigan Territory was just mud and swampy land.
Once they were able to get accurate surveyors, they were able to divide the counties into
townships. Some were able to split by natural boundaries and were around six square miles.
Once these townships were established they were then given a Town number and a Range
number.2
There was one person, Lewis Cass, who made a report about his expedition. He criticized
the previous surveyor’s report and wrote to the government that the land in Michigan had been
“grossly misrepresented.” Since this new report was made there were new surveyors sent out to
look at the area. Soon the land was available for purchase for the parts that had been surveyed. A
few years later in 1819, there was national aid that the Michigan territory was able to receive so
they could investigate the soil, minerals, and Indian conditions. All together that took about a
year to process and investigate. There were also helpful publications made about how the soil
was fertile and rich in the area made by Estwick Evans.3
A treaty was made with the Indian tribes in the area in 1785 telling them that they had to
move because this specific piece of land along the River Raisin was only for white settlement.
Soon the westward expansion was taking place and since fur was in the area there were four fur-
traders that first settled the area. Those men were Joseph Pulier Benac, Colonel Francis Navarre,
2 Logan Fetzer, Madeline. “Early Settlers.” Essay. In Voices of Whiteford, 15.
3 Fuller, George N. “Settlement of Michigan Territory.” 25-28.
3
and Charles and John Baptiste Jerome. However, the first American settlement was in
Frenchtown in 1793. Monroe County was finally established on September 4, 1817 and had
portions from Wayne and Washtenaw counties. In Monroe, many historical events took place
like the War of 1812 and the River Raisin Massacre. Wing’s book goes on to further describe
and explain many of the citizens and founders of Monroe County.4 The actual township of
Monroe was one of the five original townships restructured in 1827. The boundaries did not
change and included the majority of the city of Monroe. Then in 1848 the city of Monroe was set
off by itself.5
Even though there were treaties saying that the Indians should retreat from the Michigan
territory, it was easier said than done. There was the War of 1812 in which the Indians sided with
Great Britain against the United States. After the war it caused fear in those who wanted to settle
the area because of the possibility of Indians being there. Former residents in the Michigan area
returned home after the war to find their homes completely ruined. There was also a lack of
money for future settlers and the businesses already established in the region.6
Michigan was different from the rest of the United States. There was some slavery that
did exist because the Indians had actually practiced it. The Indians did this because it was
common to whoever won a war or battle and had prisoners for them to sell them. It wasn’t really
common for there to be families with a large amount of slaves. Some of the Jesuit missionaries
were actually taken as slaves and they bought slaves from the Indians. There were some cases in
which people had slaves, but they ended up becoming more like a companion than an actual
servant. The slave owners in Michigan were mainly farmers, so they would work beside their
4 Ibid. 38-42.
5 Marquardt, Irma B. Pageant of Historic Monroe.
6 Fuller, George N. “Settlement of Michigan Territory.”
4
slaves in the fields. The church was also heavily involved with slaves giving them a type of
education as well as leading them to Christ. 7
After Michigan became a state it wrote its first constitution and it became law in 1837. It
upheld the Northwest Ordinance banning slavery in the state. The constitution also only allowed
white people the right to vote. It went into detail about how African Americans couldn’t serve on
a jury or in the military. Another one of the laws was that it forbade whites and blacks from
marrying each other. Since there were many segregation laws in places, blacks also helped with
the Underground Railroad. One of the key persons in helping those enslaved get to freedom is
George DeBaptiste. He would wait during the night on the bank of the Ohio river, in Indiana and
then guide the fugitive slaves along the pathway. Soon there was a reward if anyone caught
DeBaptiste, so he had to flee to Michigan and was part of the Underground Railroad operation
there.8
The Underground Railroad was from Missouri to Detroit. It was essentially made up of
people from all different backgrounds from the South and the North. This whole operation was a
group effort in helping slaves seek freedom. It was all done in secrecy since there was a fine
placed against those who hindered the recovery or harbored fugitive slaves. The state of
Michigan became a Grand Terminal because of the slaves moving across the lakes into Canada
or through the land. Michigan was the first territory free of slavery. However, things were
complicated because a governor of Michigan brought his slaves with him. Anti-slavery groups
were started in the 1830s and soon became a state society in Ann Arbor. They were reorganized
and led by William Lloyd Garrison at Adrian in 1852. The society discredited the Fugitive Slave
7 Katzman, David M. “Black Slavery in Michigan.”
8 Mull, Carol E. The Underground Railroad in Michigan. 28-30.
5
Act of 1850 which had made the Northerners ‘slave catchers’. The anti-slavery group worked
extremely hard to stop slavery all together before the Civil War started. 9
There is an account of the Underground Railroad near Monroe by Judge Melville McGee.
He says, “No one now, of the many who get on and off at the railroad station in Concord, thinks
to ask if there had ever been any other railroad surveyed and established through the town,and if
such a question should be asked he would no doubt be told by any of the present inhabitants that
there never had been. But such, however, would not be the truth.”10 It is true that the
Underground Railroad did run through Michigan and was imperative for slaves wanting
freedom. The article talks about it being one of the first railroads in the state and was the safest,
there being no account of any one injured or killed at stations. This railroad was different
because there was no actual train going through the area. Instead it required the keeper at each
station to transport all passengers taken in by them to the next station unharmed and at the
keeper’s expense. There were no set hours for this operation to take place, but it was known to be
open day and night. Michigan is a free state and vital for the fugitive slaves seeking freedom.
The slaves would stay with the keepers during the day, and when it would turn almost nightfall,
they would come out of the house. They would hide themselves in a wagon, then would be off to
their next stop, freedom in Canada. 11
In conclusion, the gaining of Michigan as a territory then a state did take some time to
accomplish for the United States. Originally being ruled by Indians then the French and the War
of 1812 taking place in Michigan as well. The state has come a long way. Many people didn’t
want to move into Michigan because of false reports about the soil not being fertile, so they
9 Coggan, Blanche. “The Underground Railroad In Michigan.”
10 De Land, Charles V. History of Jackson County, Michigan.
11 Reflections in the Pond: Concord and Pulaski Townships. 116.
6
thought that they couldn’t plant anything there. Mainly people moved there because of the fur
trading and trapping, which was a huge reason for westward expansion. There was also slavery
in the area before America gained control of it. Every source pointed to how Indians originally
started with selling prisoners of war to the French rulers enforcing it in the area. However, there
is not as much slavery in Michigan as there was in the South. In the South there was more of a
master slave relationship, whereas in Michigan the slave owners worked beside them in the
fields and sought more of a companionship. There were also very low numbers that were
enslaved. Per family there would not even be a handful of slaves but instead maybe only one or
two. Throughout my research, I also found that Michigan was essential for the Underground
Railroad and how there were actual reports made. I found it very eye opening how not only the
free blacks but also the white settlers would risk their lives to help the enslaved reach freedom in
Canada. Runaway slaves could still have freedom in the North but if they were captured they
would have to be returned because of the Fugitive Slave Act. However, if they were able to
travel just a bit further to Canada, a separate country all together, that was ultimate freedom for
them.
I was thoroughly impressed with how much historical value that my new hometown had
to offer. Through research I learned how Michigan was impacted with westward expansion,
became a state, the view of slavery in the area, and how important the Underground Railroad was
in the state being so close to Canada. One of the librarians informed me that there is an
Underground Railroad tour in Detroit, which is about thirty minutes from Monroe, where tourists
can see an actual pathway that the runaway slaves would take. There are walls there and secret
messages written on them for the next passengers.
7
Bibliography
Coggan, Blanche. “The Underground Railroad In Michigan.” Negro History Bulletin, vol.
27, no. 5, 1964, pp. 122–26. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44174961. Accessed 2
Mar. 2024.
De Land, Charles V. , Author. DeLand's history of Jackson County, Michigan: embracing
a concise review of its early settlement, industrial development and present conditions,
together with interesting reminiscences: to which is appended a comprehensive
compendium of local biography, embracing life sketches of many well-known citizens of
the County. [Logansport, Indiana?: B. F. Bowen, 1903] Web.. Retrieved from the Library
of Congress, <lccn.loc.gov/10014288>.
Fuller, George N. “Settlement of Michigan Territory.” The Mississippi Valley Historical
Review 2, no. 1 (1915): 25–55. https://doi.org/10.2307/1889104.
Katzman, David M. “Black Slavery in Michigan.” Midcontinent American Studies
Journal 11, no. 2 (1970): 56–66. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40640913.
Logan Fetzer, Madeline. “Early Settlers.” Essay. In Voices of Whiteford, 15–15. Springport, MI:
Whiteford Township Bicentennial Committee, 1976.
Marquardt, Irma B. Pageant of Historic Monroe. Monroe, MI: The Lamour Printing Co, 1926.
Mull, Carol E. The Underground Railroad in Michigan. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co, 2010.
Reflections in the Pond: Concord and Pulaski Townships. Concord, MI: Concord Heritage
Assoc., 1976.
8
Wing, Talcott E. History of Monroe County Michigan. New York, NY: Munsell &
Company Publishers, 1890.
