During these years, everybody sold out that could and our town almost depopulated. Some left their lands, some went back to the state of New York, their former homes. Sixteen families went from our town to Norvavoo, Ill. and joined the Mormons. Our people had the fever and ague and other fecers and many of our friends died, and we were generally discouraged, still we had the Sharone, besides the bank of Shiawassee. This latter bank would have been one of the big guns of theh 100 'wildcat' banks had it not been that their bills were badly executed, with a lever attached to a big stamp; that their promises to pay could not be read nor theh representation of characters and its face distinguished -- they could not be determined between a monkey and a wildcat.
The bank of Kensington also made a mistake which very much lessened the value of her circulating medium; some of the village lots in the village of Kensington which were pledged as security for the bell holder lay along the bank of the Hurton river and it finally appeared that many of them through some mistake had been appraised, (and became a part of the bank funds) as high as 500 dollars each, some of them not having enough land upon them clear of water to build a house upon, consequently this bank with hundres of others failed. Still with this sad and depressing state and condition of things, our hopes and energies were somewhat revived, knowing the time had near arrived when the constitution of our state provided for the permanent location of the state capitol.
We could hardly expect that it would be taken from Detroit and placed in Lansing, yet he had learned to hope against hope. Feeling that justice and the great interest of the state would locate it at Lansing, knowing such an event would greatly add to the interest of our town, we put all our efforts to work for the accomplishment of said obtain.
Tomorrow some of the first improvements.
No comments:
Post a Comment