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ried into effect before the war. These extend only to sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8; and if interfering claims should hereafter arise in this portion of the town, they must necessarily be decided by reference to the state of things at the time the rights of the parties accrued.

It may be proper to add that claims have been advanced to lots 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118, and 9, in section 3, as appurtenants to property previously purchased, and that the subdivision upon this plan is not intended to prejudice or effect these claims in the slightest degree.

LEWIS CASS,

Governor of Michigan Territory.
WM. WOODBRIDGE,

One of the Judges of the Michigan Territory.
SOLOMON SIBLEY, Judge.
HENRY CHIPMAN, Judge, M. T.

DETROIT, January 8, 1831.

DETROIT, January 11, 1831.

SIR: We have the honor to request that the accompanying explanatory remarks may be received as a part of the report transmitted to you by us on the 8th instant, in the execution of the act of Congress of May 28, 1830, requiring a plan of Detroit to be forwarded to the office of the Secretary of State.

Very respectfully, Sir, we have the honor to be,

Your obedient servants,

LEWIS CASS,

Governor of Michigan Territory.
WM. WOODBRIDGE,

One of the judges of the Territory of Michigan.
HENRY CHIPMAN, Judge.

The governor and judges of the Territory of Michigan, in the execution of the act of Congress of May 28, 1830, concerning a plan of the city of Detroit, beg leave to submit, in addition to the explanatory observations accompanying the said plan, transmitted the 8th instant, that, in transcribing the list of water lots which had been claimed by individuals as appurtenant to property purchased previously to the marking of such lots upon any plan, the lots of this description, in section 4, were accidentally omitted. The governor and judges therefore state, that the lots marked upon the said plan, and numbered 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, and 195, in section 4, are claimed by individuals as appurtenant to lots purchased before the above numbered lots were laid out, and that, in laying out the same, the rights of the said individuals were not intended to be, nor can they be, in the slightest degree impaired or affected. These lots in this section were laid out upon the application of the owners of some of the adjacent property, who wished for a moderate compensation to quiet any doubt in their titles, by procuring deeds from this board. And it was thought better to mark all the lots in section 4, between the tracts previously purchased and the channel, that each of the proprietors might procure a deed in the same way,

if he thought proper; and if he did not, but determined to rely upon his previous claim, this board then disclaimed all right to do any thing which should affect his title in the slightest degree, and judged it improper, under the circumstances of the purchase, to transfer their claim, if they had any,' to another person.

The undersigned would also remark, that lot 114 was accidentally omitted in the list contained in the last paragraph of their explanatory observations before alluded to.

LEWIS CASS,

Governor of Michigan Territory.
WM. WOODBRIDGE,

One of the judges of the Territory of Michigan.
HENRY CHIPMAN, Judge.

DETROIT, January 11, 1831.

MEMORIAL OF CITIZENS OF DETROIT.

To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled.

The memorial of the undersigned, citizens of the United States, and inhabitants of the city of Detroit, respectfully showeth:

That the governor and judges of the Territory of Michigan were authorized by an act of Congress, passed in the year 1806, to lay out a town, &c. &c. and to report their proceedings; and, by an act passed during the last session of Congress, they are required to transmit to the Secretary of State a plan of said town or city for the approval of Congress.

Your memorialists feeling a deep interest in the prosperity of the city of Detroit, and particularly in whatever relates to the security of titles to lots within the same, consider it, therefore, their right and their duty to interpose their claims and their interest to counteract the improper, unjust, and tyrannical acts of the said governor and judges in the premises.

Although our language and remarks may seem bold, yet they are nevertheless founded in truth, as a recapitulation of facts and the result of experience will show.

First. The plan has been altered several times; for example, two or three plans were made by Mr. Thomas Smith at various periods; one plan was drafted by Aaron Greeley, one by Abijah Hull; one by John Mullett, and the last, probably the most exceptionable, was recently drafted by John Far

mer.

In each of the foregoing plans, there is good reason to believe that alterations were made from the original, by altering the numbers of the lots, occasioning thereby great confusion and uncertainty in the titles to the said lots; by altering some of the streets, by selling and giving deeds for streets and parts of streets, rendering their width unequal at several points, by projecting at right angles in some parts of the same street; by deeding away several of the alleys; and by giving, in numerous instances, two, and probably, in some cases, three deeds for the same lot; and, in the last in

stance, by laying out lots in deep water, in the channel of the river Detroit, in front of the lots that were sold as the external or outward and front tier of lots at public auction in the year 1816, which outward or front tier of lots, sold at the period aforesaid, have been docked out and filled up at great expense by private individuals, and buildings erected thereon for the accommodation of commerce. That a plat of the city was exhibited by an order and resolution of the said governor and judges, together with a resolution for the sale of "all the water lots," for several days previous to the public sale in November, 1816; and that the return now on record on their journal is for the sale of all the water lots; and that the lots thus sold by them were purchased by individuals, as the titles witness, agreeably to the plan of the city then exhibited. That your memorialists cannot but consider as an act of injustice, tyranny, and oppression, after such a lapse of time, and after they have respectively expended large sums of money in filling up docks and making ground, and erecting buildings thereon, and in the payment of taxes on said property, to lay out lots beyond and in front of their improvements in deep water, thereby tempting the cupidity of speculators to purchase in front of the improvements of your memorialists, to cut them off from the benefit of navigation and other their bona fide privileges; or, at least, involve them in the necessity of expending large sums of money in litigation before the Supreme Court of the United States, to secure their absolute, proper, legal, and vested rights to the lots and property in question. And, it is respectfully asked, what security will the public or individaals ever have, so long as the governor and judges of the Territory of Michigan shall have the management of "the Detroit fund," so called by them, that even after the present and recent alteration, that so soon as individuals shall fill up again, or make additional improvements over the navigable waters, that they will not again and again lay out and sell more lots, until they shall even extend beyond the national boundary, in the middle of the river Detroit? Moreover, your memorialists have paid a large amount in taxes on said property, and have otherwise contributed liberally to the improvement of the city of Detroit, and the territory in general.

Your memorialists are fully apprehensive that the seeds and sources of litigation have already been abundantly sowed by the acts of the said governor and judges within the city of Detroit; and that posterity, as well as the present generation, will have abundant cause to appreciate their services and agency in procuring that execrable result.

The ostensible reason, which, we understand, is assigned for such extraordinary conduct, is, that the said governor and judges want money to pay the debts of the Detroit fund. And why do they want money? Because they have expended several thousand dollars in making alterations, new surveys, new plans, and a variety of other expenditures not authorized by the act of Congress.

It is also alleged that the amount of money or certificates issued by them several years since, and bearing interest, is still considerable; that, in case the fund should fall short, it is believed that they, by their acts, have made themselves individually liable to redeem said certificates.

Your memorialists are therefore induced to suggest to your honorable body, whether it would not be proper to institute an inquiry into the acts and doings of the said governor and judges, and their management of the said fund, especially when it is considered that a period of twenty-five years has elapsed since the trust was confided to them, and that they have never report

ed or made public their proceedings in the premises. It would, therefore, seem to be high time that your honorable body should interpose, to protect and save the rights of your memorialists and of this community.

Sincerely impressed with the wisdom and justice of the national administration, your memorialists respectfully solicit that such early and prompt attention may be given to the premises as their importance to the interests of this community would justify.

And your memorialists, as in duty bound will, &c.

DETROIT, January 1, 1831.

JAMES CAMPAU,
O. COON,

D. FRENCH,

PETER DESNOYERS,
HENRY SANDERSON,

PETER J. DESNOYERS,
ANTOINE DEQUINDRE,
THEO. WILLIAMS,
JOHN R. WILLIAMS,
JNO. DEWELL,

JOHN ROBERTS,
B. CAMPAU,

WILLIAM BROWN.

PETITION OF THE CORPORATE AUTHORITIES OF DETROIT,
Relative to the plan of that place.

To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States:

The undersigned, mayor, recorder, and aldermen of the city of Detroit, in behalf of the freemen of said city, beg leave respectfully to represent to your honorable body, that, by an act of Congress, approved 21st April, 1806, the governor and judges of Michigan Territory were authorized and empowered to lay out a town, including the whole of the old town of Detroit, and ten thousand acres adjacent, excepting such parts as the President of the United States shall direct to be reserved for the use of the military department; and shall hear, examine, and finally adjust all claims to lots therein, and give deeds for the same &c. &c.: and the said governor and judges are required to make a report to Congress, in writing, of their proceedings under this act."

Under the provisions of this act, your petitioners believe that the governor and judges, for the time being, have granted many lots of ground in said city, agreeably to various and different plans, whereby much confusion has arisen, and probable insecurity of title to lots. Your petitioners, so far as they have been able to investigate this matter, are of opinion that a plan of said city was made and adopted by the then governor and judges in April, 1807, which should have governed all subsequent grants of lots, and established all streets, lanes, and alleys within said city; but your petitioners have discovered, in attempting to open and improve said streets, lanes, and alleys, that, in many instances, the grounds covered by them, agreeably to said plan, have been included within the lots subsequently deeded to individuals by

the governor and judges-thus rendering it impracticable, in most instances, to open the streets, &c., agreeably to said plan, and consequently excluding many individuals from all access to the rear of their lots, contrary to the original design of said plan. Owing to this variance of plans, the present inhabitants are not only subjected to great inconvenience, such as many of them could not have anticipated at the time when lots were granted to them under the act of Congress, but the corporate authorities find it impossible to sustain that police essential to the health and convenience of the city. The same street is in some places sixty feet wide, in others fifty, and again but forty. Alleys intended, by the aforesaid plan, to run through a block of lots, are, in most instances, interrupted by grants of lots extending so far in depth as to cover them. In short, so many alterations, and such variety of plans, have been pursued by different boards of governors and judges during the twenty-three years which have elapsed since the passage of the act aforesaid, that your petitioners know of no other method by which the freemen of this city can determine what is the plan of Detroit, or their titles to lots therein, except by praying that a law may be passed, requiring the governor and judges to report, within some limited time, a plan of this city; which plan shall have been recorded previously to its transmission, and shall be thereafter unalterable, unless disapproved by Congress.

J. KEARSLEY, Mayor.

JOSEPH W. TORREY, Recorder.
N. BROOKS,

R. GILLET,

H. V. DISBROW,

PETER DESNOYERS, Aldermen.

H. M. CAMPBELL,

B. CAMPAU,

THOMAS PALMER,

DETROIT, November 30, 1829.

The Committee on the Territories, to which was referred the petition of the Mayor, Recorder, and Aldermen of the city of Detroit, report:

The petitioners ask for the passage of a law, requiring the governor and judges of the Territory of Michigan to report, within a limited time, a plan of the city of Detroit, to be adopted as the plan of that city, unless disapproved by Congress. The committee beg leave to refer to the petition itself, and the letter of the mayor of Detroit, for a detailed statement of the facts and reasons upon which the application is founded; and believing in the propriety of legislating on this subject, at present, so far only as to require the governor and judges to report the plan upon which the town of Detroit was laid out under the act of 1806, submit the accompanying bill:

A bill relative to the plan of Detroit, in Michigan Territory. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the governor and judges of the Territory of Michigan, or any three of them, are hereby required to make a report of the plan of laying out the town of Detroit, under and by virtue of an act, entitled "An act to provide for the adjustment of titles of

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