Michigan State Colorization Society

Detroit Free Press, December 21, 1846

If you dig around enough concerning any topic you're bound to find something shocking and in this case, contrary to what you've known hitherto.

Signal of Liberty, December 26, 1846

Founded in 1816 The American Colonization Society was formed to send African Slaves back to their native continent, namely a colony established in Liberia. While the article concerning Vermont below shows that the causes seemed genuine insofar as ending slavery the movement became loathed by William Lloyd Garrison, formerly a member of the group, when he became convinced that their ultimate goal was to limit the amount of free slaves in North America.

Burlington Sentinel and Democrat, June 18, 1824

Fast forward to 1846 and some prominent members of the Nankin area became mouthpieces for the movement. The meeting in Livonia at the Baptist Meeting House included, notably, Gen. John E. Schwarz, the abolitionist whose home supposedly was a stop on the Underground Railroad and name garnered a block letter mention on some of the fugitive maps, Ammon Brown, a large land owner and public official of Nankin, among some other notable names such as Rufus Swift (not sure if there is a relation to Marcus), Enos Straight, the Noyes family (Bethiel, Elder, Nathan & Gilbert) which included judges and township supervisors among their brood as well as others listed here which I don't know much about. Regardless, it's a startling find.

Pomeroy Weekly Telegraph, June 7, 1853

While the national Colonization Society was said to have exported 12,000 (the number in 1853 was nearly 7,500) former slaves though many apparently died from disease. The transport was very expensive, as the Free Press snippet tastelessly joked about in 1875, costing $850 then. Shockingly, the organization manage to operate until 1964.

Detroit Free Press, May 9, 1875,

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A Dudley Randall Poem in Milestone 2

I bought this Milestone 2 poetry Magazine at a Livonia estate sale this week. Milestone was the literary publication of Wayne (State) University and this second issue dates to 1949. While I don't recognize most of the names, Dudley Randall was both a nationally known poet and the librarian for the Wayne County General Hospital at Eloise via the Wayne County Library System. The poem featured is The Southern Road which was a revised version of the completed poem from 1948 that h as a handful or two of word differences between the two. I don't know if Randall edited the poem for later collected works editions or earlier but this link features it in its likely final form in 2009. Neither version particularly enchants me but the block print in the magazine is an added bonus.

A Cabinet Card of a Dead Man Lying in Repose From Wayne Photographer Susan Doolittle

The City of Wayne, Michigan was not a large village at the turn of the 20th century so it stands to reason that there wasn't a glut of photographers practicing their trade there. As such, the 3 cabinet cards and carte de visites that I own represents roughly a quarter of the early ones. Considering that the wives of Frank Hickok and William Corlett, first Village President of Wayne, took over after Frank's death in 1892 the list grows smaller beyond those two families. Had I snagged the Doolittle dead man cabinet card I'd be even that much more Wayne-rich in photographs. Speaking of Susan Doolittle, of whom I have learned very little about, it is interesting to note that Wayne had three women photographers in an era oft dominated by men in that very field. This photograph of a corpse is a startling example of her work.

Frederick Soop: Not An Equal Opportunity Restraunteer

Detroit Free Press , March 28, 1890 If you don't want to hear a racist tale of a suburban namesake then close your eyes now. As early as 1876 Frederick Soop had left his Belleville farm once again, having done a stint at the Hawkins House in Ypsilanti during the Civil War and the City Hotel in Detroit thereafter, and ventured off to Chatham, Ontario to run the Rutley Hotel , which was conducted as a Temperance House. Detroit Free Press , August 17, 1879 In 1879 he was searching for a good restaurant or small hotel to operate. Eventually he ended up on Washington Avenue near State Street running a dining hall which he ran until around 1890. Detroit Free Press , April 16, 1890 It was in 1888 when the aforementioned racial incident occurred at his dining establishment. It was then that William H. Haynes, a black doctor, sat down with his former classmate S. W. Barkwell for dinner. The men ordered but when the food was served none was placed before Mr. Haynes who, ironically, ha...

The Nankin Township Historical Society

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