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The New International Encyclopædia/Michigan

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Michiels, Alfred
The New International Encyclopædia
Michigan
Michigan, Lake
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Edition of 1905. See also Michigan on Wikipedia; and the disclaimer.

​MICHIGAN, mĭsh′ĭ-gan (Algonquin michi, great + guma, water). One of the States of the American Union, situated in the region of the Great Lakes. It lies between 41° 42′ and 47° 32′ north latitude and 82° 24′ and 90° 31′ west longitude, and consists of two natural divisions, the Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula, with an extreme length of 318 miles, and an extreme width at Keweenaw Point of 164 miles, is bounded on the north by Lake Superior and on the south by Wisconsin and Lakes Michigan and Huron. On the east the Saint Mary's River separates it from the Province of Ontario, Canada, and the Menominee River forms about one-half of its Wisconsin boundary. The Lower Peninsula is in the form of a mitten, the thumb being separated from the hand by Saginaw Bay, the whole division being surrounded, except in the south, by Lakes Michigan and Huron, the Saint Clair River, Lake Saint Clair, the Detroit River, and Lake Erie, and bounded on the south by the States of Indiana and Ohio. It has a length of 300 miles from north to south, and an average width of 200 miles. The State has an area of 58,915 square miles, including 1485 square miles of water, ranking eighteenth in size among the States of the Union.

Topography. Michigan occupies an exceptional position. Lying within the embrace of the three largest of the Great Lakes, it possesses a coast line longer in proportion to its area than that of any other state in the Union. Further, the coast waters possess many good harbors and are navigable for large craft. Ships of 2000 tons can sail within sight of land all round the State. The surface of the State is in general level and monotonous, the northern peninsula being somewhat rugged and rocky. The highest elevation is in the west end of the northern peninsula in the Porcupine Mountains, a gentle ridge running northeast and southwest into Wisconsin. It includes the famous Copper Range. The highest point in the State is about 1800 feet above the sea, or about 1200 above lake level; in the southern peninsula the elevation nowhere exceeds 600 feet above the lakes. The mean elevation of the State is less than 200 feet above lake level. There are two high areas to the southeast and northwest of Saginaw Bay, respectively. The glacial sheet descending from the northeast encountered this resisting wall and split, turning in the direction of the softer rocks on each side into the Huron-Erie and the Lake Michigan regions, and cutting out basins for the present lakes. Southern Michigan is marked by two parallel ridges or topographic axes running northeast and southwest. The southern axis runs along a line roughly from Ann Arbor to Pontiac; the northern axis runs from the region north of Saginaw Bay southwest toward the Muskegon River.

The rivers of Michigan follow the morainal valleys around in a circular course—usually southward. The largest streams in the Upper Peninsula are the Taquamenon and Ontonagon, draining into Lake Superior, and the Ford, ​Escanaba, and Manistique, draining into Lake Michigan. The Lower Peninsula is watered by the Manistee, Muskegon, Grand, Kalamazoo, and Saint Joseph, which flow into Lake Michigan; by the Cheboygan, Thunder Bay, Au Sable, and Saginaw, flowing into Lake Huron; and by the Huron and Raisin, flowing into Lake Erie. Most of the rivers are small, and the largest are navigable by river boats only for short distances. The morainal districts are also crowded with lakes and ponds, some tributary to the rivers, draining the valleys, others deep tarns caught between the moraines and possessing no outlet. These lakes and ponds of Michigan are estimated at from 5000 to 15,000 in number. The Kalamazoo River alone has within its basin 175 tributary and 150 non-tributary lakes, and other rivers are similarly supplied. They are valuable sources of water supply, and when they disappear their beds furnish a black muck soil with a shell marl subsoil which is excellent for garden culture. Other lakes owe their origin to the erosion of limestone forming caves and sink holes, or to the sand bars built across the mouths of bays or rivers by the Great Lakes at the present or at a higher stage of elevation. Still another source of these numerous lakes is the tilting of the earth's crust which flooded old river valleys and landlocked the waters within. If Professor Gilbert's theory is true, this process is even now going on. If the land is rising five inches a century per hundred miles along an axis through Niagara Falls and northeastern Michigan, it is easy to see that Saginaw Bay will soon be a lake. In fact, even now it is practically stagnant.

Upward of 200 islands belong to Michigan. The largest are Isle Royale and Grande Isle in Lake Superior; Sugar Island, Encampment Island, Drummond Island, Bois Blanc, Mackinac, and Marquette at the head of Lake Huron; and the Beaver, Fox, and Manitou groups at the head of Lake Michigan. The chief indentations of the coast of the Lower Peninsula are Grand and Little Traverse bays on the northwest, and Thunder and Saginaw bays on the east side. In the northern peninsula are Keweenaw Bay east of Keweenaw Peninsula, and White Fish Bay on the northern shore at the west end of Saint Mary's River. On the south are the Big Bay and the Little Bay of Noquet at the head of Green Bay. One of the interesting features of the Michigan coast is the ‘Pictured Rocks’ on the northern coast of the northern peninsula, where the Cambrian sandstones are carved by the action of the water into fantastic shapes—arches, towers, castles, etc. In some places steamers can pass directly under the rocks and behind falling cascades.


​

COPYRIGHT, 1891 AND 1903, BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY.


​

AREA AND POPULATION OF MICHIGAN BY COUNTIES.

County Map
 Index.  		 County Seat.   Area in 
square
miles. 		Population.
1890. 1900.
Alcona K 4  Harrisville 690  5,409  5,691
Alger G 2  Autrain 924  1,238  5,868
Allegan K 4  Allegan 839 38,961 38,812
Alpena K 4  Alpena 584 15,581 18,254
Antrim H 4  Bellaire 491 10,413 16,568
 
Arenac J 4  Standish 365  5,683  9,821
Baraga E 2  L'Anse 890  3,036  4,320
Barry H 6  Hastings 572 23,783 22,514
Bay J 5  Bay City 437 56,412 62,378
Benzie G 4  Frankfort 309  5,237  9,685
 
Berrien G 7  Saint Joseph 566 41,285 49,165
Branch H 7  Coldwater 504 26,791 27,811
Calhoun H 6  Marshall 697 43,501 49,315
Cass G 7  Cassopolis 500 20,953 20,876
Charlevoix H 3  Charlevoix 423  9,686 13,956
 
Cheboygan J 3  Cheboygan 785 11,986 15,516
Chippewa J 2  Sault Sainte Marie  1,580   12,019 21,338
Clare J 5  Harrison 575  7,558  8,360
Clinton J 6  Saint Johns 570 26,509 25,136
Crawford J 4  Grayling 575  2,962  2,943
 
Delta F 3  Escanaba 1,127  15,330 23,881
Dickinson F 3  Iron Mountain 756 ...... 17,890
Eaton J 6  Charlotte 566 32,094 31,668
Emmet J 3  Harbor Springs 462  8,756 15,931
Genesee K 5  Flint 648 39,430 41,804
 
Gladwin J 5  Gladwin 510  4,208  6,564
Gogebic C 2  Bessemer 1,152  13,166 16,738
Grand Traverse  H 4  Summit City 496 13,355 20,479
Gratiot J 5  Ithaca 572 28,668 29,889
Hillsdale J 7  Hillsdale 605 30,660 29,865
 
Houghton E 2  Houghton 1,077  35,389 66,063
Huron K 5  Badaxe 841 28,545 34,162
Ingham J 6  Mason 547 37,666 39,818
Ionia H 5  Ionia 575 32,801 34,329
Iosco K 4  Tawas City 560 15,224 10,246
 
Iron E 2  Crystal Falls 1,143   4,432  8,990
Isabella J 5  Mount Pleasant 568 18,784 22,784
Jackson J 6  Jackson 695 45,031 48,222
Kalamazoo H 6  Kalamazoo 575 39,273 44,310
Kalkaska H 4  Kalkaska 570  5,160  7,133
Kent H 5  Grand Rapids 862 109,922 129,714 
Keweenaw E 1  Eagle River 570  2,894  3,217
Lake H 5  Baldwin 575  6,505  4,957
 
Lapeer K 5  Lapeer 667 29,213 27,641
Leelanaw H 4  Leland 355  7,944 10,556
Lenawee J 7  Adrian 742 48,448 48,406
Livingston J 6  Howell 575 20,858 19,664
Luce H 2  Newberry 915  2,455  2,983
Mackinac H 2  Saint Ignace 1,146   7,830  7,703
 
Macomb L 6  Mount Clemens 460 31,813 33,244
Manistee G 4  Manistee 547 24,230 27,856
Marquette F 2  Marquette 1,839  39,521 41,239
Mason G 4  Ludington 501 16,385 18,885
 
Mecosta H 5  Big Rapids 567 19,697 20,693
Menominee F 3  Menominee 1,044  33,639 27,046
Midland J 5  Midland 518 10,657 14,439
Missaukee H 4  Lake City 566  5,048  9,308
Monroe K 7  Monroe 572 32,337 32,754
 
Montcalm H 5  Stanton 720 32,637 32,754
Montmorency J 4  Atlanta 561  1,487  3,234
Muekegon G 5  Muskegon 522 40,013 37,036
Newaygo H 5  Newaygo 851 20,476 17,673
Oakland K 6  Pontiac 897 41,245 44,792
 
Oceana G 5  Hart 565 15,698 16,644
Ogemaw J 4  Westbranch 568  5,583  7,765
Ontonagon D 2  Ontonagon 1,355   3,756  6,197
Osceola H 5  Hersey 575 14,630 17,859
Oscoda J 4  Mio 572  1,904  1,468
 
Otsego J 4  Gaylord 529  4,272  6,175
Ottawa G 6  Grand Haven 561 35,358 39,667
Presque Isle J 3  Rogers 660  4,687  8,821
Roscommon J 4  Roscommon 535  2,033  1,787
Saginaw J 5  Saginaw West Side  832 82,273 81,222
 
St. Clair L 6  Port Huron 690 52,105 55,228
St. Joseph H 7  Centerville 506 25,356 23,889
Sanilac L 5  Sanilac Center 966 32,589 35,055
Schoolcraft G 2  Manistique 1,151   5,818  7,889
Shiawassee J 6  Corunna 542 30,952 33,866
 
Tuscola K 5  Caro 814 32,508 35,890
Van Buren G 6  Paw Paw 625 30,541 33,274
Washtenaw K 6  Ann Arbor 690 42,210 47,761
Wayne K 6  Detroit 626  257,114    348,793  
Wexford H 4  Cadillac 575 11,278 16,845


​ Climate. Though Michigan lies in the heart of the north temperate zone, the northern peninsula has a rigorous climate. Only in the southern tier of counties are the plant and animal species wholly austral. The average track of the extra-tropical cyclonic storms for all the continent crosses the State. Over 450 such disturbances passed that way in ten years. The average temperatures for July are 65° F. for Bessemer and Mackinac, and 70° F. for Detroit. The southwestern side of the Upper Peninsula and the southeastern corner of the Lower Peninsula have a maximum temperature of 100°. The winter minimum is 20° below zero for Detroit, and 30° below at Keweenaw Point. This gives a range of 130° for the Upper Peninsula and of 120° for the Lower. Sault Sainte Marie holds the United States record for the frequency of cold waves, with a fall of 20° F. or over in twenty-four hours. The average rainfall for the State is 30 inches. The northern peninsula from Keweenaw Point to Sault Sainte Marie holds the record in the United States for the heaviest annual snowfall, 130 inches. This is reduced to only 40 inches at Ann Arbor. Presque Isle County has precipitation, on the average, 170 days in the year, sharing with Buffalo the highest record in the United States east of Cape Flattery. The prevailing winds for January and July alike are southwest for the Lower Peninsula and northwest for the Upper. There are on the average twenty thunderstorms per year, with a maximum frequency in July.

For Flora and Fauna, see these sections under United States.

Geology. The State of Michigan in its Upper and Lower peninsulas has all the recognized series of rocks from Archæan to Carboniferous inclusive. The earlier part of this record is represented in great detail in the rocks of the northern peninsula. In fact, the region around Lake Superior, including northern portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, has had an extremely involved geological history, the careful and detailed study of which, by a host of geologists, has added more largely to our knowledge of pre-Cambrian geology than any equivalent area in the world. This study has disclosed a whole system (Algonkian) of rocks below the Paleozoic, representing perhaps a longer lapse of ages than all the time since the beginning of the Cambrian. The earliest beds of the Algonkian are much metamorphosed and cut in every direction by dikes and sills of igneous intrusives and extrusives. The Penokee-Gogebic and the Marquette-Menominee members of this system are the great iron-bearing beds of the northern peninsula. They dip down under the bed of Lake Superior and outcrop again in the Vermilion and Mesabi ranges in Minnesota. At the top of the Algonkian are the copper-bearing beds. The copper is found usually in elastic beds, largely in conglomerates, though sometimes in sandstone and adjacent lava sheets.

The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is essentially a bowl-shaped depression in the pre-Cambrian crust, between the old Archæan island of North Wisconsin and the similar island of the Adirondacks. This grand synclinal trough was being filled with sediments through Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous ages, the successive deposits lying like a pile of saucers, with outcropping edges all dipping toward the centre. In Sub-Carboniferous time the basin was a narrow-mouthed bay, acting as a saltpan, concentrating sea-water and depositing beds of rock salt. In upper Carboniferous some beds of coal were laid down. The State has evidently been continuously above the sea since Carboniferous time. The present surface of the State is largely determined by glacial action, being very much smoothed over, and covered with a sheet of till, in some places some hundreds of feet in thickness. The present rivers are consequent upon the drift surface, and many smaller lakes have a glacial origin.

The soil on the whole is extremely fertile, being made up of the glacial detritus of ​limestones, with large contributions from the older rocks of Canada. In the northern portions, where the outcropping rock was a Paleozoic sandstone, the soil is light and worthless and fit only for pine and other trees.

Mineral Resources. The minerals for which Michigan is best known are copper and iron. Copper mining in the State dates from 1845. The output developed at a much faster rate than that of the whole country, so that in 1870 Michigan produced about 11,000 tons out of a total of 12,000 tons. By the time Montana and Arizona began to produce copper, the output of Michigan had doubled, amounting to over 22,000 tons in 1880. With the rapid development of the Montana deposits Michigan fell to the second place (1887) as a copper producer, and, although its output has been steadily growing, its contribution to the total copper output of the country has relatively decreased. The copper deposits of Michigan are confined to the peninsula protruding into Lake Superior, and the best-known mines are the Calumet and Hecla. They yield over one-half of the output of the State. In 1901 Michigan produced 69,772 long tons of fine copper, or 25.9 per cent. of the total for the United States, as compared with 38.2 per cent. produced by Montana and 21.7 by Arizona.

Next to copper the chief mineral of Michigan is iron, in regard to which the State occupies the foremost position in the country, although its output in 1901 was exceeded in quantity by that of Minnesota. The iron deposits are found chiefly in the Marquette, Menominee, and Gogebic ranges, and consist almost entirely of red hematite. Iron was first discovered in the State near Marquette in 1844, and mining operations were begun in 1846. The development of the industry was greatly retarded by the lack of transportation facilities, so that in 1872 the output of iron from the Marquette range amounted only to 948,553 tons of ore. In 1885 the Marquette, Menominee, and Gogebic ranges yielded 2,240,887 tons. The improvement of the facilities for the transportation of the ore and the extension in the use of iron and steel gave a new impulse to iron mining and brought Michigan to the position of the foremost iron-producing State of the Union. In 1901 the total yield of its iron ore amounted to 9,654,067 long tons, valued at the mines at $21,735,592. Only a small part of the iron output is smelted in the State, most of the ore being transported by way of the lakes to the Lake Erie ports. The chief shipping ports are Escanaba on Lake Michigan and Marquette on Lake Superior.

Previous to 1893 Michigan was the leading salt-producing State. In that year it was displaced by New York, which held the first rank until 1901, when Michigan again became first. The total production of salt in Michigan in 1901 was 7,729,641 barrels, or 37.6 per cent. of the output of the United States. The value of the salt output of Michigan for the same year was $2,437,677. The chief salt mines are around Saginaw Bay. Michigan is also the leading gypsum producing State, the output amounting in 1901 to $267,243, or over 17 per cent. of the total for the country. Most of the gypsum is found in Kent County. Among the other minerals may be mentioned Portland cement, which was produced to the value of $1,128,290; coal, $1,753,064; gold, 81,000 oz.; mineral waters (in the production of which Michigan leads all other States), $1,195,614; and various clays (furnishing material for the manufacture of bricks, tiles, and pottery), $1,542,034. These figures were for 1901. See the section on Mining in the article United States.

Agriculture. The southern half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan has been generally cleared of its forests, and being of great fertility, is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the Union. Originally a large part of it was considered irreclaimable because of its extensive swamp areas, but these have been very greatly reduced by drainage. The northern part of the Lower Peninsula, and the Upper Peninsula, are more extensively wooded, and a considerable portion of the latter is too rugged to be adaptable for agriculture. The farming area is continually spreading to the northward, and every decade has witnessed large additions to the farm acreage. In 1900, 17,561,698 acres, or 47.8 per cent. of the total area, was included in farms, of which 67.2 per cent. were improved. In Michigan the average size of farms is smaller than in other North Central States, the average in Michigan in 1900 being 80.4 acres. In the northern peninsula the farms are generally larger than in the southern. In 1900, 32.4 per cent. of the farm area of the State was included in farms, which ranged in size from 100 to 174 acres; and 30.2 per cent. of the farm area was included in farms of from 50 to 99 acres. The percentage of rented farms is not large, 4.8 per cent. being rented for cash rent and 11.1 per cent. on shares. The agricultural products are not characterized by the predominance of any one crop. The northern location of Michigan adapts it as a whole to the production of wheat, oats, and the hardier cereals rather than corn, yet corn is largely raised south of the 43d parallel. In the table appended the acreage shown for corn, oats, and barley in the last census year is scarcely normal, since a late spring had reduced the acreage of the two last, resulting in turn in an increase in the acreage of the former. Wheat in the decade 1890-1900 more than regained the amount lost in the preceding decade. Michigan ranks third in the production of buckwheat, and is also one of the leading States in the production of rye. Hay and forage are extensively raised, the total acreage devoted to them being greater than that of any other crop.

The State has become noteworthy for vegetables and fruits. The great fertility of the soil, the influence of the lakes in moderating the climate, and the easy access to large markets—particularly Chicago—have favored this branch of agriculture. New York alone exceeds Michigan in the area devoted to potatoes. In 1900 this acreage was 57.2 per cent, greater than in 1890, the absolute gain being greater than that made by any other State. The State is far in the lead of all others in the production of beans, peas, and celery, and produces the bulk of the peppermint and chicory of the country. The number of fruit trees about doubled in the decade 1890-1900. More than half of the gain was in the number of peach trees, of which there were 8,104,415 in 1900. The number of plum trees in that year was more than eight times the number reported for 1890; and other varieties of trees also increased remarkably. The number ​of apple trees is still in excess of any other variety, there being, in 1900, 10,927,899. The most marked recent gains have been in the counties bordering on Lake Michigan. The soil is well adapted to beet culture. Michigan surpasses every other State in the acreage of sugar beets. While the industry began as early as 1880, its chief development has been since 1890. Large additions have been made to the beet-growing area since the census year shown in the table.

The following figures show the acreage of the leading crops for the census years indicated:

CROPS 1900 1890
Wheat 1,925,769  1,501,225 
Corn 1,501,189  994,597 
Oats 1,019,438  1,085,759 
Rye 174,096  140,754 
Buckwheat 55,669  70,046 
Barley 44,965  99,305 
Hay and forage   2,328,498   2,024,736 
Potatoes 311,963  198,476 
Sugar beets 40,247 
Dry beans 167,025 
Dry peas 71,376 

Stock-Raising. The increased interest in mining and fruit and vegetable raising has tended to lessen the attention paid to stock-raising. There were, however, noteworthy increases in the number of dairy cows and other neat cattle from 1890 to 1900. The number of horses and of swine has increased every decade since 1850. The number of sheep reached a maximum in 1890, the following decade showing a decrease of 32.3 per cent., but the number in 1900 was exceeded in only one State east of the Mississippi River—Ohio. The following table gives the number of domestic animals on farms in 1890-1900:

 DOMESTIC ANIMALS  1900 1890
Dairy cows 563,905  497,611 
Other neat cattle  812,503  549,160 
Horses 586,559  516,117 
Mules and asses  3,011  3,822 
Sheep  1,625,930   2,400,318 
Swine 1,165,200  1,126,141 

Manufactures. Michigan's prominence as a manufacturing State is largely due to its enormous timber resources, a description of which with their products will be found below. The percentage of the population engaged in the manufacturing industry was 2.3 in 1850, and 7.1 in 1890, but declined to 6.7 per cent. in 1900. The number engaged increased 91.6 per cent. between 1880 and 1890, but only 9.2 per cent. in the following decade, the actual number of persons employed in 1900 being 162,300. The smaller growth of the latter decade is due to the diminishing forest resources. The employment figures are noteworthy because of the small number of children included, the result of the State law which forbids children from working in any establishment. After the timber products the most important are those which depend on the agricultural resources of the State. The flouring and gristmill industry is quite extensive. In recent years it has shown a tendency to centralize at points convenient to water-power or superior shipping facilities. Other industries which belong to this group are slaughtering and meat-packing, the manufacture of malt liquors, beet sugar, and the tanning, currying, and finishing of leather, all of which are in a flourishing condition. The State facilities for the leather industry are full of promise, inasmuch as it is found more economical to transport the hides to the tanning-bark region in Michigan than to transport the bark to outside centres. The State ranks second in the production of beet sugar, the industry having developed wholly from 1890 to 1900.

The abundant high-grade iron ores obtained in the northern peninsula are within easy reach of the manufacturing centres in the south, but the inferiority of the State's coal resources greatly hinders the development of those industries which the local wealth of iron ore would otherwise guarantee. The iron and steel industry gained very little from 1890 to 1900, but the products of the foundry and machine shop increased 54.3 per cent. during that period. The industry is well distributed throughout the State, and is the third largest of the State's manufactures. The manufacture of cars is another of the State's leading industries, and a thriving chemical manufacturing business is located in Detroit. The advantages of Detroit for transportation, being located conveniently for lake navigation, and at the point of union between the railroad systems of Canada and the States, make that city the largest manufacturing centre in the State. The other manufacturing points are also in the older developed southern portion of the State, where the access to the country's markets is easiest. A decided tendency toward centralization is evident in a number of industries.

The table on the following page shows the relative importance of the leading industries for the years indicated.

Forests and Forest Products. From the table on the following page, it may be seen that the lumber industry and those which use its products constitute together the most important group of manufactures in the State. The greater portion of the forests were formerly conifers, though hard woods were intermingled with these in the south. The white pine was originally the most usual variety, but has been so extensively drawn upon that the estimated stand of timber in 1896—6,000,000,000 feet—was less than one-sixth the amount of the estimate in 1880. Hemlock is the most important of the other conifers. Maple, elm, basswood, ash, and white oak are the most important hard woods. The lumber and timber product had not acquired large proportions until about 1870, but from that date until 1890 the State ranked first in the value of its product. It suffered a heavy decline in the following years, and was exceeded in 1900 by Wisconsin. The total forest area, including stump land, was estimated in 1900 at 38,000 square miles. The method of exploiting the forests has been extremely wasteful, but a sentiment has developed in the State in favor of the application of approved methods of forestry, and a commission has been created to secure better protection for the forests.

In the earlier lumbering period the logs were usually floated to the mills located on the rivers and lakes. With the extension of railroads into the lumbering region the mills were established closer to the supply of timber. It will be seen from the following table that, although the value of lumber and timber products decreased from 1890 to 1900, all the industries using these products made noteworthy gains, particularly the manufacture of carriages and wagons and ​furniture. The furniture industry is centred largely in Grand Rapids, where it has been promoted especially by means of semi-annual fairs.

INDUSTRIES  Year  Number of
 establishments  		Average
number
 wage-earners  		Value of products,
including custom
 work and repairing 
 
  Total for selected industries for State
1900 3,818  81,980  $189,517,713 
1890 3,950  93,141  184,268,704 
 
 
Increase 1890 to 1900 ...... [1]132  [1]11,161  $5,249,009 
Per cent. of increase ...... [1]3.3  [1]12.0  2.8
 
Per cent. of total of all industries in State
1900 22.7  50.5  53.1
1890 32.6  62.6  66.3
 
Flouring and grist mill products
1900 765  1,423  $23,593,991 
1890 544  1,852  22,778,829 
Slaughtering
1900 29  456  5,337,417 
1890 30  329  3,998,978 
Liquors, malt
1900 77  980  5,296,825 
1890 78  687  2,979,258 
Leather, tanned, curried and finished
1900 27  1,427  6,015,590 
1890 20  337  1,743,760 
Iron and steel
1900 10  1,972  5,902,058 
1890 19  1,427  5,829,843 
Foundry and machine shop products
1900 364  13,502  20,615,864 
1890 260  7,892  13,363,030 
Cars and general shop construction and repairs 
 by steam railroad companies
1900 42  3,938  4,332,927 
1890 17  2,098  2,645,314 
Cars, steam railroad,
 not including operations of railroad companies 
1900 4  3,187  9,920,780 
1890 5  3,723  11,078,281 
Chemicals
1900 51  2,897  5,364,724 
1890 4  1,315  3,380,388 
Lumber and timber products
1900 1,705  26,199  54,290,520 
1890 2,124  54,308  83,121,969 
Lumber, planing mill products,
 including sash, doors, and blinds
1900 235  5,281  12,469,532 
1890 230  4,788  10,007,603 
Paper and wood pulp
1900 27  2,014  4,217,869 
1890 31  1,219  2,919,166 
Furniture, factory product
1900 124  11,870  14,614,506 
1890 116  8,688  10,767,038 
Agricultural implements
1900 59  1,944  6,339,508 
1890 65  1,585  3,955,306 
Carriages and wagons
1900 299  4,890  11,205,602 
1890 407  2,893  5,699,941 

Transportation. Michigan's extremely favorable location with respect to water transportation has been of great value in the exploitation of the local mineral and forest resources. (For a discussion of lake transportation, see Great Lakes.) Besides the canals connecting the main lakes, a short canal has been constructed connecting the northern end of Lake Portage with Lake Superior. The small rivers were formerly much used for the transportation of logs. Owing to its peninsular form, the State is not traversed by many of the great trunk lines of the country. A large mileage, however, was early recorded for the southern part of the State, and railway construction has steadily spread to the northward, until recently almost every region is well supplied with railway advantages. Detroit ranks first among the lake ports in the amount of its exports, and second in the amount of its imports. The customs districts Huron and Superior also have a large foreign trade, and a small trade is done from the Michigan district. The first railway began operation in 1836. In the following year the State undertook the building of railways, but owing to financial embarrassment the lines were sold after a decade to private corporations. The chief lines are the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, the Michigan Central, the Chicago and Grand Trunk, and the Père Marquette. In recent years there has been a very extensive construction of interurban electric car lines. There is one railroad commissioner. His duties chiefly pertain to the physical condition of the roads and to accommodations.

Banks. The Bank of Michigan, organized in Detroit in 1817, was the first in the Territory. It incurred large losses in the panic of 1837-38, and was placed in the hands of trustees for liquidation in 1842. In 1835, shortly before Michigan was admitted as a State, nine new banks were organized. The free banking law of 1837 was the first in the United States to put into practice the system of securing the circulation of banks by deposit of collaterals. It also provided for examination of banks by bank commissioners. The law was imperfectly administered, however, and in 1839 42 banks were in the hands of receivers, and more than a million dollars of bills became worthless. In 1844 the banking law was declared unconstitutional. The banking system of the State did not recover from this depression for many years, and the banking business was carried on mainly by brokers and private bankers. In 1857 a new banking law was adopted, similar to the law of New York. In 1902 there were 84 national banks, with a capital of $11,380,000; surplus, $3,416,000; cash, etc., $6,019,000; loans, $59,464,000, and deposits, $64,657,000; 223 State banks with a capital of $13,941,200; surplus, $3,916,280; cash, $8,471,249; loans, $64,674,091, and deposits, $132,517,710.

Government. The original Constitution of 1835 was revived in 1850, when many features, radical for the time, were introduced. It has been amended in 1866, 1870. and 1876, and also in 1900. when it was provided that railway corporations might be taxed on the gross value of ​their property and franchises. Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed in either House, the approval of two-thirds of the members elected to each being necessary to adoption, followed by the approval of a majority of the qualified electors of the State. Every sixteenth year, and oftener if provided by law, the question of the general revision of the Constitution is submitted to the electors, and if approved by a majority vote a convention must be called by the Legislature for that purpose. Suffrage is granted to male citizens above twenty-one years of age, who have resided in the State six months, and in the township or ward twenty days.

Executive. The Lieutenant-Governor and the president pro tempore of the Senate are in the line of succession to the Governorship in case of vacancy. The Governor may convene special sessions of the Legislature and exercise the usual pardoning power, subject to certain regulations. Other State officers are the Secretary of State, superintendent of public instruction, treasurer, commissioner of the land office, auditor, and attorney-general. All these officers are elected at the general biennial election, and serve for two years.

Legislative. There are 32 Senators elected for two years from single districts, in the composition of which counties cannot be divided unless they are entitled to two or more Senators. The minimum and maximum constitutional limits to the number of members in the House are 64 and 100 respectively. They are also elected for two years, from districts composed of contiguous territory, in the formation of which no township or city can be divided. Members are paid for mileage and stationery, and $3 per day of actual attendance and when absent on account of sickness; but extra compensation may be granted to members from the Upper Peninsula. Bills may originate in either House, and a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each overcomes the Governor's veto. No new bill can be introduced after the first fifty days of a session. Election of members is on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November of even years. The Assembly opens on the first Wednesday of January of odd years.

Judicial. The Supreme Court consists of one Chief Justice and three associates, chosen by the people for eight years. The State is divided into judicial circuits, in each of which one circuit judge is elected for six years. In each county organized for judicial purposes there is a court of probate, the judge being elected by the county for four years. Justices of the peace, not exceeding four to each township, are elected for four years.

Local Government. The Legislature may confer upon townships, cities, and villages, and upon the board of supervisors of the several counties, such powers of a local, legislative, and administrative character as it may deem proper; and may organize any city of 20,000 inhabitants into a county when the majority of the electors of the county in which the city is located consent. Each county biennially elects a sheriff, clerk, treasurer, register of deeds, and a prosecuting attorney, the sheriff not being eligible to office more than four years in any period of six years. The board of supervisors, composed of one representative from each organized township, has charge of bridges, etc., and may raise by tax $1000 per year, or a greater amount, if the electors consent. There are annually elected in each township a supervisor, clerk (ex-officio school inspector), commissioner of highways, treasurer, school inspector, not exceeding four constables, and an overseer of highways for each highway district.

Statutory Provisions. The legal rate of interest is 6 per cent.; 10 per cent. is allowed by contract. The penalty for usury is forfeiture of debt if over 12 per cent. A local-option liquor law was passed in 1887, under which both manufacture and sale may be prohibited within the county. A married woman may carry on business in her own name, and her property is not liable for the debts of her husband.

Michigan has twelve members in the National House of Representatives. The capital of the State is Lansing.

Finance. The first Legislature of the State authorized in 1837 a loan of $5,000,000, to be devoted to public improvements. Only a small part of the bonds were sold direct and paid in full. About two-thirds of them were deposited with the United States Bank of Pennsylvania, which failed in 1841 after selling some of the bonds. The State became liable for interests on these bonds, for which it never received any payment. It could not meet the interest payment in 1842. An adjustment was soon reached, which amounted to a partial repudiation of the State debt. The State debt amounted in 1861 to $2,316,328, increased during the war to $3,880,399, but fell to $904,000 in 1880, and was almost altogether extinguished in 1890. The present Constitution contains very strict provisions against formation of a State debt, any debts over $50,000 being absolutely prohibited except in case of war or insurrection. The indebtedness dates from the Civil War, and amounted in 1902 only to $416,300. The State must not subscribe to the stock of any company, shall not lend its credit to any one, and must not undertake any internal improvement unless it possesses a specific grant of land or other property for that purpose. The income of the State grows steadily, and was $1,510,000 in 1870, $2,607,000 in 1880, and $3,181,000 in 1890. In 1902 the total receipts were $7,079,429, and expenditures $6,253,141, leaving a surplus of $826,288, and a total balance in June, 1902, of $3,453,811. The revenue of the State is derived partly from direct taxation (about 65 per cent.), and partly from specific taxes on railroads (about 23 per cent.), and on mining companies, banks, insurance and express companies. Altogether, about one-third of the income comes from these specific taxes.

Militia. The militia is composed of all able-bodied male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, except such as are exempted by law. In 1901 the organized militia numbered 3106 enlisted men and commissioned officers.

Population. The population of Michigan increased from 4762 in 1810 to 31,639 in 1830; 212,267 in 1840; 397,654 in 1850; 1,184,059 in 1870; 2,093,889 in 1890; and 2,420,982 in 1900. The rate of gain for the last decade was 15.6 per cent., as against 20.7 per cent. for the United States. From twenty-seventh in rank in 1830, the State rose to ninth in 1880, where it has remained. The density of the population is 42 persons to the square mile. The prairie region in the south was naturally the ​first portion of the State settled, and the mass of the population is still found in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. The population is steadily increasing, however, in the more northern regions. The early settlers were largely from New England and New York, but a very considerable German element settled in the State about the middle of the nineteenth century. The position of Michigan relative to Canada has resulted in giving it a large Canadian element—greater than that of any other State except Massachusetts. The Canadians form the most numerous foreign-born element in the State. They predominate in many northern localities. The German-born population is second in importance among the foreign-born. The total foreign-born population in 1900 was 521,653. In that year there were 26 cities having each over 8000 inhabitants, and aggregating 30.9 per cent. of the total population. The largest cities, with their population in 1900, are as follows: Detroit, 285,704; Grand Rapids, 87,565; Saginaw, 42,345: Bay City, 27,628; Jackson, 25,180: Kalamazoo, 24,404; Muskegon, 20,818; Port Huron, 19,154; Battle Creek, 18,563; Lansing, 16,485; Ann Arbor, 14,509; Manistee, 14,260.

Religion. The Methodist and the Roman Catholic churches are in the lead, followed in the order named by the Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Protestant Episcopalians.

Education. In 1900 the total illiterate population ten years of age and over was 4.2 per cent. In 1900 there were 498,665 pupils enrolled in the public schools, of whom 350,000 were in average attendance. In 1899 there were 692 graded and 6469 ungraded school districts in the State, but the attendance in the former was much greater than in the latter. The average duration of the graded schools was 9.26 months; of the ungraded, 8.05 months. There are county boards of three school examiners, who determine the qualifications of persons proposing to teach in public schools; township boards of three school inspectors, whose title indicates their work; and district boards of six trustees for graded school districts and boards of three trustees for ungraded ones, their duties being to look after the educational interests of the respective districts, specify the studies to be pursued, prescribe textbooks, and elect teachers. No separate school for any race is allowed. Schools must be unsectarian and must be taught at least nine months in districts having eight hundred or more youths of school age, and at least five months in districts having from thirty to eight hundred, and three months in smaller districts. In 1899-1900 there were 15,564 teachers, of whom 12,093 were females. The average monthly wages of men in 1900 were $44.48, and of women $35.35. The State contains normal schools at Mount Pleasant, Ypsilanti, and Marquette. The primary school fund amounted in 1897 to $4,646,204. The greater part of this fund was acquired from the sale of the sixteenth section of land in every township. The remainder was acquired from the sale of swamp lands. The total expenditure of the State for public schools in 1899-1900 was $6,539,146, of which $4,312,245 was paid as salaries to teachers and superintendents. The State University, located at Ann Arbor, is one of the foremost higher educational institutions in the country. The university fund amounted in 1897 to $549,621. The State also maintains an agricultural college and a school of mines. In 1897 there was a State educational fund of $569,951. Besides the State institutions, there are the following denominational schools: Adrian College, at Adrian (Methodist); Albion College, at Albion (Methodist); Alma College, Alma (Presbyterian); Detroit College, Detroit (Roman Catholic); Hillsdale College, Hillsdale (Free Baptist); Hope College, Holland (Reformed); Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo (Baptist); Olivet College, Olivet (Congregational).

Charitable and Penal Institutions. There is a State board of correction and charities appointed by the Governor for a term of 8 years. This board is authorized to examine into the conditions of every city and county poor-house and county jail, visit the State charitable, penal, and reformatory institutions, and make reports and recommendations concerning the same. The law authorizes the Governor to appoint an agent of the board in every county to look after the care of juvenile offenders and dependent children. The system is intended to secure reformation without commitment to State institutions, and only one-third of the children arrested are sent to the Industrial School for boys at Lansing, and to the Industrial Home for girls at Adrian. The State Public School for the care of dependent and neglected children is located at Coldwater. The Michigan School for the Deaf is located at Flint, and the School for the Blind at Lansing. The State insane asylums, with the number of patients June 30, 1900, were as follows: Michigan Asylum for the Insane, at Kalamazoo, 1392 patients; Eastern Michigan Asylum, at Pontiac, 1056 patients; Northern Michigan Asylum, at Traverse City, 1050 patients; and the Upper Peninsula Hospital for Insane, at Newberry, 345 patients. The charge of maintenance of the State's insane has been gradually decreased from $4.06 per week in 1883-84 to $3.08 in 1899-1900. The Wayne County Asylum at Eloise (414 patients) is recognized by the State and is under the supervision of the State board. The State has a home for the feeble-minded and epileptics at Lapeer. The State penal institutions are the Michigan State Prison at Jackson; the State House of Correction at Ionia; and the Upper Peninsula Prison at Marquette. On June 30, 1900, 1372 convicts were confined in these institutions. Besides these the Detroit House of Correction receives prisoners from different counties. Most of the convicts in this institution are on short-time sentences. The State has a parole law under which certain prisoners are allowed to be at large, while still under the control of the prison authorities. The State House of Correction was intended as an adult reformatory, but new legislation has converted it into an ordinary prison, to which all classes of prisoners are sentenced. Part of the prisoners are employed under the State account system, others by contractors who hire the convicts. Various occupations are followed, shirt-making and laundering probably being the most important. The prisoners in county jails are generally kept in idleness.

History. Remains of ancient mines and mining implements have been found within the present limits of the State. The white discoverers and first settlers were French missionaries and fur traders, some of whom visited the site of Detroit as early as 1610. In 1641 French Jesuits found ​their way to the falls of the Saint Mary. The first actual settlement by Europeans within the limits of the State was the mission at Sault Sainte Marie, founded by Father Marquette and others in 1668. Three years later Michilimackinac (now Mackinac) was established. In 1679 and 1686 forts were built at the mouth of the Saint Joseph, and at the outlet of Lake Huron, and in 1701 Antoine de la Mothe-Cadillac founded Detroit. Through the entire period of French occupation the town dragged out a painful existence, though the centre of a considerable fur trade and a place of meeting for friendly Indian tribes. The territory, with other French possessions, fell into the hands of the English at the end of the French and Indian War. Detroit was occupied in 1763, but early in May of that year the Indians, loyal to the French, rose under Pontiac (q.v.), massacred the garrison at Mackinac, and besieged Detroit for about five months. The English showed no capacity for government and the country made no progress under their rule. By the Quebec Act of 1774 the territory became a part of Canada, and during the Revolution Detroit was the starting point for many Indian expeditions which laid waste the American frontier. By the Treaty of Paris in 1783 the region passed to the United States, although England did not at once relinquish possession. After 1784 the Indians of the Northwest, deeming themselves unjustly treated by the Americans, waged a bloody warfare against the Western settlements till they were brought to terms by General Wayne in 1795. By the treaty of peace concluded in that year, they ceded large tracts of land on the eastern shore of the southern peninsula of Michigan and in the north to the United States. It was not until July 11, 1786. that the United States took actual possession of Detroit, though the region was included within the boundaries of the Northwest Territory, so called, and amenable to the ordinance of 1787. In 1800 Ohio was set off from the Northwest Territory, including the eastern portion of Michigan, but in 1802 the whole of the Lower Peninsula was annexed to the Territory of Indiana. Its southern boundary was a line drawn east from the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie. At that time the white population of Michigan was about 4000, consisting for the most part of Canadian traders and coureurs de bois. On June 30, 1805, Michigan was set off as a separate Territory, with substantially its present limits, and Gen. William Hull was appointed Governor. During the War of 1812 the inhabitants were harassed by the British and Indians; Mackinac was captured by the British; Detroit was surrendered by Governor Hull (q.v.); and at Frenchtown, in 1813, a number of American prisoners of war were massacred by the Indians. (For military operations during the War of 1812, see United States.) At different times after 1814 the Indians ceded large tracts of land, and by 1836 all the Lower Peninsula and part of the Upper Peninsula had been freed from Indian title. Surveys were made as early as 1816, and in 1818 a large tract of land was put on the market. In 1819 the Territory was authorized to send a delegate to Congress, and in 1823 the system of rule by a Governor and three judges was replaced by that of a Governor and a council of nine, selected from eighteen chosen by the people; in 1825 the council was increased to thirteen, and after 1827 the members were elected by popular vote. In 1835 a State Constitution was adopted by a convention called for that purpose, but the admission of Michigan into the Union was delayed by a dispute with Ohio concerning a strip of land on the southern boundary. There was danger that the dispute would lead to bloodshed, but in 1836 Congress agreed to admit Michigan upon condition that she should surrender her claim to the disputed territory and accept in lieu thereof a larger area in the Upper Peninsula. The first convention called to consider this proposal, January 26, 1836, rejected it, but it was accepted by a second in December, 1836, and on January 26, 1837, Michigan was admitted into the Union.

The following have been Governors of the State since its organization as a Territory:

TERRITORIAL
William Hull 1805-13
Lewis Cass 1813-31
George B. Porter 1831-34
Stevens T. Mason 1834-35
John S. Homer 1835-36
STATE
Stevens T. Mason Democrat 1836-40
William Woodbridge Whig 1840-41
James W. Gordon (acting) “ 1841-42
John S. Barry Democrat 1842-46
Alpheus Felch “ 1846-47
William L. Greenly (acting) Democrat 1847-48
Epaphroditus Ransom Democrat 1848-50
John S. Barry “ 1850-52
Robert McClelland “ 1852-53
Andrew Parsons (acting) “ 1853-55
Kinley S. Bingham Republican 1855-59
Moses Wisner “ 1859-61
Austin Blair “ 1861-65
Henry H. Crapo “ 1865-69
Henry P. Baldwin “ 1869-73
John J. Bagley “ 1873-77
Charles M. Croswell “ 1877-81
David H. Jerome “ 1881-83
Josiah W. Begole  Democrat and Greenback  1883-85
Russel A. Alger Republican 1885-87
Cyrus G. Luce “ 1887-91
Edwin B. Winans Democrat 1891-93
John T. Rich Republican 1893-97
Hazen S. Pingree “ 1897-1901
Aaron T. Bliss “ 1901-05

The first printing press in Michigan was set up in 1809, and in 1817 the first newspaper was published at Detroit. The opening of the Erie Canal (1825) poured a vast stream of immigration into Michigan, and at the time of the admission of the State the population was nearly 70,000, many of them from New England and New York. The first bank was established at Detroit, in 1818. and by 1837 there were fifteen such institutions. After 1835 the country went speculation mad, a general banking law was passed in 1837, and the State was flooded with paper money. The panic of 1837 did not interfere with the completion of the elaborate system of internal improvements that had been planned. The State undertook the building of three railways across the Lower Peninsula, but after running greatly into debt was forced in 1846 to sell them to private persons at a loss. An act establishing the University of Michigan was passed in 1817, academies and high schools were projected in 1821, and a board of education was created in 1829, but the common schools did not really come into existence till after 1835, and teaching in the university was begun on an appreciable scale about 1845. In 1847 the capital was removed from Detroit to Lansing. From 1853 to 1876 prohibition of the sale of liquor was a part of the Constitution. In 1876 prohibition was abolished and a heavy liquor tax substituted. ​Legislation after the Civil War was concerned largely with the taxation of corporations. In 1889 the Australian ballot was adopted; a law providing for the election of Presidential electors by districts, instead of on a general ticket, was passed in 1891, but was repealed in 1893. A factory inspection act was enacted in 1894, and a stringent anti-trust law in 1899. Michigan has consistently supported the Republican Party since its formation, except for three lapses—in 1882 and 1883, when the Democrats and Greenback party in fusion elected their candidate for Governor, and in 1890, when the Democrats alone carried the State.

Bibliography. Michigan Geological Survey Report (Lansing, 1839 et seq.); Lamman, History of Michigan Civil and Topographical (New York, 1839); Sheldon, The Early History of Michigan (New York, 1856); Campbell, Outline of the Political History of Michigan (Detroit, 1876); Cooley, Michigan: A History of Governments (Boston, 1885); Farmer, The History of Detroit and Michigan (Detroit, 1889); McLaughlin, History of Higher Education in Michigan (Washington, 1891); Beal and Wheeler, Michigan Flora (Lansing, 1892); Champlin, “Industrial Prosperity,” in Michigan Political Science Association Publications (Lansing, 1897).

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Decrease.
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