1823 Michigan Territorial Council election

The 1823 Michigan Territorial Council election was held in the Territory of Michigan to elect the members of the territory's newly-formed legislative council.

1823 Michigan Territorial Council election
September 4, 1823
18 candidates, from which 9 members to be chosen by the president of the United States

Background
Main article: Michigan Territorial Council § History

Since its creation from part of Indiana Territory in 1805, the government of Michigan Territory had consisted of a governor, a secretary, and three judges; the governor and judges together formed the legislative branch of government. This was the first stage of territorial government outlined in the Northwest Ordinance.[1] An election called by Governor Cass in 1818 to decide whether to move to the second stage of government—an elected legislature—failed largely due to concerns over the cost that would be borne by the territory. Public discontent with the first stage government continued to mount, until in 1822 hundreds of residents petitioned Congress for reform.[2]

An act of Congress on March 3, 1823, created a four-year term for the judges and transferred the powers of the territory to the governor and a legislative council of nine people serving terms of two years. Members of the council were to be appointed by the president of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate, from a slate of 18 people chosen in a general election.[3]

Election

The Act of March 3, 1823, specified that the 18 people should be chosen by the qualified electors of the territory at the next election of its delegate to Congress, following the same rules as that election.[3] The date of that election had been set as the first Thursday in September of every odd-numbered year by a May 20, 1819, act of the governor and judges of the territory. The elections were to be held at the "seat of justice" in each county in the territory.[4] The next election following the Act of March 3, 1823, was on September 4, 1823.

Election results (top 18 of 123 vote-earners)[5]
Rank Candidate County of

Residence[6]

 Votes by County Total Votes
Brown Crawford Mackinac Macomb Monroe Oakland St. Clair Wayne
1 Abraham Edwards Wayne 80 82 103 288 152 76 404 1185
2 Stephen Mack Oakland 80 82 109 285 173 66 372 1167
3 William H. Puthuff Mackinac 75 82 138 70 106 156 78 364 1069
4 Wolcott Lawrence Monroe 82 27 282 111 44 410 956
5 John Stockton Brown 82 63 273 81 59 268 826
6 Roger Sprague Macomb 99 252 138 35 283 807
7 Robert Irwin Jr. Oakland 31 82 1 103 88 173 71 354 903
8 Zephaniah W. Bunce St. Clair 53 82 67 265 50 58 186 741
9 Hubert Lacroix Monroe 52 81 127 80 36 335 711
10 Joseph Miller Macomb 57 87 106 117 328 625
11 Solomon Sibley Wayne 30 27 75 156 60 202 610
12 William Brown Wayne 59 190 20 7 311 587
13 Ebenezer Reed Wayne 7 82 19 188 39 23 215 573
14 Louis Baufet Wayne 45 56 192 33 246 572
15 Francois Navarre Monroe 56 55 195 1 17 232 556
17 Benjamin F. Stickney Monroe 28 89 129 39 265 550
16 Laurent Durocher Monroe 34 202 11 24 278 549
18 Harry Conant Monroe 26 85 110 38 244 503
Totals (all 123 vote-earners) 1024 1476 140 1934 5022 3014 1391 10034

Territorial Governor Lewis Cass submitted the 18 names to John Quincy Adams, then the U.S. secretary of state, on October 30, 1823. Cass also included the vote totals and county of residence, saying, "So far as the President in the selection may think fit to be guided by the wish of the people, as expressed by their votes, or by an apportionment of the representatives among the different parts of the Territory, these data may be important".[7]

In a letter to General Alexander Macomb in November 1823, Cass asked Macomb to meet with the secretary of state to express his desire that the top nine vote-earners be appointed. Cass feared that if that anyone else were appointed, he would be accused of having influenced the decision, a charge which he felt would be "seriously injurious". Macomb had a conversation with Adams about it on November 20 and forwarded Cass's letter to him the following day.[8]

President James Monroe issued a commission on February 4, 1824, appointing the top nine vote-earners to the council, as Cass had suggested.[9] On April 15, Governor Cass issued a proclamation calling for the first Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan to convene in Detroit on June 1, 1824.[10]

Notes
  1. Finkelman, Hershock & Taylor 2006, p. 17.
  2. Finkelman, Hershock & Taylor 2006, pp. 24–26.
  3. An Act to amend the ordinance and acts of Congress for the government of the territory of Michigan, and for other purposes, 3 Stat. 769 (1823).
  4. Act of May 20, 1819.
  5. Carter 1943, pp. 484–486.
  6. Carter 1943, p. 415.
  7. Carter 1943, pp. 414–415.
  8. Carter 1943, p. 419.
  9. Carter 1943, p. 579.
  10. Carter 1943, p. 580.

References
  • "An Act to regulate the Election of a Delegate from the Territory of Michigan to the Congress of the United States of America", Detroit Gazette (published May 28, 1819), vol. 2, no. 97, pp. 2–3, May 20, 1819, retrieved October 15, 2019
  • Carter, Clarence E., ed. (1943), The Territorial Papers of the United States, vol. 11, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, retrieved October 15, 2019
  • Finkelman, Paul; Hershock, Martin J.; Taylor, Clifford W. (2006), The History of Michigan Law, Ohio University Press, retrieved October 14, 2019
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