7th Michigan Territorial Council

The Seventh Michigan Territorial Council,[1] also known as the Rump Council, was a meeting of the legislative body governing Michigan Territory in January 1836, during the term of Acting Governor John S. Horner. At the time, most of Michigan Territory was awaiting admission to the union as the state of Michigan and had already seated its new state legislature. This was the final session of the Council and consisted only of members from the "contingent remainder" or "rump territory"—the remaining counties that formed the new Wisconsin Territory later that year.[2][3]

7th Michigan Territorial Council
←6th 1st Wisconsin Territorial Assembly→
Overview
Legislative bodyMichigan Territorial Council
JurisdictionMichigan Territory
TermJanuary 1, 1836 (1836-01-01) – January 15, 1836 (1836-01-15)
Michigan Territorial Council
Members13 members
PresidentWilliam S. Hamilton
Sessions
1stJanuary 1, 1836 – January 15, 1836

Background

A constitutional convention in May 1835 drafted a new state constitution for the portion of Michigan Territory that makes up the modern state of Michigan. At the same election in which the constitution was ratified on October 5, 1835, voters elected the first members of the Michigan Legislature, which was set to take over legislative power from the territorial council.[4] In order to ensure that the remainder of the territory was not left without representative government during the transition period, at its final session before the convention, the council had authorized Territorial Secretary and Acting Governor Stevens T. Mason to apportion seats on the next council among the counties not covered by the new constitution. He did so in a proclamation on August 25, 1835, which called for the reconfigured council to meet in Green Bay on January 1, 1836.[2]

Shortly after Mason's proclamation, President Andrew Jackson replaced him as secretary with John S. Horner, who also became acting governor. Horner issued a proclamation of his own on November 9, 1835, calling on the council to meet in Green Bay a month sooner, on December 1. Travel conditions made it difficult to make the trip to Green Bay on such short notice, and the newly-elected members apparently each spontaneously decided to ignore Horner's proclamation and instead meet on the previously-announced date of January 1, 1836.[5]

Session

Nine of the 13 elected members of the council attended the session in Green Bay beginning January 1, which was sufficient to constitute a quorum.[6] Acting Governor Horner did not travel to Green Bay for either his own December 1 meeting date or the January 1 date, but sent a letter on December 30 explaining his absence, which meant that the council could not take up any legislative business.[7]

The council adjourned sine die on January 15, 1836.[8] The Territory of Wisconsin was created on July 3 of that year, with a new bicameral legislature; the 1st Wisconsin Territorial Legislature convened on October 25.[9]

Leadership and organization

On January 2, 1836, William S. Hamilton (son of Alexander Hamilton) was elected president of the council, Albert Gallatin Ellis secretary, Thomas A. B. Boyd recording clerk, William B. Long enrolling clerk, Levi Sterling sergeant-at-arms, W. H. Bruce doorkeeper, and Charles Green and George W. Lawe messenger and assistant messenger, respectively.[10]

The council debated whether it was worthwhile to appoint standing committees, given the absence of Acting Governor Horner; they elected to create the following committees in order to be prepared in case the governor did arrive:[11]

  • Claims: Lawe, Smith, Vineyard
  • Enrollment: Burnett, Edgerton, Vineyard
  • Expenses: Edgerton, Knapp, Slaughter
  • Judiciary: Burnett, Edgerton, Slaughter
  • Militia: Slaughter, Smith, Teas
  • Schools: Knapp, Smith, Teas
  • Territorial Affairs: Burnett, Edgerton, Teas

Members

The apportionment of seats on the council among the counties of the "rump territory" was determined by Mason's August 25, 1835, proclamation, and the election of members took place on October 5, 1835.[4][12]

Members[13]
District County Name Party Notes
1 Brown

Milwaukee

 Benjamin Hyde Edgerton
Gilbert Knapp Whig
John Lawe
William B. Slaughter
George H. Walker Did not appear at session[6]
2 Iowa William S. Hamilton Whig
Robert C. Hoard Did not appear at session;[6] elected October 5, resigned October 9, 1835[14]
James Russell Vineyard
3 Crawford Thomas P. Burnett Democrat
4 Dubuque Allen Hill (physician) Did not appear at session[6]
John Parker Did not appear at session[6]
5 Des Moines Jeremiah Smith, Jr.
Joseph B. Teas

Notes
  1. The council styled itself as the Seventh Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, although the area over which it had jurisdiction was beginning to be called—unofficially—the territory of Wisconsin, and contemporary newspaper reports referred to it as the Legislative Council of Wisconsin. (Schafer 1920, pp. 64, 67)
  2. Schafer 1920, pp. 63–64
  3. Lorenzsonn 2010, p. 26
  4. Cyclopedia of Michigan 1900, p. 27
  5. Schafer 1920, pp. 64–65
  6. Schafer 1920, pp. 68–69
  7. Schafer 1920, pp. 65, 72–73
  8. Schafer 1920, p. 148
  9. Lorenzsonn 2010, p. 32
  10. Schafer 1920, pp. 69–70
  11. Schafer 1920, pp. 72–73
  12. Schafer 1920, pp. 63, 65
  13. Schafer 1920, p. 68
  14. Letter, Robert C. Hoard to John S. Horner, in Historical Collections and Researches Made by the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society Vol. 37. Lansing: Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford Co., 1909-1910; p. 374

References
  • Cyclopedia of Michigan: Historical and Biographical Synopsis of General History of the State, New York & Detroit: Western Publishing and Engraving, 1900, retrieved 2018-11-05
  • Lorenzsonn, Axel (2010), Steam & Cinders: The Advent of Railroads in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Historical Society, retrieved 2019-01-01
  • Schafer, Jack, ed. (1920), The Rump Council, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, retrieved 2019-10-01
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