"Whereas, by the seventh section of the act of Congress, passed April 18, 1818, entitled, "An Act to enable the people of the Illinois territory to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States," it is provided, that all that part of the territory of the United States, lying north of the State of Indiana, and which was included in the former Indiana territory, and which is situated, north of, and not included within the boundaries prescribed by this act, to the State hereby authorized to be formed, shall be, and hereby is attached to and made part of the Michigan territory, from and after the formation of the said State; and whereas the contingency, upon which the annexation of the said tract of country to the said territory of Michigan, has occurred, by the formation of the State of Illinois,
"Now therefore, I do by these presents proclaim the same, and that the inhabitants of the said tract of country, are by the said act of Congress, "entitled to the same privileges and immunities, and subject to the same rules and regulations, in all respects, with the other citizens of the Michigan territory.
"And I do, by virtue of the ordinance of Congress, of July 13, 1787, lay out that part of the tract of country to which the Indian title has been extinguished, included within the following boundaries, namely: "Bounded on the north by the county of Michillimackinac, as established by an act of the governor of the said territory, of this date; on the east by the said county of Michillimackinac, and by the western boundary of the said territory, as the same was established by the act of Congress, passed January 11, 1805, entitled, 'An Act to divide the Indian territory into two separate governments;' on the south by the States of Indiana and Illinois, and on the west by a line to be drawn due north from the northern boundary of the State of Illinois, through the middle of the portage between the Fox river and the Ouisconsin river to the county of Michillimackinac, into a separate county, to be called the county of Brown.
"And I do establish the seat of justice of the said county of Brown, at such point on the Fox river, and within six miles of the mouth thereof, as may be selected by a majority of the judges of the county court of the said county.
"And I do, by virtue of the ordinance aforesaid, lay out that part of the tract of country to which the Indian title has been extinguished, included within the following boundaries, namely: Bounded on the north by the county of Michillimackinac, on the east by the county of Brown, on the south by the State of Illinois, and on the west by the western boundaries of the territory of Michigan, into a separate county, to be called the county of Crawford.
"And I do establish the seat of justice of the said county of Crawford at the village of Prairie du Chien.
"In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be made patent, and the great seal of the said territory to be hereunto affixed.
"Given under my hand at Detroit, this twenty-sixth day of October; in the year of our Lord one thousand eight [L. S.] hundred and eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States; the forty-third, Lewis Cass."
In order to understand what extent of country was, by this proclamation, formed "into a separate county, to be called the county of Crawford," it is necessary to know that the southern limits of the county of Michillimackinac, as established by the governor at the same date, ran across from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, east and west, near the northern limits of the present county of Barron.
Crawford county was thus named by Gov. Cass after Fort Crawford, the military post then located at Prairie du Chien.
It was not until 1829, that the limits of Crawford county, as defined by the proclamation of the governor of Michigan, Oct. 26, 1818, were disturbed. In that year, the Legislative Council of the territory of Michigan, by an act approved October 29th, to take effect the 1st day of January, 1830, formed out of its area, a new county which received the name of Iowa, embracing the whole of Crawford county lying south of the Wisconsin river; so that the county last named was now limited to the region north of that stream. But it still embraced what are now the counties of St. Croix, Dunn, Pepin, Eau Claire, Taylor, Clark, Buffalo, Trempealeau, Jackson, Wood, Adams, Juneau, Monroe, La Crosse, Vernon, Sauk and Richland; and parts of Green, Dane, Columbia, Marquette, Waushara, Portage, Marathon, Lincoln, Chippewa, Barron and Polk counties.
Crawford county remained with its boundaries unchanged, after the passage of the act of 1829, until 1834, when its eastern boundary was restricted to the Wisconsin river above the portage, by the Legislative Council of Michigan territory extending the western boundary of Brown county to that stream; so that now Crawford county had that river for its entire southern and eastern boundary. No other changes were made in the boundaries of the county so long as it remained a part of Michigan territory.
In 1836 the territory of Wisconsin was formed and Crawford county, of which it was a part, was soon shorn of a portion of its area by the Legislature of the new territory. This was effected by the formation of Portage county, which extended across the Wisconsin river, by virtue of an act approved Jan. 12, 1838, entitled:
"An Act establishing a county, to be called Portage, defining its territory, etc.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the territory of Wisconsin, that township number 10, range 6, township number 10, range 7, townships numbers 10 and 11, in range 8, townships 10, 11, 12 and 13, in ranges 9, 10, 11 and 12, east of the fourth principal meridian, and the territory within the following described boundaries, viz.: Crossing the Wisconsin river on the township line between 10 and 11, six miles due west; thence up in a line parallel and six miles from the west shore of said river, to a point opposite to the upper rapids thereof, and thence due east to said rapids, be, and the same is hereby established and declared to be a county, with the name of Portage, and the seat of justice is hereby established at Kentucky city.
"Sec. 2. All acts and parts of acts, which in any way contravene the provisions of this act, are hereby declared to be null and void."
But the loss sustained by Crawford county in the Legislature extending the county of Portage across the Wisconsin, was much more than compensated for, seven days after, by the addition of a large extent of country on the north. It happened this way: The northern portions of Wisconsin territory had, while a part of Michigan territory, formed parts of the counties of Michillimackinac and Chippewa, as already explained. The dividing line between the State of Michigan and the territory of Wisconsin, as established in 1836, left the county seats of these two counties outside of Wisconsin territory; so now there was a considerable area within the limits of the latter without any organization. All this was added "for all judicial purposes" to Crawford county, by an act of the Legislature of Wisconsin territory, approved Jan. 19, 1838, which was as follows:
An act to enlarge the county of Crawford.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Wisconsin, That all that part of Wisconsin territory lying south and west of Lake Superior, and east of the Mississippi and Grand Fork rivers, and north of the Wisconsin river, heretofore not included in any other county in this territory, be, and the same is hereby attached to and made a part of Crawford county, for all judicial purposes."
As the county was now constituted, it included, for judicial purposes, nearly all of what is now the State of Wisconsin north and west of the Wisconsin river, and so much of the present State of Minnesota as lies east of the Mississippi and Grand Fork rivers. But, because of the spread of settlements, it was not destined to long remain with such an extended area. It commenced in 1840 to be shorn of its wide domain, by the formation of the counties of Sauk and St. Croix.
In 1839 an election precinct was established by the commissioners of Crawford county, at Sauk Prairie, and an election was there held in the fall of the same year, at which fourteen votes were cast, returns being made to Prairie du Chien. Owing to the difficulty of communicating with so distant a county seat, the citizens petitioned the Legislature to set off a new county. Accordingly by an act of Jan. 11, 1840, the county of Sauk was formed, comprising townships 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, of ranges 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, east, lying north and west of the Wisconsin river. To this, township 13, of range 2 east, was added in 1849.
But the loss of territory on the south by the formation of Sauk county was not all the diminution suffered by Crawford county in 1840; for, by an act of the territorial Legislature passed January 9, to take effect August 1, of that year, "all of the territory of Wisconsin lying west of a line commencing at the mouth of the Porcupine river, on Lake Pepin, thence up said river to its first forks, thence on a direct line to the Meadow Fork of Red Cedar river, thence up said river to Long Lake, thence along the canoe route to Lac Courte Oreille, thence to the nearest point on the Montreal river, thence down said river to Lake Superior, thence north to the United States boundary line," was formed into a separate county, and named St. Croix.
On the 18th of February, 1841, the county of Portage was enlarged, which deprived Crawford of a considerable tract. This was done by the passage of an act entitled:
An Act to enlarge the boundaries of Portage county and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Wisconsin:
"Section 1. That all that district of country lying immediately north of the counties of Sauk and Portage, and comprised in ranges two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine, east of the fourth principal meridian, and extending north to the northern boundary of the territory except fractional townships fourteen and fifteen north, in range nine east, shall be, and the same is hereby annexed to and made a part of the county of Portage."
Following this, was the creation in 1842, out of a part of Crawford, of the county of Richland. During the winter of 1841-2, the few residents of what is now that county, held a mass-meeting at the Eagle mill and prepared a petition to the territorial Legislature, then in session, setting forth their desire to be detached from Crawford county, in which they then belonged, and to be set apart in a new county. In compliance with this request, by an act dated Feb. 18, 1842, a new county was formed and named Richland, having its present boundaries, so the limits of Crawford county were materially narrowed.
In 1845 still another diminution of territory took place; for on the 3d of February, of that year, the Legislature passed
An act to divide the county of Crawford, and to organize the county of Chippewa.
Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Wisconsin:
Section 1. That the county of Crawford shall be limited to that district of country which lays north of the Wisconsin and east of the Mississippi rivers, and south of a line beginning at the mouth of Buffalo river, thence up the main branch of said river to its source, thence in a direct line to the most southern point on Lake Chetac, thence in a direct line drawn due east until it intersects the western boundary line of Portage county, as enlarged by an act approved Feb. 18, 1841; and west of the western boundary lines of the counties of Portage and Richland.
Sec. 2. That all that district of country lying west of Portage county enlarged as aforesaid, north of the northern boundary line of Crawford county aforesaid, east of the Mississippi river and south of the boundaries of the county of St. Croix, as prescribed in the act approved Jan. 9, 1840, organizing said county, to be known under the name of Chippewa county.
By an act approved Jan. 14, 1846, concerning the boundary line between the counties of Crawford and Chippewa, it was declared as follows:
Section. 1. That the boundary line between the counties of Crawford and Chippewa, shall be a line commencing at the mouth of Buffalo river, on the Mississippi river, thence up the main branch of Buffalo river to its source, thence along the dividing ridge between the waters of Chippewa river and Black river, until it reaches the head waters of Black river, thence in a direct line drawn due east until it intersects the western boundary line of Portage county, as enlarged by an act approved Feb. 18, 1841, which line shall hereafter be the northern boundary of Crawford county, and the southern boundary of Chippewa county, any law to the contrary notwithstanding."
By the Revised Statues of 1849, it was declared that "the district of country included within the following boundaries" should form and constitute the county of Crawford:
"Beginning at a point in the western boundary line of this State, in the Mississippi river, opposite the mouth of the Wisconsin river; and running thence northerly on the boundary line of this State, in said Mississippi river, to a point opposite the mouth of Buffalo river; thence on the southern boundary line of Chippewa county, until it strikes the range line between ranges 1 and 2, east of the meridian aforesaid; thence south on said range line to the northeast corner of township 12, north of range 1 east; thence west on the township line, to the northwest corner of township 12, north of range 2 west of said meridian; thence south on the range line, to the middle of the Wisconsin river; thence down the middle of the main channel of said river, to the place of beginning."
The last dismemberment of the county ("the most unkindest cut of all") was brought about by the passage of the following act and the amendment thereto:
An act to divide the county of Crawford and organize the counties of Bad Ax and La Crosse.
The People of the State of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. All that portion of the county of Crawford lying between sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24, in township 11 and township 15, north of ranges 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 west, be and hereby is organized into a separate county, to be known and called by the name of Bad Ax; and all that portion of Crawford county lying north of township number 14, north of ranges 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, be and hereby is organized into a separate county to be known and called by the name of La Crosse.
Sec. 2. On the first Tuesday in the month of April next the electors of said counties of Bad Ax and La Crosse shall, in addition to electing their town officers, vote for and elect all officers necessary for a complete county organization, and the county officers so elected shall qualify by bond and oath as prescribed by law, and enter upon the duties of their respective offices upon the third Monday of May and continue in office until the first Monday of May and continue in office until the first Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, and until their successors are elected and qualified. It is hereby made the duty of the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county of Crawford to make out notices of such elections, to be posted in the respective counties upon the publication of this act; and the sheriff of Crawford county shall cause the said notices to be duly posted as in other general elections.
Sec. 3. The county of Bad Ax shall remain one town until the board of town supervisors shall divide the same into three or more towns, and the supervisors, town clerk, and town treasurer may act as and be county officers for such offices respectively.
Sec. 4. All that portion of the county of La Crosse laying south of townships range No. 19, is hereby organized in a separate town to be called the town of La Crosse, and the towns of Albion and Pine Valley shall retain the present respective boundaries except as herein altered; and the county board of supervisors shall have power at any time to organize new towns or alter the boundaries of any town or towns.
Sec. 5. The county of Crawford as so organized shall constitute and be one town and the town supervisors shall also be the board of county supervisors; the board of county supervisors shall have power at any time to divide the county into three or more towns according to law, when they shall deem it necessary.
Sec. 6. From and after the third Monday of May next, the said counties of Bad Ax and La Crosse shall be organized for judicial [and] county purposes, and for all purposes and matters whatever, and the county of Chippewa shall be attached to the county of La Crosse for judicial purposes. The circuit court shall be holden in the county of Bad Ax on the third Monday of May and fourth Monday of November of each year, and in the county of La Crosse on the fourth Monday of February and the fourth Monday of August of each year.
Sec. 7. All writs, process, appeals, suits, reconizances, or other proceedings whatever already commenced, or that may hereafter be commenced, previous to the third Monday of May next, in the county or circuit court of Crawford county, shall be prosecuted to a final judgment, order, or decree, and execution may issue thereon and judgment, order or decree may be carried into execution in like manner, and the sheriff of said county shall execute all process therein in like manner as if this act had not passed, anything in this act to the contrary notwithstanding.
Sec. 8. The returns of all elections provided for in this act shall be made for the county of Bad Ax to the clerk of the board of supervisors of the present town of Bad Ax, who shall issue certificates, within ten days from the time of holding such election, to the persons elected to the respective offices. The returns for the county of La Crosse, shall, so far as county officers are concerned, be made to the clerk of the board of town supervisors for the town of Albion, and said clerk shall issue like certificates of election within fifteen days after said election, to the persons duly elected.
Sec. 9. The county seat of the county of Bad Ax shall be at such place as the board of supervisors shall designate, until a place shall be permanently located by election upon that subject, and the qualified electors may vote at any election for the permanent location, and the place (designated by ballot) that shall have a majority of all the votes cast on that subject shall be the permanent county seat for said county.
Sec. 10. The county seat of the county of La Crosse shall be located at the village of La Crosse for the term of three years, upon condition that the people of the town of La Crosse shall furnish suitable buildings for county purposes free of all cost or expense to the county for such buildings: Provided, that if such buildings are not prepared within one year that the county seat shall be permanently located at such place as shall be designated by ballot, at any election of the county, previous notice for thirty days having been given that such election will be held, and the place having a majority of all the votes cast upon that subject, shall be the county seat of said county. And in case no place shall be selected, the board of supervisors shall designate some suitable place for the same purpose.
Geo. H. Walker, Speaker of the Assembly, pro-tem, Samuel W. Beall, Lieut. Governor and President of Senate. Approved March 1st, 1851. Nelson Dewey.
An act to amend an act entitled "An Act to divide the county of Crawford, and organize the counties of Bad Ax and LaCrosse."
The People of the State of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows :
Section 1. All that portion of the county of Crawford, included within the following boundaries, shall form and constitute, and is hereby organized into a separate county, to be known and called by the name of Bad Ax, viz: Beginning at the northwest corner of the county of Richland, thence running south on the range line between ranges two and three west, to the northeast corner of section 24, of township 11, north of range 3 west; thence west on the section line to the boundary line of this State, in the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence northerly on the boundary line of this State, in the said river, to the point of intersection of said boundary line and the township line between townships 14 and 15 north; thence east on said township line to the northeast corner of township 14 north, of range 1 east; thence south on the range line between ranges 1 and 2 east, to the southeast corner of township 13, of range 1 east; thence west on the township line between 12 and 13 to the place of beginning; and all of that portion of the county of Crawford lying north and southwest of the said county of Bad Ax be, and hereby is organized into a separate county to be known and called by the name of La Crosse.
Sec. 2. Section one of the act to which this is amendatory is hereby repealed.
Frederick W. Horn, Speaker of the Assembly. Duncan G. Reed, President pro tem. of the Senate. Approved, March 1, 1851. Nelson Dewey.
It was thus that Crawford county was reduced to its present limits; and the Revised Statutes of 1858 enacted that: "The district of country included within the following boundaries shall form and constitute the county of Crawford, to-wit: Beginning at a point in the western boundary line of this State in the Mississippi river, opposite the mouth of the Wisconsin river, and running thence easterly up the middle of the main channel of the Wisconsin river, to a point where the range line between ranges 2 and 3, west of the meridian aforesaid, intersects the middle of said main channel; thence north on said range line, to the northeast corner of section 24, of township 11 north, of range 3 west; thence west on the section 1 line to the west boundary line of this State, in the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence southerly on said boundary line to the place of beginning."
The limits of the county as thus defined have, by the Revised Statutes of the State, published since that date, been re-affirmed; so that the extent of its territory is well understood and, doubtless, established permanently.
Steps were soon taken by Gov. Cass, after the issuing of his proclamation of October 26, 1818, forming and naming the county of Crawford, to organize it. The officers to be appointed were a chief justice of the county court, two associate justices, a judge of probate, a clerk of the court, a register of probate and of deeds, a sheriff, three justices of the peace, and three county commissioners. The Michigan executive, not having at hand sufficient data to warrant him in making out the appointments for the different offices, hit upon the plan of sending blank commissions to be filled after agreement among the citizens as to the proper persons to hold these offices. Accordingly, the principal inhabitants, after receiving the proclamation of Gov. Cass, assembled at the house of Nicholas Boilvin, in Prairie du Chien, to determine what names should be inserted in the blanks of the commissions sent from Detroit. Boilvin, being already a justice of the peace, under a previous appointment, was authorized to administer the oath of office to those persons agreed upon at the meeting. The result of the deliberation at the citizens' meeting was as follows: For chief justice, John W. Johnson; associate justices, Francis Bouthillier and Wilfred Owens; judge of probate, Wilfred Owens; clerk of the court, John S. Findly; register of probate and of deeds, John P. Gates; sheriff, Thomas McNair; justices of the peace, James H. Lockwood, Nicholas Boilvin (already commissioned) and John W. Johnson; county commissioners, Joseph Rolette, James H. Lockwood and Dennis Courtois, all of "Prairie des Chiens." The clerk of the court was ex-officio county clerk.
The blank commissions, brought out from Detroit by an army officer, reached Prairie du Chien in the spring of 1819. The names of the citizens chosen at the meeting for the respective offices were inserted in the blanks, and the oath of office was administered to each by Nicholas Boilvin, justice of the peace, and thereupon they entered upon the discharge of their official duties. This completed the organization of the county.
The sheriff, in addition to his ordinary duties, was required to make out the assessment rolls, and then, upon warrant of the commissioners, collect the taxes, by first demanding at the usual place of residence of each person, the sum assessed to him, within five days from the receipt of the warrant; and if, thereupon, payment was not made, the goods and chattels of the delinquent were forthwith distrained and sold after five days' public notice. The commissioners were not allowed any compensation for their services. All this will more fully appear by sections 2 to 5 inclusive, of the act of the territory of Michigan, passed Sept. 10, 1819, now given, as follows:
An Act respecting the counties of Brown and Crawford:
Section 1. Be it enacted by the governor and judges of the territory of Michigan: That the county courts for the counties of Brown and Crawford, shall be held on the second Monday of July in every year.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted: That the duties required by the act entitled "An Act to regulate the assessment and collection of territorial taxes," to be performed in the said counties, by the supervisor of territorial taxes, shall be performed by the sheriffs of the said counties respectively, and the duties required by the said act to be performed by the territorial treasurer, shall, within and for the said counties, be performed by the county commissioners of the said counties respectively, except so much as relates to the receipt of the taxes levied by the said act, and the prosecution of delinquent sheriffs and coroners, which last mentioned duties shall be performed by the county treasurers of the said counties respectively. And the taxes specified in the said act shall be collected agreeably to the provisions thereof, except as herein excepted, in the said counties, and the amount shall be paid into the treasury of the proper county, and expended, upon the order of the county commissioners, for any claims, which, by law, are payable at the county treasury.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted: That the commissioners of the said counties shall not receive any compensation for their services.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted: That the act passed the twenty-seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, entitled "An Act respecting the counties of Brown and Crawford," be and the same is hereby repealed: Provided, That all rights which have accrued under the said act shall remain valid.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted: That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after the thirty-first day of December next.
The same being adopted from the laws of one of the original States, to-wit, the State of Ohio, as far as necessary and suitable to the circumstances of the territory of Michigan.
Made, adopted and published at the city of Detroit, in the said territory, this 10th day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen.
Lewis Cass, Governor of the territory of Michigan. A. B. Woodward. John Griffin,one of the judges of the territory of Michigan.
The county officers, at first, kept no records in a permanent way of their doings. Memoranda were made on shingles or bits of paper. The officers of the county continued to hold by appointment from the governor of the territory until 1825, after which, all except sheriffs, justices, judges and their clerks, were chosen by the people. This was in pursuance of an act of Congress directing the Legislative Council of Michigan to provide for the manner of their election.
In his proclamation of October 26, 1818, forming and naming the county of Crawford, Gov. Cass also, it will be remembered, located the county seat "at the village of Prairie du Chien."
But this language was of doubtful meaning, as there were at that time two villages upon the prairie; besides, no particular place was designated where the public buildings were to be erected. It became necessary, therefore, for the Legislative Council of the territory of Michigan to make plain what in the proclamation was of doubtful import, by passing an act not only specifying particularly which of the two villages was to be the seat of justice, but to locate the precise spot where the public buildings were to be erected; so the following act was passed and approved July 24, 1824:
An Act to establish the seat of justice within the counties of Brown and Crawford.
Whereas, Lewis Cass, governor in and over the territory of Michigan, did, by proclamation, bearing date the 26th day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, lay out all that tract of country to which the Indian title has been extinguished, and comprehended within certain boundaries therein defined, into two separate counties, to-wit: the counties of Brown and Crawford, and by one of the provisions of said proclamation, a majority of the judges of the county court of the county of Brown, were authorized and required to establish the seat of justice of said county at any point within six miles of the mouth of Fox river in said county, and whereas, the said judges have neglected to comply with the requisitions contained in said proclamation, to the great and manifest inconvenience of the people of said county; and whereas, also, by the said proclamation the seat of justice of the said county of Crawford was fixed at the village of Prairie du Chien, but no particular place within said village was designated where the public buildings should be erected, and it appearing doubtful by said proclamation which of the said villages upon said prairie were alluded to in said proclamation; therefore,
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, That the county commissioners in the county of Brown, or a majority of them, shall have power, and they are hereby required, on or before the first day of October next ensuing, to establish the seat of justice of said county of Brown, at any point they may deem expedient, within six miles of the mouth of Fox river.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the seat of justice of the county of Crawford shall be, and the same hereby is established upon the farm lots situated at Prairie du Chien, numbered thirty-four and thirty-five upon the map or sketch of the claims to lands at said place, submitted to the commissioners in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty, and entered in the names of Pierre Lessard and Strange Poze, or upon whichever of the said lots, the three high mounds lying immediately below the village of St. Ferriole (so called), and above the lot claimed by Francois Lapoint, senior, may be found to be situated when the boundary lines of said lots are run by the surveyor, or may be otherwise ascertained; and the county commissioners are hereby required to erect the court-house upon the highest or center mound of the said three mounds, and all the other public buildings of said county in the immediate vicinity thereof, whenever the person who is owner of said mounds and the lands adjacent shall execute to the commissioners of said county, for the time being, for the use of said county, a quit claim deed of a lot which shall include the said three mounds, bounded in front by a certain road, leading from the village of St. Ferriole to the old French trading fort (so called), and extending in the rear of said mounds thirteen rods.
The owner of the lot which included "the said three mounds", was James Duane Doty, who immediately proceeded to quit claim to the county commissioners his interest therein by the following deed:
"Whereas, by the second section of an act of the Legislative Council of the territory of Michigan, entitled 'An Act to establish the seats of justice within the counties of Brown and Crawford,' approved by His Excellency, Lewis Cass, on the third day of July, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, it is provided 'that the seat of justice of the county of Crawford shall be, and the same hereby is established upon the farm lots situated at Prairie du Chien, numbered thirty-four and thirty-five, upon the map or sketch of the claims to lands at said place, submitted to the commissioners in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty, and ordered entered in the names of Pierre Lessard and Strange Poze, or upon whichever of the said three high mounds lying immediately below the village of St. Ferriolle, (so-called), and above the lot claimed by Francis LaPoint Sr., may be found to be situated when the boundary lines of said lots are run by the surveyor, or may be otherwise ascertained; and the county commissioners are hereby required to erect the court house upon the highest, or center mound of the said three mounds, and all the other public buildings of said county in the immediate vicinity thereof, whenever the person who is owner of said mounds and the lands adjacent, shall execute to the commissioners of said county for the time being, for the use of said county, a quit claim deed of a lot which shall include the said three mounds, bounded in front by a certain road leading from the village of St. Ferriole to the old French trading fort (so called), and extending in the rear of said mounds 13 rods.
"And, whereas, the said Lessard and Strange Poze (or Powers), did, by deeds bearing date the twenty-third and twenty-fourth days of February, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, sell and convey the said town lots numbered thirty-four and thirty-five, in fee, to James Duane Doty:
"Now, therefore, be it known, that I, the said James Duane Doty, being the owner of said mounds and lands adjacent thereto, (excepting and specially reserving such just claim as the United States may have as owners of the same), for and in consideration of the provisions contained in the act aforesaid, and for and in consideration of the probable increase in value of lots aforesaid, from the erection of public buildings on the mounds before mentioned, and for divers other good and sufficient considerations, have bargained, sold and quit claimed, and by these presents do bargain, sell and quit claim unto the commissioners of said county of Crawford, for the time being, and to and for the use of the said county, all my right, title, interest, estate, claim and demand, both at law and in equity, and as well in possession as in expectancy, of, in and to a certain lot which shall include the said three mounds, bounded in front by a certain road leading from the village of St. Ferriole to the 'old French trading fort,' (so called), and extending in the rear of said mounds thirteen rods; according to the following plat or sketch of that part of the Prairie du Chien upon which the said mounds are situated; that is to say: [Here a map is inserted]. Together with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances thoreunto belonging.
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal, this twenty-eighth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four. James D. Doty, [L. S.]
Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of us, Robert Irwin, Jr., A. J. Irwin.
County of Brown, ss:
"Be it remembered, that on this thirty-first day of August, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, came before the undersigned, Justice, James Duane Doty, who acknowledged that he had executed the foregoing deed, for the purposes and uses therein expressed; all of which I do certify according to the statute.
Robert Irwin, Jr., Justice of the Peace."
If you have resources for Crawford County or would like to volunteer to help with look-ups, please e-mail Tim Stowell