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), 2 (97), pp. 2–3, May 20, 1819, retrieved 2019-10-15
• Carter, Clarence E., ed. (1943), The Territorial Papers of the United States, 11, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, retrieved 2019-10-15
• Finkelman, Paul; Hershock, Martin J.; Taylor, Clifford W. (2006), The History of Michigan Law, Ohio University Press, retrieved 2019-10-14