Ann Arbor
by: Courtney Schember
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Explore the History of Ann Arbor!
The Founding and Early Life:
The Founding and Early Life:
Who founded Ann Arbor?
- John Allen and Elisha Rumsey originally founded Ann Arbor. After they met in Detroit in January of 1824, Allen and Rumsey imagined their establishment to be a flourishing community. They purchased land (Allen bought 480 acres and Rumsey bought 160) in February. They both were trying to start a new life after having some misfortune in their old ones (Allen owed some hefty debts in Virginia and Ramsey deserted his family and misused a loan back in the state of New York). "They chose a name for the site that acknowledged its generous stands of burr oaks, honored the common name of their wives and beckoned . . . to the tide of settlers in the territory" (Marwil 2).
John Allen
What influenced the founders to build Ann Arbor where it is?
- The area west of Detroit seemed to them to be a great area to build a new town, with 10 miles between settlements and wood/water nearby, they decided the area that is now Ann Arbor would make a good place to establish a village (Marwil 2).
Why did people come to Ann Arbor?
- The name “suggested a haven in an otherwise uncivilized landscape”. Also. the area was very dense in forest and the Huron River was nearby, providing wood and water to its residents (Marwil 2).
What groups of people immigrated to early Ann Arbor?
- The Germans (emigrating from the state of Wuertemberg) and Irish (refugees from a famine) (Marwil 6-7).
What was life like for the immigrants who came to early Ann Arbor?
- “Those who settled in Ann Arbor usually had little but muscle and wit to make their way. Many of the men worked as laborers, numerous woman and girls as servants. But not all the Irish were poor, especially those who emigrated before the hard times” (Marwil 7).
- “Some villagers in the 1840’s, however, resented the arrival of so many foreigners . . . they viewed the immigrant from abroad as a danger to cherished principles and institutions he was unlikely to value or understand” (Marwil 17).
How did the coming of immigrants change early Ann Arbor?
- Created tension in the village between some immigrants and villagers.
Trivia:
- Michigan Territorial Council passed law that incorporated the village in 1833, which then included the land north of the Huron River (Marwil 7).
- The first president of Ann Arbor was John Allen (Marwil 8).
- Ann Arbor was established as a city on April 4, 1851 (Marwil 22).
- John Allen died from a “long illness” on March 11, 1851 (Marwil 22).
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