Ichabod Weeks

Ichabod Weeks supplied the needs of early settlers and served as a township constable.

The Ichabod Weeks and Francis March general store sat at the corner of Main and Portage Streets. Their wares included “a general assortment of dry goods, groceries, crockery, boots and shoes, hardware, glass, and nails” imported from New York and Boston. March likely took over the general store from George Washington Winslow who ran it with a Mr. Sherman until selling it to Weeks. Their store reflected the transportation revolution with the Erie Canal and greater ease of transporting goods and people between the old northwest and coastal cities.[1]

Weeks also kept his community safe as one of the early constables in 1846. That same year, the Michigan legislature passed revised statutes for the state that clearly defined the role of township constables. "Constables shall serve all warrants, notices and process lawfully directed to them by the township board, or the township clerk, or any other officer, and shall perform such other duties as are required of them by law," the statutes stated. "Any constable may serve any writ, process or order lawfully directed to him, in any township in his county." Michigan law also considered constables "ministerial officers of justice of the peace" who attended circuit court sessions when called on by the sheriff. In short, constables wielded considerable police power.[2]

Ichabod Weeks left little record about his early life. Born in Greenland, New Hampshire, in 1816, he likely came to Michigan as a young adult. If the rising cost of land in the east pushed settlers west, "Manifest Destiny" pulled settlers into the old northwest and beyond. Weeks died in 1848, and his probate record offers the only clear window into his life. His estate included “two small horses, one black horse, one brown horse” as well as “[two or three] saddles, a buggy, two horse buggy, one new wagon, two double sleighs.” He also owned land, including part of section 10 or what is now part of the Northside neighborhood. He owned a share of 3 and 61/100 acres of land purchased from fur trader Rix Robinson.[3]

Ichabod Weeks was a landowner, store keeper, and early constable in the early days of Kalamazoo. He watched the village grow and played a role in its development. And yet, as is the case for many early settlers, most of what is knowable about Weeks comes through chance: land sales, business records, and probate.

Notes

[1]. “Advertisement," Kalamazoo Gazette, 1842, p. 2; Kalamazoo Gazette, May 11, 1839; “History.” Kalamazoo Public Safety, www.kalamazoopublicsafety.org/About/Message-from-Chief-Boysen/History#section-1 (accessed 26 September 2024).

[2] Samuel W. Durant, compiler, History of Kalamazoo County, Michigan (Philadelphia, Penn.: Everts & Abbott, 1880), 291; Acts of the Legislature of the State of Michigan (Lansing, Mich.: W. S. George, etc., 1846), pg. 93.

[3]. “Ichabod Weeks (1816-1848) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/214247450/ichabod-weeks. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024; Ichabod Weeks, Probate Record, Zhang Legacy Center Archive.