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Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== SOURCE: History of St. Clair County, Mich. by Arthur St. Clair A. T. Andreas & Co., Chicago - 1883 [578-579] DAVID HOWELL JEROME, ex-Governor of Michigan, residence Saginaw, was born at Detroit. Mich., November 17, 1829. His parents emigrated to Michigan from Trumansburg. Tompkins Co., N. Y., in 1828, locating at Detroit. His father died March 30, 1831, leaving nine children. He had been twice married, and four of the children living at the time of his death were grown up sons, the offspring of his first union. Of the five children by his second marriage, DAVID H. was the youngest. Shortly after MR. JEROME'S death, his widow moved back to New York, and settled in Onondaga County, near Syracuse, where they remained until the fall of 1834, the four sons by the first wife continuing their residence in Michigan. In the fall of 1834, MRS. JEROME came once more to Michigan, locating on a farm in St. Clair County. Here the Governor formed those habits of industry and sterling integrity that have been so characteristic of the man in the active duties of life. He was sent to the district school, and in the acquisition of the fundamental branches of learning he displayed a precocity and an application which won for him the admiration of his teachers, and al- ways placed him at the head of his classes. In the mean- time he did chores on the farm, and was always ready with a cheerful heart and willing hand to assist his widowed mother. The heavy labor of the farm was carried on by his two older brothers, TIMOTHY and GEORGE, and when thirteen years of age DAVID received his mother's permission to attend school at the St. Clair Academy. While attending there he lived with MARCUS H. MILES, now deceased, doing chores for his board, and the following winter performed the same service for JAMES OGDEN, also deceased. The next summer, MRS. JEROME moved into the village of St. Clair, for the purpose of continuing her son in school. While attending said academy, one of his associate students was ex-Senator THOMAS W. PALMER, of Detroit, a rival candidate before the gubernatorial convention in 1880. He completed his education in the fall of his sixteenth year, and the following winter assisted his brother TIMOTHY in hauling logs in the pine woods. The next summer he rafted logs down the St. Clair River to Algonac. In 1847, M. H. MILES being Clerk in St. Clair County, and VOLNEY A. RIPLEY Register of Deeds, DAVID H. JEROME was appointed Deputy to each, remaining as such during 1848-49, and receiving much praise from his employers and the people in general for the ability displayed in the discharge of his duties. He spent his summer vacation in clerical work on board the lake vessels. In 1849-50. he abandoned office work, and for the proper development of,his physical system spent several months hauling logs. In the spring of 1850, his brother "TIFF" and himself chartered the steamer "Chautauqua, and "Young Dave" became her master. A portion of the season the boat was engaged in the passenger and freight traffic between Port Huron and Detroit, but during the latter part was used as a tow boat. At that time, there was a serious obstruction to navigation, known as the "St. Clair Flats," between Lakes Huron and Erie, over which vessels could carry only about 10,000 bushels of grain. MR. JEROME conceived the idea of towing vessels from one lake to the other, and put his plan into operation. Through the influence of practical men - among them the subject of this sketch - Congress, under a Republican administration, removed the obstruction above referred to, and now vessels can pass them laden with 60,000 or 80,000 bushels of grain. During the season, the two brothers had succeeded in making a neat little sum of money by the summer's work, but subsequently lost it all on a contract to raise the "Gen. Scott," a vessel that had sunk in Lake St. Clair. DAVID H. came out free from debt, but possessed of hardly a dollar of capital. In the soring of 1851, he was clerk and acting master of the steamers "Franklin Moore " and "Ruby", plying between Detroit and Port Huron and Goderich. The following year was clerk of the propeller "Princeton," running between Detroit and Buffalo. In January, 1853, MR. JEROME went to California, by way of the Isthmus, and enjoyed extraordinary success in selling goods in a new place of his selection, among the mountains near Marysville. He remained there during the summer, and located the Live Yankee Tunnel Mine, which has since yielded millions to its owners, and is still a paying investment. He planned and put a tunnel 600 feet into the mine, but when the water supply began to fail with the dry season, sold out his interest. He left in the fall of 1853, and in December sailed from San Francisco for New York, arriving at his home in St. Clair County about a year after his departure. During his absence his brother "TIFF" had located at Saginaw, and in 1854 MR. JEROME joined him in his lumber operation in the valley, spending considerable time in the northern part of the State locating and purchasing pine lands. In 1855, the brothers bought Blackmer & Eaton's hardware and general supply stores at Saginaw, and DAVID H. assumed the management of the busi- ness. From 1855 to 1873 he was extensively engaged in lumbering operations. MR. JEROME'S ancestors were always opposed to slavery in every form, and he imbibed the love of liberty and indepen- dence. Soon after locating at isaginaw, he was nominated for Alderman against STEWART B. WILLIAMS, a rising young man, of strong Democratic principles. The ward was largely Democratic, but MR. JEROME was elected by a handsome majority. When the Republican party was born at Jackson, Mich., DAVID H. JEROME was, though not a delegate to the convention, one of its charter members. In 1862, he was commissioned by GOV. AUSTIN BLAIR to raise one of the six regiments apportioned to the State of Michigan. MR. JEROME immediately went to work and held meetings at various points. The zeal and enthusiasm displayed by this advocate of the Union awakened a feeling of patriotic interest in the breasts of many brave men. and in a short space of time the Twenty-third Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry was placed in the field, and subsequently gained for itself a brflliant record. In the fallof 1862, MR. JEROME was nominated by the Repub- lican party for State Senator from the Twenty-sixth District, APPLETON STEVENS, of Bay City, being his opponent. The contest was very exciting, and resulted in the triumphant election of MR. JEROME. He was twice renominated by acclamation and elected both times by increased majorities, defeating GEORGE LORD, of Bay City, and DR CHESEMAN. of Gratiot County. On taking his seat in the Senate, he was appointed Chairman of the Committee on State Affairs, and was active in raising means and troops to carry on the war. He held the same position during his three terms of service, and introduced the bill creating the Soldier's Home at Harper's Hospital, Detroit. He was opposed to the bill authorizing municipal aid to railroad corporations, and sustained GOV. CRAPO in his veto. He was aclively interested in preserving swamp lands for use in local improvements, and was chairman of the committee on salt, which commission succeeded in passing the bill creating the Salt Association of Michigan. He was selected by GOV. CRAPO as a military aid, and in 1865 was appointed a member of the State Military Board, and served as its President for eight consecutive years. In 1873, he was appointed by GOV. BAGLEY a member of the convention to prepare a new State Constitution, and was Chairman of the Committee on Finance. Although having previously but little experience in such matters, and none of the diplomatic skill which had characterized the other members of the commission in their various official duties for several years, yet he brought into view great force of character and an unlimited amount o f common sense and earnestness, and was recognized as one of the leading members of that body. In 1875, MR. JEROME was appointed a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners. In 1876, he was chairman of a commission to visit CHIEF JOSEPH, the Nez Perec Indian, to arrange an amicable settlement of all existing difficulties. The commission went to Portland, Oregon, thence to the Blue Hills, in Idaho, a distance of 600 miles up the Columbia River. From his many interviews with the Indians, MR. JEROME became satisfied that the true policy was to enact such measures as would result in the Indians selecting land in severally on their various reser- vations for their own use, and have the remainder sold for their benefit, thus opening up the country for settlement by the whites. This would soon civilize the red man, and also make him self- supporting. At the Republican State Convention convened at Jackson, in August, 1880, MR. JEROME was placed in the field for nomination, and on the 5th day of the month received the highest honor the convention could confer on any one. His opponent was FREDERICK M. HOLLOWAY, of Hillsdale County, who was supported by theDemocratic and Greenback parties. The State was thoroughly canvassed by both parties, and when the polls were closed on the evening of election day, it was found that DAVID H. JEROME had been selected by the voters of the Wolverine State to occupy the highest seat within their gift. The following tribute to ex-GOV. JEROME, by an intimate acquaintance, is well worthy of record: "MR. JEROME is a man of great force of character, careful and deliberate in the formation of his opinions, but steadfast in them when formed, and persevering in carrying them out in practice. He is kind and genial in his social nature, and well calcu- lated to exercise a powerful and genial influence over the popular mind. He is every day the same courteous and culti- vated gentleman, lie is ever keenly alive to every scheme aiming at the moral, intellectual and material advancement of his fellows, and ever ready with labor and money to co- operate. He deserves and enjoys the distinction of being a pleasant, social gentleman, a model business man, and a public spirited and exemplary citizen, who displays in his public capacity all the virtues that adorn and beautify his daily life." ===============================================================================