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Lucius Lyon | |
|---|---|
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's2nd district | |
| In office March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | John S. Chipman |
| United States Senator fromMichigan | |
| In office January 26, 1837 – March 3, 1839 | |
| Preceded by | Himself (Shadow Senator) |
| Succeeded by | Augustus S. Porter |
| United States Shadow Senator from theMichigan Territory | |
| In office November 10, 1835 – January 26, 1837 | |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Succeeded by | Himself (U.S. Senator) |
| Delegate to theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan Territory'sat-large district | |
| In office March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835 | |
| Preceded by | Austin Eli Wing |
| Succeeded by | George Jones |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1800-02-26)February 26, 1800 Shelburne, Vermont, U.S. |
| Died | September 24, 1851(1851-09-24) (aged 51) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
Lucius Lyon (February 26, 1800 – September 24, 1851) was a U.S.statesman from the state ofMichigan. Along withLouis Campau, Lucius Lyon is remembered as one of the founding fathers ofGrand Rapids, Michigan, the state's second-largest city. ADemocrat, he served as a Delegate to the U.S. House from Michigan Territory (1833–1835), a U.S. Senator from Michigan (1837–1839), and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's second congressional district (1843–1845).
Lyon was born inShelburne, Vermont, on February 26, 1800, a son of Asa Lyon and Sarah (Atwater) Lyon.[1] He received a common school education in Shelburne and then worked with his father on the family farm.[2] At age 18, Lyon began attendance at academies in Shelburne andBurlington, and he taught school in between academy terms.[3] He studied engineering and surveying with John Johnson of Burlington, and moved toDetroit, Michigan Territory, in 1821.[4] Lyon initially worked in Michigan as a teacher, then took upsurveying, and was eventually appointed Deputy Surveyor General ofMichigan Territory.[5]
During the summers of the mid-1820s, Lyon surveyed areas that are now parts of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. In the winters, he often visited family in Vermont and studied scientific subjects including geology atMiddlebury College. These studies enabled him to develop superior knowledge of Michigan Territory, including land and lakes, flora and fauna, and natural resources.[6] In 1829, he was commissioned to rebuild theFort Gratiot Lighthouse at the entrance to theSt. Clair River fromLake Huron. In the 1830s, he surveyed a portion of what would become the boundary betweenIllinois andWisconsin. Lyon placed the initial point of theFourth Principal Meridian on December 10, 1831. He also participated in the survey parties which established thebaseline andmeridian used to definetownships in Wisconsin. His field notebooks recorded considerable detail about the land he surveyed, providing a rich source of information for later researchers.
When Michigan applied for statehood in the 1830s, action was delayed in Congress because Ohio objected to surrendering theToledo Strip, which resulted in a conflict known as theToledo War.[7] Lyon's detailed knowledge of Michigan's geography enabled him to make a persuasive argument to residents of Michigan that accepting theUpper Peninsula in lieu of the Toledo Strip was an equitable solution.[7] The compromise caused Ohio to withdraw its objections to Michigan statehood, and Michigan joined the Union in 1837.[7]
Lyon was elected as a non-voting Delegate to theU.S. Congress for theMichigan Territory, serving from 1833 to 1835. On December 11, 1833, he presented a formal petition to Congress requesting Michigan's admission into the Union. Congress delayed consideration of statehood, in part due to a dispute withOhio over theToledo Strip and also in part due to opposition from southern states to admit anotherfree state.
From May 11 to June 24, 1835, he was a member of the convention that drafted the firstMichigan Constitution, which voters adopted in October, 1835. In November 1835, Lyon was elected asU.S. Senator. However Michigan's delegation to Congress was seated as "spectators", pending Michigan's admission as a state. Upon Michigan's admission as a state on January 26, 1837, Lyon served as a full U.S. Senator until 1839.
On March 28, 1836, Lyon was a witness to theTreaty of Washington of 1836, in which theOttawa andChippewa nations of Indians ceded much of the land in the northern portion of theLower Peninsula of Michigan. He was also witness to a separate treaty on May 9, 1836, with the Chippewa in which additional land was ceded.
He did not run for reelection in 1839 and moved toGrand Rapids, Michigan. He was a member of theBoard of Regents of theUniversity of Michigan from 1837 to 1839, and was appointed Indian commissioner atLa Pointe, Wisconsin, in 1839. He was elected as aDemocrat from the newly formed2nd district in Michigan to the28th Congress, serving one term from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1845. He was the first person to represent Michigan in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House. In both houses of Congress he served on theCommittee on Public Lands. He did not run for reelection to the U.S. House in 1844.
After leaving Congress, Lyon was appointed by PresidentJames K. Polk as U.S. Surveyor General forOhio,Indiana, andMichigan.[8] He moved the office for this post fromCincinnati, Ohio, toDetroit, Michigan, and served from 1845 to 1850.[8]
Lyon was also a major financial backer of Hiram Moore, an inventor and a founder of the village ofClimax, Michigan. Moore reportedly invented a working farm machine in the 1830s and 1840s that "combined" the functions of athreshing machine and areaper, decades beforecombines were commonly available.[9] Moore's designs were allegedly copied byCyrus McCormick and despite many years of legal wrangling, Moore was unsuccessful in pursuing hispatent claims.
He also owned a large tract of land inGrand Rapids, Michigan, and engaged in a feud over platting the area with the other major land owner,Louis Campau. Lyon wanted to call it the village of Kent rather than Grand Rapids. Lyon is also remembered in Grand Rapids for attempting to commercialize salt deposits in the city by boring a hole and extracting salt from the brine water below.
Lyon professed theSwedenborgian religious faith[10] and was an active advocate fortemperance[10] until he later became affiliated with theWashingtonian movement, which advocated the total abstinence from consuming alcohol.
Lyon never married, and had no children.[11] He died at the Detroit home of his nephew George W. Thayer on September 24, 1851.[11][12] Lyon was buried atElmwood Cemetery in Detroit.[13]
The Michigan localesSouth Lyon;Lyon Township, Oakland County;Lyon Township, Roscommon County;Lyon Lake; andLyons Township are all named after Lyon. Notably, in 1836, Lucius Lyon purchased much of the property in a small village inIonia County, Michigan, and renamed itLyons. He platted the village, established the first post office and installed his brother, Truman, as the first postmaster, although he never lived in the village.
Lyon Street and Lyon Square, both located in downtownGrand Rapids, Michigan, are named after him. In 2008, city leaders erected a bronze statue of Lyon's likeness downtown, as part of a "Community Legends" initiative intended to pay tribute to pivotal figures in Grand Rapids history.[14]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Delegate to theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan Territory's at-large congressional district 1833–1835 | Succeeded by |
| New constituency | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 2nd congressional district 1843–1845 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| New seat | U.S. Shadow Senator (Class 1) from the Michigan Territory 1835–1837 Served alongside:John Norvell | Succeeded by Himself asU.S. Senator |
| Preceded by Himself asShadow Senator | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Michigan 1837–1839 Served alongside:John Norvell | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
