Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

CHAPTER IX
LANSING TOWNSHIP AND CITY, WITH HISTORY.
Lansing in 1863; a pioneer foundry as described by Dr. F. N. Turner; early days
in Lansing; Lansing in Civil War days; pioneer architecture; Weiman's brewery; early day gardens; the Cowles property; Dryer family; old first ward
school; sketch by Alvin Rolfe; G. A. Gower's collection of early newspapers;
Eben S. Dart; Museum relics: Wild-cat money; Indians in Lansing; F. S.
Hartshorn and Allen S. Shattuck; Lansing's early industries; passing of early
landmarks; Austin Blair monument; Jenison family; Butler family; early day
photos and attendant history; Dr. Orville Marshall; old Booster book; poem,
by Dr. H. S. Burr; more about early newspapers; Old Capitol Hall; pioneer
business; heart flutters of early Lansing; first fire engine; story of Chief Okemos
and his gang; Grand River boat house; history of Michigan Agricultural College; schools of the '60's; first railroad; Lansing as a trade center in '73; history of the Whitely family; peoms by Byron M. Brown; the Ballard family;
old buildings in Lansing; Wescott family; B. F. Davis; R. B. Calahan story;
John Broad.
From the Michigan State Gazetteer for 1863.
Lansing, a city of Ingham county and Capital of the State,
beautifully situated on the Grand river, about 100 miles northwesterly from Detroit, and as nearly as possible in the center of
the settled portion of the State.
Latitude 42 deg. 43 min. north, and longitude 84 deg. 29 min.
west. The city was commenced under the name of "Michigan,"
in 1847 (it having been decided by an act of Legislature passed
the same year that the Capital should be here located), and on
the 25th of December of that year became the permanent seat of
government, being at that time surrounded by an almost unbroken
wilderness.
The first settlement made upon the territory which now constitutes the city of Lansing was by the Hon. James Seymour, who
erected a small log house and a saw mill in 1846 in what is
now the fourth ward. The name "Lansing" was given the city in
honor of one of its early settlers in the year 1849.
The necessarily slow process of clearing up a heavily timbered
country has tended somewhat to retard the growth of the city,