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

LANSING TOWNSHIP AND CITY, WITH HISTORY

565

nent citizen would mount a barrel or box and read aloud from the
Detroit paper the latest war news to a large crowd of both men
and women. Newspapers were scarce in those days, almost worth
their weight in gold, and everyone was so anxious to hear about
the boys at the front, and especially as a great many Lansing
men and boys had gone to the war.
Mr. Whiteley was very much interested in the Ramshorn Railroad, our first railroad. When the first prospects of a railroad
coming into the city was agitated which meant so much to the
little slow growing town, Mr. Whiteley gave much of his time and
money to help the project along. He went over to Owosso soon
after the road was completed and often told of the shaking up the
passengers received. When they came to one of the high sand
hills all the people had to get off and walk so the locomotive could
pull the empty cars up.
Mr. Whiteley built the first brick house in the third ward, which
is still standing. All the windows and doors and finishing lumber
was brought overland from Owosso, the lime came from Bellevue.
The house was built with three rows of brick on the outside, being
called a solid brick house. White oak beams one and a half foot
through were used in the frame work, no heat or cold could penetrate through the solid brick.
On September 6th, 1857, Mr. Whiteley was united in marriage
to Elizabeth Briggs. She was a young lady of rare qualities of
mind and heart, amply qualified not only to assist him in the consummation of his business projects but also to make his life and
home happy.
The members of the Legislature were always saying there was
no hotel accommodation in Lansing and the best thing that could
be done was to remove the Capitol back to Detroit, out of the
wilderness of Ingham county. They used to say there was nothing in Lansing but wild cats, wolves and Indians. The citizens of
Lansing had to exert every effort to save the Capitol from being
removed. Prominent Lansing men made a house to house canvass
to have citizens who had large comfortable homes take in the
members of the Legislature to room and board. Mr. Whiteley
exerted every effort to have a good hotel built.
Dr. Goucher lived in a story and a half house where the Downey
now stands. The land was very low and the house stood way