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

587

The city's very first hotel, and in fact one of the first buildings
to be erected in the town, is located on the southwest corner of
Franklin Avenue and Center street and now serves the very modern purpose of housing a score or more of families. The building
is known now as Franklin Terrace. Seventy-five years ago,
when only a trail led to the door, "The Seymour Tavern," was
the name by which it was known to early members of the Legislature and to the few settlers about Lansing.
SEYMOUR BROTHERS.
According to Dr. Turner's historic record of the building,
James and Horatio Seymour, two brothers, speculated as to
Lansing being the Capital of the State and eventually amounting
to something. The Seymours were New Yorkers but owned saw
mills at Flushing. In 1847 Lansing was named the Capital and
the Legislature was assured.
So the Seymours started the first hotel. The building originally was 48 x 128 feet with cellars and two stories. Lumber
and interior finish for the new hostelry were hauled from the Seymour mills at Flushing by oxen over mere trails. Some of the
hardware, hinges for doors, etc., was brought from Eaton Rapids
by boat as much of the traffic then was on the Grand River.
The hotel was built on the city's first clearing. Dr. Turner's
father, Richard Turner, a then unmarried young man, came up
from Mason where his uncle kept store and started to work on
the hotel for the Seymours. He often, previous to his death,
told his son, Dr. Turner, of taking a Sunday ride one June up
river with "Mort" Cole. Mr. Cole was also working for the
Seymours but later went into business when the town became
larger.
The west bank of the Grand, when the hotel was building,
showed not a sign of the white man except occasional marks of
surveyors who had been sent here by the government to locate the
Capital site and survey the town. For miles upon miles west was
unbroken timber.
Lansing's first hotel had few conveniences, but was shelter and
served good meals. It had one convenience not known to modernity, however, and that was a bar. Its lighting system was
candles. If guests were sick in the night or wanted anything they