History of Saginaw county, Michigan; together with ... portraits ... and biographies ... History of Michigan ...

210

HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.

place his vessel was chartered by the Government to go to
Chicago for furs. Arriving at Chicago, Mr. Williams took on
board 99 packs of furs belonging to Government, besides a quantity of his own. On his return voyage, his vessel was captured
by the British at Mackinaw, that post having capitulated in his
absence. The capture was effected by a ruse of the enemy. On
approaching the fortress, Mr. Williams saw the American flag flying and a sentry in American uniform on guard, and had no suspicion that the post had changed hands. He was undeceived only
when too late to escape. He lost his vessel and cargo, and it is
little to the credit of the Government that it never made up to him
the loss. The British changed the name of the vessel to "The
Little Belt," and was one of the vessels captured by Commodore
Perry in the battle of Lake Erie.
The family of Oliver Williams, including Gardner D., arrived at
Detroit Nov. 5, 1815, and resided there until March, 1819, at
which time they removed to Silver Lake in Oakland county, being
almost the first settlers of that county. In the spring of 1827,
Judge Williams removed to Saginaw City, and with his brother,
Ephraim S., established himself in the fur trade, under the
American Fur Company. He married in 1829, Eliza Beach, and
died Dec. 10, 1858.
Judge Williams occupied during his busy and eventful life several offices of public trust. He was a member of the first convention to form a constitution for the State of Michigan, a member of
each branch of the State Legislature, Commissioner of Internal
Improvements, County Judge and Treasurer of Saginaw county,
and was at the time of his death Mayor of Saginaw City.
Mr. St. George was born in Montreal, Ont., in 1774, and was a
French Canadian. He came to Michigan when a young man and
took up his abode in the woods, near where Detroit now is. He
cleared of timber the land where the city hall stands and considerable more in its immediate vicinity. When the war of 1812
broke out St. George joined the American forces and fought
through the war. In 1815 he visited the Chippewas of the Saginaw region for the first time, and a year later was a trader among
them. His death took place in 1880. Judge Woodward and
St. George, of Detroit, Harvey Williams and the children of
Oliver Williams, of Saginaw, formed the survivors of the pioneers
of Detroit, of 1815, in the centennial year. St. George and Woodward have since passed away.
Norman Little, son of IDoctor Charles Little, of Livingston
county, N. Y. settled permanently in Saginaw in 1836. His
journey thither was made on the first steam-boat that came up the
Saginaw. His father is said to have visited this valley as early as
1822, and again in 1823-'4, when he entered almost all the land
along the river from the northern limits of East Saginaw to Green
Point and from Saginaw City to the Tittabawassee. In 1836 Norman
Little bought the site of Saginaw from the enterprising Dr.
Millington, of Ypsilanti, and followed up this purchase the year