1789

One of the most important local chiefs in Michigan was Chief Okemos, chief of the Chippewa tribe from about 1789 to 1858 when he died.  He signed certain treaties allowing white people to settle on Indian lands.  

1700’s

Native Americans developed a system of trails throughout Washtenaw County to facilitate trade between what is now Michigan and neighboring states. These trails remained major traffic lines throughout the centuries, and today the Great Sauk Trail is highway US-12 and I-94 runs the length of St. Joseph 's Trail.  

1805

The Michigan Territory is created, with Detroit designated as the seat of government. William Hull is appointed governor. Fire destroys Detroit .  

1807

Treaty signed by Native Americans relinquishing their rights to Washtenaw County .  Signed by chiefs of Ottawa , Chippewa, Potawatome, and Huron tribes.

1812

Detroit and Fort Mackinac are surrendered to the British during the War of 1812.  

1813

Jan. 22, 1813.  A force of 1,300 British soldiers and Native Americans fall upon a group of US soldiers on the River Raisin near present-day Monroe .  (This was a continuation of the War of 1812.)  Some of them were massacred.  This was the largest battle ever fought on Michigan soil.  Later that year, American soldiers drove out the British, amidst cries of “Remember the River Raisin!”  

1813

American forces re-enter Detroit . Lewis Cass is appointed governor of the Michigan Territory .  

1815

US Surveyor General Edward Tiffin reported that Michigan has very little land suitable to agriculture, it is mostly swamp.  

1815

The first surveyed road was called the “ Pontiac ” Road, later known as Woodward Avenue .  That was authorized by Congress on Dec. 15, 1815.  The early roads were generally all Indian trails.  

1817

Monroe County established on July 14, 1817 by Gov. Lewis Cass.  At that time, it included the land now known as Lenawee County .  Monroe County was established in a hurry because President Monroe was about to arrive in Michigan for a visit.  

1820

Congressional Land Act of 1820 allowed a person to purchase 80 acres of land out west ( Michigan , for example) at only $1.25 per acre.

1822

Maine achieved statehood.  This was commemorated in 1970 with a six-cent stamp-- in 1970, that was enough postage to send a first class letter.  

1822

Washtenaw County was established by the Michigan Legislature  

1823

The Chicago Road was authorized by Congress March 3, 1823.  It followed an old Indian trail named the Sauk-Fox trail from Detroit to the shore of Lake Michigan , what is now Highway 12.  (The Indian trail connected Montreal to Chicago and then probably continued west.)  

1824

A few settlers were arriving in York Township and creating homes there, according to History of Washtenaw County 1881.  Names of those settlers not known.  

1825

Erie Canal opened Oct. 25, 1885, allowing a flood of newcomers to Michigan from New York and New England .  Previously, it took two months to travel to Detroit ; now it was just five and a half days.  

1826

Sometime in the 1820’s, people started settling in Mooreville, so that it came into existence as a town or hamlet.  Sign at entrance to Mooreville says it was established in 1826.  

1826

Monroe County was reduced to its present size, and a portion was removed to form Lenawee County .  

1831

John Marvin builds a two-story log cabin along Plank Road next to a toll station.  His residence was upstairs, a general store downstairs.  This was the first structure in what is now Milan .  NOTE:  A book on history of Milan says it was 1830 but that is an error.  In 1981 the City of Milan celebrated it’s 150th anniversary since 1831.  

1831

First school building in York Township built in Section 18, according to a history of York Township prepared in 1976.  Burtis Hoag furnished the logs and was paid $50 for its construction.  A nearby farmer, Washington Morton, was retained as a teacher, with a salary of $12 per month.  

1831

The first congregation in York Township was established in Mooreville.  It was a Baptist fellowship, according to a history of York Township done in 1976.  Later the congregation relocated to Platt and Stony Creek Roads.  

1832

Dr. Jonathan Bowers came to Mooreville to practice medicine.  He was the first doctor in the area.  He practiced for 40 years in the surrounding country.  

1832

Mooreville Cemetery established in 1832, according to the sign on the cemetery.  

1832

First meeting on record towards formation of Baptist church in Mooreville, occurred Aug. 10, 1832.  They met Aug. 31 pursuant to an adjournment.  There  were 10 people in the church, w/ William Moore chosen as Deacon.  History of Washtenaw County , 1818, page 1419.  

1833

The town of “Farmer” ( Milan ) gets its first post office.  Postmaster:  Bethual Hack.  The town was then called Tolansville.  Before 1833, the only post office was in Mooreville.  

1833

Township of London organized out of Raisinville and Summerfield townships.  Later, chunks were taken off it to form Milan Township and Exeter Township .  First township meeting for London Township was held April 1, 1833, at home of Abraham Hayck.  Cyrus Everett was elected supervisor.  Henry Chittenden, clerk. William E. Marvin, John C. Sterling and Samuel Nichols, Jr., assessors.   

1833

First sawmill for York Township was erected at Mooreville by Isaac Hathaway in 1833, according to a History of York Township prepared in 1976.  That author suggests the saw mill may have been just west of Dennison Road at a mill site shown on an 1873 map.  

1834

William Marvin and David Woodard established a flour mill.  William was son of John Marvin, first settler.  Flour mill used stone technology.  Later it switched to steel rollers, and it was then called the Roller Mills.  

1834

Township of York organized and approved by the Territorial Legislature, with help from State Representative William Moore.  Named “ York ” because so many residents had arrived from New York .  

1834

Not sure of exact date.  First organizational meeting of York Township .  Held at home of Boaz Lampson in Mooreville.  Supervisor elected: Noah Wolcott.  William Moore was elected Justice of the Peace.  Othniel Gooding, elected Clerk.  The township already had a mill, school, and church.  

1835

Mooreville Baptists built their first house of worship, a log structure on the SW corner of Stony Creek and Platt Road , in October 1835.  NOTE: was that Platt or Mooreville Road ??)  This was used for worship for 12 years.  Page 1419-20, History of Washtenaw County , 1881.  Location supplied by Warren Hale 9-1-1982  

1835

First log home built in York Township .  Oliver McLouth erected his log home in the northeast part of the township in 1835. It was 28 by 18 feet.  

1835

David Woodard changes the name of the town from “Farmers” to “Woodard Mills.”   

1835

The Toledo War ensues over the Michigan-Ohio boundary. Michigan previously was denied admission to the Union because it would not surrender its claim to the Toledo strip. The area eventually is surrendered in exchange for the western section of the Upper Peninsula .  

1835

Elijah Ellis established a store in Milan , in York Township , in 1835, according to a history of York Township written in 1976.  

1835

On Sept. 7, 1835, Charles Darwin arrived at the Galapagos Islands aboard the HMS Beagle.  He obtained information to help him form his theory of evolution. 

1836

The bloodless Michigan-Ohio War was resolved when the US Congress gave the City of Toledo to Ohio , and gave the Upper Peninsula to Michigan .  

1836

Postmaster General stepped in and decided to name the town “ Milan ” so as to end the confusion about “Tolanville” and “Woodard Mills.”  The residents of Milan Township were already referring to their address as “ Milan .”  

1836

Township of Milan formed by splitting off part of London Township  

1836

March 6, 1836, “ Battle of the Alamo ”, where 189 Texans fought a losing battle against about 1600 Mexicans. 

1837

Dr. Issac Hurd came to Milan from Dansville , New York .  

1837

University of Michigan moves from Detroit to Ann Arbor .  

1837

Michigan becomes a state.  Previously, it was a territory.  

1838

May 26,1838, about 4,000 Native Americans of Cherokee tribe died while being forced to move out of their native lands, cross country.  This is known as the “Trail of Tears.”  

1839

Women in the US received the right to own property, for the first time, thanks to a law passed in Jackson Mississippi.  The law allowed women to own real estate. 

1840

Marble Memorial United Methodist Church was founded in 1840.  Church services were held in different private homes on a rotating basis.  At that time it was not called “Marble.”  It was just the “Methodist Episcopal Church.”  It is unknown when and why the name “Marble” was applied.  In 1887, Hannah Marble gave a deed of land to the Methodist Episcopal Church.  

1842

John Spaulding elected Supervisor of Milan Township.  

1844

Death of Dr. Issac Hurd.  He left behind a wife and five children.  

1844

Thomas and Hannah Braman erected a hotel on their property, at 141 W. Main , and the probably lived their as a residence.  It was a three-story building.  Catered to passengers on stage coaches who were traveling on the Monroe to Saline Highway .  

1844

The first electrical telegram was sent by Samuel Morse from Baltimore , Maryland to Washtington , D.C.   His message:  “What hath God wrought?”  

1845

Elijah Ellis built and occupied a store in Milan in a location where people in 1925 thought of as the Blackmer Estate building.  

1845

Beginning of the Irish potato famine.  Continues through 1849.  

1846

May 17, 1846, the saxophone was patented by Adolphe Sax.  

1846

Catholic Church congregation organized in Cone in 1846 by Rev. Father Pierre Smothers.  Cone was known as “ West  Milan ” at this time. Congregants were mostly Irish. Built church in 1848 on Welch Rd. west of Dennison Rd.  

1847

Thomas Wilson came to Milan with his wife Jane (Dodge) Wilson, and four children: Charles, Myron, Sarah, and George.  According to Warren Hale’s columns.  George died as a child.  

1847

Michigan ’s capital city moved from Detroit to Lansing .  

1847

Flour mill and saw mill, owned by Henry Tolan, were sold to Thomas Wilson, according to Way Back When column of Nov. 6, 2003.  Thomas included his sons Charles and Myron in the business.  

1847

July 1, 1847, the US issues the first postage stamp.  It was revolutionary because the price was the same no matter how far the letter had to travel.  Also, the cost was paid by the sender and not the letter’s recipient.  

1848

Nicholas Childs establishes a saw mill along River Street (now Wabash ) right about where Charles Wilson lived, near the bridge over the river (near the present Milan Fire Department building).  

1848

Dedication of the Catholic church in Cone, then called “West Milan,”  in Milan township.

1848

January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill, near Sacramento .  This set off the California Gold Rush.  

1848

Cholera epidemic in New York kills 5,000 people.  

1854

First Catholic church in the Milan area built in “Cone” or “ West Milan .”  The church was named St. Mary’s.  It was a wooden building on Welsh Road .  

1855

On June 18, 1855, water flowed into the locks.  Then the first ship passed through the newly-built Soo Locks along the St. Mary’s River in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan .  

1857

Creation of the National Education Association, or NEA.  Note: the NEA was commemorated by a three-cent stamp in 1957.  

1859

U. S. Postmaster ordered that only the name “ Milan ” could be used for the town, and not Farmers, Tolanville, or Woodard’s Mills.  

1859

New post office was opened in “ West Milan ” (Cone) with John C. Cone as postmaster. 

1869

Episcopal Church was started in Mooreville, with deed of land from Thomas J. Olcott and wife on May 1, 1860.  Vestrymen were Asahel Edson, Thomas J. Olcott, Richard Alchin, Alexander McMullen and William McMullen.  Building not finished until 1863.  History of Washt. County, 1881, p. 1420.  

1861

Start of the Civil War  

1865

The original Mead School was built about 1860-65, on Sherman Road and Half Road, Milan Township, according to one of Warren Hale’s columns.  I think the date is wrong, the school was built around 1880.  

1863

Jan. 1, 1863, the slaves were freed.  

1865

On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was watching a play at the Ford Theater.  John Wilkes Booth shot him in the head.  Lincoln died the next morning.  

1865

End of the Civil War.  On April l9, 1865, at Appomattox Court house in northern Virginia , General Lee surrendered his army.  Other confederate generals surrendered at later dates during the year.  Union veterans of the war called themselves GAR which stands for Grand Army of the Republic.  

1866

On March 22, 1866, Thomas and Hannah Braman deeded property to the Milan Union Church Society.  That year, the Union Church was built on West Main Street .  It was for use by all the Christian churches.  No one church could use it oftener than once every two weeks.  

1866

Rev. John Roughman came to Milan and preached to the United Methodist congregation, and probably to other congregations as well.  

1866

House built on corner of Dexter and County, facing the “Crooked Tree.”  Jerry Weaver says his family lived there at some time.  House was no doubt built with lumber from Wilson Lumber Mill.  Later the house was moved down the road to make room for a gas station.  

1866

East Milan , or Reeves Station, was opened as a post office in 1866, with Stephen Frink as postmaster.  (Later became known as Azalia.)   

1867

Daniel T. Hazen took office as postmaster in East Milan (Azalia).  

1868

In February 1868, the building was completed, and Elder L. H. Dean dedicated the Methodist Episcopal church in Cone.  

1868

Baptist Church in Mooreville had the following officers: Clerk, W. W. Kelsey; Deacons, A. R. Wheeler, Othniel Gooding, Srl, J. U. Fuller and Henry Kelsey.  Superintendent of Sunday School:  B. F. Gooding.  

1868

David Blackmer moved to Milan from Saline.  In the spring of 1868 Charles went into the merchandising business at Main and River.  

1869

Wyoming Territory passes legislation allowing women the right to vote.  Women’s suffrage.  This was probably done by mistake, the legislature passing the law on the assumption that the governor would veto it.  

1870

In 1870 the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified.  It stated that the right to vote must not be denied because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.  Before this, laws in many states did not allow blacks to vote.  NOTE: in 1870, women were not allowed to vote, so the 15th Amendment was only about black men.  Suffrage. 

1871

In the early 1870’s, David Blackmer built the Blackmer store on the southeast corner of Wabash and Main .   

1872

Joseph Meadows became Postmaster of East Milan (Azalia).  

1875

Arnot block of buildings erected on Tolan Street , basically made of wood.  

1876

Charles Gauntlett, age 23, of Milan, married Jennie Bunce, 18, in London twp. His occupation: “Stave Maker.”  

1877

The Milan Township Hall was built in the fall of 1877 by Buckley F. Marble.  

1877

John M. Lewis became Postmaster of East Milan (Azalia).  

1878

On October 16, 1878 a group of Presbyterian ministers from the surrounding area met for a worship service in the Union Church, and organized the membership for the “First Presbyeterian Church of Milan.”  

1878

The Toledo , Ann Arbor and Northern Railroad came to