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DETROIT, Saturday night, September 19, 1835. SIR: I arrived at Cleaveland, Ohio, late on Thursday night, and early on Friday morning took passage in the boat Michigan for Detroit. My arrival here was unavoidably delayed until near eight by our running aground at the mouth of the river.

Late this evening I called on Mr. Mason, to whom I delivered the communication from the Department.

On Monday morning next I contemplate taking charge of the Territorial Government, and should have insisted on it this evening had the emergency made it necessary.

Assurances have been made from all quarters here (Detroit) that Michigan is now, and is likely to remain, quiet. Such, I believe, to be the prevailing opinion here.

The Detroit newspapers, received by the Department, will give an account of the Michigan expedition to Toledo on the 1st instant.

Mr. Mason has this moment handed me the enclosed memorandum, in his own handwriting, of the same event of the 13th.

I hear that a large meeting was held, anticipating my arrival, and a committee is shortly to call on me, to ascertain the principles on which I shall administer the Territorial Government.

I shall strive to effect the views of the Government, and do so with as little excitement and on the best terms I can. I feel some confidence of a favorable issue. I shall discharge my duty under all circumstances. I have the honor to be,

Hon. JOHN FORSYTH

Your obedient, humble servant,

JOHN S. HORNER.

On the morning of the 13th, the sheriff of Monroe, with a posse of twelve men, arrested Wilson, the associate judge of LUCAS county, Goodsell, the deputy sheriff, and Jones, the captain of a volunteer company of the militia organized under the State of Ohio. The warrants were issued by a justice of the peace, under the penal law of February 12th, against the above named individuals, for the exercise of official functions under the laws of another State (Ohio). Wilson and Goodsell were brought to Monroe, pleaded guilty, entered bail, and were discharged until the October circuit court. Jones remained, by permission of the sheriff, at Toledo, upon a promise that he would enter bail so soon as his health would justify him in travelling to Monroe.

At the time of the arrests no difficulty or disturbance ensued; but, after the sheriff of Monroe and his party had reached the woods near Toledo, a number of persons pursued them with the intention of rescuing the prisoners. Shots were exchanged by the parties, but no injury sustained. The party from Toledo retreated, and Goodsell and Wilson were conducted to Monroe without further molestation to the authorities of that county.

DETROIT, September 28, 1835.

SIR: On Monday morning last I entered on the duties of office. Government instructions have been carefully read, and on them that reflection bestowed which the importance of the subject and end to be obtained demand.

There is to be seen within the Michigan Territory neither a military nor an assemblage to obstruct her laws, nor is either anticipated at

the present. The inhabitants of Toledo indicate still further at least temporary submission to Michigan jurisdiction, a concurrent meeting being afloat, (advertised,) at which the late hostile parties are to meet in conciliatory intercourse.

The approaching sessions of the October terms of the Monroe and Lenawee courts, the first and second Tuesdays of the month, will afford the opportunity most advisable, directly or indirectly, to carry out to the best advantage, accompanied by the least excitement, the views and policy of the Government.

Pardons, in all cases of prosecution under the February act, will be granted. I fear, however, it will be unsavory to some extent. I conscientiously believe it should be done, and therefore it shall, in the mode least calculated to give offence.

I beg leave respectfully, and I conceive it my duty, without delay, to refer the Department to the fifteenth page of the projected constitution; as also certain manuscript acts of the Legislative Council; as also certain resolutions set forth in the Democratic Free Press of the 16th instant, herewith enclosed.

Of the adoption of this constitution there seems but little doubt. A Governor is to be installed, a Legislature to assemble, on the 1st day of November next; executive duties discharged by virtue of State authority; and, it is fully anticipated, strong measures taken to carry out to the letter the February act, &c.; in other words, the Territorial Government superseded entirely.

Impressed with the responsibility and delicacy of the station assigned me, and sensible that one prominent object of the Union was " peace at home," I cannot but, as at present advised, look prospectively with deep and abiding interest and anxiety to my duty and the wishes of Government in this behalf.

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I, therefore, submit such questions as may naturally arise from the facts communicated, and desire to hear, at the earliest moment, if agreeable to Government, the course to be pursued in the above contingency. Honor to be, your obedient servant,

JOHN S. HORNER.

Hon. JOHN FORSYTH,
Secretary of State.

DETROIT, October 3, 1835.

SIR: I take the liberty of enclosing, and making reference to, the one hundred and ninety-fifth page of the acts passed by the Legislative Council of Michigan; also, to the paragraphs marked of the enclosed newspapers. The legislation as to the delegate election is confused, and may be embarrassing.

The pardoning power, to be effectual, must be exercised by plea before judgment in very many of the cases; and pardons are preparing accordingly. In order to evade the policy of the Government, efforts will be made to continue prosecutions in the face of the pardons, which, I fear, may result in some excitement, more especially if Ohio persists in holding her election at Toledo about the 14th of this month.

It would be very desirable could that election be prevented.
Honor to be your obedient servant,

JOHN S. HORNER.

Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State.

DETROIT, October 19, 1835. SIR: Under the most disadvantageous and embarrassing circumstances which anarchy could present, the wishes and instructions of Government have been constitutionally fulfilled and complied with.

On the 8th instant 1 was informed, and had good cause to believe, that my presence at Monroe was indispensable, and, on my arrival there, every reason existed why I should have taken that course.

The defendants of the Monroe prosecutions did not attend, and the district attorney, James Q. Adams, was intimidated by the mob of Monroe from acting in accordance with my request, or even at all; finally, against Government. He holds two offices under the General Government, viz: postmaster and deputy collector of the customs. He waited upon me, and desired to resign; and I should have received his resignation with pleasure, but could get no other counsel to accept a nomination to fill his place. Anticipating this to some extent, I placed pardons for offences under the February act in the hands of the only counsel engaged for some of the defendants, to wit, A. D. Fraser, of Detroit, requesting him to move them before the court. After I had so done, and the pardons were filed, late at night, a bench warrant was issued to apprehend Benjamin Stickney, for a violation of the February act prosecutions then pending in court. This originated in a plan to carry out violent proceedings, not only against the people of the disputed territory, but to involve the Executive in personal difficulty. I immediately summoned the high sheriff' before me, and requested him to follow the deputy sheriff and posse, and request a suspension of that process. I also wrote a private note to Stickney, informing him that I should grant him a pardon, and therefore advised him against resistance to the process, which I knew to be the object desired by the Monroe party. One of the judges voluntarily came into my room, and, upon his charging me with an interference with the judiciary, I expressed surprise and warmth at the issuing of the bench warrant in the face of my pardon. My condition was this: at Monroe, the seat of strife, amidst a wild and dangerous population, without any aid, a friend, servant, or bed to sleep in, in the midst of a mob excited by the enemies of the administration, and bad men, I could not enlist a friend or an officer of the Territory. How was my authority to be enforced, or the Government, in my hands, respected, under these circumstances? A design was formed against my honor and my life. The district attorney had the effrontery and timidity to say "that, if he acted, the mob would throw him and myself in the river." Threats were made, and communications in writing, insulting and menacing in the extreme, were received, the court seeming to partake largely of the excitement and fears. So soon as I discovered this state of things, I called upon the officers of the General Government, and demanded their aid in effecting the objects of the Government; a partial and reluctant aid was given. I assured them it was my fixed determination to sustain the measures of the Government at all hazards, even if it resulted in removing every officer of the Territorial Government. Soon after this, suitable explanations were given, and the people properly informed that all difficulties were removed, and the prosecutions arrested. A public meeting was held at Monroe, the proceedings of which. I sent you by Mr. Wadsworth, and to which I beg to refer you,

At Toledo an election was advertised to be held on the 15th instant, the Ohio, for the election of State and county officers, but a meeting of all by

voters was held, and decided that the polls should not be held, and no further jurisdiction to be exercised on the part of Ohio until after the next session of Congress, of which I am fully assured.

From Toledo I hastened to Lenawee, hearing some difficulty would take place about the district attorney, which was obviated, however, by Judge Swayne, from Ohio, appearing as counsel for the defendants. The Lenawee cases are all most agreeably disposed of, tried, dismissed, or pardoned; every thing passed off well, and I was not interrupted, except by a meeting, instigated by some evil disposed residents of Detroit, incidentally at Lenawee. The people of the last mentioned place are decidedly with the measures adopted by me, On Saturday, at noon, Judge Swayne and myself left Tecumseh for Detroit, and, on our arrival that evening at Ypsilanti, were mobbed, the house somewhat injured; no bones, however, were broken, and not a word said by me on the subject. This' mob was excited by some lawyers residing at Detroit, and who, from their party relations to the present administration, are ever anxious to defeat its measures.

In Monroe, Lenawee, Toledo, and, I believe, Detroit, the public mind is somewhat tranquil; they begin to see it is for their best interest to be orderly and quiet. Had it not been from apprehension of creating a greater temporary excitement, I should have conceived it my duty to have removed every officer of Monroe county. The presiding judge of that court has thought proper to hold the papers in all cases of pardon, under pretence of "curia vult advisare."

Previous, and during the session of the court, I assured the judge that it was not my intention to interfere with the judiciary; I held it sacred, and trusted he would not apply any remarks from me to himself, or any officer of the court, I desired Mr. Fraser also to call on the judge, and reassure him of the same. So much for my interference with the judiciary. I consider the judges have rather interfered with my constitutional powers; and, so far from giving their aid in support of the measures adopted for return of good order, have rather publicly and privately lent their aid to thwart and impede me in the discharge of my duty. Many of the officers desire to be considered as martyrs, hoping thereby to obtain offices under the State Government after the 1st of November; and, thus situated, the Department can readily conceive the extent of my difficulties, and the condition of things here. My labors, both mental and bodily, have been very arduous, almost insupportable. It was not until this morning that I could procure even a clerk or private secretary, such was the state of the public mind, from some cause or other. I mention mobs and details only to exhibit the true state of things; personally, I care nothing for them. Effigies, burnings, threats, and other manifestations of excitement, have constantly surrounded me. The source of, all' I am apprised of, and the actors.

This morning I received an insulting resignation of the aids (John Norvell, Winder, George B. Martín, Isaac Roland) of ex-Governor Mason, I cannot say with what design, but would respectfully suggest that, after the 1st day of November, I should prefer having some other resources than are now in Michigan, that the Territorial Government may, in no contingency, be superseded or abrogated in my hands. I have not been raised to arms, my education on that subject being still more deficient than on others, but shall be happy to render aid to others more competent should occasion require.

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There are strong manifestations that the people of this Territory intend to embark under a State Government, on and after the 1st of next month; doctrines are afloat here, monstrous and dangerous. I, perhaps, appear timid when I say there may be difficulty here on that subject, unless present counsels are dissolved, and better prevail; and I do not think it dent to rely upon the few, very few, here to sustain the authority of the United States. There never was a Government in Christendom with such officers, civil and military, and filled with such doctrines, as Michigan. I could not even obtain from the clerk of the court at Monroe a copy of the prosecutions before the sitting of the court. Turn out is what every body desires; and one of the judges at Monroe expressed publicly his desire to become a martyr to the cause.

Judge Swayne leaves me to-day perfectly satisfied, as the agent of Ohio, although, I fear, perfectly disgusted with the outrages here. I tried conciliation, entreaty, appeals to their patriotism, indeed, every resort but force, which I should not been able to obtain had I desired it. I hope the Government will turn their attention this way, promptly adopting such measures as they, in their wisdom and prudence, may think most advisable. I have used my utmost exertions in executing the duties of my office at the sacrifice of my own health, and have effected the object. Is the Department advised of an act of the last Legislative Council, designating Green Bay as the place of holding their next session on the 1st of January next? The elections have been held throughout the peninsula without regard to the act of Congress in relation thereto; consequently, very few, if any, members of the Legislative Council have been elected, except west of Lake Michigan.

I trust the course I have pursued will meet the approbation of the Department, attributing any errors I may have committed to those of judgment rather than intention.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN S. HORNER,

Secy and Act'g Gov'r in and over Territory of Michigan. Hon. JOHN FORSYTH,

Secretary of State.

P. S. There are no funds here within my control, and, to discharge my duties, I have exhausted my own pecuniary resources.

Memo. The within letter I was compelled to obtain the aid of my clerk to throw together, being quite unwell from fatigue and exposure, having returning only last night, amid a perpetual scene of excitement for the last ten days. Government communications of the 8th have been this day received, and I trust will reform the much abused public mind. JOHN S. HORNER.

Monday night, October 19, 1835.

Governor Lucas should commence the survey of the Harris line, without delay. I think, however, the state of feeling on that subject is decidedly improving.

DETROIT, October 26, 1835.

SIR: Yours of the 12th came to hand after the sessions of the Monroe and Lenawee courts. My own sense of propriety, and knowledge of practice in the courts, suggested the course of advising the district attorney

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