Slaves owned by William Macomb. Burton Historical Collection. Joel Thurtell photo
By Joel Thurtell
Back when I was writing for the Detroit Free Press, I found some of my most interesting stories on Grosse Ile, the big island in the Detroit River that was purchased from Indians on July 6, 1776 by the brothers Alexander and William Macomb.
All I had to do was show up in the old train depot, now the island museum, and chat with members of the Grosse Ile Historical Society. I’d hear fascinating stories about the Civil War general who lived on the island, or about how the first outboard motor was tested at the island.
The fun ended on a nasty note, though, after I reviewed the society’s book about the history of their island.
Today being Martin Luther King Day, it seems like a good time to write about a subject that was made taboo by the custodians of Grosse Ile history.
Inventory of William Macomb’s slaves. Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, Joel Thurtell photo.
This has to do with race and slavery.
Not too many people are aware that Michigan, like other Northern states, had its share of slaves.
That’s right — the “peculiar institution” was not confined only to the South.
I wrote about slavery on Grosse Ile for the Free Press, and with my story, we published my photo of an inventory of property belonging to William Macomb at the time of his death in 1796.
Among the pieces of property listed were 26 human beings.
Some of those slaves lived and worked on Grosse Ile.
Charlotte, wife of Jerry, slaves of William Macomb. Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, Joel Thurtell photo.
The Grosse Ile history people were planning a photographic history of their island. I offered to let them reprint my photos of the inventory. Or they could go to the Burton Historical Collection at the Detroit Public Library and take their own pictures.
They were enthusiastic about mentioning slavery on Grosse Ile.
Months passed, and I heard no more from Grosse Ile.
One day, I was browsing in Magina Books, a used book store in Lincoln Park. The owner, Steve Magina, remarked that the Grosse Ile historians were getting ready to bring out their history book.
Odd. You’d think they’d let me know.
When I wrote about Lincoln Park’s photo history book, my Free Press story inspired lots of sales, according to Steve.
Could it be the Grosse Ile historians were embarrassed at having suppressed the slavery issue?
When I found out what they’d done, I criticized their decision to censor part of the island’s history.
The Grosse Ile Historical Society was not pleased.
In an e-mail, a member told her compatriots that the next time I showed my face in their museum, they should greet me with “tomatoes and eggs.”
Maybe instead of throwing tomatoes and eggs, the guardians of Grosse Ile history might look hard at their motives for trying to hide a well-documented part of their history.
I’m reprinting my story with permission of the Detroit Free Press:
Headline: PART OF THE STORY ISN’T BEING TOLD
Sub-Head: BOOK ON GROSSE ILE DOESN’T MENTION HISTORY OF SLAVERY
Byline: BY JOEL THURTELL
Pub-Date: 9/2/2007
Memo: DOWNRIVER; SIDEBAR ATTACHED
Correction:
Text: I recently received a copy of the Grosse Ile Historical
Society’s new photographic history, “Grosse Ile.”
I’m sure the book will be very interesting to islanders. The society
unearthed many photos that have never been published or displayed. A
teenage boy around the turn of the 20th Century took dozens of photos,
some of which are in the book that was published on Aug. 20.
There are nine chapters spanning the earliest history of the big
island through the days of the Naval Air Station. But one chapter is
missing: It’s the one about slavery on Grosse Ile.
It’s amazing to me that there could be an entire chapter on the Macomb
family, whose ancestors bought the island from Indians on July 6,
1776, and not one mention of slavery. If you’re going to mention the
Macombs, you have to mention slavery. Slavery was an integral part of
the business and family life of the Macombs who first settled Grosse
Ile.
Earlier this year, after conversations with researchers for the book –
done by Arcadia Publishing of Charleston, S.C. – I assumed the book
would take on this sensitive subject. I was impressed. It’s the sort
of thing many people would consider a black mark in their community’s
history, yet it appeared that the Grosse Ile historians were going to
come to honest terms with their past.
I asked the book’s editor, Sarah Lawrence, if the book dealt with
slavery. “No,” she said, “You know, from all we could find out, there
just wasn’t anything to get into. There are a few rumors of tunnels
that may have been there, and slaves may have been given refuge before
they were able to move them over to Canada.”
There’s a bit more to it than that. William and Alexander Macomb were
the largest island landowners in the 18th Century. William lived in
Detroit during the winter and lived on the island in a “mansion house”
in the summer. The big house was run by a woman named Charlotte.
Charlotte was a slave. How do I know this? Isabella Swan wrote about
it in her history of Grosse Ile, “The Deep Roots.”
According to Swan, “Charlotte had been with the Macombs as early as
1788.” In the early 1790s, Charlotte was in charge of the Macomb house
on Grosse Ile, according to Swan. She may have been boss in the house,
but she was still property. When William Macomb died in 1796,
Charlotte was listed with her husband, Jerry, and 24 other human
beings in an “Estimation of the Slaves of the late William Macomb”
along with livestock, tools and furniture as objects to be sold.
You can see the inventory of Macomb property at the Detroit Public
Library’s Burton Historical Collection. Alongside their names were
estimates of their value in New York currency. Swan mentioned other
instances of slavery on Grosse Ile. I photographed parts of the
documents that mention slaves for a story about slavery on Grosse Ile
that ran in the Free Press Jan. 21.
I thought the historical society was going to acknowledge that Grosse
Ile played a role in slavery. It was an opportunity to be forthright,
a chance to honestly confront an unsavory part of our past.
I talked to Denise deBeausset for that January 2007 story. She’s a
descendant of William Macomb and still lives on the island. “No, I
wasn’t aware of them having slaves at all,” she said. “Nobody ever
talks about it on our side. I wonder if it was out of embarrassment or
if it wasn’t politically correct. Nobody ever talks about slaves.”
They’re still not talking about them. Is it embarrassment? Or just
not politically correct?
Edition: METRO FINAL
Section: CFP; COMMUNITY FREE PRESS
Page: 3CV
Keywords: history
Disclaimer: THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE
PRINTED
