People of Detroit:
Jonathan Kearsley

Born on August 25, 1786 (some sources say August 20 - but his grave marker says the 25th), Jonathan Kearsley fought in the War of 1812. He was a city recorder in 1826 when Mayor Jenry Jacson Hunt died in office. Kearsley was chosen to replace Hunt for the remainder of his term. He also served as mayor in 1829.

Kearsley died on September 1, 1859 (some sources say August 31, but his grave marker says 9/1). He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.

Related Research Items

Kearsley, Jonathan. "The Memoirs of Jonathan Kearsley: A Michigan Hero from the War of 1812." Edited by John C. Fredericksen. Indiana Military History Journal, 10 (May 1985), pp. 4-16.

Close Help Window

Glossary:
Algonquin

General term used to describe Native Americans of the following tribes (and others): Delaware, Fox, Huron, Miami, Ojibwa (Chippewa), Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sac, Shawnee and Winnebago.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
arquebus

A 39 pound (approximate) musket that two men would prop on a tri-pod and fire with a small torch. The arquebus was used by Champlain's men against the Iroquois to defend the Hurons. This may be the cause of decades of Iroquois abuse of the Hurons.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
clay and wattle

Building technique used in the construction of chimneys in the early days of Fort Ponchartrain. The technique involved piling sticks and packing them - inside and out - with clay and mud.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Colbertism

Name for early French mercantilism in America, which Jean-Baptiste Colbert was influential in developing.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
conges

Trade permits issued by the Canadian government/court of France in the late 1600s to early 1700s.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
coureurs de bois

Very early French inhabitants of the current US and Canada who gave up their farmsteads for lives in the fur trade. They often lived with Native Americans.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
District of Hesse

Land district provisioned by the Canadian Council on July 24, 1788. The area was on the east side of the Detroit River.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Fox

"Properly ""Mesh-kwa-ki-hug"". Native American tribe living in the area between Saginaw Bay and Thunder Bay at the time Detroit was founded. The French called the tribe Renyard. An allied tribe of the Sacs and Mascoutin."
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Huron

A Native American tribe that built a village near Fort Ponchartrain.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Iroquoian

General term sometimes used to describe Native Americans of the following tribes: Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Iroquois

"A Native American tribe known for antagonizing and brutalizing the Hurons (see also arquebus)"
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Mascouten

Native American tribe living in the Grand Traverse Bay area at the time Detroit was founded. An allied tribe of the Foxes and Sacs. Also spelled Mascoutin.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Miami

A Native American tribe that built a village near Fort Ponchartrain.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Muskhogean

General term used to describe Native Americans of the following tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
New York Currency

First standard currency used in Detroit (first used in 1765).
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Ottawa

A Native American tribe that built a village near Fort Ponchartrain.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Outagamies

Native American tribe living in the Grand Traverse Bay area at the time Detroit was founded. An allied tribe of the Foxes (and Sacs?).
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Plains Indians

General term used to describe Native Americans of the following tribes: Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, and Pawnee (Pani).
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Potawatomi

A Native American tribe that built a village near Fort Ponchartrain.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Quebec Act

Act of June 22, 1774, in which British Parliament decides to exercise English law in criminal cases and old French provincial law in civil cases in western settlements. The idea was to discourage people from settling in the west.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Renyard

See Fox
Close Help Window

Glossary:
ribbon farms

Original land grants given by Cadillac. The lots were typically around 200 feet wide at the river front, with lengths up to 3 miles.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Sac

See Sauk
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Sakis

See Sauk
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Sauk

Native American tribe living in the area between Saginaw Bay and Thunder Bay at the time Detroit was founded. The French called the tribe Sakis; English and Americans generally call them Sacs. An allied tribe of the Foxes/Renyards and Mascouten.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Shoshonean

General term used to describe Native Americans of the following tribes: Bannock and Shoshone.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Treaty of Montreal

Treaty ending the war between the Iroquois and France and England. Negotiations began in July of 1698 and the treaty was signed in August of 1701.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
Treaty of Ryswick

September 20, 1697 treaty ending war between France and England.
Close Help Window

Glossary:
voyageurs

Early French explorers who traveled mainly by water.