Olmstead Hough (1797 – December 30, 1865), also spelled Olmsted, was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

tradesman and politician. He served in the first two terms of the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

after the state convention was adopted, was sheriff of Lenawee County, Michigan, and served in various other official positions. He also participated in the only incident of shots being fired in the Toledo War between Michigan and Ohio.

Biography

Olmstead Hough was born in 1797 in Columbia County, New York, the son of Revolutionary War veteran Zepheniah Hough. When he was four, the family moved to Schuyler, New York. From the age of fourteen to eighteen, he was an apprentice to a relative as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

and

millwright A millwright is a craftsperson or skilled tradesperson who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mecha ...

, a trade which he pursued until 1830. That year, he was elected to the New York Legislature and served one term. He moved to

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit w ...

in 1831 and settled on a farm on the road between

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...

and

Saline Saline may refer to: * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially US) for a salt works or saltern Places * Saline, Calvados, a commune in ...

. In April 1835, while Michigan and Ohio were at odds over a strip of land along their common border, Hough was part of a posse that went into Ohio to disrupt the work of a surveying party. Here he took part in the Battle of Phillips Corners, the only confrontation of the Toledo War that resulted in shots being fired, though nobody was injured. He was sergeant-at-arms at the state constitutional convention in 1835, and in the election that year for the new

Michigan Legislature The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ...

, he was elected as a Democrat to represent Lenawee County in the

. President Martin Van Buren appointed him register of the land office in Detroit in 1838 and he served until 1840. He was elected sheriff of Lenawee County in 1844 and served until 1848. He also represented the town of Tecumseh on the county board of supervisors for several years, and moved into Tecumseh itself in 1863. He died in Tecumseh on December 30, 1865.His date of death is given as December 25, 1865, in , and other sources, but is listed as December 30 on his headstone .

Family

Hough married Julia Ann Boughton in 1820. They had a son, Flavius J. Hough, who went on to serve as sheriff of Lenawee County himself from 1860 to 1864. She died on April 4, 1829, and the following year he married Mary Boughton. They had a son, Lucius L., who served in the Union Army during the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hough, Olmstead 1797 births 1865 deaths Democratic Party Michigan state senators 19th-century American legislators