The Seventh Michigan Territorial Council, also known as the Rump Council, was a meeting of the

legislative body A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

governing

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 January 1836, during the term of Acting Governor

John S. Horner John Scott Horner (December 5, 1802 – February 3, 1883) was a U.S. politician, Secretary and acting Governor of Michigan Territory, 1835–1836 and Secretary of Wisconsin Territory, 1836–1837. Early life Horner was born in what is now ...

. At the time, most of Michigan Territory was awaiting admission to the union as the state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and had already seated its new

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

. This was the final session of the Council and consisted only of members from the "contingent remainder" or "rump territory"—the remaining counties that formed the new

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

later that year.

Background

A constitutional convention in May 1835 drafted a new state constitution for the portion of Michigan Territory that makes up the modern state of Michigan. At the same election in which the constitution was ratified on October 5, 1835, voters elected the first members of the

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, ...

, which was set to take over legislative power from the territorial council. In order to ensure that the remainder of the territory was not left without representative government during the transition period, at its final session before the convention, the council had authorized Territorial Secretary and Acting Governor

Stevens T. Mason Stevens Thomson Mason (October 27, 1811 – January 4, 1843) was an American politician who served as the first governor of Michigan from 1835 to 1840. Coming to political prominence at an early age, Mason was appointed his territory's ...

to apportion seats on the next council among the counties not covered by the new constitution. He did so in a proclamation on August 25, 1835, which called for the reconfigured council to meet in Green Bay on January 1, 1836. Shortly after Mason's proclamation, President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

replaced him as secretary with

, who also became acting governor. Horner issued a proclamation of his own on November 9, 1835, calling on the council to meet in Green Bay a month sooner, on December 1. Travel conditions made it difficult to make the trip to Green Bay on such short notice, and the newly-elected members apparently each spontaneously decided to ignore Horner's proclamation and instead meet on the previously-announced date of January 1, 1836.

Session

Nine of the 13 elected members of the council attended the session in Green Bay beginning January 1, which was sufficient to constitute a quorum. Acting Governor Horner did not travel to Green Bay for either his own December 1 meeting date or the January 1 date, but sent a letter on December 30 explaining his absence, which meant that the council could not take up any legislative business. The council adjourned ''sine die'' on January 15, 1836. The

Territory of Wisconsin The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

was created on July 3 of that year, with a new

bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

; the 1st Wisconsin Territorial Legislature convened on October 25.

Leadership and organization

On January 2, 1836,

William S. Hamilton William Stephen Hamilton (August 4, 1797October 9, 1850), a son of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, was an American politician and miner who lived much of his life in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory. Ham ...

(son of

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

) was elected president of the council,

Albert Gallatin Ellis Albert Gallatin Ellis (August 24, 1800December 23, 1885) was one of the first American pioneers to settle in Wisconsin. He was the 2nd, 6th, 8th, and 10th Mayor of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Before statehood, he was a member of the legislature of ...

secretary, Thomas A. B. Boyd recording clerk, William B. Long enrolling clerk, Levi Sterling sergeant-at-arms, W. H. Bruce doorkeeper, and Charles Green and George W. Lawe messenger and assistant messenger, respectively. The council debated whether it was worthwhile to appoint standing committees, given the absence of Acting Governor Horner; they elected to create the following committees in order to be prepared in case the governor did arrive: * Claims: Lawe, Smith, Vineyard * Enrollment: Burnett, Edgerton, Vineyard * Expenses: Edgerton, Knapp, Slaughter * Judiciary: Burnett, Edgerton, Slaughter * Militia: Slaughter, Smith, Teas * Schools: Knapp, Smith, Teas * Territorial Affairs: Burnett, Edgerton, Teas

Members

The apportionment of seats on the council among the counties of the "rump territory" was determined by Mason's August 25, 1835, proclamation, and the election of members took place on October 5, 1835.

Notes

References

* * * {{Citation , editor-last = Schafer , editor-first = Jack , title = The Rump Council , publisher = The State Historical Society of Wisconsin , year = 1920 , url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.35112103330132&view=1up&seq=6 , access-date = 2019-10-01

007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

1836 in Michigan Territory