Lucius Lyon (February 26, 1800September 24, 1851) was a U.S.

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a ...

from 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 t ...

. Along with Louis Campau, Lucius Lyon is remembered as one of the founding fathers of

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is th ...

, the state's second-largest city. A Democrat, he served as a Delegate to the U.S. House from Michigan Territory (1833-1835), a U.S. Senator from Michigan (1837-1839), and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's second congressional district (1843-1845).

Early life

Lyon was born in

Shelburne, Vermont Shelburne is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Located along the shores of Lake Champlain, Shelburne's town center lies approximately south of the city center of Burlington, the largest city in the state of Vermont. As of th ...

on February 26, 1800, a son of Asa Lyon (1773–1850) and Sarah (Atwater) Lyon (1777–1813). He received a common school education in Shelburne and then worked with his father on the family farm. At age 18, Lyon began attendance at academies in Shelburne and Burlington, and he taught school in between academy terms. He studied engineering and surveying with John Johnson of Burlington, and moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

in 1821.} Lyon initially worked in Michigan as a teacher, then took up

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...

, and was eventually appointed Deputy Surveyor General of

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 ...

Early career

During the summers of the mid-1820s, Lyon surveyed areas that are now parts of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. In the winters, he often visited family in Vermont and studied scientific subjects including geology at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all 5 ...

. These studies enabled him to develop superior knowledge of Michigan Territory, including land and lakes, flora and fauna, and natural resources. In 1829, he was commissioned to rebuild the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse at the entrance to the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River (french: Rivière Sainte-Claire) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron int ...

from

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Straits of Mack ...

. In the 1830s, he surveyed a portion of what would become the boundary between

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Lyon placed the initial point of the Fourth Principal Meridian on December 10, 1831. He also participated in the survey parties which established the baseline and meridian used to define

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

s in Wisconsin. His field notebooks recorded considerable detail about the land he surveyed, providing a rich source of information for later researchers. When Michigan applied for statehood in the 1830s, action was delayed in Congress because Ohio objected to surrendering the Toledo Strip, which resulted in a conflict known as the

Toledo War The Toledo War (1835–36), also known as the Michigan–Ohio War or the Ohio–Michigan War, was an almost bloodless boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan over what is now known as the Toledo ...

. Lyon's detailed knowledge of Michigan's geography enabled him to make a persuasive argument to residents of Michigan that accepting the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

in lieu of the Toledo Strip was an equitable solution. The compromise caused Ohio to withdraw its objections to Michigan statehood, and Michigan joined the Union in 1837.

Continued career

Lyon was elected as a non-voting Delegate to the U.S. Congress for the

, serving from 1833 to 1835. On December 11, 1833, he presented a formal petition to Congress requesting Michigan's admission into the Union. Congress delayed consideration of statehood, in part due to a dispute with

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

over the Toledo Strip and also in part due to opposition from southern states to admit another free state. From May 11 to June 24, 1835, he was a member of the convention that drafted the first

Michigan Constitution The Constitution of the State of Michigan is the governing document of the U.S. state of Michigan. It describes the structure and function of the state's government. There have been four constitutions approved by the people of Michigan. The fi ...

, which voters adopted in October, 1835. In November 1835, Lyon was elected as

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

. However Michigan's delegation to Congress was seated as "spectators", pending Michigan's admission as a state. Upon Michigan's admission as a state on January 26, 1837, Lyon served as a full U.S. Senator until 1839. On March 28, 1836, Lyon was a witness to the Treaty of Washington of 1836, in which the

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

and Chippewa nations of Indians ceded much of the land in the northern portion of the

Lower Peninsula of Michigan The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

. He was also witness to a separate treaty on May 9, 1836 with the Chippewa in which additional land was ceded. He did not run for reelection in 1839 and moved to

. He was a member of the

Board of Regents In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual c ...

of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1837 to 1839, and was appointed Indian commissioner at

La Pointe, Wisconsin La Pointe is an unincorporated community in the town of La Pointe, Ashland County, Wisconsin, United States. It is on the western shore of Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostle Islands. Downtown La Pointe is adjacent to the Madeline ...

in 1839. He was elected as a Democrat from the newly formed 2nd district in Michigan to the 28th Congress, serving one term from March 4, 1843 to March 3, 1845. He was the first person to represent Michigan in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House. In both houses of Congress he served on the Committee on Public Lands. He did not run for reelection to the U.S. House in 1844.

Later career

After leaving Congress, Lyon was appointed by President James K. Polk as U.S. Surveyor General for

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, and

. He moved the office for this post from

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

and served from 1845 to 1850. Lyon was also a major financial backer of Hiram Moore, an inventor and a founder of the village of

Climax, Michigan Climax is a village in Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 767 at the 2010 census. The village is located within Climax Township on the northern boundary with Charleston Township, and is roughly west of Battle ...

. Moore reportedly invented a working farm machine in the 1830s and 1840s that "combined" the functions of a

threshing machine A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Before such machines were developed, thr ...

and a

reaper A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roma ...

, decades before combines were commonly available. Moore's designs were allegedly copied by

Cyrus McCormick Cyrus Hall McCormick (February 15, 1809 – May 13, 1884) was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which later became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902. Originally from the ...

and despite many years of legal wrangling, Moore was unsuccessful in pursuing his

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

claims. He also owned a large tract of land in

and engaged in a feud over platting the area with the other major land owner, Louis Campau. Lyon wanted to call it the village of Kent rather than Grand Rapids. Lyon is also remembered in Grand Rapids for attempting to commercialize salt deposits in the city by boring a hole and extracting salt from the brine water below. Lyon professed the

Swedenborgian The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) is any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious group, influenced by the writings of scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). Swedenborgian or ...

religious faith and was an active advocate for

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture * Temperance (group), Canadian dan ...

until he later became affiliated with the

Washingtonian movement The Washingtonian movement (Washingtonians, Washingtonian Temperance Society or Washingtonian Total Abstinence Society) was a 19th-century temperance fellowship founded on Thursday, April 2, 1840, by six alcoholics (William Mitchell, David Hoss, ...

, which advocated the total abstinence from consuming alcohol.

Death and burial

Lyon never married, and had no children. He died at the Detroit home of his nephew George W. Thayer on September 24, 1851. Lyon was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.

Legacy

South Lyon, Michigan South Lyon is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 11,746 at the 2020 census, up from 11,327 at the 2010 census. As a western suburb of Metro Detroit, South Lyon is about northwest of the city of Detroit an ...

Lyon Township, Oakland County, Michigan Lyon Charter Township is a charter township of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 14,545 at the 2010 census. Communities The city of South Lyon is located on the west side of the township. Within the township p ...

Lyon Township, Roscommon County, Michigan Lyon Township is a civil township of Roscommon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,370 at the 2010 census. Communities * Higgins Lake is an unincorporated community within the township at . The Higgins Lake 48627 ZIP Cod ...

, Lyon Lake, Fredonia, Michigan and

Lyons Township, Michigan Lyons Township is a civil township of Ionia County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,446 at the 2000 census. The village of Lyons is mostly within the township. The villages of Muir and Pewamo are also within the township. ...

are all named after Lucius Lyon. Notably, in 1836, Lucius Lyon purchased much of the property in a small village in

Ionia County, Michigan Ionia County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 66,804. The county seat is Ionia. The Ionia County Courthouse was designed by Claire Allen, a prominent southern Michigan architect. Ion ...

and renamed it

Lyons, Michigan Lyons is a village in Ionia County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 789 at the 2010 census. Most of the village is within Lyons Township. A small portion extends west into Ionia Township. Geography According to the United S ...

. He platted the village, established the first post office and installed his brother, Truman, as the first postmaster, although he never lived in the village. Lyon Street and Lyon Square, both located in downtown

, are named after him. In 2008, city leaders erected a bronze statue of Lyon's likeness downtown, part of a "Community Legends" initiative intended to pay tribute to pivotal figures in Grand Rapids history.

References

External links

The Political GraveyardU.S. General Land Office Surveyors' Field Notes
from Wisconsin Historical Society