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| Epaphroditus
Ransom: Michigan Governor 1796-1859
He was one of
those men whose lives are constantly in the spotlight.
Whether for good or ill, the fortunes of Epaphroditus Ransom were well
known to characters of all sorts, for
he mingled freely with old stock New Englanders and pioneer Michiganders, with
local farmers, national politicians, and common criminals. Local
accounts relate how, when the last Potawatomi Indians were forced to
leave Michigan for reservations in the west, they marched past his house in a
line, each removing their headgear and raising their right hand as a sign of
respect. "Governor
Ransom was a man of commanding presence; in height, over six feet; in weight,
exceeding two hundred pounds; massive head, with a voice of power." He was a man people remembered. Epaphroditus
Ransom was born in Massachusetts in 1796.
When he was still young, his well-to-do family moved to
Vermont where he attended the prominent Chester Academy for four
years. In 1823 he
received his law degree from the Law School at Northampton,
Massachusetts. Soon
afterwards he returned to Vermont to start his law practice, but
instead began both his family life and his political career.
Epaphroditus Ransom married Almira Cadwell in 1827.
They would eventually have four children (two of whom died in
infancy) and would spend the next 32 years together.
During this second stint in Vermont, Ransom was elected
Justice of the Peace and served in that capacity for five years. All
was well with the Ransoms and their growing family in Vermont, but several of Epaphroditus' siblings had earlier
emigrated to Michigan Territory. Their letters back to their
big brother about the beauty and opportunity of that place were very
persuasive. Another
famous Vermonter turned Michigander, Lucius Lyon, also wrote to his
friend attempting to convince him to make the move.
In the autumn of 1834, Epaphroditus decided to move his family
to the tiny village of Bronson in southwestern Michigan.
The journey took over a month by wagon and steamboat, but on
14 November 1834 the Ransoms arrived at Bronson.
Stories about the first residence of the Ransom's vary, but
one account relates that the family spent that first winter in
Michigan in the recently vacated log cabin of the town's founder,
Titus Bronson. Besides
securing a dwelling, one of Epaphroditus' first actions upon his
arrival in Bronson was to gain admittance to the bar and to begin
practicing law. This he
did a mere five days after settling in his new hometown.
Over the course of the next year, Ransom built a new home for
his family and a new office for his practice on the northeast corner
of Main and Burdick Streets. He
also formed a fortuitous partnership with another young democratic
lawyer named Charles E. Stuart. Both men would go on to receive high acclaim in Michigan
politics. Epaphroditus Ransom's political accomplishments were too numerous and varied to describe in any great detail here. A brief overview will have to suffice. His first appointments came in 1836 when he was made a circuit court judge and associate justice of the state supreme court. As a judge on the 2nd circuit, which at that time included the entire western half of the lower peninsula, Ransom must have cut a dashing figure, riding around in the virtually untamed wilderness meting out justice to criminals and befriending the common people of western Michigan. In 1843 Ransom was rewarded for his work on the circuit with an appointment as Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, which he held until 1847. That was the year that all those farmers that he had befriended, along with a majority of citizens in every county, elected him as the 7th governor of the state of Michigan. Later in his life he served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, the president of the Michigan Agricultural Society (eventually to become Michigan State University), a regent of the University of Michigan, and finally as a receiver at a land office in Fort Scott, Kansas. Ransom
was the first Governor inaugurated in Lansing, the new capital of
Michigan. His tenure
was characterized by three main themes.
First, Ransom concentrated much of the focus of his
governorship on passing laws relating to the newly discovered
mineral wealth of the Upper Peninsula.
He also concentrated heavily on internal improvements to his
state. Lastly, he
developed an interest in plank roads, and a large number of plank
road companies were incorporated during his term.
Ransom also strongly supported the establishment of asylums
for the insane and the deaf.
His support on this issue would eventually lead to the
building of the Michigan Asylum for the Insane in Kalamazoo.
However, his faith in the future of plank roads was destined
to cost Ransom a lot of money later in his life. Epaphroditus
Ransom served one two-year term as the governor of Michigan.
He did not run for re-election, partially because of his
views on the controversial Wilmot Proviso (which would have
prohibited the spread of slavery to new territories acquired by the
United States from Mexico) that went against the mostly conservative
Democratic party line. After
his term ended, Ransom returned to his farm in Kalamazoo.
In 1851 he sold the farm to Paulus denBleyker for a large
amount of cash and went into business with his son.
They invested heavily in plank road companies and lost
everything in the Panic of 1855, and as plank roads succumbed to the
ever-expanding railroads. The final chapter in the life of Epaphroditus Ransom involved one final westward migration. In 1857 president James Buchanan appointed him receiver of a land office in the Kansas Territory. He worked there for two years until his death on 9 November 1859. About a year later his remains were returned to Kalamazoo, where he was given a large funeral at St. Luke's Episcopal Church and was buried in Mountain Home Cemetery. In 1987 a historical marker was erected at the corner of South Burdick and Cedar Streets, near the location of the former Ransom farm. It has been said, "No man ever held a stronger hold on the affections of the people in western Michigan than Epaphroditus Ransom."
Written by Alex Forist, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, August 2005. Last updated 3 October 2006.
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