Calvin Britain (December 31, 1800 – January 18, 1862) was an American politician who served as the eighth lieutenant governor of Michigan.

Biography

Britain was born in

Jefferson County, New York Jefferson County is a county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,721. Its county seat is Watertown. The county is named after Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United S ...

. Britain came from New York to Michigan Territory in 1827 and for a time was a teacher at the

Carey Mission Carey Mission was established in December 1822 by Baptist missionary Isaac McCoy among the Potawatomi tribe of American Indians on the St. Joseph River near Niles, Michigan, United States. It was named for English Baptist missionary William Car ...

Niles, Michigan Niles is a city in Berrien County, Michigan, Berrien and Cass County, Michigan, Cass counties in the U.S. state of Michigan, near the Indiana state line city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. The population was 11,988 according to the 2020 Unit ...

Career

In 1829 Britain and Augustus Newell acquired the lands on which the business portion of St. Joseph was later built. Newell built the first hotel in 1831 known as the "Mansion House". The government surveyed the land in 1830, and Britain laid out the plat of the village in 1831 calling it Newburyport. Britain also built a warehouse and bought and sold real estate. The name of the town was changed to St. Joseph in 1834. As a Democrat, Britain was a member of the Legislative Council of Michigan Territory from 1832 to 1835,

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 ...

from 1835 to 1837,

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

from 1847 to 1851, and member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850. Due to changes to the Michigan Constitution adopted at that convention, he was elected to a one-year term as lieutenant governor with Governor Robert McClelland.

Death and legacy

Britain never married and resided in St. Joseph until his death there in 1862. He is interred at Saint Joseph City Cemetery, St. Joseph, Michigan. Calvin Township in

Cass County, Michigan Cass County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 51,589. Its county seat is Cassopolis. Cass County is included in the South Bend– Mishawaka, IN-MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area which has a ...

, is named for him.Rogers, Howard S. (1875)
''History of Cass County, from 1825 to 1875''
p. 208. W.H. Mansfield.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Britain, Calvin 1800 births 1862 deaths Delegates to the 1850 Michigan Constitutional Convention Lieutenant governors of Michigan Democratic Party Michigan state senators Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Members of the Michigan Territorial Legislature 19th-century members of the Michigan Legislature