Solomon Sibley (October 7, 1769 – April 4, 1846) was an American politician and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

in the

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 ...

who became the first mayor of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Early life: 1769–1815

Sibley was born in

Sutton, Massachusetts Sutton, officially the Town of Sutton, is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,357 in the 2020 United States census. Located in the Blackstone Valley, the town was design ...

, the son of Ruth and Reuben Sibley. After completing preparatory studies, he graduated from the College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (now

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

) at Providence in 1794. He studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, was admitted to the Bar in 1795 and began a practice in

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in Appalachian Ohio, southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum River, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia ...

, which was then part of the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

. He soon moved to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and then moved again to

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, in 1797, shortly after the British handed over the fort in 1796. When he arrived, Sibley was one of only two lawyers in Detroit. Being a pioneer lawyer was a physically challenging profession, often requiring long travel by horseback through wilderness over Indian trails in all types of weather to attend the territorial courts in Cincinnati, Marietta, or

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in Ross County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 22,059 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, ...

. In December 1798, Detroit elected a delegate to the legislature of the Northwest Territory. This, the first election in Michigan under United States control, was held in a Detroit tavern. Although Sibley was elected, his opponent, James May, claimed he had won by providing liquor for the voters. Despite the protestation, Sibley represented Wayne County in the first legislature of the Northwest Territory, commencing his term in January 1799. Sibley was instrumental in passing the legislation in 1802 by which Detroit was incorporated as a town. Sibley was elected first as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and then under the first city charter of 1806 as the first

mayor of Detroit This is a list of mayors of Detroit, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014. History of Detroit's executive authority During the earliest part of its history, Detroit was a ...

. In December of 1811, following the

Battle of Tippecanoe The Battle of Tippecanoe ( ) was fought on November 7, 1811, in Battle Ground, Indiana, between United States Armed Forces, American forces led by then Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and tribal forces associated with Sh ...

, Sibley chaired a public meeting which drafted a memorial to the President and Congress, concerning the defenses of

. This memorial called on Congress to prioritize the defense of settlers over the protection of trade routes with Native Americans. After the start of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, forts were established at the sites recommended by Sibley. During the war, Sibley commanded a company of riflemen in defense of Detroit, though the British attack was successful and

William Hull William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American military officer and politician. A veteran of the American Revolutionary War, he later served as governor of the Michigan Territory (1805–1813), where he negotiated land cessi ...

surrendered the fort. After the war, Sibley served as Auditor of Public Accounts for the Michigan Territory from 1814 to 1817.

Congressional delegate: 1815–1823

Sibley was appointed as the first

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Michigan Territory by

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

, serving from 1815 to 1823. When

William Woodbridge William Woodbridge (August 20, 1780October 20, 1861) was a U.S. statesman in the states of Ohio and Michigan and in the Michigan Territory prior to statehood. He served as the second governor of Michigan and a United States senator from Michi ...

resigned on August 9, 1820, as territorial Delegate to the

16th United States Congress The 16th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1819, ...

, Sibley was elected to fill the vacancy. Sibley won re-election to the 17th Congress, serving in total from November 20, 1820, to March 3, 1823. Sibley continued to serve as U.S. Attorney, and thus held concurrent legislative and executive positions. During this period, Sibley was also commissioned, along with

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was a United States Army officer and politician. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He was also the 1 ...

, to negotiate the August 29, 1821, Treaty of Chicago with the

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

, and Chippewa, in which the tribes ceded most of their territory south of the Grand River.

Michigan Supreme Court: 1824–1837

Sibley was not a candidate for re-election to Congress in 1822. In 1824, he was appointed as one of three justices on the Michigan Territorial Supreme Court by U.S. President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

, becoming the sixth Territorial Justice. Sibley was chief justice of the court from 1827 until 1837, when he had to resign due to his

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

ness.

Retirement and personal life: 1837–1846

Sibley married Sarah Whipple Sproat Sibley (1782–1851), the only daughter of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, a veteran of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. They had eight children, one of whom,

Henry Hastings Sibley Henry Hastings Sibley (February 20, 1811 – February 18, 1891) was a fur trader with the American Fur Company, the first U.S. Congressional representative for Minnesota Territory, the first governor of the state of Minnesota, and a U.S. mi ...

(b. 1811), was a territorial delegate from

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and 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. Belm ...

1848–1849, and from

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Minnesota and the w ...

1849–1853, and the first

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

1858–1860. A second son, Alexander H. Sibley (b. 1817), was the president of the Silver Islet Mining Company which operated a silver mine in Ontario. A daughter, Catherine Whipple Sibley, married Charles Christopher Trowbridge,

in 1834 and unsuccessful candidate for

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of government of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-ele ...

in 1837. Sibley died in Detroit and is interred in Elmwood Cemetery there. Upon his death, many members of the Bar wore a badge of mourning for 30 days. Shortly after his death, his widow Sarah built the Sibley House on Jefferson, which still stands.

References

External links

History of DetroitMichigan Supreme Court Historical SocietySolomon Sibley: Michigan's First United States Attorney, 1815–1823
by Ross Parker

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibley, Solomon 1769 births 1846 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Michigan Mayors of Detroit Members of the Northwest Territory House of Representatives Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Michigan Territory Brown University alumni Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Detroit) Regents of the University of Michigan Chief justices of the Michigan Supreme Court People from Sutton, Massachusetts American military personnel of the War of 1812 Michigan Democrats Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives United States attorneys for the District of Michigan