PREFACE. Besides the report of the Annual Meeting of the Society for the year 1907, this the 36th volume of the Society's publication, contains an abundance of material on the early history of Michigan, putting into available form publications and documents not otherwise accessible to the general public. As is fitting, it contains the Society's tribute to one of its most illustrious and loyal members, the Hon. Peter White, of Marquette. An illuminating discussion of the Proclamation of 1763, follows the publication of that document from the Canadian Archives' Report. However, the main interest of the volume centers in the "Territorial Records." These papers in addition to those published in Volume XXXI, give the most complete account, from the manuscripts, of the period immediately following the formation of the territory in 1805. No future publication on Michigan history can ignore the new material contained in these papers. Their personal and intimate character add much to their interest and value, and as Mr. Burton truly says in his introduction, "(They) are the most important (documents) that have ever been printed by our Society on that period of the history of our state immediately following the formation of the territory in 1805." No better illustration could be given than this volume presents, of the important work being done by our Society in the preservation and putting in permanent form of the early records that make the history of our Commonwealth. It should also serve to call attention to the loose and careless manner in which many of our local records are now being kept, a fault from which some of our state records are not wholly free. The apparently unimportant records of to-day may become of vital interest to a succeeding generation. All state and county officers of record should be impressed with the duty and necessity of keeping their records of facts absolutely correct and intact. This volume has the melancholy honor of recording the memorials of a number of the state's honored citizens: A governor, a judge of the U. S. court, and a candidate for the position of U. S. senator. As brief notices of the lives of these men who have in their different spheres shed lustre on the state's good name, we commend these memorials to the readers of this volume. CLARENCE E. BEMENT, Lansing, JAMES F. BARNETT, Grand Rapids, JUNIUS E. BEAL, Ann Arbor, PETER WHITE, Marquette,* *Deceased. Committee of Historians. |