Charles Christopher Trowbridge (1800-1883)
Prepared by Carmel High School Student
Born: December 29, 1800 in Albany, New York to Captain Luther Trowbridge (d. Feb. 1802) and Elizabeth Tillman Trowbridge
Youngest of six children
Wife: Catherine Whipple (Sibley) Trowbridge
Major Events:
1802 – Father dies; family broken up
1813 – Horatio Ross offers to train Trowbridge, 12, in business
1814 – Taken into family of Ross
1815-19 – Business troubles destroy Ross’s business
1818 – Treaty of St. Mary’s: United States pays Wyandot, Seneca, Shawnee, and Ottawa Indians for land
1819 – Creditors leave Ross his homestead and Ross moves to Detroit
- Trowbridge receives Ross’s property
- Trowbridge moves to Detroit
1819-20 (winter) – Preparations for expedition among Indians. Trowbridge accepts Major Rolands’s offer to go.
- Trowbridge meets Gen. Lewis Cass, who makes him a clerk and topographer
1820 – Expedition begins May 4
- Trowbridge returns and becomes Secretary and amanuensis to Gen. Cass
1821 – Trowbridge becomes Agent to chiefs and tribes of Green Bay to buy land from Winnebagoes
1823 – December: Sets out to White River to meet William Conner, Delaware interpreter. Uses Conner to find Delaware to learn about their culture and interpret language.
1824 – Interview French people in villages once attacked by Pontiac to learn history as requested by Cass
- Goes to Fort Wayne to make further investigations among the Miami
1825 - Makes treaties with the Seneca for land
1826 – Marries Catherine Whipple Sibley
1831 – Refuses to become the chief clerk of Cass, who now became Secretary of War
1833 – Makes land purchases along with Samuel Hubbard, Pliny Cutler, and Edmund Monroe
- Becomes alderman of Detroit
1834 – Becomes mayor of Detroit and helps fight bouts of cholera in the city
1837 – Nominated by Whigs as Governor of Michigan; loses by 237 majority to Stevens T. Mason
1842 – Due to pressures in life, Trowbridge gives up work for months due to health problems
1844-55 – Becomes president of Michigan State Bank until its failure
1866 – Cass dies in the arms of Trowbridge
1882 – 82nd birthday; great banquet
April 3, 1883 – Charles Christopher Trowbridge dies.