Solomon Sibley

Solomon Sibley (October 7, 1769 – April 4, 1846) was an American politician, lawyer, and jurist in the Michigan Territory who became the first mayor of Detroit and later served as a territorial delegate in the United States Congress. He was born in Sutton, Massachusetts, the son of Reuben and Ruth Sibley. After completing preparatory studies, he attended the College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (now Brown University) in Providence, Rhode Island, graduating in 1794. He then studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1795, and began his legal practice in Marietta, in the Northwest Territory (now Ohio). In the following years he moved first to Cincinnati and then, in 1797, to Detroit, Michigan, shortly after the British surrendered the fort there in 1796. When Sibley arrived, he was one of only two lawyers in Detroit, and his early legal work required extensive travel by horseback through wilderness and along Native American trails to attend territorial courts in places such as Cincinnati, Marietta, and Chillicothe, Ohio.

Sibley quickly became involved in the political life of the region. In December 1798, Detroit held its first election under United States authority, in a local tavern, to choose a delegate to the legislature of the Northwest Territory. Sibley was elected to represent Wayne County, although his opponent, James May, contested the result, claiming victory on the basis that he had provided liquor to voters. Despite the challenge, Sibley took his seat and represented Wayne County in the first legislature of the Northwest Territory, commencing his term in January 1799. He was instrumental in securing the legislation in 1802 by which Detroit was incorporated as a town. Under this new framework he was elected first as chairman of the Board of Trustees, and, following the adoption of Detroit’s first city charter in 1806, he became the city’s first mayor, establishing the precedent for municipal governance in the growing frontier community.

In the years leading up to the War of 1812, Sibley played a prominent role in territorial defense and public affairs. In December 1811, shortly after the Battle of Tippecanoe, he chaired a public meeting in Detroit that drafted a memorial to the President and Congress concerning the defenses of the Michigan Territory. The memorial urged the federal government to prioritize the protection of settlers over the preservation of trade routes with Native American nations. After the outbreak of the War of 1812, forts were established at sites Sibley had recommended. During the conflict he commanded a company of riflemen in the defense of Detroit, although the British attack ultimately succeeded and General William Hull surrendered the fort. In the postwar period, Sibley continued his public service in the territorial administration, serving as Auditor of Public Accounts for the Michigan Territory from 1814 to 1817.

Sibley’s legal and political stature led to important federal appointments. He was appointed the first United States Attorney for the Michigan Territory by President James Madison, serving from 1815 to 1823. As a member of the Unknown Party representing Michigan, Solomon Sibley contributed to the legislative process during two terms in office. When William Woodbridge resigned on August 9, 1820, as territorial delegate to the Sixteenth United States Congress, Sibley was elected to fill the vacancy. He won re-election to the Seventeenth Congress and served as Michigan Territory’s delegate from November 20, 1820, to March 3, 1823. During this period he participated in the democratic process at a formative time in American and territorial history, representing the interests of his constituents while simultaneously continuing to serve as U.S. Attorney, thus holding concurrent legislative and executive responsibilities.

While in federal service, Sibley also took part in significant treaty negotiations affecting the future of the Great Lakes region. On August 29, 1821, he was commissioned, along with Governor Lewis Cass, to negotiate the Treaty of Chicago with the Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Chippewa nations. Under this treaty, the tribes ceded most of their lands south of the Grand River in what is now Michigan, opening vast tracts of territory to American settlement and reshaping the political and demographic landscape of the region. Sibley chose not to seek re-election to Congress in 1822, but his influence in territorial affairs continued through his judicial service.

In 1824, President James Monroe appointed Sibley as one of three justices of the Michigan Territorial Supreme Court, making him the sixth territorial justice to serve on that body. He became chief justice of the court in 1827 and held that position for a decade, presiding over the development of territorial jurisprudence as Michigan moved toward statehood. His judicial career ended in 1837, when he resigned from the bench due to increasing deafness, which made it difficult for him to continue his judicial duties effectively.

Sibley’s family life was closely intertwined with the political and economic development of the Upper Midwest. He married Sarah Whipple Sproat, the only daughter of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War. They had eight children. One son, Henry Hastings Sibley, born in 1811, became a territorial delegate from Wisconsin Territory from 1848 to 1849 and from Minnesota Territory from 1849 to 1853, and later served as the first governor of the State of Minnesota from 1858 to 1860. Another son, Alexander H. Sibley, born in 1817, became president of the Silver Islet Mining Company, which operated a prominent silver mine in Ontario. A daughter, Catherine Whipple Sibley, married Charles Christopher Trowbridge, who served as mayor of Detroit in 1834 and was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Michigan in 1837, further linking the Sibley family to regional political leadership.

Solomon Sibley died in Detroit on April 4, 1846, and was interred in Elmwood Cemetery in that city. His death was widely noted in the legal community; many members of the bar wore a badge of mourning for 30 days in his honor. Shortly after his death, his widow, Sarah Sibley, built the Sibley House on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, a residence that continued the family’s visible presence in the city and that still stands as a reminder of his role in the early civic and legal history of Michigan.