By John Lindstrom
Publisher
Posted: January 14, 2013 3:16 PM

An important date in Michigan history occurred during the weekend, and it is right to use its recollection as a time to heap some praise on the state’s first governor, Stevens T. Mason.

On January 12, 1835, Mr. Mason, then the 23-year-old territorial governor, addressed the territory’s legislative council and urged them to call a constitutional convention.

Michigan was facing a crisis, Mr. Mason said. It had officially requested Congress to hold a constitutional convention and that request had been rejected.

But Michigan deserved to be a state, Mr. Mason told the legislative council. The council should call a constitutional convention on its own.

On January 26, the council passed legislation calling a con-con. Delegates were elected in April and from May 11 to June 24 met in Detroit and drafted the Constitution of 1835. Only about 8,000 territorial residents voted that October on the Constitution, and by a nearly 6-1 margin they approved the document.

(The month before the election, President Andrew Jackson attempted to remove Mr. Mason as the territorial governor, but outraged Michiganders pelted the successor’s house with stones and horse dung. The successor fled the state.)

Michigan officially joined the union in 1837, with Mr. Mason becoming the state’s first governor.

Students of Michigan history know that Mr. Mason’s term was less than successful, in part because the national Panic of 1837 helped destroy the state’s banking system. He left Michigan after leaving office in 1840 and died just three years later.

But a little boldness on Mr. Mason’s part, backed up by the legislative council, was a decisive step towards Michigan becoming a state. Had Mr. Mason not called for a con-con when he did, who knows when Michigan would have become a state.

So, take a moment this week and give a little salute to the boy-gov.