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Charles Christopher Trowbridge

Charles Christopher Trowbridge
CharlesCTrowbridge.jpg
Mayor of Detroit
In office
1834–1834
Preceded by Marshall Chapin
Succeeded by Andrew Mack
Personal details
Born December 29, 1800
Albany, New York
Died April 3, 1883 (1883-04-04) (aged 82)
Detroit, Michigan
Spouse(s) Catherine Whipple Sibley

Charles Christopher Trowbridge (December 29, 1800 – April 3, 1883) was an explorer, politician, businessman, and ethnographer of Native American cultures who lived in Detroit during the 19th century. He was one of the very first businessmen who emigrated to what was then the Michigan Territory.

Charles Trowbridge was born on December 29, 1800 in Albany, New York; the youngest of six children born to Luther Trowbridge and Elizabeth Tillman Trowbridge. His father was a Revolutionary War veteran who had fought at the battles of Lexington and Saratoga, among others. Luther Trowbridge died in 1802, and Charles grew up with his mother. In 1813, Charles apprenticed to the businessman Horatio Ross of Owego, New York, who trained him as a merchant. In 1818, economic troubles bankrupted Ross, and Trowbridge, then not quite eighteen, was charged with closing up the business. Trowbridge continued independently in the merchant trade, but quickly decided to move west. In 1819, he secured a position with Major Thomas Rowland of Detroit as Deputy United States Marshal and deputy Clerk of the Court.

Rowland encouraged Trowbridge to study law, and the young man quickly picked up a great deal of legal knowledge, and assisted in recording the 1820 census. In 1820, Trowbridge served on the Lewis Cass expedition, led by Lewis Cass, that officially explored the section of the Northwest Territory between the Great Lakes and the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Cass was impressed by Trowbridge, and made him his private secretary.

In 1821, Trowbridge helped negotiate a treaty between the US government and the Winnebago and Menominee Indians. With this experience, and his knowledge of the Cherokee language, Trowbridge was appointed assistant secretary in the local Indian department, and soon after was also made interpreter.


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