The Hastings Banner — Thursday, August 12, 2021 — Page 9Portrait of Hastings
namesake back at City Hall
The portrait of Eurotas P. Hastings was
printed in the Banner’s Centennial Edition
May 3, 1956, accompanied by the following
text:
“The above picture of Eurotas P. Hastings
is reproduced from an oil painting now
hanging in the William T. Wallace Memorial
Library [at Hastings High School], that was
presented to the City Friday evening, Dec. 23,
1910, by Charles W. Mixer. The portrait was
accepted on behalf of the city by Mayor
Charles H. Osborn, who appointed a
committee consisting of Alderman William G.
Bauer, Charles H. Barber, and John A. Wooten
to prepare resolutions thanking Mixer for the
gift.
“It is probable that the above picture was
painted in 1835 by Alvah Brandish, a well-
known artist of that day. According to The
Detroit News Tribune of 1896, “He (Hastings)
was then 44 years of age, of medium stature
and of slender frame, being about 5 feet, 9
inches in height, weighing about 130 pounds,
with a healthy but somewhat pallid
complexion. His dark hair was thin and
sprinkled with gray, and his eyes were black
and expressive. He had a well-shaped head, a
scholarly, clean-shaven face, and was a good-
looking prepossessing man. He was always
well-dressed in orthodox black, like all
professional persons, or a high beaver hat and
black silk stock. In cold weather, his usual
outside garment was a Boston wrapper, as it
was called, of black or brown cloth, quilted
and lined with silk, and coming below his
knees. He was quick in his motions, and
cordial, cheery and inviting in his speech and
manner. He was a man of strong likes and
dislikes, but never carried the latter beyond
the limits of good sense and courtesy. With
him, the claims of friendship were imperious,
and this, perhaps, was the most noticeable
defect of his character.“Mixer requested that the picture be hung
in the council chamber until such time as the
city should have a public library. So, when a
combination of school and city library was
opened in completion of the “new” high
school in 1917, the portrait of Hastings was
placed there – and transferred last year to the
new William T. Wallace Memorial Library,
where it now hangs on the south wall of the
conference room.”
~~~~~
Charles W. Mixer (1858-1934) of the Mixer
Medicine Co., made his fortune selling an
unproven “cancer cure,” Mixer’s Syrup. The
connection between Mixer and Hastings
(1791-1866) is unknown.
The portrait now hangs in the lobby of
Hastings City Hall. Photo provided by Dan
King.Eurotas P. HastingsMore than one with unusual name
Kathy Maurer
Copy Editor
Though Eurotas Parmalee Hastings shares
his name with two local settlements – the city
of Hastings and the little hamlet of Parmalee/
Parmelee in Thornapple Township – it is
unknown whether he ever visited Barry
County or the town that bears his name.
He also was the first president of the
Quincy Mining Company in the Keweenaw
Peninsula – about 560 miles from Detroit –
which would have been an arduous trip if he
ever journeyed there.
Hastings was born in Connecticut, the sixth
of 11 children of Dr. Seth and Eunice Parmelee
Hastings, named, perhaps, after a Greek river
and his maternal ancestors.
His unusual moniker is included in
politicalstrangenames.blogspot.com, along
with Ashmun Asaph Knappen (better knownas Rev. A.A. Knappen) of Hastings.
As unusual as his name is, he is not the only
Eurotas Parmalee Hastings. He had a nephew
with the same name, a minister, who married
Anna Cleveland, the eldest sister of President
Grover Cleveland.
Eurotas was about 46 when Grover
Cleveland was born in 1837, and died about
five years before Cleveland won his first
election – that of Erie County, N.Y., sheriff –
and nearly 20 years before Cleveland was
inaugurated as president the first time. So, if
he ever met his nephew’s brother-in-law, it
was long before Cleveland had any political
aspirations.
Sources: Family Record of Dr. Seth
Hastings, Sr. by the late Francis H. Hastings,
1899; Ancestry.com; politicalstrangenames.
blogspot.com.City’s namesake was known
for integrity, honesty
Hastings will soon be marking its 150th
anniversary of becoming a city. Like the
county, named for a U.S. postmaster general
who likely never set foot on Barry County
soil, Eurotas Parmalee Hastings may never
have found his way here.
Still, now seems like an appropriate time
to find out more about the namesake who put
the town on a map 185 years ago.
The special Centennial Edition of The
Hastings Banner May 3, 1856, featured a
variety of historical stories, many written by
Marshall L. Cook, including this article on a
Presbyterian banker by the name of Hastings.
Eurotas P. Hastings, man of good
deeds
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Served state as auditor general in
turbulent era
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City’s namesake noted for strong
friendships and many generous actions
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It is probable that Eurotas P. Hastings
never visited Barry County or the town site
that carried his name.
The deal that started Hastings on its way
was merely a routine land transaction that
involved the transfer of a title to a specific
parcel of property from one man to a group of
promoters – a deal typical of hundreds of
other transactions in an era of unrestrained
land speculation.
County seat purchase
The record shows that “on the 26th day of
July 1836, Eurotas P. Hastings sold to Philo
A. Dibble, Lansing Kingsbury and Cornelius
Kendall, for $3,000, a tract of land in Town 3
North, Range 8 West, known as the ‘Barry
County Seat Purchase,’ and covering the
northeast quarter of the east half of the
southwest quarter of Section 18, and the
northwest and west half of the southwest
quarter in Section 17. The county seat had
already been located at that point by
commissioners, but there were no settlers
anywhere in that part of the county.”
What sort of an individual was Hastings?
The following personal sketch is derived from
copies of clippings of the Advertiser and
Tribune (Detroit) of June 1, 1866, and the
Detroit News Tribune of March 1, 1896,
obtained through assistance of the *Burton
Historical Collection, Detroit, and other
source material from the Library of Michigan
and the Michigan Historical Commission.
Eurotas P. Hastings was born in
Washington, Litchfield County, Conn., July
20, 1791. When 6 years old, he moved with
his parents to Clinton, Oneida County, N.Y. It
was there he attended school, and at age 14
began work as a clerk in a general store.
Five years later, he and his brother Orlando
operated in general store together under the
firm name of O.&E.P. Hastings. The brothers
contracted in 1811 to furnish material for the
first permanent building of Hamilton College
at Clinton [one of the oldest colleges in the
country today]. The brothers’ partnership was
dissolved several years later, when Orlando
entered law school.
The old Bank of Michigan
Eurotas’ next moved to Utica, N.Y., where
he clerked for two years and then was
appointed teller and later cashier in the Bank
of Geneva at Geneva, N.Y. It was from here
he moved to Detroit Feb. 1, 1825, to examine
the affairs of the Bank of Michigan.
The Bank of Michigan, established in
1818, was the second bank to operate in the
new territory. Its predecessor, the Detroit
Bank, was started in 1805, and was abolished
by Congress in 1807.
In 1824, the Dwights, capitalists with
interests in Boston, Springfield in Geneva,
acquired control of the Bank of Michigan, and
it was thereafter often called the “Bank of the
Dwights.”
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The Dwights became dissatisfied with the
management of the bank and asked Eurotas P.
Hastings (of their Geneva Bank) to examine
its affairs and to remain on as director, if he so
desired.
Finds evidence of fraud
Heading the committee of investigation,
Hastings found the accounts of cashier James
McCloskey were carelessly kept and showed
evidence of fraud. A comprehensive
examination of the books by Hastings over a
period of three months established definitely
that McCloskey was $10,300 in arrears.
During this time, Peter J. Desnoyers resigned,
and Hastings was elected in his place.
After receiving Hastings’ final report, the
directors named him one of the committee of
three to count the cash and take over
possession of the key to the vault. This time
however, the funds on hand agreed with the
cash account. What had happened to the
$10,300 shortage? While the examination was
in progress, McCloskey had received a special
deposit in the form of a box of money
containing $40,000 from Charles J. Lannon,
receiver of the United States Land Office at
Monroe.
Hastings secured the vault key, but only
after a physical struggle for its possession
with McCloskey. A count of the cash in the
box showed $10,300 less than the receipt
signed by McCloskey called for. The
troublesome cashier had attempted to square
his accounts by perpetuating another robbery!
No trace of the missing $10,300 was ever
found. McCloskey was charged with
embezzlement. C.C. Trowbridge succeeded
McCloskey as cashier, and Hastings continued
as president of the bank until 1839, a period of
14 years during which time it had an eventful
history.
A government depository
In 1832, the Bank of Michigan was
selected by the government as one of the top
depositories for the safekeeping and
disbursement of public money derived mostly
from the sale of government lands. President
Hastings was opposed to receiving and using
the money, but the Eastern stockholders
advised it, and official assurances were given
to the officers that deposits might be used for
commercial purposes. The bank’s footing of
$3 million made it one of the largest banks in
this region.
Its bills circulated as freely in Texas,
Louisiana or Maine as in Michigan or Ohio,
and nearly every prominent man in the West
and Northwest had more or less new business
with it. Money was loaned freely on notes and
wild lands. Under the stimulus of approaching
admission to the Union, a tide of immigration
set in from the Eastern states, accompanied by
wild speculation in lands. The Bank of
Michigan established a branch in Kalamazoo,
which for a while did a profitable business.
Most of the securities furnished to the
bank during that time were based on improved
real estate and wild lands. There was little
cash capital in the state, save that furnished by
the two banks.
The charter of the Bank of Michigan was
exceedingly liberal, permitting the circulation
of three times the amount of its capital, and
also as much as the specie on hand.
Reverses came
President Andrew Jackson’s specie
circular of July 11, 1836, directing all public
officers to receive and pay out coin money
only was a jolt that brought business to a
standstill. Money was a short item in this new
territory. By Jan. 1, 1837, [just weeks before
Michigan became a state] affairs had reached
a state of panic. Land promotions collapsed.
Banks had to pay back loan monies deposited
by the government and were compelled to
make drastic cuts in their own loans.
Merchants failed, manufacturing operations
stopped, and banks closed their doors. In May,
the New York Bank suspended specie
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payments, and all the other banks, including
those in Detroit, followed suit.
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The Wildcat era
To relieve the money stringency, the
Michigan Legislature of 1837 passed the
so-called “Wild Cat” bank law, the main
provision of which was that bank notes could
be issued on 30 percent of capital paid in. In a
few months, more than 40 such banks were
established, most of which were founded on
fraud and deception, and every one went out
of existence before two years had elapsed. To
comply with the law, a barrel of species would
be transported to a bank to be exhibited to the
bank examiner, and then taken away to
another bank, to fill the same purpose, and so
on.
But after the wild flurry had partially
subsided, the Bank of Michigan resumed
specie payments.
During 1839, the Dwights became
dissatisfied with Hastings’ management, and
he resigned. His integrity was not questioned.
Apparently, he was too kind-hearted for a
banker, but sufficiently strict in demanding
full security for loans and prone to be overly
generous in judging the character of loan
applicants.
Auditor general in 1840
Although Hastings was a Whig and later a
Republican, he was never active in politics.
Nevertheless, he was appointed auditor
general (probably by Gov. William
Woodbridge who resigned Feb. 24, 1841, to
become U.S. senator) and served in that
capacity from 1840 to 1842. This was
apparently a tribute to Hastings’ ability as an
accountant and his reputation for honesty.
When he assumed office, he found the
books to be in an utter state of confusion.
Under his direction, the account books of both
the auditor general and the state treasurer
were rewritten. He also took charge of the
accounts of the Michigan Central Railroad,
then owned by the state, which had been
losing money steadily.
At that time, the Michigan State Bank
owed a large sum to the state for deposits,
which it could not pay. Hastings was one of
the commissioners appointed to take over the
assets of the institution he once had served as
president. After the commission reported a
settlement, the assets were placed in the hands
of the auditor general and the bank discharged
from further liability.
Assignee in bankruptcy
At the expiration of his term, Hastings
retained the assets because the Legislature
had not discharged the commissioners from
their trust. A law was passed providing that
the Democratic successor, Alpheus Fletch,
should receive the assets, and that Fletch
should then collect them and pay them over to
the treasurer.
Hastings, however, refused because of
liens on the property received, for which he
was responsible, and for which the state had
not given him protection. The persons holding
those liens sought to enjoin Hastings, but
Chancellor Farnsworth dissolve the injunction.
Later, the chancellor reversed this decision,
and the secretary of state demanded the
assets. Hastings refused, appealed the case to
the Supreme Court, and won. Only after the
Legislature provided for the liens, did
Hastings turn over the assets to the state.
Spring 1841, Hastings was assailed in the
Legislature. Certain representatives charged
him with misfeasance in office, for paying
bills contrary to law. [Eventually] a complete
investigation by a Senate committee
exonerated him completely after finding that
the payments had been made honestly and
legally.
Judge Ross Wilkins appointed Hastings as
official assignee in bankruptcy, in 1842, under
the old general bankruptcy law, a position he
held up to the time of his death. During the
first few years in that position, he settled 660
cases in bankruptcy, aggregating millions of
dollars. This position was not very lucrative in
later years, and he engaged in several other
businesses. During the first part of U.S. Civil
War, he was a clerk in the provost marshal’s
office and, afterward, bookkeeper for J.W.
Tillman, the furniture dealer.
Active Presbyterian
Hastings was an active and prominent
member of the Presbyterian Church in Detroit.
He is believed to have been one of a group
who founded the [Jefferson Avenue]
Presbyterian Church from the older First
Presbyterian Church, which was
nondenominational.
Soon after coming to Detroit, Hastings
was chosen as ruling elder. When the first
church decided to sell its old property to raise
funds for establishing three new churches,
Hastings was one of the three trustees given
complete authority to carry through all details
of the transaction.
When the Jefferson Avenue church was
under construction, in 1854, Hastings was
chosen chairman of the meeting held to
perfect the organization and also was named
the first ruling elder in that church and
continued in that office until the time of his
death. He also served as clerk of the session of
that church and the stated clerk and treasurer
of the Presbytery of Detroit. He often
represented the Presbytery of Detroit as lay
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delegate in the new School General Assembly.
For many years, he also conducted the music
of the Sunday school.
Hastings served as city recorder of Detroit
in 1827, and in 1830 was treasurer of the
Wayne County Bible Society. He served as
secretary of the territorial school union in
1831, was named commissioner of the district
schools in 1833, and aided in the establishment
of the Detroit Board of Education 1842.
Hastings was one of the first directors of the
Michigan Central Railroad in 1835, served as
United States pension agent from 1837 to
1854 and United States commissioner in
1843.
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Married three times
When Hastings first came to Detroit, he
lived in the abandoned officers’ quarters of
Fort Shelby, which were rented from the city.
For many years, he lived in his own house,
built in the neo-Grecian style, on the south
side of Jefferson Avenue next door west of
Christ Church. After his death, it was owned
and occupied by ex-governor Robert
McClelland, and was torn down in 1890.
Hastings had three wives and five children
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- and survived them all. His first wife, Electa
Owen, died before he came to Detroit, [as did
his eldest son.] His second wife was Mrs.
Philema (Field) Moody whom he married in
Geneva N.Y. She bore him [four sons], who
died young, with the exception of Henry
Dwight Hastings, who was born in 1827 and
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died in 1850, age 21 years. His third wife,
Theodosia DeVeaux Petit, was the widow of
Probate Judge W.W. Petit. She was
instrumental in founding the Ladies Free
School Society, was one of the first directors
of the Protestant Orphan Asylum when it was
organized in 1836 and was its treasurer for
several years. She died March 4, 1863, at the
age of 62 years. E.P.
In paying tribute to Hastings, after his
death at his Jefferson Avenue residence Friday
June 1, 1866, at 6 p.m., the Advertiser and
Tribune (Detroit) of June 2, 1866, referred to
him as “one of our oldest and most esteemed
citizens.”
Years later, the Detroit News Tribune of
March 1, 1896, described him as “respected
admired and beloved as a man of Aristidean
honesty and good deeds.”
That, in brief, is a life sketch of the man
for whom the city of Hastings, Michigan, was
named.Hastings is buried at Elmwood Cemetery
in Detroit. A large marker also is engraved
with the names of some family members,
including his first wife and eldest son, who
are buried in Geneva, N.Y.
Compiled by Kathy Maurer, copy editor.
Sources: Hastings Banner; Family Record
of Dr. Seth Hastings, Sr. by the late Francis H.
Hastings, 1899; Ancestry.com;
politicalstrangenames.blogspot.com;
findagrave.com.
165114
NOTICE: SEEKING APPLICATIONS
FOR VOLUNTEERS
The Barry County Board of Commissioners is seeking applications
from volunteers to serve on the following Boards:
Community Mental Health Authority: 1 position
Area Agency on Aging Council: 1 position
Applications may be obtained at the County Administration Office,
3 rd floor of the Courthouse, 220 W. State St., Hastings; or
http://www.barrycounty.org under the tab: How do I apply for: A position
on an Advisory Board or Commission and click on apply; and must
be returned no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 23, 2021.
Contact 269-945-1284 for more information.
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Public Review of the
Barry County Hazard Mitigation Plan Update
Wednesday August 18, 7 pm
at the Tyden Center
121 S. Church St., Hastings
James Yarger, PEM, Coordinator
Barry County Emergency Management Department