What’s In A Name

Linda Burton posting from Lansing, Michigan – History has a way of surprising you. That is, the pursuit of getting to the bottom of things, like, for instance, how Lansing, Michigan got its name. This tale is full of twists and turns, beginning with a man named John Ten Eyck Lansing Jr (1754-1829), who lived in New York. He was a distinguished fellow; in his lifetime he was Mayor of Albany, New York; Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court, a member of the New York State Assembly, and in 1785, the US Confederation Congress. During the Revolutionary War he was military secretary to General Philip Schuyler, which brings us to the Central New York Military Tract. In September of 1776 the Continental Congress required states to raise regiments for the Revolutionary War, so the New York legislature authorized a military tract as part of law, to raise its quota of regiments. Nearly two million acres of bounty land were set aside to compensate New York’s soldiers; each soldier was guaranteed 600 acres for their service. The land was surveyed and divided into 28 townships; the townships were given classical Greek and Roman names, and a few honoring English authors, one of which was Milton, near Cayuga Lake. The township of Milton was split over time; the part in Cayuga County was named Genoa. In 1817 when Tompkins County was created out of Cayuga County, the town of Lansing, New York was established; history tells us it was named for the well-known John Ten Eyck Lansing Jr. So what does any of this have to do with Lansing, Michigan? Think of dense forests, flowing rivers, and land. That’s what Michigan Territory offered; and land attracted land speculators, like brothers Jerry and William Ford, who came to Michigan in 1835. » read more