300:
responsibility for the debt to the point that
Comstock and Cooper spent many years in court trying to recover their money. Cooper was partially successful in this, though by the time of his death in 1851, he had still not recovered all of what he was owed. These legal battles required Cooper to make five trips to Michigan beginning in June 1847, including three visits to Kalamazoo to check on a number of properties that Comstock had transferred to him in 1841 as partial repayment. The information he gathered about the Midwest and the Kalamazoo area helped Cooper formulate the new novel he began in 1848,
299:
In 1836, Comstock paid the first two of the four notes he had given Cooper. Short of hard cash for the remaining two, he substituted a mortgage of
Michigan banker Sidney Ketchum's that he held. As Ketchum's own financial fortunes faded, he in turn substituted additional instruments that blurred the
286:
While he was visiting
Cooperstown in June 1834, James Fenimore Cooper met Comstock, who he found to be a "respectable young man". Comstock persuaded him to invest in land as equal partners with him, though Cooper was putting up all the capital, in the form of a $ 6,000 line of credit he obtained in
235:
beginning in 1831; he labored on the land himself, unlike some speculators, and was known to be helpful and generous with those around him. People throughout the area called him
General Comstock, though he did not have a military background himself. His fortune at the time was said to be $ 60,000
329:
Despite losing out to
Kalamazoo as the county seat, he promised to loan that city $ 6,000 (equivalent to $ 166,473 in 2023) in 1836 in order to build a courthouse. But he invested $ 17,000 (equivalent to $ 457,800 in 2023) in a one-quarter interest in the property covered by the city's
350:, and he and Sarah had three more children, Julia Hamilton, William Averill, and Frances Oathwaite. Comstock moved his family into a mansion in Kalamazoo. Sarah Comstock died on February 15, 1846, and Comstock's finances and personal life began to suffer irreparably. He moved to
279:. The Comstocks had a daughter, Sarah Sabina, who was born in Cooperstown the following year. While his wife was in Cooperstown, Comstock built a large home in Michigan for them, called Comstock Hall. Not long after she joined him, the neighboring township was renamed
295:
and Cooper's partner in the cotton business, James D. P. Ogden. By that
October, Cooper wanted out of the deal, due to financial pressure from losses on cotton, but Comstock persuaded him to let Comstock buy Cooper out in installments over fifteen months.
377:
Following his wife Sarah's death in 1846, Comstock sent his children to live with relatives, and put one up for adoption, before moving back to New York. Sabina, the eldest daughter, was sent to live with a widowed aunt in
178:. He built a reputation as a generous and helpful citizen, but following the death of his first wife, his family began to fall apart and his finances suffered, and he died intestate with little of his fortune left.
365:
He married a third time, to
Elizabeth Graves, who died at Ossining on June 6, 1860, and he remarried again, to a woman named Catherine. Comstock himself died at Ossining on March 15, 1861; he was
805:
382:. Julia remained in Otsego with Comstock's second wife Betsey, who herself lived with her parents, before returning to Cooperstown. Frances, or Fannie, was adopted by a Kalamazoo
318:
to act on their desire for statehood. Statehood did not come until 1837, but an election for a new state legislature was held in 1835 in any case. Comstock was elected as a
393:, before being adopted by a family in Wisconsin. The family moved to Kansas, where Bill Comstock, as he became known, grew into a sought-after frontier scout. General
409:
in the buffalo-shooting contest the two held to determine the right to use that nickname. He was killed on August 16, 1868, while trying to negotiate peace with a
338:
and the ensuing collapse of land prices, he was unable to follow through. In 1839, he was appointed a general in the state militia, in command of a division.
456:
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a
Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda
369:, and his brother Daniel petitioned to become executor of the estate, which he estimated to be less than $ 1,000 (equivalent to $ 33,911 in 2023).
219:. His father was an affluent member of the community and had reached the rank of general in the area militia. Comstock studied law and went into the
766:
731:
677:
491:
355:
62:
41:
476:
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a
Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States
166:
businessman, lawyer, and politician. He was very successful in business as a young man, purchased large quantities of land in the
800:
319:
140:
247:, ran a store, and acted as the postmaster. When he built a schoolhouse, the people of the area named the surrounding township
255:
in an attempt to turn the village into a trading center, and undertook an unsuccessful campaign to have it named the seat of
483:
463:
347:
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359:
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126:
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68:
231:, and by the age of 25 he had amassed a fortune. He began to buy up large quantities of cheap land in the
772:
379:
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in 1849. He married 17-year-old Betsey
Belcher on July 16, 1849, and the following year moved back to
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chief named Turkey Leg during the violence that followed a raid on Saline Valley the previous week.
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The residents of Michigan Territory approved a state constitution in 1835, hoping to force
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Horace Hawkins Comstock was born about 1807 to William Comstock and Frinda Hawkins, of
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754:, vol. 2, no. 1, Lansing: Michigan Historical Commission, pp. 165–191
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195:. Comstock's son Bill Comstock became a frontier scout who worked under General
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383:
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260:
244:
692:
Gray, John S. (1970), "Will Comstock, Scout: The Natty Bumppo of Kansas",
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specifically requested his services, and he worked for a time alongside
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228:
224:
723:
The Red Book of Michigan: A Civil, Military and Biographical History
331:
598:, p. 171: "The Senate was composed entirely of Democrats."
275:. She was the daughter of Isaac Cooper, brother of the author
271:
On November 7, 1833, Comstock married Sarah Sabina Cooper in
199:
and gained fame for losing a buffalo-shooting contest with
326:, and was re-elected twice, serving four years in total.
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From 1840 to 1844, Comstock served as the supervisor of
771:, New York State Historical Association, archived from
748:"The Factional Character of Early Michigan Politics"
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251:after him. He built warehouses and docks along the
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806:Members of the Michigan House of Representatives
354:, in 1848, and was elected for one term in the
444:
442:
440:
438:
306:, which was set in the area around Kalamazoo.
203:over the right to use the nickname "Buffalo".
63:Michigan House of Representatives
8:
55:November 2, 1835 – January 6, 1839
185:, whose time spent at Comstock's house in
82:January 1, 1849 – January 6, 1850
18:
322:to represent Kalamazoo County in the new
236:(equivalent to $ 1,716,750 in 2023).
694:Montana: The Magazine of Western History
595:
562:
550:
538:
170:in the early 1830s, founded the town of
492:"Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–"
422:
181:His first wife was the niece of author
726:, Detroit: E. B. Smith & Company,
669:James Fenimore Cooper: The Later Years
607:
511:
389:Will lived briefly with his uncles in
651:History of Kalamazoo County, Michigan
490:Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
405:. He also became known for losing to
7:
631:
619:
583:
526:
429:
746:Streeter, Floyd B. (January 1918),
654:, Philadelphia: Everts & Abbott
291:, secured with personal notes from
267:Business with James Fenimore Cooper
174:, and served multiple terms in the
334:the following year, and after the
14:
386:operator named Bissel Humphrey.
356:Michigan House of Representatives
239:He established the village of
1:
156:
99:
484:American Antiquarian Society
464:American Antiquarian Society
263:had already been selected.
189:, helped inspire his novel
822:
648:Durant, Samuel W. (1880),
259:, even though the town of
162:– March 15, 1861) was an
765:Wright, Wayne W. (1983),
672:, Yale University Press,
281:Cooper Township, Michigan
146:
86:
75:
48:
28:
720:Lanman, Charles (1871),
666:Franklin, Wayne (2017),
801:Michigan state senators
153:Horace Hawkins Comstock
661:– via HathiTrust
380:Whitewater, Wisconsin
289:City Bank of New York
277:James Fenimore Cooper
273:Cooperstown, New York
183:James Fenimore Cooper
768:The Cooper Genealogy
634:, pp. 6, 10–14.
176:Michigan Legislature
565:, pp. 429–430.
553:, pp. 426–438.
541:, pp. 172–174.
243:, where he built a
187:Kalamazoo, Michigan
16:American politician
360:Ossining, New York
241:Comstock, Michigan
233:Michigan Territory
172:Comstock, Michigan
168:Michigan Territory
23:Horace H. Comstock
733:978-1-4255-6156-7
679:978-0-300-13571-8
407:Buffalo Bill Cody
391:Corning, New York
348:Comstock Township
342:Decline and death
249:Comstock Township
201:Buffalo Bill Cody
150:
149:
124:(aged 53–54)
813:
782:
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761:
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752:Michigan History
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399:Wild Bill Hickok
395:George A. Custer
352:Otsego, Michigan
310:Political career
303:The Oak Openings
257:Kalamazoo County
197:George A. Custer
192:The Oak Openings
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91:Personal details
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471:McCusker, J. J.
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324:Michigan Senate
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293:Gorham A. Worth
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253:Kalamazoo River
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137:Political party
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36:Michigan Senate
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488:1800–present:
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120:March 15, 1861
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69:Allegan County
60:Member of the
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33:Member of the
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10:
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596:Streeter 1918
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563:Franklin 2017
559:
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777:, retrieved
773:the original
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756:, retrieved
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683:, retrieved
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497:February 29,
495:. Retrieved
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221:Indian Trade
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122:(1861-03-15)
77:
50:
796:1861 deaths
700:(3): 2–15,
608:Lanman 1871
512:Durant 1880
468:1700–1799:
448:1634–1699:
403:7th Cavalry
160: 1807
103: 1807
790:Categories
779:2018-11-13
758:2018-11-08
739:2018-11-14
685:2018-11-14
658:2018-11-14
417:References
141:Democratic
706:0026-9891
632:Gray 1970
620:Gray 1970
584:Gray 1970
527:Gray 1970
430:Gray 1970
384:stageline
367:intestate
261:Kalamazoo
245:gristmill
207:Biography
78:In office
67:from the
51:In office
40:from the
473:(1992).
453:(1997).
411:Cheyenne
320:Democrat
316:Congress
223:between
217:New York
164:American
131:New York
127:Ossining
111:New York
71:district
44:district
714:4517480
229:Detroit
225:Chicago
213:Laurens
107:Laurens
730:
712:
704:
676:
373:Family
710:JSTOR
642:Notes
480:(PDF)
460:(PDF)
728:ISBN
702:ISSN
674:ISBN
499:2024
332:plat
227:and
117:Died
96:Born
42:3rd
792::
750:,
708:,
698:20
696:,
570:^
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437:^
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157:c.
129:,
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100:c.
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155:(
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