Lucius Lyon: An Eminently Useful Citizen

Lucius Lyon came to Michigan in 1822 from his native Vermont and proved a useful citizen in many areas of early Michigan history. He surveyed much of the lower peninsula of Michigan, traveling by foot and horseback in the winter, when frozen water made the swamps easier to traverse. He served in the U.S. Congress as a delegate of Michgan Territory. He was an influential member of the Constitutional Convention of 1835 and went to Washington as a newly elected state senator to fight for recognition of Michigan's statehood, a process that would take nearly two years. As a land speculator he had a hand in the founding of many Michigan settlements including Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Ypsilanti. As an innovative farmer he was the first to introduce the sugar beet to Michigan agriculture.