Lost America – Home of Early Detroit Settler

This was the birthplace of Charles Moran on Woodbridge Street in Detroit. The Moran family had massive holdings in the area – a farm that in present-day Detroit would stretch along the Detroit River for several blocks and extend three miles back from the river.

 

Grandfather Charles Claude Moran, an early settler of Detroit, was murdered by his brother-in-law, John Hacker, in 1775.  Hacker, along with two others, including a woman, were executed for the crime. This left Moran’s widow the farm. After her premature death, her son Charles Claude Moran inherited the holdings.

According to Wikipedia,Charles Moran fought in the War of 1812 after enlisting at the age of fifteen, and was serving under General William Hull when Hull surrendered Detroit to the British.  As a member of the territorial militia rather than the regular army, Moran was paroled instead of being sent to Canada as a prisoner of war, and he continued to participate in the defense of Detroit.  He received a bounty of 160 acres  for his service, but was unsuccessful in petitioning Congress for compensation for damage to his Detroit properties caused by the American forces.

He served as a county judge in 1831 and again from 1837 to 1841, and held various other positions including justice of the peace and alderman. He spent most of his later years managing the family estate, known as the Moran Farm. Rather than sell the farm off, he subdivided it into city blocks and leased them out, opening streets across it as he did so.

Charles Claude Moran died suddenly at his home with the cause reported as “heart disease superinduced by indigestion.” Charles was the sole remaining heir to the Moran family fortune, which at his passing was estimated at $4 million (equivalent almost $100,000,000 today).

Of course, Moran’s birthplace is no longer standing. Instead a commercial strip exists on Woodbridge Street.