Michigan's County Courthouses

Calhoun County

29 marshall—a number of chief justices have made their mark on Calhoun County. the seat is named for u.s. Chief Justice John marshall, a friend of an early settler. three plaques in the entranceway of the impressive new courthouse in battle Creek commemorate three Calhoun residents who served as chief justice of the michigan supreme Court: Walter h. North, benjamin F. Graves, and mary s. Coleman. the county is named for John C. Calhoun, the senator from south Carolina and vice president under andrew Jackson. It was set off in 1829 with marshall as the county seat in 1831. For judicial purposes it was organized on march 6, 1833. marshall for a time was viewed as the heir apparent as the state prepared to move the capital from Detroit. In anticipation of the switch, prominent citizens of the state built many stately homes in marshall, which still grace the city even though unsettled lansing won the coveted designation. the first court sessions in marshall were held in schoolhouses and hotels. the state authorized Calhoun to borrow up to $12,000 for public buildings. the county laid a cornerstone on July 22, 1837, for a brick structure. the foundation was marshall sandstone. It had a colonial portico and columns at its front and rear, as well as a square cupola. the columns on the west were round, whereas those on the east were square. In 1855 one of them fell and shattered a window. the building was completed in 1838 and actually cost over $25,000. the extravagance of the building led many to oppose separate construction of a jail or sheriff’s residence. the basement of the court became the jail, but it proved ineffective when a general escape of nine prisoners happened in 1850. they heated an iron on a stove and used it to burn through the logs and the lock fastenings that confined them. they freed a fellow inmate bound to an oak log by burning out the staples in the log. an early murder trial featured some theatrics by the defense counsel that would give a modern ethicist pause. the defendant was a wife accused of killing her husband with a poisoned cake.the prosecutor offered the remainder of the cake into evidence. the defense attorney approached it and calmly ate a large piece of it in front of the jury to show that it was harmless. a short while later he went to a private room in the courthouse and used a strong emetic to induce vomiting and to rid his body of the cake. his client was acquitted. With time the soft marshall sandstone foundation began to give way. In 1872 the board of supervisors approved a ballot proposal asking for $50,000 for a new courthouse. Voters approved the measure in the spring of 1873 by a majority of 475 among 5,311 votes cast. e. e. myers of Detroit drew up the plans, which called for mainly pressed brick. boulder stone made up the basement walls, and the trim was marshall and ohio sandstone. the attractive building was rectangular and measured about 4,500 square feet. a large cupola thrust out of the center of the roof skyward. atop the peaked roof well above the steps to the main entrance stood a figure of a lady holding scales in her left hand and a sword in her right. she watched in the 1950s when her building’s successor was born hugging the contours of its predecessor. the county laid the cornerstone of the Calhoun County Calhoun County CalhouN CouNty 30 building in 1953. the structure was completed in 1955 for a price of $1,550,000. It is modern in design, with very utilitarian straight lines and right angles—unmistakable for its era. the interior is functional, with the exception of a large mural of the county and its notable buildings behind the statue of old lady Justice. the circuit courtroom is now primarily a meeting room for the board of commissioners , though the building does still house some district court functions. the jail is empty. battle Creek is now in many ways the de facto county seat. Circuit court and the county correctional facilities are located there in a large new facility. battle Creek’s special status dates back at least as far as a 1905 law requiring the court to sit at least two terms per year there. In mid-February 1979 the county and city began holding...