Lucius Lyon

Who was Lucius Lyon?

Lucius Lyon was a U.S. statesman from the state of Michigan. He was born in Shelburne, Vermont, where he received a common school education and studied engineering and surveying. He moved to Bronson, Michigan, in 1821 where he became a land surveyor, eventually becoming the Deputy Surveyor General of the Michigan Territory.

In 1829, he was commissioned to rebuild the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse at the entrance to the St. Clair River from Lake Huron.

In the 1830s, he surveyed a portion of what would become the boundary between Illinois and Wisconsin. Lucius Lyon placed the initial point of the Fourth Principal Meridian on December 10, 1831. He also participated in the survey parties which established the baseline and meridian used to define townships in Wisconsin. His field notebooks recorded considerable detail about the land he surveyed, providing a rich source of information for later researchers.

He was elected as a non-voting Delegate to the U.S. Congress for the Michigan Territory, serving 1833-1834. On December 11, 1833, he presented a formal petition to Congress requesting Michigan's admission into the Union. Congress delayed consideration of statehood, in part due to a dispute with Ohio over the Toledo Strip and also in part due to opposition from southern states to admit another free state.