John was the 1st son (of 7) of Levi and Sally (Green) Bacon of Connecticut.
John apparently was captain of a packet boat on the Erie Canal in the late 1820's.
He probably came with the rest of the family to Michigan Territory in 1832, but in any event by Nov 1835 had purchased a total of 241 acres in Washtenaw county.
He was in Auburn as a partner with N.P. Stewart in a grist mill in 1841-42. He and his brother Erastus also sold goods in Auburn at one time. John also served as a postmaster there.
By 1845 he was well enough known in Pontiac that as a Whig candidate he was elected as Pontiac Supervisor.
The Upper Peninsula mining activity interested him, and he went up to manage the North American Mine in Keweenaw county. It was there as mine superintendent he became known as "Honest John Bacon".
While in this area he was elected the first Houghton County Judge in 3 Aug of 1846. He also was the first Houghton Twp Supervisor, elected 4 Jul 1848.
An account of those days said:
"In the winter of 1846-'7, Judge Bacon struck quite a large mass of clean copper in the vein or adit. He was so much elated that he, in hot haste, mounted his snow-shoes and started for Detroit, to buy more stock. Think of this heavy, corpulent man tramping 300 miles
through an unbroken wilderness to Green Bay, in mid-winter, a journey that required from four to six weeks hard work! Before the Judge reached Detroit, the mass came to an end, or in the elegant language of the country, Petered."
He was elected the Michigan Representative from Eagle River in Keweenaw county* in 1851. He became a Royal Arch Mason that spring.
After his experiences in Eagle River and Lansing, he moved to Detroit for a few years, being found in 1860 with a wife Sarah, 7 years his junior, from NY.
By 1865 he had moved (on the heels of his younger brother Corbit, who arrived a few years sooner) to Gilpin county in Colorado.
By 1870 he appears single again, and perhaps Sarah had died somehow. He was living in Russell Gulch near brother Corbit and his mining concerns.
John was a Republican candidate for Gilpin County Probate Judge in 1871, and as before, after that time was also known as Judge Bacon.
He passed on in his home in Russell Gulch 8 years later, at the age of 71.
~~~~
*(Rep. from Chippewa county - Keweenaw county was not set off until 1861)
John apparently was captain of a packet boat on the Erie Canal in the late 1820's.
He probably came with the rest of the family to Michigan Territory in 1832, but in any event by Nov 1835 had purchased a total of 241 acres in Washtenaw county.
He was in Auburn as a partner with N.P. Stewart in a grist mill in 1841-42. He and his brother Erastus also sold goods in Auburn at one time. John also served as a postmaster there.
By 1845 he was well enough known in Pontiac that as a Whig candidate he was elected as Pontiac Supervisor.
The Upper Peninsula mining activity interested him, and he went up to manage the North American Mine in Keweenaw county. It was there as mine superintendent he became known as "Honest John Bacon".
While in this area he was elected the first Houghton County Judge in 3 Aug of 1846. He also was the first Houghton Twp Supervisor, elected 4 Jul 1848.
An account of those days said:
"In the winter of 1846-'7, Judge Bacon struck quite a large mass of clean copper in the vein or adit. He was so much elated that he, in hot haste, mounted his snow-shoes and started for Detroit, to buy more stock. Think of this heavy, corpulent man tramping 300 miles
through an unbroken wilderness to Green Bay, in mid-winter, a journey that required from four to six weeks hard work! Before the Judge reached Detroit, the mass came to an end, or in the elegant language of the country, Petered."
He was elected the Michigan Representative from Eagle River in Keweenaw county* in 1851. He became a Royal Arch Mason that spring.
After his experiences in Eagle River and Lansing, he moved to Detroit for a few years, being found in 1860 with a wife Sarah, 7 years his junior, from NY.
By 1865 he had moved (on the heels of his younger brother Corbit, who arrived a few years sooner) to Gilpin county in Colorado.
By 1870 he appears single again, and perhaps Sarah had died somehow. He was living in Russell Gulch near brother Corbit and his mining concerns.
John was a Republican candidate for Gilpin County Probate Judge in 1871, and as before, after that time was also known as Judge Bacon.
He passed on in his home in Russell Gulch 8 years later, at the age of 71.
~~~~
*(Rep. from Chippewa county - Keweenaw county was not set off until 1861)
John was the 1st son (of 7) of Levi and Sally (Green) Bacon of Connecticut.
John apparently was captain of a packet boat on the Erie Canal in the late 1820's.
He probably came with the rest of the family to Michigan Territory in 1832, but in any event by Nov 1835 had purchased a total of 241 acres in Washtenaw county.
He was in Auburn as a partner with N.P. Stewart in a grist mill in 1841-42. He and his brother Erastus also sold goods in Auburn at one time. John also served as a postmaster there.
By 1845 he was well enough known in Pontiac that as a Whig candidate he was elected as Pontiac Supervisor.
The Upper Peninsula mining activity interested him, and he went up to manage the North American Mine in Keweenaw county. It was there as mine superintendent he became known as "Honest John Bacon".
While in this area he was elected the first Houghton County Judge in 3 Aug of 1846. He also was the first Houghton Twp Supervisor, elected 4 Jul 1848.
An account of those days said:
"In the winter of 1846-'7, Judge Bacon struck quite a large mass of clean copper in the vein or adit. He was so much elated that he, in hot haste, mounted his snow-shoes and started for Detroit, to buy more stock. Think of this heavy, corpulent man tramping 300 miles
through an unbroken wilderness to Green Bay, in mid-winter, a journey that required from four to six weeks hard work! Before the Judge reached Detroit, the mass came to an end, or in the elegant language of the country, Petered."
He was elected the Michigan Representative from Eagle River in Keweenaw county* in 1851. He became a Royal Arch Mason that spring.
After his experiences in Eagle River and Lansing, he moved to Detroit for a few years, being found in 1860 with a wife Sarah, 7 years his junior, from NY.
By 1865 he had moved (on the heels of his younger brother Corbit, who arrived a few years sooner) to Gilpin county in Colorado.
By 1870 he appears single again, and perhaps Sarah had died somehow. He was living in Russell Gulch near brother Corbit and his mining concerns.
John was a Republican candidate for Gilpin County Probate Judge in 1871, and as before, after that time was also known as Judge Bacon.
He passed on in his home in Russell Gulch 8 years later, at the age of 71.
~~~~
*(Rep. from Chippewa county - Keweenaw county was not set off until 1861)
John apparently was captain of a packet boat on the Erie Canal in the late 1820's.
He probably came with the rest of the family to Michigan Territory in 1832, but in any event by Nov 1835 had purchased a total of 241 acres in Washtenaw county.
He was in Auburn as a partner with N.P. Stewart in a grist mill in 1841-42. He and his brother Erastus also sold goods in Auburn at one time. John also served as a postmaster there.
By 1845 he was well enough known in Pontiac that as a Whig candidate he was elected as Pontiac Supervisor.
The Upper Peninsula mining activity interested him, and he went up to manage the North American Mine in Keweenaw county. It was there as mine superintendent he became known as "Honest John Bacon".
While in this area he was elected the first Houghton County Judge in 3 Aug of 1846. He also was the first Houghton Twp Supervisor, elected 4 Jul 1848.
An account of those days said:
"In the winter of 1846-'7, Judge Bacon struck quite a large mass of clean copper in the vein or adit. He was so much elated that he, in hot haste, mounted his snow-shoes and started for Detroit, to buy more stock. Think of this heavy, corpulent man tramping 300 miles
through an unbroken wilderness to Green Bay, in mid-winter, a journey that required from four to six weeks hard work! Before the Judge reached Detroit, the mass came to an end, or in the elegant language of the country, Petered."
He was elected the Michigan Representative from Eagle River in Keweenaw county* in 1851. He became a Royal Arch Mason that spring.
After his experiences in Eagle River and Lansing, he moved to Detroit for a few years, being found in 1860 with a wife Sarah, 7 years his junior, from NY.
By 1865 he had moved (on the heels of his younger brother Corbit, who arrived a few years sooner) to Gilpin county in Colorado.
By 1870 he appears single again, and perhaps Sarah had died somehow. He was living in Russell Gulch near brother Corbit and his mining concerns.
John was a Republican candidate for Gilpin County Probate Judge in 1871, and as before, after that time was also known as Judge Bacon.
He passed on in his home in Russell Gulch 8 years later, at the age of 71.
~~~~
*(Rep. from Chippewa county - Keweenaw county was not set off until 1861)
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