{{Short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Elijah Brush | image = Elijah Brush sm clr wm.jpg | caption = portrait by Rembrandt Peale | order = 2nd Mayor of Detroit, first charter | term_start = 1806 | term_end = 1806 | predecessor = Solomon Sibley | successor = None; reincorporated | birth_date = May 10, 1773 | birth_place = Bennington, Vermont | death_date = {{death date and age|1813|12|14|1773|05|10}} | death_place = Detroit, Michigan | party = | profession = Lawyer | alma_mater = Dartmouth College | parents = Nathaniel Brush<br>Samantha Parker Brush | spouse = {{marriage|Adelaide Askin<br>|1802|1813}} | children = | relations = John Askin (father-in-law) }}
'''Elijah Brush''' (May 10, 1773 – December 14, 1813) was a lawyer and politician from Detroit, Michigan, United States.
==Early life== Elijah Brush was born in Bennington, Vermont in 1773, the son of Colonel Nathaniel Brush and Samantha Parker (d. 1789).<ref name="drc"/> Brush graduated from Dartmouth College and came to Detroit in 1798.<ref name="gov">{{citation|title = The government of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan: 1701 to 1907, historical and biographical| year = 1907 |pages = 26–27| isbn = 9780598455529 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6vhAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA26}}</ref>
==Career== Following Detroit's hand-over to American control, John Askin, a British subject, moved across the Detroit River to Canada, leaving behind his farm, "Private Claim #1," which was immediately adjacent to Detroit.<ref name="drc"/>
===Public service=== Elijah Brush was elected a trustee in 1803, appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Territorial Militia in 1805, and appointed as mayor of the town of Detroit after Solomon Sibley's resignation in 1806.<ref name="gov"/> Brush also served as Treasurer of the Michigan Territory from 1806 to 1813, and from 1811 to 1814 served as United States Attorney.<ref name="hod"/>
In 1807, Brush was the counsel in the first case to test the right to hold slaves in Michigan, ''Denison v. Tucker''.<ref name="bios">{{citation|title = Early history of Michigan: with biographies of state officers, members of Congress, judges and legislators |author=Stephen D. Bingham |publisher=Thorp & Godfrey, state printers| year = 1888 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=st4iAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA134|page = 134}}</ref>
During the War of 1812, British forces captured Detroit and Elijah Brush and other militia officers were taken prisoner.<ref name="gov"/> He was shipped to Toronto, but his brother-in-law, a British officer, procured his release, and Brush returned to Detroit in late 1813<ref name="elm"/> when American troops retook the city.<ref name="gov"/>
==Personal life== In 1802, Brush married Adelaide Askin (1783–1859),<ref name="drc">{{citation|title = Detroit River Connections: Historical and Biographical Sketches of the Eastern Great Lakes Border Region |author=Judy Jacobson |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com| year = 2002 |isbn = 0-8063-4510-1 |pages = 58–63| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0WR6JeTHvQC&pg=PA58}}</ref> daughter of John Askin and sister of John Askin Jr., both prominent fur traders.<ref name="gov"/> The couple had three sons and a daughter<ref name="hod">{{cite web|title = Elijah Brush|publisher=History of Detroit.com|url= http://www.historydetroit.com/people/elijah_brush.asp|accessdate = September 7, 2010}}</ref> who survived their father:<ref name="drc"/>
* Edmund Askin Brush (1802–1877), who married Elizabeth Cass Hunt (1825–1913).<ref name="Burton">{{cite book|last1=Burton|first1=Clarence Monroe|title=The City of Detroit, 1701 -1922, Volume 4|isbn=9783849678043|page=137|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-4tDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA137|accessdate=7 March 2018|language=en}}</ref> * Charles Andrew Brush (1804–1807), who died young.<ref name="Burton"/> * Charles Reuben Brush (1807–1849), who married Jane Cameron Forsyth (1809–1856).<ref name="Averill2006">{{cite book|last1=Averill|first1=Patricia|title=Cameron: Cameron: Family, Technology and Religion in a Rust Belt Town as Seen by Averills, Nasons, Mccormicks and Others Who Passed Through.|date=2006|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=9781477177556|page=636|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5CDLnk-PaKsC&pg=PT636|accessdate=7 March 2018|language=en}}</ref> * John Alfred Brush (1811–1870), a doctor.<ref name="Burton"/> * Archange "Semanthe" Brush (1813–1842), who married Charles Meredith.<ref name="Burton"/>
Elijah and Adelaide moved onto Askin's farm, and in 1806 the Brushes purchased it for $6000 and it eventually became known as the Brush Farm.<ref name="drc"/> Brush, a careful administrator, increased the value of the farm and made his heirs wealthy.<ref name="gov"/> In the 1850s, Edmund Brush began developing sections of the property into the fashionable Brush Park; the streets Edmund, Alfred, Adelaide, and Brush were named after members of the family.<ref name="det1701">{{cite web|title = Brush Park Historic District/Woodward East Historic District| author=Ren Farley| publisher=Detroit1701.org| url = https://detroit1701.org/BrushPark.htm | accessdate = September 7, 2010}}</ref>
He died on December 14, 1813, shortly after the Americans retook Detroit.<ref name="gov"/><ref name="elm">{{cite web|title = Elijah Brush|publisher=Elmwood Cemetery|url= https://www.elmwoodhistoriccemetery.org/pages/brush.html |accessdate = September 7, 2010}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{findagrave|20235664}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef | before=Solomon Sibley}} {{s-ttl | title=Mayor of Detroit | years = 1806}} {{s-aft | after=Re-incorporation}} {{end}}
{{Slavery in Michigan}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brush, Elijah}} Category:1773 births Category:1813 deaths
Category:Farmers from Michigan Category:19th-century mayors of places in Michigan Category:People from Michigan Territory Category:Politicians from Bennington, Vermont Category:Mayors of Detroit Category:Politicians from Detroit Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:American militiamen in the War of 1812 Category:Northwest Territory officials Category:American militia officers Category:War of 1812 prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom