Michigan State Capitol Lansing following a decision made March 17, 1847, to move the capital from Detroit to Lansing. The Detroit building then became a public school (the Union School, at one time the city's only high school) and library until it burned in 1893. The 1835 Michigan Constitution provided that: Prior to 1847, Detroit fought to maintain the Capitol within its jurisdiction, but communities in the growing western part of the state had many reasons for wanting a move inland, including the need to increase defensibility by moving the state government away from the Canada–US border. Detroit had been occupied during the
Robert Lansing (state senator) Robert Lansing (state senator) Robert Lansing (; February 2, 1799 Albany, New York – October 3, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was the son of Judge Sanders G. Lansing (1766–1850) and Catherine (Ten Eyck) Lansing (1769–1850). He attended Union College but did not graduate. In 1817, he removed to Watertown, studied law there with Egbert Ten Eyck (1779–1844), and was admitted to the bar in 1820. He was District Attorney of Jefferson County from 1826 to 1833. On December 22, 1831, he married Maria Hubbard (d. 1839), and they had several children, among them