NWO Golf Links October 2015

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NWO Golf Links
in the development of Monroe, as well as,
Michigan. Local attorney and Civil War
hero, Colonel Ira Rufus Grosvenor, who rose
from meager prospects as a young man to
become a war hero and important political
figure in Michigan, was responsible for its
construction.
Grosvenor was unable to find avenues for
advancement in his home state of New York
as a youth. Through study, he became an
expert accountant and accepted work on
a steamer, owned by Daniel B. Miller, that
plied Lake Ontario. Grosvenor found favor
with Miller and seeing potential in the young
man, offered him a position with his growing
land office in Monroe, Michigan.
In the 1830’s, Monroe was in the middle of a
land boom and Grosvenor soon became the
Head Clerk of the small office. When it was
moved to Detroit, he remained in Monroe
and pursued the study of law.
He found work with a local law firm that
included a future Governor of Michigan
and Secretary of the Interior under President
Pierce. Another partner also became a
Governor of Michigan and yet another
served in the U.S. House of Representatives
and Senate.
Grosvenor passed the bar exam and was
married in 1837. She, however, died in
1845, but he continued to set even deeper
roots in the growing community. He earned
a reputation as a ‘fighter’ in an important trial
involving a dispute over land rights, which
helped his law practice thrive. In 1849, he
married again, this time to the sister of his
deceased wife.
In 1859, he became the owner of the “Fair
Oaks Farm,” which sat at the edge of Monroe
and is now the Monroe Golf and Country
Club. When the Civil War commenced
in 1861, Grosvenor had experience
commanding Michigan’s Militia and was
in demand as a commander for the Union
Army.
‘Grosvenor
Mansion’
Has a Rich History