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^^ HISTORY
^ OF
OAKLAND COUNTY
MICHIGAN
A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress,
its People, and its Principal Interests
Compiled from the official records of the County, the newspapers and
data of personal interviews, under the editorial supervision of
THADDEUS D. SEELEY
VOLUME
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISl-IIXc; COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NICW YORK
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u \\\\y
THE N'E)^ ^■"^•'^
PUBLIC LlGVlAllY
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INTRODUCTION
\\'e present this history with pleasure, because it deals with a pleas-
ant subject — (Jakland county. There is another reason for this atti-
tude toward our subject: — the cooperation of contributors and of citi-
zens has been so general and hearty that the historical work required
has been transformed from a task into a labor of love.
Oakland county is peculiarly fortunate in the variety of her charms
and riches, to which truth these pages bear witness. With her land-
scape beauties and sunny lakes, she is drawing thousands to her who
seek restful homes and profitable investments. At the same titne, her
soil is fertile and invites the practical farmer, dairyman and horticul-
turist, while in the urban centers, the industrial and commercial inter-
ests have obtained a firm foothold and assure livelihood and profit to
the citizen. Xo county in the state has better schools, and, as will be
made plain in the progress of this history, in no section has woman had
a more extended or elevating influence. In a word, Oakland is unex-
celled as a home county; no more need he said to the good American,
whether of native or foreign blood.
As to the collaborators on the history, too much cannot i)e said
of the <|uantity and quality of the assistance rendered liy Hon. Aaron
Perry. In those homely words which so truly express our feeling toward
him — "what could we have done without him!" Also as to Aliss Martha
Baldwin and Mrs. Lilian Drake Avery — "what could we have done with-
out them,"' especially in setting forth the scope of woman's work, and
the splendid part taken by the pioneers of the county in laying the
foundation upon which the later generations ha\e builded their com-
fort and prosperity. Thanks are rendered all our associate editors —
Fred M. Warner, Thomas L. Patterson, Flarry S. Gardner and Samuel
W. Smith, for their willing and effective cooperation. The county
an<l village officials, business men, farmers and manufacturer.s — all. in
face, who have worked to make Oakland county what it is today and are
laboring for its greater future — have our sincere thanks, both for what
they are doing toward the ])rogress of this favored section of the state,
and for what they have done in enabling us to picture it in this liislory
of Oakland countv. Th.^ddeus D. Seelev.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION
Wonderful Country of Lakes — Cass and Orchard — Remarkable
Natural Phenomenon — The Lake Orion Region — Summer Re-
sort Features — Transportation Facilities — As a Farming and
Live Stock Region — Features of the Transformation. 1
CHAPTER n
GENERAL PHYSICAL FEATURES
Surface and Elevations — Immense Drift and Formations Beneath
— Soil and Climate — The Surface Geology of Oakland
County. 9
CHAPTER HI
INDIAN AND PRIMITIVE RECORD
Orch.'vrd Lake and the Great Chief Pontiac — The Legend of Me-
nah-sa-gor-ing — Primitive Tillage and Industries — Contact
with Known Tribes — Scars of Battle — C. Z. Horton's Contri-
butions — Indian Camping Ground and Cemetery — Queer Cu.s-
toms — The Passing of Wf,-se-gah. 19
CHAPTER IV
FIRST SETTLERS AND LAND OWNERS
Great Set-Back to Settlement — Oakland County's First Settlers
— The Mack Colony of Pontiac — "Uncle Ben" Woodworth —
— First Surveys — Locatioins under the "Two Dollar" Act—
The "Ten Shilling" Act — Great Event for the Pioneer Land
Owner — Town of Pontiac Settled — Orion and Oxford — Royal
Oak and Troy — Avon and White Lake^Springfield and Grove-
land — Farmington and West Bloomfield — Waterford and In-
dependence — Brandon, Soutiifield and Bloomfield. 27
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER V
PTCTURKS OF THE PAST
Hervky Pakkk Co.mks ro Oakland County — Bloom field and Ro^•AL
Oak in 1821 — Intant Village oe I'ontiac — Governor Wisner and
His AIullet Story — Becomes Horatio Ball's Assistant — Joseph
Wampler's Assigned Territory — A Surveyor's Hardships — Re-
turns WITH His Family — Birthplace of John IT. Parke — Home-
stead AT Last — Surveys from Pontiac — Running Lines under
Difficulties — Fresh Trails of tiie Black Hawk War — Between
Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron — Surveys in Black Hawk Reser-
vation, Iowa — Another Iowa Contract — Captain Parke's Re-
capitulation — Recollections of Benjamin O. Williams- — Indian
Near Death — Dear Old Oakland, the Best of All — A Picture
of Memory (p.y John M. Norton) — Advent of the Pioneer —
Railroad as a Fun-Maker — The Life Bequeathed by the Pi-
oneers — Fifty Years Ago and Now (p.y S. B. McCracken) —
Contrasts of Life — "Granny" McCracken — Father and Mother
McCracken — The Schools of Fifty Years Ago — Mormon V'isi-
TATION of 1832 — AuiSURN AM) THE YoUNG PlONEERS. 37
CHAPTER VI
RE\0LUTI0NARY SOLDIERS AND "DAUGHTERS"
County's First Settler, a Revolutionary Soldier — The Graham
Family — Nathaniel Baldwin — George Horton— Stephen Mack
— Colonel -Mack's Family — Joseph Todd and Party — Ithamar
Smith — Willjam Nathan Terry — Joshua Chamberlin and
Enoch Hotchkiss — Elijah Drake — Ezra Parker — Jeremiah
Clarke — Benjamin Grace — Caleb Barker Merrell — Levi Green
— Joel Phelps — Elias Cady — Samuel Niles — Silas Sprague —
EsBON Gregory — Zadock Wellman — Caleb Carr — Hooper Bishop
— Derrick Hulick — Caleb Pratt — Solomon Jones — Lydia
Barnes Potter — James Harrington and Jacob Petty — John
Blanchard — Altramont Donaldson — Joseph Van Netter —
Benjamin Bulson — Nathan I,andon — General Richardson
Chapter, D. A. R. — The Revolutionary Graves Marked — Meji-
BERSHiP OF Tin-: Daughters 72
CHAPTER VII
PIONEER RECORDS
County Pioneer Society Founded — The Supervisors' Picnics — Bet-
ter Preservation of Records — Society Incorporated — Pioneer
Women — Officers of the Society — Pioneer Relics in the Col-
lection of the Society 99
CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER VIII
DEVELOPMENT OF JUDICIARY
Territorial Supreme Court — Old District Court — County Courts
— Change in Supreme Court — Circuit Courts and Judges — The
"One-Horse" Court — Under the 1850 Constitution — A Sum-
mary — Under the Present Constitution. 110
CHAPTER IX
THE BENCH OF OAKLAND COUNTY
County Courts and Judges — Probate Courts and Judges — Circuit
Courts and Judges — the Court of Chancery — Circuit Court
Commissioners. 117
V CHAPTER X
THE BAR OF OAKLAND COUNTY
Daniel LeRoy — William F. Mosley' — Thomas J. Drake — Origen
D. Richardson — Chdeon O. Whittemore — Robert P. Eldredge —
Seth a. L. Warner — William Draper — Randolph Manning — ■
Charles Draper — Rufus Hosmer — George W. Wisner — Alfred
H. Hanscom — Governor Moses Wisner — Augustus Carpenter
Baldwin — John S. Goodrich — Levi B. Taft — Hester L. Stevens — •
Michael E. Crofoot — Henry M. Look — Mark S. Brewer — Living
Members of the Bar — Judge Thomas L. Patterson — Joseph Ed-
ward Sawyer — George "W. Smith — Robert J. Lounsbury — Aaron
Perry — Daniel L. Davis — Kleber P. Rockwell — Arthur R.
Tripp — Elmer R. Webster — James H. Lynch — John H. Patterson
— F. L. Covert — Henry M. Zimmerman — Andrew L. IMoore — H.
H. CoLviN — Peter B. Bromley. ]2()
CHAPTER XI
BACKWARD GLANCES AT BENCH AND BAR
Judge Crofoot's Recollections — Bench and Bar Prior to 1840 (by
Judge Baldwin) — Chief Justice Moore's Pictures — Aaron
Perry's Contributions. 158
CHAPTER XII
CIVIL AFFAIRS OF THE COUNTY
First Official Act — County Se.\t Fixed — Original Two Town-
ships — Present Bound.\ries Established — Oakland County
under the Territory — Territorial Legislative Council — Legis-
lation Affecting Town and County — Township Government
Established — First Supervisors' Meeting — Some E.\rly Assess-
ments — Circle of Townships Completed — Roster of County
Officials — Assessments and Taxes — Popul.\tion for Ntxetv
viii CONTENTS
Ye.\rs — Incorporated Cities and Villages — The County Court
Houses — Cost of County Building— Present Court House — The
Oakland County Home — County Superintendents of the
I'ooR. -^ 188
CHAPTER XHI
OAKLAND COUNTY IN STATE POLITICS
Question ok Land Titles — Governor Cass Brings Stability —
Champions of Public Improvements — The State Constitutions —
Oakland County's Part in Constitution Making — Doctor Ray-
nale. Delegate to 1835 Convention — Seneca Newberry, Dele-
gate to 1835 and 1850 Conventions — State Officials, Elected
and Appointed — Territorial Council Representatives — Speak-
ers AND Clerk of the House — ^Michigan Legislators from Oak-
land County — State Senators — State Representatives — Dis-
turbances OF War Issues. 214
CHAPTER XIV
THE COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM
Basis of Public School System — Central University and Branches
— First Academies' in Oakland County — Heads of the County
System — Remains a Perpetual Fund — Duties of the Teacher
OF Today — Standings Required — District Libraries — High
School Scholars — District Schools of the County — Present
Status of Schools. 22"
CHAPTER XV
MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION
First Oakland County Highway — Other Roads Established — Im-
provement of the Clinton River — First Michigan Railway
Chartered — Detroit & Pontiac Railro.\d Company — Finally
Completed to Birmingham — Detroit & IVIilwaukee Railway
Company — Establishment of Present Systems — Coming of Elec-
tric Lines — The Grand Trunk System — The Michigan Cen-
tral — Pere Marquette R.mlroad — Detroit United R.ailway —
Summary. 234
CHAPTER XVI
BANKS AND BANKING
Oakland County's First Bank — The "Wild-Cat" Banks — One
"Safety Fund" Bank — N.\tional Banks in the County — The
State Banks — Pontiac Savings Bank — The Oakland County
Savings Bank^ — First Commercial Bank of Ponti.ac — The Ameri-
can S.wings Bank — First State Savings Bank of Birmingham —
Farmington Exchange Bank — Rochester Savings Bank — Holly
Savings Banks — Farmers' State Bank of Oxford — Roy'al Oak
Savings Bank — The Orion State Bank — State S.wings Bank
of South Lyon. 242
CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER XVII
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
Pioneer Conditions — Primitive State of Medical Practice — Allo-
pathic Practitioners Prior to 1837 — Dr. William Thompson,
First Physician — Drs. Olmstead and John Chamberlain — Dr.
Ezra S. P.arke — Dr. Cvrus Chipman — Drs. Lamb, Lamond and
Alger — Dr. John C. Emery — The Old County Medical Society
— Allopathic Practitioners from 1837 to 1866 — Three Early-
Time Homeopaths — Present County JMedical Society — Pontiac
Medical Society — Present Practitioners. 249
CHAPTER XVIII
WOMEN'S INFLUENCE IN THE COUNTY
What Women PLwe Dqne for Oakland County (by Martha Bald-
win) — Women's Work in Pontiac — The Pontiac City Hospital
— Pontiac Public Library — Women's Literary Club of Pontiac
— The Round Table Club — West Side Reading Circle — Women's
Christian Temperance Union — Birmingham Public Library —
Birmingham Literary Club — Greenwood Cemetery Association
— Ladies' Library Association of Holly. 259
CHAPTER XIX
MILITARY MATTERS
Oakland County Soldiers of the War of 1812 — Napoleonic Sol-
diers — Early Military Organizations — The Mexican War—
The War of the Rebellion — First Michigan Infantry — Second
Infantry — General I. B. Richardson — The Second Regiment-
Third Infantry — The Fifth Infantry — Seventh Regiment-
Eighth AND Ninth Infantry Regiments — The Tenth Infantry
— Death of Adjutant Cowles — The Fourteenth Infantry —
The Fifteenth and Sixteenth — Twenty-second Infantry —
Governor Moses Wisner — Twenty-ninth Infantry — Thirtieth
Infantry and "Mechanics and Engineers" — Custer's Michigan
Cavalry Brigade — The Eighth Cavalry — Ninth and Tenth
Cavalry Regiments — Michigan Light Artillery — One Hun-
dred AND Second United States Colored Troops — Military
Matters of Late. 271
CHAPTER XX
VILLAGE OF PONTIAC
Colonel Mack's Company — First Pontiac Settlers — Works of
Mack, Conant and Sibley — Colonel's Mack, Father and Son —
Settlers of 1822-1836 — ^County Seat and Courthouse — Town-
ship Organization — The Village of Auburn (Amy) — Pontiac
Village Incorporated — Early Trustee Meetings — Real Estate
CONTENTS
Item — The Mill Pond Nuisance — The Fire of 1840 — Early
Bridges — Common Council, the Governing Body — The Village
Fire Department — Gas Works Inaugurated — Heads of the
\^iLLAGE Government. 286
CHAPTER XXI
CITY OF PONTIAC
First Election — City Police Department Horn — First City Hall —
Value of Property in 1876— "John P. Foster No. 2" — Smallpox
Epidemics of 1881-82 — Newspaper Sensation — Resignation of
Chief Engineer Foster — City Finances in 1876 — Board of Water
Commissioners Created — The New Fifth Ward — Original Sys-
tem of Water Works — Electric Lighting and Telephone Sys-
tems — First Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph — AIunicipal
Government in 1894 — First Three Years of Water Service —
Lighting and Telephone Service Again — Sewerage System In-
augurated — Extension of Water Works — Telephone Service
Up to Date — Commission Government Adopted — Early .Meas-
ures Passed — Increased Efficiency of Fire Department — The
Present City Hall — ^Mayors of Pontiac — The City Press —
Oak Hill Cemetery — Gas Lighting and Electric Power —
POSTOFFICE AND POSTMASTERS ThE PoNTIAC StATE HOSPITAL. 296
CHAPTER XNII
INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS POXTIAC
Direct Successor of 1S20 Mill — The Howard Interests — The Old
Paddack Mills — Charles Dawson and FIis \Vork — Pontiac City
Mills — Pioneer Machine Shops and Furniture F.-\ctories —
Early Breweries — Fathers of the Auto Industry — Pontiac and
Other Mills of 1852 — Pontiac's Early Business Men — Automo-
bile Industry of Pontiac- — Oakland Motor C.\r Company — Gen-
eral Motors Truck Company — The Flanders Plants — The Car-
TERCAR Company — Monroe Body Company — The Beaudell Body
Works — Slater Construction Company — Pontiac Brewery —
Pontiac Commercial Association. 320
CHAPTER NNIII
PONTIAC SCHOOLS
Sarah McCarroll's Sketch — The Oi.n Pontiac Academy — First
Co.MMON Schools — Puislic Syste.m Organized — The "Old Union"
— ITiGii School Building of 1S71 — School Superintendents and
High School Principals — The New High School — Public Sys-
tem and List of Schools — ]\Iichigan Military Academy. 333
CONTENTS xi
CHAPTER XXIV
POXTIAC CHURCHES
Earliest Methodist Preachers — First ]\Ii;tiiuuist Church in
County — Pastors From 1826 to the Present — Mrs. Shattuck's
Reminiscences — Central Methodist Episcopal Church — The
First Baptist Church — First Presbyterian Church — How the
Church Was Built — First Congregational Church — Third
Congregational Church in the State — New Bltilding — St.
Vincent De Paul's Church — All Saints Episcopal Church —
St. Trinitatis Lutheran Church — The African M. E. Church
— Young Men's Christian Associ.vtiox — Red Rtiumn Clup. of
Pontiac. ■ 340
CHAPTER XXV
POXTIAC'S FRATERNAL SOCIETIES
Masonry in Poxtiac — Third Lodge in Territory — Pontiac Lodge No.
21 — Past Masters — Pontiac Council No. 3, R. & S. M. — 0.\kland
Chapter No. 5. R. A. M. — Ponti.ac Commandery No. 2, K. T. —
Pontiac Chapter No. 228. O. E. S. — Masonic Temple Associa-
tion — Canton Pontiac No. 3, I. O. O. F. — Pythian Knights and
Sisters — Dick Richardson Post, G. A. R. — Knights of Colum-
p.us — Royal Neighbors of America — B. P. O. E. — Other Lodges.
362
CHAPTER XX\'I
BLOOMFIELD TOWXSHIP
Physical Fe-\tures — A Good Many Dead Indians — I'n«T L.\nd En-
try — FoRMATi\E Township Period — Three Competing T.werxs —
Mills and Stores Outside of Birmingham — Bloomfield Center
— Birmingham \^illage Plats — Old Times at Piety Hill — Vil-
lage of Birmingham — Reincorporated — Village Presidents and
Clerks — Public Works — .Soldiers' ^Monument — Birmingham
Churches — Secret and Fr.aternal Societies. 371
CHAPTER XXVII
HOLLY TOWNSHIP
Drainage and L.\ke.s — First Entry .\nd Settlement — Other Pi-
oneers of the Township — Settlers in 1832-1837 — First Things
— Quaint Alonzo R. Rood — Descendants of the Pioneers — •
Founding of Holly Village — Village Schools — New Union
School — Township and Vill.vge Libraries — The Waterworks —
Holly Newspapers — Tndustrie.s — The Churches — Societies. 38S
xii CONTEXTS
CIIAl'TER XXXITl
AVON TOWNSHIP
Jamks Graham, Oricixal Settler — The Hersey-Russell-Graham
Combine — Memories of the Old Hersey Mill — -Mill Stones
FROM Bowlders — Stony Creek Village — Rochester Platted —
I'ioneers Outside of Rochester — First Corporation Officers —
Rochester Industries — Western Knitting Mills — Creamery
and Flouring Mill — -The Schools — Rochester Union School —
Waterworks and Fire Protection — Electric Light and Power —
Rochester Newspapers — The Churches — Rochester Societies —
Biological Farm, Parkdale — Ferry Seed Farm. 401
CHAPTER XXIX
OXFORD TOWNSHIP
Civilly Organized — First Settlers of the Township — First Roads
and Railroad — Thomas — Lakes — Oxford Village Incorporated
— Schools — Oxford Churches — Newspapers and Societies — Ox-
ford Industries — Michigan Pressed Brick Company — C. L.
Randall & Company. 418
CHAPTER XXX
ROYAL OAK TOWNSHIP
Origin of the Name — Governor Cass "Sees for Himself" — Settlers
of 1822-1826 — Township Organized — Royal Oak Village — Cor-
poration Record — Royal Oak Schools — Churches — Societies —
Urban Rest and Ferndale — Roseland Park Cemetery. 428
CHAPTER XXXI
ORION AND MILFORD TOWNSHIPS
Orion's First Settlers and Events — A Township of Lakes — Orion
Village Churches — .Milford Township Formed — The Ruggles
Brothers — Pioneer Mills — The Present Village — Milford
Churches. 440
CHAPTER XXXII
LYON AND FARMIXGTON TOWNSHIPS
First Settlers of Lyon Township — New Hudson and Kensington —
Village of South Lyon — Schools and Churches — South Lyon
Industries — The Power Colony Founds Quakertown (Farm-
ington) — Other Pioneers of the Township — Doctor Webb Adds
Distinction — First Mills — Recollections of P. Dean Warner
— Village of Farmingtox — Schools — The Churches — The Ma-
sonic Lodge — Clarenceville and North Farmington. 449
CONTENTS xiii
CHAPTER XXXIII
ADDISON AND BRANDON TOWNSHIPS
Lakes of Addison Township — Lakeville"s Early Promise — Town-
ship Organization and District Schools — A^illage of Leonard
— Brandon Township — Its Pioneer Settlers — Village of Oak-
wood — Township Organization — \'illage of Ortonville. 461
CHAPTER XXXIV
INDEPENDENCE AND COMMERCE
Sashabaw Plains, Independence Township — Water Courses —
Settlers at Clarkston and the "Plains" — The Primitive
ScHooLHOusES — Clarkston Up To Date — Commerce Lakes and
Streams — First Settlers at Commerce and Walled Lake —
Commerce of Today — Township Organization and First Post-
offices — Wixom ANb Switzerland. 466
CHAPTER XXXV
SPRINGFIELD AND HIGHLAND
Springfield Township Organized — Springfield and Anderson Set-
tlements — Davisburg — Highland's Physical Features — First
Settlers — Highland Postoffice and Station — Village of Clyde
— Methodism in the Township. 471
CHAPTER X'XXVI
ROSE AND WEST BLOOMFIELD
Physical Features of Rose Township — Rose Center, or Rose —
Bloomfield as a Lake Township — Earliest Pioneers — ^Sale of
Indian Reservations — First Po.stoffice — Orchard Lake Post-
office — The Polish Seminary 476
CHAPTER XXXVII
NOVI AND WATERFORD TOWNSHIPS
The Name "Novi" — The Colony of 1825-26 — Novi Corners, or Novi
— Waterford Township and Its Lakes — Coming of the Wil-
liams' Families — Waterford Village Founded — Schools and
Churches — Waterford of Today — Drayton Plains — Old Clin-
tonville. 482
CHAPTER XXXVIII
TROY AND OAKLAND
The Trowbridge Family of Troy Township — Johnson Niles and
Troy — Big Beaver and Clawson — United Presbyterian Church
of Troy — Oakland Township in General — Goodison's. 487
xiv CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXXIX
SOUTHFIELD, GROVELAND AND WHITE LAKE
SOUTHFIELD TOWNSHIP's FiRST SeTTLEES FrANKLIX AND SOUTH-
FiELD — Groveland Township — Groveland and Austin — Almost
A Railroad — White Lake Township — Oxbow and White Lake.
491
INDEX
Abbott, James. 33.
Abernathy, Thomas, 443.
Academies, 228.
Academic building, Polish Seminary,
Orcliard lake, (view*), 480.
Adams, Isaac, 406.
Adams, William \V., 760.
Addison township — Mention, 194, 195,
198, 199, 200, 206; lakes, 461; Lake-
ville's early promise, 461 ; township
organization and district schools, 462 ;
village of Leonard. 463.
Aderholdt, Henry A., 727.
African M. E. church, 358.
Agriculture, 7. 23.
Aitcheson, William, 255.
Albertson. (Mrs.) William, 2(38.
Albright. Egbert P., 109.
Alexander. George W.. 660.
Alger, Charles A.. 432,
Alger, Ira C, 393.
Alger, Josiah, 253.
Alger, R. A., 282.
Algonquin?. 23.
Algor, William. 465.
Allen, Case J., 399.
Allen, Charles A., 432, 433.
Allen, Horace E., 552.
Allen. Ira. .392.
Allen, Jeremiah, 2S7.
Allen, Jonathan T., ,389, 392.
Allen, Luther D., 664.
Allen, Moses. 29. 31.
Allen, Orison. 29. 212. 287.
Allen. Robert G.. 699.
Allen. Sterling W.. 251.
Allison. Edwin V., 676.
Allison, Henry E., 367.
Allopathic physicians (1837-1866), 254.
All Saints Episcopal church, 356.
Allyn, A. F., 460.
Alvord. Russell. 450.
Alvord. Thaddeus, 210.
American Savings Bank of Pontiac, 245.
Amy, 290.
Anderson, James W.. 258. 817.
Anderson, John. 287.
Anderson. William, 852.
Andres. John. 437.
Andrews. Amasa, 321.
Andrews. Harry C, 120.
Andrews, Thaddeus, 458.
Annice. Isaac, 425.
.■\pplegate. David. 423.
Apple Island (see Me-nah-sa-gor-ning).
Apple Island. Orchard Lake (view), 22,
Armstrong. John L.. 445.
Armstrong. Stephen. 445.
Arnold. Ami, 748.
Arnold, Jerome F., 707.
Arnold, J. JM., 435.
Arthur, Frank, 359.
Assembly island, 4.
Assessments, 193, 198.
Auburn. 6g.
Auburn Academy, 228.
Auburn village (Amy), 290.
.\ustin. Darius, 392.
Austin. Handy, 393.
Austin, Hiram. ,^93.
Austin, John B., 310, 619.
Austin, Nellie, 392.
Austin Corners, 493.
Automobile industry of Pontiac, 327
Oakland Alotor Car Company, 328
General Motors Truck Company, 329
The Flanders Plants, 329; the Carter-
car Company, 330; Monroe Body
Company, 331 ; the Beaudett Body
Works, 3,?i-
Avery. Aaron B., 833.
Averv. Lillian (Drake). 72. 97, loi,
261, 266.
Avon Riflemen, 273.
Avon township — Mention. 33, 194, 195,
198. 199. 200. 206: James Graham,
original settler. 401 : the Hersey-Rus-
seli-Grahani combine. 402; memories
of the old Hersey mill, 403; mill
stones from boulders, 404; Stony
Creek village. 404: Rochester platted
(1826), 405: pioneers outside of_ Ro-
chester. 406; first corporation officers,
406; Rochester industries, 408; the
Western Knitting Mills, 408; cream-
ery and flouring mill. 409; the schools,
409; Rochester Ihiion school, 409;
water works and fire protection, 411;
XV
XVI
INDEX
electric liglit and power, 412; Ro-
chester newspapers, 412; churches.
412; Rochester societies, 414; biolog-
ical farm. Farkdale, 416; Ferry seed
farm, 417. *
Avon township hall (view,), 402.
Axford, -Morgan, 419.
Axford, Sanniel, 418, 419.
Axford. William M., 420.
Babcock. Floyd B., 746.
Babcock, Henry S., iej4, 218.
Bachelder, Frank S., 256.
Backer. Peter E., 582.
Backus, Standish, 328.
Bacon, Levi, Jr., 312, 315.
Bagg, M. La Mont, 120, 245, 295, 312.
Bagley, Ainasa, 117, 118, 121, 122, 162,
291,' 295. 3(>2, 374.
Bagley, (Bloonifield Center). 374.
Bagley school. 338.
Bagnell, Gilbert. 453.
Bailey. Roy E., 884.
Baker, Calvin, 484.
Baker, Charles, 766.
Baker, Francis, 212.
Baker, George J., .247.
Baker. Norman L., 257.
Baker. Wilson W., 631.
Bald mountain, 9, 443.
Baldwin, Augustus C, 102, 123, 133, :6i,
180, 181. 221, 312.
Baldwin, Benedict. 30.
Baldwin, Edwin. 372.
Baldwin. (Mrs.) Edwin, 268.
Baldwin. Ezra, 2^,.
Baldwin. J.. 2i-
Baldwin. Martha, 259, 269, 270, 592.
Baldwin. Nathaniel, 33, 74, 96.
Baldwin, Sherman. 429.
Baldwin school, 38.
Ball, Hiram. 465.
Ball, Horatio, 40.
Bancker. James, 96.
Bank of Auburn, 243.
Bank of Oakland, 243.
Bank of Pontiac, 242.
Banks and Banking — Oakland county's
first bank. 242; the "wild-cat" banks,
243; one "safety fund" bank, 243; na-
tional banks in the county, 243 ; the
state banks, 244 : Pontiac Savings
Bank. 245 ; the Oakland County Sav-
ings Bank, 245 ; the American Sav-
ings Bank. 24s ; First Commercial
Bank of Pontiac, 245; First State
Savings Bank. Birniinghain, 246;
Farmington Exchange Bank, 246;
Rochester Savings Bank, 246; Holly
Savings Bank. 246: Farmer's State
Bank of Oxford. 247: Royal Oak Sav-
ings Bank. 246: the Orion State Bank,
247 ; State Savings Bank of South
Lyon, 248.
Bar of Oakland county — Daniel LeRoy,
126; William F. Mosley. 127; Thomas
J. Drake, 127; Origen D. Richardson,
128; Gideon O. Whittemore, 128;
Robert P. Eldredge, 128; Seth A. L.
Warner. 129; William Draper, 129;
Randolph Manning, 129; Charles
Draper, 130; Rufus Hosmer, 130;
George W. Wisner, 131 ; Alfred H.
Hanscom, 131 ; Governor Moses Wis-
ner, 132; Hon. Augustus Carpenter
Baldwin. 133; John S. Goodrich, 137;
Levi B. Taft. 137; Hester L. Stevens,
138; Michael E. Crofoot, 138; Henry
M. Look. 138; -Mark S. Brewer, 139;
Thomas L. Patterson. 140; Joseph Ed-
ward Sawyer, 142 ; George W. Smith.
145; Robert J. Lounsbury, 145; Aaron
Perry, 148; Daniel L. Davis, 150;
Kleber P. Rockwell, 151; Arthur R.
Tripp. 152; Elmer R. Webster, 152;
John H. Patterson, 153; James H.
Lynch, 154; Andrew L. Moore, 155;
Peter B. Bromley, 156; F. L. Covert,
157-
Barber, 1 heron W., 292.
Barkham (S. W.) & Son, 409.
Barkworth, Thomas E., 204.
Barnes. Clayton C, 740.
Barnes, Hiram, 444.
Barnes, Samuel, 415.
I^arnet, F'rank, 348.
Barrett, F. J., S98.
Barrett, Edith L., 270, 599.
Barntt, Hiram, 218.
Bartles. Herman, 432.
Bartlett, Orson, 321.
Barus. Henry, 284.
Barwise. Isaac, 599.
Bateman, James W., 124.
Bauer, M. A., 369.
Baum, John, 432, 433.
Beach, Elisha, 237.
Beach, Lewis C, 790.
Beach. S. E., 245, 273, 295, 328, 3ZZ-
Beaman. Samuel, 362.
Beardslee, Aaron, 468.
Beardslee, E. C, 212.
Beardslee, Geor.ge E., 125.
Beardslee. Henry C, 614.
Beardslee. John W., 466. 467.
Beardslee. Townsend, 467.
Beardslee, T. C, 274.
Beardsley. Clark. loi.
Beaudelt Body Works, 331.
Beaudett. Oliver J., 331.
Bcckwith. Mabel T., 506.
Becbe. Hosea D., 821.
Beech. Michael, 33.
Beeckman. (Mrs.) ^Lirt. 109.
Belding. Friend. 211, 212.
Beldin.g. Ransom R., 173.
Helford. Henry, 392.
Belford. Hugh. 392.
Bel ford, Joseph. 392.
Hell. Tliomas A.. 571.
Bellairc. Alexander R., 577.
Bclmore beach (Lake Whittlesey), 16.
Bench of Oakland county — County
courts and judges, 117; probate courts
INDEX
and judges, Ii8; circuit courts and
judges, 120; prosecuting attorneys,
123; tlie court of chancery, 123; cir-
cuit court commissioners, 124.
Bench and bar (reminiscences), 158-187.
Benjamin, Colonel E., 830.
Benjamin, John, 439, 830.
Benjamin, Terrel. 194,
Bennie, J. W., 258.
Benson, (Mrs.) Catherine, 102.
Benson, John H., 102.
Bent, Samuel, 352, 354.
Benton, John, 216.
B. P. O. E. Lodge No. 10. Pontiac,
370.
Berry, Bertha, 264.
Bettcs, Ambro, 412.
Betzing, Peter, 3&8.
Big Beaver, 488.
Bigler, Jacob, 440.
Bigler, Philip. 440. >
Bingham, Charles A., .soi.
Bingham, George, S19.
Biological Farm, Parkdale. 416.
Bird, Eli. 247.
Bird, J. T., 257.
Birge. Henry. 324.
Birmingham — Mention, 200, 202; first
settlement on site of, 373; village plats,
374; (see also Bloomfield township,
.38i-.-;87, and Piety Hill).
Birmingham Baptist church, 385.
Birmingham Lodge No. 44, A. F. &
A. M.. 386.
Birmingham M. E. church, .385.
Birmingham Presbyterian church, 385.
Birmin.gham societies, .386.
Birmingham LInited Preisbyterian
church, 489.
Birney, Daniel, 413.
Bishop, Hooper, 90.
Bishop. Julian, 474.
Bissell, Edward J.. 124.
Black, John C. 258,
Black Hawk war. 48.
Blackwood. Joseph, 4.=;i.
Blair, Maurice R.. 4.'?8, 814.
Blair, Nellie, 438, 815.
Blakcslee, Elmer E,. 125, 140.
Blanchard, Charles E.. 34Q.
Blanchard. John, 03.
Blodgctt. Herbert S., 548.
Bloomfield township — Mention, .36. 38.
190, 19S, 199, 200, 206; physical fea-
tures, 3/1 ; a good many dead Indians,
372 : first land entry, 372 ; formative
township period. 372 ; three compet-
ing taverns. ^7;ii; mills and stores out-
side of Birmingham, ;^7.'i, ; Bloomfield
Center. 374; Birmingham village
plats. 374; old times at Piety Hill,
375; village of Birmingham, ,381; re-
incorporated, 381; public works, .383;
soldiers' monument. .^84; Birmingham
churches, 375 ; secret and fraternal
societies, 386.
Board of county commissioners, 193.
Board of supervisors, 193.
Bodine, John, 383.
Bogie, George, 569.
Bond, Fred M., 125.
Book, James B., 330.
Bostwick, Lafayette, 6,50.
Boughner, Charles B., 668.
Boughton, Lyman, 194, 462.
Bowman, Joseph R., 124, 295.
Boyle, Dennis, 597.
Brace, Chauncey, 528.
Brace. Harry R., 433
Bradford, Andrew, 212.
Bradlev, F., 212,
Bradley. Morton L., 715.
Braid, Edward. 512.
Brakeman. Isaiah. 341.
Brandon township — Mention, 36, 194,
195, 198, 199. 200, 207; its pioneer
settlers, 463 ; villa.ge of Oakwood,
464; township organization, 464; vil-
lage of Ortonville, 464.
Brannack, A. L., 256.
Brew-er. John J., 246.
Brewer, Louise P., 261, 543.
Brewer, Mark S., 124, 139, 541.
Brewster. William A., 212, 312.
Brey, Helen, 269.
Bridges, 293.
Bristol, William A., 820.
Brodhead, Thornton F., 273, 282.
Bromlev, Peter B., 125, 140, 156, 304,
310, 641. ^ ^
Bromley, (Mrs.) Peter B., 261.
Brondige, George F., 687.
Brondige. John E., 140.
Brondidge. John F., 309.
Bronson, Daniel, 33, 117, 1 18, 162.
Bronson, Henry O., 272, 429.
Brooks, Eugene, 244.
Brooks, Joseph, 818.
Broughton, Herbert J., 612.
Brown, Arza, 343.
Brown, Avery, 419.
Brown, Benjamin, 483.
Brown, George A., 315.
Brown, Hugh, 337.
Brown, John B., 5.38.
Brown, Alills S., 788.
Brown, Vincent, 444, 74.^-
Brown, Willard M.. 687.
Brown, William, .•^86.
Bruder, Charles, 636.
Buchanan, Alexander, ,322.
Buchanan, James G., 315.
Buck. F. P.. 337-
Buckhorn, (Rose), 477-
Buckland. Don Carlos, 315.
Buckland. (Mrs.) D. C„ 265.
Buckland Memorial Chapel (view), 314.
Bucklev, Jennie, 680.
Buckley, Pierre, 679.
Buhaczkowski, Witold, 481.
Bulson. Benjamin. 94.
Burbank, William, 33. 40S. 409-
Burgess. Joseph, 433-
Burns, Edward, 626.
xvin
INDEX
Burr, C. B., .^17.
BiuT. C. U., .>55.
Burl, J.uucs K., 747.
Buj.(,-li. -Marsden C., 510.
Butler, Ariluu- M., 855.
Butler, Samuel A., 256.
Button, Francis M., 584.
Button. John II., 212, 460.
Butts, Phili]) E., 415.
Buzzard, Jacob, 558.
Cadlf. Richard F.. 356, 357.
Cady, Elias, 87.
Calkins, Klcazur E.. 440, 451.
Calkins, S., 413.
Callow, James E., 845.
Campbell, A. C, 432.
Campbell. Albert \\'.. b20.
Campbell. J. F., 892.
Camijbell, J. L., 257.
Campbell, J. W., 8gi.
Campl)ell. John L., 617.
Campbell, Josephine. 387.
Canandaigua City (Orion 1. ^43.
Cannon, John, 425.
Canton Pontiac No. 3, L O. O. I'"., .36S.
Carpenter, Ezra, 324.
Carpenter. Ira. 247.
Carpenter. William A.. 665.
Carpenter (Samuel) farm. 449.
Carr, Caleb, 89.
Carr, W. H., 257.
Carroll, Frank II., 245. 312, 356, 367,
370.
Carter. Byron J.. 330.
Carter. Henry, 630.
Cartercar Company, 330.
Carver, Jerome E., 786.
Cass, Lewis, 215, 235, 428.
Cass lake. 2. 3.
Cassels, Robert, 838.
Castell, D. G.. 256, 3ro.
Caswell, George W.. 140.
Castle, Lemuel, ^i, 193.
Central M. E. church, Pontiac, ,^45.
Central school, Pontiac, "^^8.
Challis. John. 5S7;
Chamberlain. .Addison. 461, 462.
Chamberlain. John, 252.
Chamberlain. Olmslcad. 251. 292, 315.
320.
Chamberlain. Joshua. 80, 96.
Chamberlin, L. E., 734.
Champion Manufacturing Company, 330.
Chapel, Calvin, 273, 415.
Chapel. Charles W,. 462.
Chapman, C. S., 244, 408.
Chapman, E. A., 2^7.
Chapman, Harvey S., 245, 256, 312.
Chapman, (.Mrs.) H. .S.. 263, 264.
Cha])man. Joseph I'.. 256, 257.
Chapman. William C, 246, 409.
Charter, Elmer O., 530.
Chase. Ikda. 449.
Chase, David. 218.
Chase, Jonathan. 218.
Chase. Joseph. 43T.
Chase, J. 1!., 3,54.
Chase's Corners. 431, 434.
Chattuck, (Mrs.) Maud, 261, 268.
Cheal. William, 873.
Chipman, Cyrus A., .33, 252.
Chipman, Henry, 122, 159.
Chipman, H. L., 284.
Chippewas, 24.
Christian, E. A., 256, 317.
Christian, (Mrs.) E. A., 261, 263, 264.
Christian church (see Church of Christ).
Chid)b. I.. I)., 5()f).
Church, Judah, 35, 362. 440. 443.
Church. R. C, 334.
Churchill, William, 275.
Church of Christ, O.xford, 422.
Circuit court commissioners, 124.
(Circuit courts, 112, 113, 114, 120.
Circuit judges, 112, 114, 122.
Citizens' Saving P.aid< of Holly, 246.
Civil aff.-iirs of the county — I-"irst official
act. 189; county seat fixed. 190; orig-
inal two townships, 190; present
boundaries established. 190; (Oakland
county under the territory. 191 ; ter-
ritorial legislative council, igi ; leg-
islation affecting township and county,
192; township government established,
192; first supervisors' meeting. 193;
county commissioners and sujicrvis-
ors, 193; some early assessments, 193;
circle of townships completed, 195;
roster of county officials, 195: assess-
ments and taxes, 198; population for
ninety years, 200; incorporated muni-
cipalities. 202; the county courthouses,
202; lueseut courthouse, 209; the Oak-
land Countv Home, 210.
Civil war (see War of the Rebellion).
Clack, Jonathan J., 752.
ClarenceviUe, 460.
Clark, .Aggie. 451.
Clark. Elijah B.. 36, 440.
Clark. Kremiali. 84, 96, 123. 194, 468,
471-
C lark. Lawrence C. 672.
Clark. Marv J. W., 97.
Clark, Ogden, 119, 191.
Clark. Rollin W.. VO.
Clark. Wilson W.. 468.
Clarkslon. 467. 468.
Clarkston mills, 324.
Clarkston roller mills, 468.
Clarkston village. 201, 202.
Clawson, 489.
Clavberg. G. M.. ^^7.
Cleary. (Mrs.-) Sybil B.. 204.
Clements. Samuel. ,345.
("lemons, lohn. 423.
Clifford. William A.. 278.
Climate, it.
Clinton C.'ui.il Bank, 243.
("linton river, 2. 467. 478, 484.
Clinton river improvement, 216, 236.
Clinton River Xavigation Company, 6,
2t6, 236.
Clintonv'ille. 486.
INDEX
Cloonan. S. J.. 323.
Close. Solomon, 184. 326.
Clough, A. B., 475.
Clyde. 473.
Clyde M. E. church, 475.
Coatcs, Joseph, 218.
, Cobb, James W., 593.
Cobb, Thomas H., 246.
Colby, Eastman, 34.
Cole, Henry S.. 129.
Cole, Phillip M.. 6^5.
Cole, W. L., 257.
Coleman, Harry, 313, 644.
Coleman, Ann L., 261, 263, 264, 646.
Coleman, James, 30.
Coleman, J. Dowd, 312.
Coleman, Spencer, 117.
Coleman, Zena. 413-
Collier, Theodore A., 868.
Collins, George C, 522.
Collins, George \\ '., 4.«3-
Colvin, Homer IT, 140, 309. 312.
Colvin, N, B., 257.
Commerce township — Mention, 195, 198,
199, 201, 207; lakes and streams, 469;
first settlers at Conmierce and Walled
Lake, 469; Commerce and Walled
Lake of today, 470; township organ-
ization and first postofiices, 470;
Wixom. 470.
Commerce village, 470.
Connnission government, 309.
Common council, 293.
Companv E. Third Michigan lufantrv,
2S5.
Companv A, Fifteenth Regiment, U. S.
I-, 273-
Comstock, E.. 352.
Comstock. E. B., 295.
Comstock, Solon B., 184.
Conant, Shubael. 44.
Cone, William. 212.
Congdon. E. H., 425.
Connor, Henry, 461.
Converse, F. E.. 337-
Cook, Egbert W., i79-
Cook, Elijah F., 216, 218.
Cook, Fred L.. 549.
Cook. John D.. ,W2.
Copeland, John T., 282.
Copeland, Joseph T., 123.
Copeman. Charles W., .'563.
Corbin, Johnson A., 229, 337.
Coroners, 197.
Corporations, 217.
Corvvin, George B., 87=1.
Council No. 600, Pontiac K. C, .369.
County clerks. 195.
Countv courts. 11 r. 117.
County jail (view), 20S.
County officials, 19,=;.
County Pioneer Society (sec Oakland
County Pioneer Society).
County seat, 190. 289.
Countv .school commissioner, 229.
Countv school system — Basis of public
school system, 227; Central University
and branches, 228; first academics in
Oakland county, 228; heads of the
county system, 22S; remains a "per-
petual fund," 229; duties of the
teachers of today, 229 ; standings re-
quired, 230; district libraries, 230;
high school scholars, 231 ; district
schools of the county, 231 ; present
status of schools, 2^2.
County superintendents of schools, 228.
County surveyors, 197.
County treasurers, ig6.
Court of Chancery, 123.
Court house of 1857-8 (view), 205.
Court houses, 183, 202.
Court Pride of the Oak No. 24. F. of
A., 4.38.
Covert, brank L.. 123, 125, 140, 157.
Cowdin. George D., 532.
Cowdin, Roy B., 575.
Cowles. Sylvester D., 278, 279.
Cox, Byron L., 637.
Craft, A. L., 415.
Craft, (Mrs.) A. L., 261.
Craft, Abraham L., 229, 621.
Crawford, Alfred, 120.
Crawford, John E., 886.
Crawford, Julia, 448.
Crofoot, Michael C, 181.
Crofoot. Michael E., 120, 123, 138, 158,
176, 181, 274.
Crofoot school, 33S.
Crooks, J. C. K., 381.
Crooks, William, 273.
Crooks, William K., 218.
Crosby, Arza C, 471.
Cross, Aaron H., 67S.
Cudworth, A. B., 181, 312.
Cudwortb, Agnes, 266.
Cudworth, Apollos, 483.
Cummings, C. J., 246.
Cummings, George, 872.
Cunnien, Patrick. 393.
Currey, Daniel R.. 140.
Currin, John, Jr., 827.
Curtis, F., 254.
Curtis, Jeremiah, 473.
Curtis, Naham, 473.
Curtis, Thomas, 124, 218.
Cuthbert, James, 504.
Cutting, Frank D., 769.
Dahlmann, I'^rank, 878.
Dahlmanu, Theodore, 756.
Daines, George E., 383, 594.
Dandison, Frederick, 84!.
Danes, (Mrs.) John, 393.
Daniels, Francis, 27S.
Daniels. John. 491.
Danielson, Daniel. 47(1.
Darraugh, Archibald, 190.
Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion. 95, 97.
Darrow, Francis, 212, 292.
Davidson, J. F., 423.
Davis & Company, 416.
Davis, (Mrs.) Arthin-, 261, 264.
INDEX
Davis. Cornelius, 472.
Davis, Daniel L., 140, 150, 202.
Davis, George, 447.
Davis, James H., 472.
, Davis, James S., 659.
Davis, John C, 472.
Davis, John H., 362.
Davis, Joji-ph P.. 691.
Davis, Joshua, Jr., 362.
Davis, Martin, 364.
Davis, Phineas, 473.
Davis, R, W„ 295.
Davis, Richard P'., 842.
Davis, Rohert M., 212.
Davis, Robert \V.. 312.
Davis, Sarah G., 97.
Davis. William O., 557.
Davison. Norman, 218.
Dawson. Charles. 312, 322.
Dawson's mills. 322.
Day, John C. 244.
Dean, Adam. 451.
Dean. Julius. 294, 295.
Dean, Ralph B., 337.
Dean & Hovey, 327.
Decker, Alanson, 419.
Decker. Jesse. 36. 44. 415, 440.
Decker's settlement. 440.
De Cou. C. A.. 257.
DeCue. Jolm, 393.
DeCuc. Samuel, 393.
Deer lake. 5.
DeLano, Edwin E., 555.
Deming, Elbridge G., 35, 419.
Deming, H. S.. 258.
"Democratic Balance." 312.
Dennison. .A-very, 435.
Denton. Solomon \V.. 315.
Derrayon, Eugene. 609.
Detroit & Bay City Railroad, 4, 238,
408. 420, 490.
Detroit & Milwaukee Railway Com-
pany. 238. 447, 472.
Detroit & Pacific Railroad, 431.
Detroit & Pontiac electric road, 6.
Detroit & Pontiac Railroad, 6, 60. 216,
2.S7-
Detroit & Pontiac turnpike, 235.
Detroit & Northwestern Railway Com-
pany, 2,39.
Detroit & Saginaw turnpike, .390.
Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee
Railway, 239.
Detroit United Railway, 239.
Detroit United Railway car barns, 457.
Detroit Creamery Company, 452.
Dewey, A. L., 263.
Dewey, (Mrs.) A. J., 109.
Dewey, Auburn W., ';6i.
Dewey, Dick, 310. 661.
Dewc)', J., ,30.
Dewey, James S., 180.
Dewcv, Joseph S., 123.
Dewill. A. D.. 422.
Dick Richardson Post. G. A. R., 369.
Dickinson. Geo. W.. 221. 367.
Dingman, Harry IT.. 877.
District courts, lii.
District libraries, 230.
District schools, 231.
Dobat, August F., 867.
Dobat, Daniel, 866.
Dodge, Harvey, 194.
Dole. .Sidney, 162, 191, 221.
IJonation Chapel (Amy), 340.
Doiulcro, (ienrgc A., 140, 433, 701.
Donaldson, .Mtramont, 93.
Donaldson, .Arza B., 102, 343.
Donaldson, Joseph M., 649.
Donaldson, J. N., 254.
Donclson, Ira, 212, 341, 343, 344, 398.
Donovan, John, 472.
Dort, David, 405.
Dot}-, Frank L., 140.
Doty, Harry L., 515.
Dow. Geo., 212.
Dow, James, 479.
Drahner. William. 507.
Drake, Elijah. 80, 96.
Drake. George H.. 255, 256, 257.
Drake, Morgan L., 124, 167, 181.
Drake. Thomas J.. 29, 82, loi, 123, 127,
164, 181, 188, 216, 221, 272.
Draper. .-Mbert. 321.
Draper. Charles. 123, 170. 181.
Draper. William. 129, 167, 181, 237,
243.
Drayton Plains. 4S6.
Dravton Plains tish hatchery, 484.
Drift, II.
Dunlap, Lew-is L., 486.
Dunlap. L. R.. 328.
Dunlap,, Monroe G., 554.
Dunlap, Robert. 451. 452.
Dunlap Vehicle Companv, 328.
Durant, W. C, 328.
Durfee. Austin. 486.
Durfee, Harvey. 486.
Durkee. Lillian D., 395.
Durr. George E., 444.
Dutcher, William. 194.
Dwight. .\lfred A.. 450.
Earle. Ch;iuncey, 254.
Earle. Lee. 247.
Early industries. 324. 373. 374. 403, 408,
425, 445. 452, 453.
Earlv taverns, 373.
Eaton, W. iNL, 315.
Ecclcston, J. B., 328.
Eddy, Joseph, 483.
Educational fund, 217, 229.
Educational history — Early
Pontiac schools, ,333 ;
schools, 409; Royal Oak
Oxford schools, 423;
schools, 458 ; Early
township schools, 468.
Edwards, .Xbraham, 190.
Eighth Michigan Cavalry,
Kighth Michigan Infantrv,
Eilett, Tacob, 4S4.
Eldrcdge. Charles M., 118, 365.
Eldredge, Robert P., 128, 165.
schools, 67;
; Rochester
schools, 4.34 ;
Farmington
Independence
282.
278.
INDEX
Elevations, i8.
Elizabeth lake. 2, 484.
Ellenvvood, John, 21S, 479, 767.
Ellerly, Edward, 479.
Elliott, Harry S., 229.
Elliott, Henry J., 322.
Elliott, Marcus D., 284.
Elliott. N. K., 465.
Elliott, W. G., 254.
Ellis, Charles D., 399.
Elmore, John, 4S3.
Elwell, Peleg. 415.
Elwood. B. F., 245.
Ely, Charles H., 807.
Emery, John C, 253. 482.
Emery, Josiah. 680.
Emmendorfcr. F. A.. 328.
Emmendorfer. J. William, 872.
Emmons. E. R., 4.
Eureka mills, 408.
Eveland. (^Nlrs.) Ida. 367.
Everett, Orion H., 822.
Everts. Caleb, 777.
Everts, William T.. 778.
Fagan, Edwin. 393.
Pagan, John, 393.
Fagan, (Mrs.) John, 392.
Fagan, Peter, 293-
Fagan, Terrence. 389. 392.
Fagan, Thomas H., 393, 775.
Fagan, William, 392, 393.
Fairbank's Corners, 273-
Fairbanks. Joseph. 31.
Farmer. Edward R.. 591.
Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank, 243.
Farmers' Bank of Oakland, 243.
Farmers' State Bank of O.xford, 247.
Farmington, ,540,
Farmington Baptist church, 459.
"Farmington Enterprise," 457.
Farmington Exchange Bank, 246.
Farmington Lodge No. 15, A. F. & A.
M.. 460.
Farmington ]\Iethodist church, 459.
Farmington township — Mention, 34, 198,
199, 201, 207; the Power colony founds
- Quakertown (Farmington), 452 ; other
pioneers of the township, 453 ; Dr.
Webb adds distinction, 4^3; first mills,
453 ; recollections of P. Dean War-
ner, 454; village of Farmington, 457;
Farmington schools, 45S ; the churches,
459; the Masonic lodge, 460; Clar-
enceville and North Farmington, 460.
Farmington village 201, 202, 457-460
(see Farinington township).
Farnham, L. A.. 257.
Farnsworth. Elon. 124.
Fawcett. George, 449.
Fay, Ernest H., 309.
Feir. John M., 125.
Felshaw, C. P., 257.
Ferguson, Erastus. 429.
Ferguson, Robert Y., 233-
Ferguson. R. Y.. 257.
Ferndale, 439.
P'erry seed farm, 417.
Fifteenth Michigan Infantry, 280.
Fifth ^Iichigan Infantry ("F'ighting
i'lfth";, 277
Finn, Silas, 436.
Fire of 1840, 293.
Fire department, 294.
First Baptist church, Pontiac. 347.
First car into Rochester (view), 241.
First Commercial Bank of Pontiac, 245.
First Congregational church, Pontiac,
.352, 353-
First court in Oakland county, 118.
First court houses, 289.
First land entries, 31.
First legal case recorded, 118.
First ^I. E. church, Pontiac, 341.
First Michigan Infantry, 275.
First ^lichigan railway chartered, 237.
First National Bank of Birmingham,
244.
I'irst National Bank of Holly, 244.
First National Bank of Pontiac, 243.
First National Bank of Rochester, 244.
First Oakland county highway, 234.
First official act, 189.
First Presbyterian church. Pontiac, 349.
First settlers and land owners — Great
set-back to settlement, 27 ; Oakland
county's first settlers, 29; the Mack
colony of Pontiac, 29 ; "Uncle Ben"
Woodworth. 30; first surveys, 30; lo-
cations under the "two dollar" act, 31 ;
the "ten shilling" act. 32; great event
for the pioneer land owner, 32 ; town
of Pontiac settled, S-'t Avon and
White lake, 33 ; Springfield and
Groveland, 34: Farmington and West
Bloomfield, 34; Waterford and Inde-
pendence, 35 ; Orion and Oxford, 35 ;
Royal Oak and Troy, 35; Brandon,
Southfield and Blooiufield, 36.
First State Savings Bank of Birming-
ham, 246.
First State Savings Bank of Holly,
244, 246.
First supervisors' meeting, 193.
First surveys, 30.
First things and events, 389.
Fish. Elijah S.. 375. 37(>. 377. 385.
Fish. Fannie E., 37^.
Fisher. Arthur W., 847.
Fisher, Charles A., 284.
Fisher. Matilda, 416.
Fisher, W. J., 310.
Fitch, Ferris S., 315. 337.
Fitzgerald. Josiah. 451.
Flanders ^Manufacturing Company, 329.
Flanders. Walter E.. 329. 330.
Fletcher. William A.. 112, 121, 122, 159.
Flinn. Thomas, 429.
Flint & Pere Marquette Railway, 238,
447-
Flint River Baptist .Association, 424.
Florence Avenue school. 338.
Flower. Andrew. ,366.
XXIV
INDEX
of Holly village. 393; village schools,
394; new Union school, 394; town-
ship and village lihraries, 39s; the
waterworks, 395; Holly newspapers,
397; industries, 397; the churches,
398; societies, 399.
Holly village, 201, 202, 393-400 (see
Holly township).
Holly Wagon Company, 397.
Holmes, Alexander, 31.
Holmes, Charles E., 732.
Holt, J. M., 475- . .
Homeopathic physicians, 255.
Hoodlcss. Charles. 438.
Hooker. William W., 757.
Hopkins. Krastus, 494.
Hopkins. Frederick. 494.
Hopkins, Sherman. 461.
Horner. George A.. 346.
Horticulture. 7.
Horton. Christian Z., 24, 403.
Horton, George, 74, 96.
Ilosmer, Rufus. 130, 168, 295.
Hotchkiss, Calvin, 272, 273, 287.
llotchkiss, Enoch. 80, ,361.
Hotchkiss. H.. 416.
Hough. Benjamin. 30.
Hough, H. H., 435-
Hovey, Augustus W., 221.
Hovey, H. W., 212.
Howard. Betsey. 421.
Howard. David S., 312.
Howard. H. A., 324.
Howard. H. N.. 320, 321, 352.
Howarth. E. B.. Jr., 125, 140.
Howlett. Edward V.. 256, 257.
Hul)h;ird. Diodate, 429.
Hu!)l)ard. Frank W., 426.
Huhhle. W. H.. 280.
lluhlile. William H., 562.
HufY. Alexander G., 464.
Huff. John. 478.
Hulick. Derrick, 91.
Hull. WilHam. 214.
Humphreys. F. W.. 315.
Hungerford. Samuel, 194.
Hunt, Henry I., 190.
Hunt, James B., 123, 172, 218.
Hunt, James W„ 386.
Hunt, John, 120, 122, 174.
Hunter. Daniel, ^^73, 431.
Hunter, Elisha. 43. 373.
Hunter. John W.. 31. 43, 372. 373.
Hunter. I.edru R.. 58S.
Hurlhurt. Cass, .300.
Hurd. Charles. 228, 335, 337.
Huron river, 445. 478, 469, 493.
Hymers, Elmer E., 140, 309, 472.
Idle. 1). D., 346.
Incorporated villages, 202.
Independence Camp No. 3127, Royal
Neighhors of .-Xmerica, .369.
Independence township — Mention, 35,
195, 198, 199, 200, 201. 207: Sasha-
baw plains, 466; water courses, 467;
settlers at Clarkston and on the
plains. 467; the primitive schoolhouscs,
4O8; Clarkston up to date, 468.
Indian and primitive record — Orchard
lake and the great chief, Pontiac, 19;
the legend of Me-nah-sa-gor-ning, 21 ;
|)rimitivt' tillage and industries, 22;
contact with known tribes, 23 ; scars
of battle. 24; C. Z. Horton's con-
tributions. 24; Indian camping ground
and cemetery, 24 ; queer customs, 25 ;
the passing of We-se-gah, 25.
Indian reservations, 479.
Indians, 25, 372.
Industrial and business Pontiac — Direct
successor of 1820 mill, 320; the
Howard interests, 321 ; the old Pad-
dack mill, 322 ; Charles Dawson and
his work. 322; Pontiac City Mills,
322; pioneer machine shops and fur-
niture factories, 322 ; early breweries,
323 ; fathers of the "auto" industry,
323; Pontiac and other mills of 1852,
323 ; Pontiac's early business men,
325: automobile industry of Pontiac,
327; Oakland Motor Car Company,
328: General Motors Truck Company,
329; the Flanders plants, 329; the
Cartercar Coinpany, 330; Monroe
Body Company. 331 ; the Beaudett
Body Works, 331 ; Slater Construc-
tion Company, .331 ; Pontiac Brewery,
331; Pontiac Commercial Associa-
tion, 332.
Industries (see early industries).
Ingals. Daniel F., 423. 425.
Ingersoll. E. S., 483.
Ingersoll. Erastus. 481. 483.
Ingersoll. George P., 712.
Ingraham. Roswell, 341.
Irish. Benjamin, 479.
Irish.Washington E., 876,
Irwin, Alexander J., 315.
Jackson. E. W., 315.
Jackson, Henry M., 677.
Jackson, Thomas J., 258.
Jackson. Washington, 447.
Jacokcs. D. C, 342, 344.
Jacokcs, James A., 120, 124, 245.
Jacokes, (Mrs.) J. A., 266.
Jacox, Linus, 467.
Jails. 183.
Jalowski, John, 849.
Tamieson, William. 385.
Jarrctt Brothers. 797.
Jarretl. Duke. 797.
Jarrett, James, 797.
Jarvis. Joseph W.. 359.
Jarvis. Minnie T.. 244.
Jarvis. Robert. 443.
Jenkins, h'rank E., 140.
Jenkins. John, 322.
Jenner, G. L., 333, 337.
Jennings. Perrv J., 656.
Jennings. Stephen, 460.
INDEX
Jessiip, Jesse, 451.
Jewell. Anne E., 99.
Jewell, Ezra W., 99, 100, 102, 109.
Jobes, Samuel, 399.
John P. Foster No. 2 fire engine, 298.
Johns, Horace, 451.
Johnson. A. J.. 309, 312.
Johnson, Fred L., 258, 900.
Johnson, John H., 550.
Johnson, Lyman, 474.
Johnson, Schuyler D., 464.
Johnson, W. J.. 414.
Johnston, Daniel M., 383.
Johnston. George C, 310, 546.
Jones, Albert D., 544.
Jones, George, 848.
Jones, J. C, 337.
Jones, Samuel, 435.
Jones, Solomon, 91.
Jones. Thomas. 449. j
Joslin. A. M.. 393.
Joslin. James. .393.
Joslin. John, 393.
Joslyn, George B., 423.
Jossman. Esidor, 862.
"Journal of the Oakland Medical So-
■ ciety," 256.
Judd, D. M., 212.
Judd, J. K., 310.
Judd, Samuel A., 277.
Judges (see bench).
Judiciary — Territorial supreme court,
no; old district court, in; county
courts, ni; change in supreme court,
n2; circuit courts and judges, 112;
the "one-horse" court. n2 ; under the
1850 constitution. 113; a summary,
"4-
Justices of the peace. n5.
Kearsley creek, 463.
Keeling, Rclph F.. 140.
Kedzie, Robert. 409.
Kedzie. W. Roscoe. 353.
Keller. Frank S., 780.
Keller, Otto, 437.
Kelley, Elbert J., 312.
Kelley, E. A., 369.
Kelsey, M. W., 43.
Kelsey, Sullivan R., 374.
Kemp, Henry, 867.
KeniD, Michael, 3?.
Kemp, William H.. 883.
Kenaga. Joseph. 528.
Kensar. John. 423.
Kensington. 450.
Kent. Franklin. 578.
Keokuk Canning Company. 452.
Kerr. Charles W., 882.
Kerr, William R.. 882.
Kidder. A. D.. 433.
Kimball. Charles F.. 31 v
Kimball. David L.. 284. 285. 360.
Kinnev. Robert C. 749.
Kinney. William A.. 899.
King. Charles. 38S.
King, George W., 904.
Kinsman. George O., 140.
Kline, T. C. V., 247.
Knight, .-Mvin M., 536.
Knight, Belle D., 537.
Knight, Benjamin, 425,
Knight, Henry C, 172.
Knight, Z. B., 120.
Knights of Columbus, Pontiac, 369.
Knowles, Frank L., 432, 433.
Kraft, F. F., 385.
Kyle, Henry G., 828.
Ladies' Library Association. Birming-
ham. 385.
Ladies' Library Association of Holly,
270.
Laing, .\.. 444.
Lake. E. H., 399.
Lake Maumee, 14, 15.
Lake Orion, 4, 443.
Lake Orion Assembly Resort, S-
Lake Orion Summer Homes Company,
5-
Lakeville, 461,
Lakeville lake, 5, 461.
Lakes, i, 2, 3, 8, 12, 14. 371. 3S8. 420,
441, 461, 467. 469, 473, 476, 478, 484.
Lake Warren, 17.
Lake Whittlesey, 14, 15, 16, 17.
Lakie, William D., 771.
Laml). Caleb. 253, 255.
Lamb, William H., 765.
Lambertson, J. V., 415.
Lamond, R. D., 253.
Lamoreaux. Fred A., 541.
Land entries, 31. V-. 388. 402. 429. 440,
489.
Land titles. 215.
Landon. Nathan. 94.
Earned. Charles. 405.
Larzelier, George. 462.
Lathrop. Horace, 30.
Laubley, Joseph. 272.
Laurent & Emmons, 323.
Lawson. Finley O.. 633.
Lawson. Jacob AL. 434, 815.
Lawyers (see bar).
Le. Baron, Alfred F., 787.
Le Baron, Robert, 254, 257.
Lederley, E. J.. 435.
Lee, George, 473.
Lee, Martin, 491.
Lee, William, 491.
LeFavour. Heber. 281.
Legal Tender mills, 322.
Leggett, M. A., 32;^.
Leggett, Percy S., 275.
Leggett, Samuel M., 21.
Lebring. Frederick. 393.
Lehring. Henry. 393.
Leonard. 5. 200. 202. 463.
Leonard. John W.. 212.
Leonard. Mason N.. .383.
LeRoy. Clare J., 140.
INDEX
LeRoy. Daniel. ,?.!, ,u. n^. 121, 122.
123, 126, 16.5, iijo. _'i6, 221, 237, 243,
286, 291. 362, 406, 471.
LcRoy. Edward H., 710.
LeRoy, John P.. 295.
LeRoy. .M.iria. 409.
Lcssiter. Floyd J., 567.
Lcssiter. Frank II., 741.
Lctclifield. H., 248.
Lester, William, 2g. 2S7.
Letts, Allx-rt E.. 632.
Levamseler, L. J., 433.
Lewis, George, 755.
Lewless, Alexander, 433.
Licenses, 299.
Lillis, Michael F., 125.
Linahury, Joseph, 324.
Linn. Charles M., 27S.
Little creek, 388.
"Little Dick." 5.
Livermore. John S.. 218.
Lockwood. D. M., 474.
Lockwood, Floyd \V., 258.
Lodge. Edward A., 257.
Look, Henry ^L, 12^. 138.
Look, (Mrs.) H. M., 109.
Loomis, Delos P.. 565.
Looniis, L. C, 283.
Loomis, Oscar D., 556.
Loop, Jacoh, 363. 364.
Losee, J. W., 257.
Loughman, F.dniund. 437.
Lounslniry, Robert J., 140, 145, 239, 262.
310, 312.
Lovejoy. Charles E., 595.
Lovejoy, Flarl A.. 14a.
Luce, George A. C.. I2r, 169.
Liidwig, William, 560.
Lull, .Alba A., 245, 301. 303, 321.
Lull. Augustus A., 518.
Lumby, L. R.. 257.
Luther, L., 35, 429.
Lynch, James H.. 125. 140. 154. 202.
3.13, 369.
Lyon, G. I^L, 472.
Lyon First Presbyterian church. 451.
Lyon township — Mention, 194. 195, 198,
199, 200. 201, 207; first settlers, 449;
New Hudson and Kensington, 430;
villa.ge of South Lyon, 450; schools
and churches, 451 ; South Lyon indus-
tries, 452.
Lyons, D. B.. 24S.
Lyons, W. W.. 247.
Mabley, Thomas, 312.
McAlvey, John, 440.
McArthur, .Abigail H., 93.
McBride, James, 377.
McCabe, James, 123.
McCarroll. Sarah, .^^3.
McCarroll, William, 255. 256, 257.
McCaulev, William, 564.
McClaren. (J. D.), Company. 4^2.
McConnell. B. B.. 255.
McConnell, Joseph, 275.
McConnell, Willard ^L, 212, 218, 274,
292, 325. 341, 342.
McConnell school, 338.
.\lcCook, R. W., 451.
.McCord. Don C, 330.
McCracken, S. B.. 61.
McCracken, William J., 808.
McDace. George, 356.
McDonald. T. E.. 257.
McDowell. Ebenezer, 436.
.McDowell. !•". H., 432.
Mace Dav lake, 5.
McGaflfey, Daniel A., 648.
McGee. Clinton, 140.
McGec. Thomas H., 543.
McKinney, -A.. D., 257.
McKinney, J. W., 247.
McKinnon, George VV.. 258.
.McKinstry, David C, 35, 190, 429.
McLaren, Charles M., 733.
McLaren. James W., 703.
McLaughlin brothers, 474.
McOmber. Philip. 493.
.■^IcWhorter, John J., 864.
.Mack. .Almon. 76. 77. 272. 288. 289, 405.
Mack. C. W., 257.
Mack. Connant & Sibley. 287.
Mack, John M.. 77, 406.
Mack, Lovina, 288.
Mack, Stephen, 29, 31, 33. 39, 75, 76, 96,
189, 192, 216, 272. 286. 287. 320.
Mack. S., 221, 320.
Mackinnon, G. W.. 247.
Macomb. Alex., igo.
Macomber. Phillip A., 168.
Maetrott. I-'red S., 518.
Main street, Hollv (view), 396.
.\lairs, William, 887.
Maitrott, Elmer E., 865.
Makelv, Peter, 423
Makely. Peter D., 418.
Malcolm, Frank J., 624.
Malcolm. Robert W.. 503.
Malov. Peter, 312.
Maltbv. Sara it.. 472.
.\Ianlv. Ora. 257.
Manning. Randolph, 129, 166. 181, 218
-Mansfield. Samuel. 453, 454.
M;u'ccro, J. L., 369.
.Marjison. William, 285.
Marlin, Ira. 212.
Marsh, Elisha, 393.
Marsh. Elmer, Wi-
Marshall. John 'l).. 334.
Martin. Joseph W., 3a8.
Martin. William W., 211.
Mary D. Hive No. 393, L. O. T. N. M..
386.
Mason. Stevens T., 441.
Masonic Temple Association, 367.
Mather. Asher F., 274.
.Mathews. E. R., 246.
Mathews, George B., 321.
Mathews, John B.. 140.
Mathews, Lucy J., 367.
.Mathews mill. 320.
Mathews. Solomon S., 315.
INDEX
Mathews, (Mrs.) S. S.. 267.
-Mathews. S. S., .3(19.
Matthews, A. B., 295, 321, 3^4. 367-
Matthews, Charles, 140.
Matthews. Charles S., 125.
Matthews, Edward. 374.
Matthews. S. S.. 245.
Matthews. Sahiion J.. 212,
Matthews. Sabnon S.. 870.
Maybee. John, 671.
Mead, Amos, 193, 445.
Mead, Henrv, 212.
Mead, John H., 879.
Mead, Polly A.. 458.,
"Mechanics and Engineers," 282.
Medical profession — Pioneer condilions,
249; primitive state and medical prac-
tice, 250: physicians of Oakland
county prior to' 1837, 251 ; Dr. Will-
iam Thompson, 251 : Dr. Ezra S.
Parke, 252 ; Dr. Cyrus Chipnian, 252 ;
Dr. Ebenezer Raynale, 252 ; Drs. Lamb,
Lamond and Alger. 253; Dr. John C.
Emery, 253 ; the old county medical
society, 253 ; the Northeast District
medical societies, 253 ; allopathic prac-
titioners from 1S37 to 1866, 254; three
earlv-time homeopaths, 255 ; present
County Medical Society, 255 ; Pontiac
Medical Society, 256; present prac-
titioners, 255.
Meigs, Margaret, 264.
Merrell, Caleb B., 86, 96.
Mellen-Wright Lumber Company. 434.
Merrell. John J., 471.
Me-nah-sa-gor-ning ( ;\pple island), 21.
Men's rest room, lOi.
Merrill. R. T.. 374.
Merrill. Roswell T., .381.
Merritt. John A., 433.
Merz, Julius, 315.
Mexican war. 273.
Michigan .Air Line, 239.
Michigan Bass Hatchery, 4S6.
Michigan Central Railroad, 240.
Michigan Light .\rtillery, 283.
Michigan Manufacturing & Lumber
Company. 397.
Michigan .Military .Academy, 338, 479.
Michigan Pressed Brick Company. 426.
Michigan State Medical Society, Branch
No. 5, 256.
Michigan State Telephone Company,
308.
Miles. Johnson. 237.
.Mil ford, 474.
.Milford sidling Conipan\. 447.
Milford Presbyterian church, 448.
Milford township — Mention, 195, 198,
199, 200, 201, 207: formed, 445; rea-
son for names, 445 : the Ruggle Broth-
ers, 445; pioneer mills, 445; societies,
448 ; the present village, 447 ; churches,
447-
Milford village. 201. 202. 44.1448 (see
.Mill'ord township).
Military matters — Oakland county sol-
diers of the War of 1812. 271 : Na-
poleonic soldiers, 272; early military
organizations, 272 ; the Mexican war,
273; the War of the Rebellion, 274;
the First Michigan Infantry, 275; the
Second Michigan Infantry, 275; the
Third Infantry. 277; the Fifth Infan-
try. 277; the Seventh Infantry, 278;
the Eighth and Ninth Infantry reg-
iments. 27S; the Tenth Infantry, 278;
the F'ourteenth Infantry, 279 ; the Fif-
teenth and the Sixteenth, 280; the
Twenty-second Infantry, 280 ; Moses
Wisner, 281 ; Twenty-ninth Infantry,
281 ; Thirtieth Infantry and "Mechan-
ics and Engineers," 282; Custer's
Michigan Cavalry Brigade, 282; the
Eighth Cavalry, 282; Ninth and Tenth
Cavalry regiments, 283; Michigan
Light Artillery, 283 : One Hundred
and Second U. S. Colored Troops,
284; military matters of late, 284.
Millard. Nathaniel, 119, 191.
Mill pond nuisance. 293.
.Miller. David. 674.
Miller. Darwin. 708.
.Miller, Edward J., 806.
Miller. Henrv, 409.
Miller, J. A.". 258.
.Miller, John, 33.
Miller, L. P., 465.
Millcrd. Nathaniel. 405.
Milligan. J. R. J., 351.
Millinian. George M., 258.
Mills, 403, 445. 453.
Mills, Ada P., 803.
Mills, (Mrs.) Fred M., 264.
Mills, Joseph E., 207, 263.
.Miner, Clement E., 140.
Minnock, Daniel, 393.
.Minnock, Michael, 393.
Mitchell, David, 392, 393, 774.
.Mitchell. George, 392.
-Mitchell, George H., 244.
Mitchell. Tames G.. 394.
-Mitchell. L. T., 413.
Mivels, George, 437.
Mock, F. £.,"475.'
Monroe. H. G., .300.
Monroe, Hector L., 309.
Monroe, R. F., 312.
Monroe Body Company, 331.
Montieth, John, 31.
.Montgomery, John, 5S1.
Moore, .Andrew L., 140, 155, 202, 218.
309.
Moore, (Mrs.) A. L.. 261, 267.
Moore, Joseph B., 12?, 178, 180, 202
Morrell, K. N., 425. "
Morell. George, 121, 123.
Morris. Benjamin B., 218.
-Morris. Benjamin. 326.
Morris, C. D., 257.
.Morris. William, 162, 362, 374.
Morrish, J. J., 451.
.Morrison. J. S,. 258.
XXVll
INDEX
Morrison, (Mrs.) L. L., 270.
Morrison, Thomas W., 535.
Mormons (1832), 67.
Morse, J., 255, 256.
Mosey, Emma, 472.
Mosher, Abraham, 730.
Mosher, C. W., 3()y.
iMoseley, William F., 119, 123, 127, 191,
216, 221.
Moss, R. H., 257.
Mother Hur Court, No. 17, 399-
Mothcrsill. (Mrs.) J. W., 392-
Mow, John C, 433.
Mount Judali, 443.
Mowry, Zebina M., 218.
Mover, Douglas B., 725.
Mullet,John, 197.
Munson. Samuel C, 320, 324, 351. 352,
440, 486.
Muiiger, Charles A., 791.
Murphy, Anne, 261, 263.
Murphy, I£dwin M., 263, 328, 706.
Murphy, James J., 257.
Murphy, Mary, 707.
Mutual Fire Prevention Bureau, 427.
Myers, J., 33-
Nail, James, 436.
Napoleonic soldiers, 272.
Narrin, William, 537.
Nash. William I., 563.
National banks, 243.
Neal, John A., 140.
Neal & Wieland. 443-
Needham, John F., 437.
Nelson, Albert A., 602.
Nelson. J. C, 745-
Nesbett, William P., 312.
Newberry, A. F., 246.
Newl)erry. (Mrs.) A. F.. 97. 265.
Newberry, James, 212.
Newberry, Seneca, 218, 219, 237, 405
New Canadiagua (Orion), 441.
New Hudson, 450.
Newell, E. M.. 247.
Newkirk, Chaunccy F., 125.
Newman. Ezra. 30.
Newton. F. 11.. ,?66.
Newton, (Gilbert M., 438.
Newton, Isaac, 5.S8.
Newton. J. G., 365.
Niles, Johnson, 488.
Niles, Joseph, Jr., 237.
Niles, Samuel, 88. 96.
Ninth Michigan Cavalry, 283.
Ninth Michiiran Infantry, 278.
Nixon, Volney, 244.
Noble. Donald F.. 140, 888.
Norris, Caroline, .394.
North Farmington, 460.
North, Oscar F., 120, .^326.
North. William ¥., 140. 275.
Northeast District Medical & Scientific
Association. 253.
Norton. Gad. M. 4a).
Norton. John D.. 245, .Soi. .103.
Norton. John M., .s8.
Norton, Lewis, 470.
Norton, Samuel H., 299, 312.
Norton sawmill, 408.
Xorvell. Freeman, 282.
Nott, Stephen, 840.
Novi, A. F., 258.
Novi Corners (Novi), 483.
Novi ( postofilicc), 483.
Novi township — Mention, 194, 195, 198,
199, 200, 201, 207; the name Novi, 482;
the colony of 1825-26, 482; Novi (Cor-
ners, or Novi, 483.
Nushaumer, George, 369.
"Oakl.-ind Advertiser," 397.
O.ikland Avenue M. E. church, Pontiac,
345-
O.ikland Chapter No. .s. K. A. M., ,366.
"O.ikl.'ind Chronicle," 312.
"Oakland Gazette," 312.
Oakland Lodge, No. 343, A. F. & A. ^L,
O.'ikland Motor Car Company, 328.
"Oakland Whig," 312.
Oakland county in state politics — Ques-
tion of land titles, 215; Governor Cass
brings stability, 215; champions of
public improvements, 216; the state
constitutions. 216; Oakland county's
part in constitution making. 218; Doc-
tor Raynale. delegate to 1835 conven-
tion, 219; Lysander Woodward, dele-
gate to 1873 convention. 220; state of-
ficials, elected and appointed. 221 ; ter-
ritorial council representatives, 221 ;
speakers and clerk of the house. 221 :
Michigan legislators from Oakland
countv. 222: state representatives,
222: disturbances of war issues. 225.
Oakland county court house (view),
20V
Oakland county's first legal writ (fac-
simile). 116.
Oakland Countv Home. 210.
O.ikl.ind Countv Medical Society. 250,
■i:-).^- 2-,$.
Oakland County Pioneer Society —
l'"ounded. 99; the supervisors' "pic-
nics." 100; better preservation of rec-
ords, 100; society incorporated, lOl ;
pioneer women, loi ; officers of the so-
ciety, loi: pioneer relics in the col-
lection of the society, 102.
Oakland County Savings Bank, 245.
O.ikland County Telephone Company,
308.
Oakland township. 190, 195. 198. 199,
200. 201. 207. 313. 489.
"Oakvicw." 417.
Oakwood. 464.
O'Connor. T. J.. 369.
Odell. Bert A.. 689.
Oyden. Mary. 472.
Old Hodges house (view), 326.
OKI I'nion school. ,335.
Old .M;ithews mill. 320.
Olds. Ira M.. 451.
INDEX
Oliver. Dvvisht I.. 667.
Oliver, John, 2~i.
Olmstead. Harley, 2,^.
"One-horse" court, 112.
One Hundred and Second U. S. Col-
ored troops, 284.
On the Shiawassee river (view), 477.
On the shores of Pine lake (view), 478.
On the shores of Stony lake (view),
421.
Orchard lake, 2. 19, 21.
Orchard Lake (postoffice), 479.
Orchard Lake Military Academy, 2.
Orchards, 7.
Orion, i.
Orion Congregational church, 444-
Orion M. E. church, 444.
Orion Park Association, s.
"Orion Review," 443.
Orion township — INlentioq, 35, 194, I95>
198, 199, 200, 201, 207; first settlers
and events, 440; a township of lakes,
441 ; Orion village, 443 ; Orion
churches, 444 ; other stations, 445.
Orion State Bank, 247.
Orion village, 201. 202, 443, 444 (see
Orion township).
O'Riley, James A., 716.
Orr, Eleanor J., 835,
Orr, James VV., 834.
Orton, Amos, 464.
Orton, Elsworth. 257, 312.
Ortonville vjllage, 200, 201, 202, 443,
444, 46(4, 465.
Osman, Mortimer F., 211.
Osmun, Charlotte M., 97.
Osmun, Israel, 486.
Osmun. John, 486.
Osmun, William H.. 310. 526.
Ostrander, Charles J., 125.
Otis, Amos, 457, 573-
Owen, Asa, 36.
Owen, George W.. 432.
Oxford Agricultural works, 426.
Oxford Baptist church, 424.
Oxford carriage factory, 426.
Oxford creamery, 427.
Oxford Institute, 421.
Oxford machine works, 426.
Oxford M. E. church, 422.
Oxford township — Mention, 35, 194, 195,
19S, 199, 200, 201, 207; civilly organ-
ized, 418; first settlers, 418; first roads
and railroad, 420 ; Thomas, 420 ; lakes,
420; Oxford village incorporated, 421 ;
schools, 421; Oxford churches. 422;
the Methodists, 422; the Baptists, 424;
newspapers and societies, 425 ; Ox-
ford industries, 421; ; Michigan Pressed
Brick Company, 426; C. L. Randall &
Company, 427.
Oxford steam planing mills, 426.
Oxford LInion school (view), 422.
Oxford vallev mills. 426.
Oxford village. 201, 202, 421-427 (see
Oxford township).
Paddack. Daniel. 123.
Paddack. David, 123, i22.
Paddack's mills, Z12.
Paint creek, 441, 489.
Palmer, (Mrs.) B. A., 265.
Palmer, Charles H., 221.
Palmer, R. A., 540.
Palmer. William C. 294.
Parke, Ezra L., 250. 253.
Parke, Ezra S., 43, 252, 372, 385.
Parke, Hervey, 37-55. i-^o, 287, 290, 372.
Parke, John H., 43.
Parker, Ezra, 83, 96.
Parker, Henry, 392.
Parker, John D., 392.
Parker, Philip M., 229.
Parker, Ralzemond A., 634.
Parker, William, 798.
Parker, W. H., 465.
Parks, Calvin C, 124.
Parks, Roliert, 452.
Parmalee, Edward W., 720.
Partridge, Lemuel M., 372.
Patrick. Pierce, 294, 295.
Patrick. William, 218.
Patten, George. 212.
Patterson, E. & P., 397.
Patterson. Fred. 397.
Patterson. James. .393.
Patterson, James K., 123, 124.
Patterson, lames W., 397.
Patterson. John H.. 140. 153, 202.
Patterson, John H., (portrait), 153.
Patterson. John W., 835.
Patterson, Samuel J., 140.
Patterson. Thomas L., 102. 120, 140, 392,
393. 513-
Patterson, Thomas L. (portrait), 126.
Patterson, (Mrs.) T. L., 392.
Patterson, William F., 393, 514.
Patterson Manufacturing Company, 397.
Pauli. Henry. 284. 623,
Payne. Gennette H.. 367.
Peabody. Lymati B., 383.
Pearce. Samuel, 275.
Pearsall, Sherman, 334.
Pearson. E. F. H.. 315.
Pearsons brothers. ;s2},-
Peck, Edward W.. loi.
Pelton, Carl H.. 123. 140, 523.
Pelton. Homer J., 897.
Pepper. William H.. 793.
Pere Marauette Railroad 240.
Perkins. Thomas V.. 397.
Perrin. David. 362.
Perrin. Jonathan. ,362.
Perry. Aaron, 11, no, 123, 140, 148,
182. 204. 263.
Perry. Aaron (portrait). 147.
Perrv (Mrs.) Aaron. 261. 266, 267.
Perrv. Gleason F.. 247.
Perry. John. 443.
Perrv, John G., 463.
Perrv, Jonathan, 486.
Peters. William C, 607.
Pettibone creek, 445, 473.
Pettibone, Levi, 445.
XXX
INDEX
Pettibone mills, 447.
Petty, Jacob, 93.
Phelps, Ik-njamin, 237.
Phelps. Rdwiii, 102. ^
Phelps, Guy, 488.
Phelps, Joel, 87.
PhclDs, William W.. 124.
Phelps. Zciias, 473.
Pheney, Sylvester. 140.
Phillios. Archibaltl. .^o. 31.
Phillips, Theodore S., 803.
I'hysical features — Surface and eleva-
tions, g; surface geology, 11.
Physicians (see medical profession).
Pickering, F.ffie G.. 826.
Pickering, George 11., 825.
Pierce, A: K., 451.
Pierce. Benjamin H.. 36, ^72.
Pierce, Delavan J.. 802.
Piety Hill {Pirmingham ). 340. 373. 374,
Pilcher, E. H., 343.
Pilcher, Lcander VV.. 337.
Pine Knob, 46C.
Pine lake, 2.
Pine lake (postofifice), 471).
Pinkerton, Thomas. 483.
Pioneer records, 100.
Pioneer relies, 102.
Pioneer times — Hervev Parke comes to
Oakland county. 37 ; Bloomfield and
Royal Oak in 1821. 38; infant village of
Pontiac. 39; Governor W'isner and his
"mullet" story, 39; becomes Horatio
Ball's assistant, 40; Joseph Wamp-
ler's assigned territory, 40: a sur-
veyor's hardships, 41 ; returns with his
family, 42; birthplace of John H.
Parke. 43; homestead at last, 44; sur-
veys from Pontiac, 45; running lines
under difficulties, 45; fresh trails of
the Black Hawk war, 48; between
Saginaw bay and Lake Huron. 50;
surveys in the Black Hawk reserva-
tion, Iowa. 52 ; another Iowa con-
tract, 53 ; Captain Parke's recapitula-
tion, 53; recollections of Benjamin
O. Williams, 5.S ; dear old Oakland,
the best of all, 57; a picture of mem-
ory, 58; advent of the ])ioncer. 59;
railroad as a fun maker, (xr. the life
bequeathed bv the pioneer. 61 ; fifty
years ago and now, 61 ; contrasts of
life. 61: "Granny" McCracken, 64;
Father and Mother McCracken. 66;
the schools of fifty years a.go, 67 ;
Mormon visitation of 1832: 67; Au-
burn the youn,g pioneers. 69; social
and industrial revolution, 70.
Pittman. C. C, .^01.
Plunimer, .'\da, 394.
Poe. O. M.. 276.
Polish Catholic Seminary. Orchard
lake, 479. 481.
Pontiac .\cadeniy. 228. 334.
Pontiac. & Paint Creek Turnpike Com-
pany. J?,Ci.
Pontiac & Orchard Lake Railroad Com-
pany. 239,
I'limiac & Sylvan Lake electric road, 6.
Pontiac armory, 284.
"Pontiac Bill Poster," 312.
Pontiac Board of Water Commission-
ers, 301.
Pontiac l)ranch Stale L'niversity. 228,
Pontiac breweries, 323, 331.
Pontiac Buggy Company, 328.
Pontiac Chapter No. 228, O. E. S., 367.
Pontiac (chief), 19, 21. 24.
Pontiac churches — Earliest Methodist
preachers. 340; first Methodist church
in county. 341 ; pastors from 1826 to
the present, .^42; Mrs. Shattuck's re-
miniscences. 342; Central Methodist
Episcopal church. ^4$; the First Bap-
tist church. ,347 ; First Presb.\ terian
church, ,149; how the first church was
built, 351 ; first Congregational church,
352; third Congregational church in the
state. 353 ; new Congregational church.
354; St. Vincent de Paul's church,
355 ; All Saints Episcopal church,
356; St. Trinitatis Lutheran church.
358; the African M. E. church. 358;
■Voung Men's Christian .Association,
359: Red Ribbon Club of Pontiac,
360.
Pontiac city — Mention. 198, 200, 201,
202. 207; population by wards, 207;
chartered, 296; first election, 297;
city police department born, 297; first
city ball. 297; value of properly in
1876, 298; John P. Foster No. 2.
298; smallpox epidemics of 1881-82,
299 ; newspaper sensation, 299 ; in-
vestigating light and water systems,
300; rcsi.gnation of Chief Engineer
Foster, .?oo; city finances in 1886,
301 ; Board and Water Commission-
ers created, .301 ; the new F^ifth ward.
.301 ; original system of waterworks.
.?02; electric lighting and telephone
systems. 304 ; first Gamewell Fire
.-Marm Telegraph, 304; municipal
government in 1894. .304: first three
years of water service. 306; lighting
.and telephone service again, 306; sew-
era.ge system inaugurated. 307; ex-
tension of waterworks. 307; telephone
service np-to-date, 308; commission
government adopted, 309 ; increased
efficiency of fire department. 311; the
present city hall. 311 ; mayors of Pon-
tiac. 312: the city press, 312; Oak
Hill Cemetery, 313; gas lighting and
electric power. 314; postoffice and
postmasters. 3i.i; the Pontiac State
Hospital. 316.
Pontiac city hall. 311.
Pontiac Citv Hospital. 261. 262 (view).
Pontiac Citv mills, ^22.
Poniiac Commandery No. 2. K. T.. .366.
Ponli,-ic Connnercial .•\ssociation. 332.
INDEX
Poiitiac Company, 75. 70, 16.?, 189, 286.
Pontiac Council No. 3, R. & S. M., 365.
"Pontiac Courier," 312.
Pontiac Drop Forge Company, 329.
Pontiac Educational Society, 335.
Pontiac electric lighting, 304, 306.
Pontiac English and Classical school.
334-
Pontiac Fire Company No. i, 294.
Pontiac fire departmenl, 298, 390, 311.
Pontiac Foundry Company, 330.
Pontiac's fraternal societies — Masonry
in Pontiac, .162; third lodge in terri-
tory, 362; Pontiac Lodge No. 21, 364;
Pontiac Council No. 3, R. & S. M.,
36s; Oakland Chapter No. 5, R. A.
M., ,366; Pontiac Commandery No. 2,
K. T., 366; Pontiac Chapter No. 228,
O. E. S., 367; Masonic Temple As-
sociation, 367 : Cantoji Pontiac No.
3, I. O. O. F.. .?68; Pytliian Knights
and Sisters, 368; Dick Richardson
Post, G. A. R.. ,369: Knights of Col-
umbus, 369; Royal Neighbors of
America, 369: Order of Elks, 369;
other lodges, 370.
Pontiac gas works. 31.S.
"Pontiac Herald," 312.
Pontiac High School. 335. 3,36 (view).
Pontiac indebtedness, 310.
Pontiac's industries, 320.
"Pontiac Jacksonian," 312.
Pontiac Knitting Works, 320.
Pontiac Land Company, 29.
Pontiac Light Company, 314.
Pontiac Literary Society, 334.
Pontiac Lodge No. 21, A. F. & A. M.,
364.
Pontiac Lodge No. 19, K. of P., ,368.
Pontiac Medical Society, 256.
Pontiac mills. 321.
Pontiac Motor Cvcic Company, 329.
Pontiac municipal government, ,504.
Pontiac O.xford & Norlhern radroad,
238, 239.
Pontiac police department. 297.
Pontiac postoffice, 315, 316 (view).
Pontiac Power Company, 314.
"Pontiac Press-Gazette." 8, 261.
Pontiac public library, 264.
Pontiac Savings Bank, 244, 245.
Pontiac schools — Sarah McCarroll's
sketch, sss : the old Pontiac .'Acad-
emy, 334; first common schools, 334;
public system organized, ,^4; the "Old
Union," 335; high school building of
'S71. 336; school superintendents and
high school principals, 337 ; the new
high school, 337 ; public system and
list of .schools, 337; Michigan Alili-
tary Academy, 338.
Pontiac sewerage system, 307.
Pontiac State Hospital, 316.
Pontiac State Hospital, main building
(view), 317: chapel (view), 318.
Pontiac tclcplinne systems. 304, 306. 308.
Pontiac township, 32, 195, 198, 199, 200,
201, 207.
Pontiac (village) — In 1821, 39; Colonel
Mack's Company, 286 first Pontiac
settlers, 287; settlers of 1822, 288;
county seat and court house, 289;
township organization, 289 ; the vij-
lage of Auburn (Amy), 290; Pontiac
village incorporated, 291 ; early trus-
tee meetings, 291 ; real estate item,
292 ; the mill pond nuisance, 293 ; the
fire of 1840, 293; early bridges, 293;
"common council,' the governing
body, 293 ; the villa,ge fire department,
294; gas works inaugurated, 294;
heads of the village government, 294.
Pontiac water works, 300, 302, 306, 307.
Pontiac's conspiracy, 20.
Pontiac's early business men. 325.
Pontiac's industries, 320.
Poppleton, O., 22, 29, 30, 102, 374.
Population, 200.
Porter, Daniel L., 250, 253.
Porter, Moses, 96.
Portion of dormitory and power house
and "Castle," Polish seminary. Or-
chard lake (view), 480.
Portraits — Thomas L. Patterson, 126;
Aaron Perry, 147; John li, Patterson,
153-
Post, (.Miss) v.. 209.
Postal, George, 3,^. 406, 488.
Potter, Lemuel, 92.
Potter, Lydia B., 92, 196.
Potts, Henry A., 89.S.
Powell, Joseph C, 120. 690.
Powell, (Mrs.) J. S., 266.
Powell, Sybil Maria, (390.
Powell, William H., 423.
Power, Artliur, 452, 453. 454. 455.
Power, D. H., 245.
Power, Jared, 452.
Power, John. 452, 453.
Power, Nathan, 458.
Power, Samuel, 454.
Powers. Plinv. 254.
Power's settlement ( Farniington). 4S5.
Prall, J. R., 263, 354.
Pratt, Caleb, 91.
Pratt, William -\.. 221.
Preciriitation, 10.
Predmore, J. C, 247.
Predmore, John H., 783.
Pres.s — Pontiac newspapers, 312; Holly
newspapers, 397 ; Rochester news-
papers, 412; O.Nl'ord newspapers,
425-
"Press Gazette," 312.
Price, Rov F., 709.
Price. William. 211, 212.
Prince, F.ri. ,385.
Probate courts. 114, 118, 119. «
Probate judges, 119, 191.
Prosecuting attorneys, 123.
Public lands. 2T5.
Pnrd\. Robert. 449.
I'ytlii.-ni Sisfci-s. Ponli.n-. 36S.
xxxu
indp:x
Quakertovvn (Farmington), 452.
guick, C. F., 438.
Quick, C. P., 393.
Quick, Charles F., 393, 432. ^
Quick, John, 393.
Quick, Wilhani, 393.
Quill, James, 465.
Raniscv, C. E., 4S7.
Randall, C. L., 427.
Randall, C. L., it Company, 427.
Randall. Leon, 427.
Ransi'ord, Byron L., 124.
Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, 329.
Raynale, C. M., 257.
Raynale, Ebenezcr, 218, 219, 252, 491.
Raynale, George P., 258.
Raynor, John T., 123, 168.
Red Ribbon Club, Pontiac, 360.
Rcdway, Joel. 450.
Reed, William, 427.
Reese. Joseph, 670.
Reeves, George, 360.
Reeves, Stephen, 120, igi, 212, 856.
Registers of deeds. ig6.
Reid, Wilson, 489.
Religions history — Pontiac church. 340;
Holly churches, 398; Rochester
churches, 412; Oxford churches, 422;
Royal Oak churches, 435; Orion
churches, 444; Milford churches, 447;
Farmington churches, 459,
Reservoir under construction, Roches-
ter (view). 410.
Revolutionary graves marked, 96.
Revolutionary soldiers and "daughters"
— County's first settler, a Revolution-
ary soldier. 72 ; the Graham family,
yi ; Nathaniel Baldwin. 74 ; George
Horton, 74; Stephen Mack, 75; Col-
onel Mack's family, 76 ; Joseph Todd
and party, "jy \ Ithamar Smith, 78;
William Nathan Terry, 79; Joshua
Chambcrlin and Enoch Hotchkiss.
80; Elijah Drake, 80; Ezra Parker.
83; Jeremiah Clarke. 84; Benjamin
Grace, 85; Caleb Barker Merrell, 86;
Eevi Green, 86; Joel Phelps, 87;
Elias Cady, 87; Samuel Nilcs, 88;
Silas Sprague, 88; Esbon Gregory, 89;
Zadock Wellman, 89; Caleb Carr, 89;
Hooper Bishop, 90 ; Derrick Hulick,
91 ; Caleb Pratt, 91 ; Solomon Jones,
91; Lydia Barnes Potter, 92; James
Harrington, 93; Jacob Petty, 93; John
Blanchard. 93; .Mtramont Donaldson.
93; Joseph Van Netter, 93; Benj.
Bulson. 94; Nathan Landon, 94; Gen-
eral Richardson Chapter, D. A. R.,
95 ; the Revolutionary graves marked,
96; tribute to General Richardson, 97;
Membership of the Daughters, 97.
Revvold. Henry. 409.
Reynolds. Asa. 786.
Rhodes. John. 494.
Rice. Judson E., 692.
Rice, Paul. 443.
Rice, Zeba, 373.
Richards. Daniel, 450.
Richards, George R., 312.
Richardson, George B., 641.
Ricliardson, Hosea S., 406.
Richardson, Israel B., 97, 274, 275, 276.
Richardson. John P., 169.
Richardson, Origen D., 123. 128, 164,
221. 291, 292.
Richardson, Peter, 479.
Riggs, Jeremiah, 218.
Riker, John D.. 257, 312.
Roads (see transportation).
Robb, S. B.. 2:;8.
Robert. Philip R., 533.
Roberts. H. S.. 275.
Roberts. Ira. 33.
Roberts. William, 34.
Robertson, G., 212.
Robertson, William, ,326.
Robinson. John C, 275.
Rochester, 200, 405-416 (see Avon
township ).
Rochester Baptist church, 412.
Rochester Chapter No. 317, R. \. M.,
415.
"Rochester Clarion," 412.
Rochester Congregational church, 412.
Rochester Creamery Company, 409.
"Rochester Era." 24, 412.
Rochester industries, 408.
Rochester Lodge No. 68, I. O. O. F.,
416.
Rochester Rebekah Lodge No. 390, 416.
Rochester Savings Bank, 246.
Rochester societies. 414.
Rochester water works. 411.
Rochester Woolen Mills. 408.
Rockwell. Charles L.. },},},.
Rockwell. Edward J., 902.
Rockwell. Tames H., 6l,S-
Rockwell, Kleber P., 120, 123, 140, 903.
Rodger. James S., 451.
Rogers. I. Sumner. 338.
Rood. Elonzo R.. 390.
Rose Center. 47O.
Kosc township — Mention, 194. 195, 198,
199. 200. 201, 207; physical features,
476.
Roseland Park Cemetery, 4,^9.
Ross, K. L.. 516.
Rossman. Fite. 418, 419.
Rossman, John. 418, 419.
Round 'lable Club of Pontiac, 267.
Rouge river. 371, 478. 487.
Royal O.ik Baptist church. 435.
Royal Oak Catholic church. 437.
Royal Oak Congregational church, 436.
"Royal Oak E.xperimcnt," 432.
Royal Oak German Evangelical church,
437.
Roval Oak Lodge No. 424. I. O. O. F.,
438.
Royal Oak Masonic Temple .-Xssocia-
tion. 4,vS.
Roval Oak M. E. church. 435.
Royal Oak O. E. S., 438.
INDEX
Roval Oak Savings Bank, 247.
Roval Oak township— Mention, 35, 38,
194. I9S> 198, I99> 200, 201, 207;
origin of the name, 428; Governor
Cass "sees for himself," 428; settlers
of 1822-1826, 429; organized, 430;
Royal Oak village, 430; business
houses, 431: corporation record, 432;
Royal Oak schools, 434; Royal Oak
churches, 435 ; Royal Oak societies,
438; Urban Rest and Ferndale, 439;
Roseland Park cemetery, 439.
Royal Oak societies, 438.
Royal Oak (tree), 38, 428.
"Royal Oak Tribune," 432.
Royal Oak village, 201, 202, 430-438 (see
Royal Oak township).
Royal Order of Moose, Pontiac, 370.
Ruggles, Elizur, 445.
Ruggles, Isaac W.. 412.
Ruggles, J, W.. 444.
Ruggles, Stanley. 445.
Rundell, Julius F., 383.
Rundell, Leroy J., 700.
Runyon, John, 389.
Rush. Daniel, 452.
Russell. William. 30, 31, 403.
Ryan, T. J., 355
Safford, Jaines. 2i7-
St. Fredericks Parochial school, 356.
St. John. W. I., 437-
St. Trinitatis Lutheran church, 358.
St. Vincent de Paul's church, 355.
Salems Evangelical church, Fariuington,
459-
Saloon licenses, 310.
Salyer, C. A., ^8^.
Sanford. Miles. 344.
Sanford, Josephine B., 97.
Sapp, Resin, 341, 344.
Sashabaw creek, 467.
Sashabaw plains, 466.
Satterlee, Samuel, 123, 216.
Sawyer, Edward, 144.
Sawyer, Joseph, E.. 124, 140, 142, 367.
Sayles, Lyman A.. 258, 586.
Scene on the Rouge river (view), 492.
Scenes along Paint creek (views), 442.
Schermerhorn, Rufus. 8so.
Schluchter, J. H., 426.
Schofield. S.. 451.
Schulz. A. P., 257.
Scott, John. 432.
Second Michigan Lifantry. 275.
Second National Bank, Pontiac, 244.
Seed. Charles S., 412.
Seelev, Harvey. 211, 212.
Seeley, Jesse, 494.
Seeley, O. C Zi7-
Seeley, Thaddeus D.. 309, 905.
Sellman. Thomas, 449.
Serrell, Harry J., 789.
Serrell, Samuel J., 780.
Sevener. Edward. 539.
Seventh Michigan infantry. 278.
Seymour, John B., 464.
Shackleton, John H.. 454.
Shain. Charles J., 616.
Sharpe, A, X. M., 369.
Shattuck, Charles L, 843.
Shattuck, Mary D., 342.
Shattuck, Maud G., 97.
Shaw, George N., 406.
Shaw. Tames. 344.
Shaw. N. T., 257.
Shear. Bruce C, 581.
Sheldon, T. C, 33-
Shcpard. A. H., 246.
Sheriffs. 196.
Sherman, G. D., 451.
Sherman, Maria, 421.
Sherwood. Samuel. 3:5.
Shiawassee river, 388.
Shier, W. H., 275, 344.
Shippy, John, 405.
Shore. James, 341.
Short. Marion. 472.
Shovverman. George, 473.
Sibley. Harrv, 256, 257.
Sibley. J. L.. 3(10,
Siblev, Solomon, ^^, 122, 159, 190, 286,
287.
Simmons. Charles. S23.
Simmons. William L, 897.
Simonson. James B., 247, 431.
Simonson, John B., 431.
Simpson. Thomas, 312.
Sixtecntii Michigan Infantry, 280.
Skidniore, Austin, 551.
Slade. Ira. ,^83.
Slater Construction Company, 331.
Slocum. Fred. 397.
Sly. Addie, 894.
Slv. George W.. S93.
Sly. Jane C. 893.
Sly. Joshua, 403.
Smith. Aaron. 290.
Smith, Ada L., 97.
Smith. xAinsley, 257.
Smith, Albert B., 625.
Smith, Asaph C, 483.
Smith. David. 452, 453.
Smith, Ebenezer, 290, 363.
Smith. Edward R., 383.
Smith. Ella L., 97.
Smith, Fred A., 3.38, 572.
Smith, Fred, ,393.
Smith, George W,. 114. 123, 124, 140,
14.S, 180, 202, 204.
Smith, Harrison, 393.
Smith. Howard. 393.
Smith. T. L.. 290.
Smith. Ira. 488.
Smith. Ithamar. 78. 96.
Smith. Jacob H.. 627.
Smith. Tohn. 274.
Smith, Joseph, 77.
Smith, Laban, 479-
Smith, Lvdia, 380.
Smith, Alortimer, ^2^.
Smith, Moses, 393-
Smith, Nelson P.. 580.
Smith. Oliver B., 460.
fXDF.X
Smith, Samuel W., 123, 140, goi.
Siiiuli. (Airs.) Samuel \V., 261.
SniUh, (Mrs.) S. W., -'63.
Smith, Sylvester, 290.
Smith, 'I'haddcus A., 312.
Smith. Waller U.. 424.
Smith, (Mrs.) W. R., 393-
Smith, W. ()., S26.
Snook, John J., 737,
.Snow, William T., 343.
Snowdon, Harry H., 140, 229.
Snyder, C. W., 258.
Snyder, Oscar J., 638.
.Soldier's monument. Birmingham, 384.
.Soldiers' Relief law, 274.
.Soil, 10.
Sopcr, .Spencer. 859.
South Lyon, 450-452 (see Lyon town-
ship).
South L\on I'ree Methodist church,
451.
"South Lvon Herald," 451.
South Lyon M. E. church, 451.
South Lyon village, 201, 202.
South Lvon Preshylerian church, 45.
Southtield Centre, 492.
Southfield township, 3(1. 194, 195, 198,
199, 200. 201, 207, 491.
Southworth. Constant, 34.
Sparhawk, Arthur G., 312.
Spear. Archihald. 294.
Spencer, B. C. H., 258, 508.
Sprague, Eliphalet, 449.
Sprague, Frederick A., .^.'i.
Sprague, Roger, 192 193. 216, 221, 406.
Sprague, Silas, 88, 96.
Spring, J. P., 360.
Spring Mills. 473.
Springfield township — Mention 34, 194,
195, 198, 199, 200, 201, 207; organized,
471 ; Springfield and .Anderson settle-
ments, a7i : Davisburg, 472.
Spooner, E. D., 68, 212.
Stanley. Luther, 383.
Stannard, David. ,^2. 119. igr, 237,
303. 471.
.Stanton, Henry L.. ,?,^o.
.Stanton. Lottie M., 367.
Starke, Lena B., 531.
Starke. Philip H.. 531.
.Starker. C. T., 257.
.Starker, James B., 400.
Starkev. Albert 858.
State lianks, 244.
.State constitutions. 216.
State representatives (alphabetically ar-
ran.ge<l). 222.
State Sanitary Commission, 274.
State Savings Bank of South Lvon, 248.
State senators (alphabetically arranged),
222.
State I'niversitv, 228.
.Stead, Benjamin, 190.
Steel, Edward. 454.
.Steel. Harman. 454.
Steel & .Mason, 455.
Stephens. .Xugustus C, 237.
Stephens, Henry, 429, 435, 436.
Stephens, J. T. M., .398.
.Stephens, Sherman, 436.
.Stevens, Hester L.. 123, i,?8, 170.
Stevens, Sherman, 237.
Stevens, William S., 243.
Stevenson. Henrv C, 584.
Steward. (.Mrs.) I-". S.. 2()5.
Stewart, Clara P., 109.
Stewart. IJavid, 272
Sticknev, William B., 123.
Stickney, William \\., 179, 180.
Stiles brothers, 472.
.Stillson. James, 443.
Stockton, John, 283,
Stockton, T. B. VV., 280.
.Stockwell. Joseph S.. 120, 212, 359, 717.
Stockwell. (Mrs.) J. S., 261, 263.
Stockwell, Ross, 140.
Stone, John, 423.
Stony creek, 461.
Stony creek village, 404.
Storz, Louis. 809.
Stout, Byron G., 221, 245, 265, 337.
Stout. (Sirs.) Byron. 2(11, 265. 26C.
Stowell. llattie M., 97.
Strain, Charles S., 258.
Stratton. Jonathan F., 473.
Stuart. Charles L., 853.
Stumpf, C. .Martin, 8g6.
Stumpf. J.-icoli, 770.
Subordinate Lodge No. it, K. L. G.,
400.
Suliordinate Lodge No. 972, I. O. O. F.,
^ 399-
Summer resort features, 5.
-Supervisors' picnics, 100.
Supreme court, lit, 112, 113, 114, 124.
Survevor general's report. 27.
Surveys, .30.
Sutherlantl. C. J.. 257.
Sutherland, Nina, 422.
Sutherland, William C, 759.
Swan, Ziba, 123, .362, 372.
Swan, Ziba, Jr., 212.
Swartout. F. L.. 436.
Swartz creek, 388.
Sweet. M. E., 353.
Sylvan lake. 2, 3.
Symmes. John C. 110.
Taft, A. S., 424.
Taft, Levi B., 123, 137, 180.
TafTt. Pitts, 483.
Taggelt. A. C, 474.
Taylor, C. V., .328.
Taylor ( C. V.) Carriage Company, 328.
Taylor, Daniel B.. 415.
Taylor, De Witt H., 439.
Taylor, Edson, 559.
Taylor, Elisha, 405.
Taylor, l-'irmin T., 8,39.
Taylor, George IL, 626.
Taylor, Hudson .'\., 845.
Tavlor. H. J., 246.
Taylor, John R., 882.
Taylor, Joshua, 415.
INDEX
XXXV
Tayloi, Joshua B, _'i8,
Taylor, J. S, D., ^37-
Taylor, Lemuel, 405.
Taylor, Thomas M., 281.
Taxable property (1825), 192.
Taxes, 198, 192, I93-
Tecumseh, 271.
Tedmaii, Mariette. 462.
Temperature, 11.
Ten Eyck, Harrv, 109.
Ten Eyck, H. S., 507. „
Ten Eyck, Junius. 120, 123, 124, 181.
Tenny, Jesse, 505.
Tenny, Rufus, 505-
"Ten shillings act," ^J.
Tenth Michigan Cavalry, 283.
Tenth Michigan Infantry, 278.
Terry, Caleb, 212.
Terry, Charles H., 890.
Terrv, Frank B., 854.
Terry, Henrv D., 277. '
Terry, Joshua, 479.
Terry, Josiah P., 857.
Terry, Ira K., 212.
Terry, William N., 79. 96-
Thatcher, Erastus, 312.
Thayer, John. 449-
Third ^lichigan Infantry, 277.
Thirtieth Michigan Infantry. 282.
Thomas, 4. 20, 464. 465
Thomas. Calvin. 179.
Thomas. John. 420. 492.
Thomas. Stephen. I79-
Thomas. William. 394-
Thompson, Otis C, 418-
Thompson, Robert R., 452-
Thompson, Thaddeus. 250, 253.
Thompson, William, 29, 33. n". nS.
119, 162, 190, 191. 250, 251. 253, 286.
402, 406, 450. 452.
Thompson, William M., 295.
Thompson, W. M.. 312-
Thompson's Corners (South Lyon),
450.
Thornhill, Eva I., 57°.
Thorpe, Toseph H., 653.
Thorpe, 'Mabel, 97-
Thorpe, Matilda. (153
Thurber. David D., 312.
Thurher, Horace C. 212, 295.
Thnrlier, H. C, 294.
Thurher, William, 117.
Thurston. Frank. 607.
Thurston, George P., 194. 463. 404-
Thurher. William. 31-
Tibbets. George. 453-
Tienken, John, 637.
TiUson, C. C, 140.
Tillson. T. Arthur. 140. .^og.
Tillson. Philo. 253.
Tindall, Joseph. 423-
Tinsman. E, II.. 328.
Todd. Charles A.. 6ro.
Todd. loseph. 29, 77, 96. 287.
Todd. Mary P.. 97-
Toledo war, 272.
Tower. Cornelius L.. 526.
Town, Charles H., 282.
Townsend. Harvey, 763.
Townships. 31, 190, 192. I95. 289.
Tovnton, Charlotte N., 801.
Toynton, John R., 800.
Traphagan, Abram. 393-
Traphagan, W., .193-
Transportation — Mention 6, 7; First
Oakland county highway, 234; other
roads established, 235; improvement
of the Clinton river, 236; first Michi-
gan railway chartered. 23,7: Detroit
& Pontiac Railroad Company. 237;
finally completed to Birmingham, 238;
Detroit & Milwaukee Railway Com-
pany, 238; establishment of present
systems. 238; Grand Trunk system,
239; the Michigan Central, 240; De-
troit United Railway, 240.
Traver, R. M., 349-
Treadway, Alfred, . 169, 243, 295, 315.
Treat. Loren L., 181.
Tripp. Arthur R., 123, 124, 140. 132-
Trowbridge, G. M., 102.
Trowbridge, L. G., 283.
Trowbridge, Rowland E., 4S7.
Trowbridge, Stephen V. R., I93. 216,
221, 487.
Troy Corners, 488.
Troy United Presbyterian church, 489.
Troy township— Mention, 35, 195. ^QS.
199, 200, 201, 207; the Trowbridge
family. 487; Johnson Niles and Troy.
487; Big Beaver and Clawson. 488;
United Presbyterian church of Troy.
489.
Truesdell. Z., 337.
Trvon, Geneva, 257.
Tryon, Myron M., 58.1-
Tuhbs, Peter, 423.
Tucker, W. T., 257-
Turner, (Mrs.) C. B.. 266.
Turner. C. B., 342.
Turner. Josiah. 180.
"Two dollar" act. 31.
Twenty-ninth Michigan Infantry. 281.
Twenty-second Michigan Infantry, 280.
Typica'l old grist mills (views), 446-
Uloth, M. J., 258.
Union schools — Pontiac. 333 ; Holly,
394: Royal Oak (view), 434
University fund, 22S.
Urban Rest, 439-
Utley, Sanford M,. 453-
Van Atta, Roy S., 525.
■Van Biskirk, Kate C, 97-
Van de Venter, Eugene, 273,
Van Every, Peter, 374.
Van Every mill. 374-
Van Gordon. John. 889.
Van Leuven. Fanny. 448.
Van Ness, E. C, 359-
Van Netter, Joseph, 93.
Van Sickle, Joseph, 466-
Van Sickle. J. R.. 258.
INDEX
Van Valkenburg, Jacob, i8i, 2i8.
Vegetation, ii.
Views — At Lake Orion, 4; Neeley's Hats
near Rochester, 16; Apple Island, Or-
chard lake. 22; Oakland county co'urt
house, 203 ; court house of 1857-8,
205; county jail. 208; first car into
Rochester, 241 ; Pontiac City Hos-
pital, 262 ; Buckland -Memorial Chapel,
J14; the new Pontiac postofiice, 316;
main building Pontiac State hospital,
317; Chapel, Pontiac State hospital,
318; old Hodges house, 326; old high
school (1S71), 336; Woodward ave-
nue, Birmingham, 382 ; high school,
Birmingham, 382; Main street. Holly,
396; Avon township hall, 402; Main
street, Rochester, 407; water works
w'ells, Rochester, 410; reservoir un-
der construction, Rochester, 410; on
the shores of Stony lake, 421 ; Ox-
ford Union school, 422; Union school.
Royal Oak, 434; scenes along Paint
creek, 442; typical old grist mills,
446; on the Shiawassee river, 477; on
the shores of Pine lake. 478; front of
Academic building, portion of dormi-
tory and power house and "Castle,"
Polish seminary. Orchard lake, 480;
scene on the Rouge river, 492.
Vincent, John, 445.
Voorheis. Carl S., 684.
Voorheis, Isaac L., 212.
Voorheis. Jacob N.. 193.
Voorheis. James K.. 713.
Vowles. Frank J., 208, 583.
Vowles, Joseph. 447.
Vulcan Gear Works, 330.
Wade. D. W. C. 256.
Waite Brothers. 628.
Waite. Elwin L., 628.
Waite. L. Edwin. 62S.
Wakefield. Daniel B.. 216.
Wakelin. Thomas, 398.
Wakeman. C. K.. & Company. 321.
Walch. James A.. ■?4i.
Waldo, A. P., 398.
V\;aldo. C. K.. 245,
W.ildron, Henry, lOi.
W'.'ilker. .'Vmos. 255.
Walker. bVed I.. 414.
Walker. Solomon. 453.
Wallace. M. H., 355."
Walled lake, 2, 3. '
Walled lake village. 470.
Walrod. Abrani. 4fig.
Walter. .Mark. 312. 367.
Walters. (Mrs.) F. 'j.. 261. 268.
Waniiiler. Joseph. 30. 31, 40
W.indle. J. A„ 195!
Ward. David. 3. 824.
Ward, F.lizabetii B., 501.
W.ard. 1 lenrv C, 497.
Ward, Willis C, 824.
War of the Rebellion. 274.
War of i8r2. 271.
Warner, Fred M., 214, 221, 457, 812.
Warner, P. Dean, 218, 221, 454, 457, 810.
Warner. Seth A. L.. 129, 165, 454.
Warner's E.\change Bank, 246.
Warren. Henry M., 95,
Waterford mills, 324.
Waterford township — Mention, 35, 194,
195. 198. 199, 200, 201, 207; its lakes,
484: coming of the Williams' families,
484; Waterford of today, 486; Dray-
ton plains, 486; old ClintonviJIe, 486.
Water works wells. Rochester (view),
410.
Waters, Sarah W., 109,
Water-shed, 9.
Watson. Joseph, 31.
Watson. Samuel G., 172.
Wattles. John M., 179.
W'eatherson, Charles. 472.
Webb. .'\ If red. 301, 303, 860.
Webb. Ezekiel, 453, 454.
Webb, Harriet, 860.
Webster, Aaron. 290. 362.
Webster. Burt M.. 86g.
WVbster. Charles P.. 140.
Webster. Elmer R.. 140, 152. 229, 3a,
\\'ebstcr. James, 218.
Weed. Leonard, 362, 363, 364.
Weeks. James A., lOi, 212, 291, 295,
3^7-
Weeks. Smith. S3- nS, 119. 191.
Weehnan. Joel. 32.
Weir. W. I.. 416.
Weisbrod. S. L., 258.
Welcome Rebekah Lodge No. 246, I, O.
O. F.. 368-
Wellman. Zadock. 89.
Wells Cultivator Company, 447.
Wendell. John A., 473, 477.
Wendell. Matthew, 669.
Wendorpli. J. A., 439.
We-se-gah. 25.
Wesson. Suel. 292, 294.
West Bloomfield township — Mention. 34,
194. 195. 198. 199. 200, 201. 207; lakes,
,478; e.-irliest pioneers. 478; sale of In-
dian reservations, 479; first postof-
fice, 479; Orchard Lake postoffice, 479;
the Polish seminary. 4S1.
West Highland. 473.
West .Side Reading Club, 267.
Western Knitting Mills. 408.
A\"etmore. John. 35. 36, 440.
Wlu'.iton. V. W,. 411.
WHieeler. Harris A.. 338.
W'hceler. Morris, 473.
Whipple. Charles W., 121, 123.
White, (ieorge. 392.
White, Jonathan R., 179.
White. Phincas, 179.
White. .Samuel. 212. 218.
Whitehead. .Mmeron, 212, 244, 383.
Whitehead. Richard. 275.
White Lake postoffice, 494.
White Lake tow^nship, 33, 195, 198, 199,
200, 201, 207, 493.
INDEX
Whitesell, R. J., 367.
Whitheld, 1 honias, 486,
Whiting, John L., 190.
Whitney, A. G., 190.
Whitney, G. H., 3S5.
W liitney, Wilson, 413.
\\ hitteniore, Gideon O., 119, i-'3, 164,
191, 218, 221, 243, 272, 292, 293.
Whittemore, J., 334.
Wicart, L. J., 355.
Wiclcens, Krcd A., 702.
Wieland, Frederic, 123, 140, 743.
"Wildcat" banks, 243.
Wiggins, George, 405.
Wilber, CHnton W., 519.
Wilcox, Charlotte E., 603.
Wilcox, Edwin T., 24.
Wilcox, Mortimer, 603.
Wilkins, Ross, 122.
Willctts, Elijah, 43, ^73, 374.
Willetts, Isaac, 33. v
Williams. Alfred, 237.
Williams, Alphcns, 30, 35, 466.
Williams, Ephraini, 31.
Williams, Ferdinand, 721.
Williams. FVederic A., 124.
Williams, Gardner D., 194.
Williams, George H., 48b.
Williams, George P., 228, 333.
Williams, Harvey, 287.
Williams. Oliver. 28, 30, 31, 33, 35, 55,
362, 484.
Willits, Elijah, 117.
Willits, William, 506.
Willodghby, George, 781.
Wilson, A. C., 448.
Wilson, Albert W., 433, 683.
Wilson. Almon C, 736.
Wilson. Charles A., 247.
Wilson, (Mrs.) E. H., 261, 267.
Wilson, Jesse E., 258. 274, 406.
Wilson, Levi, 449, 451.
Wilson, Oscar D., 890,
Wilson, Samnel. 419.
Wilson, Thomas W.. 328.
Wilson, William, 255.
Wilson school. 33S.
Willson. Albert, 438, 683.
Windiate, Daniel, 324, 486.
Windiate park, 5.
Wing. Austin E.. 31, 33, 190, 405, 429.
Winn, Anna, 472.
Winter, George, 398.
Wisner, Mrs. Ada McConnell, 97.
Wisner, George W., 123, 131, 171.
Wisner, Moses, 39. 132, 173, 181, 221,
274, 281.
Wisner, Oscar F., 123.
Wisner school, 338.
VVitherell. James, 120, 122.
Wixom, 470.
Wixom, Alijah, 470.
Wixom, Robert, 453, 457.
Wixom, WiUard C, 470.
Wixson, Isaac, 216.
Women's Christian Temperance Union,
Pontiac, 268.
Woleott, Chauncey D., 460.
Wolfe, William J., 799-
Wolverine Sand & Gravel Company,
427.
Women's Literary Club of Birming-
ham, 269.
Women's Literary , Club of Pontiac,
266.
Women's influence in the county — What
women have done for Oakland
county, 259 ; women's work in Pon-
tiac, 261 ; the Pontiac City Hospital,
261; Pontiac Public Library, 264; the
Women's Literarv Club, 266; the
Round Table Club. 267; the West
Side Reading Circle, 267; Women's
Christian Temperance Union, 268;
Birmingham Public Library, 268;
Birmingham Literary Club, 269;
Greenwood Cemetery Association,
Birmingham. 269; Ladies' Library
Association, 270.
Woodbridge, William. 122, 159, 189,
-35-
Woodward avenue. Birnringham
(view), 382.
Woodhull, C. H.. 212.
Woodman, Elias S.. 218.
Woodward, Augustus B., m.
Woodward, Lysander, 220.
Woodworth, Benjamin, 30, 31. 403.
Wooster. Benjamin, 488.
Wormer, G. S., 282.
Wright, David A., 493.
Wright. Reuben. 469.
Wyckoff, Cornelius G.. 494.
Wyckoff. Herman A.. 315.
Wyckoff. Thomas. 665,
Yankey, W. H., 409.
Yellow mill, 324.
Yerkes, Robert C., 322.
Yerkes, William. 212. 483.
Yerkes. William G., 322.
York, Samuel. 243.
Young. Joseph. 604.
Voung. Marcus. 394.
Young Men's Christian Association,
Pontiac, 359.
Young. Mrs. Welcome, .267.
Young. William. 390.
Zahn. Herman H., 894.
Zimmerman. Henry M., 140, 221, 589.
Zion church. Pontiac. 3^7.
History of Oakland County
CHAPTER I
THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION
Wonderful Country of Lakes — Cass and Orchard — Remarkable
Natural PheTstomenon — The Lake Orion Region — Summer Re-
sort Features — Transportation Facilities — As a Farming and
Live Stock Region — Features of the Transformation.
The natural features of Oakland county seemed to predestine its ma-
terial development of the past twenty years or more. Its four hundred
and tifty lakes, many of which are thus called only by a generous stretch
of the imagination, are thickly sprinkled over its gently rolling surface,
while pretty islands stud these little gems of water. As there is a lake
to each two square miles of land it is evident that these charming bodies
of water had to be reckoned with in the future of the country.
In the early times those who settled in the county had to live, had to
eat and be clothed, and they therefore did what pioneers have always done ;
they turned to the soil, and raised crops and live stock. But as the
country developed and Ijecame known to outsiders, its attractions as a
resort for those seeking rest and recreation, its advantages for those who
wished permanent homes with beautiful and comfortable surroundings,
became so apparent that there was more and more an insistent demand
for land, especially in the vicinity of the lakes — which obviously meant
that such demand not only became insistent but widespread. Before de-
scribing in detail this comparatively lake transformation of Oakland
county from an agricultural community to a country of summer and
permanent homes, we shall turn in our tracks and note the main features
supplied 1)\- nature in the bringing about of this change.
Wonderful Country of Lakes
The average number of lakes in each township of Oakland county is
eighteen, though Troy, Royal Oak, Southfield, Farmington and Lyon
are very deficient in comparison with other sections of the county. The
largest of the lakes and the most generously supplied of the townships
lie west and southwest of Pontiac. Orion, toward the northeast, is also
2 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
the center of one of the most important development of resorts and
homes in the county, as it is the nucleus of some of its most charming
lakes, the largest of which is thcbody of water which gives the place its
name. In the Pontiac group are Cass, Orchard, Elizabeth, Sylvan, and
Pine. Walled lake to the southwest, lying in both Commerce and Novi
townships, is also one of the larger bodies, all of which are over three
hundred and fifty acres in extent. The largest is Cass, covering about
twelve hundred acres, or nearly two square miles. It was named after
Governor Cass, and lies mostly in W'e.st Dloomfield township, with two
of its arms extending iqto Waterford. Its extreme length from south-
west to northeast is about two and three quarter miles and its extreme
breadth, not measuring its arm, is a trifle over a mile.
Altogether the lakes of Oakland county cover twenty thousand square
acres, and the comparative importance of the townships from the stand-
point of natural reservoirs is told in the following figures : West Bloom-
field has a lake surface of 4,000 square acres; Waterford, of 2,600;
Orion, 1,700; Commerce, 1,700; White Lake, 1,300; Highland, 1,200;
Bloomfield, 1,200; Addison, 1,000; Holly, 900; Rose, 900; Independence,
800; Brandon, 600; Springfield, 600; Novi, 650; Oxford, 500; Groveland,
250; Oakland, 250; Milford, 160; Lyon, 160; Avon, 30,
Cass .xnd Orch.\rd
Continuing the description of the individual lakes : After Cass comes
Orchard lake, in size ; perhaps exceeding it in beauty and general interest.
It is certainly one of the finest sheets of water in southern Michigan, is
circular in form, lies wholly in West Bloomfield township, and, includ-
ing the islands encompassed by its water, covers about eight hundred and
fifty acres. Orchard lake derives its name from the beautiful island of
some thirty acres embraced by it, which the Indians called "Me-nah-sa-
gor-ning," or the "place of the orchard." When the United States sur-
veyors and the earliest of the permanent settlers came to this locality,
they found c|uite a number of apple trees still in bearing, supposed to
have been planted by French settlers, or at least to have been grown from
seeds obtained of them at Detroit. Apple island, as it is now called, is
almost in the geographical center of the lake. Northwest of it is the
smaller Cedar island.
Both Cass and Orchard lakes are now surrounded by summer cot-
tages and homes, pleasant walks and drives meandering around their
shores. One of the most artistically and thoroughly improved of the
beautiful shorelands of Cass lake is known as Keego Harbor, while a
popular feature counted among the attractions of Orchard lake is the
Polish Seminary, founded u]Jon the old-time Orchard Lake Military
Academy. The entire chain of little sparkling lakes from Pontiac, south-
west to Cass and Orchard — Crystal, Sylvan, Lord and Pine — presents a
succession of- cottages, boat landings and summer devices, as well as a
display of comfortable, if modest, homes for residents who are justly in
love with the sunny and gentle picturesqueness of the country.
The majority of the lakes are drained by Clinton river, although (|uite
a large number in the western and southwestern parts of the county are
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTIY 3
bound together liy the Huron, while some in the nortliwestern portions
find an outlet through the Shiawassee river and thence into Saginaw
bay. A few lakes in Bloomfield and West Bloomfield townships are also
drained through the Rouge river.
Most of the lakes in Oakland county have picturesque, irregular
shores, with gravelly beaches, and in the early days were almost wholly
encompassed by forests of the American larch, or tamarack. Although
these have necessarily been thinned out by both the farmer and the home
seeker, they remain in the condensed form of hardy and shady groves
and some of the smaller islands are still (|nite thickly clad in pine and
cedar.
Remarkable Natural Phenomenon
A somewhat curious natural phenomenon is noticed in several of the
Oakland county lake§, particularly in Cass and Walled Lake, the latter
lying mostly in Novi township, southwest of West Bloomfield. Refer-
ence is made to the action of the ice which seems to expand from the
center and force the sand, gravel and trees back toward the precipitous
banks a few rods from the water. By this action immense piles of these
materials are forced for some distance from the margin, where they are
left high and dry after the ice has disappeared in the spring. Walled
lake is a beautiful body of clear water covering about one square mile,
and this action has gone on in that locality so long that in places along
its shores a regular wall appears to have been erected by the hand of
man. At Walled lake, also, the deposition of bowlders is of quite remark-
able extent and compactness.
Some years ago, David Ward, who had a farm on the shores of Cass
lake, and other competent investigators, carefully looked into this matter.
The consensus of opinion was this : During the most intense of the freez-
ing weather the ice sometimes accumulates on the surface of the water
to the thickness of two feet or more. This, under atmospheric changes,
expands from the center toward the margin of the lake with a force, in
the case of Walled lake, to move bowlders several tons in weight. Along
the southeast shore of Cass lake this action is distinctly marked, a per-
manent embankment having been formed parallel with the water. Along
the eastern shore of Orchard lake there is a broad ridge of lake sand, un-
^doubtedly formed by the same action, and in places overgrown by scatter-
ing forest trees.
A very careful examination of the phenomenon at Walled lake seems
to substantiate the following propositions : During the geological Drift
period a large deposit of bowlders accumulated along the western margin
of the lake, and extended a long distance into the water, and on this was
formed the sand bar which extends into the lake for some sixty or eighty
rods. Near the center of the wall-like ridge the ground is some ten feet
above the surface of the lake, and here the ridge is wanting; but trend-
ing north and south from this high land the slope is gentle until the ridge
lies but a few feet above the surface. The soil of this vicinity is filled
with bowlders of various sizes, some being perhaps from one to three
tons in weight. The expansive action of the heavy ice has operated to
simply crowd the surface bowlders together; the movement operates
4 HISTORY Ul' OAKLAND COUNTY
precisely like the pushing of sand or gravel before a scraper or board,
driven sidewise against it — it ])i4es up and forms a ridge. The bowlders
are driven together in this way by an action continued for centuries per-
haps, and the result is the curious wall, about which so much has been
written and conjectured. Anyone who has even a superficial knowledge
of geology will understand when it is stated that it is a glacial moraine
on a small scale.
Sylvan lake, already briefly mentioned, was formerly called Timber
lake, and along its shores are some of the most popular resorts for Pon-
tiac people in the county.
The L.\ke Orion Region
Outside of the chains stretching for miles to the west of that city none
has a wider popularity as a rendezvous for those who enjoy good boat-
At L.\ke Orio.n
ing, fishing and general out-door ])lcasures than Lake Orion. Detroit
and Flint, as well as I'ontiac and neighboring towns in the northeastern
]xu-t of the county, send thither their contributions of resorters. T'.ellevue.
sometimes caller Assembly island, is nearly in the center of the lake, and
forms a beautiful spot for summer homes, with which its shores are lined.
As the region around and in Lake (^rion was one of the first to be de-
veloped, a somewhat detailed history of the improvements in that vicinity
is allowable.
As soon as the Detroit \' r>ay City Railniad, which runs along its
shore, was completed, the region, with Lake ()rion as its center, became
frequented by pleasure parties from Detroit and other cities. About that
time E. R. Emmons improved a natural park on the north shore of the
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTiY 5
lake, which was used largely for picnic purposes. In 1874 he placed a
small steamer, the "Little Dick," on the lake, and excursions were run to
this park and many other islands of the lake. The same year a party of
speculators purchased one of the finest of these islands and formed them-
selves into what is known as the Orion Park Association. A bridge con-
necting the island with the mainland, a large reception hall with an observ-
atory, a wharf and boathouse for "Little Dick," and other improvements
and attractions were inaugurated and completed, which gave the Lake
Orion region quite a wide reputation among the really popular summer
resorts of southern Michigan. In 181)9 the Lake Orion Assembly Resort
was organized, which practically purchased all the lake front. The com-
pany erected fine Iniildings, hotels and boathouses, and for ten years
operated a Chautauqua on quite an extensive scale. In 1910 the Lake
Orion Summer Homes Company succeeded by purchase to the assets of
the Assembly Resort. Twenty-one islands controlled by the manage-
ment of the resort give ample assurance of seclusion and privacy to those
who wish to go into retreat in vacation days, rather than mingle with
the crowds of enthusiastic pleasure seekers, and cottages are for hire on
all these little beauty spots for those who are not attracted by hotel life.
Many of the homes are owned by regular summer visitors, and the Lake
Orion Summer Homes Company lias done much for the upbuilding of
the place through its plan of building homes to suit the owner. Lake
Orion offers many natural advantages which alone would make it a most
pleasant summering spot, and the extensive improvements wrought
by the company which controls the amusement project have well com-
pleted what nature had so fairly begun.
Northeast of the Lake Orion region in Addison township is also
Lakeville lake, with Leonard as the nearest village in this developing
section of summer resorts. Deer lake in Indejiendence township and
almost in Clarkson village has lately sjirung into considerable notice, while
Mace Day lake and Windiate park, in Waterford township, have been for
years the resting places of numerous resorters.
SiTMMER Resort 1'"i-:.\tuki-:s
Most of the jjeauliful lakes of Oaklaml county are readily accessilile
by means of cither the Detroit United Electric Railway or the Grand
Trunk lines. The country roads are, as a rule, well built and kept in
good repair, and, in all seasonable weather, automoliiiists are much in
evidence. The season of the summer resorters in Oakland county com-
mences early and lasts well into October, which makes both summer
homes and hotels profitable. This fact ensures reasonable rents and
steady income. While there are no mammoth hotels, such as are found
at short-season resorts, there is an al)undance of fair-sized jiostelries and
comfortable boarding houses.
Reference has been made to Oakland county as a favorite of the auto-
mobilist, on account of its good roads. He himself should i)e given full
credit for liringing about this improvement over the old order. .\nd he
has been given his due. as witness the following from a metropolitan
sheet: "The advent of tiie auldmobilc has tended greatly to spread the
6 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
knowledge of Oakland county lakes. Picforc the automobile came into
general use few people were aUe to get about the country to see what it
contained. With the automobile, came the tendency toward good roads.
Although at the present time many roads of the county are still in bad
shape, they are all being gradually improved and a number are in excel-
lent condition. In time there will be perfect automobile roads around
the larger lakes of the country and between Detroit and Pontiac, which
will undoubtedly mean that Oakland's lakes will l)e even more popular
than they are at i)resent."
Tr.\nsport.\tion Facilties
As stated, the transportation facilities of the county are, on the whole,
excellent, and how they have been gradually jjrovided is well told in a
booklet issued, more than ten years ago, by Joseph E. Sawyer, who is
one of the foremost citizens, as he has been for years past, in the special
development of Oakland county property which is being traced in this
chapter: "The importance of good roads and other facilities for trans-
porting to market the products of the soil was early appreciated by the
settlers of Oakland county, and Clinton river was improved and rendered
navigable from Mount Clemens to Rochester by the Clinton River Nav-
igation Company, organized in 1827. This company carried on business
several years, but was unable to compete with the Detroit & Pontiac
Railroad Company chartered in 1834. This railroad was first built from
Detroit to Royal Oak and operated by horsepower. It was continued to
Birmingham in 1839 and steam power introduced, which was a notable
event in the history of the state. The road was extended to Pontiac in
1843.
"Other and better roads succeeded these ]5rimitive afifairs. so that up
to the time when the electric roads appeared Oakland county considered
herself very well supplied. In the last few years, however, her advant-
ages in this respect have been very much increased. The first electric
road in the county was the Pontiac & Sylvan Lake, which ran its cars
about Pontiac and'as far out as Sylvan lake. This was soon followed by
the Detroit & Pontiac, named from its terminals and affording twenty-
minute service between them. In addition to this, the Detroit & North-
western has for some time been running cars out Grand River avenue to
Sand Hill ^^ and will soon be extended to Pontiac by way of Farmington,
and Orchard Lake. The Detroit, Rochester, Romeo & Lake Orion has
been completed to Rochester, and right-of-way has lieen obtained for three
more — the Pontiac & Flint, the Pontiac & Orion, and the Pontiac & Alil-
ford. It is probable that not only these but others will in a short time
extend through the entire county, connecting its towns and rich farming
districts with the markets at Detroit and other cities.
"P.ut it will not be the farmers alone who will be benefited by the
imjiroved facilities for transportation. Many bu.sy city people will have
reason to be thankful for the ease with which they may reach the lakes
and the delightful scenery of the famous country.
"The Indians were always admirers of the beautiful in nature, and
* It should be remembered that this was written in 1899. The prophecies herein
made have been more than verified.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 7
the lake district of Oakland was their favorite resort. The great chief,
Pontiac, honored it by choosing it as the place of his lodge and retired
hither after his repulse at the siege of Detroit. The prosperous city
which bears his name, numerous thriving villages and cultivated farms
now occupy the hunting ground of the Indian, but art has not entirely
usurped the bower of nature."
As A F.VRMING AND LiVE StOCK ReGION
Thirty years ago Oakland county was, in many respects, the leading
agricultural and horticultural section of interior Michigan. That this
statement is not made at liaphazard is evident from the following extracts
taken from an authoritative history of Oakland county : "Oakland county
stands deservedly high in its agricultural productions, though its apparent
standing as comparecl with other counties in the state is largely owing to
its greater area, it being the largest in the lower peninsula with the ex-
ception of Sanilac, which is comparatively a new county with a much
larger proportion of waste land. In the production of wheat for 1873
it ranked third. Calhoun and Washtenaw exceeding it. In the raising
of Indian corn it stood sixth, the counties exceeding it being Calhoun.
Hillsdale. Jackson, Lenawee and Washtenaw. In all other grains it
ranked first, and in the production of potatoes it also stood at the head.
In the number of tons of hay cut it ranked third, Jackson and Lenawee
only exceeding it. In wool it was second to Washtenaw ; in cheese and
butter second to Lenawee, and in pork ninth on the list."
In the acreage of orchards Oakland county was second, with twelve
thousand, nine hundred and thirty-two acres, in 1873, Berrien having
fourteen thousand. It led in the production of apples — five hundred and
seventeen thousand, six hundred and forty-two Inishels for the year ; also
in cherries, eight thousand, four hundred and fifteen bushels: and was
second only to Wayne county in melons and garden vegetables, its yearly
record being fifty-five thousand, two hundred and three bushels. The total
value of all its fruits and garden vegetables, $184,884, made it fifth in
the state, in this regard, being exceeded by Berrien, Hillsdale, Lenawee,
and Wayne.
As to live stock at this time, Oakland county stood first in the numlier
of horses produced and second in milch cows and sheep.
Fe.\tures of the Transport ation
It requires no very astute business man to understand what this de-
velopment of farm and even waste lands into sites for summer resorts
and homes has meant for the material advancement of the Oakland
county property owner. It has brought hundreds of thousands of dol-
lars into the county, advanced numerous small farmers into prosperous
land owners, furnished employment to an army of artisans, made of the
entire country a region of beauty thickly studded with homesteatls. and
assured the stranger who comes to invest in new enterprises that he and
his family shall be surrounded by the fresh influences of nature as well
as modern comforts and advantages. The means for much of this splen-
8 HISTORY Ol' OAKLAND COUNTY
did flevclo]iment has come from tlie outside ; wherein has arisen the
danger that the home [seople may eventually lose much of the real and
ultimate ailvantage of the transformation.
This thought is brought out in the following from the Funtiac I'rcss-
Gacette: "There was a time when the advantages of Oakland county
lakes were not appreciated and people did not enjoy what nature had
offered, but in recent years they have awakened to the possibilities and
each year sees more cottages and more iseople spending the summer
months on the shore of some lake. The lakes are so near Detroit, and
the metro])olis of Michigan is so conveniently connected with the larger
lakes by electric lines that Detroit people have not been slow to sec the
advantages, and many Detroiters now own homes at the lakes and s])cnd
their summers there.
"Frequently the thought has come to I'ontiac people that this city is
making a mistake in not reserving a substantial piece of ground at one
of the near-by lakes where a natural park and playground might be
located. Scarcely realizing that an opportunity is slipping away, the city
is watching private parties step in and buy all the available lake shore,
and in time the jjublic may be entirely excluded and will be deprived of
the enjoyment the lakes afford. Not a few of the smaller lakes of the
county are owned by private individuals who keep them stocked with fish
and allow no one to fish therein without permission. A few wealthj' men
have purchased enough land around some of the lakes to form fine estates
and have built beautiful homes to grace the shores."
CHAPTER 11
GENERAL PHYSICAL FEATURES
Surface and Elevations — Immense Drift and Formations Beneath
— Soil and Climate — The Surface Geology of Oakland County.
Oakland is one of the extreme southeastern counties of southern
Michigan, in the third tier of counties from the Ohio boundary, and lies
northwest of Wayne county and Detroit. As it is nine hundred square
miles in area, it is among the largest of the counties in this section of
the state. Physically, it forms the water-shed between the headwaters
of the Clinton, Huron, Rouge and Shiawassee rivers, which ilrain into
Lake St. Clair, Detroit river, Lake Erie and .^aginaw ba) .
Surface and Elevations
The surface of Oakland county is comparatively level, although the
land lies far enough above the numerous lakes to make the country re-
markably healthful. In various sections the surface is broken by great
deposits of sand, gravel and bowlders, especially near these bodies of
water, but the highest hills and ridges are found, as a rule, in the town-
ships which least abound in lakes. The most considerable of these eleva-
tions are located along the northeastern border of Pontiac township, in
the southwestern corner of Independence near Waterford. in the western
portions of Waterford township and in Highland townshi]).
Bald mountain, lying partly in the northeastern portion of Pontiac
and the southeastern part of Orion is generally considered the highest
point of land in the county — that is, five hundred and twenty-nine feet
above Lake Michigan — although there is some dis])ute among surveyors
as to whether the highest elevation may not really be a little to the north
of that locality. The most pronounced ridge is, of course the water-shed
of the Clinton, Huron, and Shiawassee rivers, which passes through the
county diagonally, crossing the townships of .\ddison, Oxford, Brandon,
Independence, Springfield, White Lake, Commerce, West Bloomfield,
Novi and Lyon ; spurs are thrown out into Pontiac, Groveland, Rose,
Highland and Milford. There are also collections of considerable eleva-
tions, some of thcni (|uite abrupt, in Bloomfield townshiji.
10 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
Immense Drift and Formations Beneath
Geologically considered, Oakland county belongs to the Drift period.
Its water courses nowhere cut through the immense alluvial deposits of
sand, gravel and bowlders, to the rocks beneath. No minerals are known
to exist, except possibly in isolated sections mingled with tlie drift.
The rock formations underlying the drift all belong to the Carboni-
ferous system. The coal measures are supposed to underlie a fraction
of the county northwest of Holly. Jjelow them comes tlie Palma sand-
stone, which reaches a little further into the county; next lower, the Car-
boniferous limestone, with a still greater area; deeper still, the Michigan
salt group, wdiich is supposed to underlie about two-fifths of the county ;
then the Marshall sandstone grouji, believed to underlie the entire county ;
and lastly, the Huron group, which extends beyond Oakland county into
adjoining districts.
Borings in the northwest corner of the county would penetrate all of
these formations, while in the southeast corner only the Huron group
will be found. The center of this geological basin would be near the line
between Gratiot and ^Midland counties, where the dip of the underlying
strata is probably the deepest ; thence gradually rising toward the margin
of the basin. Fossils of various forms are found in the drift of Oakland
county.
The following information is condensed from the last report of the
Weather Bureau for the section known officially as Eastern Lower Mich-
igan, being especially applicable to Oakland county: In this section there
are two high areas of land, the northern covering most of Otsego, Craw-
ford and Roscommon counties. In the southern portion there is another
elevated area covering much of Jackson, Washtenaw and Hillsdale
counties ; this elevation includes the sources of the Grand, Kalamazoo,
St. Joseph and Raisin rivers. A part of this elevated area extends north-
eastward into Oakland county and contains the headwaters of the Huron,
Rouge, and Clinton rivers. A comparatively low belt of land, extend-
ing from Saginaw bay to the lower valley of the Grand river, separates
these elevations. The greater part of the drainage is into Lake Huron,
Lake St. Clair or Lake Erie, although a portion finds its way to Lake
Michigan through the Manistee, ]\Iuskegon, and Grand rivers.
Soil and Climate
The soil is varied in character. In the southern portion it is fertile
and well adapted to growing grains, grasses and fruits. In its original
state the land was covered with forests — of hard wood in the southern
portion and chiefly pine in the northern.
The yearly precipitation averages between thirty and thirty-five inches,
although there are limited areas where the yearly amount averages be-
tween twenty-five and thirty inches. It is well distril)uted throughout
the year, but is slightly greater during the s])ring and summer than dur-
ing other seasons. In the northern portion the winter snowfall is hcavv
and the ground remains covered during most of the winter, the accumu-
lated depth of snow being often from two to three feet. In the south-
HISTORY OF OAIvLAND COUNTY 11
ern portion the snowfall is less and is apt to be melted by warm or rainy
weather, so that during most years the ground is bare during part of the
winter season
The southern tier of townships is mostly a plain, without even ridges,
and has only one of the four hundred and fifty lakes of the county with-
in its borders. In several localities are found extensive tracts of level
land, such as those around Orion and Oxford villages, the Sash-a-baw
plain in Independence, the Drayton plains in Waterford, and the White
Lake plains lying in the townships of Springfield, White Lake, Highland
and Rose.
The general surface of Oakland county is elevated from three to four
hundred feet above the water-level of the great lakes.
The climate is substantially that which prevails over southern Mich-
igan — a climate whose temperature is lowered by the pronounced eleva-
tion of its surface, as well as by its proximity to the deep, cool waters of
Lake Huron; but it is neither as warm in summer nor as cold in winter
as in regions adjacent to Lake Michigan. The average summer temper-
ature for Pontiac is seventy-two degrees, and is nearly the same as that
of southern Ohio, the districts around the lower end of Lake Michigan
and at Ottawa (Illinois), one hundred and fifty miles south of Saginaw.
The winter temperature of Pontiac is about twenty degrees, which
is somewhat colder than other places in the same latitude in Michigan,
being the same as Mackinaw in the extreme north of the lower peninsula.
All the climatic conditions, like those of elevation and drainage, are firm
guarantees of health and physical vigor, and form another practical rea-
son why Oakland county is so admirably adapted to the founding of
homes and the prolonged life and happiness of the individual.
As to vegetation, owing to the comparatively cool temperature it is
somewhat backward, but as the soil of the county is generally of a sandy
loam, the heat of the summer months is rapidly absorbed and the advance
is rapid. The autumn is usually agreeable and frosts are uncommon be-
fore October. Both the climate and the soil of the county are particularly
favorable for the growth of wheat, and for all small grains ; it goes with-
out saving that most of the fruits are readily raised. But the agricultural
interests have been mostly crowded out by the developments which have
brought the county into the front rank of Alichigan's residential districts.
One exception must be made to this statement. Her dairy interests are
still large and growing, particularly in the southern plain districts, with
Farmington as their center.
The Surf.vce Geology of Oakl.\nd County
By Aaron Perry.
The most interesting as well as the most obvious feature of the sur-
face geology of Oakland county is the great body of glacial drift over-
lying the bed rock of the whole county. This drift is mostly unstratified,
or only locally and discordantly stratified. It is from one hundred to
five hundred feet or more deep, depending on the locality. It consists
of clay, sand and gravel, mixed with rounded and water-worn jiebbles,
and boulders of all sizes, from sand grains to si.x feet or more in diameter.
12 HlSTOR^• n|- OAKLAXD COUXTV
This sketch wduIcI nui Ik- complete witliout some mention of the origin
of this drift.
It is now the accepted theory of geologists that this great body of
drift has been ground up, worn and deposited in its present situation and
condition by glaciers and moving waters; and geologists are now able to
satisfactorily account for its origin. I cannot take space to give the
various theories that have been advanced to account for the changes of
climate which were necessary to produce and melt away those monstrous
glaciers. It is sufficient here to assume as a fact that former great
changes in the climate of North America took place, and that within a
comparatively recent period in its geological history this county was
covered with glacial ice such as is now found on the high table lands of
Greenland and on the Antarctic continent at the south jiole. The exist-
ence of vast coal beds and tropical fossils ( jietrifications ). in the Arctic
regions is one of the evidences of such great differences in the climate
between former and recent times. Neither was the glacial age continu-
ous and uninterrupted, but there were interglacial colder and warmer
periods when the glaciers advanced or melted away and retreated only
to advance again. A great part of Oakland county is now, except as
modified by snows, rains, streams and ponds, in substantially the same
condition in which it was left by the last glaciers. Wherever the reader
has seen hills or banks of clay, sand, and boulders entirely unstratified
he can assume that they are now just as they were left by the glaciers.
Perhaps nowhere can be seen better exhibits of recent glacial drift than
are found in Waterford and White Lake, west of Mace Day lake. Many
of the bowls and hollows are today without outlets and substantially as
left by the ice sheet. Similar illustrations can be seen in many other
places in the northerly and westerly parts of the county. Heaven Hill,
in White Lake, the Bald Mountain ridge, the Grampian Hills of Addison,
and, in fact, most of the hills of this county are substantially as they were
left by the glaciers. Oakland county's four hundred lakes are due to
the hollows and depressions left by the last glaciers. They show that,
geologically speaking, this is a new country. In time all these hills will
be rounded down and all the lakes filled with earth or emptied of their
water, by the wearing dow^n of their outlets. In the water-washed south-
easterly part of the coimty there are no lakes left ; all have been filled and
obliterated by the action of the waves.
To account for these glaciers it is not necessary to imagine any very
great elevation of the lands northerly of us. Centuries of snow piled u])
farther north and, unmelted and accumulated until they had become
thousands of feet thick, was sufficient to furnish all the elevation neces-
sary to force the glaciers southward across this county. The great
weight of such a body of snow would sufilice not only to change it into
ice but would from pressure alone, convert it into a semilicjuid state. In
such a c\)ndition a glacier will flow, slowly of course, down a declivity
little above a dead level and even force itself u])iii!l over a ridge. They
may not have moved at a velocity as great as fifty feet in a year, but
they did their grinding, crushing work just as eflfectually, and their under-
lying and lateral streams of water heljjed to wear, assort and rnnnd the
pebbles, gravel and boulders brought by the ice lobe.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 13
Later, I will speak of the melting hack of these glaciers, hut here I
want to help the reader to account for the irregular and discordant strat-
ification that all have noticed so often in sand and gravel Ijanks in this
county. It can largely he accounted for by recalling that the glaciers in
receding, and perhaps in advancing, with their burden of ground up rock
and debris would leave depressions, pools, hollows and dammed up val-
leys, and that the rains, winds and waves, and the streams of water flow-
ing in and out of such depressions would assort and stratify the sands,
clays and gravels the same as they do now in like situations. Often the
rinis of these hollows were worn away slowly by the gradual deepening
and wearing down of their outlets, or quickly by floods or other causes ;
and then the stratification would begin anew under dift'erent circum-
stances and in a dift'erent situation. Is there any wonder then that in
a small gravel pit the stratification may be so discordant, tipped and
varied that we are puzzled to account for it in detail ?
The soil of Oakland county has been transported very largely from
the northeast. This is established both by the detached fossils and
minerals, as well as the fossiliferous boulders we find scattered over the
county. Pieces of iron ore, copper and other minerals, as well as corals,
brachiopods and other fossils, are often found. The corals are some-
times called by the finders petrified "wasp nests" or "honeycomb," and
are very common in our drift. All the above are still found northerly
of us in Canada, in places in solid bed rock.
These glaciers swept over all Michigan and to, and in some places
beyond, the Ohio river. The last great ones that crossed this county
ended in northern Ohio and Indiana, and left there and in southern Mich-
igan a great terminal moraine of earth, rock and debris, whicli accounts
for the hilly country of Hillsdale county in Michigan, and in some of
the counties in northern Indiana and Ohio.
(^llacier streams or lobes, like other streams, generally follow depres-
sions and valleys, although ultimately they may leave a hill where a valley
existed before. Geologists are now agreed that a number of great glacial
sheets swept down from the north, covering the northern states east of
Minnesota and north of the Ohio river. These glacial sheets succeeded
each other at different periods far apart. To distinguish them geologists
have differentiated and named those known, as the Kansas, Iowa, Illinois
and Wisconsin Glacial Sheets, and have determined that they came in the
order in which they are above mentioned. The Wisconsin, the last of
those great glacial sheets, passed over Michigan, including this county.
This great ice sheet included numerous subordinate glacial lobes, two of
which concern this county and largely shaped its present surface condi-
tions. Both came from the northeast and in all probability originated in
the vicinity of Hudson's Bay, in Canada. They traveled over this county
in a southwesterly direction.
One of them, known as the Saginaw ice lobe, or glacier, came down
Saginaw bay and swept south across our state. Its left bank or moraine,
as the geologists call it, passed down the "Thumb" and across Huron,
Sanilac, Tuscola, Lapeer, Genesee and Oakland counties, and farther
south to and beyond Hillsdale and western Lenawee. The right or west-
ern moraine of the other, the Maumee ice lobe or glacier, which termin-
14 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
atcd ill the Maunicc valley in Jiuliaiia, passed across the southerly part
of Oakland county and thence southwesterly into Ohio and Indiana and,
in its course commingling in tliis county with the eastern moraine of the
Saginaw glacier, greatly complicated the surface geology of this locality.
The numerous lakes of Oakland county are only a fraction of the
number that must have existed at the time of the final melting away and
retreating of the last glaciers. Some of these extinct lakes must have
been (|uite large, for otherwise it is hard to account for the existence of
such broad, sandy, gravelly plains as Sashabaw Plains and those found
in the township of Commerce, and in Orion and other parts of the county.
Those level, sandy, gravelly stretches of land, so common here, clearly
show that they have been leveled and the soil assorted and laid down in
shallow wave-washed lakes and ponds.
But a still greater force leveled and planed down the southeasterly
part of this county, including the townships of Troy and Royal Oak and
parts of Farmington, Southfield and Bloomfield. That force was the
great glacial lakes known as Lake Maumee, Lake Whittlesey and Lake
Warren. Those lakes all disappeared many thousands of years ago.
Probably no human eye ever saw any of them, but to distinguish them,
after generally conceding the evidence of their former existence to be
conclusive, geologists have given them the above names.
As the ^laumee glacier began to melt back from its southerly end in
the Alaumee valley the lands southwest of the terminus, in Indiana, being
higher than the land under the glacier, a lake was formed at the foot of
the retreating glacier, which is known as Lake Maumee, the outlet of
which was at first at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the drainage from the
lake passed thence into the Wabash and Ohio rivers. When the glacier
had melted back as far north as Imlay City, in Lapeer county, another
outlet was formed at that jilace through which the waters of Lake Alaumee
passed across, near North branch, into the Cass river,, thence across Gen-
esee, Shiawassee and Clinton counties into the Grand river, and thence
by way of the present site of Chicago to the ^lississippi river. Lake
Maumee is supposed to have kept both outlets for a time and until the
Imlay outlet had lowered so as to carry off all its flood waters, when the
outlet at Fort Wayne ceased. The glaciers continued to melt back far-
ther until a still lower outlet w^as formed across the "Thumb" in Huron
county at Ubly, to Cass river, known as the Ubly Outlet ; and as this out-
let deepened the lake quickly lowered and shrank on its southerly and
westerly sides and continued to extend northerly with the retreating
glacier. Lake Maumee, after the close of the Fort Wayne and Imlay
outlets and while its outlet was across the "Thumb" at Ubly, has been
given the name of Lake Whittlesey.
The glaciers continued to retreat farther north until finally a still
lower outlet for Lake Whittlesey was formed around the end of the
"Thumb" or across the north part of it and by way of the Saginaw valley
and along ]\Iaple river, in Shiawassee and Clinton counties, to the Grand
river at Pewamo, a short distance east of Ionia. That last stage of Lake
Maumee, the one when its outlet was at the last mentioned place, has
been given the name. Lake Warren. This lake continued to exist until
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 15
the glaciers had melted back far enough to allow an outlet down the St.
Lawrence valley, when the lake retreated from Michigan.
Lake Maumee washed the easterly side of the high lands in Oakland
county caused by the westerly moraine of the Maumee ice lobe, or
glacier, and left its raised beaches as a record of its shore line through
this county. The leveling and planing down of the parts of Oakland
county easterly of that shore line and the assorting of the surface soil
in those parts into sands, gravels and clays was all done by the great
glacial Lake Maumee during the various stages of its height above ex-
plained.
The surface of Detroit river at the foot of Woodward avenue is five
hundred and seventy-five feet above the ocean. Lake ]\Iaumee when its
outlet was at Fort \Vayne only, was two hundred and eighteen feet higher
than Detroit river at the foot of Woodward avenue. And when it had
two outlets at the same time, one at Fort Wayne and one at Imlay City,
it had fallen ten feet. When its outlet was at Ubly, and it was known
as Lake Whittlesey, it had fallen forty feet more. And when it had be-
come Lake Warren and had its outlet across or across the northerly part
of the "Thumb" it had fallen eighty-five feet more, and was then only
eighty-three feet higher than Detroit river at the above mentioned place.
The above figures as to the height of these shore lines are taken from
the report of W. H. Sherzer on the geology of Monroe county, published
in \'olume \'II of the Geological Survey of Michigan, page 143, and it
will appear later in this sketch that the first shore line of Lake Maumee
in some parts of C)akland county has materially risen since it was origin-
ally formed.
Leverett, in Monograph 41 of the L'nited States Geological Survey,
page 721, described the shores of Lake Maumee where they pass across
this county in the following language : "The beach enters Oakland
county near the southwest corner of Farmington township and takes a
somewhat direct course across that township, passing through the north-
western part of Farmington village and leaving the township in the north-
eastern part of Section 12. It usually forms a definite gravel ridge three
to six feet high, and thirty to fifty yards or more in width. It lies along
the inner border of a sharply morainic tract. To the east of it there is
a rapid descent to the Belmore Beach but the surface is remarkably
smooth." The Belmore Beach is the highest shore line of Lake Whitt-
lesey.
Leverett continues: "Immediately northeast of the point where the
beach leaves Farmington township there was a bay-like extension up to
and beyond the village of Franklin, and in this the beach is not clearly
defined. East of Franklin the shore follows the inner border of the
moraine, and is usually in the form of a cut bank, as far east as the
meridian of Birmingham. The second beach ( the one when the lake had
the two outlets), runs parallel with it, scarcely one-half mile distant and
presents usually a gravel ridge.
"Near Birmingham there is considerable complexity caused by a till
ridge and moraine hills which appear along the borders of East Rouge
river. The till ridge at Birmingham is barely high enough to catch the
second beach on its crest. Northeastward along the till ridge, however.
16
mSTUR\ Ul- UAKLAXIJ COUNT V
it soon rises to the level of the upper beach. The lowering of the lake
to the level of liie second iieacii seems to have followed closely the with-
drawal of the ice from this till ridge and the opening of the imlay out-
let. Indeed, it is jirohahlc that the opening of tins (jutlet is the main
cause for the lowering of the lake.
"The second beach from IJirminghani northward to the Imlay out-
let is usually a gravelly ridge. It is exceptionally strong at Romeo and
in the vicinity of Almont. It lies along the inner face of the till ridge,
just noted, from near liirmingham to Romeo."
A peculiar feature of this upper .Maumee beach is the fact that as it
extends north it rises. At Uirmingham. Leverett says, it is nineteen feet
higher than at Ypsilanti, and that it is eleven feet higher at Rochester
than at liirmingham. That may be due to the gradual tilting of the sur-
\'ji:v\' n\ Xkij.s'.s 1'"i..\ts .Xi-.aiv Rociiicsteu
face of this state. The \ery eminent United States Uieologist, ("lilbert.
claims to have determined that the north part of the state is now very
slowly rising and the southern part as slowly settling.
Leverett says that at P)irniingham the second Maumee beach is
twenty-nine feet lower than the up|)er one. lie also traces the shore of
Lake Whittlesey (the Lelmore lieach), through this county as follows:
"From two miles northeast of Romeo it swings southward and leads
through Washington townslii]i to Clinton river, just below Rochester.
The village of Rochester stands ui)on a delta wliich was formed in con-
nection with this beach. The beach continues in a course west of south
for about twelve miles from Rochester. ]5assing one and one-half miles
.southeast of Birmingham, Tt there curves abruptly westward, forming
an interesting series of hooks, in its curving jiortion, and crosses to the
west side of East Rouge river, about two miles southwest of Binning-
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 17
liam. From this point its course is soutlnvestward through Farmington
to Pl3aTiouth where it crosses West Rouge river."
While I have not personally traced this beach I think the chances are
very great that the well marked low, gravelly ridge crossing the south
end of the Beekman farm south of Birmingham is the Belmore Beach.
At Rochester one can easily imagine the Paint creek and Clinton river
emptying into Lake Whittlesey at substantially the same place and to-
gether forming the delta plain on which that l)eautiful village stands.
I have no accurate information as to the altitude of the highest shore
of Lake Warren. Init it was about fifty feet lower than the shore of Lake
Whittlesey and entered Oakland county from the northeast about straight
east of Troy Corners and passed southwesterly through the vicinity of
Big Beaver and Royal Oak village until it reached a point near the south
line of Royal Oak township where it turned abruptly west and kept that
main direction until it approached to or near the Belmore Beach, at which
place it passed southwesterly with it into Wayne county. Wide, low,
sandy ridges are stated by the geologists to be characteristic of this
beach for much of its length, and probably for a ])art, at least, of the
portion thereof in this county.
Beneath the drift in this county is the bed-rock extending, as far as
geologists know, to the melted interior of the earth. In all probability
all of Oakland county had risen above the ocean before the close of the
Carboniferous age, and no rocks more recent than the Carboniferous
appear beneath the drift here. The first rock underlying the drift in
the southeast corner of the county and under the township of Royal Oak
and parts of Southfield and Troy is of the Devonian age, while under all
the remainder of the county the first rock is of the next later age, the
Carboniferous. The coal basin of the state, which covers the central
part of the lower peninsula, only touches the extreme northwest corner
of Oakland county if at all, and no coal is likely to be found in the
county. It is quite possible that oil may exist in the Trenton rock, but
to reach that stratum wells would have to be bored several thousand
feet deep. Salt-bearing strata probably underlie all of the county at con-
siderable depths below the first fied-rock, as well as strata impregnated
with sulphur and other minerals. Where the sloping shores of Lake
Maumee dip and trend away from the westerly Maumee glacial moraine
crossing the southeast ]5art of the county- porous strata overlaid by im-
pervious strata having been occasionally so deposited and formed by the
waters of Lake Maumee as to make artesian wells possible. They are
found in Avon, Troy, Bloomfield, Southfield and Farmington townships.
Artesian wells are also found in the vicinity of Ortonville and in some
other parts of the county, and natural springs are quite common.
Most of the county lies on the easterly slope of the easterly moraine
of the Saginaw glacier, but a small part of the county is- drained westerly.
The relative elevation of ditiferent parts of the county is a matter of some
interest. As stated above, Detroit river at the foot of Woodward avenue
is 575 feet above the level of the ocean. Lake Huron is five feet higher
and Lake Erie is two feet lower than the surface of Detroit river at that
point. Passing from the river at the foot of Woodward avenue north-
westerly along the Detroit and Pontiac electric railwav the elevations
roi. 1—2
18 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
increase as follows: The elevation has increased at Highland Park and
at the south line of Oakland county about 65 feet, and at Royal Oak
about 19 feet more, Royal Oak village being about 84 feet above Detroit
river. The south part of Birmingham is 191 feet and the northern part
about 209 feet above Detroit river. At the Cranbrook road, Bloomfield
Hills, the height above Detroit river is 290 feet. At Kimble's Corners
the height is 363 feet, and at the United State bench mark on the north-
east corner of the courthouse, Pontiac, the height above Detroit river is
369 feet.
The following elevations in feet of various other villages in the county
may be of interest, viz: Big Beaver, 90; Troy Corners, 175; Ainy, 2(j8;
Rochester, 185 to 225; Goodison, 282; Orion, 419; Eames, 437; Oxford,
486; Thomas Station, 518; Leonard, 435; Andersonville, 472; Drayton
Plains, 385; Waterford, 418; Clarkston, 425; Davisburgh, 383; Holly,
362; Southfield, 103; Franklin, 212; Orchard Lake, 372; Farmington,
about 175; Novi, 337; Walled Lake, 368; Commerce, 367; A\'i.\om. 358;
South Lyon, 365 ; New Hudson, 356 ; Milford, 371 ; Highland, 435 ; Clyde,
455; Rose Centre, 405; and White Lake, 466. Thomas Station, 518 feet,
is therefore the highest village in the county.
The heights in feet of the following hills above Detroit river are :
Bald Mountain, in Pontiac township, 618; hills in south part of Spring-
field township, 585 ; Mt. Judah, Orion township, 575 ; Waterford hill,
374; Heaven hill. White Lake township, 525; hills west of Alace Day
Lake, 525. I have no data for the height of the hills in the northern tier
of townships of the county but some of them must be nearly if not quite
as high as Bald mountain.
Cass lake is 356 feet above Detroit river, and very many lakes in the
county are over four hundred feet above that river. All are filled with
pure water. While, because of its glacial origin, a large part of Oakland
cotmty is rolling and somewhat hilly, very few of the hills are too steep
to be profitably farmed, and the whole county lies at such an elevation
that there is very little of it that cannot be successfully drained. -\s
would naturally be inferred from its geological history, the soil of the
county is so constituted that it is eminently fitted for agriculture.
CHAPTER III
INDIAN AND PRIMITIVE RECORD
Orchard Lake and the Great Chief Pontiac — The Legend of Me-
nah-sa-gor-ing primitive tillage and industries contact
WITH Known Trjees — Scars of Battle — C. Z. Horton's Contri-
butions — Indian Camping Ground and Cemetery — Queer Cus-
toms — The Passing of We-se-gah.
The legitimate history of Oakland county, so far as it relates to the
settlement and civilization of the whites, commences with the abandon-
ment of the siege of Detroit by the great Indian chief, Pontiac, in 1764.
With this portentous danger removed, the interior of southern Mich-
igan became a field of investigation to adventurers and those seeking
homes; so that in 1815 the surveyor general of the state commenced to
run his lines south from Detroit toward the Ohio boundary.
Orchard Lake and the Great Chief, Pontiac
Orchard lake, southwest of Pontiac, was one of the homes of the chief
after whom the city was named, and from that region he is said to have
drawn not a small portion of his supplies, such as fish and water fowl,
which enabled him to make such an alarming display of his strength and
resourcefulness before the English stronghold.
Pontiac had not been slow in transferring his allegiance from his old-
time friends, the French, and the new British rulers of the country. In
September, 1760, four days after the surrender of Montreal, Major
Robert Rogers received orders from his superiors to take possession of
Detroit, Michilimackinac and other western posts which fell to the Brit-
ish as the result of the war. On his way to Detroit he reached the mouth
of the Cuyahoga river, the present site of Cleveland, and there encamped
with his command of two hundred rangers who had come hither from
Montreal in fifteen whale-boats.
Soon after the arrival of the rangers a party of Indian chiefs and
warriors entered the camp. They proclaimed themselves an embassy
from Pontiac, ruler of all that country, and directed, in his name, that
the English should advance no further until they could have an interview
with the great chief who was already close at hand. In truth, before the
day closed, Pontiac himself appeared; and it is here for the first time
that this remarkalile character becomes a part of American history. He
19
■20 \U>TOR\ Ul- OAKLAND CUUXTV
is said to have greeted Majur Rogers with the Iiauglity demand "W hat
is your business in this country; and how dare you enter it without my
permission?*'
Rogers informed him that the French were defeated, that Canada had
surrendered, and that he was on his way to take possession of Detroit
and restore general peace to white men and Indians ahke. I'ontiac
hstened with attention, but only replied that he "should stand in the path
until morning." Having in(|uired if the strangers were in need of any-
thing which his country afforded, he witlidrew with his chiefs at night-
fall to his own encampment, while the Knglisli stood well on their guard
imtil morning.
Pontiac then returned to the cam]) with his attendant chiefs and made
his reply to Rogers' speech of the previous day. He was willing, he
said, to live at peace with the English, and suffer them to remain in his
country as long as they treated him with deference. The Indian chief
and provincial officers then smoked the calumet together.
Up to this time, Pontiac had been the fast ally of the Prench. but.
ignorant as he was of what was passing in the great world of the whites,
his remarkable instinct told him that the English were in the decided as-
cendant ; that it was the best policy to cultivate their friendship ; and he
hoped to secure them as allies in furthering his ambitions against tribes
of his own race. In the latter expectation he was so bitterly disappointed
that he became a fierce and stern foe long to be remembered.
When I'ontiac found that he could not tise the English, he set about
yi \^ • to exterminate them. In 1863 culminated his plans and conspiracies of
- /■'Teveral years' standing. Under his leadership, the Delawares. a portion
7' / of the Six Nations, the Wyandots, the Shawnees, the Ottawas ( his own
I people), and the other western Indian nations, had agreed to fall simul-
taneously upon all the frontiers from Lake Superior to the Susquehanna.
Pontiac's eastern coworker in the famous conspiracy was the celebrated
Seneca chief. Kyastita or (iuyasuta, whose home was on the Allegheny
river, but history has given the palm of greatness to the western leader.
The details and outcome of the conspiracy are known of all ; how
Pontiac and his Warriors attempted to enter the Detroit fort and mas-
sacre all therein ; how this plan not only failed, but expected relief from
the French as well, and how, in chagrin, he raised the siege, upon the
approach of Braddock's army in .\ugust, 1764, and withdrew to the head-
waters of the Alaumee, where he still endeavored to stir up the red race
against the whites. In 1766, at the great Indian council near (Jtsego,
New York, he signed a perpetual treaty of peace with the F.nglish, and
remained at Maumee until 1769, when he removed to Illinois. Soon
afterward he visited St. Louis to call upon his former friend, St. Ange,
the commandant of that post. He was dressed in the full uniform of a
French officer, which the Marquis Montcalm had presented to him as a
special mark of respect toward the close of the French war. Every-
where he was received and entertained as a great man.
Pontiac remained at St. Louis for several days, when, hearing that
a great number of Indians were assembled at Cahokia on the opposite
side of the river, said he would cross over and see what was going on.
St. Ange tried to ilissuade him, but he replied that he was a match for
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY l>1
the English, and, with a few of his followers, crossed to the Illinois
shore. Entering the village, he was soon known and invited to a grand
feast where liquor was freely circulated. The chief, with all his dignity
and natural strength of character, could not resist the native passion for
strong drink. After the feast was over and he was well under the in-
fluence of liquor, he strolled down the street into the adjacent woods,
where he was heard to sing the weird medicine songs of his race, which
proved for him to be his requiem. A Kaskaskia Indian followed close
behind, and his dead body was soon after found in a thicket. It is be-
lieved that the savage had been hired to tomahawk the great chief by an
English trader named Williamson, the wage for the dastardly act having
been the promise of a barrel of rum.
A terrible vengeance followed this great crime. The Indians of the
northwest united and almost exterminated the Illinois tribes, the rem-
nants of whom never *ifterward cut any figure in history.
Whether Pontiac ever made the Orchard lake region his actual place
of abode is questionable, but he undoubtedly often passed through the
charming region, and that his name is attached to the metropolis of the
county is an added reason why his career and personality should be pre-
sented at some length.
The Legend of Me-xah-sa-gor-xing
One of the most noted of the Indian legends attaching to this region
has to do with Orchard lake, or more strictly speaking with the beautiful
Me-nah-sa-gor-ning (Apple island), which lies in its center. Many years
ago, Samuel M. Leggett, one of the county's old settlers, told the story
of this legend in verse, but at such length that it cannot be here repro-
duced. His introduction, however, ftirnishes matter which is both in-
teresting and available. "In the state of Michigan." it says, "in one
county alone — that of Oakland — is a chain of beautiful lakes, some hun-
dreds in number, many of them miles in length and width. Around these
wind the roadways, over beaches of white pebbles and shaded by the
'forests primeval.' Two rivers, the Huron and the Clinton, run through
these lakes, and, in their tortuous forms, wind, and turn, and twist, till
after a course of hundreds of miles, they at last rest in Lakes Erie and
St. Clair. These rivers are in the summer dotted with the water-lily, as
they flow on through the 'openings.' and on their banks are huge old oaks
under which, in the days that are gone, stood many a wigwam.
"The legend which I have attempted to verify is founded upon an
incident occurring at Orchard lake long before the coming of the white
man and while the grand farms now lying around it were merely a vast
oak opening, its sole occupant the Indian and the wild beast. Very near
the center of this Orchard lake is a large island, wooded to its very shore.
On it are a few apple trees, old and gnarled, remnants of an orchard
planted so long ago that the Indians even have no data concerning it.
Its name, Me-nah-sa-gor-ning. meaning "apple place." still lives in tradi-
tion.
"On this island the Algon(|uin chief. Pontiac. had his lodge after
his repulse at the siege of Detroit. On the high bank of this lake, oppo-
22
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUXTY
site the island, is still to be seen the ancient burial ground of the Sacs,
Hurons and Wyandots.
"Tradition says that back beyond the memory of the tribe a young
chief sickened and suddenly died. The maiden to whom he was be-
trothed became insane, and whenever she could escape from her guard-
ians they would take the body of the chief from its resting place in the
old ground across the lake and carry it back to the i)Iace where his lodge
formerly stood.
"At last, weary of guarding her, with the advice of their medicine
man the tribe killed her, upon her refusal to marry. This crime, so di-
rectly opposed to all former Indian custom, so offended the Great Spirit
that he avowed his intention of totally destroying the tribe, and to give
the maiden, 'as lnn« as water flowed,' complete control over it. She alone
^■M
'^^M
^
1
H
1
^P'i
^h9
Hi
^^B
Sni -^
H^KBM
^H
I^^^H
^^ 'w&
|h
^^
1
H
^^t^m
^^7^^
1
k-. .- .
-J^su
HSU
H
H^l
Apple Island Orchard Lake
has power to assume her form at any time. She can compel the attend-
ance of the tribe at any time by the beating of the Indian drum. At this
sound they must gather and wait where an old canoe has been gradually
covered by the drifting sands. Upon the signal of her coming with her
dead the warriors must meet her on the shore, bear the chief on his bier
and lay him down Ijy the ashes of his council lire and, waiting beside him
until she can caress him, bear him back to his resting place. All, how-
ever, must be done between sunset and sunrise — a foggy night being
alwavs chosen to elude observation."
Primitive Tillage and Ixdustries
One of the most complete sketches of aboriginal history as it relates
to Oakland county has been written by O. l'o]ipleton. formerly ])resident
of the Oakland County Pioneer .Society. It is mainly contained in his
address delivered before that body in June, 1884. The portions applic-
able to the subject now being considered are as follows:
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 23
"Oakland county is not barren of traditional or legendary events of
deep interest to the historian, and to her people. When the Jesuit fathers
and French fur traders first visited this region, of the country, and fol-
lowing them the very early pioneers, they found many evidences of a
prior occupation by a semi-civilization, in the tillage of the soil by un-
known and extinct agriculturists of a very remote period. Many rude
agricultural implements have been found in the clearing and tillage of
the land and by excavations ; thus demonstrating theoretically that the
country had been previously occupied by a people who were well versed
in the knowledge of practical agriculture, and who subsisted by cultivat-
ing the soil, by mining, in pursuit of game of the forests, and the fish of
the lakes and rivers.
"The very early surveyors in pursuit of their calling, and the pioneer
in exploring this region for a favorable location for his homestead, found
large areas which, evidently, had been tilled in hoed crops, judging from
the regular and well dbfined rows of hills for corn and vegetables, upon
which were then growing the largest oaks and other trees of the forests.
By an actual computation of the yearly growth of these trees, the occupa-
tion of this region by those people must have been centuries before the
discovery of this continent.
"The traditions were that corn, beans and other grains and vegetables
were raised upon these aboriginal fields ; that they had sustained a
numerous population, who were proficient in the arts of rude manufact-
uring of cloths, pottery and copper utensils, silver and copper ornaments,
stone axes, hammers, mortars and pestles, flint arrow heads, graining and
skinning knives, many of which have been found during the early ex-
plorations of the missionaries and traders and since by the first settle-
ments of the pioneers of the county.
"At what period those people occupied the county is difficult even
to approximate a date. Yet from the modified barbarism which is indi-
cated by works left by a pre-historic race, there can be no other conclu-
sion than that this county has been occupied by a race long since extinct,
who were undoubtedly connected with the early civilization of Europe.
Contact with Known Tribes
"In the early explorations of the Great Lakes by the French, com-
mencing in 1534-5, they found the descendants of the Algonquin tribes of
Indians occupying the country to the north and west of Detroit, with
whom they held social and commercial intercourse, yet but little of the
French and early Indian history has been preserved. It is known that the
fur traders made their annual visits to this region, through the rivers
Huron, Rouge, Raisin and Clinton, for the purpose of bartering witii
the Indians for furs and skins.
"But little has been preserved of the Indian history, or of the French
nomadic occupation. One Micheau, a French and Indian trader, who
died about the time of the first settlement of Wayne, Oakland and Mac-
omb counties, at the advanced age of one hundred and fifteen or one hun-
dred and sixteen years, relates that one of the traditions of the tribes was
that a sanguinary conflict occurred between the Foxes and Chiii[)ewas,
24 HISTORY' OF () A K I . A X 1 ) eOU X I A'
upon the plains north and west, adjoining what is now the \illage of Bir-
mingham, and known as the Willits, Doctor Swan and Captain Blake
farms, on sections 24 and 25T
Scars of Battle
"The village of the Chippcwas was situated near the present site of
the cemetery and formed a nucleus from which they sallied forth upon
their hunting, fishing and warlike expeditions and forays, returning with
varied success and bringing game, furs and the scalps of their hated foe,
the Foxes. Between these powerful tribes there had existed a deadly feud
for many years, until it culminated in an attack by the Foxes upon the
Chippewas. at their village. How many braves were engaged in the con-
flict, tradition has failed to hand down to us. That there were many on
each side is evident from the number of dead redskins said to have been
found in the trail of the retreating tribes and on the battlefield. The Chip-
pewas were defeated after a desperate struggle in defending their chil-
dren, scjuaws and camp fires, and their village burned. They retreated
along the trails towards what is now Detroit, closely pursued by their foes,
leaving about seven hundred dead bodies along the course of their retreat ;
and on the field of battle the dead were too numerous to be counted. The
pride and prowess of this once powerful tribe was crushed and humili-
ated, and thereafter they declined in influence and numbers.
"There is one other notable Indian tradition, of an event which
occurred in the county — that of a hostile meeting between the great chief
Pontiac and another tribe, in the vicinity of a large, while oak tree, in
the township of Royal Oak, on section 16, from which the township
derives its name; located near the junction of the Crook's, Niles and Paint
Creek roads. At the time I first saw it, in 1825, it still bore the scars made
by the tomahawks, arrows and bullets. But at what date this happened,
or what tribe was opposed to Pontiac and his followers, I have never been
able to learn, not even through traditional history."
C. Z. HORTOX'S CONTRIHUTIONS
C. Z. Horton has also made valuable contributions to the Indian pic-
tures of Oakland county, some of which are given. They were originally
published in the Rochester Era. As to evidences of former tillage, either
by Indians or a more primitive race, he says: "In this connection I would
state that the appearance of the woodlands when I first came here ( to
Rochester), especially south of the Clinton river, looked like an old corn
field, or like hills where corn had grown, the rows running a little west
of north and east of south, about four feet apart each way; besides all
the stones had been piled up, as but few scattering ones could be seen and
many of them were deeply imbedded in the earth."
IxiiiAN Campixc. GRorxD AND Cemktery
"Near the dwelling of Mr. Edwin T. Wilcox, on the Paint Creek road,
some two miles south of Rochester," he continues, "there were deep in-
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUXTiY 25
dentations in the ground, and from ten to twelve feet across, some of
them two or more feet deep. They followed the line of the ridge, were
from four to six feet apart — perhaps lOO of them — and were parallel,
showing the appearance of a winter camping-ground where the earth
had been thrown up around their wigwams, as it was afterwards dis-
covered, in digging in them, they contained the debris of ashes and char-
coal. On the lot owned by Mr. Simeon P. Hartwell, the same broken
surface appeared, also the corn hills. On the Chipman farm, now occupied
by Mr. Weaver, some eighty or one hundred rods east and north, the
same indications were observable, also an old burial ground. These signs
I never observed north of the river.
Queer Customs
"It was a custom with the Indians that when their young arrived at a
proper age they were enclosed in a wigwam and had to remain thus in se-
clusion by themselves a number of days, or until they would dream of
some animal, bird, or reptile, and be able to number and tell of it in the
morning. Whatever the dream might be that would be an object of wor-
ship through life — such as a bear, a deer, a fox, an eagle, hawk, or smaller
animals and birds, and even snakes and lizards. I have often seen trees in
the woods, in this vicinity, with rude representations of this kind worked
on them, which was their habit of doing. I saw two boys in their wigwams
undergoing this ordeal — singing during the day and silent at night. This
happened in front of Mr. William Burbank's residence in the summer of
1825, where Mr. Conrad Taylor now resides. I asked Mrs. Burbank
what was the object of the Indians to be thus engaged on a sultry day?
She said it was one of their religious ceremonies. I have since learned
that such was the case.
"Here is another circumstance, or rather a ceremony of the Indians I
have heard narrated by the old settlers, which will be of interest to all
those living in this vicinity, which took place in 1824. It is this: south
of the Barnes Brothers' paper mill, near the hill, on the land occupied by
Mr. Ezekiel Dewey, the Indians cleared ofi all the flat, built a large log-
heap, and set it on fire ; in building the heap they left an opening in the
centre. They then brought forth two white dogs which they had fantas-
tically decorated with red flannel around their necks, tied in their ears
and around their legs and tails; and when the pile had fairly become
ignited all through, they threw their canine victims into the aperture left
in the middle of the blazing pile. They then commenced their songs and
dances, which they kept up all night — as the old saying is, 'they made the
welken ring.'
The Passing of We-se-gait
\\'e-se-gah was probably one of the most turbulent of the Indians in
this section. He was large and muscular, and when in liquor was ready
for fight. Most of the settlers were afraid of him. Of his quarrelsome
and pugilistic propensity none perhaps were better acquainted than Alex-
ander and Benjamin Graham. They both had. several times, quarreled
26 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
with liini. We-se-gah at one time drew a tomahawk on Benjamin while
he was at work on his shoe-bench, for which Benjamin gave him a very
sound thrashing, and at another lime he attacked Alexander. After a long
tussle, of nearly an hour's duration, Alexander finally overpowered him.
We-se-gah, drawing his blanket over his face, then sat down and waited
for Graham to dispatch him according to Indian law — by burying a toma-
hawk in his head. Graham raised the blanket and said to him : "Go !
Never come back. If you do, I will kill you!'' We-se-gah went, and was
never seen in this section afterward."
CHAPTER IV
FIRST SETTLERS AND LAND OWNERS
Great Set-Back to Settlement — Oakland County's First Settlers
— The Mack Colony of Pontiac — "Uncle Ben" Woodworth —
— First Surveys — Locations under the "Two Dollar" Act —
The "Ten SniLLiNd" Act — Great Event for the Pioneer Land
Owner — Town of Pontiac Settled — Orion and Oxford — Royal
Oak and Troy — Avon and White Lake — Springfield and Grove-
land — Farmington and West Bloomfield — Waterford and In-
dependence — Brandon, Southfield and Bloomfield.
Any general history will inform the reader as to the nature of the
civil or judicial jurisdiction which was theoretically exercised over the
territory now recognized as Oakland county, but humanly speaking we
have no vital interest in the subject until men, women and children com-
menced to appear and form households in the new country. This hap-
pened about two years after the state surveys commenced in southern
Michigan, the pioneers in the Oakland county movement being James
Graham, his son Alexander, Christopher Hartsough and John Hersey.
They located in the township now known as Avon on the 17th day of
March, 1817, and brought their families with them.
Great Set-Back to Settlement
It took so many years to counteract the report made by the surveyor
general in relation to the military, or southern Michigan lands, that a
somewhat extended review of the attending circumstances seems germane
to the subject. On the 6th of May, 1812, congress passed an act requir-
ing that two million acres of land should be surveyed in the then territory
of Louisiana ; a like quantity in the territory of Illinois, as well as in the
territory of Michigan — in all, six million acres, to be set apart for the
soldiers of America in the war of 1812. The lands were surveyed
and appropriated, under this law, in Louisiana and Illinois, but the
surveyors reported that there were no lands fit for cultivation. The prin-
cipal meridian and the base line for the Michigan surveys were estab-
lished in 1815.
The surveyor general's report which so long retarded immigration to
southern Michigan and Oakland county was as follows: "The country
on the Indian boundary line from the mouth of the Great Auglaize river
27
•2H IITSTORV O]- OAKI.AXD ("OUXTV
and ninning thence for about fifty miles is (with some few exceptions')
low, wet land, with a very thick growth of underbrush, intermixed with
very bad marshes, but generally very heavily timbered with beech, cotton-
wood, oak, e'tc. ; thence continuing north and extending from the Indian
boundary eastward, the number and extent of the swamps increase, witii
the addition of numbers of lakes, from twenty chains U> two and three
miles across.
"Many of the lakes have extensive marshes adjoining their marshes,
sometimes thickly covered with a species of pine called tamarack, and
other places covered with a coarse, high grass, and uniformly covered
from six inches to three feet (and more at times) with water. The mar-
,gins of these lakes are not the only places where swamps are found, for
they are intersi)ersed throughout the whole country, and filled with water,
as above stated, and varying in extent.
"The intermediate space between these swamps and lakes — which is
probably near one-half the country — is, with very few exceptions, a
poor, barren, sandy land, on which scarcely any vegetation grows, excejn
very small, scrubby oaks. In many places that part which may be called
dry land is composed of little, short sand-hills, forming a kind of deep
basins, the bottom of many of which are composed of marsh similar to
the above described. The streams are generally narrow and very dee]i
compared with their width, the shores and bottoms of which are ( with
very few exceptions) swampy beyond description; and it is with the
utmost difficulty that a place can be found over which horses can be con-
veyed in safety.
"A circumstance peculiar to that country is exhibited in many of
the marshes, by their being thinly covered with a sward of grass, by walk-
ing on which evinces the existence of water, or a very thin mud immedi-
ately under the covering which sinks from six to eighteen inches under
the pressure of the foot at every step, and at the same time rises before
and behind the person passing over it. The margins of many of the
lakes and streams are in a similar situation, and in many places are liter-
ally afloat. On approaching the eastern part of the Military lands towards
the private claims on the straits and lake, the country does not contain
so many swamps and lakes, but the extreme sterility and barrenness of
the soil continues the same.
"Taking the country altogether so far as it has been explored, and to
all appearances, together with information received concerning the bal-
ance, is so bad there would not be more than one acre out of a hundred,
if there would he one out of a thousand, that would in any case admit of
cultivation."
The effect of this report upon congress was that .so much of the act
of 1812 as related to Michigan was repealed by an act of April 29, 1816,
which also located 1,500,000 acres of additional land in Illinois and 500.-
000 acres in Missouri, in lieu of the original 2,000.000 allotted to Michi-
gan. It was not until 1817 and 1818 tliat a few venturesome pioneers
braved the dangers of the terrible morasses deiiicted in the report of the
surveyor general, and demonstrated how flimsy was the l)asis for its mis-
leading statements. The visits of Major Oliver Williams and his com-
])anions. in the fall of 1818, marked the great turning point of public
IIJSTORV UF OAKLAND COUNTY :29
opinion for the better ; it proved beyond (|uestion that there was a fertile
and beautiful countr_v in the interior, when once the immigrant had pene-
trated through the marshy lielt which girdled Detroit.
Oakland County's First Settlers
Something about these men who thus sowed the seeds of civilization
in Oakland county is given l:>y Hon. T. J. Drake in one of his many
historical addresses, to which all writers of the early times are so much
indebted. His words are: "In early life old Mr. Graham (James),
resided near Tioga Point, on the Chemung branch of the Susquehanna
river, in Pennsylvania. About sixty years since, he moved to C^.xford,
in Upper Canada, in 1816 to Mt. Clemens, and on the 17th day of March,
1817, came into Oakland county to locate on a farm now occupied by
Dr. William Thompson,^ lying on the north bank of the Clinton river.
B. Graham, a voung son of Mr. James Graham, was employed as one
of the hands under Colonel Wampler, in surveying that town in 1816.
John Hersey was the first man that entered lands in the county of
Oakland on the 29th of October, 1818. He entered a part of section 10,
in this town, on the waters of Paint creek and erected a saw mill, the
first in the county. He placed in it a run of stone which were manu-
factured in the county by a mechanic by the name of Wood, and made
the first flour manufactured in Oakland. By his exertions the incon-
veniences and hardships attendant on a new settlement were greatly re-
lieved and immigration largely induced. The name of John Hersey,
whose long life was marked by signal industry and integrity, should be
engraven on the memory of every citizen of Oakland. Pioneers of Oak-
land ! Long may his memory be cherished."
Mr. O. Poppleton's account in an address before the County Pioneer
Society : "It has now been sixty-seven years since the first permanent
settlers located in the county of Oakland. The first were John Hersey,
James and Alexander Graham and Christopher Hartsough in the town-
ship of Avon, with their families, on March 17, 1817, who spent their first
night on the plat of ground between the junction of Paint creek and
Clinton river. These families came by way of Mt. Clemens, following
the course of the Clinton river, there being an impenetrable swamp be-
tween Detroit and their new home — so reported by the commission sent
out by the surveyor general. The report demonstrates how little was
known of the interior of the territory and county at that time. Sixty
years ago ]\Ioses Allen entered the first lands in the county at the United
States land office at Detroit on October 24, 1818, being the southwest
quarter of section 32 in Orion."'
The i\lACK Colony of Pontiac
In 1818, the year after the Grahams settled in .\von township,
Colonel Stephen Mack, agent of the Pontiac Land Company, located a
small colonv on the site of the future county seat. Accompanying him
were (prison Allen, William Lester and Major J. J. Todd, with tlieir
families, and they were not "planted" until in the fall of that year.
30 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
The same autumn and winter, settlements were commenced at Bir-
mingham, Ro_val Oak, and other jslaces above the Detroit and Saginaw
trail, and in March, 1819, Major Oliver Williams and his brother-in-law
Ali)heus Williams, settled in Waterford township. Captain Arcliibald
Phillips also settled in Waterford very early. Among the first to enter
land in Troy were Messrs Castle, Hunter, Hamilton and Fairbanks, in
February, 1819.
"Uncle Bex" \\'oodworth
In town 4, north of range 11 east, now called Oakland, the first pur-
chase was made by Benjamin Woodworth and William Russell, on the
i6th of ]March, 1819. They entered a part of section 33. The history
of father Russell, as he was familiarly called, is truth itself, candid and
unassuming. He was an example of sociality and benevolence, upright
and just in all his ways. Benjamin Woodworth, "Uncle Ben," as he was
known by all who ever stopped at the "Steamboat Hotel" in Detroit, had
a heart full of kindness and a hand ever ready to help the distressed. He
was the constant friend of Oakland county, and he never forgot or for-
sook her early inhabitants. In 1824, James Coleman and James Hazard
purchased; in 1825, Benedict Baldwin, Horace Lathrop, James D. Gal-
loway, J. B. Galloway, J. Dewey, Samuel Hilton, Ezra Newman, David
Hammond and Needham Hemmingway, became purchasers and were
among the early settlers.
First Surveys
Most of the earliest explorers of Oakland county came in by way of
Blount Clemens and the Clinton river, the year 1819 being one of the
busiest of the very early period. The pioneers followed close on the heels
of the government surveyors. Among the latter who saw the country
in the pioneer times of which we write were Colonel Joseph Wampler
and Captain Henry Parke, and to the latter the author is indebted for an
interesting picture which will be presented later.
\'irtually, the dates of land entries fix the dates of settlement, as most
of those who entered land did so for the purpose of founding homes and
not to hold it for "speculation." Mr. O. Poppleton has made the most
complete synopsis of those who located the first lands in the different
townships, and his list is often published without giving him due credit.
It was first given in his address before the Oakland County Pioneer Soci-
ety February 20, 1889.
From the date of Pontiac's abandoning the siege of Detroit, in 1764,
to the time of ordering the survey of the county by the surveyor general,
in 181 5, I find in my researches but little authoritative historical interest,"
he says. "But in my investigations of the early surveys in the state and
county I find it replete with interest. From the old records I learn that
the first surveys in the territory of which we find any public record were
made by Aaron Greely of 'Private Land Claims' on St. Gair, Detroit and
Rouge rivers in the winter of 1809 and from July to November. 1810.
The first surveys upon the meridian line were made by Benjamin
Hough in the fall of 1815, from the north line of town 3 west, in Jack-
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 31
son county, south to the Ohio state Hne. The first surveys on the base
line were east of town 5 east, in Livington county, to Lake St. Clair, by
Alexander Holmes, in 1815.
The earliest subdivisions of townships are given in the order as sur-
veyed, viz.: In March, 1817, town i north, range 10 east, Southfield; in
April, 1818, towns i and 2 north, range 11 east, Royal Oak and Troy,
by Joseph Wampler; in May, 1817, town i north, range 9 east, Farming-
ton, by Samuel Carpenter.
Locations Under the "Two Dollar" Act
Entries under the "credit" system or the "two dollar act" were made
in the townships of the county as follows : Waterf ord. Independence,
Southfield. Bloomfield, Pontiac, Orion, Troy, Avon. Oakland and Royal
Oak, commencing October 24, 1818, by Moses Allen in Orion, of the
southwest quarter, section 22, the first location of land in the county.
The second location was made by John Hersey of the southeast quar-
ter, section 10, in Avon, November 10, 1818.
The third was made by Joseph Watson of the District of Columbia,
of the east one-half and northwest quarter of section 35. in Pontiac.
November 30, 1818.
Stephen Mack, who has had credit for the first entry in the township.
did not locate until September 19. 1818, nineteen days after that made by
Joseph Watson.
The fourth location was made by John Montieth of the southwest
quarter of section 3, in Southfield. December 15, 1818.
The fifth was made by Austin E. Wing, of the northeast one-quarter
of section 29, in Bloomfield, December 23. 1818. Mr. Wing was after-
wards elected a delegate in congress from the territory to the Nineteenth,
Twentieth and Twenty-Second congresses. Mr. Wing accompanied
General Cass on one of his explorations through Oakland, Genesee and
Saginaw counties. Passing through Bloomfield they camped on the banks
of Wing lake, which now bears his name and where he located the land
mentioned.
The sixth location was by Archibald Phillips, of the east one-half and
southwest one-quarter of section 29, in Independence. February 6, 1819.
The seventh was by William Thurber. of the northwest c|uarter of
section 6, Royal Oak, February 4. 1819.
The eighth was by John Hamilton, J. W. Hunter, Lemuel Castle and
Joseph Fairbanks, of the northwest quarter of section ig. in Troy, Febru-
ary 12. 1819.
The ninth was by Ephraim Williams, of the north one-half of section
13 in Waterford. February 18, 1819. bordering on the banks of Silver
lake, being the homestead of Major Oliver Williams, father of Ephraim
S., Gardner D., Alfred, Alpheus, Benjamin O.. James. Mrs. Stephens.
Mrs. Mary Hodges and Mrs.. Harriet Walker.
The tenth was by Benjamin Woodworth and William Russell, on sec-
tion 33. in Oakland. February 18. i8io.
Numerous other locations were made in the ten townships under the
"credit" or "two dollar act" until July, 1820, when the law passed Ijy
3-2 liJSTORV OF OAKLAND COUNTY
congress rcduciiif; tlic price to $1.25 per acre, advance ])aynient. took
effect. - "
The "Tk.v Suii.i.ing" Act
The first entry made under this act in the county was by Davis
Stanard, July 3, 1820, of the northeast (|uarter of section 4, in Bloonificld.
The second was by Joel Weelman, July 3, 1820, of the one-half
southeast cjuarter of section 33. in Avon.
Colonel Stanard was a popular hotel keeper in those early days of
pioneer life and dispensed to the traveling' public with a liberal hand
choice venison, fresh fish, Ohio hog and Kentucky Bourbon, and later in
life imbibed too freely himself for weak eyes. When remonstrated with
by his attending physician for so doing and told that he must stop drink-
ing any stimulant or lose his eyes, he replied : "Then good-bye, eyes."
There are a few pioneers here today who knew the Colonel well, and no
doubt have partaken of his good cheer, not omitting old bourbon.
At the opening of the land offices in Michigan, the public lands were
offered at auction, and such as were not sold were subject to sale to
individuals at two dollars an acre, one-fourth to be paid down, the re-
mainder in one, two and three years with interest. And all the lands
which were entered previous to the 3d day of July, 1820, were purchased
under this act.
Gre.vt Event tor the Pioxeer L.vnd Owner
At the risk of repetition, here and there, we add facts along this line
compiled by Judge Drake, as follows :
On the 23d of April, 1820, congress passed an act authorizing the
sale of public lands at $1.25 an acre, payments in full at the time of the
purchase. This was the great event in the history of Michigan, and in-
deed of the whole western country. It put an end to that system of
vassalage under which the purchasers of public lands had labored. The
purchaser became at once the absolute owner of the soil. Every act of
improvement was made to benefit him or his children.
There was a feeling of certainty in his labors, and in his possessions
which was more than wealth. If death overtook the pioneer in his first
efforts, the agony of parting from his wife and children was half removed.
When lie turned upon them the last living gaze and beheld their little
forms gathering around his dying bed, he was consoled with the thought
that the land on which he had toiled was theirs. No exacting landlord
could claim it as forfeited for payments deferred. From the passing of
that act, the growth and prosperity of Michigan liecame a certainty, and
the increase of pojndation was surprising.
Town of PoNri.\( Se.ttled
Ezra Baldwin, jcil) Smith. John W. Hunter, D.ivid Jt)hnson, Oliver
Levi Willetts, joseiih Fairbanks, \A"illiani Morris, Lemuel Castle, Joseph
Torrv, Daniel Ferguson, Ziba Swan, John Hamilton, .\maza Bagley,
Almy and Asa Castle were among the first settlers in town 3 north, range
10 east, called Pontiac.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 33
The first entry of lands was made by Col. Stephen Mack for the
Pontiac Company' On the 6th day of November, i8iS, he entered sec-
tion 29, and the northeast quarter of section 33, soon after the north
half and the southwest quarter of 28, and finally the southeast quarter
of 20, on which the company laid out the village in 1818.
On the south side of the river and on the west side of the Saginaw
road, was the great Indian camping ground, where all the Indians used
to stop on their way to and from Detroit.
In town 2 north, range 11 east, called Troy, the first lands were pur-
chased by Castle, Hunter, Hamilton and Fairbanks. On the 12th of
February, 1819, they bought a part of section 19. On the 22d of October,
1819, Ezra Baldwin entered a part of section 18; Michael Kemp on the
2Sth of November, 1819, a part of section 3, and on the "th of Decem-
ber, 1819, Michael Beech a part of section 8.
In the years 1820, 1821 and 1822, John Prindle, George Abbey, Joshua
Davis, Ebenezer Belding, S. V. R. Trowbridge, Jesse Perrin, P. J. Perrin,
Luther Fletcher. Aaron Webster, Stillman Bates, William Wellman, A.
W. Wellman, Silas Glazier, Guy Phelps, Johnson Niles, John Waldron,
Edward Downer, Ira Jennings, Humphrey Adams and S. Sprague, be-
came purchasers, and were among the early settlers. The second lot,
which was entered under the "ten shilling act" was by Joel Wellman, in
Troy, a part of section 3.
The gentle sloping surface of the country — the majestic growth of
timber, the dark, rich soil, attracted many settlers to that town, and the
whole was settled with unrivalled rapidity. And now the nicely painted
houses, and well cultivated farms show how accurately the pioneer
judged, and how well the earth has repaid him for his labor.
Avon and White Lake
In town 3. north range 1 1 east, now called Avon, the first lands were
entered on the 29th of October, 1818. In 1819, A. E. Wing, T. C. Shel-
don. Solomon Sibley, James Abbott, Daniel LeRoy, Alexander (iraham,
William Williams, J. Baldwin, D. Bronson, J. Myers, Ira Roberts,
Nathaniel Baldwin, George Postal, William Thompson, John Miller and
Isaac Willetts entered land; in 1821, Cyrus A. Chipnian and Frederick
A. Sprague; in 1822, Champlin Green, Gad Norton, William Burbank,
and Smith Weeks. It was in this town that the seeds of civilization
were first planted in the county of Oakland, as has previously been nar-
rated at some length.
In town 3, north of range 8 east, now called White Lake, the first
entry was made by Harley Olmstead, of Monroe county, New York, on
the 7th day of October, 1830; he entered a part of section 36. In 1832
Joseph Voorheis and Jesse Seeley purchased. Thomas Garner, John
Garner, C. C. WyckofT and John Rhodes also bought land and were
among the early settlers in that town. "In 1829," says Judge Drake,
"while searching for the headwaters of the Shiawassee river. I traveled
over the most of the town, visited the shores of that beautiful sheet of
water from which the town derives its name, and the charming plain on
which now stands the village of White Lake, then clothed in tlie gorgeous
Vol. 1—3
34 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
(l\'e of auUiiiiiial flowers, presented one of the most magnificent views of
uncultivated landscape."
Springfield and Grovef-and
In town 4, north of range 8 east, now^ called Springfield, on the 19th
of July, 1830, Daniel LeRoy made the first entry. He purchased on
section 19, including the Petit Lafountain or Little Springs. This place
had a wide renown. It was the resting place of the trader and trapper,
of the red man as well as the white man when on his journey to and
from Saginaw and other places in the northern wilderness. Immediately
after the LeRoy purchase the place was occupied by Asahel Fuller. In
1833 Giles Bishop, O. Powell, John M. Calkins and Jonah Gross pur-
chased.
In town 5, north of range 8 east, now called Groveland, on the 3d
day of September, 1829, William Roberts, then of the county of Oak-
land, made the first purchase. On the 29th of May, 1830, John Under-
bill, E. W. Fairchild and M. W. Richards bought land. In 1830 Henry
W. Horton purchased at a point then known as Pleasant \'alley, and in
183 1, Franklin Herrick, Alexander Galloway and Constant Southworth
became land owners. Mr. Southworth settled on a famous spot on the
old Saginaw trail known in those days as the Big Springs. Those who
have taken the trouble to descend from the roadside to the spring of
water will bear testimony to its great beauty. It was ever held in great
veneration by the Indians, and they seldom passed it without refreshing
themselves. Those who have looked into that crystal fountain and be-
held the sparkling water as it came bubbling up from the secret chambers
of the earth, will not w'onder that the redman saw in the aqueous mirror
the Chemanito, or Great Spirit.
Farmington and West Bloom field
In town I, north of range 9 east, now called Farmington, Eastman
Colby, of Monroe county, New Y'ork, made the first entry; on the 12th
of October, 1822, he entered a part of section 14. In January, 1823,
Arthur Power purchased. In the same year G. W. Collins, William B.
Cogshall, Peleg S. Utley, IJenjamin Wi.xom, Timothy Allen. Leland
Green, Abraham Aldrich made purchases and among them were the first
settlers in that town.
In town 2, north of range 9 east, now- called West Bloomticld. James
Harrington, of Cayuga county. New York, made the first purchase on
the 15th of May, 1823, entering the entire section 36. The same year
Rufus R. Robinson, Erastus Durkee, John Hufl:", Benjamin Irish, Edward
Ellerby, Ijcnjamin Leonard and William Annett purchased, and John
HulT bought a tract on the south side of I'ine lake and erected the first
house in that part of the town. William .\nnett purchased a ])art of
section 22, his wife died at an early day. the old gentleman lived on the
farm and cultivated it until his death. It was long afterward owned by
his only child, Mrs. Hartwell Green.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 35
Waterford and Ixdependence
In town 3, north of range 9 east, now called Waterford, Major
Oliver Williams, called by the Indians, Togee, settled on the west hank
of Silver lake, in 1819, on section 13. His brother-in-law, Alpheus
Williams and Captain Archibald Phillips, settled early at the crossing
on the Clinton river, where the village of Waterford now stands and
erected there a sawmill as early as 1824. David Mayo purchased on
the 25th of September, 1821 ; Captain Chesley Blake, Harvey Durfee
and Austin Durfee in 1822; Harvey Seeley, John S. Porter, Samuel
Hungerford, W. M. Tappan, Thaddeus Alvord, Charles Johnston and
Joseph Voorheis, in 1823.
In town 4, north of range 9 east, now called Independence, Alpheus
Williams made the first purchase on the loth of October, 1823.
The point was well known to the Indians, and by them called Saepee.
In 1819, Major Joseph Todd, William Lester and Orrison Allen, were
residents in the village ; in the same year Calvin Hotchkiss and Jere-
miah Allen entered lands, and Judah Church in 1820.
In 1821 Abner Davis, Eastman Colby, Alexander Galloway, Rufus
Clark, Enoch Hotchkiss and James Harrington purchased ; and these
men, with G. W. Butson, John Edson, Joshua S. Terry, Joseph Harris,
Stephen Reeves and Capt. Joseph Bancroft, were among the early settlers
of the town of Pontiac.
Orion and Oxford
In town 4 north, range 10 east, now called Orion, Judah Church and
John Wetmore made the first purchase; on the 18th of October, 1819,
they purchased a lot on section 19, being the first choice, in what was
known as the Big Pinery. In 1824, Moses Munson, Powell Carpenter,
Jesse Decker, Phillip Bigler, Jonathan Pinckney and Simeon Simmons
purchased. Alexander McVean, David Bagg, John McElvery and Daniel
McVean, were among the early settlers.
In town 5 north, range 10 east, called Oxford, the first purchase
was made by Elbridge G. Deming, on the 28th of January 1823. But
few inhabitants settled in this town until 1833, when Joseph Rossman,
Fitz Rossman, John Shippy, John Wellman and S. Axford purchased.
Daniel Applegate, Jeremiah Hunt, Jutish Bixley and Messrs. Van
Wagoners were among the early settlers.
The plains about the village of O.xford were passed over by those
seeking for farms for many years; and places less valuable were settled
in the far off forests, under the supposition that those were valueless
for agricultural purposes. Thus one of the best portions of the county
remained uncultivated till a late period.
ROVAT. 0.\K AND TroY
In town I north, range 11 east, called Royal Oak, L. Luther and
D. ■\IcKinstry made the first entry; on the 6th of July, 1S20, they en-
tered a part of section 33. In 1821, Henry Stephens, Alexander Camp-
36 TTTSTORV OF OAKLAND OOUXTV
bell, Diodate Hubbard, Abraliani Noyes, J. Goddard, Hezekiah Gridly,
James Lockwood and David 'Williams, and they, together with Henry
O, Bronson, Daniel Burrows, Mr. Chase, Mr. Morse and that eccentric
old lady, Mrs. Chappel, well known by the soul)ri(|uet of Mother Hand-
some, were among the first settlers.
In 1826, John W. Beardsley purchased on the Chesse-bau ])lains,
where he resided for many years afterward.
Henry T. Sanderson purchased in 1833. In 183 1 Melvin Dorr, and
Butler Holcomb bought lands, about where stands the village of Clarks-
ton, and erected there, on the east branch of the Clinton river, a sawmill.
Br.\ndon, Southfield .\nd Bloomfield
In town 5. north range 9 east, called Brandon, Elijah B. Clark, .Asa
Owen and Jesse Decker made the first purchase on the 30th of June,
1831, and entered a part of section 25. In 1833, John Perry, Alexander
G. Huff and Mary Quick purchased, and in 1835, G. M. Giddings, Henry
Forbes and Daniel Hunt entered lands. But few entries were made in
this town before 1836.
In town I north, range 10 east, first organized as Ossewa, but now
called Southfield, the first entry of lands were made by John W'etmore
in ]\lay, 1821. In the same year Peter Dennoyer and John Monteith
purchased, and in 1822 Harry Brownson, Samuel Shattuck and Eli
Curtis. Dillucena Stoughton, Elijah Bullock, Edward Cook, Philo Reed,
John Davis, William Lee, were among the early settlers of the town.
In town 2 north, range 10 east, called Bloomfield, the first entry of
lands was made on the 28th of January, 1819, by Benjamin H. Pierce.
March 16, 1829, Peter Dennoyer entered a lot, and on the 3d day of
July, 1820, Col. David Stannard entered a ]iart of section 4. The Stan-
nard entry was the first made in Michigan under what was called the
"ten shilling'' act.
CHAPTER V
PICTURES OF THE PAST
Hervey Parke Comes to Oakland County — Bloomfield and Royal
Oak in 1821 — Infant Village of Pontiac — Governor WisNer and
His Mullet Story — Becomes Horatio Ball's Assistant — Joseph
Wampler's Assigned Territory — A Surveyor's Hardships — Re-
turns with His Family — Birthplace of John H. Parke — Home-
stead at Last — Surveys from Pontiac — Running Lines under
Difficulties — Fresh Trails of the Black Hawk War — Between
Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron — Surveys in Black Hawk Reser-
vation, Iowa — Another Iowa Contract — Captain Parke's Re-
capitulation — Recollections of Benjamin O. Williams — Indian
Near Death — Dear Old Oakland, the Best of All — A Picture
of Memory (by John M. Norton) — Advent of the Pioneer — •
Railroad as a Fun-Maker — The Life Bequeathed by the Pi-
oneers — Fifty Years Ago and Now (by S. B. McCracken) —
Contrasts of Life — "Granny" McCracken — Father and Mother
McCracken — The Schools of Fifty Years Ago — Mormon Visi-
tation OF 1832 — Auburn and the Young Pioneers.
In the previous chapter mention has been made of the first settlers
and land owners in the various sections and townships of Oakland
county. In this chapter, the author is pleased to present, through the
■papers of several well known pioneers, pictures which are principally
drawn from experience and observation "on the spot."
Hervey Parke Comes to Oakland County
The first contribution is taken from papers read before the County
Pioneer Society in 1874 and 1876, by Captain Hervey Parke, the old-
time surveyor whose name has already appeared a number of times in
the course of the historical narrative. His first paper is entitled "Recol-
lections of Aly First Tour in Michigan in 1821," and such selections
are taken from it as appear to be most pertinent. Captain Parke was
teaching in Oneida county, New York, at the time, but like many enter-
prising young men had studied surveying and wanted to see the west.
Despite the cliscouraging reports regarding Michigan, which had reached
the east through the surveyors' reports, he determined to investigate
for himself, and on the 21st of March, 1821, in company with Treat
37
38 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
Bryant and John Simons, started on his journey of five liundred miles,
carrying a knapsack containing his surveying instruments and enough
other contents to weigh forty-five pounds. After sixteen days of travel
through mud and water, often knee deep, the three young men reached
Detroit river and crossed over to tlie city in a rowboat.
In Detroit Captain Parke had his first view of the Steamboat Hotel,
kept by Benjamin Woodworth, who was to figure considerably in Oak-
land county affairs, and also passed the store of Oliver Newberry, in
whose employ he was to meet Elisha Beach, a future citizen of Pontiac.
The travelers did not linger in the metropolis, at this time, but were
soon in the highway which led into the interior toward the northwest
and Oakland county. The last of the three small houses which they
passed before fairly striking the wilderness of southern Michigan, was
about nine miles from Detroit, and was occupied by Airs. Chappel, more
familiarly known as Mother Handsome. Here they found shelter for
the night. About half a mile beyond, when they resumed their journey
in the morning, they reached the causeway built by the troops under
Colonel Leavenworth in 1818. This was a little less than a mile in
length and pronounced by Captain Parke as "the worst ever built, as
no regard was paid to equalizing the size of the logs, the largest and the
smallest lying side by side.
Bloom FIELD .\nd Rov.\l 0.\k ix 1821
"At the angle of the road, twelve miles from Detroit, we passed the
Royal Oak tree, which had nothing remarkable in its appearance, but
was known as the point from which Horatio Ball had started the line
when surveying the road to Pontiac, known as the Ball line road. This
angle also was the point of intersection of Paint Creek road; a Mr.
Woodford lived about a mile beyond. A little south of the line between
the towns of Bloomfield and Royal Oak two families by the name of
Keyser and Thurber had settled. Reaching the beautiful table-land
where is now situated the village of Birmingham, we found four fami-
lies : Elisha Hunter, his son, John W. Hunter, John Hamilton and
Elijah Willets — the latter, inn-keeper. Here I got my first glimpse of
the lovely land of Oakland county. Three-fourths of a mile this side of
Hunter's lived Dr. Swan and his son-in-law, Sidney Dole, who was
justice of the peace, register of deeds and county clerk. The next
house was that of Deacon Elijah Fish, and on the hill just south of
where now is Bloomfield Center, resided Amasa Bagley and his son-in-
law, William Morris, the latter being sheriil' of the county.
"The next settler was a Mr. Ferguson, wdiose neighbors, if living,
may rememher him from the remark he made after the nomination of
Austin E. Wing, as delegate to congress in 1824 or 1825. Ferguson
w-as a Whig, and, disputing with a Democrat who asserted Wing could
never be elected, replied : 'He will surely be elected, for the very
whippoorwills sing "vote for Wing, vote for W'ing." ' Well, ^^'ing was
elected, took his seat in congress, and performed his duty nobly for
the young territory.
"Major Jose|)h Todd lived on the farm since known as the ICUiott
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 89
farm, and near by Asa B. Hadsel. The next house, a half-mile further,
was that of Colonel David Stanard, a small framed house, being the
same Joseph J. Todd occupied about forty-five years, having added to
its length and height.
IXFANT \'lLLAGE OF POXTIAC
"About one and a half miles through the woods we approached the
village of Pontiac, where we found a small framed house on the west
side of Saginaw street, nearly opposite where the Methodist church now
stands, occupied by Mr. Terry. Crossing the bridge, on the corner of
Saginaw and Water streets, we found a small log house, the first erected
in the village, and a little beyond and on the east side of Saginaw street
(if my memory serves me), O. Bartlett lived in a small framed house.
These were the only buildings at this time (June i, 1821) on Saginaw
street. This street being well filled with hazel brush. Water street re-
ceived the travel to Perry street. On the west side of the latter street,
between Pike and Lawrence, were three houses, one occupied by Deacon
Orisen Allen, and a little beyond on the east side of Perry street, nearly
opposite the grist mill, stood a double log house called the 'Company
house,' and occupied by Colonel Stephen Mack, agent of the Pontiac
company. In addition to the grist mill there was a sawmill and work
shop. On the first Monday in June, my first visit to the village, a
militia training was in full blast ; John W. Hunter commanded the one
and only company north of the base line in Michigan territory. On
this day the company was divded and a new company formed by elect-
ing the late Colonel Calvin Hotchkiss captain. Proceeding northwest
on the road occasionally traveled to Saginaw, distant aliout a mile from
the village, Captain Stanley lived on what has more recently been known
as the Pier farm, on the present White Lake road.
( GOVKRXOR WiSN'ER AND HiS '■]\rULLET" StORY
"The Indian trail from Detroit to Saginaw, which decided the loca-
tion of Pontiac, crossed the Clinton at the same point as the present
bridge on Saginaw street ; turned northerly toward the company house,
then bore northwesterly, keeping east of the extensive marsh just be-
yond the residence of the late Governor Wisner, then turned in a
northwesterly direction, crossing the Pontiac creek a few rods north-
west of the present crossing on the Saginaw road. Oliver Williams, on
the southwest side of Silver lake was the next home, three and one-half
miles from Pontiac. He had removed to this place from Detroit in
1818; he built the first farm barn in the county, the lumljer for enclosing
it being manufactured by a couple of Frenchmen from Detroit, with a
whip saw.
"Mr. Wisner kept open house, and in passing and re-passing to
Flint river, in 1821, I invariably called. He was a real gentleman, social,
good-natured, remarkably generous and hospitable, and fond of a good
story. I well reiuember late one evening in December, 1821, in return-
ing with our surveying party from Flint, after fording the Clinton at
40 HISTORY Ol- OAKLAND COUNTY
the little pinery, with the thermometer at zero, when nearly oft' our
legs, we reached and were most kindly cared for in this most hospitable
home. During one of my calls 1 inc|uired if there were many fish in
Silver lake; he replied he could not say in regard to numbers, but he
once hauled out a mullet that weighed one hundred and forty pounds.
This rather surprised me, and while retlecting, not wishing to dispute
his veracity, he observed my embarrassment as to the remark being
somewhat fishy, and explained that a brother of John Mullett, the sur-
veyor, was once fishing there, and falling into the lake was rescued by
Mr. Williams. In those days of easy familiarity, he was known by the
cognomen of Major Togee, and once at a social jiarty at Dr. Chipman's,
Mrs. Chipman desiring to address him by his title, and in the excitement
of the occasion being forgetful of the same, said 'Major Hot Toddy,
Alajor Hot Toddy!' About four miles beyond O. Williams, and at
the crossing of the Indian trail on the Clinton, resided Alpheus Wil-
liams and Captain Archibald Phillips, where a sawmill had been erected,
and at this time was in operation.
Becomes Hor.xtio Ball's Assist.\nt
"But I will now return to my temporary home at Captain John Hun-
ter's, of whose kindness, together with that of his excellent wife, long
since gone to her reward, I cannot too highly speak. Here I made the
acquaintance of Horatio Ball, son of Daniel Ball, who lived three-fourths
of a mile southwest of Hunter's. He had received a contract for sub-
dividing ten townships of land between Flint and Cass rivers. I ar-
ranged to accomiiany him as assistant, to carry the compass half of the
time. He was waiting for the completion of the town lines, which had
been assigned to a young man by the name of Hester. We were soon
informed he had 3one nothing after having discovered an Indian wigwam
near a small lake, and, as he was accompanied by his dogs and was
otherwise prepared for a winter's hunt, had decided to pass the winter
in this pleasant locality and avoid the swamps. In a week's time every
man of his party had left him, while he was taking lessons of the Indians
in hunting and of the squaws in moccasin making. Here he remained
during the winter. The next June he was seen passing through Pontiac
on horseback, accompanied by about a dozen natives of both sexes, to
make his report to the surveyor general at Chillicothe, and also to his
father for $600 cash advanced.
JosEni Wampler's Assigned Terkitorv
"Hester having thus failed in fullilling his contract, the work was
assigned to Joseph Wampler, of Ohio (the surveyor who sub-divided
ranges 10 and 11 in Oakland county). We set off for our work on the
13th of June, arriving at Flint river before Wampler returned from
.Saginaw bay. The heavy rains had swollen the river to nearly full
banks, and as there was no way of crossing we started up the river to
the Kearslev, where we felled a suitable pine, about sixteen feet of
which we removed from the main body of the tree and shaped it canoe-
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 41
like, digging out the same so far as could be done with axes and made
it answer our purpose, and we floated it down the river and landed it
on the north side, where the city of Flint is now located. Here we
found Jake Smith, called 'Waljaseis' by the Indians, who had been
an Indian trader for several years and who had recently received the
appointment of Indian farmer. He had built a comfortable log house
a few rods below the present railroad bridge. This was occupied by
Smith, a white man, with his mother and sister ; also by a man by the
name of Doane. The two men at this time (the middle of June) were
hoeing corn, with veiled faces on account of the mosquitoes.
"After waiting about a week we were furnished with the held notes,
and commenced our work in town 7 north, of range 7 east. After a
week's work we returned to the trading house, when soon after Wampler
and his party came in, the men utterly refusing to continue longer on
account of the suffering they had endured from the mosquitoes, both
men and horses being weak from loss of blood and want of rest. Owing
to the discontinuance of the township lines survey, we were compelled
to discontinue our work and we decided to accompany Wampler's party
to Pontiac. During the remainder of the season I made my home with
Mr. Hunter, and occasionally accompanied a land-looker.
"Early in autumn Wampler returned to Flint river to finish his
work, and our party followed for the purpose of finishing our work, in
October.
A Surveyor's Hardships
"This occupied about sixty days, and from the experience of Ball
and the miserable outfits, we sufifered both from hunger and cold. We
had no tents, only an old second-hand tarpaulin, which had been laid
aside as useless for hatchway service. In the absence of a kneading
trough, our cook made use of this piece of canvas to mix his bread.
This was unfortunate, for on our first visit to the trading house some
swine, attracted by the adhering dough, nearly devoured and entirely
destroyed it, and we had now no cover besides our blankets. Our pro-
visions were inadequate ; we were frequently reduced to a short allow-
ance of only buggy peas, and at one time, when weak from want of
food, we found a wigwam where a squaw was cooking succotash, which
she kindly divided with us. This occurred on the last day of our survey,
while meandering the river. Closing our work on the line of the reserve
at sunset and following up the river, forcing our way through thick
beds of rushes knee high, at about 9 o'clock we reached Smith's trading-
house, so hungry from several days' short allowance that we took the
potatoes from the kettle half boiled. I must not forget to mention the
names of the men who formed this surveying party. Besides Ball and
myself, there were Rufus Stevens, Michael Beach, Chester Webster,
and a young man from the Emerald Isle, named Pool.
"During the sub-division of town 9 north, of range 6 east, we en-
countered the most terrible gale of wind I ever w^itnessed in the woods
of Michigan. The trees crackled and fell in all directions close around
us. It was on the same night the "Walk-in-the-Water' lav off Buffalo,
deeply laden for Detroit. Captain Rodgers, after discovering the open-
42 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
iiig seams of the steamer, and realizing the im])ending danger, very
lirojierly gave the order to slip the cal)le. releasing iier, anri she went on
shore.
"We finished our work on the last of December, and I clecitled to
accompany Mr. Ball to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he made his returns
to the surveying general's office. In addition to letters I already pos-
sessed from Governor Clinton, of New York, and from Judge Wright,
chief engineer of the Erie canal, I had procured one from (lovernor
Cass, who recommended me from the fact I intended making Michigan
my home. Starting on our journey, when a little way below Detroit,
we w'ere fortunate in obtaining passage with an Ohio farmer, who had
just made sale of his butter and cheese in Detroit. Landing at San-
dusky, we footed it to Chillicothe. Presenting my letters, which proved
satisfactory, he promised me future work. The purpose of my visit to
Michigan being accomplished, and arrangements for future employ-
ment as government surveyor perfected. I immediatelv returned to my
home, where I arrived on the 14th of h'ebruary, having been absent
eleven months."
Returns with His Family
As stated, during his first visit to Michigan. Captain Parke made
arrangements with Edward Tiffin, surveyor general of Ohio, Indiana
and ]\Iichigan, to return in 1822 to continue his work. In May of that
year he started for the west with his wife and child from his home in
Camden. New York, and journeyed by the Erie canal and lake steamer.
After being delayed for about a week by a severe gale, the family took
the steamer "Superior" from Buffalo to Sandusky. "Putting into San-
dusky as usual to receive passengers," continues the narrative, "I met
Judge Burt for the first time, direct from the surveyor general's office.
Arriving at Detroit I met John Hamilton, with whom I formed an
acquaintance the previous year. He was provided with an ox-team and
being in pursuit of a load, I engaged him to take me to my journey's
end.
"It was late before we left the cit}- ; we did not reach the angle of
the road (six miles) until nearly sunset. .\t this point begins the
causeway, constructed by the United States troops when garrisoned at
Detroit under the command of Colonel Leavenworth.*
"Arriving at White's tavern, their beds were occupied, but Mrs.
White spread a few^ blankets on the floor where we slept as soundly as
the swarming mos(|uitoes would ]jcrniit.
"In the morning Hamilton came up and we again mmmled the
wagon, going smoothly along over the i)lains to the angle of the Paint
creek road, where then stood the famous oak tree. The numerous pitch-
holes made riding so uncomfortable we were glad to get out and walk
the remaining five miles to Mr. J. W. Hunter's place of residence.
Here we received such a welcome as onl\- himself an(l familv could give,
and we were invited to remain several weeks with them. During this
time Mr. and Mrs. Hunter visited their eastern home, leaving us in
charge of their family of young daughters.
* This piece 01 road has already Iieeii described.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 43
Birthplace of John H. Parke
"On their return liome he offered me the use of the shop, as he called
it, an unfinished log house, built but not used for blacksmithing pur-
poses, which he said I would be quite welcome to occupy. Doors, win-
dows and floors were soon put in, and we moved into our first home
in the west. There, in 1823, my only son, John H. Parke, was born.
Our furniture consisted of a table made by myself from a rough board,
and chairs which my brother-in-law, Harry Brownson, who came soon
after myself, built with his ax out of rough timber.
"These articles, with our beds and bedding, several trunks and a
small stock of clothing, comprised all my worldly possessions. I will
not neglect to add that $8.50 in cash remained, and I was at this time in
my thirty-third year. Of course the strictest economy was necessary,
but my hopes were bright. I was in perfect health and all the prelim-
inaries for the future work in surveying public lands entered into the
previous year.
"It being time I was on the move for family supplies, when, with the
asistance of a friend, I raised a sum sufficient, added to the above, and
set out on foot for Detroit, encountering mud, water, flies and mosquitoes.
"Cattle drovers from Ohio were the chief dependence of the pioneers,
but finding none at the time, 1 bought a fine looking new milch cow
from a Frenchman, which proved to be so ungovernable as to require
two men to hold and milk her, until I made a pen so constructed that
she could neither turn, go ahead, or back out, and the milking could be
performed by a single person. After this I made another purchase of
a cow at the administrator's sale of the estate of Webster, in the fall of
1824.
"Whether Mr. Webster died in 1822, or 1823, I am unable to say.
He came as passenger in the steamer 'Superior' in May, 1822, with the
mill-irons on board, when it was said that Burtt & Allen, millwrights,
were set at work and the sawmill was put in running order at Auburn,
called Smith's mill. After the death of Mr. Webster the real estate
passed into the hands of the father of Captain Isaac Smith.
"At the time of my arrival at Hunter's the settlement { now Birming-
ham) contained four log dwellings, occupied by Elijah Willetts, John
W. Hunter, Elisha Hunter, his father, and John Hamilton.
"In the fall of 1822 my brother. Dr. Ezra S. Parke, having recently
completed his medical studies, arrived with his wife and one child, an
infant daughter, who afterward became the wife of M. W. Kelsey. He
was an earnest, zealous Christian, niemlier of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and soon after his arrival commenced holding occasional religious
services in his own house on Sunday afternoon. On these occasions the
singing was principally performed by his wife, who was remarkable for
her rich, sweet voice, as well as many other lovely Christian graces.
The early settlers and other friends can never forget this excellent woman ;
her cheerfulness of temper in all circumstances. Her kindness and
sympathy in sickness and affliction were unsurpassed. She literally
went about doing good. These meetings were the first held in the
neighborhood, with the exception of a sermon I heard in 1821, in Wil-
44 HISTORY OF OAKLAXD COUNTY
lett's barroom, by a Methodist minister who came u]) the Rouge and
whose name I do not remember.
"I could get but little employment during the summer. Occasionally
I assisted emigrants in land-looking and surveying, but endeavored to
wait patiently for the fulfillment of the promise which had been given
me. Early in the winter I received the place of teacher in the school
on Swan"s Plains, where I continued until February, when a letter from
Air. Mullett, of Detroit, proposed our visitmg Chillicothe together that
we might soon procure the promised contract.
"I resigned my place in the school to my brother, Dr. Parke, and
soon arranged with Mr. M. for our journey. Our outfit consisted of
a French pony, a jumper rudely constructed with a crockery crate for
a box (this half filled with straw) and a couple of blankets, not forget-
ting a saddle ; and we were soon gliding down on the ice of the Detroit
river to Sandusky. Here we left the jumper, saddled the pony, and
proceeded on our journey — one riding and the other walking. After
going a certain distance, the horseman would dismount, hitch the pony
to a sapling, and proceed, taking his turn in walking, while his com-
panion after a time would pass him on horseback, and in the proper
place, he, too, would dismount and hitch, and the journey was concluded
on this ride-and-tie principle.
"Our interview with the general was most satisfactory. The oath
of office was administered and each received a contract. Mr. M. and
myself were the first appointed from this territory, except Mr. Ball,
who filled one contract of ten townships in 1821. In a year or two
William Brockfield, of Detroit, received a contract. Others were fur-
nished work soon after."
HOMESTE.AD ..\T L.\ST
From this time on. Captain Parke's duties as surveyor took him into
various sections of Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, his professional
labors covering some sixteen years. His home, however, was in the
township of Pontiac. "In the autumn of 1823," he says in his second
narrative, "I purchased of Shubael Conant. the southeast quarter of
section 7,3 in the township of Pontiac, at a little less than three dollars
per acre. The following year I added thirty-one acres on the north
and adjoining the same at five dollars per acre. The year previous,
however, I purchased of the same sixteen and a half acres to secure
building ground, as the line of road from Detroit had cut off my former
building ground and first purchase, the price being ten dollars, with the
privilege of one, or as many acres as I chose.
"In Mav, 1824, I was ready to take possession, when judge LeRoy,
wIkj owned and occupied the house in which Joseph J. Todd has since
resided about forty years, kindly oft'ered me a room for the use of
my family while my own house was building. This rcfjuired the labor of
three men besides myself for two weeks. The roof was covered with
boards, battened with slabs, and as the house logs were cut in unequal
lengths, when raised to their proper place they formed steps convenient
for mounting the roof at the alarm of fire'. The interior was quite com-
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 45
fortable and pleasant, the logs being hewn and partially covered with
newspapers, the floor of white pine, and two doors, and windows oppo-
site, of seven by nine glass; a wide, open fireplace, one side of which,
in the corner, was a ladder for ascending the loft, where our friends
found a comfortable bed. And soon after, for further convenience,
especially for the aged, as it was difficult to ascend the ladder, and
dangerous with all, I added to the rear of the house a room for their
accommodation, and a sixteen by twenty room at the soutii end for a
kitchen.
"I'^om the year 1824 up to December, 1829, I surveyed twenty-two
townships, in addition to the foregoing, extending from the principal
meridian to the west boundary of the large Indian reservation extending
to Saginaw bay. In the fall and winter of 1826-7, I subdivided six
townships on Lookingglass river (Clinton county). This survey ex-
tended south and west to the north line of the township in which the
state capital is located.
"The Stevens family — father of [Messrs, Rufus and Sherman Stevens
— resided at Grand Blanc, and from this place I packed my provisions ;
finishing my district the 15th of January, I arrived home in the evening
and my wife, on the lookout, having heard of my arrival at the village,
met me at the door, welcoming me and presenting to my arms our infant
daughter, aged six weeks. This, my youngest child, became the wife
of Levi Bacon, Jr. It was a joyful meeting of the family, I having
been absent sixty-two days.
Surveys from Pontiac
"The last week in December, 1829, three surveyors, Clark, Thomas,
and Christmas, left Pontiac on a surveying tour west from Saginaw,
myself following them a day or two after, my work being twelve town-
ships, from towns 11 to 18, north from the meridian, east to the reserva-
tion above mentioned on the Kankanin river, having engaged Phillip
Bigler to transport my provisions to Saginaw, where I made head-
C|uarters. Proceeding on the ice of the Saginaw and Tittabawassee
rivers to the line of township 12 on the west side of the Tittabawassee
river, the snow full knee deep at every step rendered our work slow and
tedious, when, before we were aware of it, we found ourselves running
a line in the Forks reservation, causing much delay in our work in
hunting the lines when backing out for this purpose. Succeeding in
this, our work went on at the rate of four or five miles a day only, as
the lines were to be walked over the second time ; continuing at this
rate only throughout the winter, not losing a day on account of the
weather until the 8th of April, we started out as usual as soon as it
was light.
Running Lines Under Difficulties
"The wind, rising as the sun rose, increased, and as the treetops
were loaded with snow, filled the air, so that we were compelled to
return to camp, where we remained two days. When hearing from
Thomas, it was said he was about at the point of discouragement
4f. HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
in not l)cing al)k' to lind liis starting ])oint. this being his first experience
in the wooils, when he sang out '1 will give any man fifty dollars that
will show me my starting point.'
" 'W'ill you give me that?' said Chester Coodrich, who had been
through one surveying tour with Mr. Alullett.
"The next I heard was that Christmas had gone to the settlement
and had engaged board for himself with Mr. O. Williams for the win-
ter, leaving two men to keep camp at half [jay. Thomas had found his
corner, had become stimulated with courage, declaring that he would
leave his bones in the woods sooner than leave his work. 1 never heard
whether Chester had received the fifty dollars.
"The snow disappeared and warm weather succeeded, the men com-
posing the three parties (for Christmas had now returned) suffered so
extremely from inflamed and swollen feet that they were obliged to
stop work and went to the forks of the river, where there was a trading
house which was our base of supplies. A sub-chief soon brought me a
letter from Clark, urging me also to discontinue work, in order to make
it a general thing. I had already performed the full amount of my
twelve townships, for Clark had been unable to reach me with his lines,
and I had been necessitated to run several of his township lines. For
eight weeks I had carried the compass with a badly crippled foot, the
result of a frost bite, and, during the breaking up of the ice swamps,
being compelled to wade a good share of the time in ice cold water. I
suffered more than my pen can describe. Being in this position, and
John Powel, my axeman, just taken lame, 1 acceded to the request and
we were soon on our way to Pontiac. While traveling together Clark
said, 'Parke, if we are ordered to complete our work, you must finish
mine, for I would rather lose all I have done than return here.' Dur-
ing this winter we had many hindrances to encounter. When encamped
at the northwest corner of township 17 it was necessary to go to the
northeast corner of the township to run the line west.
"This corner had been previously established on the left bank of the
Tittabawassee, when we mistook the Tobacco river for the Tittabawassee
river, and sought nearly two days in a blinding snow storm, having
passed the junction of the two rivers, when not able to see the corner
on account of the brush covered with snow, having passed it several
times during the second day. At night I told the boys we must have
intersected some other stream, and in the morning we would continue
east, when we would find the corner.
"My expectations were realized, and we found the corner and a
brush-built hut built by Steinbrook, in which he had been awaiting our
arrival. Pecoiuing impatient, he had left, probably for Saginaw. On
his return, owing to the difficulties of passing through the brush, he
rigged a kind of jumper, drawing it on the ice and attaching it to him-
self in such a manner as to disengage himself when breaking through
the ice in deep water : but at one time he came near losing his life.
"On another occasion, when returning from Saginaw with his jum])er,
discovering a ])ack of wolves feasting on a deer they had just drawn
from an ice hole, he decided on sharing a j)orlion of the deer with the
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 47
wolves; and, when they growled and glared at him, hastily sprang upon
them, yelling and waving his hat ; they slowly retired a few steps, while
he took a portion that was left, and retired.
"Early in autumn, 1830, we, the delinquent surveyors of the past
year, were notified to go forward and complete our work without delay.
When preparing outfits for another campaign in the Saginaw woods,
Christmas made his appearance, being on his way to complete his un-
finished work.
"The two parties, his and my own, left Pontiac together, and when
on our way he suggested assisting me in completing the three contracts
on my hands. Arriving at Saginaw, the schooner from Detroit, on
board of which were our supplies, had grounded on the river bar, caus-
ing delay and serious consequences for a time.
"Through the kindness of the Messrs. E. F. and Gardner ^^'illiams,
at Saginaw City, we we^e supplied with sufficient provisions for a single
trip, as they were short, their supplies being on board of the same vessel.
Dividing with Christmas and leaving part of my own for the next trip
of the packer, Samuel Steinbrook, the parties proceeded together and
recommenced work. The other packer went for supplies first, and as
the schooner had not arrived my provisions were taken for the other
party, Steinbrook being provided with two bags of potatoes, being all
our friends, Messrs. Williams, could do for us.
"I regretted, when too late, that I did not send Steinbrook with a
letter demanding a share of the provisions stolen after dividing with
the party. Potato diet, working twelve hours a day, was hardly suffi-
cient. The third day, as we were running a line east, we met the packer,
and never did the pony obtain relief so sudden as then. Every man had
his pocket knife in requisition, sharpening sticks for broiling pork.
"Aittr this occurrence our work went on regularly, as there was no
further delay for some time. Steinbrook, on his return, brought a
letter from Christmas, desiring to know what I would give for the
privilege of completing his work. I answered him briefly : as for
'giving' for this privilege it was out of question, and, respecting the
finishing of his work, no encouragement could I offer.
"C)n the next return trip of the packer this surveyor had taken pas-
sage, leaving two men at camp, Eli Sawtels being one of them. Christ-
mas, renewing his application, got my assistance in the further fulfill-
ment of his contract. He had become broken down, discouraged, home-
sick and sick of the woods, to the shedding of tears, as he was pleading
for assistance.
"When out of pity to him I said, 'If you will finish the township in
which you are engaged, I will complete the remainder (two townships)
of your work.' It is not for me to say how I found his work had been
performed, having but two men left to assist, the others having left for
home. The following year I received a letter from him, stating his
expenditures during the two trips exceeded the amount of his receipts
ninety dollars.
"I never heard from Thomas after his leaving the Saginaw woods.
Clark dropped dead from apoplexy, with the compass under his arm,
48 IllSi'om' ()[• OAKF.AXI) fOUXTV
while extciuliiit; a raiii^L- line in llie western ])art of the slate in 1836
or 1837.
"1 will mention here that 1 linished the work of the two last named
surve_vors in the Saginaw woods and marshes.
"In the autnnni of 1S32 J left home for the ptirpose of subdividing
fifteen townships in the lead mine district in Wisconsin.
Fresh Trails 01^ the Bl.\ck Hawiv W'ak
"This is remembered as the cholera year, and also the one which
closed the Ijlack Hawk war. A little cluster of whitewashed houses
at the mouth of the Chicago river marked the site of the present great
city. A little distance from this point we discovered fresh wagon tracks
diverging from the main road which had been made by General Scott's
little ariny in purstiit of Black Hawk and his warriors, which with the
aid of a pocket compass for general course, we mainly followed. Our
troops must have made about eleven miles a day in their march, as was
indicated by their camping grounds, where we foimd traces of their
fires, cast-off clothing and frec|uent new-made graves. Half a mile east
of Rock river we first discovered where Black Hawk and his warriors
had encamped three weeks j^revious, and took possession for one night
only. In addition to the tent-poles were si.x or eight brush heaps twelve
or fifteen feet in diameter, three or four feet high, the use of which
considering their mode of warfare, we could not comprehend.
"At sunrise we were by the river which was filled by new made, sharp,
cutting ice, and the depth of the water w'as midriff to the pony. The
poor animal had a hard time taking us all over. Erwin Tyler, the cook,
being the smallest man, was selected as ferryman, and crossed and re-
crossed, carrying one man behind him each trip. From this point the
character of the country changed from level to hilly, and reaching the
height of ground we could distinctly see. looking ahead, three Indian
trails, apparently six feet apart, indicating that the warriors marched
in single file. The second day after crossing the river, we came across
an Indian trader, rebuilding, the Indians having burned his house and
from him obtained a fresh supply of provisions. Arriving at Mineral
Point, met a son of General Dodge, from whom I engaged a good sup-
ply of smoked side pork, not needed for the troops, as the war had
closed. I engaged flour at fourteen dollars per barrel. During our
journey the weather had been warm and smoky, but the night of our
arrival a terrible snow storm occurred, continuing thirty-six hours, with
drifts fifteen to twenty feet high. This was discouraging, for in a prai-
rie country the corners are made by raising mounds of earth two and
one-half feet high ; in the top a stake is driven and inscribed with mark-
ing-inm. denoting town, range and section. The weather was bitter
cold and our labor severe, but with a spade and two-edged axe, we over-
came all difficulties.
"The month of l*"ei)ruary was pleasant and the honey bees were out
flying in the air. ( )ne morning I discovered honey-comb near the foot
of a hollow tree, from which we took two camp kettles' of as beauti-
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 49
ful honey as I ever saw. and from this time forward we were constantly
suppHed with honey.
"There was occasionally much excitement caused by the movement
of the Indians, although after the battle of Bad Axe, on the Missis-
sippi, where General Dodge gave them a terrible whipping, some of the
principal warriors succeeded in crossing the Mississippi. Black Hawk
was soon after captured, having left his warriors after crossing Rock
river.
"One day, sitting there in camp, copying field notes to transmit to
the ofiicers, having sent the boys out to complete a couple of lines, I
was a little startled in hearing the crack of a rifle close by, and rapidly
approaching footsteps, followed by an Indian greatly excited, who pointed
in the direction of the gun shot; then stooping to the ground he picked
up a piece of bark which he threw in the same direction. Shaking my
head he saw I was determined not to understand him, and he looked
sullen, mad, and much disappointed. Of course I thought he had an
accomplice, and had I left would have robbed the camp. In a few min-
utes two more Indians appeared and when within si.x feet of the tent
placed the butt of their riflles upon the ground. I felt quite relieved.
We exchanged the usual salutation of 'boo shoo,' at their first appear-
ance. I invited them to lunch with me as was always my custom in
Michigan, after which we parted good friends.
"I finished this work the last of April, and my men returned home,
with the exception of my nephew, M. B. Smith, who accompanied me
to Cincinnati, as the surveyor general's office had been removed to the
city.
"I had waited at Galena three weeks for the arrival of the first
steamer going south. During my stay at Galena great excitement ex-
isted in regard to Indians, as rumor said they were assembling by hun-
dreds at Dixon's ferry, on Black river. One day a great scare occurred
as a horseman appeared on the opposite side of the river, shouting 'to
arms! to arms!' All the inhabitants were fleeing from Dixon's ferry
to Galena in great terror. He plunged his poor, panting horse into the
stream, rapidly urging him over. Tiie poor animal feel dead soon after
reaching the opposite shore. Laying aside my papers I set off for the
ferry, where drums and fifes were playing and fifty or more men and
boys had assembled. About the time I was leaving, the assembled mul-
titude, fifteen or twenty young men mounted on horseliack, were cross-
ing the river to assist the women and children on their way. But as
usual it proved a false alarm.
"While making returns at this time, the surveyor general suggested
my entering into contract for surveying the exterior lines of townships
in Indiana, and proceeding to the work as soon as I could make the
necessary arrangements. Owing to the ill health of my wife when last
heard from, I chose to defer giving an answer till I arrived home, when
it was suggested my leaving a blank contract, to which I assented. The
work in Indiana was afterwards given to Sylvester Sibley and another
Michigan surveyor. For this act of the government agent the Indiana
surveyors were much displeased, so much so as I was told, it was car-
ried into congress at the next session.
Vol. 1—4
50 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
Between Sacinaw J>av and Lake Htron
"During the following autumn orders were received by the surveyor
general to cause that part of the territory lying between Saginaw bay
and township 9, on Lake Huron, to be surveyed. The chief clerk was
instructed to fill the blanks in the above mentioned contract and for-
ward the same to me. This work had been given to Joseph Wampler
in the fall of 1822, embracing about eighty township exterior lines, ex-
tending south to township 6, and from range 8 east to Lake Huron, he
(Wampler) having surveyed about twenty-four townships, leaving the
north line of townshij) 10 unsurveyed, such being his anxiety to leave
the swamps. It was the most dreaded portion of the lower peninsula,
and would have been objectionable at the most favorable season of the
year, but as there was one deputy stu^veyor. William A. Burt, at work
near the lake, and another on his way. it was necessary the survey of
the township lines should be continued or the subdivision must cease.
"I was on the ground with a full party or on about the first day of
January, 1834, at the northwest corner of township 10 east, and there-
fore nearly forty miles east of township line (9 or 10) left unsurveyed
by Wampler. To commence surveying it was necessary to cross the
townships by ranging with pocket compass to intersect just south of
quarter section corner, it being necessary to measure from said corner
a half mile, at which point the town corner was established in readi-
ness to run the line west. This operation was necessary to perform
in every range of townships. The snow being eighteen inches deep and
the evergreen underbrush bent to the ground, it was extremely difficult
ranging to keep our course, which occasioned our falling two miles
short of camp when overtaken by night, and the going of this, our first,
day without su])per. tent, or blankets. In rtinning long lines among
swamps, where it is impossible for horses to pass, it was a common
thing for each man to shoulder and carry throughout the day a pack
containing a blanket and several days' jirovisions. Continuing my work
for a few weeks under great disadvantage, I concluded to return home
and wait until the frost should bridge the streams, which would enable
us to extend our lines into the interior.
"In six weeks I entered the second time, after having obtained the
field notes of a survey in townshij) 9, where the timber, beech, denoted
hard land, indicating that pack horses could be used. With this view
I made a deposit of ])rovisions at Mill Creek in addition to that made
at Lapeer, and Burch's mill on Black river, six miles north of Port
Huron. In addition to the horses. I engaged an extra pack-man. and
proceeded by way of Romeo to Mill creek. Crossed the creek early
in the morning, but soon plunged into almost an unpenetrable swamp,
where I had ex])ccted being able to proceed with the horses, but they
repeatedly sank, were un])acked, dragged out through mud and water,
rejiacked, but soon down again, until night overlook us, when we
chanced to find a section corner by which we learned we had ]irogressed
one and one-half miles. Finding it imjiossible to get the horses through,
I sent them with two men, back to Romeo, with orders to proceed to
Port Huron, then uj) to the lake shore about twenty miles, thence
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 51
northwest to tlie point designated. The axeman, two chainmen and
cook, headed by myself, each with a blanket and two weeks' provisions,
pocket compass in hand, course northeast, set off through the marsh,
readily finding the corner left in my first trip. We commenced work,
continuing two weeks, our provisions much reduced, and not hearing
from the pack-men, I decided we would go in pursuit. Taking an east
course, we intersected Black river, followed down stream, boarded a
shingle shanty, and were informed by the men that the men and horses
had crossed the river and gone west. Turning back in our course we
followed their tracks, and in due time met together. When running
west I dispatched our new pack-man, directing him to go southwest
by the pocket compass and, when eight miles, look sharply for an east
and west line I had surveyed, follow it until he found what I iiad de-
scribed on paper (handing it to him) and he would find provisions in a
basswood trough covered with a like made trough, secured by heavy
logs for safety.
"Finding the provisions he made a full pack from the deposit and
set off to meet the surveying party. L!ut his return was long delayed.
Fortunately the other packer, Steinbrook, was returning from my other
deposit — Burch"s mill — and met the lost and bewildered man, when
the two returned to camp the following day. Of course he had a long
story to tell of his adventures and sufferings during his two weeks'
solitude in the wilderness. For six or eight weeks the land in the
vicinity of the heads of Cass and Black rivers (the English of the
Indian name is 'Big Marsh') was under water from knee to waist
deep, and we were obliged to dispense with our horses while extend-
ing range and township lines, while each man carried on his liack jiis
own blanket and provisions.
"Our progress, of course, was slow, making two and one-half to
three miles per day. We were frequently obliged to lay down poles
and pile on them hemlock boughs to keep out of the water while we
slept. I remember we built one camp-fire on the earth-covered roots
of an overthrown hemlock, after driving center-poles to scaft'old up
to the fire. The difficulty of transporting provisions catised us to be
on short allowance, and I well remember, at one time, when our hun-
ger had not been satisfied for days, and while establishing a corner on
the bank of Lake Huron, a couple of the boys killed a coon when start-
ing for camp, and not being able to reach it before night, we roasted
one quarter of the coon for supper, and lay down blanketless for our
night's repose. The remainder of the little animal, with the last pint
of flour at camp, was quickly disposed of on our arrival.
"In April, finding I was accomplisliing so little after two months'
hard work, I decided to return home and await a more favorable sea-
son. When making returns of the work performed I was offered twelve
townships subdividing, with privilege of selecting my own location. This
I accepted, and early in the autumn started on my third trip. W'hen
recommencing my work on Lake Huron another surveyor was landing
his provisions, preparatory to commencing subdividing where I had
already surveyed the township lines, and another party was said to be
on his way for like purposes. It seemed as though the government
52 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
was determined the survey of the part of the Lower Peninsula should
be completed, twelve years havTng passed by since \\'ami)ler commenced
the township lines. I found the condition of the country more favoralile,
the water having passed otif. W'e found plciUy of game, elk, deer, and
intlications of moose.
"Trapjjers had marked their lines with numerous dead-falls for mar-
tin and other animals, valuable for their furs, having coasted along the
lake shore, as we found their boats well secured at the mouth of one
of the streams.
"My work of subdividing lay partly on Saginaw bay. I completed
it and returned home in February.
Surveys in Black Hawk Reserv.ation, Iowa
"In the autumn of 1836 I received a contract for surveying the ex-
terior lines of about sixty townships in Iowa, extending from the south
boundary of the territory to a point five miles north of Rock island,
being equal to about one-third of the Black Hawk reservation.
"Arrived on the left bank of the Mississippi, opposite Burlington
the 23d day of December, 1836. The river nearly filled with thick cakes
of ice. it was with great difficulty that a ferryman, with my assistance
in throwing a line to them from shore, by which they hauled the boat
to land, having floated with the current far below the city. The packer,
going down the river twelve miles, was able to cross over with the
pack-horses, returning to the party in about two weeks. During this
two weeks were extending lines, putting up at night with the settlers.
"During the titne required for the performance of this work up to
June following, the party suffered extremely with the severity of the
weather, it being an open tract of country, principally prairie. The
great wonder among the 's(|uatters' was, why we came to survey in
winters. "Why,' they say, 'you cannot survey half the time, as you can-
not endure the cold.' In addition to this, the snow was sixteen inches
deep for eight weeks.
"Much time was lost daily in travel to and from timber, for camp-
ing. We continued many days working, while the 'squatters' were sit-
ting by the firesides. I well remember one rainy morning during this
month, entering the open, wide-spread prairie six miles west of Bur-
lington, when running a range line (the pack-man with the horses turn-
ing to tile right for wood shelter), my ne])hew, M. B. Smith, said,
'Uncle, your face is frozen.' This was about the middle of the day.
Such was the sudden change of weather in three or four hours' time,
and increasing, that were it not that we had reached the town corner,
and running east with our backs to the wind, we should have been com-
pelled to flee to the timber to avoid freezing.
"One terrible cold night the prairie winds blew out all our fires,
and our full su])])1y of blankets seemed to aft'ord no ])rotection. Some
of the boys started on a bee line for the nearest house, going in their
stocking feet as the fire had been insufficient to thaw hard frozen boots.
The remainder soon followed and I remained alone in camp until sun-
rise, when I was glad to follow, the entire company's blankets being
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 53
insufficient protection from such terrible cold and wind. During the
month of March the reflection of the sun on the snow was extremely
painful to our eyes, and notwithstanding we adopted the Indian custom
of blacking our faces, it was unsuccessful, and I was compelled to send
a long distance for green glasses, giving relief at once.
"After the middle of April our work went on finely. -Approaching
the western boundary of the reservation, we were anticipating some
trouble with the Indians, as they had manifested some dissatisfaction
regarding the line as surveyed their encampment. But the only an-
noyance we received from them was stealing the only remaining pack
pony, and, as I had sent his mate off with the packman, this compelled
the party to carrv packs when extending lines. This was the fourth
horse stolen by the Indians during my surveys. Completed this work
the first of June, having been absent from home about six months.
Another Iow.\ Contr.\ct
"Receiving another contract for subdividing twelve townships, also
in Iowa, extending from Dubu(|ue to Turkey river, and two ranges west
to an extensive prairie, I left home on the 22d day of August, 1837,
it being the second day of election under the territorial law. Arrived
at Dubuque on the 6th of September, and before the first township was
completed three of the party were taken down with the ague and fever,
causing much delay with our work. Nevertheless we finished the sub-
division in due time, and commenced the survey of the islands in the
Mississippi, and when about two-thirds completed the January thaw
breaking up the ice compelled us to discontinue our work, the only con-
tract I ever failed to fulfill. After waiting a week in vain for a change
of weather we crossed the river with much trouble, for home via Ga-
lena, as there was no road open further north. Arriving at Chicago
the principal topic was the Michigan wild-cat money, followed by the
Canadian patriot war. We frequently met sleighs overloaded with fami-
lies fleeing from their Canadian troubles.
"Arrived home the latter part of February. I then intended dis-
continuing the survey of public lands. However, in the autumn of
1844, I received a letter accompanied by a contract for resurveying
the township of Salem (township i south, range 7 east). The county
surveyor declined making further surveys. It furthermore was en-
joined on me to pay strict regard to the instructions transmitted, they
having emanated from the hand of the commissioner of the land office.
This work required three weeks.
"Early in the year 1845 the office of the surveyor general was re-
moved from Cincinnati to Detroit, when one of the early pioneer sur-
veyors, the late Hon. Lucius Lyon, received the appointment of sur-
veyor general.
C.\PT.\7.\T P.\rke's Recapitul.\tion
"The number of miles of established lines which I surveyed in
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa, from March, 1822, up to the middle of
54 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
Jaiiuar}', 1838, including the survey of township i south, range 7 east,
Washtenaw county, if perfoflned in subdivichng, would be equal to
more than three times the size of Oakland county, amounting to 5,400
miles, the ground twice walked over, amounting to IQ.800; to this add
the daily walking from and return to camp, about e(|ual to thirty miles
to the townshijj; to this add the travel to and from my districts, some-
times several hundred miles from home, and the whole number would
not fall short of 20,000 miles.
"1 have not penned the foregoing as being anything extraordinary,
as there are thousands of men in Michigan who could go through the
same fatigue if they would form a resolution to do so. \Ye suffered
much from frozen feet, the painful effects of which I am still hourly
reminded, after a lapse of forty years.*
"It was not uncommon to carry ])acks of blankets and provisions
camjjing. when overtaken by night.
"In the prairie country we occasionall}- carried poles from two to
three inches in diameter, from which to cut ])osts to set in luounds
every half mile, when raised in the spring. These posts we marked
with the marking iron — township, range and section. I have occasion-
ally entered a prairie with three poles, equal to nine posts, with com-
pass and staff' in hand.
"Our food was healthy, highly relished, and never gave us dyspepsia.
Our breakfast was eaten before daylight, from October to June, that
we might reach our work before sunrise, traveling three or four miles
in prairie or open country. This meal consisted of a strong tea. fried
or cold boiled pork, and shortcake, yellow with saleratus and rich with
pork drippings. Our lunch, finished by 10 or 11 o'clock, and eaten
while walking, for we never stopped in winter, consisted of a bite of
cold pork and a piece of bread — the latter often frozen too hard for
use, until the axe was used to cut it into small pieces. We worked un-
til near dark. and. arriving late in camp, the hot bean soup with bread
and tea was eaten with great relish.
"Before leaving the subject I would like to record the names of
some of the men who assisted me in this work. They were the follow-
ing: Samuel F. Byran, Oliver Torry, Lucius Hunt, David Wilcox,
Calvin and Chester Ball, Moses Peck and brother, John Powell, C. P.
Webster, Wm. Phillips, I\L B. Smith. I'liny Skinner, Geo. Case, Jed
Van Wagoner, Samuel Steinbrook. Marvin Tyler. L Welch. Davis,
(leorge Galloway. C. Killicut, Hannibal, Sawtelles. Pike, (iould. Phipps.
Hart, Meacham. Dixon. Walter Ostrander. .Alien, Michael \ an llurcn.
E. J. \\'hite. and others I do not remember.
"I will mention the name of Clark 1'. Kisden. L'nited .Slates sur-
veyor, who [jublished the first map of the surveyed part of I\Iichigan
territory and had several contracts. I hear he is still living, and must
be near my own age. eighty-six in .\pril next. We are probably all
that are left of the pioneers employetl by government iu surveying the
lands of Michigan."
This narrative of Captain I'arkc is r|uoted <|uitc generously not only
because much of it relates to ( )akl;uid county and vicinity, as well as
* Written in 1876.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 55
to a character well known in the days when the country was a wilder-
ness and for many years after it had become developed into prosperous
communities, but because it furnishes pen pictures of the trials and
hardships endured by the men of the compass and tripod who run those
lines through forest and swamp which must always precede the pur-
chase of lands and the guarantee of permanent homesteads.
Recollections oe Benjamin O. Williams
Major Oliver Williams was one of the first half a dozen settlers to
make Oakland county his home (he located on Silver lake) and, as
noted by his son, Benjamin O., in an address at one of the pioneer re-
unions he himself "thought himself the first settler in the county." The
bulk of the address is given, as follows :
"Having never considered it a fortunate circumstance to have been
reared in a new country, deprived of most of the advantages enjoyed
by those brought up in well educated communities and surrounded by
highly cultivated people and works of art, I have never felt any especial
pride in having been raised a pioneer in the backwoods of even old
Oakland county. I would have greatly preferred that fortune should
have permitted my parents to have remained where nearly all of their
children were born, and, although not quite among those who, accord-
ing to John G. Saxe's facetious remark of those born in Boston, 'need
no other birth,' yet would gladly have been sufficiently near to have
received a good education — the greatest blessing to mankind, except
it be that 'second birth.' But fate would not have it so, and most of us,
at least while young, had to submit to her sway. And fully believing
that 'there is a divinity that shapes our ends.' I have ever felt that my
honored parents, did all in their power, under the circumstances, to
make their children happy, while aiding somewhat to develop the re-
sources of Michigan while a territory.
"With her eight children my dear mother arrived in Detroit six-
teen days before the county of Wayne was, by the proclamation of
Governor Cass, organized and named. She, with my father, had selected
their farm while it was still in tlic county of Wayne, and moved their
family into a large, well-built liouse in less than two months after
the governor, by proclamation, organized and named Oakland county,
as your county history shows.
"Presuming that it is well known that I have contributed to the
history of this county in the State Pioneer and Historical Society's Col-
lections, and fully believing that my father was the first to break through
the almost impassible woods and swamps back of Detroit, by clearing
and opening a road from the end of the Leavenworth road to this place,
and to his farm in the fall of i8iS, before the county was named, the
Pontiac company formed, or their land selected ; and, no doubt, in en-
tire ignorance of the fact that the Grahams. Mr. Hersey. Mr. Hart-
sough, and possibly the Hoxies, had followed up the Huron river from
Mt. Clemens and formed a settlement, as did my father from another
direction, before tlie boundaries of the county were fixed or its name
given, he verv naturally thought himself the first settler in the county.
56 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COfXTY
But, Mr. President, I have already occupied too much time on this un-
important subject, anct should. not have alluded to it but for the fact that
you sent me, last year, a list of the tlrst entries of land made in the county,
taken by yourself from the books of the United States land office ; and
why my father's or brother's entries of land did not appear under their
proper dates, is to me, a mystery. For I do know that, quite early in
the fall of 1818, the lands were selected, and that improvements were
commenced and the house built, and do not believe it was left subject
to entry by others at the land office, until the time, by your list, it ap-
pears to have been purchased.
"Instead of the above I might iiave dcscriljed to you the sickness,
])rivation and hunger endured ; the killing by the tyrant chief, Kish-
korko and his band, of one of Mr. Austin Durfey's valuable oxen in
front of the house on Drayton plains, and of the fight or the breaking
of Capt. Archibald Phipps' leg, near Allen Durfey's house, a little south
of Drayton Plains station, and of the surgical skill of our family phy-
sician, who, upon arriving at the house, decided that it was not neces-
sary to set the limb before the inflammation subsided and the muscles
rela.xed, for which about one week's time would be necessary; of the
liopeless look of the captain when he heard it ; of our sending for
Doctor Richardson and carrying Phipps home on a litter, and, the
.same day or the next, myself extending the limb while the doctor ad-
justed it to the great relief of all present. Of the great number of
rattlesnakes ; while mowing a marsh one day, we killed twelve before
noon and none of us wore boots ; Mr. Harvey Durfey was barefoot and
wound a twisted rope of marsh hay around both feet and legs and worked
in safety. One massasauga the same day stuck its fangs into brother
E]3hraim's tow pants and was dragged several rods before discovered
and shook off. Of the wolves we killed without thought of bounty, and
of their dejaredations on our sheep and swine : of the pigeons by the
million, and their digging acorns out of the deep snow ; of the ducks
and geese that blackened the surface of the lakes ; of the bee-trees
from which we took hundreds of pounds of honey from a single tree ;
of the pine trees and logs we borrowed from 'Uncle Sam,' and how we
rafted the hunber down the Huron river to Ann Arbor from the W'al-
rod place ; of my father. Doctor Thompson, and Judge LeRoy. at a
very early day, going in our large canoe with an Indian guide down the
Clinton river to Orchard lake, and borrowing from the island a boat-
load of ap])le trees in the spring of the year — most of these died from
having their roots in the water too long — and of Captain Plotchkiss'
first drill of militia by platoons, saying he wanted them to wheel to
right or left just as his big barn door swung around; or of the lynch-
ing of a tramp who robbed his benefactor, .Xcker Toule, of about $Soo,
all the money he had, and that he had just returned from the east with.
(^'c)U may be sure that the thief gave up the money.) .And of three
Indians one day after concluding the sale of skins, furs and beeswax,
exhiijiling seven skins, stretched nearly round, with the remark, as the
oldest man drew from his medicine bag, that 'he didn't suppose my
father would care to buy them' ; they were once worth five dollars a
piece.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 57
Indian Npiar Death
"Mrs. Hodges first pronounced them scalps. My father's face was
terrible to look upon as he first took in the situation and the insist, and
I have ever thought that Indian was as near death that moment as he had
ever been. My mother, who stood in the door laid her hand on father's
shoulder and bade him come into the house at once. I will give you
my reasons for that belief. Having often heard my father relate that
on the second day after General Winchester's defeat and the massa-
cre, while walking on Jefferson avenue in company with one French
gentleman and an English ofiicer, meeting a band of painted Indians
all carrying scalps on sticks or at the end of war clubs or tomahawks,
one of the tallest and heaviest looking struck my father in the face with
the fresh scalps, torn from those unfortunate Kentuckians, and he al-
ways turned pale and h^d the same look of horror and rage as he related
it that I then saw on his face. The Indian quickly replaced the scalps,
but not before we had all seen to whom they must have belonged —
two men, one woman, a girl, two boys and a fair-haired child or babe,
as we judged by the length and cut of the hair. Those Indians belonged
to the Grand river bands, and were probably Ottawas. I never saw
them afterwards.
Di:.\R Old Oakland, the Best of All
"Since then it had been my lot to traverse the valleys, hills and
mountain ranges of California; to see those valleys covered with beau-
tiful flowers in all their pristine loveliness; to climb the basalt capped
and snow covered mountains ; have ridden over the grass covered wide
savannahs; clambered up and dowh and viewed the wild savagery of
the Andes; crossed and recrossed the awe-inspiring Cordilleras of Cen-
tral America, whose forests are filled with the progenitors of Darwin ;
witnessed on its plains on the night of April 12, 1850, the birth of a
volcano, standing at a safe distance ; watched through a long, tropical
night the grand display of nature's fire-works, and upon the land felt
the throbbing of its mother earth. And of all these grand and beautiful
scenes none have left more lasting, vivid and pleasant remembrances
than did the grand old forest, shining lakes, hills, valleys, flowered
covered plains, musical with the hum of bees and the song of birds, of
old Oakland as we found and lived among them. Nor will the others
ever make as happy homes, or sustain as dense populations. And I
now look back and endeavor to recall the often suiifering faces of
the many respected pioneers by whose kindness, example, friendship,
instruction and admonition I was enabled to profit I find of their num-
ber nearly all have crossed the river that we, too, must soon be ferried
over. That we shall meet again, retaining full consciousness of our
lives and friendships here, it seems to me that no intelligent persons
should doubt if they have studied well the past and present history of
the world and the life and death of the King of mankind — He who
spoke and is still speaking to us as never man did before or ever will
58 HISTORY' Ol" OAKLAXD COUNTY
at,'ain. wlieii IIl' hade us hjvi.' one anollier. Let us all try t(j keep that
l)rcce])t."
A PlCTl'UM Ol' M i;.\10RV
The following address was delivered 1)\' John M. Xorlon at the so-
called "supervisors' picnic" (a misleading term, as he says), held August
24, 1892; also at the meeting of the Alichigaii Pioneer and Historical
Society, June 7, 1893 :
"Air. President, citizens of Oakland county : Once more under
bright skies, in health, in prosperity and in peace, we exchange greetings
at our annual county reunion. It is termed the 'Supervisors' ])icnic,' hut
its meaning and its nature are broader than its name. This yearly
assemblage imports something more than ;i mere summer's day outing
for a set of township and ward officers. It signifies something nobler
than the atmosphere of office; its dignity is higher and deeper.
"This annual picnic is the yearly refreshment of a great people's
heart. Its issues are the brightening of thought, the rekindling of health-
ful emotion, the rejuvenation of life. Cords of union and afTection which
else might ravel and lireak, are here strengthened and renewed. For the
hour, each individual is transfigured — all utterance is true, every ]nir-
pose is unselfish.
"Two pictures are hung before the eyes of this multitude today.
One is traced by the pencil of hope, and it hangs against the sunrise of
the future ; the other is painted by the brush of the memory, and it
leans against the purpling sunset of the past. Xot one of us sees them
both. Upon the former look all the young, as upon an opening vision
of prophecy ; u]:)on the latter look all the old, as upon the closing of the
gate called Beautiful. Each picture is circled with a glowing frame —
the one new and fair, unscathed by tlie flame and sword of life's battle ;
the other is bruised and scarred, but is of gold tried in the fire.
"I am one of the old. Providence has bounteously granted me the
full three score and ten years, with two years grace. Come now. my
companions in the 'silver gray,' and look with me for a moment ui)on
our picture — the picture painted by memory, and which leans against
the sunset in the frame of gt>l<!. To your eyes and mine the figures in
this picture are clearly drawn, and of life' size. The coloring is faultless
and the perspective is so perfect that it seems to sjjeak to us like a
living voice. All this is partly owing to the skill and integrity of the
artist, but chiefly to the fact that the picture was jiainted from life.
"The background of this painting includes, in a general way, all of
the southeastern ])ortion of the lower |)cninsula of Michigan north of
Detroit : but all of its special detail and development are confined to
Oakland county, as lines and limits were established by Covernor Lewis
Cass, in his executive proclamation of the date of March 28, 1820. and
as the same now are. In the misty distance this beautiful county appears
as a land of forest and stream, of hill and vale, fresh and wild as it
came from nature's hand, in the possession of savage beasts and more
savage men. The Jesuit priest and the I'rencli voyager push through
the great lakes and U]) the Clinton river, and o])en communication with
the imperial Pontiac and the rude nations snbject to his vast survcv.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 59
One lifts the holy cross and the sound of the mission bell echoes across
the quiet waters of the lakes along whose borders we encamp today.
The other opens his store of trinkets and traffics with the Indians for
his furs and peltry.
Advent of the Pioneer
"Rut nothing is accomplished towards the settlement and genuine
improvement of the country until the advent of the man who came with
the axe and the plow — the enlightened pioneer who came to suliduc the
forest and to make a home — the man who came to stay.
"The first man who built a house within what is now ( )akland county,
and cut an opening tlirough which the sun might shine upon it, was
Alexander Graham. That was within what are now the corporate limits
of Rochester, in the township of Avon, and the house he built stood
about twenty rods southeasterly from the present 'stone store,' and east
of the present Main street. He brought with him his son, and with
them came Christopher Hartsough. They all 'came to stay.' That waa
in 1817.
"Then in the next year, 1818, came Col. Stephen Mack, Maj. Joseph
Todd, Deacon Orison Allen and William Lester, settling at and found-
ing the town of Pontiac. The Grahams were also encouraged by the
settling in Avon, in 1818, of Ira Roberts, George Postal, Daniel Bronson
and William Bronson.
"In 1819 the Pontiac colony was enlarged by the coming of Calvin
Hotchkiss ; and Major Oliver Williams bought and settled upon land
near Silver lake, Waterford, and built thereon the first barn properly
such, in the county. Avon was also gladdened in 1S19 by the immigra-
tion of Judge Daniel LeRoy, Dr. William Thompson (the widely famed
and eccentric 'Dr. Bill'), John Miller, Nathaniel Baldwin, John Meyers
and Amozi C. Trowbridge.
"In 1820 and 182 1 the tide increased. Such well known settlers as
Judah Church. Abner Davis, Alex. Galloway, Joshua Terry, Judge
Steven Reeves, Capt. Hervey Parke, Enoch Hotchkiss, and Rufus Clark,
came to Pontiac and its vicinity, while Linus Cone, Daniel Fowler, Cyrus
A. Chipman, and Walter Sprague made Avon their home, and Troy was
settled in 1821 by Johnson Niles. 1822 found Almon Mack, Joseph
Morris, Asa .Murray, Capt. Joseph Bancroft, Schuyler Hodges, and
Geo. W. Galloway residents of Pontiac, and S. V. R. Trowbridge, Ebene-
zer Belding, George Abbey, Joshua Davis, P. J. and Jesse Perrin, Aaron
Webster, William and A. W. Wellman, Ira Jennings, and Silas .Sprague
had followed Joshua Niles to Troy. Champlin Green, Gad Norton, Wil-
liam Burbank and Smith Weeks came into Avon, and more than half
the townships in the county had by this time one or more families.
"From this date population increased rapidly. In 1824 Nathan and
John Power, David Smith, Geo. W. Collins and other representatives
of the denomination of Friends, or 'Quakers,' most excellent and higlily
intelligent people, made important and substantial beginnings in Farm-
ington.
"Your present speaker (John M. Norton) came with his parents to
60 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
Avon in tlic spring of 1824^ aged then only four years, and has ever
since resided in the county. My mother died the next year, and my
father in June, 1832, when I was but twelve years old. My own health
and strength were my only resources. These 1 used as best I could,
and with such degree of success as has enabled me comfortal)ly to pro-
vide for and educate my family, with a sufficiency remaining for the
declining years of myself and of her who has been through all so faith-
ful an helpmate. The latch-string of our home is out today, as it was
in the early days, and we shall alwa_\s take pleasure, not only in enter-
taining those of our friends of both this and the former generation, but
also in showing them the evidence that industry, integrity, and 'pluck'
are sufficient for success in this free and fertile country. As 1 review
the long list of my acquaintance, my observation teaches me that an
inherited fortune is more often a curse than a blessing, and leads more
frequently to ruin than to the substantial success and happiness — not to
mention the usefulness — of its possessor.
"More and more rapidly the incoming settlers followed each other
into the country, until, by 1830, Oakland county was practically redeemed
to civilization. Pontiac was by this time a center of trade for all the
region lying north and northwest of it as far as the Saginaws, and dur-
ing the close of navigation even to the mouth of the Saginaw river.
Oakland county had five thousand inhabitants in 1830, and Pontiac was
known commercially throughout the eastern states.
"Until about this period the roads between Detroit and Pontiac. and
especially between Detroit and Royal Oak ('Mother Handsome's'), were
indescribably bad, often absolutely impassible for anything except ox
sleds, mud carts, and similar conveyances. For this reason the settlers
of Avon and Troy made their journeys to and from Detroit quite as
often as otherwise via Alt. Clemens, that is, by team to Mt. Clemens,
and thence by boat down Clinton river to Lake St. Clair, thence through
that lake and Detroit river to Detroit.
R.\iLR0.\D .\s .\ Fun M.\ker
"As an evidence of the growing commercial importance of the cap-
ital, the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad was chartered by the legislature of
1830, and, although this immediate enter])rise failed, it was followed in
1834 by the incorporation of the company which actually built and oper-
ated the road. .As a fun-maker, the old Detroit and Pontiac Railroad
Conii)any ])robab!y surj^assed any comic minstrels ever organized. Its
directors were inveterate practical jokers and fun lovers, and if Mark
Twain would write the true antics of these 'innocents at home,' stating
only facts, the work would eclipse all the fiction of his 'Innocents .-\broad.'
"Improvements, in all the meaning of the term, characterized the
county henceforward ; splendid farms, fine residences, improved high-
w-ays. enterprising towns, multiplied upon all hands, until it has now
become 'Old Oakland" and ranks as one of the finest counties in the
nation.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 61
The Life Bequeathed by the Pioneers
"As we look about us today, where are the men whose names I have
mentioned as pioneers of Oakland? Here is their magnificent work, but
where are they? The institutions they have founded are the admiration
and pride of their successors, but they themselves are gone.
"An association of the pioneers who settled in Oakland county in
or prior to the year 1830, is proposed. Alas, how few would be the
names upon the roll !
"Watch the pictures again. The forms and faces there, all but a
few are stark and still. They breathe not, speak not, move not. Men
call them dead. They are not dead ; they live in all that we behold
about us — their glorious work. They live in the only true life — the
only life that is deathless — and they will live thus until civilization shall
cease from among men. ' As we read their names upon the tomb, we
call that the shadow in the picture. In the true sense, there is no shadow
there. This living work of theirs that is all about us is their truest
life. It is the true light of the pictures, and no shadow of death is
there. All is light immortal, and its framework is of pure gold, tried
in the fire.
"Even so may the other picture become when it shall hang at last
in the sunset !"
Fifty Years Ago and Now
(Written by S. B. McCracken for the Oakland County Pioneer Society,
1887)
Those of us who have passed middle age seem to stand on the
divide between two worlds. On the one hand we can view, in memory,
what has been; we can live anew in recollection the scenes of fifty years
ago ; on the other hand, we can realize as a present certainty the things
that are. We can appreciate something of the contrast between the life
of fifty years ago and now. I select fifty years ago as the point of com-
parison for manifest reasons.
First, it is convenient as a round number. Second, it is a period
within the clear recollection of those who still linger among us as pioneers.
Third, while it does not comprehend the earliest period of pioneer life
in Michigan, it is its representative epoch. Fourth, fifty years ago
marks, comparatively, the beginning of that era of marvelous develop-
ment and discovery in mechanism and in science that has planted this
generation so greatly in advance of any in the world's history.
To have pictured to the youth of fifty years ago the methods of
life that attain today, would have seemed like a fairy tale. To relate
to the youth of today the methods of life of fifty years ago would seem
like exaggeration, and, but for the confidence that youth happily reposes
in the lessons of age, would scarcely obtain credence.
Cqntrasts of Life
Let us glance briefly at some of the contrasts of life afforded by the
two periods, because they will be not only to our edification but to the
G2 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
instruclion dI tin.- rising gcncralion and tliosc thai will come after.
I'ifty years ago the children of the ])ioneers studied their few hooks
either by the lirelight from the open fireplace, or by an open lamj) made
by placing some grease and a cloth wick in a broken saucer, or at best,
the light of a tallow candle. .\'ow, we have the kerosene lamp, the gas
jet, and the electric light. Then, friction matches were unknown; fire
was produced by the flint and steel, and when the fire went out on the
hearth, those who were without this device had to send to the neighbors
for a coal or a brand. The jiresent generation knowing nothing of the
pleasure of watching the Inirning logs in the fire])lace and noting the
shifting jianorama of warriors, winged chariots, camels, and ramjjant
lions. Nickle plated stoves, or the furnace in the basement, supply the
warmth without the pictures. The modern youth, who treads on carpets
or on marble tiles, hardly realizes that his grandfather's floor was very
likely made of basswood logs split through the center. ( )ur cooking
utensils then consisted of a frying pan, bake kettle, dish kettle and din-
ner pot, and the teakettle, that no longer sings the song that it useil to
sing. Those who were the better al:>le, sometimes had a brick fire])!ace,
and a crane on which their cooking utensils were hung over the fire.
Generally, however, the "lug-pole," with some hooks attached, served the
purpose. The bread was baked in a round iron kettle (shaped very
much like a large cheese) with a cover, the kettle being placed on coals
drawn out on the hearth, with live coals on top, and good bread they
made, too. Our spare-ribs and turkeys were suspended br a tow string
before the fire for roasting, and there are those who will say that no
such roasts ever came from an oven. .\nd then, the act of making a
tow string; every well regulated family kept a hutch of tow, which was
indispensable not only to good housekeeping, but to good husbandry.
I don't believe there is a yotmg man of twenty today, with all the learn-
ing of our modern schools, who knows how to make a tow string. We
had neither silver nor cut glass goblets in those days, and not always
tin cups or dippers, the "noggen'' or gourd supplying their i)lace. Our
carriages were ox sleds. Fifty years ago there was probably not a
threshing machine in Oakland county, all grain being threshed with the
flail, or trodden out ])y horses on the barn floor, w'here they had horses
and barns. Of course there were no reapers, mowers, wheat drills, or
cultivators. There were few fanning mills. Grain was separated from
the chafi^ by holding up a shovel full in a stiff breeze and sifting it ofif
by shaking the shovel.
Wheat was wholly cut with the cradle, which was a great advance
upon the sickle that jireceded it, and the liand scythe was the only means
of reducing the grass. All grain was sown broadcast, and those who
were boys fifty years ago, and retain a vivid recollection of the horrors
of riding a horse to plow corn, will apjjreciate the advantages of the
cultivator. .Most farmers raised more or less flax and hemp. The
flax culture was sim])ly a relic of that domestic industry, which, in for-
mer \ears, expressed itself througli the distaft' and tlie manufacture of
linen for family use, but which, like man\- sniiilar arts, has become ol)so-
lete through the o])erati(in of machinery. The music of the spinning
wheel is now unknown, and the doubting maiden today is not permitted
HISTORY OF OAKLAXD COUNTY 63
to know whether she will have a handsome husband or not as the well
deserved reward of her efforts to build the yarn systematically upon
the spindle ; nor is the boy now required to break his arms and his back
by making a reel of himself for granny to wind her yarn from.
In the lesser aft'airs of life we find striking contrasts. The boy of
fifty years ago was happy to possess a pair of indifferent skates that he
could strap to his stogy shoes and skim over the crystal surface of some
of our lakes or over the mill pond, which looked a great deal larger
then than it does now, and many of the older boys will remember the
vexation of trying to make the heel corks stay in place. Now they have
patent fastenings and they go on of themselves, and they skate in rinks,
and go on wheels as well as runners, and where we used to slide down
hill on a board, we now have the toboggan. In the matter of music,
too, pianos are almost as plenty now as jewsharps used to be, while
gingerbread as the classic feed on training days is wholly unknown, as
are training days, too, for that matter.
India rubber was first coming into use fifty years ago. It was then
made into a coarse overshoe, wrought into webbing for suspenders, and
also relieved from embarrassment the modest young lady who blushed
to speak of her garters, which thereafter became "elastics."
And then the average boy was happy if he could get a bit of rubber
as a foundation to build his ball upon. Now it would require many
folios to indicate the infinite variety of uses to which it is put. Next
to rubber, perhaps, if not before it, in the variety of its modern uses,
is paper. Fifty years ago it was used only for writing and printing, and
in a very coarse form for wrapping. Now it is found in all grades of
service, from the collar of the dude to the coffin of the sage.
There are other contrasts between the long ago and now. Then,
if we wished to communicate with a friend at a distance it could be
done only by letter with a mail once a week and postage two shillings.
The letter must be folded and sealed by its own fold, as no envelopes
were in use. If the letter comprised more than one piece of paper, even
if not overweight, the postage was two shillings on each piece. As
quarters were distressingly scarce in those days, it may well be con-
ceived that friendly letters were comparatively few. \'isits of a feu-
miles were made on foot. Persons freijuently passed a period of sick-
ness and were dead and buried before friends at a short distance even
were apprised of their condition. Now wc are in instant communica-
tion with friends far away, by telegraph or telephone, while the railway
places us by their side in a few hours even though hundreds of miles
distant.
I have sometimes queried whether aft'ection is as strong now as in
the olden days, and whether the sentiments of love were not more deep
and abiding when the distance was greater between us and the objects
of our regard. Human emotions are drawn out by trials, and it seems
as though the yearning for communion with friends that can be gratified
only at rare intervals, if at all, serves to tone and intensifv the affec-
tions and attachments. The lady who is the possessor of a pair of
singing birds knows that the music can be got out of them onlv by
their separation. We are mixed up with so many more people in moflerii
64 HISTORY Ol' (OAKLAND COUNTY
life, thai the divine love within us seems spread out so thin that it is
sometimes ditVicult to find it at all. The old song so remarkable for its
doleful pathos, "When shall we three meet again?" could hardly have
been written in an age of railways, as the three would scarcely care
whether they met again or not, as they would meet some other three
the next day or the next hour. Nor do I think that the highly drawn
character of Jennie Deans, in her lonely pilgrimage on foot from Edin-
burgh to London in behalf of her sister, who was in extremity, as por-
trayed in Sir Walter Scott's charming romance "The Heart of Mid-
Lothian," could have been given us in an age like this. Think of the
devoted Jennie taking her seat in a railway car with her bundle in heir,
lap, surrounded by the rush and clatter of moving humanity at the
present day. and being whirled over the distance in three or four hours'
time. All the poetry and adventure would be lost, and poor Jennie's
heart could hardly have been attuned to the pitch necessary to the suc-
cessful prosecution of her mission.
We might pursue indetinitely the array of contrasts between the
things of long ago and the now, with reflections upon the changed state
of attairs, but in addressing a local society of pioneers there seems a
propriety in discoursing of things more local in their character.
There needs no apology on my part for a reference to my own fam-
ily. Personal history forms the very essence of our pioneer annals, and
this personal history can only be supplied (in most cases at least), by
the relatives of the subjects themselves.
"Granxv" McCr.\ckex
There are many still living in the county who will remember my
grandmother, who was familiarly known as Granny McCracken. Al-
though she died when I was less than six years old, I remember her
very well, and many incidents associated with her. I have always had
her in mind as a little old Scotch woman, short, but of sturdy frame.
Her lineage, however, so far as I am able to trace it, gives but a small
percent of direct Scottish blood. Her family name was Hutchinson,
one of the regicide judges who condemned King Charles to the block.
The family were, at that time, of quality and some antiquity in England.
Although Colonel Hutchinson was included in the act of amnesty' after
the restoration, he afterwards fell under suspicion, was arrested and
died in prison. Some of his descendaiUs, either from political or other
causes, went to Ireland, and it is from thence that this branch of the
family is immediately derived, through Thomas Hutchinson, my great
grandfather, who came to this couiUry prior to 1740, and settled and
married in Philadelphia, where my grandmother was born.
The old residents who remember (Jranny McCracken will be im-
pressed the more especially by her bright, quick mind, and her strong
physical jiowers. To go back a little as illustrative of these traits, it
may be remarked that during the \\'ar of the Revolution, being a resi-
dent of Pennsylvania, she was an active ])atriot. being on confidential
terms with (leneral Washington and other leading officers of the army,
and not infre(|uently acting as a bearer of important intelligence. She
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 65
came to ^lichigan with my father's family in 1824 or '25. She built a
Httle log house for herself a few rods from my father's cabin, cutting
the logs for it herself, and at the "raising" she carried up her corner,
in pioneer phrase, equal to the next man, and she was equal to the
average man for a day's work in the field.
Though somewhat blunt in her ways the old lady was peculiarly
tender in her disposition, and with her naturally strong mind, of marked
intelligence considering the limited opportunities which the country then
afforded for education and instruction. A few books that had been
her companions found their way into our pioneer abode. Among them
I remember Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," a work entitled "The Holy
War," and a polemical work, "An Antidote to Deism." Passing over
all questions of ethics or of tenets as represented by these works, their
titles show the indift'erence in the class of reading that was deemed the
most valuable at that da)- as compared with the present. I remember
also a romance, "Charlotte Temple," and a copy of Scott's "Lay of the
Last Minstrel," as forming a part of our limited library. The latter
work I had at my tongue's end, and could repeat the most of it from
memory before I had ever seen the inside of a schoolhouse. Elsewhere
I may advert to the manner in which myself and brothers acquired what
little of early education we enjoyed.
You will pardon a further brief reference to the dear old lady whom
I remember with tender aft'ection. It was a favorite way with her to
reply to inquiries and salutations in rhyme, and to carry on a conversa-
tion and relate incidents in the same way. My excellent friend, the
Hon. B. O. Williams, of Owosso, relates this of her: "An occupation
in which she was expert was making straw bee hives. Being thus em-
ployed on one occasion, working in the barn at the residence of Mr.
William's father, one of his brothers, m her absence, tried his hand at
the business. Not succeeding very well, in deep disgust he threw his
piece of botch work over the bay in the barn. When Granny returned
to her work she discovered it, and gathering the boys about her as an
audience, told the story in rhyme, ridiculing the lad's efforts to steal
Granny's trade, and closing with the couplet,
■■ 'And if you're inclined to have some fun.
Just look in the bay and see what he's done.' "
Grandmother died March 5, 1830. A notice of her death, probably
written by Elder Ruggles, was published soon after in the Detroit Gazette.
The notice is preserved in a valuable collection of clippings by Capt.
J. W. Hall, of Detroit, to whom I am indebted for a copy. I reproduce
it as bearing out the estimate which I have myself placed upon my be-
loved ancestor. The reference to her descent confirms my early im-
pressions, and varies somewhat from the pedigree before outlined, but
it is hardly worth while to try to reconcile the variance at this time.
The notice is as follows : "In Pontiac, March 5, Mrs. Mary Mc-
Cracken, aged eighty-two. Mrs. McCracken was born in the United
States, of Scotch parents. She was endowed by nature with a healthy
constitution, and uncommon powers of intellect. She educated herself,
and through life discovered a great fondness for reading. At the age
of thirtv, she united herself with a church in Pennsylvania, and about
Vol. 1—6
66 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
four and a half years since connected herself with the church in Pontiac.
Her life was a life of prayer, and evinced that she had much at heart
the glory of God and the salvation of souls."
Of my father's ancestry I know but little. The family were, I be-
lieve, from the north of Ireland, and were i^robably emigrants from
Scotland under the severe policy of the British government after the
establishment of the Orange dynasty. The name is unmistakably Gaelic,
and has the same root as Craig, Craik, Cregg, Cragen, etc., meaning
literally, son of the crags, or son of the rocks. My father's parentage
on both sides was of the rigid Scotch or Irish Presbyterian stock, that
became a distinguishing element in the emigration to portions of Penn-
sylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas during the first half of the eighteenth
century. My father's father died from camp fever contracted in the
patriotic army in the War of the Revolution.
Father .■\nd Mother AIcCracken
My father represented in a marked degree the mental and physical
characteristics of his mother. Like her, he was self-educated. Prob-
ably to his relation to this mother in her widowhood, is due to the fact
that he married late in life, about the age of forty-three, I think. He
came to Michigan in 1824 or '25, and located on a piece of land on
section 23, in the now town of Waterford. During the first few years
he chopped and cleared, as I now survey the area by the mind's eye,
some twenty or thirty acres. He planted an orchard, and I remember
very well that he had a small nursery of young apple trees. An increas-
ing family and an invalid wife made the struggle to subdue the forests
and at the same time make it yield a subsistence, a hard one. He found
more immediate returns in working for others, and this gradually be-
came his preference, to which possibly a naturally convivial tempera-
ment contributed, especially when his work lay in the village. A sec-
ond marriage, on the death of my mother, in 1835, proving anything
but satisfactory, he sold his place and removed to Pontiac in the fall of
1837, relying upon the income of a laborer for his support. But with
a man past his sixtieth year, and with a constitution, however strong,
impaired by hardship, the situation was one in which the best of men
would find themselves in the descending rather than in the ascending
scale. It is in this situation that a recollection of my father dwells more
in the memory of those now living than as a pioneer seeking to hew a
home out of the forest after having started upon the down grade of
life's journey. It was from this situation in his life that the compilers
of the Oakland county history derived the information that led them
to speak of him as "a cpieer genius, whose time was spent more or less
in writing rhymes," etc. His rhyming was come honestly by, was
incidental, merely, and was a pastime and amusement. Two editions of
the rliymes in small pami)hlet, were iniblished by him. His dedication,
in one or both of these editions, should be a sufficient apolog}-, if apology
were needed, for the matter of his poetical effort:
"And as you read, don't judge too hard
Of your unlearned and simple bard."
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 67
covers the whole ground. Some person or persons, for purely mercenary
purposes, some years ago made a republication which was wholly without
the knowledge or consent of those who had at least a moral right to be
consulted in the matter.
I remember my mother as a meek, suffering woman, who withered
and died at a comparatively early age under the labors and cares inci-
dent to a large family, and to the hardships and privations of pioneer
life. She was of more than average education for the time and the con-
dition of the country, and of exceptional refinement and delicacy. Her
family name was Bromley. She was, I believe, a native of Connecti-
cut, but removed from there to western New York. She died in the
fall of 1835.
The Schools of Fifty Years Ago
I promised to say sotnething about the educational methods of fifty
years ago, and especially how my brothers and myself came to our first
knowledge of the rudiments of book learning. There was a little school-
house on the corner where the road leading south from the old Car-
man place strikes the Elizabeth lake road. It was a modest little frame
building, that I remember to have passed many times, though I was
never inside of it. It was a mile (more or less) from our dwelling,
and as the school was usually open only during the winter season, we
could not attend. I have often thought, however, that the instruction
received at the hands of iny father and mother was of greater value
than that which we would have been likely to receive at the school.
The four older boys formed a little class, and in some cases the older
taught the younger. A boy belonging to a neighboring family also
formed a part of our little school for a time. Our text-books were
Webster's elementary spelling book, the old English reader, and the
New Testament. A work called the American Selection, printed on
dingy brown paper, was also among the household treasures. Con-
fined at home, and largely to the house, during winter, with these few
books only for companions, their contents became as household words,
much of which I could repeat from memory. And here we may fairly
raise a question as to whether the multiplicity of books and printed
matter at the present day affords as good a mental discipline as the
more thorough study of a few carefully selected books would do. It
is fairly a question whether so much literature, and of such a varied
character, does not affect the mind in a way analogous to that in which
food in too great quantity and in great variety affects the stomach, and
whether we do not suffer from a mental dyspepsia. It is also a ques-
tion whether, under the modern development of our schools, education,
as it is called, has not become too cheap a commodity to be adequately
valued.
Mormon Visitation of 1832
There is one episode in the local history of the county that I am
not aware has been placed on record. I refer to the Mormon visitation
about the year 1832, the successful proselyting, and the exodus from
the county of people who cast their lot with the Mormon church. My
68 HISTORY OF OAKI.AXD COUNTY
father became possessed with a copy of the Book of Mormon, and was
deeply interested in it. Twer Mormon missionaries came into the neigh-
borliood to expound the doctrines. The spread of the new faith seemed
to be a contagion ; neighborhood meetings were held every day, and
new converts announced. Some of the converts claimed to have received
a new inspiration and to speak in unknown tongues. My father be-
came an early convert and was received into the church. My mother,
cither from a feeling of sympathy with my father's action, or yielding
to the importunit)- of the preachers who visited us, was also bajjtized.
1 remember the occasion very well. As my mother sat in the chimney
corner arranging a change of habit that she could use after her im-
mersion, by the light that shone down the chimney, the Mormon elder
was the chief spokesman, as if eager to add mother to the sacrifice,
and impatient at the necessary delay, repeated the question several
times, "Are you going to join this Gospel?" The preparations being
at length completed, the procession, including my father and mother
and the two Mormon elders, started for \Vatkins lake, about a mile
distant. It was a cold day in winter. About a quarter of the distance
on the route to the lake was a small pond or cathole. Upon reaching
this, the shepherds of souls concluded that it was as good a place to
make a new saint as the lake would be, and accordingly a hole was cut
in the ice and the sacrifice made there. I was of course too yovmg to
realize the shocking inhumanity of the act, or to feel the just sense of
indignation that I have since felt in reflecting upon it. It may be asked
why my father jiermitted or stood sponsor at such an outrage. The
answer can only be found when we discover the mystery that underlies
and inspires fanaticism, those phenomenal epochs in the moral world
when the best of men do unwise things. Neither my father or mother
maintained a connection with this movement for any considerable time,
but quietly withdrew from it by leaving it out of their thoughts and
actions.
It may be wondered why new ideas and new theories sometimes seem
tu take root and flourish in isolated ncighl)orhoods, affording a moral
analogy to the jihenomcna of wild shrubs that occupy given areas.
Probably at the time of which I am speaking, people thought more deeply
and intensely on religious subjects than now. The people of the county
were directly descended from localities and times in which religious
thought was paramount. Isolated in their cabins in the forests, their
religious feeling was rather elemental and one of sentiment, than syste-
matic. It was not crystalized in church connections, but was ready to be
moulded into form, and to center around the light that first appeared,
even though the light might be a false one. Living substantially in the
woods, each family by itself, seldom seeing any other persons except
their immediate neighbors, every new voice was to them a charm, and
every new face a revelation. These ^Formon emissaries coming among
and mingling with these people, pretending to bring a religion not op-
posed" to, but in fulfillment of what they already believed ; coming in
this guise and under these circumstances, it is not strange that the)-
found ready credence and willing proselytes. .And it should be noted
also that the ^klormon agitation was then l)ut just begun, and had given
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 69
no intimation of embod3'ing the one feature which has within the past
thirt}' years placed it under the bane of both social and legal outlawry.
I believe, however, that one of the earliest developed fancies or pur-
poses of the Mormons was the massing together of the faithful and the
building of a new Zion ; that idea of unity and oneness of purpose that
has been the touchstone of the wonderful growth and power of the Mor-
mon church. As showing the firm hold that the new gospel, as it was
called, acquired upon its devotees, a good many families, numbering
more than tifty persons in all, in and around Pontiac, abandoned their
homes and committed their fortunes to the guidance of the fatal star that
hovered first over Nauvoo and subsequently over Salt Lake City. Thad-
deus Alvord, an uncle of mine by marriage, his first wife having been a
sister of my mother, with his family, were among the converts. 1 remem-
ber hearing ■Mrs. Alvord (his second wife) repeat what seemed to be
a prophecy among then\, namely, that they were to acquire their new
Canaan either by purchase or by Ijlood, and if by purchase, they were to
be persecuted from synagogue to synagogue and from city to city. This
prophecy has not been wholly unfulfilled. The Mormons were certainly
not left in peaceful occupancy of their first location at Nauvoo, and they
will claim that the}- are now being persecuted in Utah and the western
territories. Whether the other ]iortion of the prophecy, that an acc|uisi-
tion bv blood shall ensure them immunity from persecution thereafter,
implies a struggle of arms on their part in the future, we will have to
refer to thcise who receive inspiration and direct the counsels of the
church.
Among those who cast their lot with the ^.Mormons at that time
within my own knowledge, were Thaddeus Alvord and his family, includ-
ing two or three sons-in-law and families. ^Irs. 'SI. A. Hodges, in a
recent letter, kindly supplies me with the names of a number of others,
as follows : Ezekiel Kellogg, .Seville Harris. Jeremiah Curtis, Nahum
Curtis, Joseph Bent, all with their families, and the Stevenson family,
one of the latter, Edward .Stevenson, being now an elder in the church
of Latter Day Saints ; also the widow and one or two daughters of Col.
Stephen ^lack, one of the members of the ririginal Pontiac company, the
founders of Pontiac. The Bents. Airs. Hodges informs me, subse-
quently left the Mormons and settled in St. Louis. Of those going
away, she says, all were members of churches, some Baptists, some
Presbyterians and others Methodists, and all except the Bents continuing
in the faith. We dismiss this tO]jic, trusting that the attention given it
will not be deemed an unprofitable exi)cnditure of time viewed in the
light of local history.
Auburn .\nd the "N'ouxn Pioxeers
In glancing at the excellent history of Oakland county iniblished
some vears ago, I was struck with the account there given of the village
of Auburn in the earlier days of the county, of its commercial enter-
prise and its business men, and I reflected somewhat wonderin,g!y upon
the number and character of the young men who in the early days cast
their lot in the little hamlets that sprung ui> in the woods. They were men
70 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
of keen business faculties, quick, intelligent, and as it seemed to me more
generous, of broader views aud liigher principles than the average of the
\-oung men of the present day. 1 say it so seemed to me, although with-
out disparaging the young men of the present, we can find a solution of
the seemingly discrepancy in the thought that the young mind is more
susceptible to favorable impressions, and is less critical than the more
mature mind. But with what buoyant hopes and ambitions the young
men of the former time have left their eastern homes for the untried
west. The young men of the two periods certainly dift'er in so far as
this, that the young men of the present, accustomed to the attraction of
city life, and to follow the modern channels of commerce, would hardly
delve into the forests with the same courage and pluck as did those of
the former generation. Alas ! how many blasted hopes have left their
trace upon the pages of our western local history, either written or un-
written. How many wrecks strew the pathway of time in its march of
fifty years. It is after all but the repetition of the processes of all human
progress. Life is but an experiment. Its failures count as a thousand to
one of its fruitions. The }0ung men who laid the foundations of our
civilization did not in all cases judge adec|uately of the work that they
were undertaking. The land of ]5romise did not in all things develop
equal to their sanguine hopes and anticipations. The place where in
imagination they had budded cities shriveled and withered under the
necessary reaction upon an abnormal growth and the exacting laws of
commerce. Many of the actors succumbed to the diseases incident to a
new country. Others yielded to financial disaster. Others sought new
fields. .Some rusted out, while others weathered the storm, and have left
their visible impress upon the things with which they had to do. In
the great aggregate of life, in the final balancing of accounts, let us not
say that one shall have more honor than another. The comforts and the
blessings that we enjoy today are the consensus of their lives and their
sacrifices. So let us hold in pleasant and in grateful memory the young
men of fifty years ago. The history of Auburn is that of many a western
village. In the early days the rival of Pontiac, we need not rehearse the
causes that have made it simply a (|uiet little hamlet, the abode of a num-
ber of worthy citizens.
S0CI.\L .\ND InDU.STRI.AL REVOLUTION
.As connected with those causes, however, we may refer in closing to
the social and industrial revolution that has es]>ecially marked the half
centurv. The application of steam has rendered of much less value the
water ]:)ower that is so abundant in the county. The adaptation of machin-
ery brings the best economic results by its aggregation in large manu-
factories. The construction of railroads, affording unlimited facility for
distribution, makes large concentrations of capital and machinery, and
the conseciuent immense production practicable. The local factory and
the local mechanic no longer exist. The effect of this change upon the
distribution of ]iopulation is shown by the census returns. In 1790 the
per cent of the whole poj)ulation of the country residing in cities was 3.3.
In 1830 it was 6.7, and in 1880 it was 22.5.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 71
These facts "suggest proljlems in political economy that appeal both
to the present and the future. They connect themselves with the past
only by comparison and contrast. These problems are the most vital,
we had almost said, of any now engaging the public attention. They are
vital, nevertheless, for on their wise solution may depend our very civili-
zation itself. But it does not become me to prophecy of evil at this
time. Let us hope only for the good now and always, and that the benign
influences that have advanced us so immeasuralily within the past fifty
years will continually beckon and invoke us to come up higher.
CHAPTER VI
RR\ OLUTIONARY SOLDIERS AND "DAUGHTERS"
County's First Settler, a Revolutionary Soldier — The Graham
Family' — Nathaniel Baldwin — George Horton — Stephen Mack
— Colonel .Mack's Family — Joseph Todd and Party — -Ithamar
Smith — William Nathan Terry — Joshua Chamberlin and
Enoch Hotchkiss — Elijah Drake — Ezra Parker — Jeremiah
Clarke — Benjamin Grace — Caleb Barker Merrell — Levi Green
— Joel Phelps — Elias Cady' — Samuel Niles — Silas Sprague —
EsBON Gregory — Zadock Wellman — Caleb Carr — Hooper Bishop
— Derrick Hulick — Caleb Pratt — Solomon Jones — Lydia
Barnes Potter — James Harrington and Jacob Petty — John
Blanchard — Altramont Donaldson — Joseph \'an Netter —
Benjamin Bulson — Nathan Landon — General Richardson
Chapter, D. A. R. — The Revolutionary Graves ^Iarked — Mem-
bership OF the Daughters
By Lillian f Drake) Avery
There is. perhaps, no section of tlie stale of ^lichigan where so great
a mimljer of tlie soldiers of the Revolution settled as in Oakland county ;
certainly in no other county of Michigan has so many of them been
found and their names and burial places noted.
General Richardson Chapter. Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion, has succeeded in reviving the memory of these men ; has ])Iaced
markers on the graves of nineteen, and will continue the work until all
whose last resting places can be found shall be honored with their
official insignia. In some instances, where there were no headstones,
they have applied for and placed, governnu-nt markers.
County's Fir.st Settler, a Riaolutionary Soldier
James Graham, the lirsl permanent while settler to plant his home in
old Oakland, was a Revolutionary soldier, whose father, a Scotch-Irish
gentleman, came to Pennsylvania several years jjrevious to the Revolu-
tion. His Dutch neighbors called him "r,rimes'' and his enlistment is
recorded under that name.
James Graham, born in 1749, was one of a large family, and there
is a tradition that when he emigrated to America he sold himself, as
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 73
was quite customar}-. into service to a physician of New York City, to
pay the necessary passage money thither. After the term of hi*, service
expired, the war was on and he enHsted April 15, 1777. for one year, in
Pennsylvania, as a member of Captain Hewitt's Company, Colonel Dcn-
nison's Regiment of Connecticut troops, and served in that company
till Captain Hewitt's death at the battle of Wyoming. He was then
attached to Captain Spalding's company in Colonel liutler's regiment
and was discharged at the expiration of his enlistment.
His home in Pennsylvania, at least after the Revolution, until icSio.
was at Tioga Point, on the Chemung river. At that time he moved to
Canada, on the site of the present city of IngersoU. Mr. Graham must
have been in the enemy's country all during the War of 1812. but as
soon as peace was declared in 1816 he crossed the border and took up
his residence first at Mt. Clemens.
The Grah.vm F-VMILy
His two sons, Benjamin and Alexander, started out during the sum-
mer to look up a suitable location for a home. Following up the Clinton
river, they passed beyond the site of Rochester for a mile or two and
concluded they had found what they were seeking. They cut hay in
the open meadows along the stream, built a little hut and returned for
their family. The following spring, their father, his sons and son-in-
law, Christopher Hartsough and John Hersey, arrived on the 17th of
Marcli. They paid their homage to good St. Patrick by rolling up the
first log house in Rochester for Alexander Graham.
James Graham stayed for a short time with his son. then took up a
scjuatter's claim on section 21. He lived here only a year or so when
he removed to the farm now occupied by \\ ilHam Graham, who inher-
ited it from his father, Benjamin Graham.
The wife of James Graham was Mary \'an de Mark, a native of
Holland, and his family comprised nine children; James, David, John,
Alexander, \\'illiam, Benjamin (b. March 23, 1808; d. Oct. 13. 1864;
m. N-ov. 18, 1832; Mary Postal b. March 23. 1808; d. Jan. 20, 1845 '"
Avon, dau. of George Washington and I.ydia ( Fulham ) Postal of Avon,
Mich.), Chester, jVIartha and Mary.
The Oakland County History (1877), tells us that Alexander (Ira-
ham married a Miss Hawkins and lived on the east side of what was
afterwards called Main street in the house mentioned, where his eldest
son, James, named in honor of his grandfather was born earlv in the
year 1818, and who was also the first white child born in the count\-.
The proprietors of the village subse(|uently gave the lot on which the
pioneer baby was born to the youngster, who owned it till his decease
when it passed to its present owner, which at the date mentioned ( 1876),
was John Barger.
James Graham is remembered for his unbounded hospitalitv and
proverbial kindness. He was not only held in high esteem by his white
neighbors, but the Indians as well who would do anvthing Mrs. Graham
asked of them. She died September 7. 1S35. He died Septemlicr 5.
74 HISTORY OF OAKT.AND COUNTY
^^37< 3.ged eighty-nine, and tlK-\- lie Iniried in Ihe little cemetery the
Grahams have consecrated for this purpose.
Mr. Alexander (jraham'was well versed in the Indian tongue, and
acted as interpreter, r.enjamin also understood the language and was
a trader. He was called by the Indians "Mauchung,"' wliich meant
chunk bottle, as all commodities sold to them (sugar, tlour, powder and
whiskey, alike), he measured in a chunky glass bottle. Many interest-
ing stories are currerit of the Graham boys and their representatives are
still living in our midst.
N.\TH.\MEL Baldwin
Nathaniel Baldwin came only a year after the Grahams, and settled
near by. He taught school in a log schoolhouse which stood where
the stone blacksmith shop now stands. He was born in Goshen, Con-
necticut, July 20, 1761. While still a lad he enlisted in the sixth regi-
ment from Connecticut under Colonel Parsons. This regiment was
organized at the first call for troops and recruited from New London,
Hartford and Middlesex counties. He remained on duty at New Lon-
don until July 17, 1775, when they were ordered to the Boston camps,
where they remained until discharged, December 10, 1775.
After the war Mr. Baldwin was married to Susanna Sherman, niece
of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ-
ence. Their children were': (i.) John, b. July 16, 1784; — (II.) Martha
Minot, b. April 20, 1795; d. June 28. 1839; m. Thomas J. Drake; — -(HI.)
Nathaniel Augustus, b. June 27, 1801 ; d. Aug. 22. 1845; m. (1st) Mar-
garet, m. (2) Jane Alaxwell, April 2, 1842, died ^larch 23. 1884; —
(IV.) Susanna Eliza, b. ]u\v 12, i8os; d. fan. 18, 1838. unmarried;—
(V.) Walter Baldwin, b. Feb. 5. 1809'
The Baldwin Genealogy gives two other children, Sherman and
Zimri, and the ancestry of Nathaniel as Nathaniel (4), Nathaniel (3),
Samuel (2), Nathaniel (i), of Milford, Connecticut.
Mr. Baldwin moved with his family from Connecticut to East Bloom-
field, New York, where they lived many years before coming to Mich-
igan. The track of land they occupied lies about two miles south of
Rochester, where the Grout farm now is located. His daughter, Susan,
taught school in the Postal district in a small log house built for the
purpose in 1821, one of the earliest schools in the county.
Mrs. Baldwin seems to have been a woman of excellent Christian
character and patience, and died January 2, 1839, aged seventy-four. Na-
thaniel Baldwin lived until August 30, 1840, when he was laid to rest
in the cemetery at Rochester. Mrs. Milo Newberry, a granddaughter,
is the only member of the family now living in Oakland county.
Gf.ouck 1 loRTOX
Another Revolutionary soldier to settle as neighbor to Nathaniel
Baldwin and James Graham, was George Horton. He gave his military
service in Pennsylvania, enlisting in May. 1780, when nineteen years of
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 75
age, in Captain Shoemaker's compaii}-, Pennsylvania troops. He was in
no pitched battles, but participated in several skirmishes with the In-
dians. He served tmtil September, 1783.
Mr. Horton emigrated from Northampton county, Pennsylvania,
to Canada in 1809, where he settled first at Port Colborne. In 1820 he
moved to Yarmouth. Elgin County, Ontario, and in March, 1825, arrived
at Detroit, and came to Avon township, settling about two miles south
of the village of Rochester. He seems to have lived with his son-in-
law, Cornelius Decker, who located on section 21. His son, Benjamin
Horton, took up land on section 22. There were about twenty people
who came from Canada at this time, the heads of the families being all
related to George Horton. Mrs. Elsie Horton, wife of George Horton,
was buried in the Rochester cemetery, in February, 1827. He died in
1835, the exact date being unknown, but his last pension was paid March
4. 1835-
Stephen Mack
The blazing of the trail into Oakland county did much for the set-
tlement of Alichigan, as it proved that the interior of the territory was
not the morass that the interested fur traders had reported it to be,
unfit for cultivation, but was as fine farming land as could be desired.
A company of Detroit and Macomb county men, called the Pontiac
Company, with Colonel Stephen Mack as their agent, purchased 1,280
acres of land for the purpose of esta1)Iishing a town on the tract. The
company was formed in November, 181 8, and the first building erected
on the site of Pontiac was a log cabin put up by their workmen who
came out to build the dam and sawmill. It stood on the corner of
Saginaw and Water streets, near where the old Clinton House is now
located.
Colonel Mack was long the most prominent business man in
Pontiac. He was born in Lyme, Connecticut, 1764, and emigrated with
his father, Solomon Mack, before the revolution to Gilsum, New Hamp-
shire. The war found both father and son rendering service with the
patriots.
Stephen Mack's name appears on a receipt dated Montague, March
24, 1 781, for bounty paid said Mack by the town of Montague, to serve
in Continental Army for the term of three years ; also, descriptive list
of men raised in Hampshire to serve in the Continental Army, as re-
turned by Noah Goodwin, superintendent; age, 16 years; stature, 5 feet
4 inches; complexion, light; occupation, farmer; engaged for town of
Montague, April 2, 1781, term of three years; also, private in Captain
John Trotter's Company, Colonel Rufus Putnam's sixth regiment ;
muster roll for April, 1781 ; dated. West Point. (Massachusetts Soldiers
and Sailors of the Revolution, Vol. 10, page 109.)
Colonel Mack married, 178S, Temperance Bond of Gilsum. and they
settled in Tunl>ridge, Vermont, where he engaged in the mercantile
business. He also built a tavern at the "branch" which became famous
in after years as the "White House." It was the first painted building
in the place. He took a great interest in military matters and eventually
76 HISTORY OF OAKLANJJ COUNTY
rose to the comiiiaiul of one of the militia regiments of the Green Moiin-
tain state, whence came his title of Colonel. About the year 1810 he
came to Detroit, where he again embarked as a merchant, and was here
when (ieneral TIull surrendered to the Uritish. During their occupancy
his affairs were in pretty had sha])c. After the war was over he engaged
in trade under the firm name of Mack and Conant. He was a trustee
of the village of Detroit and a member of the reception committee for
President Monroe in 1817; supervisor in 1816-1818, and director of
the Bank of Michigan in 1818. After the I'ontiac Company was formed
he made Pontiac his home. He and his ])artners associated themselves
with Judge Sibley as a silent ])artner and under the name of Mack,
Conant and Sibley obtained from the Pontiac Companv the title U> the
water power for which they were to pay a thousand dollars toward
county buildings, if the county seat were located at Pontiac. Beside the
dam and sawmill, they erected a grist mill and a small woolen mill,
which was of great convenience to the pioneers.
Cor.ONEL M.\CK's I'^AJIILY
Colonel Mack's family, consisting of wife and twelve cliildren. had
remained in \'erniont on a farm until 181O when they removed to Nor-
wich, \'ermont, in order to have better school facilities. A military
college was located there where Almon Mack obtained a knowledge of
military tactics, which made him quite a prominent officer in the militia
of Michigan in after years. In 1822 the family came to Detroit and one
of the daughters, Lovina, and an ado])ted orphan girl, Elvira Jamieson,
came to Pontiac and kept house for the colonel. His son, Almon, also
came about this time and took charge of his father's books and made
himself generally useful about the mills and in time came to be the
manager of the business.
Colonel Mack as early as 1820 had erected a large Iniilding which
was used as a dwelling and an office, and was called the company's
building. It stood nearly in front of the mill. This dwelling was oc-
cupied by Colonel Mack's family in 1823 on their arrival from Detroit.
Colonel .Stejihen Mack died November 11, 1826, and was buried on
his own land on the east side of the river and south of Pike street. He
was afterward buried in Oak Hill cemetery on the crest of the hill that
overlooks the land he was the first white man to possess.
Stephen Mack. Jr. (born 1798), located in Rockton, Illinois, where
he opened a trading house for Indian goods. He afterward married
(1828), the daughter of a Winnel)ago chief. He held various offices,
among them that of county judge. His death took place in Rockton
about 1849. John M., another son, settled in Ilamtramck. 1 .Married
April 8, 1S27, Maria .\. King.) He also held various offices in the gift
of the ])eople.
Colonel Almon Mack (born April 28, 1805 I, married the orphan girl,
Elvira Jamieson, in March, 1827. She was a woman of extraordinary
mental and physical endowment and greatly beloved and respected by
all who knew her.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 77
Of the daughters, Lovicy (born September 13, 1795), married David
Cooper, a wealthy merchant of Detroit. Her twin sister, Lavina, was
the first white woman to die in Pontiac, September 2, 1823. Harriet
married Reulaen Hatch, who had been a lieutenant in the army. He
died about 1827 while in charge of the lighthouse at Fort Gratiot. His
widow afterward married Hon. Gideon O. Whittemore. Dr. George
Drake is one of her descendants. Acseah died young.
Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, was a cousin of the Macks, and
visited Oakland county several times previous to his removal to Illinois.
Almira Mack, twin to Almon, joined the Mormons at an early day and
followed their fortunes to Utah, where she was living in 1876. Mrs.
Mack joined her daughter in 1846 and remained with her until her death,
which occurred some ten years later. Ruth ]\Iack married
Buckland, and her twin Rhoda married Stanley.
In 1824, during Colonel Stephen Mack's residence in Pontiac he
built a grist mill at Rochester. After the Colonel's death his sons,
.Almon and John j\l., were appointed administrators of his estate, which
was involved in the collapse of the Bank of ^Michigan. Colonel INIack
was one of the Ijondsmen of James McCloskey, the cashier of the in-
stitution who defaulted to a large amount, and being the only one who
had available means, his entire estate, except a small dower to the widow,
was absorbed in the settlement, and his heirs were virtually left pen-
niless.
Joseph Todd .and P.vrtv
Although it was through the agency of Stephen Mack that Pontiac
was located and settled, yet the first actual settlers were Joseph Todd,
his son-in-law, Orisson Allen and William Lester, and their families.
Joseph Todd was born February 11, 1765, at Warsaw, New York, and
was a resident of that place when he enlisted for service in the Revolu-
tion in April, 1781, serving ten months and twenty days as a private in
Captain Peter Bertholft's company. Colonel Henry Wisner's regiment.
His father also was Joseph Todd who was a second lieutenant in the
same company.
In 1818, at the time he applied for a pension, he was a resident of
Palmyra, New York, and it was in November of the same year that he
journeyed to Michigan, taking twenty-eight days to reach Detroit from
Buffalo. They were driven back to Erie three times by bad winds.
From Detroit they moved by wagons to Mt. Clemens and soon after Mr.
Todd and his party set out on an exploring tour into what is now Oak-
land county. It was now the middle of December and the snow lay
ten or twelve inches deep. Each man carried a supply of provisions, a
blanket and an axe. Two of them were armed with rifles.
The first night's encampment was where the village of Romeo after-
ward grew up. They cleared away the snow and built a fire and then
felled a hollow basswood tree, which they cut in seven foot lengths and
split open. Each man took half a log, placed it by the fire and with
his blanket snugly wrap]:)ed around him lay down in the hollow inside
and had a good night's sleep. The next day they camped where Pontiag
now is. They returned to Mt. Clemens convinced that Pontiac woulci
78 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
be their future home, and Iiegan |)reparations for moving thitlier. They
were three clays making tiiQ journey with a team. At the time there
were four houses on the road, at two of which they passed the night.
They reached Pontiac the 19th of January, 1819, and occupied the one
log house that the company had built, making a little community of
fourteen persons. There were no chambers in the house, no chimney,
and no floor, except some split logs where they laid their beds. Here
they lived until April, when their own houses were ready for occupancy.
Mr. Todd was not well after coming to Michigan, and by July the
whole party were sick, not one able to help the other. Dr. William
Thompson was the only physician in the county and he lived eight miles
from Pontiac. Fever and ague was, of course, the complaint. Affairs,
however, grew brighter after a little and Mr. Todd lived to see the vil-
lage a thriving one, even boasting of the advent of a railroad. He mar-
ried first, Julia Johnson, who died February 10, 1843, aged seventy-four.
He married, second, Patty Lee, September 21, 1843. Joseph Todd
died at Bloomfield, Michigan, August 4, 1848, and is buried in Oak Hill
cemetery.
Children: (L) Elizabeth, b. Dec. 11, 1791; d. Nov. 5, 1846 in Bloom-
field; m. 1st, Harding; m. 2d, Asa B. Hadsell.
(H.) Catherine, b. Aug. 1796; d. March 18, 1845, in Pontiac.
m. Orisson Allen.
(HL) lulia, m. ist, Todd; m. 2d, Joseph \"oorheis.
(IV.) John, m. Polly Smith.
(V.) Joseph J., b. 1800; m. Chloe Matthews.
(VL) Jonathan.
(VTI.) Samuel, b. 1804; m. Dec. 31, 1839, Armena Irons.
Ith.\m.\r Smith
Ithamar Eleazer (5), John (4), John (3), Philip (2), Lieut. Samuel
(i) Smith, was born at Longmeadow. Massachusetts, January 13, 1756.
He married January 26, 1780, Lucy Nevers of Springfield, and had by
her thirteen children, seven of whom he buried in New England. She
died September 25, 1843.
Mr. Smith in June, 1776, enlisted for six months as a private in Cap-
tain Josiah Smith's company. Col. Whitney's regiment : also in April or
May, 1777, as artificer for two years in Capt. Richard Faxon's company.
Col. David Mason's regiment; again, in 1779, he was in charge of the
quartermaster's shop at Springfield, Massachusetts, under Col. \\'illiam
Smith. At the time of his enlistment he was a resident of Williraham,
Ham])shire county, Massachusetts. About the year 1806 he removed to
Marcellus, Onondaga county, New York. September 14, 1832 he ap-
plied for and received a pension while resident of this place. From there
his wife and children and grandchildren, except his youngest son, Dr.
George Smith and family of Syracuse, numbering twenty persons, came
to Pontiac in the fall of 1835.
When they left Marcellus they came to a ])lace called Jordan on the
Erie canal, where they chartered a boat for Bufl'alo. Some of the neigh-
bors followed them to the canal to bid them farewell, for Michigan was
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 79
then considered near the "jumping off place'' and the good old minister
preached a sermon before they started, from the text "They seek a coun-
try." Arriving at Buffalo they took a steamboat for Detroit, and thence
over a rough road to Pontiac. They all moved into the house known as
the Benjamin Phelps house (now the Presbyterian parsonage) and re-
mained there until they could look around and select a permanent home.
Mr. Smith bought the farm of Mr. Griffin, afterwards known as the
George Wisner farm, which was managed by his son-in-law, Deacon
Frost. He and his family were very regular in their attendance at
church, going quite often with oxen for the first year or two. He was
quite deaf and used to stand in the pulpit with the minister when he was
over eighty years of age, no matter how long the sermon. In 1843 he
sold his farm to George Wisner, taking in part payment a farm in West
Bloomfield. About this time his wife was taken sick and died, aged
eighty-four years. They had lived together sixty-three years. On the
1st of September, 1844, \vhile getting ready to go to meeting Mr. Smith
fell and died in a few minutes.
Ithamar Smith was a blacksmith by trade and in 1874 there was still
existing an account book he used from i8cx3 to 1812. While in the
Revolutionary service he had the pleasure of seeing and shaking by the
hand his great commander, George Washington. On the 4th of July,
1838, at a celebration given by the citizens of Pontiac, Mr. Smith and
Mr. Beach, another Revolutionary soldier living here, were given the
posts of honor. He is buried in Oak Hill cemetery.
Children: (I.) Roderick, b. March 10, 1781.
(II.) Henry, b. April 19, 1782.
(III.) Henry, b. Feb. 17, 1784.
(IV.) Sally, b. March 5, 1786.
The foregoing all died in infancy.
(V.) Sarah, b. January 23, 1787, d. February 8, 1876 Pontiac, Mich.
(VI.) Fanny, b. January 12, 1789, d. March 1858, Pontiac, Mich.
(VII.) John Morgan, b. Dec. 31, 1790; d. Oct, 26, 1864, Grand Rap-
ids; m. January 8, 181 1, Lydia Goodrich, b. January 3, 1794, d. March
25, 1881, in Manistee, Mich., dau. Allen Goodrich.
(VIII.) Eleazer b. October 21, 1792; d. Nov. 23, 1797.
(IX.) Hannah Morgan, b. June 17, 1794; d. May i, 1851, Pontiac,
Mich. ; m. Josiah Frost.
(X.) Louis Nevins, b. March 21, 1796; d. May 1796.
(XL) George (Dr.) b. August 19, 1797; d. August 25, 1844, Syra-
cuse, N. Y. ; m. Electa Ellis.
(XII.) Lucy, b. April 17, 1799; d. July 8, 1837, Pontiac, Mich.; m.
Weston Frost.
(XIII.) Eleazar, b. November 25, 1801 ; d. May 22, 1802.
William N.athan Terry
William Nathan Terry made his declaration November 10, 1828, at
which time he was sixty-eight years old. He enlisted for the .war in
March, 1774: was at the battle of Bunker Hill in June, 1775, as a mem-
ber of Capt. Ransom's company of Pennsylvania troops, in Colonel But-
80 iiiSTuRV (JF UAKLAXD COUNTY
ler's regiment. He served till October, 1782. While on a furlough he
fought as a volunteer at the^ battle of Wyoming, and afterward returned
to his corps and was engaged in the battle of I'rinceton. He came to
Michigan in 1824, leaving property in Tioga county. New York, out of
which he was partially swindled, and was too poor to prosecute his rights
for its recovery. He settled on the Saginaw turnpike, two miles north-
west of Pontiac, and lived to be about eighty years old. He died January
20, 1840, and is buried on the Charles Terry lot in Oak Hill cemetery.
His wife, Eleanor Lewis, died August 25, 1849, aged seventy-three years.
Children: (L) Charles, d. Juh' 3. 1854, aged fifty-two years; ceme-
tery record.
(H.) Sarah Lee, b. October 2-/, 1806; d, June 13, 1899; m. July 5,
1S27, Isaac \'oorheis. b. March 11, 1806; d. July 12, 1892.
(HL) Ellen, ni. Sept. 14. 1833, .Matthew Stanley.
(IV.) William, m. Hannah Lusk.
(V.) Jacob.
(VI.) loshua, ni. I.ucv Tining.
(VII.) "John.
(VIIJ.) ..Merritt, m. Emily Lewis.
(IX.) Caleb, b. October 11. 1816, Palmyra, Wayne county, X. Y". ;
d. April 26, 1890, Lansing, Mich.; m. 1840 Loraine Cole, b. February i,
1821, d. September 13, 1908, Port Huron, dau. of John and Elizabeth
(Skinner) Cole.
(X.) Pollv, m. Elijah Kirkham.
(XI.) Barney.
JOSIIU.\ ClIAMnERl.I.V AND EnOCH HoTCHKISS
The fifth Revolutionary soldier's grave to be located and marked in
Oak Hill cemetery, Pontiac, was that of Joshua Chamberlin. He enlisted
April 3, 1777, at Richmond, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, serving as
a private until April 3, 1780, in Captain Jeremiah I^Iiller's company,
Col. Vose's regiment of Massachusetts troops. He applied in 1818 for
a pension, which was granted, he being a resident of Lewiston, Niagara
county. New York. In 1820 he was a resident of Detroit and undoubt-
edly came to Pontiac with his sons, Joshua, Jr., and Dr. Olmstead Cham-
berlin, two years later. Dr. Chamberlin was one of the prominent busi-
ness men of Pontiac a great many years. His father died February 20,
1827, aged sixty-seven years. Sarah, his wife, died at Gorham, New
Y'ork, August 14, 1814, aged forty-nine,
Enoch Hotchkiss, who is buried in the orchard on the farm he orig-
inally settled in 1819, is claimed to be a soldier of the Revolution.
Elijah Drake
The early life of Elijah Drake was sjient in the neighborhood of the
Delaware Water Cap, that now famous summer resort where the com-
bination of mountain and river forms scenery unexcelled in beauty.
Here he was liorn July 4, 1759. In the sparsely settled country embraced
bv Smithtield tnwnship. the settlers were protected from raids of hostile
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 81
Indians Ijy the garrison at Fort Peon. It was located on a large tract of
land owned by Col. Stroud and commanded also by him. Lying adja-
cent to this great property of Col. Stroud was the land of Samuel Drake,
father of Elijah.
A company belonging to the Associates Battalion formed in Pennsyl-
vania was organized in Smithfield May 22, 1775, of which Jacob Stroud
was captain and Samuel Drake lieutenant. In 1776 Jacob Stroud was
colonel and Samuel Drake captain (\'o!. 14, second series of Pennsylvania
Archives, page 555, 576).
In June, 1778, the records of the Bureau of Pensions state that Elijah
Drake enlisted as a private and served six months under Capt. Benjamin
Schoonhoven, Col. Stroud's Pennsylvania regiment : reenlisted June 5,
1779. for three months imder the same captain in Col. Armstrong's regi-
ment Pennsylvania troops. After that a service of fifteen days is re-
corded under Capt. Satuuel Shoemaker and his place of residence is
given as Lower Smithville. Northhampton county, Pennsylvania. The
state records also show the service of his brother Thomas. This official
record is meager enough, for in reality he gave four years of his life
to the service of his country. The position of the family on the frontier
of necessity demanded the protection of father and sons in the early days
of the war and Elijah thus servefl three years before his official enlist-
ment in 1778.
Like others of the valiant volunteers who first viewed the fertile
valley of the Susquehanna in time of strife, lie was resolved to make this
locality his home some time in the future, and after serving as executor
of his father's estate in 1789 he joined his sister Ruth, who had married
Capt. Daniel McDowel and settled at Chemung, fourteen miles below
Newtown Point, or Elmira, as the place is now called.
Living in the beautiful valley of Wyoming at the time of the terrible
massacre, was the family of Thomas and Abigail (Culver) Stoddard,
settlers from Connecticut. They were warned of the approaching dan-
ger l)y a friendl}' Indian, in time to escape with their children. Their
daughter .\l)igail was at that time eight or nine years old and many times
in the course of her long life of ninety years, she recited the thrilling
experiences which were so indelibly stamped upon her lucmorv. The
youngest child of two years of age died of exposure and h;ir(lsiii])s en-
countered in their long march in the wilderness.
Just where was their refuge we do not know, but presumably to the
north. This much is fact — that Elijah D'rake married Abigail Stoddard
in the \ear 1790 at Newtown Point. Their home was in Chemung, as
we find Elijah Drake elected overseer of highways at the fourth town
meeting held 1791. The next year he is still a resident, as is proved by a
release given by him to his brother Joseph, for his interest in a piece of
land adjoining their home farm.
His second daughter, Welthy, is said to have been born in .Sci]jio.
New Y^ork. If so, the change of residence must have taken place early
in 1793. His father-in-law, Thomas Stod(iard, went with him, and they
settled on a farm in the town of Scipio, one and three-fourths miles east
of tlie village of Aurora, lying on Cayuga lake. Here his eight sons were
82 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
born and here he lived until 1821 when he sold out and bought a farm
two miles east of the villagg of Perry, Genesee county, New York, where
he resided ten years.
Thomas J., the second son, had made his way to Pontiac, Michigan,
in 1824, and became one of the most prominent men of the early history
of Oakland county. His success and liking for the new country influ-
enced the rest of the family to leave New York for the land of promise.
In 1835 Elijah Drake, with six of his sons, and their families em-
barked from Bufifalo on the old time steamer, "Thomas Jefferson." One
son, Cyrus, with his family, settled in Huron county, Ohio, but the other
five became pioneers of Michigan.
After tarrying a while in Oakland county, the old gentleman and his
wife went to live with their sons who had settled near Ann Arbor. After
a residence there of a few years, they removed w-ith their son, Dr. Flemon
Drake, in 1844, to Royal Oak, where they made their home the remain-
ing years of their lives.
Elijah Drake died April 8, 1848. His wife lived to be over ninety
years old and died February 20, i860.
Children: (I.) Sally, b. January 11, 1791, at Chemung, N. Y. : d.
February 18. 1875, at Humberstone, Ont. ; m. April 4, 1810 at Scipio,
N. Y., Guy Jerome Atkins.
(II.) Welthy, b. March 4, 1793. at Scipio, N. Y. ; d. April 30, 1856. at
Buffalo, N. Y. ; m. March 4, 1820 at Perry, N. Y., Samuel Rudolph At-
kins.
(III.) Samuel, b. August 27, 1795, at Scipio, N. Y. ; d. Sept.. 1827, at
New Orleans, La. ; m. November 28, 1816 at Buffalo, Eliza Chapman,
oldest daughter of Col. Asa Chapman. Her mother was Electa Doney,
daughter of John and Mary (Keyes) Doney. Mrs. Eliza Drake died
January 5, 1859, at Farmington, Mich.
(IV.) Thomas Jefferson, b. April 18, 1797, at Scipio, N. Y. ; d. .-\pril
20, 1875, at Pontiac. Alich.; m. December 17, 1826, Martha Minot Bald-
win, daughter of Nathaniel Baldwin of Rochester; m. 2d April 19, 1843,
Evelina H. Talbot.
(V.) Cyrus, b. December 24, 1800, Scipio, N. Y. ; d. .\pril 15, 1855;
m. November 14, 1824, Svlvia Huestis.
(VI.) Elias, b. Sept. 25, 1803, Scipio, N. Y. ; d. Nov. 18. 1878, at
Madison, Lenawee county, Michigan; m. Sept. 19, 1837 at Lima, Wash-
tenaw county, Michigan., Jane Hudson.
(VII.) Elijah, b. December 24. 1805, at Scipio, N. Y. ; d. April 14,
1875, at Flint, Mich.; m. June i, 1839 at Rush, Livingstone countv, N.
Y., Sally Webster.
(Vlil.) Flemon, b. April 30, 1807, at Scipio, N. Y. ; d. November 2,
1865, at Royal Oak, Mich.; m. .\pril 10, 1834, Electa Depue ; m. 2d,
Mary E. Pierson.
('IX.) Edward L., b. April 30, 1810. at .Scipio. N. Y. ; d. Feb. 4, 1896,
at McBain, Mich.; m. ist, 1834, .Vnibrosia Lacy; m. 2d. Mrs. Cynthia
B. Capen.
(X.) Morgan L., b. Oct. 18, 1813, Scipio, N. Y. ; d. April 21, 1865.
at Pontiac, Mich.; m. September 19, 1837, Sarah Sophronia Stannard
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 83
Ezra Parker
One of the two Revolutionary soldiers buried in the township ceme-
tery of Royal Oak is Ezra Parker. He was born in Wallingford, Con-
necticut, December 13, 1745, and died in Royal Oak, Michigan, July 7,
1842 in the ninety-seventh year of his age.
With the family of his father, Andrew Parker, they removed from
Wallingford. Connecticut, to Adams, ^Massachusetts, about 1770; hav-
ing previously married Sarah Tuttle. He married as his second wife,
Elizabeth Perry of North Adams, Massachusetts, about 1772 and they
had ten children, to-wit: Samuel, David, Ezra, William M., Joel, Cratus,
Elizabeth, Ira, Abigail and another son, name unknown, who died young.
After the Battle of Lexington, April, 1775, Mr. Parker joined the
Berkshire company; was present at the battle of Bunker Hill in Boston,
and in September of that year was a sergeant among the picked 1,200
which constituted ArnoM's expedition through the wilds of Maine to
Quebec and participated in the entire campaign, returning with the
remnants of that expedition. Later a commission was tendered him in
the Revolutionary army by the state of ^Massachusetts, but was declined.
He, still as sergeant, was engaged among the troops from western ^lassa-
chusetts at the battles of Bennington and Saratoga.
In 1793 the family removed to Herkimer county. New York, and in
1795 to Bridgewater, Oneida county. New York. Mr. Parker, how-
ever, was the owner of extensive tracts of land in various points, in the
state of New York, including St. Lawrence county near Watertown, and
upon these tracts he settled his various children. Later, he and Mrs.
Parker made their home with their son, William M., in Sangersfield
county. New York, from about 1813 to 1835, and removed with his son
William to Royal Oak, Oakland county, Michigan, in June, 1835, living
there until his death in 1842. His descendants are quite numerous and
are scattered all over the United States. The family is connected through
various branches with many of the prominent families of the east of that
name.
The onlv ones of his immediate descendants living in this section
was William 'SI. Parker, who married Lydia Gilbert Bull in Bridgewater,
Oneida county. New York, in 1802, and the fruits thereof were eleven chil-
dren, seven of whom were living and removed with the family to Mich-
igan in 1835. William M. Parker also owned numerous tracts of land in
the state of JMichigan in Oakland and Genesee counties, especially but
settled upon the southeast quarter of the southeast qtiarter of section 6,
township of Royal Oak, and on the old road previously described, having
purchased the farm or land of Alexander Campbell. Of his children,
Asher B. Parker first settled upon the west half of the northeast quarter
of section 8 and the east half of the northeast quarter of section 7, town-
ship of Royal Oak. For four years, 1840 to 1844, he lived in the town-
ship of Genesee, county of Genesee. In 1839 Asher B. Parker married
Harriet M. Castle, they having seven children, all of whom are living
at the present date. One son, Ralzemond A. Parker lives upon the old
homestead and is a practicing lawyer in' Detroit.
William Parker was with Hooker's congregation settling Hartford,
84 lllSTURN UF UAKLAXi) C(JUXTV
Connecticut, removing thereto from Cambridge. Massachusetts, in 1639.
I le had three sons, the youngest. John, settled in Xew Haven. Connecti-
cut, and also had among other children a son John (2d).
John 2d was horn in 1648. married ITannaii I'.assett in 1670 and was
.imong the early jjlanters at Wallingford. Connecticut. gi\ing the name
of I'arker's farm to a locality there west of the village, which name it
still bears.
Among numerous children was one Joseph, the fifth child who mar-
ried Sarah Curtis in 1703, and among eleven children was one Andrew
who married Susannah Blakesless.
The children of Andrew Parker were .Ambros. 1738: Grace. 1739,
and Patience: Zeruiah, T741 ; Oliver. 1743: Ezra. December 13. 1745;
Susannah. 1747; Rachael, 1749; Sybil, 1753; and Jason, 1764. He
moved with the family to Adams. Berkshire county, Massachusetts.
where he died. Jason I'arker founded stage lines early in the nineteenth
century and these lines ran to all parts of the state east. west, north and
south, and west as far as Niagara Falls.
Jf.KICMIAH Cr.ARKF.
Jeremiah Clarke was born in I'reston. Connecticut, in 1760 or 1761.
He lived with his father in .Shaftsbury. \'ermont, and in the Revolution-
ary war served under Capt. Bigelow Lawrence, entering service March
2, 1778; discharged May 2. 1778; in service sixty days. His father. Jere-
miah Clarke. Sr., was a member of the first convention of delegates
from towns in July, 1776; major in 1777: was member of first Council
of Safety of A'crmont. 1778; Judge of the first court, and member of
executive council for years ( A'ermont Hist. Soc. Vol. r pp. 11. 15. 21,
27,. 25; \'ermont .State Papers. 257. 2C^6. 277. 553. 555V
In his journeying to the westward, after the war, his first stop was
in r)ath, New Jersey, where he built one of the first houses. Here he
did not tarrv long, however, for we find him one of the early settlers of
Xelson. Madison county. New York. Fie lived north of Erieville and
built the first sawmill that was put up in the town, where now is the
outlet of the Erieville reservoir. Before 1808 he moved to Onondaga
county and finally spent the last years of his life in Clarkston. Oakland
county. ^Michigan, where his sons had settled and died there Jmie i.
1845, aged eighty-four years. He married Sarah Millington in 1780.
She was born in i~(>7: died July 17. 1845. aged .seventy-eight years.
They had fourteen children and a goodly proportion of the inhabitants
of Clarkston claim descent from them.
Children: (1.) ]ulia. m. Elnathan Cobb: lived in Onondaga count\.
N. V. "
ill.) Amasa. m. a Mr. (Ireen : went to Illinois over seventy years
ago.
(III.) Tydia. b. 17S1: il. Sci)teml)er 14. 1845. Clarkston. Mich.; m.
Nicholas Brown.
(I\'.) Henry, left home when eighteen or twenty years of age and
never heard of afterward.
(V.) Amos.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 85
(VI.) Jeremiah, b. .Sept. 19, 1790, Shaftsbury, N. IT.; d. August
29, 1847, Dewitt, N. Y. ; m. Phebe Holdridge 1814, b. August 6, 1791 ;
d. August 9, 1838.
(VII.) Lucy. ni. William lohnson ; lived in Nelson, N. Y'.
(VIIL) Amy. b. 1794; d."july 29, 1953, Clarkston, Mich.; m. Oliver
Poole.
(IX.jSusan, b. October 25, 1797; m. 1821 Jeremiah P.lair.
(X.) Hiram.
(XL) Sarah, Ij. Feb. 15, 1806; d. March 5, 1872, Clarkston, Mich.;
m. Jacob Walter.
"(XII.) Nelson, b. lune 8, 1808; d. April 17, 1876, Northville, Mich.
(XIII.) Sidney.
(XIV.) Ebenezer, b. August 6, 1812; d. February 7, 1868, Michigan
Center. Jackson county, Michigan.
(
Benjamin Gr.\ce
Benjamin Grace made application for a pension on April 30, 1818,
at which time he was fifty-eight years of age and resided in Lyons, New
York. His pension was allowed for three years of actual service as a
private in the New Ilamijsliire troops, Revolutionary war. He enlisted
at Amherst, New Hampshire, 1780, and served under Captain Livermore
and Colonel Scammel until 1783. He came in 1828 to reside with his
children at Farmington, Oakland county, Michigan, and died on the
William Grace farm a mile north of Clarenceville, on Novemlier 13,
1 851, aged ninety-one years and is buried in the Clarenceville cemetery.
He was blind for nearly thirty years during the latter part of his life.
Benjamin Grace is said to have entered service at the age of fifteen
years, at the battle of Lexington, and continued in active duty all
during the war, being at the surrender of Yorktown.
Children all born in Canaan, Somerset county, Maine: (I.) Ben-
jamin, died in his youth.
(II.) Mary (Polly), m. Russell.
(III.) James, b. Apr. 27, 1789, d. Mar. 20, 1866, I^ivonia, Wayne
Co., Mich. ; "m. May 22, 1814, Hannah Patten, b. June 22, \7g2. d. Feb.
20, 1879, dau. of James Patten.
(IV.) Hannah, b. June 13, 1791, d. Feb. 20, 1S79, Livonia, Wayne
Co., Mich.; m. .Solomon" Lambert, b. June 15, 1792; d. Apr. 8, 1882.
(V.) William, left home and was never heard of afterward.
(VI.) Abigail, m. Williard Lambert.
(VII.) Amasa, b. Aug. 1797; d. July 14, 1873, Farmington, Mich.;
m. in Maine, Jane Barton, a native of Ireland.
(VIIL) Sally, b. 1802; d. Oct. 20, 1861, Farmington, Mich.; m.
Stephen Jennings, d. Sept. 5, 1850, aged 49 years.
(IX.)" Amelia, m. John Grace, 1). Feb. 13, 1805, Maine; d. Feb. 7,
i860, Fulton, Gratiot Co., Mich.; son of Joseph and Susan (Close) Grace,
Joseph, d. in town of Lyons. N. Y., when his son John was 12 years of
age.
(X.) Harriet, b, .March 17, 1807; ni. (icorge Barton, m. 2nd.
Ward.
86 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
(XI.) Darius, b. Oct. 8, 1809; d. Jan. 2, 1892, Conway, Livingston
Co., Mich.; ni. Dec. 10, 1837, Livonia, Alich., Ann Eliza Grant; b. Feb.
27, 1822 Great Harrington, Mass.; living (1912) dau. of Warren G.
Grant and Sophia Wilcox of Livonia.
C.^LEB B.XRKER MeRRELL
Capt. Caleb Barker Merrell was a commissioned officer in the Amer-
ican army during the struggle for independence, participating in the
battles of Bennington, Bemis Heights, Saratoga, Stillwater and the sur-
render of Burgoyne, October 17, 1777. He was at one time taken pris-
oner, conveyed to Canada and was for some time confined by British
authority. This memorial of him is given in Lakin's History, Military
Lodge F. & A. M. No. 93, Manlius, N. Y. (p. 59), of which he was evi-
dently a member. He was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and
died in Springfield, Oakland county, Michigan, July 2, 1842, at the ad-
vanced age of eighty-eight years. His wife was Sally Jackson, to whom
he was married June 29, 1788. She was born October 3, 1766 and died
Jtily 22, 186 — , daughter of Col. Giles and Anna Thomas Jackson.
Capt. Merrell came to Michigan with his son, John J. Merrell in 1833,
and settled in Springfield. He is buried in the cemetery at Clarkston.
Children: (i.) John Jackson Merrell, b. March 22, 1797, at White-
stone, N. Y. ; d. Apr. 6, 1866; m. July 31, 1822, Maria Paddock, b. Jan.
4, 1804, Caznovia, N. Y. ; died May 7, 1883.
(H.) Charlotte, b. Jan. 15, 1804; d. Apr. 4, 1873; m. John W. Pratt,
b. Apr. 17, 1802; d. Apr. 24. 1847. Springfield.
(HL) Charles.
(IV.) Helen, m. Lovett.
(V.) Anna, m. David Leonard.
Levi Green
Levi Green was born in Coventry, R. I., June 6, 1758, and died in
West Bloomfield. Oakland county, Michigan, on the 21st of June, 1859.
At the time of making application for a pension. September 28, 1832, he
was a resident of Livonia, N. Y^. He enlisted July i, 1776. for eight and
one half months under Captain Baldwin; 2nd enlistment July i, 1777,
one month, under Captain New-ell; 3rd enlistment August, 1777, under
Captain Brown, Colonel Simonds regiment, Massachusetts troops. He
was engaged in the battle of Bennington. His grandson, Horace A.
Green, has in his possession the original pension papers and a powder
horn carved with his name which was carried through the war.
Levi Green's wife was Ascnath Robinson. Their son, Zephaniah
Ripley Green, with whom the father lived, arrived jn West Bloomfield in
July, 1832. Fie is buried in the North Farmington cemetery. Many of
his descendants are living in Oakland county.
Children: (I.) Aurelia, b. Nov. 5, 1785, Cheshire, Mass.; d. 1866,
buried in Palermo, N. Y. ; m. Joseph Chapel ; m. 2nd, Selini Dayton.
(II.) Eunice, m. David Cripen.
(III.) Waterman, killed by falling tree when 18 years old.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 87
(IV.) Sophia, d. about 1848; m. David Curtis.
(V.) Fanny, b. Apr. 3, 1794; m. July 7, 1812, Orange Cliapin.
(VI.) Horace, b. ; d. Jan. 20, 1833, Springfield, Mich.;
m. Sept. 21, 1820, Livonia, N. Y., Diantha Powell.
(VII.) Huldah, b. Sept. 24, 1799, Middleboro, N. Y. ; d. Mar. 21,
1897; m. Godfrey Slocum.
(VIII.) Zephaniah Ripley, b. Aug. 6, 1801 ; d. Feb. i, 1879; ™- Dec.
3, 1826, Zerilla Gould.
(IX.) Emma, b. Apr. 24, 1804; d. June 19, 1889; m. June 7, 1827,
Abner Beardsley.
(X.) Speedy, b. May 25, 1808; d. Alar. 21, 1890; m. Gerothman
McDonald, June 4, 1827.
(XI.) Laura, b. Aug. 11, 181 1 ; d. 1850 or '51 ; m. Sheldon .Wilcox,
Joel Phelps
Enlisted June, 1775, and served till January 3, 1776, with rank of
sergeant in Capt. John McKinstry's company, Col. John Patterson's
Massachusetts regiment; also reenlisted February 2, 1776, in same com-
pany and was taken prisoner in Canada. In 1777 served first in Capt.
Hall's company, Col. Henry Sherborne's regiment. Continental army, and
reenlisted June 16, 1777, in Capt. Stephen Hardin's company, Col.
Zebulon Butler's Connecticut regiment. He was wounded in this service
for which he was pensioned. Appointed quartermaster to accompany
Gen. Burgoyne's army to Virginia and served from April or May, 1779,
to May, 1780, as issuing commissary at Saratoga. Engaged in battles of
the Cedars, Trenton, Princeton, Bound Brook, Wyoming and many
skirmishes. Applied April 20. 1818, for pension, which was allowed, re-
siding at that time in Bloomfield, Ontario county. New York, and being
sixty-two years old, being born July 16, 1755. In 1821 soldier's wife
"Anner" was fifty-four years old. There were twelve children. In 1836
he moved to Michigan and in September, 1837, was living in Oakland
county. He is buried in the cemetery at Rose Corners.
Children: (I.) Gilbert, b. Dec. 26, 1788.
(II.) Minerva, b. Dec. i, 1790.
(III.) Othanile, b. Feb. 10, 1793.
(IV.) Martha, b. July 4, 1795.
(V.) Sarah, b. May 5, 1798.
(VI.) Joel, b. May 22, 1800.
(VII.) Daniel, b. Aug. 16, 1802.
(VIII.) Mariah, b. Aug. 16, 1804.
(IX.) Aaron, b. Oct. 18, 1806.
(X.) Lewis, b. March 11, 1809; d. Feb. 10, 1897.
(XI.) Henrv, b. Jan. 18, 1813.
(XII.) Stephen, b. 1815.
Ell\s Cady
Elias Cady, son of Benajar Cady, was horn in Providence, R. I.,
September 7, 1756. During the first year of the war the boy took his
88 lilSTOKV Ul- OAKLAND CUUXIA'
musket and went to Boston where lie was enlisted as a soldier in the
Revolutionary war, and served till its close. He spent the winter at
\'alley I'"orge with Washington, and one night he and the general went
on a rcconnoitering ex]jedition, returning at the break of day with suffi-
cient information to make the American army better prepared to meet
the enemy when it came. At the end of the war he was married in a
church at Providence. Rhode Island, to Olive Baker. Six children were
born to them — Seth B., Rhoda, Mary, Sarah, Philinda and Elias. They
moved to Utica, N. Y., where she died, and in 1838 he came with his
son, Seth B., to Holly, ^^lichigan, on March 31, 1853, he died at the home
of this same son at Genesee and was buried in (Jak Hill cemetery, two
miles northwest of Holly, Michigan. He was a pensioner.
Samuei, Nii.es
Samuel Xiles was born in Rhode Island, and was a private under
General Green in the War of the Revolution and was wounded in an ac-
tion in his native state. He came to Michigan in 1835 and took up his
residence with his son Johnson Niles, the first settler in the township of
Troy, and remained here until his death in July, 1838. Buried in Crook's
cemetery, Troy, Oakland county, Michigan. His wife. Smellage Sisson,
died in 1835; m. 2nd, Lucy Roberts.
Silas Sprague
Silas Sprague was another early settler and soldier who is buried in
the Crooks cemetery at Troy, this county. He was born February iS,
1762, in Connecticut, coming to Michigan in 1S24, with his son Silas;
died March 8, 1841, in Troy. Michigan. His wife, Polly Leonard, was
born October 16, 1763; died October 5, 1813, in New York. Their chil-
dren were: (I.) Silas, b. Oct. ifi. 1785. Middlebury. Conn.; d. July 2,
1868, Troy, Mich.; m. Nov. 12, 1807," Sarah Crofoot; m. 2nd, 1824,
Amanda Bostwick ; m. 3rd, i8sS. P-unice Iniller.
(II.) Polly, b. J\Iar. 9. 1790.
(HI.) Charles, b. Dec. 13, 1791. Chenango Co., N. Y. ; d. Nov. 30.
1871.
(I\'.) Thomas, b. Apr. 6, 1794, Chenango Co., N. Y.; d. -Kpr. i86().
(V.) Orrin, b. Aug. 20, 1796; d. June 8. 1874, Troy.
(VI.) Barnabas, b. Mar. 20, 1799; d. Sept. 30. 1865.
(VII.) John, b. July 4, 1801 ; d. Sept. 29, 1866. Troy, Mich.
(VIII.) "Leonard, h. Aug. 29. 1804; Broome Co., N. Y. ; d. July 24.
1880, Pontiac, Micli.
"Massachu-setts Soldiers and Sailors" gives his service as follows :
Certificate dated May 31, 1780; signed by Truman Wheeler, muster
master of Berkshire county, stating that in the fore part of July, 1779,
he had mustered said S])rague and others to serve in the Continental
army for the term of nine months, to the credit of the town of Great
Barrington; also descriptive list of men raised in lierkshire county to
serve in the Continental army for the term of nine months to Capt. Good-
rich's company. Col. Ashley's regiment ; age seventeen years ; stature five
HISTORY Ol' OAKLAND COUNTY 89
feet, nine inches, complexion light; engaged for the town of Great Har-
rington; also served twelve days at Stillwater, 1781.
Esiiox Gregory
The Bureau of IVnsions at Washington gives the following record;
Esbon Gregory enlisted June 13, 1777, and served till August 17, 1777, as
private in Capt. Amariah Babbitt's company, Col. Benjamin Simon's
regiment of Massachusetts troops; also re-enlisted .\ugust 17, 1777, and
served till October 17, 1777, under Capt. Herrick and Col. Seth Warner;
also, after October 17, 1777, to May or June, 1778, as teamster under
Capt. Luther Loomis and Col. Warner; also from ]\Iay or June, 1778,
for eight months in Capt. Peter Porter's company, General Stark's Life
Guard; also April, 1779, three months as cjuartermaster transporting
military stores for General Stark; also July i, I77y. served as sergeant
under Capt. Barnes in' Col. Israel Capen's regiment; also June i, 1780,
one year as sergeant under Captains Hickok, Spoor and Gross, and
Colonels Brown and Willett ; also June i, 1781, through November of
that year. He engaged in the battle of Bennington in which he was
wounded ; also battles of Stone Arabia and Johnstown. At the time of
his enlistment he was a resident of New Ashford or Lanesborough,
Berkshire county, N. Y. and at the time of his application for pension
May 4, 1818, he resided in Manlius, New A'ork. In 1833 he lived in
Hanover, that state. In 1837 he was living in Troy, Oakland county,
with his son, Jesse Gregory, where he remained until his death in 184 — .
He is buried in the Plains cemetery, one and one quarter miles east of
Troy Corners, Oakland county. His wife was Salome Sherwood.
Children: (I.) Solomon, m. Maria Llagerman.
(II.) Abigail, m. Johnson.
(III.) Salome, m. Absalom Kief.
(IV.) Mary Ann, m. Jan. 15, 1829, Sylvester Francis.
(V.) Jesse, b. Sept. 26, 1796, , N. Y. ; d. July 22. 1849,
Troy, Mich.; m. Mar. 26, 1826, Laura Downer, b. Dec. 29, 1799; d. July
7, 1874: dau. of Jackson and Tabitha ( Hackett) Downer.
Zadock Wellmax
Zadock Wellman and his sons, Joel and Aaron, settled in Troy as
early as 1819. They came from Vermont and were active in the Ijap-
tist church and town affairs until about 1847, when their names disajj-
pear. Zadock Wellman's name is found in the list of Revolutionary
soldiers who were pensioners in 1840 when his age is given as seventy-
nine and he resided with Joel Wellman in Troy. The wife of Joel was
Martha and Aaron Wellman's wife was Lucy. The Wellmans are buried
in the cemetery east of Troy Corners, Oakland county.
Caleb Carr
Caleb Carr. born October 13, 1762, died July 18, 1839, and is buried
in Novi cemetery. He is said to have been a Methodist e.xhorter, (p.
130, Vol. Ill "Massachusetts .Soldiers and Sailors").
90 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
Caleb Carr, Jr.: Receipt dated Warwick, February, 1777, given to
Capt. Squire Millard for wages for services for one day on an alarm
November 2, 1776; also, private in Capt. Millard's company. Col. John
Waterman's regiment, service between December 4, 1776. and January 9,
1777, thirty-five days; also first division Capt. Squire Millard's company,
Col. Wakeman's regiment, service from January 9. 1777 to I'ebruary 3,
1777, thirty-one days; also, receipt dated Warwick, 1777, given to Capt.
Millard for wages from January 9 to February 8, 1777; also corporal
first division. Squire Millard's company. Col. Waterman's regiment, ser-
vice from April 6, 1777, to April 22, 1777, fifteen days.
The land records show that the Carr family bought land in Kensing-
ton in the year 1836, at which time Caleb Carr, Jr., was a resident of
that place. A few years later the father and sons lived at Novi, Michi-
gan, where Isaac Carr kept a tavern, which was burned in 1847. He
then moved to Redford, ^Michigan, and kept tavern there the rest of his
life.
Caleb Carr had children : Caleb, b. \'ermont ; d. in Williamston,
Mich.; Isaac, b. September 6, 1790, \'ermont; d. December 1862, Red-
ford, Mich. ; Calvin, b. Vermont ; d. Waterford, Mich. ; Sarah, b. June
5, 1800; d. February 9, 1837.
Hooper Bishop
Hooper Bishop, another soldier of the Revolution, buried in Novi
cemetery, Michigan, was born March 22, 1762; died April 3, 1861. He
married February 12, 1794, Betsey ; born March 22, 1758;
died January 12, 1825. He came to Michigan before 1840 to live with
his son Levi who owned a farm east of Novi, which is now owned by Mr.
West. Mrs. Lozie Paddack remembers him well, as she often visited
his granddaughter and he would tell them stories of the war, of which
he had kept many relics, including his uniform and musket. He had
a wooden leg and was blind and the children looked up to him as a great
hero. His service is given in "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors,"
Vol. II, p. 78, as follows: Hooper Bishop, private Capt. John Carpenter
company; enlisted June 25, 1779; discharged September 25. 1779; ser-
vice with guards at Springfield enlistment three months.
Hooper Bishop, private Capt. Caleb Keep's company. Col. Israel
Chapen's regiment; enlisted October, 1779; discharged November 21,
1779; service i month, 11 days; enlisted three months; company raised to
reinforce Continental army.
Hooper Bishop, South Brinefield descriptive list of men raised to
reinforce Continental army for the term of six months, agreeable to re-
solve of June 5, 17S0; Age, eighteen years; stature, five feet, five inches;
complexion dark ; residence South Brinefield ; arrived in Springfield July
II, 1780; marched to camp July 11, 1780, under command of Captain
George Webb. Also list of men raised for the six months service and re-
turned by Brig. Gen. Patterson as having passed muster, in a return dated
Camp Toloway, October 25, 1780; also pay roll for six-month men raised
bv the town of South Brinefield for service in the Continental armv dur-
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 91
ing 1780. Marched July, 1870; discharged December, 1780; service five
months ; discharged at West Point.
Also Hooper Bishop, private Capt. Abel King's company, Col. Sear's
regiment; enlisted August 20, 1781 ; discharged November 26, 1781;
service three months at Saratoga.
Children: (I.) Prudence, b. September 3, 1794.
(H.) Sally, b. February 26, 1797; d. February 4, 1858.
(HI.) Levi, b. June 8, 1799; d. October 18, 1870, Novi, Oakland
county, Mich.
(IV.) William, b. November 21, 1802.
Derrick Hulick
Derrick Hulick was born May 5, 1759, Montgomery township, Som-
erset county, New Jersey. At the time of his enlistment he was still a
resident of that county. He served as a private from June i, 1776, for
seven months in Capt. William Baird's company, Col. Quick's and Henry
V'anDike's regiment ; also under Capt. Rynear Staats and Col. Freling-
huysen of New Jersey. Reenlisted, 1777, for eight months in John
Baird's company, Col. Webster's regiment; again in April, 1778, for two
months under Capts. Joakim Gulick and John Bair in Col. VanDike's
regiment. Also January or February 1779, for six months and 1780
for one month in the same company. September 3, 1832, he applied for
and was allowed a pension and at the time lived in O.xford township,
Warren county, New Jersey. In 1839 he resided with his son-in-law,
Dennis Snyder, in the township of Addison, Oakland county. He died
in 1843 and was the first person buried in the Lakeville cemetery. He
is said also to have served in the War of 1812.
Caleb Pratt
Obituary from Pontiac Jacksonian, June 13, 1843 : "Departed
this life on the 24th ult. Caleb Pratt, Esq., aged eighty-three years and
seven months, at the residence of his son, Capt. John W. Pratt, Spring-
field, Oakland county, Michigan.
"Mr. Pratt was a soldier of the Revolution. He was a volunteer
under the brave Stark at Bennington, and there fought shoulder to
shoulder with his compatriots and contributed to the successful issue of
that eventful day.
,"The deceased in the course of his long and active life was frequently
called by his fellow citizens to fill ofiices, both civil and military, and he
discharged the duties thereof with honor to himself and satisfaction to
the public."
Solomon Jones
Solomon Jones came to Michigan in the fall of 1843 and first stopped
in Springfield where his wife died. He lived five years afterward with
his son, Jesse, in Groveland, and then went back to New York where he
stayed some time and finally returned to Michigan and lived with Jesse
until June 1865, when he died at the extreme age of one hundred and
C12 HISTORY UF OAK LA. XL) COUXTY
live years. He had served in the Revokitionary war, although but lifteeii
jears old when called upon to bear arms. (Page 176 Oakland County
lli.story.)
Children: (I.) Daniel, came from ( )r\veU, Rutland county. Xennimt.
in if^37. to Michigan.
(11.) Timothy, came to Alichigan 1836, settled in .Springfield and
later went to Texas.
(111.) Jesse, b. in Esse.x «ouuty, N. Y., between Lake George and
Lake Champlain, came to Michigan in 1838, located in Croveland, Oak-
land county, Michigan.
Lydia B.\rni!s Potter
General Richardson Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution,
learning of the services this loyal woman gave to her country, honored
her grave with the official marker of the society, placed with appropriate
services on the 19th of August, 191 1. at the Baldwin cemetery, near
Rochester, Michigan. Her granddaughter, Mrs. Abigail H. McArthur,
makes the following affidavit:
"To all whom it may concern : My grandfather, Lemuel Potter, was
a Revolutionary soldier.' He enlisted at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1777,
when the Continental army was organized.^ He had seen previous ser-
vice in the militia companies. His officers' were Col. Wyllys and Capt.
Robert Warner. He was appointed a corporal, and with a corporal's
guard was sent home to gather provisions and clothing for Washington's
starving soldiers at Valley Forge. \\'hile engaged in this work he met
Lydia Barnes, a young woman who was devoting her whole time and
strength to the service of her country by making clothing for the sol-
diers at the front. She spun and wove the wool and cut and made the
garments, learning the tailor's trade that she might the more expeditiously
supply the soldier's needs. She worked so unremittingly at her task,
standing continuously in a half bent position over her cutting tal)lc that
she was never able to stand u]M-ight.
"When the young soldier, Lemuel Potter, returned to the front he
had won the promise of Lydia Barnes to be his wife when the war was
over. But owing to a ruling of congress that a married man could draw a
year's rations they were married earlier in February 2, 1779.
"Lemuel Potter was in the engagement known as the Storming of
Stony Point and by his bravery on that occasion won the praise of his
commander. On another occasion he was presented with a cane Iiy his
major for meritorious conduct. Said cane is now in my possession. He
served till the end of the war and was honorably discharged. His mili-
tary record was obtained from the Pension dep.'U-tment at Washington.
D. C.
"Leiuuel Potter died February 2(\ i8j6. ;ind is buried al Chili, .X. \.
.\fter his death his widow moved to Paint Creek. Oakland county, and
became an inmate of the family of my parents, Xccdhani and Marilla
Hemingwa\- (her daughter I, till the time of her death, ten years later.
.She died in .\ugust. 1836, anil is buried at Baldwin's cemetery. Paint
Creek, Oakland count v. At the time she was a lucmber of my ninther's
HISTC)R^■ Ol' OAKLAND COUNTY 93
family I was a young girl and testif}' of my own knowledge that the
above facts are true as I heard them related by my grandmother. Lydia
Potter, in mv childhood.
"Abigail H. McArthur."
"State of Michigan. County of Lapeer — On this 19th day of August.
1911, personally appeared before me. a notary public in and for Lapeer
county, Michigan. Abigail H. McArthur who being duly sworn deposes
and savs that the above is true to the best of her knowledge and belief.
"W.M. E. JMcCoRMACK, Notary Public."
L\Mi-:s IL\krin(;tox and Jacob Petty
James Harrington's name appears as one of the earliest pioneers of
this county, coming to Pontiac in 1820 or 21. He made the first pur-
chase of land in the to\vnship of West Bloomfield on the 15th of May,
1823. He entered the entire section 36. He served in the Rhode Island
troops as corporal in the Revolution. He died in Oakland county 1823,
aged sixty-two. His wife was Martha Gould and his daughter I\lary
married Elias Gates.
Jacob Petty, of Indej^endence, Oakland county, claimed to have
lielonged to Washington's bodyguard. His remains were removed from
the farm where he died, to the cemetery at Sashabaw Plains. Oakland
county.
John Blaxciiakd axu Altramoxt Doxai.dsox
John P.lanchard's name is given in the pensioneer's list of 1840. his
residence is mentioned as White Lake, and his age as seventy-seven. The
county records show that a John Blanchard of Farmington in 1834 deeded
land to his daughter. Sophia La(|ui. which in 1852 was sold by Sophia
and .Aljraham Lakey to Ira F. Gage. In 1835 John Blanchard deeded
eightv acres of land to his son David, whose wife was Sally. David
owned the west one-half N. E. qtiarter section 17 and deeded same to Ben-
jamin Sage in 1839. John Blanchard's former residence was Meredith.
Delaware county. New York.
Altramont Donaldson, another soldier given in the pension list, was
aged seventy-seven and resided at Holly in 1840. Xo further informa-
tion can be given concerning him.
Joseph A'ax Netter
Joseph \"an Netter was the first Revolutionary veteran to file an
api^lication for pension in the Oakland county court. On the date of
his sworn statement February 12, 1822. he was fifty-nine years old. He
enlisted for one year, in April. 1775, in Captain Wendell's company of
Colonel Wynkoop's regiment, in the line of the state (colony) of New
York, Continental establishment, served till November, and then re-
enlisted for the war, in the same company and regiment, the latter then
commanded bv Colonel \'an Schaick. He completed his term of service,
beinsj engaged with the enemv at the battles of Monmouth and ^'cJrk-
94 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
town, and was honorably (iiscliarged. He filed an inventory of all of his
worldly goods, which the court. Judge William Thompson presiding,
valued at the munilicent sum of nine dollars.
Benjamin Bulson
Benjamin Bulson filed his declaration for a pension July 21, 1823,
at which date he was aged sixty-nine years. He enlisted in starch, 1776,
in a company of infantry on Long Island, commanded by Captain Thomas
Mitchell and Lieutenant Cornell, in Colonel \'an Courtlandt's regiment
of General Putnam's brigade of New York troops. He served till Au-
gust. 1776, when he was cajjtured by our British cousins at Brooklyn, and
sent to Halifa.K, having been wounded in the leg, from which wound he
was, at the date of his declaration, still suiTering, though nearly fifty
years had elapsed since it was inflicted. He escaped from confinement
at Halifax by digging out of the prison, and after lying in the woods for
a long titne, and almost starving to death, he arrived at Salem, Massa-
chusetts, in September, 1779, and at once reenlisted as a hand on the
ship "Julius Brutus," Captain John Brooks, carrying eighteen guns, which
on its first cruise captured a British brig and to which Bulson was trans-
ferred as one of the prize crew. Soon after, the prize was retaken by
the British sloop-of-war "Hornet." The prize was taken to New York,
and Bulson confined in the old prison-ship "Jersey," in Waalabout
(Brooklyn). At the end of two months he escaped from the prison-
ship by cutting off the rivets by which the iron bars which closed the
port-holes were fastened, and swimming ashore. He was, however, the
next day taken prisoner by Major Murray's Tories, called "The King's
American Dragoons," and was sentenced to receive nine hundred lashes
for escaping. He did receive four hundred and fifty on his bare back,
the last half-hundred being giveti after he had fainted from pain and
exhaustion. He was then taken to the hospital, where he remained just
long enough for the recovery of his strength, when he again escaped,
and arrived in Salem in 1781, early in that year. All of the time from his
enlistment to his final escape he had been without pay, with the excep-
tion of two months' wages he had received. While on the prison-ship he
changed his name on account of his Tory relatives on Long Island, who
had tlireatened to kill him if they should get a chance. He therefore lost
his individuality in the cognomen of Benjamin Smith, and had been
known by that name ever since. His wife and himself were all the fam-
ily he had, the former being sixty-five years old, and his invoiced prop-
erty was valued at seventy-two dollars and sixty-two and a half cents,
and included one wagon and the old soldier's walking-staff.
Nath,\n Landon
Nathan Landon was the last of these Revolutionary soldiers to file
a declaration in the Oakland courts for a pension, and he did so on the
13th of November. 1828, at which time he was seventy-one years old.
He enlisted February i, 1776, in Captain Archibald Shaw's company,
Colonel William C. Maxwell's regiment of New Jersey troops, and served
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 95
in the same until November 14, 1776, when the regiment was dismissed
by General Gates, at Ticonderoga. Himself and his wife (seventy
years old) lived with a son, Stephen, and his family, and the old peo-
ple had no property save their wearing apparel and bedding.
General Richardson Chapter, D. A. R.
General Richardson Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution,
was organized in October, 1899, and received its charter from the Na-
tional Society on February 17, 1900, engrossed with the following names:
Mrs. Ada Louise Leggett Smith, regent ; Mrs. Lillian Drake Avery, vice-
regent ; Miss Mabel Thorpe, secretary ; Mrs. Harriet Beach Lounsbury,
corresponding secretary ; Airs. Josephine Brown Sanford, treasurer ; Mrs.
Marion Eliza Seymour Ten Eyck, registrar ; and Miss Marcia Richard-
son, historian; Nliss Mary Fitch Crofoot. Mrs. Grace G. Blakesley
Thather, Mrs. Eliza Van Campen Birge, Airs. Ann Loomis Richards
Coleman, Miss Lucy Carpenter, Mrs. Kate Beach Gray, Mrs. Julia Tal-
bot Smith, Mrs. Anne Robinson \'ernon, and Mrs. Anne Ingoldsby
Crawford.
The first work undertaken by this active, patriotic society was to col-
lect and send boxes of books and magazines to the soldiers in the Philip-
pines. It next endeavored to arouse an interest in American history by
offering prizes to the Pontiac grammar and high schools for the best
written essays on subjects selected from the Revolutionary period.
These competitions proved very successful and were continued several
years.
The society has responded liberally to the call for funds to build
Memorial Continental Hall. It felt that in no better way could our fore-
fathers be honored than by assisting in erecting this splendid edifice to
their memory.
The Daughters meet once a month and aside from the regular 1>usi-
ness, have a program devoted to the study of historical or educational
topics. The preservation of the early records of Oakland county is a
work which the historical committee has recently taken up and much
valuable genealogical material has already been collected. This is espe-
cially true of the families of the Revolutionary soldiers of the county,
as it is their desire to have a record of all the descendants of these vet-
erans.
They have a fine old mahogany bookcase which was formerly owned
by Dr. Elliott, an early practitioner of Pontiac. It contains a set of Lin-
eage Books published by the National Society and bound volumes of
the American Monthly, the official D. A. R. magazine, beside a number
of very old books and papers which have been donated to them. They
also have been presented with a rare old map of the Provinces as they
were in 1776, a spinning wheel and reel, and a silver buckle which was
worn by a Revolutionary soldier.
To the generosity of Mr. Henry M. Warren of the P. S. II. they
owe their famous collection of autographs of celebrities. For twenty-
five years Mr. Warren collected these letters, cards and jiictures of
famous people, and when he presented them to the Daughters, they
96 lllsroRV Ol'" OAKLAND COUX'IA'
showed llitir a|)])r(.'ciation of llic gift l)y ordering a l)ook made especially
for their niounling which is now considered one of their most valued
possessions. The registrar';? hook containing the lineage, biography and
portrait of each member, will be when completed, greatly appreciated ;
the scrap book and historian's record are also prized by them more
highly as the passing years ])rove their imijortancc.
In 1905 General Richardson Chapter entertained the state confer-
ence and it was one of the most successful meetings of the kind ever
held. In this and in other social affairs, the chapter has won consider-
able prestige, but the work which they have most at heart and which has
won them the reputation of being the "lianner Chapter'' of the state, is
their indefatigable labors in searching for and marking the graves of the
Revolutionary soldiers who have beeu buried in the county. Each man's
record of military service is found, date and place of birth, death and
marriage are noted, the name of his wife and a list of his children is
sought for, and often it takes years to complete a record. United States
government, county, cemetery, church and private records have to be
consulted, and even then the result is sometimes very meager.
The Revolutiux.\rv (.jR.wes .M.vkkud
When the burial place of a soldier has been located and his record
proven, the Daughters hold a memorial service at the grave, placing on
it the official marker of the society and offerings of flowers. Nineteen
graves have thus far been located as follows :
1. Elijah Drake, marked June 10, igoo. Royal Oak.
2. Ezra Parker, stone marked. Revolutionary soldier. Royal Oak.
3. Levi Green, marked June 14, 1906. North Farmington.
4. .Stephen ^lack, marked July i, lyo", Pontiac.
5. Joseph Todd, marked July i, np/, I'ontiac.
6. Ithamar Smith, marked Jul\- 1, itjO", Pontiac, with government
stone.
7. Joshua Chamberlin, marked July 29, 1909, Pontiac.
8. William Nathan Terry, marked October I, 1909, Pontiac.
9. James r)ancker, marked Octol)cr 2^. 1907, Aletamora.
10. Moses Porter, marked October 28, 1907, Farmer's Creek.
11. Caleb Merrill, marked September 17, 1908, Clarkston.
12. Jeremiah Clark, marked September 17, 1908, Clarkston.
13. George Ilorton, marked July 29, 1909, Rochester.
14. Nathaniel Baldwin, marked July 29, 1909, Rochester.
15. James Graham, marked June 2, 1911, Graham's cemetery. .\von.
16. Benjamin (irace, marked .\ugust 3, 1910, Clarenceville.
*I7. Lydia Potter, marked .\ug. 19, 191 1, Baldwin cemetery.
18. Silas Sprague. marked July 19, 1912, Crooks cemetery, Troy.
19. Samuel Niles. marked July H), M)12, Crooks cemetery. Troy.
* Lydia Potter (li<l not hear a musket, Init slie served her country by working
night and day to clothe tlic destitute soldiers at V'allcy Forge, and tlic Daughters
thus hiintir her tncniory.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 97
Tribute to General Richardson
In June it is the custom of the Daughters to observe "Memorial Day."
when their beautiful ritual service is read and the graves of their de-
ceased members and the five Revolutionary soldiers buried in Oak Hill
cemetery receive their floral offerings. At the services held 1907 Mrs.
Ada L. Smith gave the following beautiful tribute: "As we decorate to-
day the graves of our Revolutionary heroes, as we cast a flower and a
tear upon the graves of the daughters of those heroes, we pause here at
the grave of General Richardson. He fought in the Seminole war; he
won honors in the Mexican war; he gave his life for his country in the
Civil war. He attained by his bravery and ability the highest rank among
Michigan's ninety thousand soldiers, that of major general. It is in
memory of this that we place this wreath upon his grave and thus we
pledge ourselves to teach our children and our grandchildren to love, to
revere and to keep green the memory of Michigan's 'Fighting Dick,'
Major General Israel B. Richardson."
Membership of the Daughters
The officers of the society are elected yearly, the office of regent being
limited to two terms. The following ladies have held this highest office
in the gift of the society for two years each : Mesdames Ada Leggett
Smith, Lillian Drake Avery, Josephine Brown Sanford, Ada McConnell
Wisner, Carrie Mack Newberry, and Maud Green Shattuck. The secre-
taries have been: Miss Mabel Thorpe, Mrs. Ada L. Smith, Misses Sarah
G. Davis and Ella L. Smith, and Mrs. Mary Pierson Todd. The office
of treasurer has been filled by Mrs. Josephine Brown Sanford, Kate
Crawford Van Buskirk, Hattie Means Stowell. Charlotte Monroe Osniun
and Mary Josephine Wiest Clark.
Registrars: Mesdames Marion Seymour Ten Eyck, Anne Ingoldsby
Crawford and Lillian Drake Avery, who has held the office since 1905.
Miss Marcia Richardson is the only historian the chapter has had.
The present membership of General Richardson Chapter is : Regent,
Mrs. Kate Beach Gray ; vice regent, Mrs. Anne Ingoldsby Crawford ;
secretary, Mrs. Lottie Stanton Blackstone ; treasurer, Mrs. Jennie Chaft'ee
Church ; registrar, Mrs. Lillian Drake Avery, and historian. Miss Marcia
Richardson; Mrs. Sophronia Means, Vinton, Iowa, real Daughter;
Avery, Blanche (Miss), Avery, Lucile (Miss), Beach, Julia Taft (Mrs.
Samuel E.), Bailey, Clara Voorheis (Mrs. Roy E.), Bradfield, Elizabeth
Palmer (Mrs. Thomas Parks), Baker, Myra A. (Miss), Barnes, Edith
(Miss), Barnes, Mae (Miss), Birge, Eliza Van Campen (Mrs. John
W.), Canfield, Sarah Bishop (Mrs.), Carroll, Mary Thatcher (Mrs.
Frank H.), Castell, Donna Sherman (Mrs. Daniel G.), Clark, Mary
Josephine (Mrs.), Coleman, Ann Loomis Richards (Mrs. Harry),
Crohn, Bertha Elizabeth Miller (Mrs. Solomon S.), Davis, Sarah Gris-
wold (Mrs.), Eaton, Irma G. (Mrs.). Freeland, Anna Hadsell (Mrs.
Orrin B.). Galbraith, Mary R. Wisner (Mrs. Stuart E.), Goss, Myra
V^oorheis (Mrs. Oscar B.). Goodison. .\nne E. Barnes (Mrs. Samuel),
98 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUXTY
Gross, Evangeline Grow (Mrs. George F.). Har])er, Belle Robinson
(Mrs. F. B.), Hinckley, Ada. Green (Mrs. Milton L.), llollister, Metta
Hosner (Mrs. J. F. C'.), Ho'wlett, :\Iary Rockwell (Mrs. Edward V.),
Jackson, Emma Warn (Mrs. Henry C). Kuttler, Emma Belle (Mrs.
George E.), Lounsbury, Elizabeth S. (Miss), Mackin, Edith C. Cook
(Mrs. Jas. N.), Marsh, Alice (Miss), Merritt, Edith Kelley (Mrs. Herbert
B.), Morgans, Mary Cole (Mrs. William H.), Newberry, Carrie Mack
(Mrs. Arthur F.), Northrup, Grace (Miss), Osmun, Charlotte Monroe
(Mrs. Homer J.), Parker, Sarah Electa Drake (Airs. Ralzamond A.),
Palmer, Louise Thayer (Airs. C. A.), F'almer, \'irena Marjorie (Miss),
Patterson, Ella Stanton (Mrs. John H.), Randall, Anna Leggett (Airs.
Chas. C), Rockwell, Alma (Aliss), Rockwell, Alaude King (Airs.
Kleber P.), Sanford, Josephine Brown (Airs. William C), Shattuck,
Alaude Green (Mrs. Charles), Shattuck, Alice (Miss), Smith, Clara
Phelps (Airs. Walter), Smith, Alice Hadsell (Airs. Tracy S.), Smith,
Ella Louise (Aliss), Stoddard, Emma Waite (Airs. Addison), Stowell,
Flattie E. Aleans (Airs. Elmer H.), Stanton, Harriet Stanton (Airs.
Lovett), TenEvck, Carrie Willits (Airs. Harrv), Thompson, Alargaret
S. (Miss), Tobias, Ella Bartlett (Airs. Louis C.), Todd, Alary A. Pier-
son (Airs. William F.), Urch, Alice Hart (Airs. Edward A.), Van
Campen, Addie Bartlett (Airs. George), Van Buskirk, Kate Louise Craw-
ford (Airs. Charles), Walters, Frances Fleming (Airs. Albert E.), Wat-
son, Inez Waite (Airs. Charles), Welch, Alary Gilbert (Airs. A. R.),
Whetmath, Alaude W. (Aliss), Willcox, Al. Eleanor (Mrs. Elliott R.),
Wilder, Gertrude L. Barnes (Mrs. Gardner), Wiest, E. E. (Airs. Jacob),
Willits, Sarah Adell Alonroe (Mrs. Frank), Wilsoji, Alille (Dr.), Wis-
ner, Ada AlcConnell (Airs. Henry C), Wisner, Alarguerite Park (Aliss),
Woodruff, Helen Aladeline Peck' (Mrs. C. D.).
CHAPTER VII
PIOXEER RECORDS
County Pioneer Society Founded — The Supervisors' Picnics — Bet-
ter Preservation of Records — Society Incorporated — Pioneer
Women — Officers of the Society — Pioneer Relics in the Col-
lection OF THE Society
*As each year carries away the settlers of our county, it is important
and interesting to our students, statesmen and politicians that recollec-
tions of the early events that characterized the pioneers of Old Oakland
county be gathered and transmitted to our successors. After much anxi-
ety and deep thought of how to arrest and retain the interest of the
younger people and of those who were coming from other states, it be-
came impressed on the minds of a few public spirited citizens that a
society should be formed for the purpose of preserving the records that
related to the early settlements of the county. Therefore, on January 6,
1874, a call was issued for organizing an Oakland County Pioneer Society.
County Pioneer Society Founded
On January 21st, at a meeting held at the court house, a committee
was appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws and report at a subse-
quent meeting to be held February 22d. At this meeting, the requirements
were approved and adopted, clearly explaining the aim and object of the
society. None of the officers were to receive any compensation ; lal)ors
performed during session and out of it were to be gratuitous. It was
decided to hold an annual meeting on February 22d and a semi-annual
meeting September loth, each year, at Pontiac.
A meeting of the pioneers was held on Friday, February 27th, with
President Henry H. Waldron in the chair. Rev. T. J. Joslin offered a
short prayer, the volunteer choir sung "America," and the Hon. T. J.
Dtake then offered the following resolution which was unanimously
adopted: "The pioneers and early settlers of the county of Oakland
in convention assembled at the courthouse in Pontiac, on the
2ist of January, 1874, unanimously resolved to form themselves into a
society to be called the Pioneer Society of Oakland County.
"It is declared to be the intent and object of the society to gather up
* In the preparation of this chapter many obligations are acknowledged to Miss
Anne E. Jewell, niece of Ezra W. Jewell, president of the society.
99
100 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
and preserve the facts and incidents of the early settlement and history
of the county; to collect and preserve the names of the early settlers, with
a brief biographical sketch, and such anecdotes, as will illustrate their
history and character ; to obtain and preserve a correct geograjjliical de-
scription of the lakes, rivers and water courses; agricultural and manu-
facturing facilities and advantages; the chorography of each township
and the peculiar advantages thereof connected with any profession, occu-
pation, trade or employment — in fine, to collect and preserve things of
the past, present and future, appertaining to the county which will de-
light and instruct the present and future inhabitants, and enable some
gifted one hereafter to write of a perfect history of Oakland county, its
pioneers and early settlers."
The constitution drafted by the committee appointed by the con-
vention mentioned was adopted. After providing for the usual officers,
provision was also made for a president of each township who should
be one of the vice presidents of the society.
In order to become a member of this society a person should be a
resident of the county previous to 1840, but from time to time this has
been changed, until at present a man may become a member by paying
fifty cents and a woman twenty-five cents.
The Supervisors' "Picnics"
For a time the meetings furnished the great day of the year, l)ut with
the passing away of many of the pioneers the interest abated, and it was
decided to hold annual picnics under the supervision of a Pioneer and
Supervisors' Association.
These social gatherings were held in difl^erent places, where men met
to talk over their different modes of farming and to form new acquain-
tances, and the women to relate their early experiences of pioneer life;
for while the husband was busy with his axe and plow, the wife was
early and late at her spinning wheel and loom.
Better Preservation of Records
As no place had been provided for keeping the records, it was found
after the death of the secretary in 1896 impossible to locate them. From
1874 to 1889 ajjparently all records were preserved, but from 1889 to
1896 there is a total loss of records. In 1896 Ezra W. Jewell was ap-
pointed secretary. At the animal meeting in 1897, he offered the follow-
ing recommendation : 'T consider it my duty to suggest a remedy and
leave it with the society to take such action as you deem proper.
"First: As to the missing records — by going to the files of our county
papers, we can obtain all that has been published appertaining to our
society.
"Second: As fast as such records are completed, the same should be
deposited in some place of safety. I should suggest the vaults in one of
our county offices.
"Third: Some one responsible, a committee or the ]ircsidcnt of your
societv, who shall each vear overlook the work of vour secretarv and
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 101
report at each annual meeting; we would then be sure of preserving all
that is of interest and benefit to the society."'
The society approved of this recommendation, and by vote elected a
treasurer and appointed a finance committee.
*A set of scrap-books, carefully indexed, containing everything of
historical interest such as biographies, obituaries, official election returns,
etc., has been arranged by Mr. Jewell.
In 1909, Mr. Jewell was elected president of the society. He has a
new record book which he is anxious to complete that contains brief
sketches of many of the pioneers who settled in Oakland county.
Society Incorpor.\ted
On October 23, 1909, this society applied for articles of incorpora-
tion, which was granted and put on record at Lansing, November 8,
1909, and recorded in^ record of incorporation No. 93, page 408.
In January, 1910, at a meeting of the supervisors they voted the soci-
ety one hundred dollars and gave them the exclusive privilege of occupy-
ing the east side of the ]\Ien's Rest Room in the Court House for the
preservation of relics, etc., that would be of interest to the public. For
the collection of such articles much credit must be accorded to **Mrs.
Lillian Avery, who has been untiring in her efforts to collect and classify
them.
Pioneer Women
In closing these remarks, it would be vmjust not to make mention of
the pioneer women who have done so much to place the society in its
present promising condition. On the 22d of each February, the following
ladies — .Mrs. Henry M. Jackson, Mrs. Homer Colvin, Mrs. B. EUwood,
Mrs. William H. Dawson, Mrs. J. L. Sibley, Mrs. J. R. Taylor, Mrs.
Mary Clark, Mrs. George Hicks, Mrs. E. Kelly, Mrs. George Williams,
Mrs. Edwin Phelps, .Miss Kate Leggett, Miss A. M. Jewell and many
others — have supervised a sumptuous banquet where all meet, eat, drink
and make merry.
But let us not forget that these land-marks and links that connect
the past with the pr.esent are dropping off, one liy one. Let us not for-
get the strength and heroism that they showed in laying deep the founda-
tions of the institution and privileges that we now enjoy.
Officers of the Society
The following are the officers of the Pioneer and Historical Society
who have served since its organization :
1S74 — Thomas J. Drake, Pres. ; James A. Weeks, Sec.
1875 — Clark Beardsley, Pres.; James A. Weeks, Sec.
1876 — Henry Waldron, Pres.; James A. Weeks, Sec.
1877 — Henry Waldron, Pres.; James A. Weeks, Sec.
1878 — Henry Waldron, Pres. ; Edward W. Peck, Sec.
* The editors of this work are greatly indebted to this valuable collection for
much of the pioneer materia! contained therein.
** A full description of these relics follows this sketch.
102 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
1879— Aii,s;iislus C- Baldwin, Pres. ; Edward W. Peck, Sec.
1880— Augustus C. ISaldwin, Pres. ; Edward W. Peck, Sec.
1881— Orrin Pop])leton, Pres.; Edward W. Peck, Sec.
1S82— Orrin Poppletou, Pres.; Edward W. Peck, Sec.
1883— Orrin Poppleton, Pres.; Edward W. Peck, Sec.
1884— Orrin Poppleton, Pres.; Edward \V. Peck, Sec.
1885— Orrin Poppleton, Pres.; Edward W. Peck, Sec.
1886— Orrin Poppleton, Pres.; Edward W. Peck, Sec.
1887— Orrin Poppleton. Pres. ; Edward \V. Peck, Sec.
1888— Orrin Poppleton, Pres. ; Edward W. Peck, Sec.
1889— Orrin Poppleton, Pres.; Edward \\ . Peck. Sec.
Records lost from 1889 to 1893; Mark Walters, Sec.
1894— G. M. Trowbridge, Pres.; Mark Walters, Sec.
1895— G. M. Trowbridge, Pres. ; Mark Walters, Sec.
1896 — G. M. Trowbridge, Pres. ; Ezra W. Jewell, Sec.
1897— G. M. Trowbridge, Pres.; Ezra W. "Jewell, Sec.
1898— G. M. Trowbridge, Pres. ; Ezra W. Jewell, Sec.
1899 — Arza B. Donaldson, Pres.; Ezra W. Jewell, Sec.
1900— Arza B. Donaldson, Pres. ; Ezra W. Jewell, Sec.
1901 — Edwin Phelps, Pres. ; Ezra W. Jewell, Sec.
1902 — Thomas L. Patterson, Pres. ; Homer H. Colvin, Sec
1903 — Thomas L. Patterson, Pres. ; Homer H. Colvin. Sec.
1904 — Thomas L. Patterson, Pres.; Homer H. Colvin, Sec.
1905 — Thomas L. Patterson, Pres. ; Homer H. Colvin, Sec.
1906 — Thomas L. Patterson, Pres.; Hamer H. Colvin, Sec.
1907 — Thomas L. Patterson, Pres.; Homer H. Colvin, Sec.
1908 — Thomas L. Patterson, Pres. ; Homer H. Colvin, Sec.
1909 — Ezra W. Jewell, Pres. ; Homer H. Colvin, Sec.
1910 — Ezra W. Jewell, Pres; Joshua W. Bird, Sec.
191 1 — Ezra W. Jewell, Pres.; Joshua W. Bird, Sec.
1912— Ezra W. Jewell, Pres.; Joshua W. Bird, Sec.
Pioneer Relics in the Collection of the Societv
1. Ambrotype of Mrs. Catherine Benson, taken by her husband, lohn
H. Benson, one of the first photographers in Pontiac, coming here in
1856. Mrs. Benson was the first white girl born in Pontiac, Ai)r. 14,
1823. Loaned by Mrs. Lena Starke.
2. Hair jewelry worn by Mrs. Ira Clark Seeley in 1850. Mrs. See-
ley was Matilda Dewey and came to this county about 1833. Presented
by her daughter. Mrs. H. F. Messenger, Feix i, 1911.
3. Daguerreotype and note of a friend of Porter A. Hitchcock, dated
1853. Air. Hitchcock's parents came to Oakland county previous to his
birth in 1833. Presented by Mrs. P. .A. Hitchcock.
4. Ode to Washington, composed by Augustus W. Leggett and sung
at the concert of the Pontiac Musical Association, Feb. 22. 1858. Mr.
Leggett and his wife Eliza Seaman Leggctt came to Michigan in 1852.
Presented by Miss Kate T-eggett.
5. Green glass spectacles over too year sold (.1909), worn liv Seth
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 103
A. L. Warner, one of the pioneers of Farmington. Presented by Hon.
P. Dean Warner.
6. 'Night cap embroidered and worn in 1842 by Mrs. P. Dean
Warner, and given to the society by her.
7. Pocket Dictionary bought in 1837 by Hon. P. Dean Warner. Mr.
Warner came to Farmington with his parents in 1825, when three years
old.
8. Paper knife carried by same when a boy.
9. Infant's day cap embroidered in England and brought to Oak-
land county by Mrs. William Hanson in 1854. It was last worn by her
son, Thomas Edward in 1857, by whom it was presented.
10. Night cap worn by Mrs. Benj. Going, an early resident of
Pontiac.
11. Cap basket carried by Mrs. Silas Johnson, whenever she went
visiting. Mrs. Johnson was formerly the wife of Darius Cowles, who
came to North Farmington in 1833. Presented by Mrs. L. M. Cowles.
12. Sovereign balance brought from England by Joseph Coates, who
settled at Pine Lake, 1832. Presented by Mrs. Lillian D. Avery.
13. Butter knife brought from England by Mrs. Horace Swan and
was a wedding present to her grandmother in 1730. Mr. Swan kept
tavern in Farmington before 1851, at which date he built the hotel now
there. Presented by Mrs. Lillian D. Avery.
14. Silhouette of Deacon Erastus Ingersoll, the first white settler in
the town of Novi, 1825. Alade by his brother-in-law, Samuel Chadwick.
who came to Farmington, 1839. Presented l)y Mrs. Lillian D. Avery.
15. Bowl from Mrs. Harrison Philbrick"s "mulberry set," which
graced a bountiful table for a lifetime. The father of Mr. Philbrick came
to Farmington in 1826 and Mr. Teas, Mrs. Philbrick's father, a few
years later. Presented by Mrs. Lillian D. Avery.
16. Plate belonging to the wedding outfit of Mrs. Fidelia Phelps,
who died Feb. 25, 1902, aged 95 years. Was a resident of Highland in
the 40's and 50's, afterward of Farmington. Presented by Mrs. Lillian
D. Avery.
17. Ox shoe. F'resented by Josiah Emery of Waterford.
18. Pair of scissors, property of Mrs. Arthur Davis, Sr., when she
went to keeping house in 1836 at Sashabaw Plains. Presented by her
daughter-in-law, Mrs. James Davis.
19. Specimen of cross stitch embroidery designed for gentleman's
suspender, made by Mrs. Sarah Bishop Canfield in 1856.
20. Slate used by the grandfather of Benj. F. Elwood, for keejiing
accounts as contractor on the Delaware and Lackawanna canal. Mr.
Benj. F. Ehvood also carried it to school in the 40's. He was i)orn in
Royal Oak in 1837. Loaned by Mrs. Benj. F. Elwood.
21. Toothbrush holder that was part of a toilet set brought to
Troy, Mich., in 183^ by the Toms family. Presented by Mrs. Maria
Powell.
22. Bead bag, sixty or seventy years ago the property of Mrs. Har-
riet Plum (1910). Loaned by Mrs. Benj. F. Elwood.
23. Drawing tools used by the Hon. E. R. Willcox, when a school-
boy in Rochester in the 40's. Presented by Airs. E. R. Willcox.
104 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
26. Albany Almanac of 1803. Was the i)roperty of Benjamin
Alexander Ellis of \'ictor, Ontario county, N. Y., and now belongs to
Mr. Norman Ellis of Clarkstan. Loaned by Mrs. Norman James Ellis.
27. Blue dish said to be 200 years old. Loaned by Mrs. Norman
James Ellis.
28. Turnkeys used for pulling teeth in pioneer times. Originally
owned by Dr. William H. Jewell, who was a practicing physician in
Pontiac from 1843 to 1853. Presented by Ezra Jewell.
29. Tailor's shears, owned by Dr. John Riker's great-great-grand-
father, Samuel Riker, who brought them from Germany. Presented by
Ezra Jewell.
30. Snuffers, property of Mrs. Marcus Riker. Presented by Ezra
Jewell.
31. Fragments of ribbons brought from England by Mrs. William
Hanson. Presented by Mrs. Thomas E. Hanson.
32. Pieces of the dresses brought from England, 1854. by Mrs.
Hanson. Presented by Mrs. Thomas E. Hanson.
33. Reticule of Miss Mary Eleanor Duncan, afterward !Mrs. James
Price. Used in the 40's at Rochester, I\Iich. Presented by Mrs. Lillian
D. Avery.
35. Bullet mould found by M. A. Leggett in the township of Water-
ford while digging a post hole. It had been buried since the land had
been first broken in the early thirties by Henry Birge.
36. Sand box, presented by Miss Kate Leggett.
2,J. Cup plate brought to Oakland county by Mrs. Peter Voorheis
when the family settled at Sashabaw Plains. She was great-great-grand-
mother of Mrs. Edwin Walter of Clintonville. Presented by IMiss Kate
Leggett.
38. Miniature jug made in Rochester forty years ago and kept bv
S. Bortle.
39. Candle moulds of John Davis, who settled in Springfield, 1836.
This set bought about 1850. Presented by Daniel L. Davis.
40. Cheese basket used by ^Irs. John Davis in the home manufact-
ure of cheese. Presented by Harvey J. Davis.
41. Candlestick brought to Michigan by the mother of Palmer Sher-
man of Farmington.
42. Coal pan used by the early settlers to carry fire. Presented by
Miss Kate Leggett.
43. Sleighbell. One of a string of liells lirought from Germany by
the grandfather of Charles Tuttle an early resident.
45. Black lace veil worn by Mrs. Catherine Stringer during the
forties. Presented by her granddaughter, Mrs. Homer Terbush.
46. Bead collar worn by Mrs. D. B. Horton about i860. Mr. Horton
came to Oakland county in 1835. Presented by Mrs. Homer Terbush.
47. Party bag enil:)roidered and carried by ^Irs. Levi B. Taft about
1853. She came to Pontiac in 1839.
48. Waterfall net worn in 18(10 by Mrs. D. B. Horton of Davis-
burg. Presented by Mrs. Homer Terbush.
49. Constitution of Pontiac Young Hickory Club, No. i. \\'ritten
by A. W. Ilovey and presented by Mrs. S. Baldwin.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 105
50. Brick from old sclioolhouse, which stood on tlie corner of Au-
burn and Parke St. Presented by Ezra Jewell.
51. Picture of same, presented by Mrs. S. F. Beach.
52. Iron kettle, which was very old when brought to Farmington in
1824 by the family of George Collins. It played an important part in
pioneer times. The cooking of his wife, Mrs. Cynthia ( Newton ) Collins,
the first white woman to enter the settlement, was greatly appreciated
by the Powers party, which had preceded them a few weeks. Presented
by Constantine Collins.
53. Picture of Collins homestead, Farmington, one of the oldest
houses in the village.
54. Piece of linen, which was originally part of a straw bed tick.
The fla.x was raised, spun and woven by Mrs. Cynthia Collins.
55. Remnant of a pair of woolen blankets, spun and woven by Mrs.
Cynthia Collins, on which she received the first premium at the first
agricultural fair held in 'Oakland county. Presented by Mrs. Maria L.
Benson.
56. White woolen stockings. The yarn was spun and knitted by Mrs.
Isaiah Ward of Farmington in 1850, for her sixteen year old daughter,
Maria L., afterward Mrs. Hiram Benson, by whom they were donated.
The Ward family came to Farmington in 1831.
57. Medicine case made and used by Orrison Allen, one of the first
settlers of Pontiac, coming here with his family Jan. 19, 1819, buried
Jan. 19, 1871, aged 87. Presented by Mrs. Lena Starke.
58. Compass brought from Connecticut to the territory of Michigan
1818, by Captain Hervey Parke and used by him in all his work survey-
ing that part of Illinois where Chicago now stands, the northern part of
Ohio and eastern part of Michigan in the counties of Huron, Tuscola,
Sanilac and Lapeer. Presented by Hervey J. Parke, grandson.
59. Fire tongs, hand made by M. Augustus White, an early black-
smith of Farmington. Presented by M. B. Pierce.
60. Cannon ball.
61. Great Horse shoe.
62. Sampler worked by the mother and grandmother of ^Frs. Mary
Solis. It was brought to ^lichigan when her father Cornelius Van Riper
settled in Farmington, 1839. Presented Iiy Mrs. Mary Solis.
63. Gold specimens found si.xty feet under ground by John \'. See-
ley, when mining in Calaveras county, California, 1850. Presented by
Mrs. J. V. Seeley.
64. Linen spun and woven by Lois Palmer Grow, a pioneer ; hem-
stitched by her daughter, Ann Grow Bishop at the age of eighty-five
years, (1893). Presented by her granddaughter, I\Irs. Levi B. Taft,
who is now the same age (1912).
65. Wedding jiarasol of blue and white brocaded silk, belonging
to Mrs. James G. Cannon of Southfield, carried in 1855. Presented by
her daughters, Mrs. Woodrutf and Miss Cannon, 191 1.
66. Three infant caps worn by Ann Woodburn in 1838. She mar-
ried James G. Cannon and was a resident of Southfield from childhood.
She died 191 1. Presented by her daughters.
106 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
67. Pair of pewter plates two humlred years old which have been
kept in the Purdy family. Presented by Mrs. Herman Wyckoff.
68. Basket given MrS. H. A. Wcykofif. when she was three years
of age (1840). She was the daughter of Thomas Pinkerton, one of the*
first settlers of the town of Novi, in 1825.
69. Fancy box brought to Novi about 1830 b_\' luiima Sniilli who
became the second wife of Thomas Pinkerton. Presented by Mrs. Her-
man Wyckoff.
70. China cup and saucer used about 1800 liy the mother of Thomas
Pinkerton. Presented by .Mrs. H. A. Wyckoff.
71. Dark blue cup and saucer belonging to the first set of dishes
owned by Mrs. Job Francis (Maria Brown) about 1830. Early resi-
dent of Novi. Loaned by Mrs. Lillian D. Avery.
72. Cross made from wood that was taken from the first house
built in \\'hite Lake township by Harley Olmstead in 1832. Presented
by Miss Kate Leggett.
73. Lantern — Last of the old kind used by the D. G. H. & M.. car-
ried by James Henderson. Presented by Mrs. James Bliss.
74. Shoemaker tools used in pioneer times by Orrison Aller, a "tirst
settler."
75. Teapot used by the grandmother of Mrs. John \\'hitesell by
whom it was presented.
•jfi. Pitcher which came from the family of A. B. Cudworth who
resided in Rochester 1842. twelve years later in Pontiac. Presented by
Miss Agnes Cudworth.
T/. Bonnet worn by Mary Eleanor Duncan of Rochester when a
child in 1847 and 1848. Another worn about 1854 or "55. Loaned by
iMrs. Lillian D. Avery.
78. Shirred bonnet worn by Miss Marcia Richardson in the late
forties. Presented by Mrs. Joshua Bird.
79. Small leather trunk made in Scotland by Mr. Kelly who brought
it to this country in 1765. He was the grandfather of Mrs. Eunice \'an
Buskirk (deceased). Presented by Mrs. Charles \'an Buskirk.
80. Pin cushion of pioneer days. Presented by Mrs. Charles Van
Buskirk.
81. Silver cake basket presented to Professor and Mrs. J. .\. Cor-
bin by the members of the Oakland County Institute of 1874. Presented
by Mrs. Richard Elliott.
82. Silver teaspoon was the property of Dr. M. LaMont Bagg's
mother. It was taken to Pennsylvania at the time of the oil strike and
passed through a disastrous fire. Dr. Bagg came to Pontiac before 1840.
The spoon is now over one hundred years old (1910). Presented by
Miss Clift Howard.
83. Silver table spoon, ])iece of the wedding silver of Charles and
Marcia Elliott who were married 1814 and were early settlers of Oak-
land county. Presented by Mrs. Richard Elliott.
84. Bellows.
85. Foot warmer brought from Wales late in the seventeenth cen-
tury. Presented by Justus W. Toms.
86. Powder horn.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 107
87. Indian idol. Presented by Ezra Jewell, who came to Pontiac
in 1845.
88. Wedding veil worn by an aunt of ]Mrs. Mary Shattuck in 1837.
Loaned by Airs. jMary Shattuck.
89. Pickle dish of a "flown blue" ware from the first dishes of Mrs.
Thomas Gerls. She was married December 31, 1846 in Troy. Presented
by Mrs. Thomas Gerls.
go. Liquor glass, a relic of stage coach days, from the Si.xteen-Mile
House kept by Milton Botsford at Clarenceville. Presented by Frank
Botsford.
91. Bible — 1793. This book has been more than a hundred years in
the family of Philip Phelps by whom it was presented.
92. Indian relic found on the farm of Palmer Sherman, Farming-
ton.
93. Collection of relics of the Tuscarora Indians. Loaned by Victor
Bacon.
94. Wild cat money, presented by D. B. Horton.
95. Cap ribbon brought from England 1857 by Mrs. Charlotte
Pound. Presented by her daughter-io-law, Mrs. Maria Pound.
96. Dish and platter used many years in the Horton family of Davis-
burg. Presented by Mrs. Lillian D. Avery.
97. Blue glass candlestick, a wedding gift to a pioneer bride. Pre-
sented by Mrs. Lillian D. Avery.
98. Old English beer mug. Presented by Mrs. Lillian D. Avery.
99. Willow ware bowl brought from England by John and Grace
German in 1837 when they settled in this country. Presented by their
youngest daughter, Grace, now Mrs. Williamson.
100. Indian arrow heads presented by Mrs. Lillian D. Avery.
loi. Pair of buckskin gloves brought from Utah in 1864 by Thomas
J. Drake, when Associate Judge of that territory. They were embroid-
ered by one of Brigham Young's wives and were presented to Mrs. Clara
P. Stewart who gave them to the society.
102. Knife and fork basket which has been used in the Grace family
since 1783. It was brought from the state of Maine to New York and
from there to Farmington, Mich., in 1828 by Benjamin Grace who was a
Revolutionary soldier. Presented by his granddaughter, Mrs. Emily
Comstock.
103. Potato masher wliich has the same history as the above.
104. Daguerreotype of Silas Sprague who came to Troy, Michigan,
in 1822. Presented by Miss Rhobie Niles.
105. Daguerreotype of Mrs. Emily Sprague Donaldson and her
daughter Lucy Maria, on other side of case water color miniature of Mrs.
Delia Sprague DePuy. Both ladies were daughters of Silas Sprague.
Presented by Miss Rhobie Niles.
106. Ambrotype of .Mrs. Lucy Sprague Rhodes, daughter of Elias
Sprague. Presented by Miss Rhobie Niles.
107. Daguerreotype of Charles Hastings, an early resident of Troy,
Michigan.
108. Daguerreotype of Ira S. Parke; also a resident of Troy and
108 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
both young men, friends of tlie Spragucs. The above pictures were taken
in Pontiac in 1849. Presented by Miss Rliobie Niles.
109. Spoon dug up on the site of tlie liome of Clark M. Harris, the
first shoemaker of Troy.
no. Spoon used in the family of Henry Russell, a native of Troy.
Presented by Miss Rhobie Niles.
111. Certificate of membershij) in I. O. O. F. of Fgbert F. Albright,
bearing date of 1847, and presented by him in July, 1910.
112. Pioneer broom of hickory splints, presented by Palmer Sher-
man.
113. Iron toast rack owned by P>enjaniin Fuller, Sr., in Vermont,
later of Southfield, Oakland county. Given by Mrs. Sarah Walters Ful-
ler, Birmingham.
114. Gridiron bought second hand by I'.enjamin Fuller, Sr., in Oneida
county, N. Y., 1810. Given by ]\Irs. Sarah Walters Fuller, Birmingham.
115. Portraits of Hon. Augustus and Mrs. Baldwin. Presented by
Mrs. E. A. Christian.
116. Portraits of Mr. and ]\[rs. J. R. Bowman. Mrs. Bowman was
the daughter of Orrison Allen.
117. Portrait of A. W. Hovey. Presented by Mrs. S. Baldwin.
118. Portrait of Mr. Dean, partner of Mr. Flovey in the drug and
grocery business.
119. Photograph of the original ])ioneers taken by W. H. Brummitt,
September 10, 1874.
120. Spencer carbine, property of C. E. Sherman. Company C,
Tenth ^Michigan Cavalry, Civil war.
121. Knights Templar sword found on Lookout Mountain.
122. Sword used by Capt. J- O. Foote, Mexican war. New York regi-
ment.
123. Cane made in Kansas from cactus.
124. Case of sixty birds of Oakland county, captured and set up by
George W. Bowlby. Many of the species are now extinct.
125. Collection of rare old books and papers, caps, collars, shellcomb
and ancient housewives, loaned by Mrs. Mary J. Clark.
126. Confederate bond for one thousand dollars.
127. Confederate money, presented by A. W. Johns.
128. Confederate money, presented by Joseph Nusbaumcr.
129. Wartime relics of envelopes, buttons and tickets.
130. Tin cup bought of United States government August 22, 1861,
by George Alexander, on the day of his enlistment in Company G, First
Michigan Cavalry, carried and used by him all through the war and in
1865 in an expedition across the plains. Tt went through sixty-four en-
gagements. Presented by George Alexander.
131. Book brandy bottle was given Theodoras W. Lookwood of
Company K of the Ninth .Michigan Cavalry, when sick in camp by a lady,
near Atlanta. It was full of fine jieach I)randy. The bottle was brought
home in the fall of 1865 at the end of the rebellion. Presented by Mrs.
T. W. Lockwood, \'ermillion. North Dakota, September, 1909.
132. Millie ball, presented by George N. Smith.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 109
133. Pitcher over one hundred years old belonging to the grandmother
of Mrs. Mary Giddings, by whom it is loaned.
134. Razor used by Benjamin Graham, son of James Graham, a
Revolutionary soldier, and the first white man to make a permanent set-
tlement in Oakland county, March 17, 1817. Loaned by Benjamin Graham
of Avon.
The society has had gifts of valuable old books and papers from Ezra
Tewell, Mrs. H. M. Look, Mrs. Clara P. Stewart, Harry Ten Eyck, Mrs.
"Mart Beeckman, Mrs. Sarah Waters Fuller. Mrs. A. J- Dewey, Egbert F.
Albright and others. It also owns a full set of "the Michigan State
Pioneer and Historical Collections.
CHAPTER \1II
DEVELOPMEXT OE JUDICIARY
Territorial Supreme Court — Old District Court — County Courts
— Change in Supreme Court — Circuit Courts and Judges — The
"One-Horse" Court — Under the 1850 Constitution — A Sum-
mary — Under the Present Constitution.
By Aaron Perry
As a matter of liistoric investigation it is of interest to trace the origin
of the various courts of justice which have extended their jurisdiction
over the southern peninsula of Michigan. Reference has already been
made to the Quebec act of 1774 which ])rovided that the civil law of
Paris and the criminal law of England should prevail in that region as
well as the country farther to the north and northwest. So although it
may satisfy historic curiosity to know that William Dummer Powell,
afterward chief justice of Upper Canada, was the first to preside over
the courts which sat at Detroit until 179^'. when Jay's treaty went into
operation, it is well understood that Northern Michigan was virtuallv an
unpeopled region and was little ailected by the supreme court and courts
of common pleas and quarter sessions which convened in that city, the
seat of justice from 1778 of the Canadian "district of Hesse."
Territorial Supreme Court
By the ordinance of 1787 the Northwest territory was provided with
a governor, secretary and three judges, who composed the supreme court
which held sway over Michigan. The judges, with the governor, con-
stituted a legislature empowered to compile laws selected from the stat-
utes of the original states, but not to enact original laws. The new terri-
tory acquired by the Jay treaty, which included all of Michigan and
Wisconsin containing any settlements, was attached to the Northwest
territory as the county of Wayne, and it was during the year when that
treaty became operative (1796) that the authorities made the lirst ap-
propriation ($85) for a court in Detroit after Michigan came under
control of the United States. One session of the supreme court was
held in that city annually and John C. Symmes, the presiding judge
who lived in Cincinnati, never missed a session until the Northwest
territory was dismembered by the setting off of Ohio in 1800.
110
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 111
The territory of Michigan was set oil from Indiana in 1805, a separate
government modeled after that of the Northwest territory being created
on June 30th of that year. Under the provisions of its constitutions
the supreme court consisted of a chief and two associate justices ap-
pointed by the president of tlie United States. The judge holding the
earliest commission was placed at the head of the court. The term of
office depended solely upon "good behavior." No radical change was
made in the provisions governing the organization and jurisdiction of
the supreme court until 1824, Augustus B. Woodward having served
as chief justice during the entire period and James Wetherell as one
of his associates.
At first the supreme court had original jurisdiction in all cases involving
the title to land, capital criminal cases, and divorce and alimony suits,
and afterwards in all cases to which the United States was a party, as
well as in all cases of ejectment. During the existence of the district
courts, from 1805 to 1810, jurisdiction in civil matters involving sums
to exceed $500 was divided and after the organization of county courts
in 1815 the supreme court had jurisdiction over ejectment and civil
actions when more than $1,000 was in controversy. It also determined
all legal questions arising in circuit courts on motion for new trial, in
arrest of judgments or cases reversed, and issued writs of error to
circuit and county courts.
Old District Court
Soon after the organization of the territorial government, on July
25, 1805, an act was adopted establishing three district courts to be
held by the judges of the supreme court, Oakland county being ni-
cluded in the Detroit and Huron judicial district. Demands exceeding
$20 were to be adjudicated by that court. In 1807 two associate judges,
residents of the district, were added to the members of the court, but
proved really of small assistance in the settlement of controversies.
These courts were abolished in 18 10 and for the succeeding five years
there was no intermediate judicial body between the supreme and justice
courts.
County Courts
In 1815 county courts were established, the members consisting of
one chief and two associates appointed by the governor. As stated by
the "Michigan Manual:" "They had exclusive jurisdiction over all
claims exceeding a justice's jurisdiction and not exceeding $1,000, but
no jurisdiction in ejectment. Until 1818 final appeal lay to the county
court from justices' courts. Chancery jurisdiction was then given them
and provision made for the appointments of masters in chancery. When
the act to establish comity courts was passed, Wayne county was the
only one organized and the district of Michilimackinac was excepted
from the provisions of the act. .-Xfter the establishment of circuit courts
(1824) the county courts began to decline.'"
By act of the governor and judges, July 27, 1818, a court of probate
was established in each county. A "Court of General Quarter Sessions
112 IIISTUK^' OF OAKLAND COU^"r^•
of the Peace" had ahxady lieen provided for by acts of Xoveniher 25.
1817. composed of the jitsjices of the county courts and the justices of
the peace of each county. They were required to hold four stated
sessions per year, their duties being similar to those of the Ijoard of
supervisors as now constituted. Ju<hcial officers ( other than the federal
judges) including justices of the peace, were appointed by the governor.
Ch.^nge in Supreme Court
In 1824 a radical change was made in the organization and functions
of the supreme court, its three members being required to hold an
annual term in each of the counties of Wayne. Monroe, Oakland, Macomb
and St. Clair and special sessions in Michilimackinac, Brown and Craw-
ford, whenever deemed advisable "in their sound discretion." Circuit
courts were established in name during the following year, but were
still held by the judges of the supreme court.
Circuit Courts .\xd Judges
In 1833 the county courts in the territory east of Lake Michigan,
except in Wayne, were abolished and their places supplied by the "cir-
cuit court of the Territory of Michigan," comprising one judge for the
circuit and two associates for each county, whose respective terms were
four and three years. The courts already existing were called "superior
circuit courts" and were empowered to issue writs of error to the lower
circuit courts. William A. Fletcher was judge of the circuit court of
the territory from its organization until the coming of statehood.
The first state constitution framed by the convention in 1835, ^^'
came operative when the enabling act for the admission of the state
was approved by popular vote June 15, 1836. By act approved March
26th of that year, the state had been divided into three circuits, each
of which was presided over by a judge of the supreme court, each to
hold court in the several counties of his circuit, and all to sit together
for the decision of appeals. These courts were given the same powers
as the territorial circuit courts, except in chancer}- matters. Under the
state constitution equity matters were vested in a court of chancery
until that body was abolished in 1846.
The circuit judges, under the first constitution, were appointed by
the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term of seven years.
The circuit assigned to Chief Justice Fletcher comprised the counties
of Monroe, Lenawee, Hillside. Jackson. Washtenaw, Oakland and Sagi-
naw. As under the territorial system, two associates were chosen for
each county. They were known as "side judges." were not necessarih'
lawyers, and, as they were generally considered more ornamental than
useful — perhaps a part of the political "graft" of those days — were dis-
pensed with in 1846.
The "Oxe-Horse" Court
Tn that year a county court was established by statute, comjirising
a judge and associate, elected for a term of four years. The second
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 113
judge was to act only in cases where the first was a "party in interest
or in cases of absence or disabihty." The court was to sit in term on
the first Monday of each month, and during such part of the month as
might be requisite for transacting the business before it. This court
was the fruit of a reform agitation largely centering in Washtenaw
county, which demanded cheaper and more speedy means of securing
(or trying to secure) justice for the average citizen or poor litigant
than was afl:'orded by the circuit courts. It was not a popular institu-
tion with the lawyers, who dubbed it the "one-horse court." It went
out of existence with the adoption of the constitution in 1850. The
circuit judges, sitting together, constituted the supreme court of the
state until the system was changed as hereafter noted.
Under the 1850 Constitution
"Section i of article 6 of that constitution provides: 'The judicial
power is vested in one supreme court, in circuit courts, in probate courts,
and in justics of the peace' with authority on the part of the legisla-
ture to establish municipal courts in cities. It was provided that after six
years the legislature might provide for what was popularly termed an
independent supreme court, 'to consist of one chief justice and three
associate judges' to be elected by the people. This power was acted
upon by the legislature of 1857, and judges were elected at the spring
election in that year, the court being organized January i, 1858. The
term of the judges was eight years, and they were so classified that their
terms expired successively every second year. It is provided in the
constitution that the court, when established, should not be changed for
eight years. To what extent changes might be made after eight years
may be a matter of construction. In 1867 the legislature so far departed
from the letter of the constitution as to provide that the judges should
be elected as justices or judges of the supreme court, without designating
any person as chief justice, and that the senior judge in service should
be chief justice. An even number of judges were found to work great
inconvenience, because on some questions of importance there was an
equal division, and hence no decision of the higher court, and thereby
the decision of the lower court was rendered final. In 1885 a bill was
introduced in the state senate by Senator Ilubhell, of Houghton county,
providing for an additional judge. An examination of the convention
debates of 1850, made at his request, showed quite clearly that the
intention was to have a bench of four judges only. Whether this was
his reason for not pressing his bill is not known, but no action was had
upon it at that session. At the next session a bill was passed for a
fifth judge with a ten-year term."
I!y an act approved April 8, 1851, the circuit courts were rearranged
and the Sixth judicial circuit created, composed of the counties of St.
Clair, i\Iacomb, Oakland and Sanilac. By an act approved March 18,
1869, the Sixth circuit was again rearranged and made to consist of
the counties of Oakland and Lapeer, and the Sixteenth judicial circuit
was created, composed of Macomb, St. Clair, Sanilac and Huron counties.
114 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
A Sl'MMAUY
To recapitulate : Uncle'r the tirst state constitution, the supreme
court consisted of a chief justice and two associates, ai)i)ointed by the
governor, who also had jurisdiction over three circuits, and their term
of service was seven years; the constitution of 1850 provided tliat for
the term of six years the five circuit judges of the state should con-
stitute the supreme court, their office being made elective; in 1857 the
members of the supreme court were made by legislative enactment to
consist of one chief and three associates, elected by the people for a
term of eight years; the legislature of 1887 increased the number of
justices to five and lengtlicned the term to ten years, and in 1903 the
court was made to consist of ei,s,'ht justices with term reduced to eight
years.
Under the first state constitution Michigan was divided into three
circuits, over which the supreme court judge presided; the constitution
of 1850 made the circuit judge elective and the term of office six years.
In 1879 the state was divided into thirty-five circuits; in 1899 the
thirty-sixth was created; in 1901 the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth
and in 1907 the tliirty-ninth and last. The sixth circuit still comprises
Oakland and Lapeer counties and is presided over by George W. Smith
of Pontiac.
Under the Present Constitution
The constitution now in force, which was accepted by the people
November 3, 1908. vests the judicial ]3ower of the state in "one supreme
court, circuit courts, probate courts, justices of the peace and such
other courts of criminal and civil jurisdiction inferior to the supreme
court, as the legislature may establish by general law. by a two-thirds
vote of the members elected to each house." The supreme court con-
sists of a chief justice and seven associates, two members of that body
being elected biennially. Four terms of court are held annually, its
jurisdiction being generally understood.
By the constitution of 1909 the courts of the thirty-nine circuits into
which the state is divided are also required to be held four times each
year in every county organized for judicial purposes. Circuit courts
have "original jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal not excepted
in this constitution (1909) and not prohibited by law. and appellate juris-
diction from all inferior courts and tribunals and a supervisory control
of same. They shall have power to issue writs of habeas cori)us. man-
damus, injunction, quo warranto, and certiorari and to hear and deter-
mine the same ; and to issue such other writs as mav be necessary to
carry into effect their orders, judgments and decrees and give them
general control over inferior courts and tribunals within their respective
jurisdictions and all such other cases and matters as the sui)reme court
shall by rule prescribe."
Under the constitution of 1909 the probate courts of the state "have
original jurisdiction in all cases of juvenile delin(|uents and dependents,"
besides the jjowers usually prescribed for and exercised by tliem. The
judges are elected for a four-year term, provision being made for "more
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 115
than one judge of probate in counties with more than one hundred thou-
sand inliabitants." Such additional judges are to be chosen at alternate
biennial elections.
Justices of the peace were appointed by the governor during the
territorial times, but all the state constitutions have made them elective
officials, with terms of four years. Not to exxeed four justices of the
peace are elected in each organized township, the legislature providing
for city justices.
116
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST LEGAL WRIT ISSUED IN OAKLAND COUNTY
^.J^
^ii/fptti,VCC1!<^
tAA/U
Oakland Ccunty's First Lecial Writ ( FAc-SmiLEr)
CHAPTER IX
THE BENCH OF OAKLAND COUNTY
County Courts and Judges — Probate Courts and Judges — Circuit
Courts and Judges — the Court of Chancery — Circuit Court
Commissioners.
The foregoing information regarding the establishment and develop-
ment of the several judicial systems and the various courts applicable
to southern Michigan has been introductory to the historical narrative
which is to picture progress along the same lines in Oakland covmty.
County Courts and Judges
On March 28, 1820, Governor Cass proclaimed the county of Oak-
land entitled to the rights of civil and judicial organization and estab-
lished its seat of justice at the town of Pontiac, and two days later the
terms of the county court were ordered to commence on the second
Monday of February and the third Monday of July of each year. The
first court was accordingly held at the county seat named July 17, 1820,
with the following present: Hon. William Thompson, chief justice;
their honors. Daniel Bronson and Amasa Bagley, associates ; William
Morris, esquire, sheriff, who returned the venire for the grand jury,
which being called, appeared as follows : Elijah Willits, Ziba Swan,
John Hamilton, Elisha Hunter, William Thurlier, Ezra Baldwin, Asa
Castle, Elijah S. Fish. Alpheus Williams, Oliver Williams, Alex. Gallo-
way, Henry O. Bronson, Nathan I. Fowler, Josiah Goddard, James
Graham, Enoch Hotchkiss and Calvin Hotchkiss, who were sworn to
discharge their duties according to law. Spencer Coleman, Esq., of
Detroit, was, on his own application, admitted to the bar of the court
to practice his profession as an attorney, and on his application, Daniel
LeRoy, formerly an attorney of New York, was also admitted. (I\Ir.
LeRoy located in Pontiac, being the first resident attorney in the county
of Oakland.)
William Thurber applied for a license to keep a tavern in Bloom-
field for one year and Elijah Willits also asked for the same franchise
in the same township. Both petitions were granted on the principals
entering into recognizance in the sum of $50 each — the former with
John Hamilton and Willits as his security and the latter with William
Morris and William Thurber as security — to keep a respectable house.
117
118 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
The grand jury came into court after dinner, and were discharged for
lack of something to do in the Hne of their pecuHar duty.
The first case on the record appears to be one of Daniel P. Clark
vs. Stephen Phelps, Ira Shelby, Alexander Galloway and Ezra Shepard-
son, in an action of assumpsit, bail being given by the plaintiff, as
required. The defendants a])pcaring, the bail was discharged on motion
of LeRoy. attorney for defendants, who also moved to dispense with
that aid entirely, the writ having been ini[}roperly issued, he alleged,
the attorneys for the plaintifT not having been admitted to the bar. But
Mr. LeRoy withdrew his motion and George Throop and Joshua S.
Terry were entered as special bail for Galloway, conditioned that Gallo-
way should satisfy the condemnation of the court if he was condemned,
or surrender his body to the sheriff in lieu thereof, and in default of
Galloway to [lerform his undertakings, his securities w-ould i)ay the
condenmation for him. Subsequently the special bail surrendered their
principal and he was taken in charge by the sheriff. LeRoy entered his
appearance as attorney for Gallow^ay and moved the court that plaintiff
file his declaration on or before the next rule day of court, or that
judgment by default should be taken by the defendant, and the court
granted the reasonable rule. Solomon Sibley, afterwards judge of the
circuit court, was admitted to the bar, and the court adjournefl for the
day.
On the second day the court announced the rule days of the court
to be the first Mondays of May and October. The petit jury was called,
and there being no prospect of any of their peers being desirous of a
hearing and adjudication of disputes at their hands, thev were dis-
charged. The court ordered the private seal of the clerk' to be used
for the public seal of the court until a suitable one was procured. The
defendant, Galloway, came into court on this day and was admitted to
bail, Samuel Beaman and Joshua S. Terry beiiig his security for his
appearance at the next term of the court, and to secure the payment of
the condemnation of the court, if one was given against him, and a
dcdimus potcstatem provided for to take testimony in the state of New-
York, if wanted, and the court adjourned for the term.
Thus was inaugurated the first court which had jurisdiction in Oak-
land county. During the territorial period the following chief justices
presided over the county court: Dr. William Thompson, 1820-27:
Smith Weeks, 1828; Daniel LeRoy, 1829-32; Daniel lironson and .Amasa
Bagley were their associates from 1S20 to 1832. Under the reorganiza-
tion of the county court in 1846, the jjresiding judge from that year
until it went out of existence, January i. 1852, was Charles M. iildredge.
Pi«)r;\Tic Courts ami JmcKs
On the 27th of July. 1S18, the governor and judges passed an act
creating a probate court in each organized county, which was held by
a judge appointed by the governor. A register of wills was also ap-
pointed by the same authority, who acted as register of deeds until
1835. The probate courts had full cognizance of mortuary matters and
the supreme court had appellate jurisdiction over them. The powers
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 119
and jurisdictions of the probate court are now substantially the same
as when first established, and as its first session in Oakland county was
held more than ninety years ago, it has the largest continuous history
of any judicial tribunal in this section of the state.
The first session of the probate court in and for Oakland county
was held at the house of Col. David Stanard, in the township of ISloom-
field, in said county on the 15th day of June, 1822, Judge William
Thompson presiding. On the application of Maj. Joseph Todd, Mrs.
Elizabeth Harding was cited to appear on the 27th instant next ensuing,
and file her petition before the court for administration on the estate
of Eliphalet Harding, deceased,, and the court adjourned to that time
and the same place. On the 29th of June Mrs. Harding appeared, and,
together with John Todd, was appointed administratri.x of the estate
of her late husband. Messrs. David Stanard, Calvin Gibbs, and Charles
Howard were appointed appraisers. Before the inventory and appraise-
ment were returned t\te widow married, and Judge Thompson evidently
considered her wedding equivalent to her funeral, for he designated
ever afterwards Mr. Todd as the surviving administrator. The Hard-
ing estate proving insolvent, the late widow received $162.84 only, of
the goods and chattels of the estate.
The first inventory filed in the court was that of the estate of J. S.
Davis, deceased, September 7. 1822, the same footing up $498.50 on
personal property and $390 on real estate. The widow received $300
of the personal property and the balance was sold by the appraisers.
Sidney Dole and David Perrin were commissioners to audit the claims
against the estate. The third session of the court was held at the house
of Olmstead Chamberlain, in the village of Pontiac, the next session
f.t Colonel Stanard's and the fifth at IMaj. Joseph Todd's, in Bloomfield.
All of these sessions had been special ones, held for emergency called
for the exercise of the authority of the court. But at the fifth session
regular sessions were ordered to be held on the first Saturday of each
month, in Pontiac, at the office of Daniel LeRoy, Esq.
The first order of distribution of an estate was entered April 5,
1823, in the estate of John Prindle, deceased, upon which administra-
tion was granted December 16, 1822. The first letters of guardianslii])
were granted August 22, 1823, to Nathaniel Millard, guardian of
Maria, Aaron W. and George B. Webster, children of .Aaron Webster,
deceased.
On December 15, 1823, regular sessions were ordered tu be held at
Bloomfield, at the office of the register, on the first Saturday of each
month.
The first lunatic examined and restrained was Iinri Fish. Elijah
H. Fish was ap])ointed guardian of his estate May 7, 1825. The first
will probated in the court was that of Alpheus Williams, deceased,
which was proven September G, 1826, and executed on the 19th of
April preceeding.
l^he judges of probate from the organization of the county to 1836,
all of whom were appointed by the governor, were as follows : Dr.
William Thompson, 1821-24; Nathaniel Millard, 182S-6; Smith Weeks,
1827; G. O. Wliitteniore, 1827-2S; W. F. Mosely, 1828; Ogden Clarke.
120 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
August, 1828 to August, 1832; Stephen Reeves, August, 1832 to 1837;
and lie was then elected for a term of four years and reelected for an-
other term of the same duration, ending December 31, 1844. lie was
succeeded as follows: M. La .Mont ISagg, 1845-48; M. E. Crofoot,
1849-56; Oscar F. North. 1857-61; Harry C. Andrews, April, 1861-63;
Z. B. Knight, 1863-68; Alfred Crawford, 1869-72; Junius Ten Eyck,
1872; Joseph C. Powell, 1873-76; James A. Jacokes. 1877-80; Josejih
C. Powell, 1881-84; Thomas L. Patterson, 1885-1900; Joseph S. Stock-
well, 1901 to January i, 1909; Kleher P. Rockwell, 1909 (present in-
cumbent).
Circuit Courts and Judges
The circuit courts of the territory were created b}' the legislative coun-
cil in August, 1824, and which reenacted the same in April. 1825, the act
taking effect in the following September. As stated, these courts were
held in each of the organized counties of the territory by the justices of
the supreme court.
The first term of the court for Oakland county began June 19, 1826,
with the following present: Hon. John Hunt, judge; William Morris,
sheriff; William F. Alosley, prosecuting attorney: Sidney Dole, clerk;
Calvin C. Parks, Walter Sprague and Joshua S. Terry attended the court
as constables, and Ziha Swan, Jr.. and Schuyler Hodges as deputy sher-
iffs. William Burliank was foreman of the grand jury. The grand jury
found four indictments for murder — two against Imri Fish and two
against a Chippewa Indian called Sa-Kosse-Ka. The indictments against
Fish were for the murder of two women, Polly and Cynthia Ann L'tter.
The jury brought him in not guilty on one charge, and the other indict-
ment was nolle prosscd by the prosecuting attorney. The prisoner was
discharged from the indictments, but held under charge of insanity, which
was proven on trial. He was kept in the county jail for a time and
finally died. In the trial of the Indian, Sa-Kosse-Ka, for the murder
of Sha-bo-ga-shek, Whitemore Knaggs was sworn as interpreter, and
A. M. Robertson and O. D. Richardson were assigned as the Indian's
counsel. The jury returned the prisoner not guilty; and the second indict-
ment against him for the murder of Ka-ka-on-quet was also thrown out
of court. Mosley was allowed fifty dollars for his work on the term.
At the June term, 1827, Hon. James \\'etherell jiresided, and one
William Dunlap declared his intention to become a citizen of the United
States, which constituted the entire business of the term. Judge Henry
Chipman presided in March, 1828, one day only being held. In Octo-
ber, 1828, Judges Woodbridge and Sibley presided. The first conviction
for horse-thieving was had at the .March term in 1829, Piatt Winchell
being indicted and tried at that time, and sentenced to six months' con-
finement in the county jail and a fine of two hundred dollars and costs,
and to stand committed until fine and costs were paid. The March
term was opened by Hervey Parke, sheriff. The October term, 1832,
held by Jnd,ges Sibley and Ross Wilkins, was the last term of that court.
On the 15th day of April, 1833, '"the circuit court of the territory
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 121
of Michigan" was created, the organized counties of the territory con-
stituting one circuit, and the presiding judge to be styled the circuit
judge, to be appointed by the governor, and who must be a person
learned in the law, and should hold his position for four years. Two
associate judges were also to be appointed in each county, to hold their
offices three years. Any two of the judges could form a quorum for
the transaction of the ordinary business of the court, but no flagrant
crime could be tried in the absence of the circuit judge, unless the per-
son charged therewith consented to a trial. These courts possessed chan-
cery and common law jurisdiction, original in all civil cases where jus-
tices had not jurisdiction, and had cognizance of all offenses not simi-
larly cognizable by justices, and appellate powers over justices. The
circuit courts existing at the time of the passage of the act were in the
act denominated "the superior circuit courts of the territory of Michi-
gan," but the business on their dockets was transferred to the new
tribunal. '
The first term of this court was begun June 2;^. 1833, in Pontiac,
Hon. William A. Fletcher, circuit judge, presiding, with Amasa Bag-
ley as associate judge. Judge Fletcher's commission, issued by Governor
Porter, was read, and spread on the record. At the July term, 1834,
Daniel LeRoy and Bagley appeared as associate judges. The June term,
1836, was the last term of the circuit court of the territory of Michigan,
held in Oakland county, though in November the last representatives of
the old regime — John Goodrich, deputy clerk; Orison Allen, sheriff;
and Oliver Torrey, the crier — met, and the sheriff returned the venire
for the grand and petit juries, the most of whom appeared; but no
judge came, and the court was adjourned by the clerk until the next
morning, November 2d, when the same august person came into the
court room at nine o'clock A. M., with the balance of the jury; but the
day wore on, no judge appeared and at five o'clock of the second day the
court stood adjourned sine die.
The first term of the circuit court of the county of Oakland in the
state of Michigan, was held in May, 1837, beginning on the first Tues-
day of the month; Hon. George ;\Iorell, one of the associate judges of
the supreme court, presiding, with Samuel Satterlee and David Pad-
dock, associates. G. A. C. Luce was the first attorney admitted to the
bar in the state court. May 2, 1837. This style of the court continued
until October, 1839, when a court was held, styled the circuit court of
the fourth circuit within and for the county of Oakland, at which Hon.
Charles W. Whipple, one of the associate judges of the supreme court,
and presiding judge of the fourth circuit, presided, with Associate
Judges Satterlee and Paddock. Jn the .March term, 1840, the placita,
designedly or otherwise, changed to the circuit court of the county of
Oakland. In 1847, at the Septemlier term. Judge Whipple held the
term alone, the associate judges falling out by law, on the reestablish-
ment of the county court. In April, 1848, another change was made in
the courts, the supreme court being recognized and made to consist of
one chief and four associate justices, and the state was divided into five
122 JIISTORY OI' OAKLAND COUNTY
judicial circuits, each one of the supreme court and justices to hold at
least two terms in each county in the circuit assigned to him, and in
the execution of that dutj' to be styled circuit judge.
The first chancery case brought in the county was commenced in the
circuit court. October 2, 1830, John liiddle of Detroit, complainant,
and Henry Reynolds of New York, defendant, the action being a bill
for the foreclosure of a mortgage. The bill was drawn by (]. ( ). Whitte-
more, solicitor for complainant, and descriljes the mortgaged i)remises
as "being situate, lying and being in the county of Oakland, in the territory
of Michigan and known and described as the west part of fractional
section 11, township 2 north, range 9 east, of lands directed to be sold
at Detroit, by the act of congress entitled "an act providing for the sale
of the lands in the United States in the territory northwest of the Ohio
and above the mouth of the Kentucky river." " After laying before
their honors, the court, the complaint of his client, expressed in ]Mteous
terms, the solicitor concludes the same by a most humble prayer that
their honors would grant their orator "the most gracious writ of sub-
poena, in the name of the United States of America, etc.'"
The first divorce suit was brought in this court July 12, 1834, being
the bill of complaint of John Runyan, against his wife, Eunice Run-
yan, who he alleged had deserted him and also had been guilty of adul-
tery. John obtained a decree of divorce from Eunice in February,
1835, which released him and his property from an}' claim she might
make by virtue of her former wifehood rights; but the decree did not
specifically state that either ]jarty mighi. marry again. The complain-
ant was fifty-eight years old and the defendant fifty-five.
At the October term, iS;^/. of the circuit court, fifteen libel suits
were brought on charge of corruption growing out of the election for
member of congress, in September of that year. There were two days
used in polling the votes at that time and General Crary, the Democratic
candidate, came out some thirty odd votes behind his competitor in the
race in Pontiac township, much to the chagrin of his friends. Some
of them charged certain of the Whigs with tampering with the ballot
box, and issued a hand bill to that effect, which (Tailed forth the suits
above named. Four of the suits were compromised by taking a judg-
ment of fifty dollars, which were affirmed by the supreme court ; seven
were dismissed ; one was tried and a verdict of three hundred and thirty-
three dollars was found for the plaintiff and affirmed In' the supreme
court ; the others were transferred to Genesee county for trial.
The regular circuit jtidges commenced to held court in 1848. pre-
vious to that year various associate judges presiding over it. as follows:
Hon. James Hunt, 1826; Hon. James ^\'itherell, 1827; Hon. Henry
Chipman, 1828; William Woodbridge, .Solomon Sibley, Henry Chip-
man and Ross Wilkins from 1828 to 1833, when the circuit court of
the territory was created. From June, 1833, to 1837. Judge William .\.
Fletcher, an associate judge of the supreme court, as chief justice, and
Daniel LeRoy and Amasa Bagley as associates, held the court. The
judges of the first circuit court from June. 1826. to June. 1833. were all
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 123
members of the supreme hencli of the territory. In 1837 and thence to
1839 the courts were held by Hon. George ]\Iorell, one of the associates
of the supreme court, and Samuel Satterlee and David Paddack, asso-
ciate judges of Oakland county. From 1839 to 1848, Charles W. Whip-
ple, an associate of the supreme bench, was the presiding judge of the
circuit court of Oakland, Daniel Paddack, G. O. VMiittemore, Jeremiah
Clark and Ziba Swan being the associates. In 1848 Judge Whipple was
made chief justice of the supreme court.
Since 1848 the following judges have presided: Sanford M. Green,
1848 to January i, 1852; Joseph T. Copeland, 1852 to January i, 1858;
Sanford i\I. Green, 1858 to January i, 1870; Joseph S. Dewey, 1870 to
September i, 1873; Levi B. Taft, September, 1873. to January i, 1876;
Augustus C. Baldwin, 1876 to April 14, 1880; Silas B. Gaskill, April,
1880, to January i, 1882; William B. Stickney. 1882 to January i, 1888;
Joseph B. Moore, 1888 to January i, 1896; George W. Smith, 1896 to
date. '
Prosecuting Attorneys
The following were appointed prosecuting attorneys by the gov-
ernor between 1820 and 1853, to-wit :
Daniel LeRoy, Gideon O. Whittemore, W. F. Mosely, Thomas J.
Drake, Origen D. Richardson, John T. Raynor, George Wisner, James
B. Hunt, James McCabe, A. H. Hanscom and Hester L. Stevens.
Elected by the people as follows: Augustus C. Baldwin, January i,
1851 to January i, 1855; Charles Draper, 1855 'o 1861 ; Junius Ten
Eyck, 1861 to January i, 1863; Michael E. Crofoot. 1863 to January i,
1867; Oscar F. Wisner, 1867 to January i, 1869; Michael F. Crofoot,
1869 to January i, 1871 ; Henry M. Look, 1871 to January i. 1873;
Charles Draper, 1873 to January i, 1875: James K. Patterson, 1875
to January i, 1879; Aaron Perry, 1879 to January i, 1881 ; Samuel W.
Smith, 1881 to January i, 1885; Arthur R. Tripp, 1885 to January i,
1889; George W. Smith, 1889 to January i, 1895: Frederick Wieland,
1895 to January i, 1899; Kleber P. Rockwell, 1899 to January i, 1905;
Frank L. Covert, 1905 to 191 1; Carl H. Pelton, 1911 (present incum-
bent).
The Court of Chancery
The court of chancery provided for by the constitution of 1836 was
created in 1837, and the sessions of the court held up to 1840 in De-
troit. The powers of this court were coextensive with those of the
chancery courts of England, unless otherwise specially prohibited in the
consitution or by legislation. The presiding judge was called a chan-
cellor, and was appointed by the governor for the whole state, and
registers were appointed for each circuit. The first circuit included
Oakland county, but in 1840 two new circuits were formed, the fourth
circuit comprising the counties of Oakland, Genesee, Lapeer, Saginaw,
Shiawassee and Clinton, the headquarters of the circuit being Pontiac. In
1839 the chancellor's court was given cognizance of the banks, and in
124 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
1S41 the power was extended to partition and sale of lands concurrent
with the circuit court. The supreme court possessed appellate powers
over this court. The first term of the court of chancery was held in
Pontiac in September, 1840, Hon. Elon Farnsworth, chancellor, being
present, and Frederic A. Williams, register. The first case on the
docket of this court was that of W. FI. H. Sheldon, complainant, vs.
Henry Bishop, Jane Bishop, Charles Postal and James Minot. The
first two defendants were residents of Michigan, and the others were
non-residents, and the complainant was ordered to publish notice of the
pendency of the suit in the state paper at Detroit. On the 20th of May,
1S40, the chancellor ordered a private seal to be used until a public one
was made for the circuit. J. R. Bowman was appointed assistant regis-
ter and Alfred Treadway was appointed taxing-master. The first decree
of foreclosure to be entered in the court was on the 5th of May, 1841,
in the case of Joseph B. \'arnum, Dudley B. Fuller and John A. Gra-
ham, complainants, vs. Omstead Chamberlain, Mary C. Chamberlain
and Moses Wanzer, defendants. The amount of the decree was $2,411.77,
the ]:)reniises ordered to be sold being lot 66 of Pontiac.
In the spring of 1842 the official head of the court was changed,
when Randolph Manning came into office. He held that position until
1846 when Hon. Elon Farnsworth again came into power, and so continued
until the court was abolished in 1847. Alfred Treadway was appointed
register of the circuit in 1842 and he held that position throughout the
existence of the court. The business of the court was transacted and
closed up by the associate justices of the supreme court, who held chan-
cery terms of the circuit court. The injunction masters succeeded the
associate judges of the circuit court in 1847. and they in turn were suc-
ceeded by circuit court commissioners in 1852.
CiRCfiT Court Commissioners
Circuit court commissioners were provided for in the constitution
of 1850 to take the place and possess the pow'ers of the masters of chan-
cerv prohiliited by that instrument, and the first one was elected in
185 1. Previous to this date, masters in chancery had been named by
the governor, and among those who filled the office at different times
previous to 1851 were Morgan L. Drake, 1847, and Calvin C. Parks,
1848. The first circuit court commissioner to be elected was William
W. Phelps, who held the office two years (a single term). 1852-53. He
was succeeded by Junius Ten Eyck, 1854-57; Edward P. Harris, 185S-61 ;
James A. Jacokes and Joseph R. Bowman. 1862-65: Mark S. Brewer
and Byron L. Ransford, 1866-69; James K. Patterson and James A.
Jacokes, 1870-71 ; Joseph E. Sawyer and Thomas Curtis, 1872-73; James
A. Jacokes and Edward J. Bissell, 1874-75; Edward T. Bissell and George
W. Smith, 1876-77; Edward J. Bissell and Arthur R. Tripp. 1S78-79;
Arthur R. Trijip and James W. Bateman. 1S80-81 ; James W. Batcman
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 125
and Cass E. Harrington. 1882-83; Cass E. Harrington and Chauncey
F. Newkirk, 1884-85; James H. Lynch and Peter B. Bromley, 1886-91;
George E. Beardslee and Michael F. Lillis, 1892-93; Frank L. Covert
and George Hogle, 1894-99; Charles J. Ostrander and Judson A. Fred-
enbnrgh. 1900-03: Charles S. Matthews and Fred M. Bond, 1904-05;
Charles S. Matthews and John M. Feir, 1906-07; Charles S. Matthews
and Elmer E. Blakeslee, 1908-10; Elmer E. Blakeslee and E. B. How-
arth, Jr., 1911-12.
CHATTER X
THE BAR OF OAKLAND COUNTY
Daniel LeRoy — William F. Mosley — Thomas J. Drake — Origen
D. Richardson — Gideon O. Whittemore — Robert P. Eldredge —
Seth A. L. Warner — William Draper — Randolph ^Manning —
' Charles Draper — Rufus Hosmer — George W. Wisner — Alfred
H. Hanscom — Governor Moses Wisner — Augustus Carpenter
Baldwin — John S. Goodrich— Levi B. Taft — Hester L. Stevens — •
Michael E. Crofoot — Henry M. Look — Mark S. Brewer — Living
Members of the Bar — Judge Thomas L. Patterson — Joseph Ed-
ward Sawyer — George W. Smith — Robert J. Lounsbury — Aaron
Perry — Daniel L. Davis — Kleber P. Rockwell — Arthur R.
Tripp — Elmer R. Webster — James H. Lynch — John H. Patterson
— F. L. Covert — Henry M. Zimmerman — Andrew L. Moore — H.
H. Colvin — Peter B. Bromley.
The early-time lawyers of Oakland county gave a standing to its
bar which ran Detroit a close second. Many attorneys of the old capital
city practiced in its courts — Sibley, Woodbridge, Fletcher, Earned, Good-
win, O'Keefe, Coleman — but even after members of the profession com-
menced to settle at Pontiac, as a place with a substantial future, the
high standing of the bar was maintained. This is true up to the pres-
ent day — true both as to professional ability, mora! character and manly
ideals.
The following from the "History of Oakland County," published in
1877; with minor changes in the text to conform to changed conditions,
gives a good general idea of the pioneer members of the bar who made
reputations both for professional strength and high standing as citizens.
Daniel LeRoy
The first resident lawyer in the county was Daniel LeRoy. who was
admitted to practice in the county court, the first court held in the county,
and on the first day of the first term thereof to-wit, July 17. 1820. Mr.
LeRoy was from Binghampton. New 'S'ork, and was a regularly ad-
mitted and practicing attorney in that state previous to his coming to
Michigan. He was the prosecuting attorney of the county for some
years, and chief justice of the county court from .April, 1829, to the
abolishment of the same in i8_:;3. Tic was also the first attorney-gen-
126
THOMAS L. PATTERSON
THE NEW YOIIK
PUBLIC LIDUAIJY
ASTOB. LENOX AND
TILDEN FOlNDATIONa
B - L
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 127
eral of the state, being appointed to that offiLe by Governor Mason, in
1836. judge LeRoy was a lawyer of ability, and ranked high in the
bar of the state. He retired from practice late in life and died at Fenton,
Genesee county.
VVlLLI.XM F. MOSLEY
The next resident lawyer in the county appears i)y the record to have
been William F. Mosley, who was admitted t.o practice before the
county court at the February term, 1825; and was appointed by the
court prosecuting attorney for the term. At the June term, 1826, the
first term of that court held in the county, Mr. Mosley was admitted
to practice before that court, and in 1828 was judge of probate. He
removed from the county into Shiawassee county, where he died in
i860, while prosecuting attorney. He was from Connecticut.
Thomas J. Drake
At the same February term of the county court, 1825, Thomas J.
Drake was allowed to act as attorney for such parties as had given him
powers of attorney for that purpose. Mr. Drake first came to Pontiac
in 1822, when there were scarcely half a dozen houses in the township.
He was a leading and prominent advocate for nearly two generations.
Hon. A. C. Baldwin, judge of the sixth circuit, says of him: "He was
connected as counsel with most of the leading cases in northern Michi-
gan during a long term of years, and was always in his element when
advocating the cause of the people." He was a member of the third
legislative council in 1828. and. with S. \'. R. Trowbridge, represented
the whole northern portion of the territory. Mr. Drake was the ac-
credited author of the liberal exemption laws of .Michigan, introducing
them into the legislative council at a time when they were so unpopular
not a single member, save himself, dared to vote for them. From 1828
1845 he was prominent in political matters, being a Whig in party af-
filiation and policy. He was elected in 1834 to the state senate to repre-
sent a district which extended from the l)ase-line of the state to the
head of Lake Superior, embracing two-thirds of the area of the state.
He was president of that body. In 1840 he was one of the \\ hig
presidential electors for Michigan at her first participation in the choice
of a president and vice president of the republic. In 1828 he was regis-
ter of probate for the county, and in 1827 prosecuting attorney, being
also the first prosecuting attorney elected in the county, and held the
position from 1850 to 1852. In 1864 President Lincoln appointed Mr.
Drake chief justice of the United States courts in Utah, which position
he held for several years, discharging the duties thereof with signal
ability and fidelity, and thereby provoking the bitter hostility of Brigham
Young and his cohorts. "The Alormons hated him as cordially as he hated
their customs and practice." Judge Drake's associate justice in Utah said :
"When once the judge made up his mind that he was right, no power under
heaven could swerve him from tlie path of duty." He died in Pontiac,
April 20, 1875. Judge Drake, in 1842 or thereabouts, conducted the
publication of a \Miig newspa]5er in Flint, which in the winter of 1843-44
128 HISTORY' Ol' OAKLAXD COUNTY
was removed to Pontiac and there established as the Gazette. lie also
built the Genesee House in Flint, and resided there for some years, do-
ing much for the prosperity of the village.
OrIGEX D. RirilARDSON
The next attorney admitted to the bar in the Oakland courts who
attained a "local habitation and a name" in the county was Origen D.
Richardson, who, for nearly thirty years, was a leading and prominent
member of the bar, and noted as well throughout the state. lie was ad-
mitted at the July term. 1826, of the circuit court, having been a regular
practicing attorney in Vermont, from whence he came to Michigan in
1826. He began and completed his study of the law, preparatory to his
admission to practice, with his brother-in-law, Israel P. Richardson, in
\'ermont. He was prosecuting attorney of the county in 1832. and was
elected lieutenant-governor of Michigan in the fall of 1841. and again in
184^, serving the state in that position during the years of 1841-45. In
the "fall of 1854, Governor Richardson removed to Omaha, Nebraska —
a territory then — and, as a member of the first and second sessions of
the legislature of the new state, "acted a prominent and useful part in
framing some of the laws now on its statute books." He was one of the
commissioners to codify the laws of the state. He died at Omaha, No-
vember 29, 1876, at the advanced age of eighty-one years, of apoplexy;
and was followed by his almost equally aged wife and companion but a
brief period afterward, and with her was laid to rest in the same grave
in Prospect Hill cemetery and on the same day.
Gideon O. Wiiittemore
Another prominent attorney and citizen of Oakland county, who was
admitted to the practice of tlie law before the courts of the county at
the same time as Governor Richardson, viz., February term, 1826, was
Gideon O. Whittemore, Esquire, who located at Pontiac and was after-
wards judge of probate, master in chancery and prosecuting attorney.
He was also a prominent justice of the peace. He removed to Tawas,
in this state, where he died some years ago. Mr. Whittemore was one
of the first regents of the University in 1837.
Robert P. Eldredge
The next attorney who located in the county was Robert P. Eldredge,
who was admitted in the county court November, 1828. He read law
with Governor Richardson, and removed early to IMount Clemens, where
he was long in practice. He came from the state of New York to Michi-
gan, and he prided himself on his Indian blood, claiming to he a lineal
descendant of Pocohontas. His son, who became his legal partner, was
at one time judge of probate of Macomb county. Mr. Eldredge was
prosecuting attorney of the court at the term of which he was admitted
to the bar, and was secretary of state under Governor I'.arry from 1841
to 1846.
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 129
Seth a. L. Warner
Seth A. L. Warner was the next attorney to receive a license to
practice his profession, being admitted to the bar of the county in March,
1830, and in the circuit court in April following. He located at Farm-
ington. and came from Seneca county, New York, where he previously
followed the practice of law. P. Dean Warner, his son, became one of
the most prominent public men in the state, and his career is fully ex-
panded in the biography of ex-Governor Warner.
William Draper
Henry S. Cole was admitted in October, 1833. At the same time,
William Draper, the father of Hon. Charles Draper, who succeeded to
his practice, was admitted to the Oakland bar, he having been a regu-
larly-admitted and practicing attorney previously in Massachusetts. Mr.
Draper was a good laywer, well read, and had an extensive practice.
In 1838 he had more than one hundred suits on the dockets of the
courts. He was the president of the first Ann Arbor convention to act
upon the congressional terms imposed upon Michigan's admission into
the union. He was located at Pontiac, where he was buried, his death
occurring while on a pleasure trip to Mackinac, in July, 1858. Mr.
Draper was a very sedate and dignified gentleman, and some of his ways
were a little inclined to eccentricity. Several anecdotes are told by his
old confreres, which are too good to be lost, and we reproduce two or
three of the best. He was a born sportsman, and when the duties of his
profession would allow enjoyed most thoroughly the piscatorial pleas-
ures afforded by the well-stocked lakes of Oakland. In order to facili-
tate such enjoyment he constructed a boat, and fitted it on the running
gear of a light wagon, with which he would, on days too dark and dull
for office work and "just dark enougii for good fishing,'' drive to some
of the many beautiful sheets of water that spread their fair expanse
in the openings of Oakland, and, unshipping his wagon body, would
launch the same upon the waves, and proceed to his piscatorial delights
with the same zest that he pursued larger fish in the meshes oi the law.
He kept his boat under the shed of the Congregational church, and in an
adjoining stall the village hearse was also kept.
One day Mr. Draper concluded to try his usual sport and sent his
Milesian man of all work down to the shed for his turn-out. But Patrick,
by some mistake, hitched the old gray to the funeral car instead of the
Waltonian vehicle and backed it up in front of the lawyer's residence.
The sportsman soon made his appearance equipped with rod and lines,
and stepping precisely down the walk, his eyes rested on the black-
plumed carriage at the gate, whereupon he stopped suddenly, and with
his peculiar gesture of his forefinger and a sort of snort, said, with grim
humor, "Patrick, take it back! I'm not readv to ride in that carriage
yet !"
Randolph Manning
Among the prominent names of the Oaklanfl bar Randolph Man-
ning's also shines conspicuously. He was admitted about 1828-30, and
j;]0 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
was previously a practicing attorney in New Jersey. lie was an able,
though not a brilliant lawyer, conscientious and sound, and a most ex-
cellent solicitor in chancery. - He held tlie position of chancellor of the
state by appointment of Governor Barry, from 1842 to 1846, and w'as
one of the judges of the supreme court of the state when his death,
which was very sudden,' occurred. He was secretary of state from
1838 to 1840, by appointment of Governor Woodbridge.
Charles Draper
Charles Draper, long the Nestor of the bar of Oakland county, was
admitted to the practice of his profession November 27, 1838. He and
Rufus Hosmer, both of whom read law with William Draper, were ad-
mitted at the same time. Mr. Draper was the first clerk of the courts
under the state constitution and held the position for two years, to 1838.
He was also prosecuting attorney and served the county in the state
senate. He was in partnership many years with his father, William
Draper, had an extensive and valuable library, and ranked high in his
profession in the state.
Rufus Hosmer
Mr. Hosmer was a native of Massachusetts, where he was thoroughly
educated. He was a cousin of Mr. Charles Draper, and formed a part-
nership with the Wisners soon after his admission to the bar. and sub-
sequently went to Detroit to assume charge of the Detroit Adfertiscr.
He was also state printer at Lansing for a time and was appointed
consul to the Netherlands, but died before going to his post of duty. He
was a brilliant genius, most companionable, and always ready for a
joke. The following good story is told at his expense: He was a very
indifferent scribe, and when the trial of his first case came on in the
circuit court, at the very term of his admission to the bar, Thomas J.
Drake, the opposing counsel, moved the court to qtiash the declaration
in the case, because it was drawn in a foreign language. The court,
being struck with the point, asked to see the paper, and on examination
granted the motion, giving the young lawyer twenty-four hours to file
a new declaration.
Mr. Hosmer was always full of fun, and, though a nephew of Mr.
William Draper, called him, as did many others, "Father Draper" ; and
he used to relate with great gusto the following anecdote: One day
Hosmer and Mr. Draper were called to Farmington to attend a lawsuit,
and, in going to the same. Rvifus drove. On coming to the top of a hill
of some considerable height, the old gray mare Mr. Draper drove for
many years struck a brisk trot, and the somewhat careless driver did
not strive to check her speed down the declivity; but on arriving at the
bottom a bridge which traversed a small creek was found to be un-
planked. However, it was too late to stop, and the old mare cleared it
somehow, the wheels by the strangest fortuity squarely striking the
sleepers and passing in safety. Not a word was spoken until they ar-
rived at the village when the condition of the bridge was commented
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 131
upon calmly. After the trial was over the lawyers set out on their re-
turn, Mr. Draper taking the reins into his own hands. They stopped a
few minutes at Birmingham, and just as they were seated in the buggy,
Mr. Draper's hands, with a rein in each, planted on either knee and
ready for a start, a Spanish jack, confined in the yard alongside the
hotel, by which they were standing, put his head over the high board
fence that separated him from the rest of the world, and lifted up his
voice as only that animal can. Old "Gray" shot from her standing like
an arrow and tore down the pike on a swinging gallop, Mr. Draper sit-
ting bold upright, his fists firmly pressed on his knees and Rufus clinging
for dear life to the buggy-seat. Down the long smooth pike sped the
gallant gray, not a word being spoken by the lawyers whom she car-
ried. Past farmhouses the clattering vehicle dashed ; dogs barked, chil-
dren hurrahed, men stared and wondered what had got into Father
Draper. Dashing into Saginaw street with unchecked lope, the old
mare made straight forvher wonted stable, nor stopped nor stumbled un-
til she bumped her nose against the gate she had left a few hours before.
She gave a long breath and looked back, not at her drivers, but at her
followers; and Mr. Draper m solemn tones broke the silence that had
been maintained throughout the entire seven miles' drive. Said he:
"Rufus, what an awful noise that was!"
George W. Wisner
George W. Wisner came from New York City to Pontiac in July,
1835. He was formerly editor and had a half proprietary interest in
the Nezv York Sun, which he disposed of in September of that year and
removed his family to Pontiac, where he at once commenced the study
of the law under William Draper, who was admitted in January, 1839,
to the practice of his profession. He and Alfred Treadway were in
partnership for a time and succeeding that partnership was one with his
brother Moses and Rufus Hosnier, which was a strong and successful
one. In 1837 he was a member of the first legislature of the state and
was prosecuting attorney for some years. Politically he was a Whig,
with anti-slavery leanings. In the fall of 1847, he purchased with Nor-
man Rawson and H. H. Duncklee, the Detroit Advertiser, and man-
aged the editorial columns so effectively that he was given the credit
of largely influencing the Whig triumph in that city in the spring of
18.^8. He died in September, 1849, .young in years but ripe in experi-
ence.
Alfred H. Hanscom
Alfred H. Hanscom, said to be the most eloquent advocate who
ever lifted up his voice in defense of innocence and the maintenance
of right at the Oakland bar, was admitted to the same in 1838. He was
a native of Rochester, New York, whence he came early to Macomb
county, and thence removed to Troy, in Oakland county. He was edu-
cated in the eastern schools, and in 1842 was speaker of the house of
representatives of the legislature of Michigan. He was the district
attorney of the county of Oakland for some years, and removed to On-
132 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
tonagon in 1850 or therealiouts. He died on his return from a visit to
Pontiac about half a century ago, on shipboard, en route from Mar-
quette to his home.
GOVERXOR ^ I OSES WiSNEU
Hon. Moses Wisner was one of the lawyers whose powers and abili-
ties reflected great credit on the Oakland bar. His father was a farmer
residing near Auburn, New York, and ]\Ioses and his brother, George
W., even in childhood, while toiling and drudging on the farm, evidently
were bent on some other development in life's work, for they shirked
the labor whenever they might and turned their attention to the cultiva-
tion of their minds. George, as he has previously been shown, went to
New York and entered journalism for a time previous to his removal to
Michigan, and Moses, after an interval, came to the forests of Lapeer
count}', and began life in what was to him an unpromising line, that of
agriculture. After some months of incessant toil he one day stuck his
axe into a tree and said to himself: "There! If I can't make a living
at a more congenial employment I will starve." And immediately he
turned his steps toward Pontiac. where his brother George had already
gained something of a standing in the practice of law, and entered his
office as a student, being admitted to the bar in 1841. He returned to
Lapeer county, where he acted as prosecuting attorney for two or more
years and then returned to Pontiac and entered into copartnership with
his brother and Rufus Hosmer. On the departure of George to Detroit,
Moses continued the practice alone. In the noted case of the Tully boys,
tried for the murder of their father, Mr. Wisner was associated with
Judge Crofoot and Hon. Thomas J. Drake in the defense, and made a
most searching analysis of the testimony.
In the celebrated burglary case, wherein Guy ]\I. Trowbridge's house
■was burglarized. Governor Wisner aided the prosecution, and made a
very fine argument in closing the case, also making an effective illus-
tration in the course of it by discharging a pistol which was claimed to
be unloaded. He was careful to point it where no damage could accrue
to persons, but it damaged with telling effect the defense and its theo-
ries. In 1858 Mr. Wisner was elected governor of Michigan, and served
the state two years, 1859 and i860, although he did not turn his atten-
tion to politics until after the presidential election of 1852. He was an
effective stump speaker, as well as a powerful advocate before a jury.
In the campaign of 1856 he addressed a Fremont gathering, and the
opening sentence of his speech will give the key-note to what followed.
It was delivered in the deep chest-tones of the si^eaker. and thrilled the
audience with its earnestness and ])ower. He said: "Two hundred and
forty years ago was heard the first clank of chains on a slave on Ameri-
can soil!" At tlie close of his gubernatorial term Governor A\'isner re-
turned to Pontiac and resumed his profession, remaining so engaged
until the summer of 1862, when he entered the field of war at the head
of the Twenty-second Michigan Infantry as its colonel, that regiment
being raised largely by his own efforts. He was taken ill with fever and
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 133
dieil at Lexington, Kentucky, January 5, 1863. He lies in the Pontiac
cemetery, and a massive monument attests his valor and patriotism.
TIoN. Augustus C.vRrEXTER Ualdwix
Hon. Augustus Carpenter Baldwin. Xestor of the Oakland county
bar, who was one of the most distinguished figures in the public life of
Pontiac for a period of threescore years, died at his residence in that
city on January 21, 1903. He had freqtiently been called to fill positions
high in the puljlic trust, serving on the bench, in the Michigan state
legislature and in the halls of congress, and in his professional work
reached a rare height. In public and private life alike, the same rugged
honesty and sincerity of purpose characterized his every act, giving him
a place in public esteem which time cannot alter.
Judge Baldwin wasj^orn in Salina, now Syracuse. Onondaga county,
New York, December 24, 1817. and was the sixth lineal descendant
from Henry Baldwin, who migrated to \\Viburn. Massachusetts, from
Hertfordshire, or more probably, Devonshire, England, about 1630. The
latter subsec|uently located in Charlestown, Massachusetts, w'hich town
he represented in the general court. He was a subscriber to the "Town
Order," drawn at Charlestown for the regulation of the projected settle-
ment. I le married Phoebe Richardson, whose ])arents were ancestors
of (iovernor O. D. Richardson of .Michigan.
Jonathan Baldwin, father of Judge Baldwin, was a native of Can-
terbury, Connecticut, and was engaged in the mercantile business until
his death in 1822. He married Mary Carpenter, a daughter of, Joseph
Carpenter of Lancaster, New York. Upon his death the family were
left in straitened circumstances, and at an early age Augustus C. Bald-
win was thrown upon his own resources. He was but five years old at
the death of his father, and during the six years that followed he lived
at the home of an uncle. He then located at Lancaster, New York, in
which vicinity he remained luitil 1834, when he went to Bufl^alo, New
York, and there entered the office of the Buffalo Bulletin as an appren-
tice. He continued with this paper until it passed under the manage-
ment of James b'axon & Company, and was changed to the Buffalo
Daily Star, the first daily paper to be published in western New York.
He was variously employed dtiring the following fotir years, teacliing
school a part of the time, but always continuing his preparation for his
betterment by careful study. During the fall and summer of 1837 he
attended the academy of Plainfield, and in November of the same year
he came to Oakland county. He alternately engaged in teaching and
study and in 1839 began his jireparation for the legal profession under
the direction of John P. Richardson of Pontiac. A branch of the state
university of ^Michigan was then located in this city, and he took ad-
vantage of the opportunity of advancing and perfecting his knowledge
of the branches of education embraced in its course. He subsequently
entered the office of Hon. O. D. Richardson, with whom he continued
until he was admitted to the bar on May 14. 1842. and then entered upon
the practice of law at Milford, Oakland county. He continued there
until March, 1849. then removed to Pontiac where he would iiave greater
134 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
opportunities and a larger tield for the exercise of the superior talents
with which he was endowed. ' He early attained a position of promi-
nence in his profession, ancl in much of the important litigation during
the following half century he was retained either by the prosecution or
the defense. As a criminal lawyer he was without peer and was identi-
fied with many of the leading criminal trials in Oakland and adj(jining
counties.
Judge Ualdwin was always an enthusiastic Democrat and one of the
hardest workers for that party's success in Michigan. His first public
office was that of school inspector of Bloomfield township in 1840, and
three years later he was elected to the state legislature. He was re-
elected to the legislature in 1845 and took a prominent part in the ses-
sions of 1844 and 1846. He served as a brigadier general of the fifth
brigade of Michigan militia from 1846 to 1862, in which year the ex-
isting militia system was abolished. He was prosecuting attorney of
Oakland county during 1853 and 1854. In 1862 he was elected a mem-
ber of the thirty-eighth congress from what was then the fifth con-
gressional district of Michigan, defeating the Republican candidate, R.
E. Trowbridge, and served on the committees on agriculture and ex-
penditures in the interior departinent. In the issue concerning the
thirteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, he voted
in support of the amendment, that is, for its submission to the states for
their approval. He was renominated for congress in 1864 and was
again opposed by~.Mr. Trowbridge. The state had in the meantime en-
acted a statute authorizing Michigan soldiers in the army to vote in the
field. Judge Baldwin received a clear majority of the home votes, and
notwithstanding the fact that the supreme court of Michigan declared
the statute above mentioned to be void, the house of representatives,
upon contest being made, gave the seat to Mr. Trowbridge.
Mr. Baldwin was elected mayor of Pontiac in 1S74 and for eighteen
consecutive years was a member of the school board of the citv. (luring
which time many important changes were made in the school svstem and
the high scliool erected largely through his influence. He was also active
in having Pontiac chosen as the location of the eastern Michigan asylum,
and for eighteen years he was a member of the board of trustees of that
institution. In 1875 h^ was elected judge of the sixth judicial district
of Michigan for a term of six years, and served four years of that time
with characteristic impartiality and a high sense of justice, retaining the
resi)ect and gaining the commendation of the entire bar. The salary at
the time was so utterly inade(|uate, and the state refusing to make the
necessary consitutional amendment, he resigned the office with two years
of the term unexpired, to resume a renumerative practice. Every phase
of jurisprudence and legal procedure came up in his extensive practice,
and not infrequently he had his share in the establishment of precedents
in the law's of Michigan. There are few reports of the supreme court of
ATichigan between 1850 and 1900 which do not record imi>ortant cases
with which he was identified.
The Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake also owes much
to him for its remarkable success, as he was one of its trustees and for
)^ears its president. Tie was for several years president of the Oakland
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 135
County Agricultural Society and of the Oakland County Pioneer So-
ciety. For fifty years he was a frequent member and officer of state and
local political conventions. He was a delegate to the National Demo-
cratic Conventions at Charleston and Baltimore in i860, delegate-at-
large to the National Peace Convention at Philadelphia in 1866, and at
different times a member of the national and state central committees.
In October, 1842, Judge A. C. Baldwin married Isabella Churchill,
who died in 1894. He later married Flora E. Belding, a daughter of
the late Hon. Friend Belding of Bloomfield. Fraternally he was a Mas-
ter Alason, being a member of Pontiac lodge No. 21, A. F. & A. M.,
^nd Pontiac Commandery, No. 2, Knights Templar, of which he was
past eminent commander. Judge Baldwin had a comfortable home on
Clark street in Pontiac, where he was surrounded by the comforts and
luxuries of a refined taste. His magnificent library represented years of
accumulation, comprising a large number of volumes, treating upon
almost every subject which human versatility might suggest. Flowever,
a large portion of his library was placed a few years ago at the dis-
posal of the Orchard Lake Military Academy. His home also con-
tained a gallery of fine paintings, rare and in good taste.
The following extracts are taken from the biography of Judge Bald-
win prepared for the County Pioneer Society by Elmer E. Hymers, the
Pontiac attorney in 1901, about two years before the death of the vener-
able and beloved jurist and member of the bar :
"A resume of the lives of those early lawyers who composed the
bar of Oakland county in the pioneer days would indeed be incomplete
if it did not contain some recital of the career of one of the most active
members of that early association, and the only living representative
of the legal profession in the county of Oakland, whose history dates
prior to 1840. The respect which Judge Baldwin commands from all
individuals, the reputation which he enjoys in the judicial, legislative
and social circles of this state, his legal acumen, the physical and intel-
lectual vigor which have for years made him prominent in politics, and
a commanding and potent factor in the development of the educational
and social life of the state, make it eminently fitting that some attempt
be made to preserve a record of his achievements in these particulars
for the benefit of posterity and this society. . . . His legal practice
during the years of his active engagement in his profession embraced
every phase of procedure known to the profession in this state. The
various dockets and calendars of Oakland, Lapeer and neighboring
county circuits attest the numerous and important cases in which he
has been employed. From the fifth report of the Michigan supreme
court, to the last compiled volume of the reports of the decisions of that
body, the practitioner searching for judicial precedent will find in al-
most every volume some case with which Mr. Baldwin has been identi-
fied. For a period of over sixteen years, extending from February, 1884,
Judge Baldwin acted as counsel for the Pontiac. O.xford & Northern
Railway Company, his connection with which terminated September
30th of the present year (1901). Lack of space forbids an extended
notice of the numerous important cases in whicli he has been employed
during more than half a century of active practice; suffice it to say that
136 llISTOR^■ (Jl' ()AKLAXD ICJU.X'IV
(luriiii; thai lime he has been employed eilher on behalf of the people in
prosecnting, or in behalf of the defense in a multitude of famous crimi-
nal cases, while many of tiis most famous civil victories are leading
cases and recorded landmarks for the guidance of the j)rofession in
this state.
"As in the legal field, so in the political arena judge IJaldwin has
since his lirst appearance in politics been a recognized leader of the ad-
herents of his party. He has always been a persistent and powerful
advocate of the principles of that party which demands the recognition
and development of the individual, which is founded in oijposition to
the idea of centralization; it was impossible for him to be other than a
Democrat. Democratic instinct was all powerful in him; he jjersonities
the doctrine of 'individuality,' being a living exponent of what is meant
and ma\' be acconii)lished by the fullest development of the individual
life. Although a Democrat, he supported the thirteenth amendment to
the constitution of the United States. For the past sixty years and
over no political contest, national or pertaining to this state, has failed to
see him actively engaged in earnest advocacy of the principles of his
political faith. S'ears of fierce contest over political questions on the hust-
ings and within the walls of the state legislature and of congress, gave him
a familiarity with such issues and such a knowledge of the political growth
and history of the leading public men and jjolitical parties, that lie has
long been recognized as an authority on all questions relating to the
political history of this country, and now, almost a decade and a half
after he has reached the limit of the threescore and ten years assigned
to the lot of men, it is a marvelous tribute to the mental vigor and reten-
tive memory of this leader of men and molder of forces that he is still
able to discuss in remarkable detail all the circumstances attendant on his
stormy political career. ISlen and measures, parties and politics of the
past are reviewed by him today as though the circumstances which called
them forth were but of yesterday. It is only recentlv that be has laid off
the iKjlitical harness, his last pnlilic ajjijearance on' a political platform
bemg during the national campaign of 1900 when, on the evening of
October 28, 1900. he addressed a crowded meeting of the electors of this
county at the village of Birmingham on the issues of that campaign.
His last public appearance, however, was on February 22, igoi. when be
addressed the Oakland County Pioneer Societv at the courthouse in the
city of Pontiac. ...
"It is less than a year (written in 1901 ) since ludge llaldwin gave
up the active practice of his profession. Fie still," however, visit.s his
ofiice frequently but does not pretend to attend to more than the details
of his own private business. In this age of .strife and wealth-seeking
It IS refreshing to record the career of one whose ambition was not
solely engrossed with amassing a fortune. Judge Baldwin is. however,
able to spend his declining years in comfort at his home on Clark street!
Pontiac. where the visitor will find ample evidence of those comforts
and refining influences which i)ermit him to apjilv his leisure in reading
and research.
"In his home surrounde<l by a magnificent library, which it li.-is l>cen
his life work to accumulate be may nearly alwavs'be fomul buried in
HISTORY UF OAKLAND COUNTY 1^7
his retreat among his books and other treasures. His hbrary is an ex-
cellent one, comprising many volumes, treating on almost every subject
which human versatility may suggest. A large portion of his library,
however, was a few years ago placed at the disposal of the Orchard
Lake Military Academy, of which institution he is still president and
has ever been a liberal patron. His home also contains a gallery of fine
paintings collected through years of carefully cultivated artistic taste.
■"Of Judge Baldwin's personal characteristics it may be said that
though he has long since passed the meridian of life, yet he still stands
before us a central figure ; with a mind still active he keeps in touch
with the events of the day, and his intelligent discussion of current
topics shows that he still keenly sympathizes with the pulsing life of
the community. If asked what is the most prominent element of his
nature we would say unhesitatingly, rugged strength, vigor of intellect,
unyielding determination. A strong mind in a strong body has demon-
strated once more that these are necessary elements to achievement. In
judicial conventions, in political and educational gatherings, in legis-
lative halls of the state and nation, the voice of Judge Baldwiin has
many times been listened to throughout his long and arduous public
services, and it is in the recorded actions of such educational, political,
legislative, or judicial assembles that we must look for the most lasting
record of his efforts expended in behalf of the common weal. His
life has embraced practically the whole of the nineteenth century, and
now in his declining years he witnesses the twentieth century well
launched and wishes God speed to his fellows in the path of achievement
in all things that go to the betterment of mankind."
John S. Goodrich
John S. Goodrich was from the state of New York and was ad-
mitted to the bar of Oakland county in November, 1840^ He was elected
a judge of the supreme court after he removed from Oakland to Gene-
see county in April, 1851. and died before qualifying as such judge. He
was unmarried, rather ungainly in personal appearance, painfully awk-
ward in manner, but possessed of the most wonderful powers of memory,
and a library in himself. It is said that he read Hume's history of Eng-
land through in forty-eight hours, and from that single and raiiid pe-
rusal could give every important event and its date, recorded therein.
He died in 1851 at Goodrichville, in Genesee county, a village to which
his family gave its name and where representatives of the family made
their home for many years.
Levi B. T.\ft
Judge Levi B. Taft was a native of Bellingham, Norfolk county,
Massachusetts, where he was born on .August 6, 182 1. He came to
Michigan in 1834 and read law with Hon. Jacob M. Howard and Messrs.
Barstow & Lockwood. He was graduated from Dartmouth college in
1843, 3"d was admitted to the bar in 1845 in the supreme court and also
in the L^nited States courts. He practiced his profession si.xteen years
138 HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
in Chicago, and from that city came to Pontiac, where he continued his
practice until 1873, whcii he was elected judge of the sixth judicial
circuit, and presided over the courts of that district until December 31,
1875, when he retired from the bench and resumed his practice in Pon-
tiac. wliich he continued until his death. April 29. 1895.
Hester L. Stevens
In 1845 General Hester L. Stevens, an eminent attorney of Roches-
ter, New York, located in Pontiac, and began the ])ractice of his pro-
fession. He was prosecuting attorney in 1847-48. and with Judge
Baldwin formed a partnership in 1849 and 1850. In 185 1 he was elected
to congress from the district in wdiich he resided and took up his resi-
dence in Washington after his congressional term expired, where he
practiced extensively before the court of claims. He was an able law-
yer and a man of high social position.
• Jl'dge Mich.\el E. Crofoot
Tudge ]\Iichael E. Crofoot. one of the leading members of the Oak-
land bar, and whose powers as an attorney reflected great honor upon
the profession of the law, was admitted to practice in Rochester. New-
York, previous to 1846, and in the Oakland county courts in February,
1848. His first great case was the trial of the Bismuth murder case,
so called, wherein he gained great celebrity in the defense of the ac-
cused, and procured the acquittal of his client. He pursued his legal
studies with General H. L. Stevens. Judge Crofoot was judge of \no-
bate for eight years, and for several years before he relinquished active
practice and maintained an office in Detroit, whither he went daily when
not engaged in the courts elsewhere, conducting an extensive practice
both in Oakland and in that city. Judge Crofoot's power was greatest
in getting and marshaling his proofs and in the examination of witnesses,
but he was also eloquent and efl'ective with a jury. He was always
ready for his arguments and uniformly effective in his manner of pre-
senting them, his success, as a probate judge and at the bar having been
marked and his high standing as a citizen universally conceded. Judge
Crofoot died May 11, 1884. "He was always a public spirited and useful
citizen. He was a member of the Pontiac school board for many years
and one of the principal school buildings of that city now bears his
name. Judge Crofoot left two sons who have followed his profession
and arc" prominent and successful lawyers. One. Louis, is located at
Aberdeen. South Dakota, and the other. Lodovic. is at Omaha. Nebraska.
Henry ^1. Look
Henry M. Look, a prominent attorney of the county and noted
throughout the state for his eloquence, was a native of Michigan and
of what was once Oakland county, but is now Lapeer county, his birth
occurring on October 27. 1837, in Hadlcy. He began the study of the
law in the office of his brother in Kentucky, and completed his studies
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 139 •
with Messrs. Baldwin & Draper, and also attended a course of lectures
in the law department of the University of Michigan, in 1859. He was
admitted to practice in the United States courts in July, 1867. Previous
to that event, however, he followed the practice of his profession and
that of teaching in the south for a time. He was a member of the
legislature of ^Michigan in 1865-66, prosecuting attorney for Oakland
county in 1871-72, city attorney for Pontiac for several years and a
member of the board of education of the city from 1864-67, inclusive.
Mr. Look had a wide reputation also as a writer. He was a partner
of Judge Baldwin for a time.
M.\RK S. Brewer
Hon. Mark S. Brewer of Pontiac, was admitted to the bar of Oak-
land county on March 10, 1864. He was born in the township of Addi-
son, that county, on the 22d day of October, 1837, and until he was
twenty years of age remained at home, assisting in the labors of the
farm, and attending the district school during the winter season at a
log schoolhouse. situated on his father's farm. The country was new,
his parents were not liberally endowed with this world's goods, and it
was with difficulty that the lad got suitable clothing in which to attend
school. His mother often took her own shoes from her feet and gave
them to her boy to wear to school, when the weather became too severe
for him to go without shoes. In 1857 his health became somewhat im-
paired from overwork and he was compelled to leave the farm and seek
other employment. In the winter of 1858 he commenced teaching in
a district school and followed that vocation for the three succeeding
winters, during the remainder of the seasons of 1S59 and i860 attend-
ing the sciiool at Romeo and Oxford Academy. In the spring of 1861
he entered the law office of Hon. W. L. Weber, of East Saginaw, where
he pursued the study of the law until the fall of that year. By that
time the slender means he had saved from the preceding winter became
exhausted and he again taught school the succeeding w^inter. In the
spring of 1862 he resumed his studies in the office of Governor Wisner
in Pontiac, to which place he came on foot with a scanty wardrobe, and
but $60 in money, the latter representing his savings from his winter's
salary. His stock in trade was "pluck." He pursued his legal studies
during the spring, summer and fall of 1S62, taught school again in the
following winter, and in the spring of 1863 recommenced his legal
studies, this time with Hon. M. E. Crofoot, Governor Wisner having in
the meantime given his life to his country. LTpon his admission to the
bar he formed a partnership with Judge Crofoot which was continued
until January i. 1876, when it was mutually dissolved and Mr. Brewer
continued in practice alone. He was circuit court commissioner for
Oakland county from 1867 to 1871, two full terms; city attorney for
Pontiac from 1866-67, inclusive. In 1872 he was elected state senator
from Oakland county and served' as such during the years of 1873 and
1874. In 1876 he was nominated by the Republican party of the sixth
congressional district of Michigan as their candidate for representative
in congress, and was elected to that and the succeeding congress (45th
140 lilSTURV Ul' OAKLAND COUNTY
and 4O1I1, from 1877 to 1880. inclusive), representing the same district
also in the 50lh and 51st- congress from 1887 to 1890. lie has also
filled the office of United States consul at Berlin, Germany. Mr.
Brewer had always been an ardent politician, acting with the Republi-
can party from the time he attained his majority, and after the campaign
of 1864 had been prominent in the canvass of each succeeding election.
He was a member of the Republican state central committee and chair-
man of the committee for Oakland county from 1870 until . ^Ir.
Brewer was a popular and effective stump speaker, as well as when
before a jury, and was highly esteemed, not only by his particular
political friends, but by his acquaintances of opposite faith generally,
all of whom bore willing testimony to his worth as a citizen and a man.
His death occurred March 18, igoi.
LnixG Members of the Bar
At the present writing (August, 191^), there arc fifty living members
of the Oakland county bar in good standing, the oldest of whom (in
point of admission to i:)ractice ) being ex- Judge Thomas I.. Patterson,
of Holly.
The list follows: Thomas L. Patterson, Holly, 1863; Joseph E.
Sawyer, Pontiac, 1869; George W. Smith, Pontiac, 1874; Robert J.
Lounsbury, Pontiac, 1875; Aaron Perry, Pontiac. 1876; Arthur R. Tripp,
Pontiac, 1876; Samuel W. Smith, Pontiac, 1878; Daniel L. Davis, Pon-
tiac, 1879; Homer H. Colvin, Pontiac, 1879; Elmer R. Webster. Pon-
tiac, 1880; George O. Kinsman. Oxford, 1882; Elmer E. Blakeslee,
Pontiac, 1883; Peter B. Bromley, Pontiac, 1884; James H. Lynch, Pon-
tiac, 1886; John H. Patterson, Pontiac, 1887; Frank L. Covert, Pontiac,
1890; Fred Wieland, Orion. 1890: John B. Mathews, Pontiac. 1890;
Daniel R. Currey, Rochester. 1890; George Hogle, Pontiac, 1892; Frank
E. Jenkins, Oxford, 1894; Kleber P. Rockwell, Pontiac. 1893; Andrew
L. Moore, Pontiac, 1895; Henry M. Zimmerman, Pontiac, 1895; John
A. Neal, Orion, 1895; Samuel J. Patterson, Pontiac, 1898; George W.
Caswell, Birmingham, 1898; Elmer E. Hymers, Pontiac, 1899; Judson
A. Fredenburgh, Pontiac, 1899; J. Arthur Tillson. Pontiac, 1899; John
E." Brondige, Pontiac, 1900; William F. North. Pontiac, 1900; Ross
Stockwell. Pontiac, 1901 ; Carl H. Pelton, Pontiac. 1902 ; Clinton Mc-
Gee, Pontiac, 1903; D. F. Noble. Milford, ; Sylvester Pheney,
Holly, 1903; Charles Matthews, Pontiac, 1903; Earl A. Lovejoy, Mil-
ford, 1905; Clement E. Miner, Holly. 1905; Frank L. Doty, Pontiac,
1907; Charles P. Webster, Pontiac, 1908; Clare J. LeRoy, Royal Oak,
; Harry H. Snowdon, Pontiac, 1909; George A. Dondero, Royal
Oak, 1910; E. B. Howarth, Jr., Rochester, iqio; Glenn C. Gillespie,
Pontiac, 1910; C. C. Tillson. Pontiac. 1910: Kcli>h 1\ Keeling, Pontiac,
1910.
TiiiiM.ss !.. Patterson
Thomas L. Patterson, a prominent citizen of Oakland county, an
esteemed resident of Holly since he was ten years of age. and a worthy
representative of an old pioneer familv. was born .nt Clarkston, Mi^nroe
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 141
county, New York, in 1836. He is a son of James and Eliza (Patten)
Patterson, both of whom were born in the Peach Piottoni valley of the
Susquehanna river. York county, of Revolutionary parentage, and the
father of this sketch was a veteran of the War of 1812. He moved
from York county, Pennsylvania, to Canandaigua, New York, early in
life, later locating in Monroe county, New York. In 1839 he became
one of the great number of New Yorkers who moved to Michigan, and
he made a home in Holly township, Oakland county, to which he brought
his family in 1845. Nine children were born to them, live sons and
four daughters, all of whom are now deceased except the subject of
this sketch.
Judge Patterson was about ten x'ears old when he came with his
father and other members of the family to Holly, and he immediately
began attendance at the district school of the town. He recalls today'
his first teacher there, — one David A. Eliot, the school being known as
the Patterson district scliool. He attended Clarkson Academv and the
Collegiate Institute at Bridgeport, New York, a full term, the school
being now in the state normal class. .Soon after his graduation he
returned from New York to Michigan, and then continued the study of
law. In 1863 he was admitted to the bar at Pontiac, and has the dis-
tinction of being the oldest member of the Oakland county bar. In
addition to his law practice, Judge Patterson served for seventeen years
as supervisor from Holly townshi]), and for nine years was chairman
of the board of supervisors. In 18S4 he was elected judge of the pro-
bate court, which position he filled with honor and credit for a period
of sixteen years. In 1866 the law firm of Patterson & Patterson came
into life, and was composed of Judge Patterson and his nephew, James
K. Patterson, the latter serving as prosecuting attorney of Oakland
county from 1874 to 1879. The name of the firm is still retained, how-
ever, and the offices of the firm are maintained at Pontiac, John H.
Patterson, his son, and Samuel J. Patterson, his grand-nephew, are now
the active members of the firm. It was during Judge Patterson's term
as supervisor of Holly township that so large a contingent was sent to
swell the Union ranks, that township as such having the record for
furnishing the largest number of any township in the county.
In 1856 Judge Patterson married Eunice A. Hadley, a member of
one of the oldest families in the county. She was born in Rose town-
ship, Oakland county, in 1840, and died at Holly on August 5, 1902.
She was the daughter of Johrf and Eunice Hadley. Four children were
born of this union, three sons and a daughter: John H., Stuard D., and
William F.. who resides on the home farm adjacent to Hollv village.
Marion E. died in (October. 1896, in her twentieth year.
In 1904, on June 30th, Mr. Patterson again united in marriage to
Miss Alice I. Allen, daughter of Ira and Emily Eliot .\llen of Holly,
both her father and mother being among the very first actual settlers
in Flolly township. Mrs. Patterson's father was a son of Jonathan T.
Allen, long a resident of Holly, having located several sub-divisions of
land on section 35 in Holly in 1835. On one sub-division of eighty
acres, the father of Mrs. Patterson lived continuously since 1835, until
142 i HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
the decease of Air. Allen, and in which home Mrs. Patterson was born
and reared.
In his fraternal relations, Judge Patterson is a Mason of high de-
gree, being a member of the Comniandery, Knights Templar. PI is
church relations are represented by his attendance at the Methodist
Episcopal church. He is one of the most loyal and public-spirited citi-
•zens of Holly, and has ever been identified with affairs of local improve-
ment, and throughout his career his activities have been of an order that
have wielded a strong influence for good in the community.
Hon. Joseph Ed\v.\rd S.wvver
Hon. Joseph Edward Sawyer, a member of the legal profession, is
the most prominent real-estate dealer of Oakland county and is keenly
alive to the value of enterprises calculated to further the- development
of the city of Pontiac. He was born in Piermont, Grafton county. New
Hampshire, January i, 1847, and is the seventh child and only son of
Hon. Joseph" and Mary (Dole) Sawyer. He is a lineal descendant of
Thomas Sawyer, a native Englishman, born there in about 1816, who
died at Lancaster, Massachusetts. 'His ancestors for generations past
have lived to attain advanced ages, notable among them being Rev.
John Sawyer, of Bangor, ]\Iaine, who reached the age of one hundred
"and three years and five days; at the time of his death, on October 14.
1858, he w'as reputed to be the oldest minister in the United States.
The. father of the subject, who was Hon. Joseph Sawyer, was born
in Grafton county, New Hampshire, and for years was identified with
the agricultural operations of that district. He was a man of consider-
able prominence, and served a number of terms as the representative of
his district in the state legislature, as well as filling other public offices
with honor and ability. He was in the seventy-third year of his life
when he passed away on July 4, 1858. Plis wife was Mary (Dole)
Plastridge, a daughter of Captain Moses Dole, who soon after his mar-
riage toLucy Poor, of Charlestown, New Hampshire, moved to Canaan,
New Hampshire, locating there in 1802. There he bought the tavern
and farm of one Dudley Gilman. and hung out a sign bearing the painted
inscription "Mr. Dole's Inn, 1802," which sign swung there for more
than a cjuarter century. He was a member of the "New Hampshire
Rangers" during the Revolutionary war, and during his lifetime was
elected to various offices of trust, the duties of all of wdiich he dis-
charged with characteristic fidelity. He w'as a courteous gentleman and
Mrs. Dole was distinguished by her innate refinement and intelligence.
She died in October, 1826, and Captain Dole lived for two years there-
after, his death occurring in 1828. He was buried with Masonic honors
by Mount Moriah lodge. They had two children, — Joseph, who died in
181 7, at the age of sixteen years, and Mary, born October 28, 1803.
Mary Dole was married to Dr. Charles Plastridge, wdio died October
16, 1824, at the age of twenty-nine years. In 1829 she married Hon.
Joseph Sawyer. She was a member of the Congre.gational church from
1816 until iier death, and was a popular and much beloved woman,
ever possessing a host of friends and warm admirers. She died on
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 143
February i, 1885. in her eighty-second year, at the home of her daughte 
