USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests Volume I > Part 31
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The length of this proposed improvement was about thirty miles and it was calculated that it would afford invaluable shipping facilities to a large extent of rich agricultural country. It was the first incorporated company of the kind in the territory, and but for the advent of rail- ways would undoubtedly have been a success. The incorporators of this company were Nathaniel Millard, Jonathan Kearsley, Levi Cook, Charles Larned, Ellis Doty, John R. Sheldon, Christian Clemens, Alfred
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Ashley, Jacob Tucker, Ignace Morass and Joseph Hayes. Under the act of incorporation, the company was required to clear out the river to the east line of Oakland county. The work was to commence, at latest, by July 1, 1827, and when the stream had been made navigable for flat- bottomed boats the company could collect toll not exceeding fifty cents per ton for the entire distance and a proportionate rate for a less dis- tance. Parties owning water-power on the river below the east line of Oakland county were required to construct locks at every dam sufficient for the passage of the company's boats. The river above the said line was declared by the act of incorporation a public highway, but persons owning land extending across the river had the right to construct dams for water-power purposes by putting in the necessary locks, or the com- pany could construct them at the expense of the parties owning the lands. The improvements were finally completed as far as Rochester, a portion of the state loan of $5,000,000 being appropriated therefor. Business was carried on to a small extent for a number of years, but the enterprise was never a prosperous one.
FIRST MICHIGAN RAILWAY CHARTERED
In the meantime the subject of railways had become an earnest sub- ject of discussion and even an object of legislation. Oakland county has, in fact, the honor of inducing the legislative council of the territory to incorporate the first railway company chartered in Michigan; that event occurring July 31, 1830, when Governor Cass approved the act con- ferring a charter on the Pontiac and Detroit Railway Company. Its original incorporators were John P. Helfenstein, Gideon O. Whitte- more, William F. Moseley, William Thompson and Hervey Parke, "and such other persons as shall associate for the purpose of making a good and sufficient railway from Pontiac to the city of Detroit." Nothing practical was done under this charter.
DETROIT & PONTIAC RAILROAD COMPANY
A second company was formed and a new charter obtained, which was approved by the governor March 7, 1834. Under this act William Draper, Daniel LeRoy, David Stanard, Johnson Miles, Seneca New- berry, Elisha Beach, Benjamin Phelps, Joseph Niles, Jr., and Augustus C. Stephens, were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions to the stock of the Detroit & Pontiac Railroad Company, the amount of which was fixed at one thousand shares at $50 per share. The company was vested with the power to construct a single or double track, but the work was to be commenced within two years from the passage of the act and completed within six years, or otherwise the rights, privileges and powers of the corporation were to become null and void.
The principal stockholders and managers of the new railroad com- pany were Alfred Williams and Sherman Stevens of Pontiac, and their control continued until 1840. But as they gave more attention to "wild cat banking" than to the Detroit & Pontiac Railway, the progress of the
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"iron horse" was slow and often balky; and, although the bank was an offshoot of the railway, the tail really wagged the horse.
FINALLY COMPLETED TO BIRMINGHAM
In 1839 the line was finally completed to Birmingham, and in Sep- tember of that year Henry J. Buckley, agent and conductor, put forth an advertisement in the county papers announcing two trips a day to Birm- ingham, the cars running in connection with "post coaches" to Pontiac and Flint, together with a semi-weekly line to Grand river. Wooden rails and horse power were the features of the earliest period of the road. In 1840 the Detroit & Pontiac Railroad was bid in by several eastern creditors, and was completed to Pontiac in 1843. At this time it was owned by various Syracuse capitalists, who leased it for ten years to Gurdon Williams, but in 1848 it came into possession of a company headed by H. N. Walker and N. P. Stewart. The former was elected president, negotiated bonds for a sufficient amount to relay the track, and the enterprise was taken permanently out of the class of "laughing stocks," in which it heretofore had figured.
DETROIT & MILWAUKEE RAILWAY COMPANY
The Oakland & Ottawa Railroad Company was chartered on the 3d of April, 1848. This enterprise was also carried along through the persistency and good management of Mr. Walker. Work was actually commenced in 1852 and in the following year that gentleman went to Europe and succeeded in purchasing twenty-six hundred tons of rails with which the track was laid to Fentonville, in the southeastern corner of Genesee county near the Oakland county line, fifty miles northwest of Detroit. This point was not reached until October 2, 1855, the Detroit & Pontiac and the Oakland & Ottawa railroads having been consolidated in the preceding February under the name of the Detroit & Milwaukee Railway Company. This afterward became a section of what is now known as the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway, the main line of the Grand Trunk system in Michigan.
ESTABLISHMENT OF PRESENT SYSTEMS
The Flint & Pere Marquette Railway was completed from Holly to Flint in 1862, and the Holly, Wayne & Monroe line was finished in 1870. The two were afterward consolidated under the name of the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway (now Pere Marquette Railroad).
The Detroit & Bay City road (now a part of the Michigan Central) was completed through Oakland county in 1872.
The Pontiac, Oxford & Northern Railroad (now a part of the Grand Trunk System) was a product of the late seventies, but the line was not fully completed to Port Austin, on the Lake Huron shore, eighty- four miles, until November, 1883. For twenty-five years it had a checkered career, and in March, 1908, was sold at auction by judicial
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decree. R. J. Lounsbury acted as receiver of the road for some time before its acquisition by the Grand Trunk management.
COMING OF ELECTRIC LINES
On November 5, 1889, an ordinance was passed through the city council granting the Pontiac & Orchard Lake Railroad Company per- mission to construct its lines along certain thoroughfares; the routes thus laid down were changed in several details before the system was completed, which has given the city (now owned by the Detroit United Railway) such excellent service. Under the ordinance all locomotion by steam was debarred within the city limits, and the fare within such limits fixed at five cents per individual.
When the Detroit & Northwestern Railway Company built its line from Detroit to Orchard Lake, in 1890, it purchased the Pontiac & Orchard Lake Railway, which gave that corporation a complete route to the county seat and metropolis. In 1902 the Detroit United Railway commenced that process of absorbtion by which it acquired all the interests of the Detroit & Northwestern, as well as of the Detroit & Pontiac Railroad, and obtained a virtual monopoly of the electric service within Oakland county.
THE GRAND TRUNK SYSTEM
Of the steam railways, the three lines included in the Grand Trunk System furnish Oakland county with its most complete facilities for transportation. Generally speaking, they pass diagonally through its territory, crossing and centering at Pontiac. The main line, known as the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway, runs diagonally through the county from Royal Oak to Holly, passing through Royal Oak, Bloom- field, Pontiac (southwest corner), Waterford (northeast corner), Inde- pendence (southwest corner), Springfield, Rose (northeast corner ), and Holly (southwest corner) townships, and including the following sta- tions : Royal Oak, Birmingham, Pontiac, Drayton Plains, Waterford, Windiate Park, Clarkston, Davisburg and Holly. There are about forty miles of the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee line within the county, following being the distances between the stations: Royal Oak to Birm- ingham, 5 miles; to Pontiac, 8; to Drayton Plains, 5; to Waterford, 2; to Windiate Park, I; to Clarkston, I ; to Davisburg, 7; to Holly, 5.
Commencing at South Lyon, in the southwestern corner of the county, the Michigan Air Line division of the Grand Trunk runs in a north- easterly direction, twenty-five miles to Pontiac, and thence eight miles to Rochester near the eastern county line. The stations along the way are South Lyon, New Hudson, Wixom, Walled Lake, Orchard Lake, Sylvan Lake, Pontiac, Amy and Rochester. The line passes through Lyon, Milford (southeast corner), Commerce and West Bloomfield townships.
The Pontiac, Oxford & Northern branch of the Grand Trunk Sys- tem takes a northerly direction from the county seat, as its name indi- cates, traversing Pontiac, Orion, Oxford and Addison townships, and embracing these stations: Pontiac, Eames, Cole, Oxford, Shoup and
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Leonard. It includes twenty-one miles within the county, the direction from Pontiac to Oxford being almost due north; then to Leonard, east by north.
In November, 1907, the Grand Trunk completed a convenient pas- senger depot, and within the succeeding four years is said to have ex- pended something like $400,000 within the city limits. This sum included the extension of its trackage and the erection of buildings, the latter including a large freight house which alone cost $100,000 and was put in commission during the latter part of 1911.
THE MICHIGAN CENTRAL
Seventeen miles of the Bay City division of the Michigan Central Railroad runs through the northeastern townships of the county from Rochester to Thomas, the station beyond Oxford, including Orion and Goodison's in its route.
PERE MARQUETTE RAILROAD
The western townships of Oakland county are accommodated by the Pere Marquette Railroad. Its branch from Detroit to Grand Rapids runs along the southwest corner of Lyon township, with South Lyon as a station, while the branch from Toledo to Ludington traverses Novi, Commerce (extreme southwest corner), Milford, Highland, Rose and Holly townships. The latter branch embraces as stations, Novi, Wixom, Milford, Highland, Clyde, Rose Center and Holly, and furnishes the county with thirty-two miles of railway.
DETROIT UNITED RAILWAY
After the Grand Trunk System, the Detroit United (Electric) Rail- way is the most important transportation agent of Oakland county; and in the points of frequency of running and convenience of stoppage it has the advantage of the steam railway. Perhaps the most important sections covered by the electric lines are those in the southeastern, southern and central portions of the county, which are not well accom- modated by the steam railways. Within the city of Pontiac they not only give easy access to the business and manufacturing sections of the city, but to the homes in the northern and western sides and the Pontiac State Hospital.
The Flint division of the Detroit United runs through Royal Oak, Clawson, Big Beaver, Rochester, Lake Orion Junction and Goodison, to Orion and Oxford; thence to Ortonville, in the northern part of the county. Its general course is north to Rochester and thence northwest to Ortonville, and it covers about fifty-five miles of trackage.
The Orchard Lake division of the Detroit United runs from Farm- ington to Pontiac, fifteen miles, taking in its course Orchard, Cass and Sylvan lakes, and the cream of the summer resort region in the central sections of the county. The Pontiac division covers the fourteen miles
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between Pontiac and Royal Oak, and runs southeast from the county seat through Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham.
SUMMARY
To condense: The Grand Trunk System embraces sixty-one miles of continuous road (including Pontiac, Oxford & Northern, twenty-one miles) in Oakland county; Michigan Air Line, twenty-five miles; Pere Marquette Railroad, twenty-five miles; Michigan Central, seventeen miles; Detroit United Railway, eighty-four miles. Total, two hundred and twelve miles.
FIRST CAR INTO ROCHESTER
CHAPTER XVI BANKS AND BANKING
OAKLAND COUNTY'S FIRST BANK-THE "WILD-CAT" BANKS-ONE "SAFETY FUND" BANK-NATIONAL BANKS IN THE COUNTY-THE STATE BANKS-PONTIAC SAVINGS BANK-THE OAKLAND COUNTY SAVINGS BANK-FIRST COMMERCIAL BANK OF PONTIAC-THE AMERI- CAN SAVINGS BANK-FIRST STATE SAVINGS BANK OF BIRMINGHAM- FARMINGTON EXCHANGE BANK-ROCHESTER SAVINGS BANK-HOLLY SAVINGS BANKS -- FARMERS' STATE BANK OF OXFORD-ROYAL OAK SAVINGS BANK-THE ORION STATE BANK-STATE SAVINGS BANK OF SOUTH LYON.
In consideration of its population and undeveloped condition in the late thirties, Oakland county had its full share of experience in "wild-cat banking," and all that the expression implies. As in other sections of Michigan, the banks of that period were largely the mediums through which it was excepted to develop the canal and railroad enterprises in- cluded in the grand state scheme of internal improvements. The pro- posed improvements were ahead of the times and far in advance of the available funds to carry them out; and when the railroads and other improvements flattened out, in their initial stages, the banks went with them.
OAKLAND COUNTY'S FIRST BANK
The first bank of issue established in Oakland county was the Bank of Pontiac, which was established on a franchise of the Detroit & Pontiac Railroad Company and authorized by the charter of that corporation approved March 26, 1835, which allowed the incorporators, or their suc- cessors, to found a bank of issue under the foregoing name, with a capital of $100,000. The books for the subscription to the capital stock of the bank were opened on the 26th of May, 1835, in Pontiac, and the whole amount, less $10,000, taken, and the required ten per cent in cash paid in during the same day. Banknotes were shortly afterward put into circulation. During the suspension of specie payments, in the panic of 1837, the Bank of Pontiac redeemed its bills in specie for a time, after all the other banks in the state had suspended. It finally collapsed, was revived for a short period by Joseph Dows and E. B. Comstock, and then really died.
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THE "WILD-CAT" BANKS
The general banking law of 1837, which specifically produced the "wild-cat" system, brought six failures to the banks of Oakland county. The first was founded in July of that year and was called the Bank of Oakland. It had a capital of $50,000, and its board of directors was as follows: Daniel LeRoy, president ; G. O. Whittemore, cashier ; Schuyler Hodges, C. C. Hascall, Amasa Bagley, Olmstead Chamberlain, G. W. Williams and Francis Darrow, directors.
This was soon followed by another called the Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank, with a capital of $50,000, of which Schuyler Hodges was presi- dent, G. W. Williams, cashier ; and G. O. Whittemore, teller.
In December, 1837, the Clinton Canal Bank was established with the same amount of capital-William S. Stevens, president, and Alfred Treadway, cashier.
In the early part of 1838 the Farmers' Bank of Oakland and the Bank of Auburn, each capitalized at $50,000, were established, and at once proceeded to pour into the market their promises to pay, which the good citizens trustfully received as real money.
But the circulatory power of the "wild-cat" banks proved to be of short duration, as they all suspended payment in 1838, on the decision of the supreme court relieving the stockholders from any liability touch- ing the redemption of the bank bills.
The Clinton Canal Bank was reported in good standing with the state institutions in June, 1838, but in October it was enjoined against fur- ther operations, and S. Beach appointed receiver. The Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank failed July 9, 1838, William Draper being appointed receiver therefor, and others were wound up shortly afterward. Samuel !York, at Lee, was the receiver of the Farmers' Bank of Oakland.
ONE "SAFETY FUND" BANK
The Safety Fund system produced only one bank-the Oakland County-which was chartered April 28, 1836, and on the 2d of Decem- ber, 1842, called in ten per cent of the stock, being the first business done. In August, 1843, F. A. Williams was president and in October Norman Rawson was cashier. The real owner and operator of the bank, however, was Wesley Truesdell, who also owned the Monroe Bank, which he re- moved to Detroit. The Oakland County Bank suspended in 1846, after it had succeeded in getting out a large amount of circulation in Detroit, and its charter was repealed in the following year. No other banks of issue were established in the county until the national banks were founded under the national banking law.
NATIONAL BANKS IN THE COUNTY
The First National Bank of Pontiac was organized April 29, 1864, with a capital of $50,000. W. H. Perry was elected its first president, but never qualified; Theron A. Flower was also elected and immediately re- signed; and in July E. B. Comstock was chosen to head the directors. Charles R. Durand was the first cashier.
Vol. I-16
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The Second National Bank, which was established September 1, 1865, was the predecessor of the Pontiac Savings Bank, and the First National Bank of Holly, founded in December, 1870, preceded the First State Sav- ings Bank of that place. There are now two national banks in the county, both young-the First National of Rochester, organized in 1908, and the First National of Birmingham, established in 1910.
In 1887 Almeron Whitehead and George H. Mitchell founded a pri- vate bank in Birmingham. Under the name Exchange Bank its business continuously developed into one of the leading institutions of the kind in Oakland county. On the 9th of November, 1910, this was merged into the First National Bank of Birmingham, of which Mr. Whitehead is pre- sident ; Eugene Brooks vice president, and Minnie T. Jarvis, cashier. Mr. Mitchell and Volney Nixon are also directors. The last available state- ment of the bank indicates a capital stock of $25,000; surplus and un- divided profits, $8,223.61 ; deposits, $278,215.70.
The First National Bank of Rochester is one of the comparatively new financial institutions in this part of the county, its organization having been effected on September 24, 1908. It has prospered most creditably in the time that has elapsed since then, and is able to make a most satis- factory showing among the banks of the county. The original officers of the concern were John C. Day, president ; C. S. Chapman, vice-president ; Frank E. Hale, vice-president; M. H. Haselswerdt, cashier. The presi- dent and cashier remain the same.
The bank has a capital stock of $50,000; surplus and profits, $8,094.96; deposits, $365,789.97, according to their official report rendered to the comptroller of the currency on April 18, 1912.
THE STATE BANKS
According to the last list of state banks compiled for the Michigan Manual of 1911, Oakland county has the following of this class :
First State Savings Bank of Birmingham.
Farmington Exchange Bank.
Citizens' Savings Bank of Holly.
First State Savings Bank, Holly.
Citizens' State Savings Bank, Orion.
Orion State Bank.
Farmers' State Bank, Oxford.
Oxford Savings Bank.
American Savings Bank, Pontiac.
First Commercial Bank, Pontiac.
Oakland County Savings Bank, Pontiac.
Pontiac Savings Bank. Rochester Savings Bank.
Royal Oak Savings Bank.
State Savings Bank, South Lyon.
Sketches of the banks now doing business in Oakland county follow, and they are institutions in which the entire community takes solid pride. All suspicion of. the "wild-cat" element has been eradicated from them
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years ago, and they stand for the substantial advancement and the pres- ent prosperity of Oakland county.
PONTIAC SAVINGS BANK
The Pontiac Savings Bank, one of the leading financial institu- tions in Oakland county, was organized in 1898, with a capital stock of $50,000.00. It was organized to succeed the Pontiac National Bank, the latter having been the successor of the Second National Bank, founded in September, 1865. The subscribers to the capital stock of the Second National Bank, fixed at $100,000, were .M. Lamont Baggs, Theren A. Flower, Stephen Baldwin, Horatio N. Howard, A. A. Lull and Wil- liam Brown, which company of gentlemen with the exception of Mr. Brown, comprised the board of directors of the bank. Dr. M. L. Baggs was the first president, Theron A. Flower, vice president, and Alba A. Lull, cashier.
The first president of the Pontiac Savings Bank was B. F. El- wood, who was succeeded in the same year of organization (1898) by James A. Jacokes. Mr. Jacokes was succeeded by D. H. Power in the presidency in 1902; and after a year of service Mr. S. S. Matthews followed Mr. Power. The death of Mr. Matthews in 1911 brought about the appointment of Mr. S. E. Beach to the office of president, and he is at present serving in that capacity. Vice presidents of the bank from .date of organization to the present time are as follows: 1898, D. J. Hammond; 1900, Harry Coleman; 1902, S. S. Matthews; 1903, F. H. Hale. Cashiers : 1898 to 1902, D. H. Power ; 1902 to present date, Camer Smith. The bank has a surplus of $40,000, and in 1912 the capi- tal was increased from $50,000 to $100,000.
THE OAKLAND COUNTY SAVINGS BANK
The Oakland County Savings Bank commenced business in Feb- ruary, 1893, with a capital of $50,000 (which has never been increased) and the following officers: Byron G. Stout, president; A. C. Baldwin, vice president ; and Charles W. French, cashier. Mr. Stout continued as president for three years, and in 1896 was succeeded by Joshua Hill, the present head of the bank. J. A. Greeley is vice president and Frank L. Perry, cashier. The capital of the Oakland County Savings Bank is $50,000; surplus and undivided profits, $25,000; deposits, $1,250,000.
FIRST COMMERCIAL BANK OF PONTIAC
The First Commercial Bank of Pontiac, the successor of the first National Bank of Pontiac, was organized in 1892 with John D. Nor- ton as president; Goodman Jacobs, vice president; and Benjamin S. Tregent, cashier. The present officers of the bank are F. H. Carroll, president ; A. A. Corwin, vice president; C. E. Waldo, cashier. The bank is capitalized at $100,000.
THE AMERICAN SAVINGS BANK
The American Savings Bank of Pontiac was established in 1903, the first officers being H. S. Chapman, president; A. G. Griggs, vice
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president ; A. F. Newberry, cashier; and A. W. Dickinson, assistant cashier. The present officers are the same with the exception of a change in the position of assistant cashier, that post being filled now by Charles Merz. The bank has a capital stock of $50,000, with surplus and undivided profits of $15,000 and deposits of $660,000.
FIRST STATE SAVINGS BANK, BIRMINGHAM
The First State Savings Bank of Birmingham was organized and established in November, 1909. The bank has a capital stock of $20,000, surplus and undivided profits of $3,157.53, with deposits of $280, 172.26. In addition to its banking operations, the bank writes fire insurance and sells real estate.
The present officers of the bank are: Frank Ford, president; Frank Hagerman, vice president; Thomas H. Cobb, cashier ; Charles E. Toms, auditor. Frank Ford, Frank Hagerman and T. B. Smith are directors.
FARMINGTON EXCHANGE BANK
What is now known as the Farmington Exchange Bank was in- corporated as a state institution on October 1, 1910. Its predecessor was Warner's Exchange Bank, a private concern founded in 1898 by the following copartners : P. Dean Warner, C. J. Sprague, F. M. Warner, M. B. Pierce, C. W. Wilber, O. M. Whipple, George W. Whipple, Samuel D. Holcomb. The paid in capital of the bank amounted to $6,000 and the responsibility $150,000. The present officers of the Farmington Exchange Bank are: Fred M. Warner, president; Samuel D. Holcomb, vice president; C. W. Wilber, cashier. The capital stock is $25,000 ; surplus, $700; deposits, $145,000.
ROCHESTER SAVINGS BANK
The Rochester Savings Bank was organized in September, 1900, with the following officers: E. R. Mathews, president; F. C. Andrews, vice president; John J. Brewer, cashier. The present officers are: William C. Chapman, president ; M. I. Brabb, vice president; H. J. Taylor, cash- ier ; H. A. Case, assistant cashier. The capital stock of the bank is $25,- 000; surplus and undivided profits, $14,445.61 ; deposits, $426,789.87, according to their statement on February 20, 1912. Four per cent inter- est is paid on deposits.
HOLLY SAVINGS BANKS
The Citizens' Savings Bank of Holly was organized August 1, 1902, with A. H. Shepard as president, John W. Patterson, vice president, and C. J. Cummings, cashier. H. Lee Wright is now president, but otherwise the officials are unchanged. The capital of the bank is $20,000, surplus and undivided profits $3,750 and deposits $140,000.
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