USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests Volume I > Part 39
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On January 14, 1868, William P. Nesbett established the Pontiac Bill Poster as a monthly journal; its full title was the Bill Poster and the Monthly Visitor. It was enlarged at various times prior to July 7, 1869, when it first appeared as a weekly. In 1874 Mr. Nesbett sold a half interest to E. J. Kelly, who became sole proprietor January I, 1876.
For many years the Gazette and the Bill Poster divided the city printing.
The Pontiac Jacksonian was one of the old and substantial news- papers of the city. Its first number was issued March 24, 1838, by Eldredge & Denton, and it did not die until May, 1873.
The Press Gazette, the only daily newspaper in Oakland county, was
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established September 15, 1900, by Harry Coleman, its present publisher. Conceiving the idea that the establishment of rural delivery made pos- sible an independent newspaper which should be primarily a home county paper, Mr. Coleman canvassed the situation thoroughly among the lead- ing business men and citizens of Pontiac. He met with no encourage- ment. It had been 'tried before. "The city is not rightly situated," argued his friends. "We cannot support a paper every day." But Mr. Coleman was not discouraged by this sentiment. He backed the proposi- tion with all the money he could command and went in debt heavily for machinery and other equipment. At different periods of the paper's existence he was much discouraged, a heavy loss being recorded the first two years. But he kept on and added new features. Finally the county awoke to the fact that nearly two-thirds of all the people in Oakland county were readers of the paper. Mr. Coleman had opinions, which he freely expressed in his editorials but it was the policy of the paper to always print the news no matter whether it agreed with his ideas or not. In discussing the question of the paper's success he said: "The Press Gazette has succeeded because it has been fair. It has printed the news. It has printed the news of Republicans as readily as it printed the news of Democrats. It has given all classes a chance to be heard. Its columns are not closed to anybody. Its news is never col- ored and notwithstanding the fact that its editorials are vigorous and that the editor invariably takes sides the reader always knows that the news columns are unbiased and present the facts as near as human hand and mind can present them." Mr. Coleman's instructions to his editorial force are contained in the following: "This paper is the fol- lower of no particular party. It chooses the best out of all parties. It hits at the wrong wherever such wrong applies to the general public. It desires that its reporters present facts only ; that a true picture be taken every day of what takes place in Oakland county in order that the readers may see the picture. The paper has no friends to reward or enemies to punish, but above all it will print what happens in the com- munity."
The Press Gasette has the largest circulation of any paper in Michi- gan which is published in a city of equal size. It is a member of the Associated Press and enjoys connection for the collection of news from all over the world. Its mechanical equipment is complete, one of its features being a new Hoe press capable of printing 24,000 papers per hour up to twenty pages. The hyphenated name Press Gasette comes from the absorption of the Gasette by the Press, after the latter paper had been published six years, the experience of the community being that two papers could not exist near a large city like Detroit.
OAK HILL CEMETERY
This beautiful resting place for the dead is under the control of a board of five members appointed by the mayor. The cemetery com- prises a tract of one hundred and sixty acres lying on either side of Mt. Clemens street, the grounds sloping gradually from Clinton river. Oak Hill cemetery is really three quarters of a century old and contains many honored dead of the city, county and state. Briefly stated, the events
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which preceded its founding were as follows: The earliest burials in Pontiac were on Colonel Stephen Mack's land on the ridge east of the river, and on the corner of Huron and Saginaw streets, as early as 1819-20. In February, 1839, the village trustees procured a deed of out lot No. 9 of the original plat, which said lot was surveyed and sub- divided in April of that year by Captain Harvey Parke, and lot No. II of the subdivision was set apart for a public burying ground. This was the beginning of Oak Hill cemetery, the original plat of which con- sisted of but eleven acres.
Oak Hill is laid out with all the skill and taste of the landscape gar- dener, and also contains many handsome and costly memorials. The
BUCKLAND MEMORIAL CHAPEL
Buckland Memorial chapel was completed November 4, 1898, and is a tasteful structure of Old English style built of Berea sandstone, with roof of German mottled tiling. Its windows are of opalescent glass, and set in the rear walls are three memorial tablets of solid bronze bear- ing inscriptions in memory of Don C. Buckland, Mrs. Sarah A. Buck- land and Mrs. Harry G. Hamilton. Besides the Buckland memorial, the old portion of the cemetery contains tasteful monuments to the memory of Major General Richardson, Governor Wisner, A. A. Lull and David Ward. The grounds accupy an unusually imposing site, sloping gradually and gracefully toward the banks of the Clinton river.
GAS LIGHTING AND ELECTRIC POWER
The gas lighting of Pontiac and the electric power used are supplied by the Pontiac Light Company and the Pontiac Power Company. These
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corporations are under the general control of New York directors, with F. W. Humphreys as general manager. Julius Merz, the secretary, is located at Pontiac, and F. W. Jackson is treasurer. The headquarters of both companies are in in a substantial building erected in 1902. Of- ficers of the Pontiac Light Company: B. C. Cobb, president; W. H. Morgans, F. H. Carroll and W. H. Barthold, vice presidents. Officers of the Pontiac Power Company : W. M. Eaton, president; B. C. Cobb, vice president.
The gas works are located at Wesson street and the Grand Trunk Railway, and their capacity has been practically doubled within the past three or four years. The total number of consumers is more than 2,700 (nearly 1,000 residences) and over 200 street lamps are supplied.
The power plant, which is on Rapid street, has supplied the electric current to the entire city since the early part of 1912. The combined value of the light and power plants is about $500,000.
POSTOFFICE AND POSTMASTERS
The postoffice at Pontiac was established as early as 1819, and the first postmaster was Alexander J. Irwin, appointed in that year or 1820. He served for about two years. Dr. Olmstead Chamberlain was ap- pointed in 1823 and continued in the office until 1836. A short period between the service of Irwin and Chamberlain was filled by one Almon Mack, although he was never officially appointed to the office. In 1836 Schuyler Hodges was appointed, serving until 1840.
During this period, which included the first three years of Pontiac's life as a city, the mail facilities of the locality were as follows: Detroit, twice per week, Mondays and Thursdays: Auburn, Troy, Lapeer, Sagi- naw and Plymouth, one mail weekly, with special weekly route from Lake Elizabeth, Salome and Commerce.
Samuel Sherwood succeeded Mr. Hodges in 1841 and served until 1842, when he was removed by President Tyler, and Alfred Treadway followed him in the service. Thereafter the following men were regu- lar appointees to the office: Solomon W. Denton, Levi Bacon, Jr., Don Carlos Buckland, Solomon S. Mathews, Charles F. Kimball, Thomas Gerls, James G. Buchanan, E. F. H. Pearson, Ferris S. Fitch, Herman A. Wyckoff and George A. Brown, the latter being the present incum- bent.
With the establishment of the postal savings banks, Pontiac was made a station, and the bank is gradually finding favor with the public.
A comparion of the annual statements of the Pontiac postoffice for the years 1877 and 1911 will give a comprehensive idea of the growth and progress of the city. In 1877 the aggregate income of the post- office for the year was $6,500; total money order business for the year, $60,000. In 1911 the stamp sales aggregated $46,000, with a postal money order business of $260,000.
Pontiac's new postoffice building for the transaction of the grow. ing local business was completed in the summer of 1912 and is one of the best examples of a structure which combines mechanic convenience, tastefulness of architecture and furnishing, and comfort for both em-
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ployee and patron, to be found in any of the smaller cities of southern Michigan. The building is one and a half stories in height, colonial in style and fronts ninety feet on East Huron street, running back fifty-six feet toward Mt. Clemens. The grounds are bounded on one side by Mills street, a pretty lawn sloping toward Mt. Clemens. The building materials of the new postoffice are white stone, brick and marble. A wide cement walk and steps lead to the main entrance on Huron street, six large columns Corinthian capped being the architectural features of the front. The public room, or lobby, is fifty-six by sixteen feet, with flooring of Meadow Gray Tennessee marble and wainscotting of the same material.
One side of the room is occupied by private boxes and carrier and general delivery windows. The postal money order and registered letter
THE NEW POST OFFICE
offices are accommodated in a space fifty-four by forty feet. On the Mills street side are the quarters for the postmaster and his assistants, and a comfortable rest room for the carriers has been provided in the basement. The estimated cost of the entire building, exclusive of fur- nishings, is $70,000.
THE PONTIAC STATE HOSPITAL
By an act of the legislature in 1911 the name of this institution, for- merly known as the Eastern Michigan Asylum, was changed to the Pontiac State Hospital. Although a ward of the state, it is so identi- fied with the city, as one of the institutions that has much contributed to local distinction, that the sketch of its founding and growth is here given.
From the report of the board of state commissioners having in charge
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the erection of the asylum, covering the period from September 30, 1876, to September 30, 1878, it is learned that it was opened for the reception of patients August 1, 1878. The sums placed in the hands of the board for constructing and furnishing the asylum aggregated $467,- 000. It was designed to provide a building for 300 patients; one was actually provided to accommodate, normally, 330, and with a full ca- pacity of 400. On the 30th of September, 1878, 306 had been actually received, the total expenditures, including the cost of locating the asylum and cost of land, having been $448,401.36.
In 1890 the training school for attendants was established, the first of the kind in the state and the eighth in the country. An ice famine during the previous winter led to the construction of the first of two large ice houses for the storage of ice. Plans for the enlargement of
MAIN BUILDING PONTIAC STATE HOSPITAL
the institution were interrupted by the fire of 1891 which destroyed the interior of the administration building, as well as the halls. By autumn of the following year the damage had been repaired at a total cost of $75,000. In 1891 the fifty acres known as the Hickey and Mawhinney parcels were added to the grounds of the institution, and the construc- tion of a slaughter house the same year initiated the plan long followed thereafter of slaughtering on the premises. The cottages known as the Baldwin and the Vinton were occupied in 1894. It was during that year that Dr. C. B. Burr resigned as medical superintendent to accept the medical directorship of the Oak Grove Hospital at Flint, Michigan, and was succeeded by the present incumbent, Dr. E. A. Christian.
In 1895 the farm was increased by the addition of the west half of the Seeley tract (eighty acres), and in 1898 the electric light and power plant was installed and the new laundry building completed. An isolation
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hospital was improvised in 1898 from the upper portion of the former laundry, and in 1899 the Stevens and Kinney buildings were occupied. They provided for one hundred patients of each sex, and the completion of each cost $75,000.
From 1891 special attention had been given to the improvement of the asylum herd of cattle, and thoroughbreds and registered Holstein Friesian stock had replaced grade animals. The attention given to this subject by the steward, C. E. Smith, resulted in a rapidly increased sup- ply of milk, and in the creation of a herd that, in time, became famous among cattle breeders the country over.
In 1901 small hospital wards were set apart for the isolation of cases of tuberculosis, and a start was made in the erection, from year to year, of verandas upon which disturbed and feeble patients could spend
CHAPEL, PONTIAC STATE HOSPITAL
the greater part of their time in the open air. In the same year an autopsy room was added to the hospital, and the former silos of wood construction were replaced by substantial brick silos, the feeding of ensilage having become an established procedure.
The former water supply was abandoned as inadequate in 1903, and new wells equipped with modern pumping apparatus were sunk; a cen- tral hot water plant for all the buildings was also installed, and the Abbott farm of seventy acres was added to the grounds.
In 1906 a complete fire-lighting equipment was placed in commission, the apparatus comprising a pump connected with an independent high pres- sure system of mains devoted entirely to fire purposes. An infirmary build- ing caring for one hundred women patients was completed in 1907 at a cost of $40,000, and the legislature of that year provided for the erec- tion of a new chapel and assembly hall building, the former chapel being converted into a dining room and the ward dining rooms into dormitories.
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In March, 1909, the central dining room was opened with provision for 600 patients, both sexes eating in the same room. These changes (dining room, chapel and assembly hall) cost in the neighborhood of $60,000.
In 1907 the old water tanks in the attics were abandoned and an outside water tower erected, one more vertical water tube boiler installed and a central heating plant connected with all of the detached buildings was erected; all at an expense of $40,000. The laundry building was partially destroyed by fire in 1908, and in 1910 a modern dairy barn was completed for the valuable herd of Holstein cattle belonging to the asylum.
In I911 money was appropriated by the legislature to complete the re- habilitation of the boiler room; two more vertical water tube boilers were erected, replacing the former ones of the old horizontal type and supply- ing the institution for the first time in many years with a reserve horse power.
An infirmary building for men and a home for night nurses are perhaps the most important projects now under way in the development of the Pontiac State Hospital.
In general, it may be stated that the 1,300 patients are so classified that the most violent, and those requiring the closest attention, are housed in the main building-the administration building ; while the milder cases are cared for in the cottages and hospital proper.
CHAPTER XXII
INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS PONTIAC
DIRECT SUCCESSOR OF 1820 MILL-THE HOWARD INTERESTS-THE OLD PADDACK MILLS-CHARLES DAWSON AND HIS WORK-PONTIAC CITY MILLS-PIONEER MACHINE SHOPS AND FURNITURE FACTORIES- 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 CAR 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.
At Pontiac, as elsewhere, industry preceded commerce and local trade; that is, the first sawmill and gristmill were erected before the general store appeared for the convenience of the pioneers. They picked their way through the woods, over Indian trails to Detroit, where they bought their goods and supplies before any of their number opened a store "on the spot."
Pontiac, as has been said, is indebted to Colonel Mack and his asso- ciates for the first of everything in these lines-mills and general supply store; and it is very interesting, and somewhat remarkable, in this chang- ing western country, that the city still has a direct connecting link be- tween the old Mack properties and the present-day industries.
DIRECT SUCCESSOR OF 1820 MILL
The Pontiac Knitting Works are the direct successors of the Old Mathews mill, built originally by Col. Stephen Mack in 1820, and there- fore cover the most historic industrial ground in the city. Colonel Mack operated his combination flour and gristmill from 1820 until his death in 1826, when it was rented for a short time to Dr. O. Chamberlain, or to Chamberlain & Whittemore. Samuel C. Munson eventually purchased the property, and it is believed that he obtained his title from Eurotus P. Hastings, president of the Bank of Michigan, into whose hands it had fallen. Munson repaired and improved the mill, putting in an addi- tional run of stone, a merchant bolt, etc.
In 1832 H. N. Howard, who came to Pontiac from New York state in 1829, purchased the mill, paying for it about eight thousand dollars.
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The purchase included besides the flouring mill, the woolen factory, the trip hammer shop, and all property connected therewith. Mr. Howard owned and operated the property until about 1845, when he sold a two- third interest to A. A. Lull and Albert Draper. In the same year the company built the Pontiac Mills, making it the largest and most com- plete establishment of the kind in this section of the country. It con- tained four run of burr-stone, and had a large storage capacity. It was in every respect first class. The motive power was produced by a gi- gantic breast-wheel, twelve feet in diameter and thirty-six feet length of bucket. The shaft was a splendid piece of workmanship for that time. It was thirty-six inches in diameter and required a team of thirty- six yoke of oxen to haul it from the forest to the mill. It was cut from a gigantic white-oak tree, found on the farm of Jacob Voorheis, living two miles west of Pontiac and was hauled to town on a set of trucks constructed expressly for the work. This firm operated, the mill for about two years, at the end of which time Mr. Howard sold his interest to his partners, and in 1849 they sold out to A. B. Mathews. Mr. Mathews raised the old gristmill, and also raised the dam about thirty inches. The mill built by Howard, Lull & Draper was at one time valued as highly as $40,000. After Mr. Mathews took charge of the mill, he op- erated it until his death in about 1870, after which his son, George B. Mathews, carried on the business for several years, selling it eventually to James Orvis.
In 1881 C. E. Wakeman & Company purchased the property and conducted the knitting business under that name until about 1890, when the business was incorporated under the style of the Pontiac Knitting Works Company. It operated under this name until May, 1902, when it was again incorporated, this time as the Pontiac Knitting Company, and it has continued since that time under the present management. The concern employs from one hundred to one hundred and fifty peo- ple, and has an annual output of about $150,000 to $200,000, their product being a general line of knit goods.
THE HOWARD INTERESTS
Probably the first general store after that operated by Colonel Mack and his company was that established by H. N. Howard when he came to Pontiac in 1829. Mr. Howard, with Orson Bartlett and Amasa An- drews, also built a dam on the river where the Parsons dam was after- ward located and dug a race across the peninsula to the subsequent site of the old gas works, where he erected a machine shop. Soon afterward he purchased the interests of his partners and changed it to what was so long known as the "old red mill." This gristmill had two run of stone and did a good business until its destruction by fire a number of years after it commenced to grind. After Colonel Mack's death, Mr. Howard also bought the distillery and operated it in connection with his flour mill for quite a time; he commenced to use the old distillery as an ashery about 1846, built another ashery on the bank of the river at Huron street, and engaged quite extensively in that industry. Mr. Howard was another of the "hustlers" of those early days.
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THE OLD PADDACK MILLS
David Paddack was still another. In 1829 he erected a woolen mill and in 1845 a flouring mill, and operated them both until his death in 1856. The two sons afterward operated the latter, and Paddack's mills for many years represented one of the solid industries of Pontiac. They were located on Mt. Clemens street and were destroyed by fire in July, 19II.
CHARLES DAWSON AND HIS WORK
Another old-time concern was the flouring mill erected by Charles Dawson in 1849. In that year he purchased the original dam built near the Orchard Lake road by John Jenkins for the purpose of running his little sawmill. This was said to have been the first water power im- provement constructed below the lakes. The old sawmill was also operated by Mr. Dawson until 1870, or until the lumber of the locality was exhausted. Mr. Dawson at one time owned the Legal Tender mills, built about 1850, but retired to his farm in 1855 and the establishment known as Dawson's Mills was long conducted by his sons.
When first established by Mr. Dawson the elder, in 1849, the plant was represented by a building thirty-two by forty-four feet. Two run of stone were first installed, a third being added in 1855. About this time he also erected what was then an imposing structure, known for years before it was burned in August, 1902, as the "old Dawson block."
PONTIAC CITY MILLS
Following the management of Charles Dawson as proprietor of the flour mill, it was operated by his sons until 1894 when Alexander Bu- chanan assumed control, and in 1900 William G. Yerkes and Robert C. Yerkes succeeded him in the ownership. In 1905 Henry J. Elliott, the present owner, took charge of the place, and he has been in control of the property since that time, which is well known as the Pontiac City Mills. The output of the mill has increased considerably since its early existence, and has a present capacity of 100 barrels wheat flour and 25 of buckwheat flour daily.
PIONEER MACHINE SHOPS AND FURNITURE FACTORIES
The pioneer foundry and machine shop was that of the Allens, established near Mathews Mill about 1835. It continued in operation for many years. W. D. King & Company conducted a large establish- ment near Orchard Lake avenue, in the late sixties and for years after- ward, which was the outcome of a small foundry started near the village of Commerce in 1857.
In the days when lumber was plentiful, the manufacture and sale of furniture was also a considerable source of revenue to the business men of Pontiac. In the early forties Moses Fifield, Orson Bartlett, Perry & Wallace, William G. Page and John G. Crombie were all engaged in these lines, the last named being also an upholsterer.
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EARLY BREWERIES
Several breweries were also in operation at various times. Robert Dawson, a Scotchman, started one in 1845, his plant being on South Saginaw street. Other early brewers were Philip Dorner, William Mow- bray and James A. Carhart, the last named erecting quite a large build- ing on the river bank near Patterson street, about 1865, and continuing in the business for a number of years. But it is seldom that Pontiac has had more than one brewery at a time.
FATHERS OF THE "AUTO" INDUSTRY
Carriage and wagon factories were quite numerous in Pontiac be- fore the wholesale incursion of the automobile plants of late years, of which they were the direct predecessors, several of the first manufacturers in the "auto" line having been the old-time vehicle manufacturers. In 1849 Mortimer Smith put in operation a foundry and machine shop, which became a carriage manufactory about twenty years later operated by the Pearsons brothers. S. J. Cloonan was a manufacturer in this line, who commenced to turn out light and heavy vehicles at about the same time. Laurent & Emmons was another firm who got into this line at an early day. East Lawrence street was the favorite locality for the larger establishments.
PONTIAC AND OTHER MILLS OF 1852
M. A. Leggett, long of Pontiac, but afterward a resident of Clinton- ville, read a paper before the County Pioneer Society in 1899 from which the following extracts are taken. The words explain themselves : "Forty-seven years ago, as Bill Nye did, I took my parents by the hand and led them west into pastures new; didn't come as now in less than a day, but taking a boat in New York city we had a delightful sail up the North river to Albany, then on the New York Central to Buffalo, then on steamer 'Ocean' to Detroit. We then bumped over the old plank road on Jefferson avenue to Detroit and Pontiac railroad depot, where we boarded the train for Pontiac, which place we reached after several hours of jolting over the never-to-be-forgotten strap rail.
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