USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests Volume I > Part 53
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REASON FOR NAME
The Huron river, which flows from a series of lakes in the adjoin- ing township of Commerce to the east, enters Milford at about the middle of section 13, passes northwest and west through the village by that name, and thence, in a generally southwesterly direction into Ken- sington lake which stretches over the southern line into Lyon township. Within the corporation of Milford, the Huron river receives Pettibone creek from the north, which is the outlet of Pettibone lake in this and the adjoining township of Highland. In its entire course through Mil- ford township, the Huron is unobstructed by lakes, and has therefore a strong and unimpeded flow; Pettibone creek is fed from the lakes and highlands of the north, and the two streams were the means of fur- nishing such valuable water powers as to give both the village and the township its name.
The first entry of land in Milford township was made by Amos Mead in 1827. This was the west half of the northwest quarter of section 10, and constitutes that portion of the village of Milford lying north of the quarter line and west of Main street. Mr. Mead made the entry for Levi Pettibone, from which fact originated the name of the lakes and the creek.
THE RUGGLES BROTHERS
Elizur Ruggles purchased lands of the government in 1831 and in the following year, with his brother, Stanley, located on what afterward became known as the Armstrong addition of Milford village, in 1832, Henry, the third brother, joining them in the following year. As Elizur Ruggles was a bachelor and Stanley a widower, the two boarded with a family named Parks, who moved into the township about the same time. To accommodate them all a log house was built-the first in the township.
PIONEER MILLS
In 1832 Elizur and Stanley Ruggles built the first sawmill at Mil- ford, on the Huron river. They operated it until 1839, when it passed into the possession of Stephen and John L. Armstrong. The Arm- strongs retained and operated the plant until 1853, when, with the water power, it was purchased by Major Hughes. The dam created so much
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TYPICAL OLD GRIST MILLS
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY 447
stagnant water that the people along the banks suffered year after year with various complaints which could be directly traceable to the nuisance. Finally it became unbearable and in 1856 the farmers of the vicinity took matters into their own hands and, in 1856, while Major Hughes was absent on a business trip, they leveled the dam to the mudsills. That heroic measure ended the trouble, as far as the health of the community was concerned, although it dragged its way through the courts for sev- eral years thereafter.
Luman Fuller erected the first gristmill in 1836, and in the summer of 1839 the Armstrongs built their flouring mill on the old Ruggles prop- erty west of the river, which they had purchased with the original saw- mill. The Pettibone mills were put up by W. B. Hebbard in 1846. Mr. Hebbard and George Davis completed a woolen mill in 1850, this estab- lishment turning out quite a line of "Kentucky jeans" at one time. In 1865 Joseph Vowles established his cultivator works for the purpose of manufacturing his own patent, P. F. & D. W. Wells having been engaged in that line many years before in a small factory opposite the Pettibone gristmills. The Wells Cultivator Company was the successor of the original enterprise, and the Milford Milling Company of the old gristmills established by the Armstrongs and W. B. Hebbard.
The most prosperous period in the history of Milford was during the years 1850-1856. In the latter year the Detroit & Milwaukee Rail- road was completed and, in a large measure, drew away the trade of the village to other points. From that time, also, it commenced to de- cline as an industrial center. It was not until 1871 that the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad was built to the village, after which there was a period of revival, but nothing of a permanent nature. For about twenty years previous to 1900 the village virtually held its own at a popula- tion of some 1, 100; since then it has declined, if anything, the census of 1910 giving it a population of 973.
THE PRESENT VILLAGE
The present village of Milford is a station on the Pere Marquette Railroad, with a productive grain, produce and fruit country around it, as is evidenced by its grain elevator, and general stores which deal largely in beans, potatoes and apples, and the several houses devoted to agri- cultural implements. It has a substantial private bank; a graded union school founded in 1869; electric light and water works; a library con- ducted by a ladies' association, and churches and societies for all. Re- ligious bodies of the village and vicinity have been organized by the Baptists, Methodists, Catholics and Presbyterians. Of the societies, the Masons are in the majority.
MILFORD CHURCHES
The pioneer religious organization was a Methodist class formed in 1836, with Truman Fox as leader and Washington Jackson as preacher. About that time a second class was formed called the "English class," from the fact that the preacher and all the members were emigrants from
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England. The first house of worship was built in 1844, and the brick church in 1875-76.
In the summer of 1838 a Presbyterian church was organized, which divided temporarily in 1841 into Congregational and Presbyterian societies. In 1845 they reunited under the name of the United Presby- terian and Congregational church of Milford. The ecclesiastical relations of the church have since been maintained with the Presbytery of De- troit. The original house of worship of the First Presbyterian church of Milford was built in 1845 and dedicated in 1846 by Rev. Alson Smythe. It was a small frame building with a stone foundation and a seating capacity of three hundred and was completed at a cost of about $3,000. In 1900 a handsome brick structure was erected, complete in every respect, with basement, dining rooms and parlors, at a cost of $15,000. Rev. A. C. Wilson, the present pastor, presides over a church of 278 members. Among his predecessors since 1839 have been Revs. A. Worthington, S. Carey, Anson Smythe, E. S. Shepherd, W. P. Jack- son, D. W. Shaw, B. F. Murdin, Henry M. Swift, Jasper W. McGre- gor and Rev. W. K. Ingersoll.
SOCIETIES
The Masons organized the first lodge (165) at Milford in 1865, and dedicated their first temple in 1869. The chapter (71) was organized in 1870. In 1873 the Odd Fellows formed themselves into Pettibone Lodge No. 208, and Knights of Honor No. 564 was instituted in 1877. The G. A. R. had a post at a later day, and the Woman's Relief Corps was organized in 1888. The latter has a present membership of sixty, and since its organization the following have served as presidents: Julia Crawford, Eliza Smith, Mary Shelly, Lorena Babcock, Hattie F. Aus- tin, Lena McCall, Belle Tower, Lelia Ormsby, Elsie Rexford, Addie Bullard and Fanny Van Leuven.
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CHAPTER XXXII LYON AND FARMINGTON 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 FARMINGTON-SCHOOLS-THE CHURCHES-THE MA- SONIC LODGE-CLARENCEVILLE AND NORTH FARMINGTON.
The township of Lyon was detached from Novi and organized civilly in 1834, its first meeting for that purpose being held at the house of Eleazur E. Calkins on the 7th of April. Thomas Sellman was then and there elected supervisor and Levi Wilson clerk, with a full complement of assessors, commissioners of highways, directors of the poor, commis- sions of schools and constables. This initial meeting was held on section 21, near its southwest corner on the farm which has long been owned by various members of the Blackwood family. The township was named in honor of Lucius Lyon, at the time of its organization a mem- ber of the legislature. It narowly escaped the label of "Fruitland."
FIRST SETTLERS OF LYON TOWNSHIP
Lyon township commenced to receive straggling settlers about four years before it became a civil body, the first to occupy the fertile lands choosing the southeastern sections. Bela Chase located on the base line of the township, in 1830, and soon moved to section 27 where he spent the remainder of his life on the farm he then opened up. This is now known as the Samuel Carpenter farm.
In the same year the Deake farm, section 35, was opened by Robert Purdy, of Seneca county, New York; John Thayer, also a New Yorker, settled on the northwest quarter of section 36 (the Moore tract) ; Eli- phalet Sprague, from Seneca county, took up the north half of section 36, a portion of which is still held by his descendants; Thomas Jones made his home at the northwest corner of section 23, farther to the north; and George Fawcett chose the northwest quarter of section 24, to the east. Messrs. Sprague and Fawcett were arrivals of 1831, that year bringing quite a colony of immigrants.
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NEW HUDSON AND KENSINGTON
It was in the year 1831 that Russell Alvord and Daniel Richards set- tled on the site of the present station of New Hudson. Mr. Richards erected the first log house thereon, although Mr. Alvord did not lay out the village on either side of what afterward became the Detroit and Howell turnpike until 1837. A. I. Allen put up the first frame build- ing in 1837, and the first brick house did not appear until 1853, Lansing Smith being its author. Dr. John Curtis and John A. Hand opened the first store in a log hut during 1834, at which time the postoffice of New Hudson was established by Uncle Sam. The New Hudson of today is a small settlement on the Grand Trunk line. It is the center of a fair produce country; has a small grain elevator and two or three stores, and transacts what banking it requires at South Lyon, five miles to the southwest.
About two miles northwest of New Hudson is another Grand Trunk station and postoffice, Kensington, the site of which was also settled in 1832. It was once quite a village, and was especially well advertised in the late thirties through the operations of a very wild-cat bank. In 1834 Joel Redway completed a sawmill on the Huron river. Mr. Red- way sold his interest in the village site to Alfred A. Dwight and Enoch Jones (of Detroit), by the former of whom it was platted in 1836. From all accounts Kensington had a shady reputation both among the financiers and merchants of the outside world in its earlier days.
VILLAGE OF SOUTH LYON
The village of South Lyon, a flourishing and progressive corpora- tion of about six hundred people, was not incorporated until 1873; but settlements were made upon its site as early as 1832. For many years it was known as "Thompson's Corners," from the fact that Widow Thompson built a log house at that point, in the year named, and her son, William, opened the first store in a little addition to their dwell- ing. In 1847 the village was named, as in that year the postoffice of South Lyon was established. The Thompson brothers also built the first sawmill, operated by steam, on the site of South Lyon.
South Lyon was incorporated, under the laws of the state, in 1873, its first election being held on the second Monday in April of that year. Two years before, the Detroit, Lansing & Northern (now Pere Mar- quette) Railroad had been completed to the village and a depot erected to accommodate its growing trade and travel. Its progress has since been substantial. The village was reincorporated by legislative enact- ment in 1891.
South Lyon of the present is a thriving village at the crossing of the Pere Marquette and Grank Trunk Railroads, in the extreme south- west corner of the county. It is surrounded by a productive farming country, and is the shipping point for considerable grain, beans, pork, apples and general produce. It has a number of general stores and in- dustrial establishments, and is also a pleasant residence place.
The local business is accommodated by a well conducted State Sav-
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ings Bank and the farmers and householders of the surrounding country also patronize it. The village and vicinity have an earnest and effective newspaper organ in the South Lyon Herald, of which A. K. Pierce is editor and proprietor; it was founded in 1881. A good union school and several churches are added advantages to the place.
SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES
The organization of the public school system of South Lyon dates from 1876, when the west half of district 3 was formed into a graded school, with Horace Johns as principal and Miss Aggie Clark as assist- ant. In that year a large frame building was also erected for the ac- commodation of the hundred scholars then in attendance. The present union school, (including high school department), is in charge of R. W. McCook.
The Methodists, Presbyterians, Free Methodists and Catholics have organizations at South Lyon and, as is quite apt to be the rule, the first- named were the pioneers in the local religious field. In January, 1833, a few weeks after Eleazur E. Calkins and Levi Wilson had settled a short distance northeast of what is now South Lyon, an old Metho- dist exhorter, Jesse Jessup, reached the dwelling of the former, having walked from Plymouth to see them. It was Saturday night and the result of their conference was that the following morning the half dozen fami- lies-a congregation of about twenty-within a radius of four or five miles, listened to a simple exposition of the gospel and formed the first religious society of the township. In 1842 the Methodists built their first church, and in 1859 their second. Rev. S. Schofield is pastor of the present society.
The First Presbyterian church of Lyon was organized on May 17, 1858, and a quotation from the records of the meeting held on that date indicates the nature of the proceedings: "We, the undersigned, agree to associate ourselves together for the purpose of forming a religious so- ciety to be called 'The First Presbyterian society of Lyon.' Joseph Blackwood, Ira M. Olds, David Dunlap, James S. Rodger, E. K. Knowl- ton, Josiah Fitzgerald, William Hannon, Robert Dunlap (first) and J. Duncan." The trustees elected at this meeting were Robert Dunlap (first) and Josiah Fitzgerald, one year; Joseph Blackwood and James S. Rodger, two years, and William Hannon for three years. In March, 1859, a contract was let to one Adam Dean for the building of a church, the contract figures being two thousand two hundred and sixty-four dol- lars. The edifice was dedicated in December of the same year, and con- tinued in use until it was replaced by a newer and more modern build- ing in 1883. The various pastors who have served the church are: Rev. Ira M. Olds; Rev. I. A. Clayton ; Rev. Charles Dunlap; Rev. Maltby Gelston ; Rev. John Gourley ; Rev. E. W. Childs; Rev. S. V. McKee; Rev. James D. Spriggs ; Rev. E. P. Clark ; Rev. G. D. Sherman. The present membership of the church is 169.
The Free Methodist church of South Lyon was organized in 1872 and the church, which they still occupy, built in 1874. The present mem- bership of the church is 11, and J. J. Morrish is pastor of the congre- Vol. 1-29
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gation. Some of the ministers who served since the organization of the church up to the present time are: S. W. Stone, Israel Mudge, William Rennie, James Curtis, M. Cuthbert, W. G. Roe, A. E. Thomas, W. E. Hosmer, Edward Steere, John Spencer, M. E. Howard and J. J. Morrish (present pastor ).
The Catholics of South Lyon and vicinity are also organized into a society under the priesthood of Father T. J. Hennessy.
SOUTH LYON INDUSTRIES
As early as 1835 William and Robert R. Thompson erected a steam sawmill on the lot later owned by Isaac Burnhunt, and operated it for a number of years. Later Robert Dunlap and Robert Parks erected a mill in South Lyon, the year being 1871. In 1877 the manufacturing interests were largely controlled by Wilbur Jones and A. G. Barnes, proprietors of a planing-mill and lumber-yard; Robert Dunlap and Rob- ert Parks, steam sawmill; William Weatherhead, steam gristmill; John Challis and Odell & Cooley, carriage and wagon shops; Richard Brid- son and John Bay, blacksmiths; Robert Parks, cider mill.
Various other industries have become factors in the life of South Lyon since those early days, and today the J. D. McClaren Company operate one of the big elevators in this section of the country. It was erected in 1894 at a cost of about $5,000, with a capacity of eight thou- sand bushels. Grain and beans are handled in large quantities.
The Detroit Creamery Company has a cream station and the Keo- kuk Canning Company of Lansing, a salting station. There are also a canning factory owned and operated by F. B. Herricks and two green- houses.
THE POWER COLONY FOUNDS QUAKERTOWN (FARMINGTON)
The first settlers in the township of Farmington located at or near the village by that name, which was originally called Quakertown from the fact that its site was first occupied by a colony of Friends who came from Farmington, five miles west of Canandaigua, New York. About the Ist of February, 1824, Arthur Power and his sons John and Jared, with David Smith and Daniel Rush-the latter in Mr. Power's employ- set out from that place to occupy certain lands which the head of the little colony had entered the year before in Oakland county, Michigan. The sleigh containing the party was drawn by a pair of good horses and in two weeks their journey took them through western New York to Niagara, and thence through Upper Canada to Detroit. There sup- plies were purchased, after which the Power colony took the old Saginaw road to Royal Oak and Hamilton's (Birmingham) and thence, in rather a roundabout way, to section 22, northeast of the present village site.
Mr. Power had promised one of his sons, Nathan (who had remained at home on the New York farm to care for the family) that he would make the first clearing on the northeast quarter section which he had deeded to him. When the men therefore arrived at that locality, two of the party left the sleigh and began the felling of the nearest giant of
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the forest which soon lay prone on the ground-the first tree cut in Farmington township. That event occurred March 8, 1824, and those who brought it about were John Power and David Smith. A small clearing was soon afterward completed, a log house built and, during that season, nine acres of wheat and six acres of corn were prepared for the harvest.
OTHER PIONEERS OF THE TOWNSHIP
Seven weeks after the coming of the Power colony, George W. Col- lins and wife appeared in the "clearing" and, while Mrs. Collins re- mained in camp to cook and make it homelike for the men, Mr. Collins busied himself on his claim in the southwest corner of section 28, about two miles away and also adjoining the present village limits. During the year 1824 there also arrived Solomon Walker, who took up his claim on the northeast corner of section 30, west of the Collins place, and Samuel Mansfield, who settled on the northwest quarter of section 27, which afterward became the northeast quarter of the village plat. About the same time George Tibbets located on the town line in section 13; Orrin Garfield, Sanford M. Utley and his sons on section 12, and Robert . Wixom, Sr., on the southwest corner of section 15. The last named was in the exact center of the township.
As soon as Arthur Power had reared the log buildings and made the promised improvements upon the land which he had given to his son, Nathan, he proceeded to erect a large log house on the high ground on the northeasterly side of the creek, opposite the present village. This house he made his residence for about two years, when he built another large, long log structure on his land in the northeast quarter of section 28, that tract being now the northwest quarter of the village site. The exact site of this house was afterward embraced in a large orchard on the farm of one of the sons, William.
DR. WEBB ADDS DISTINCTION
One of the emigrants of 1824 was also Dr. Ezekiel Webb, a Quaker neighbor of Arthur Power. He built a large house near Mr. Power's, and as he was the only physician in the township he conferred added distinction upon Quakertown.
FIRST MILLS
From the time of his arrival Mr. Power had planned to build a saw- mill, and after he had completed his log house on the north side of Rouge river began to cut timber for the dam. This was thrown across the stream nearly opposite the subsequent site of the Baptist church, and thence the water was conveyed by a canal which was carried along the west side of the river to the mill which stood a little distance below. Much of this work was done by Gilbert Bagnell, who came with Mr. Power from New York for the purpose. By the last of 1826 the mill
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was in operation, but it never amounted to much on account of an in- sufficient water power.
In 1827 the first grist mill in the township was built by Edward and Harman Steel in the southwest quarter of section 17, about two miles northwest of Farmington. It has successively been known as the Steel mill and the Hardenberg mill, and was famed throughout the entire region.
The first grist mill at Quakertown was built by Arthur Power near the dam which he had erected for his sawmill; but, although it continued in operation for many years, it never attained the high standard of the Steel mill.
The first postal facilities of the township were obtained in the fall of 1825 through the efforts of Dr. Webb, who was himself appointed postmaster, the office being kept in his log house at Quakertown.
The saw and grist mills of John H. Shackleton, located on the mill stream a few rods below the center of the village. were well known throughout the county. The water power at this point was first utilized by Samuel Mansfield in 1833, who built a sawmill in that year. The grist mill was afterward erected by Samuel Power at the same dam.
But neither Farmington village, nor the township, was destined to flourish in the lines of industry. The fertile county surrounding it, however, was settled by a prosperous class of agriculturists, and the trade gravitating thither steadily increased.
RECOLLECTIONS OF P. DEAN WARNER
Among the numerous settlers of 1825 was Seth A. L. Warner, who located on the northwest quarter of section 15, about two miles north of the present village of Farmington. He was the father of P. Dean Warner, so, prominent in the early public affairs of the township, county and state, and the grandfather of ex-Governor Warner. The following address of P. D. Warner, delivered before the County Pioneer Society in 1879, gives an instructive picture of the pioneer period partially covered in the foregoing matter: "Mr. President: Nearly fifty-four years have passed away since my father, Seth A. L. Warner, came with his family into the territory of Michigan, and settled in what has since been known as the township of Farmington. We were ten days in cross- ing the lake from Buffalo to Detroit. Our goods were taken from the vessel, put on board of a scow, and floated down the river to the mouth of the Rouge, and landed several miles up that stream, at a place then called Bucklands. At that point they were loaded on to wagons that had been sent down for that purpose by friends in Farmington, who had settled there the year before. The wagons were drawn by oxen, and accompanied by three or four strong and resolute young men who had come around by way of Birmingham, the Pontiac road being the only road leading out of Detroit at that time, except the road running up and down the river. After the wagons were loaded and everything ready for the journey, the young men started on ahead with their axes, cutting the brush and small trees and cleaning out the road, and the oxen and wagons followed on after them with my father's family and his
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worldly possessions, on a line, as near as could be judged, towards the settlement at Farmington.
"These facts come to me from those who had the experience of that journey, and were old enough to remember the incidents connected with it, yet my first recollections are associated with that expedition. Hav- ing passed through the heavy timbered land on the route, we arrived just as night came on, at an elevated ridge of land, with but few scat- tering trees, where we put up for the night, under the sheltering branches of a large oak. The contrast between the low ground and heavy timber through which we had been passing, which became still more dreary as the night came on and the elevated country around us was so great that the incident was thoroughly photographed upon my mind and the out- lines of that scene are as visible to me today as they were on that event- ful evening in the fore part of April, 1825. The day following, we reached the house of an uncle, a brother of my mother, in Farmington, which was then known only as Power's settlement, or Quakertown. The road then opened was the first one leading from Detroit in the direction of Farmington, and the ox teams that brought through my father's family and goods were the first teams ever driven over it. At Farmington we moved into the house with my uncle's family, and before we had got our own house built two other families came on from the state of New York and moved into the same log house, which for a time constituted a happy home for four families; and it was not a large house either, presenting a striking and important contrast between the spirit of kind- ness and courtesy which universally characterized the first settlers of our state, and some of those who have come after them.
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