USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories > Part 50
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Township Clerks .- 1837, Erastus Hopkins; 1838, John B. Watson ; 1839, Fred. H. Hopkins ; 1840, Daniel M. Baker; 1841, Elizur Merriam ; 1842-43, Harrison Parker; 1844, Daniel M. Baker; 1845-46, Harrison Parker; 1847, Milo M. Stockwell ; 1848-50, John B. Watson ; 1851, Sebring Voorheis ; 1852, Harrison Parker; 1853, Samuel Maxwell; 1854, Milo M. Stockwell; 1855, Harrison Parker; 1856, Edwin C. Noyes; 1857-58, Solon Cooley ; 1859-60, George H. Lee; 1861-62, Milo M. Stockwell; 1863-70, Charles Porter; 1871, Sloan Cooley ; 1872-73, James Fair, Jr. ; 1874-77, Charles Porter.
Justices of the Peace .- 1837, Maxfield Ludlow, Jesse Seeley, John R. Howland ; 1838, John R. Howland; 1839, Embra Fergason ; 1840, Arthur Andrus; 1841, John S. Cooley; 1842, John R. Howland; 1843, Thomas Lapham ; 1844, Ira Stowell, Jr. ; 1845, Sloan Cooley ; 1846, John R. How- land; 1847, John B. Van Doren; 1848, Ira Stowell, Jr .; 1849, Sloan Cooley ; 1850, Michael G. Hickey ; 1851, John B. Van Doren ; 1852, Daniel Fuller ; 1853, John R. Howland; 1854, Robert D. Voorheis ; 1855, Corydon Buchanan; 1856, Charles Porter ; 1857, John R. Howland; 1858, Robert M. Greer; 1859, Corydon Buchanan ; 1860, Charles Porter; 1861, Daniel H. Hathaway ; 1862, Nicholas Doherty ; 1863, Corydon Buchanan ; 1864, Charles Porter; 1865, Oc- tavius Robinson ; 1866, Nicholas Doherty, James Fair; 1867, Corydon Bu- chanan ; 1868, Charles Porter; 1869, James Fair, Jr .; 1870, Alanson J. Web- ster ; 1871, George Kellogg; 1872, Charles Porter; 1873, Daniel Benjamin; 1874, James B. Dewey ; 1875, William H. Stiff; 1876, William B. Stockwell ; 1877, Daniel Benjamin.
SCHOOLS.
The first school in the township was probably taught in the White Lake settle- ment, in a small log school-house, in the fall and winter of 1835. The name of the teacher we are unable to state.
In fractional district No. 5, the first school-house was built on section 3, about 1842. It was constructed of logs, and stood a quarter of a mile north and west from the site occupied by the present frame school-house. It was located on the roadside, the highway at that time crossing the section diagonally instead of being laid on its centre, or quarter-line. Miss Lydia Hornell probably taught in this building, as she had previously taught in a small log house built for dwelling pur- poses just across the line in Springfield township. She was hired by subscription to teach this first school. She was the daughter of Rev. George Hornell, the first Presbyterian minister at White Lake.
In the fall of 1849 a log school-house was built in the south part of the town- ship, on land now owned by Andrew Bogie, section 33. One of the first teachers was Miss Delphia Bartlett, since deceased. The first male teacher in the district was William Donaldson, who taught a winter school. He is now living in the village of Commerce.
Where the present new frame school-house stands in district No. 6 a frame building was erected in 1845, and stood until the spring of 1877, when it was re- moved, and the present one built, at a cost of something over six hundred dollars.
In fractional district No. 2 a log school-house was built about 1836-37, near the line in the town of Waterford, on land then owned by a Mr. Salisbury. Per- haps the first teacher was Miss Jeanette Fifield, a young lady then but fifteen years of age, afterwards married to a man named Van Tile. The log school-house gave place to the present frame building, which stands immediately west of the old site, on section 13, White Lake.
The first school in district No. 7 was taught in a log school-house, which stood on the site of the present frame building, on section 36. This was about 1838. The first teacher was most probably a lady named Rebecca Cook. The present building is a substantial frame structure, standing near the southwest corner of section 36.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
of White Lake township was organized about 1838-39, with some twenty or thirty members. A missionary priest named Kelly, who had for his field of labor the entire southern portion of the State, preached here once a month. This was the first Catholic church in the county, and for a number of years afterwards there were no congregations of this denomination in six surrounding counties outside of Wayne county .* The Catholic cemetery on the same lot was also the first of
the kind in the county of Oakland. The first person buried in it was probably a child of James Crotly, which died in 1838. The lot for the site of the church and cemetery was taken from the farm of Nicholas Doherty, and contains one acre and sixty rods of land.
The small frame church, now standing, was the first and only one built, and was erected about 1840-42. A Catholic church was afterwards organized in Mil- ford, and most of the congregation attended that. The old church was finally abandoned on account of becoming unsafe, and has not been used for about seven years.
The location is in a pleasant grove on the old White Lake road, the church standing near the southwest corner of section 25, on the east side of the road. The old head-stones in the cemetery have grown gray in the storms of nearly forty years, and many of them are so moss-grown as to render the inscriptions nearly illegible.
VILLAGE AND POST-OFFICE OF OXBOW.
The first settler at Oxbow was Erastus Hopkins, who came, in 1833, from Prattsburg, Steuben county, New York. The following is an extract from an article furnished by him in 1874 to the Pioneer Society of Oakland County :
" In July, 1833, I came to Michigan, and bought three lots (eighties) of land in town 3 north, range 8 east, and removed my family into the Territory of Mich- igan in October, 1834. Went into the woods and built a log house, and when I moved into it, in November of that year, I had less than one dollar in money, and nothing to live upon until I could clear my land and raise something. That win- ter I killed several deer and caught some fish to help eke out a living, and cleared some land ready for the plow in the spring. By untiring industry and rigid economy we lived until February 28, 1838, when my dear wife departed this life in the full hope of a blessed immortality, and left me with three children."
Mr. Hopkins was twice married afterwards, and became the father of eight children altogether. He died July 9, 1876, aged nearly seventy-two years.
The land purchased by Mr. Hopkins included a mill-site on the Huron river, where it emerged from Oxbow lake, and about 1836-37 he sold five acres to a doctor named May, who hired a saw-mill built, and had it operated some years. He never came to Michigan himself. Mr. Hopkins afterwards repurchased the proper'y, and sold it and bought it back again a number of times. About 1857- 60, Mr. Hopkins' son, Ralph W. Hopkins, bought a half-interest in the property, and machinery was put in for turning and scroll-sawing. About 1868 a planing- machine was added, and the present planing-mill was built in 1872. Work has generally been sufficient to keep the mill running, and several hands are usually employed. Sash, blinds, doors, etc., are manufactured.
The first dam was built by Dr. May's men, and occupied nearly the same site as the present one. The dam now standing was constructed by Erastus Hopkins, and is the second one at the place. In consequence of raising the dam the water in Oxbow lake has proportionately deepened, though it has not risen high enough to overflow any great acreage of land. Its shores were naturally marshy for most of the distance around it.
Dr. May must have entertained high hopes that Oxbow would some day be- come an important place, for besides erecting the dam and saw-mill he hired his men to cut timber and lay a foundation for a hotel and store. Owing to some cause the building was never completed, and some of the foundation timbers were afterwards used in constructing the Catholic church on section 25.
The first post-office in the township was established here in 1835 or 1836, and Frederick Hopkins, a cousin to Erastus, was probably the first postmaster. The office was called White Lake post-office, and was kept afterwards by Erastus Hop- kins, Sloan Cooley, and others, and finally removed to the White Lake settlement. Mr. Cooley, the last postmaster, resigned in 1840, when Harrison was elected president. The office was on the mail-route between Pontiac and Ionia, Ionia county, and for a long time after its establishment the mail-matter was carried by a boy on horseback.
Oxbow post-office was established June 11, 1873, and Ralph W. Hopkins ap- pointed postmaster, which position he has held ever since. The first mail at the new office was received August 22, 1873. The office was first called White Lake Centre post-office, but was finally changed to Oxbow, deriving its name from the lake.
A school was kept in 1836 in a log building which stood where L. F. Stock- well now lives, west of the lake. The teacher was Mary Parker, a sister of Mrs. Erastus Hopkins. This was a private institution.
WHITE LAKE POST-OFFICE.
This village, commonly known as the " White Lake settlement," is located on a beautiful plain in the northwest part of the township. The settlement is on section 6, and its history dates back for a period of forty-four years.
* Authority of Nicholas Doherty.
......
T
JAMES THOMPSON
MRS. JAMES THOMPSON
RESIDENCE OF JAMES THOMPSON, WHITE LAKE TP, OAKLAND CO., MICH.
John Gamer
Sarah Garner
RESIDENCE OF JOHN GARNER., WHITE LAKE TP., OAKLAND CO., MICH.
MU
187
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
The first houses on the site of the village were built in August, 1833, by Jesse Seeley and Cornelius G. Wyckoff. Both were log structures. Seeley's stood on the ground now occupied by the brick residence near the Presbyterian church, and Wyckoff's on the place owned by J. Van Valkenburg. A party of settlers gathered to help the men build their houses, and both were raised the same day. The next morning an incident occurred which was very nearly the means of causing serious trouble between the settlers and a considerable number of Indians who were encamped on the shore of White lake. As an article not to be dispensed with on such occasion, whisky had flowed freely at the raising, and some of the men were somewhat under its influence. This was considered as no disgrace, however, as everybody expected it at such gatherings. The party before dispersing towards their respective homes concluded to go down to the lake, a mile away, and visit the Indian camp. Among the men who had taken a little more liquor than they could carry " with ease and comfort" was " Uncle Nate Colvin," as he was called. Passing the Indian encampment one of the dogs bit him severely, and he becoming enraged, as was quite natural under the circumstances, killed it. The squaws immediately set up an unearthly din, for it was about as safe to kill an Indian himself as his dog, and soon the dusky braves gathered from every direction, bent on revenge upon " Uncle Nate." Luckily there were two persons in the party who could talk the Indian language,-Isaac I. Voorheis, of Waterford township, and one of the Williamses, from Pontiac. They paid for the dog, and pacified the Indians by telling them the man was drunk, and they would " fix him" when he became sober. It may be supposed that the settlers were greatly relieved at having the affair pass off without bloodshed. This was the only occasion in this part of the county where trouble was at any time threat- ened between the two races. The Indians were usually very quiet and peaceable, and for a number of years after the first settlements were made hunted and fished around the beautiful lake. Undoubtedly they were much grieved when the time came for them to be removed from its locality.
The first white child born in this part of the townsnip, and the second one in the entire township, was Jane Garner, a daughter of Robert Garner, whose birth occurred March 13, 1835. Her death, March 27, 1837, was the second in the neighborhood, and that of her sister Mary, who died January 27, 1835, was the first. That of Thomas Garner, Sr., September 2, 1838, was the third. The fall of the latter year was very sickly, and the persons who remained in a state of good health were in constant demand to care for those who were sick. Mary Garner was the first person buried in the White Lake cemetery. This beautiful resting- place for the dead of the township contains the remains of many of the old set- tlers of the region. It is located on section 5, opposite the residence of Robert Garner, and is on land taken from his farm.
The old White Lake road was on the main trail running from Detroit to Grand Rapids, and was the route traveled by persons passing between those two points. It has not been materially changed from its original course, and passes diagonally across the township, regardless of government survey-lines.
As early as 1836-37 a stage-line was placed on the road, and a post-office established about 1840, the office at what is now Oxbow having been discontinued that year on the election of General Harrison to the presidency, and removed to the White Lake settlement. The first postmaster here was Embre (or Emery) Fergason. The office was at first called Plainville, from the beautiful plain on which the village is located .* It was afterwards changed to White Lake. The present postmaster is Mr. Cornell, who has lived at the place but a short time.
The stage company at one time operated a daily line of stages each way over the route, and the lumbering vehicles were always full. A stranger passing over the road to-day would see little to impress him with the idea that it had, in by- gone days, been one of the principal highways in point of travel in the county and State.
A store was opened some time after the stage-route was established, probably by a man named Adams, and a man named Baldwin opened a blacksmith- shop about the same time. Shops of other descriptions were also carried on, and the little settlement long bore a busy appearance, and had the stage business been continued or a line of railway been built through this part of the county, White Lake village might have been as prosperous and thrifty a town as could be found. But the iron horse rolls along the solid track several miles to the northward, and the era of prosperity which dawned on her forty years ago flickered and went out in the smoke of the the mighty trains which began to thunder over the railway. Yet the country immediately surrounding is rich with agricultural products, and the tiller of the soil is well repaid for his labor in harvesting heavy crops of golden grain and luscious fruits.
The first tavern at the village was kept by John Rhodes, as early as 1834-35, before the stage-line was established. It stood in the western part of the settle-
ment, and was a log building. It was at one time called the " Buckhorn tavern," but that name was afterwards transferred to the tavern, creek, and lakes in Rose township. The name in the latter locality was given by Isaac I. Voorheis, who was through there looking for land, and on arriving at the stream found a pole across it some twenty feet long hung full of bucks' horns, which the Indians had left there. At one time there were two taverns at White Lake flourishing finely, but the jolly landlords have departed, and the places which were wont to echo to the mirth of travelers who stopped in them are silent, and their palmy days are all but forgotten. The " halls of the fathers" who here kept public-house are deserted, and no tavern-stand greets the eye of the weary traveler.
Although the White Lake road is extensively traveled, a Sabbath quiet reigns along it as compared with the busy scenes of thirty and forty years ago.
White Lake Grange, No. 253, Patrons of Husbandry, was organized in Jan- uary, 1874, with fifty members. Its first Master was Robert Garner, who was three times successively elected. The organization holds regular meetings in the " White Lake church," which has also been used for festivals, revivals, etc. The present membership of the grange is about forty. The officers are : Master, Mr. Lake; Overseer, Mr. Flowers; Lecturer, Herman Wyckoff; Steward, Jacob Bachman ; Assistant Steward, Andrew A. Garner; Chaplain, Bannister How- land; Treasurer, Myron Voorheis ; Secretary, Mrs. Stinebaugh ; Gate-keeper, Lucius Wilbur ; Pomona, Mrs. Morehouse; Ceres, Nellie Bachman ; Flora, Mary Ogden ; Lady Assistant Steward, Miss Becky Ogden.
The Temperance Reform Club of White Lake was organized in the winter of 1876-77. Robert Garner occupies the position of president of the club. The membership on the 14th of June, 1877, was one hundred and fifty-two. Its meetings are held in the " White Lake church." As early as 1836 the temper- ance movement was set on foot here, and a club was organized at that time. The temperance principles of the inhabitants of White Lake township are well known, and it is a remarkable fact that it is the only town in the county that ever passed over two years of its existence without litigation over matters at the bottom of which liquor was found as a casus belli. Among the foremost advocates of teetotalism are the various members of the Garner family.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WHITE LAKE.
This is the oldest Presbyterian congregation in the county west of Pontiac, and was organized at the house of Thomas Garner on the first day of August, 1835, with nine members, as follows : Thomas Garner, Sr., Thomas Garner, Jr., Francis Smith, William Garner, Erastus Hopkins, Anna Garner, Nancy Smith, Susan Gar- ner, Lydia Hopkins. At the same meeting Robert Garner was received as a mem- ber, making ten in all, and he and Erastus Hopkins was elected the first elders. The church was organized by Revs. Ruggles and Williams.
The first meetings were held at Thomas Garner's house, and in other residences, until a school-house was built, and used by the congregation as a place for holding worship. Finally, during a great revival in 1840, it was resolved to build a church. One man donated logs he had already prepared to build a house with, and the members went to work and had a log church constructed and ready for use in the space of ten days. This building was used until 1848-49, when they erected the frame church now used by the Methodist Episcopal congregation. The present fine frame church was dedicated February 26, 1873, having been built at a cost, including bell, furniture, sheds, etc., of about four thousand two hundred dollars. The bell is one made at the Meneeley foundry, Troy, New York, and weighs six hundred pounds. It hangs in the belfry of a neat spire.
The parsonage is valued at about one thousand dollars, including a good house and four acres of land. The house was an old dwelling, purchased and converted into a parsonage. Nearly all the pastors of the church have resided in it.
The church building is thirty-six by sixty-six feet in dimensions, and will seat about three hundred and fifty persons. The society has had a gradual, steady growth, with numerous revivals, and is now in a flourishing condition. The mem- bership in June, 1877, was about ninety-five.
The first pastor, Rev. George Hornell, began to preach to the congregation in November, 1835, and was first made moderator of the session, January 30, 1836. He was not regularly installed, however, until August 2, 1837, after which time he preached about ten years, his name last appearing on the session records as moderator May 30, 1847.
The second pastor was Rev. H. Hyde, who came in December, 1847. He was never installed, but had charge about five years. Following him came Rev. Mr. Boardman, about 1852. He stayed two years, and was succeeded by Rev. O. W. Mather, whose name first appears on the records May 13, 1855. He continued in the pastorate until the summer of 1857.
The next, and fifth pastor, was Rev. W. P. Wastell, who took charge October 3, 1857, and stayed until the latter part of April, 1862. Rev. N. Tucker was pastor from July 5, 1862, until the 1st of June, 1865. Next came Rev. J. A.
# The office may have been established under this name in 1836-37.
188
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Veale, from August 6, 1865, until July 13, 1867. The present pastor, Rev. L. Chandler, took charge in August, 1868, and has continued ever since, having had a very successful and pleasant pastorate thus far.
Towards the end of Mr. Hornell's ministry a division took place in the church over some matters of church polity, and a portion of the congregation withdrew and organized what is now called the " White Lake church," and known by some as the ". Union church," or " Church of God."
In the old church a Sabbath-school was organized early, and has been kept up the greater part of the time since. In the month of June, 1877, it had about one hundred and twenty-five members, and a library of some two hundred volumes. A very fine New England organ has also been lately purchased, its catalogue price being three hundred and ninety dollars. The church building is probably the finest country church in the county.
WHITE LAKE CHURCH.
This society was organized in 1845 or '46 from a portion of the congregation of the First Presbyterian church. Some trouble had arisen over the liberty allowed members of that church, part of them holding different opinions upon the election of elders from those laid down by the presbytery, and accordingly a division was made, the new congregation organizing as a kind of independent so- ciety, with no particular creed, except a belief in the equality of its members as regarded office-holding, etc.
They built a frame church on the opposite (north) side of the road from the old one, and the house is yet standing. The means for building it were advanced by Robert, John, and Thomas Garner, and Erastus Hopkins. Some of the prin- cipal members of this congregation, as first organized, were Robert Garner and wife. John Garner and wife, Erastus Hopkins and wife, Thomas Garner and wife, John Parish and wife, James Frisbie and wife, with some others. Roswell Barnes and wife joined at nearly the same time, and Thomas J. Garner and wife soon afterwards.
Their first pastor was Rev. C. C. Foote, then of Troy township, now of Detroit, who preached to them once in two weeks for seventeen years. A man named Beebe followed him, and preached for some time, and their present pastor is Erastus C. Herrington, of Four Towns post-office, Waterford township, now on his ninth year, and preaching bi-weekly. The congregation is small and has never had a regular organization. One of its main-stays and supporters is Robert Garner.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF WHITE LAKE.
An organization of this denomination was effected here at an early day, but was finally forced to disband on account of various difficulties, and for many years there was no society of the kind at the place. Finally, in June, 1871, an effort was made to re-organize, and was attended with success, a class of nine persons being formed, the members being as follows : L. D. Morehouse and wife, Mrs. Elias Doty (now deceased ), Mrs. Charles Doty, Benjamin Rosell, J. W. Toms and wife, and Wil- liam Stiff and wife.
The first pastor was Rev. Samuel Bird, who had charge until the meeting of the conference the following autumn (1871). He had been pastor of the congre- gation at Davisburg, Springfield township, nearly three years when the White Lake church was organized.
The second pastor was Rev. J. W. Scott, who stayed three years, and was fol- lowed by Rev. J. S. Joslin, who had charge for two years. He was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. R. C. Lanning, who took charge in the fall of 1876.
The church is in the Davisburg circuit, the same pastor having charge of both congregations and residing at Davisburg, where a parsonage is provided for him. A third appointment on the circuit is at the Gibson school-house in White Lake township, on section 17, where a elass was organized in the early part of 1877.
The membership of the White Lake congregation is about thirty. Its meet- ings are held in the frame church built in 1848-49 by the Presbyterians. This building is yet in good repair, and will seat about one hundred and fifty persons. It is surmounted by an old-fashioned belfry, after the style of the churches of New England. The congregation, being musically inclined, possesses a good organ, and with the limited membership is flourishing as well as could be expected. The church stands on section 5, on land from the farm of Harrison Voorheis.
The settlement at White Lake has always been noted for its strict adhesion to principles of piety and temperance, settled as it was by the descendants of the persecuted religionists of Scotland, and perhaps nowhere in Oakland County can be found a more orderly and respectable community.
We are under obligations to the following-named persons for valuable informa- tion furnished regarding the history of the township:
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