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 65
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The officers elected at that time and place were as follows: Trustees, William Hale (one year), John Vincent and Ansley S. Arms (two years), Charles P. Holmes and Harry C. Andrews (three years) ; Deacons, Ansley S. Arms and Henry K. Foote, M.D.
The first stated supply who officiated in the old organization of the Presbyte- rian church was Rev. Albert Worthington, in 1838. He had been preceded, however, by a preacher,-the Rev. George Hornell,-who preached the doctrines of the Presbyterian faith in Milford a year or two earlier. Rev. Sylvester Cary served the congregation in 1840, and the Rev. Anson Smyth in 1845. The latter was pastor at the time of the reunion, and was the first minister installed after the inauguration of that charge. He served from 1845 to 1849, and was suc- ceeded by Rev. Enoch S. Shepard, who died while in charge, in September, 1850. He was followed in the pastorate by Rev. William P. Jackson, in March, 1851. His pastoral labors continued until 1856, when he was succeeded by the following :
E. W. Shaw, from 1856 to 1857 ; B. F. Murden, from 1857 to 1863; Henry M. Swift, from 1863 to 1874 ; and J. M. McGregor, from 1874 to 1876.
The first church edifice was erected in 1844, and dedicated in 1846 by Rev. Anson Smyth, the pastor in charge. The building is of wood, with a stone foun- dation, and is thirty-four by fifty feet. A spire has been added, and it has been otherwise repaired. Its seating capacity is three hundred, and its value is three thousand dollars.
The present membership is sixty-five. The board of trustees consists of Messrs. John Harper, William Foote, P. F. Wells, A. W. Arms, and F. M. Ladd.
The Sunday-school was organized about 1838 or 1839, and its first superin- tendent was Ansley S. Arms. Its place of meeting was the district school-house on the north side of the river. The present superintendent is F. M. Ladd. Membership, including Bible-classes, eighty-five. Both school and church are in a flourishing and prosperous condition.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF MILFORD.
This church was organized in the year 1838, with thirteen constituent members, namely :
Mrs. Abel P. Grow, William V. Grow (now a minister of the gospel, and sta- tioned in Pennsylvania), Isaiah J. Hudson and wife, Father Fitch and wife, Francis Hudson and wife, Deacon Benjamin Eldred and wife, Elder R. D. Pierce and wife, and Mrs. Lavilla Lampheir.
The first pastor was Rev. Rufus D. Pierce. His successors to the present have been as follows :
Elders Keith, Ansel Clark, A. W. Baker. Elder I. Speer was in charge of the church as a supply in 1845, during which time a division took place, a part of the members going to Highland Centre (now Spring Mills), where they or- ganized a separate society, which existed but a short time, when it disbanded, and most of its members reunited with the parent society at Milford. On the 6th of January, 1845, a meeting was held in the school-house of William L. Webber, from the minutes of which we quote the subjoined :
" God in his providence has seemed to indicate to us for a few months past that the time had come when another effort should be made to erect the standard of the Cross again in our midst. This meeting of the Baptist members in and about the village of Milford is therefore called to consider the propriety of an im- mediate church organization. After prayer for divine guidance, and consultation on the subject, the result was a determination to instantly attempt an organiza- tion. Brother Oliver Adams was called to the chair, and John A. Grow was chosen clerk. Prayer was offered by Rev. I. Speer and the chairman. After consideration, the following resolutions were introduced and adopted :
" Resolved, That we regard those present, to wit, Rev. O. Adams, W. B. Heb- bard, John Wines, Abel P. Grow, John A. Grow, B. B. Chaplin, James S. Web- ber, O. Stoddard, Sarah Stoddard, Louisa Waterhouse, Sarah Wines, Alvira A. Hebbard, Phebe Ann Adams, Sarah P. Grow, and B. Calvin, as members of a church to be known as the Baptist church of Milford, Oakland County, Michi- gan.
" Resolved, That we adopt the Articles of Faith and Covenant as recommended by the Baptist convention of the State of Michigan.
" Resolved, That W. B. Hebbard be appointed deacon, and John A. Grow clerk of the church.
The annexed is a continuation of pastors: Elders Albert K. Tupper, W. G. Wisner, Charles Johnson. During Elder Johnson's pastorate a large number were added to the church. March 7, 1858, eighteen were baptized. Joseph Gambol followed Elder Johnson in 1860. From 1860 to 1870 the church was served by supplies: William L. Sanders, M. Roberts, Rev. Freeman, J. H. Mor- rison, and the present incumbent, Rev. Nathan Wright. The deacons of the church are A. G. Robinson, A. Waterbury, and A. P. Grow ; Clerk, George Bourns; Trustees, Walter Crawford, George Bourns, John Welch, George H. Shear, and Frank Howard.
The church edifice was erected in 1853, and dedicated in the fall of 1854, during the pastorate of Elder Tupper. It is a frame structure, having a seating capacity for three hundred persons, and cost about three thousand dollars. Its original site was where Fox & Begole's lumber-yard now is, but in 1870 the building was removed to its present location on the corner of Detroit and Muir streets. The present membership of the church is sixty.
In 1844 a Sabbath-school was organized, which has been faithfully sustained to the present. Its membership is now seventy-five scholars and eight teachers. Superintendent, Judson Fielding.
EDUCATIONAL.
In writing the educational history of Milford, we shall have to commence at as early a date as 1832 and 1833. There was then no organized school district
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
in the township. The very first school of which we have any knowledge was taught by a Mrs. Bigelow, wife of Job G. Bigelow, who settled on the northeast quarter of section 33, and the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter,-two hundred acres,-in 1832; the farm recently owned by Rev. M. B. Wilsey, now owned and occupied by Mr. Fielding. In October of that year he moved his family into it, without doors or windows, or even a roof. But he soon finished it; and. as there was no school-house or even school district in the entire township at that time, and there being a few families in the vicinity desiring school privi- leges. Mrs. Bigelow opened a school in their own house, where she taught the children of the surrounding country for two years. The first organized school district in the township where a school was opened and taught was district No. 6, near the residence of Mr. Selden Vincent, one and a half miles south of the vil- lage. The school was opened in 1835 ; taught for the first three weeks by a Miss Chapman, when she was followed by Mrs. Leonard Phillips, who taught six Weeks. when she was taken sick, abandoning the school. Among the pupils at- tending this school were six from this village,-four from Henry Ruggles' and two from Stanley Ruggles. Morris Andrews sent four, Moses Newman sent three. and Isaiah I. Hudson sent five, making about eighteen in all.
The old red school-house in district No. 4, occupying the site of Mrs. Isabella Shepard's residence. north of the Central House. was the first school house built in the village of Milford, being built in the spring of 1837. The next one, built in 1838, was the old red school-house on the south side of the river, in what was denominated then school district No. 5. It has since been removed to the premises of Joseph Nute, Esq. : used as his barn. Its old site is now occu- pied by D. M. Ladd.
In giving the history of Milford's educational advancement, we will mention one who has been a pioneer in that important field; we refer to Henderson Crawford, Esq. In his early youth he evinced a love for study and books that quite rapidly developed a proficiency therein far beyond his years. Oft leaving his companions in youthful sports, he would be found with a book, oblivious to aught beside. After attending some of the best schools in western New York, we find him first engaging as a teacher in the fall of 1836 ; little more than eighteen years of age. He taught his first school in Benton, Gates county, State of New York, near the place of his nativity,-then and there establishing a reputation as a successful teacher and disciplinarian, overcoming many obstacles that had successively puzzled many older heads by his firmness and determination to succeed where others had signally failed. He next taught, at an increased salary. in Gorham, Ontario county, his native county, meeting with the same success that had attended his first effort. In the following winter we find him again in the first-namned school, teaching there his second termn. Coming west in 1839, he first saw this township and village in the fall of that year. He came here partly with the idea of becoming a resident, but equally so with the general idea of a visit to this country. He finally engaged as a teacher in the town of Farmington, Oakland County. Here he made the acquaintance of the young lady who afterwards became his wife,-Miss Sarah W. Wood, of Commerce, in this county, she being one of his pupils. Mr. Crawford taught several terms in that township ; in fact. was teaching a select school there at the date of his mar- rage. December 30, 1841. Purchasing a farm in Livonia, Wayne county, of a Mormon, in 1839. he used to divide his time between teaching during the winter and farming the balance of the year.
In the spring of 1842, the next spring after his marriage, he resolved to give bis attention wholly to the latter occupation ; but many of his neighbors, who had known of his success as a teacher in Farmington, persuaded him to fit up rooms and open a select school during the winter seasons. He was thus occupied up to the year 1845, when, through inducements and persuasions of his old friend Dr. Henry K. Foote, he came to Milford in the spring of that year. Finding no school-room suitable for his purpose, he leased the " old red school-house" of school district No. 5, teaching there two terms. He next leased the building built by A. S. Arms, Esq., and formerly occupied as a church by the United Presbyterian and Congregational societies, and continued to occupy it on the site where it then stood,-being the site now of the residence of Wm. Ogden, Esq.,- until 1850. That year he purchased the building, and removed it to its present site, east of Main street, near the railway and the wheat-house of Lingham & Osborne. He then fitted it up nicely for the use he designed it,-a first-class private school. Mr. Crawford was in the continued occupancy of this building as principai of his school fifteen years. He was not only a laborer in his own school. but elected from time to time to supervise the several schools of his town- ship as school inspector, -- schools often taught by his own pupils. He found time to bestow a large amount of labor in these humbler fields of effort, thus giving the best years of his life in erecting an educational standard that has borne rich fruitage in subsequent years.
He was efficiently aided in his labor as an educator by his devoted wife-her-
self a teacher-in the care and culture of the younger classes of learners. She had established a fine reputation as a successful teacher previous to her marriage. One of the greatest inducements for Mr. and Mrs. Crawford to remain at their post of well-doing for so long a period was the instruction of their own children,- two daughters and six sons,-now all grown to years of manhood and womanhood, ornaments to the society in which they live; and, besides, they each loved the work in which they were engaged. The most devoted friends of these pioneers in education were those formerly under their care and instruction. Lawyers, physicians, divines, and teachers, with many of the business men of this and other places, each turn with pleasure to that period in their youthful lives spent under the kindly teachings of Mr. and Mrs. Crawford.
It may seem a work of supererogation to select the names of a few among so many of their old pupils who have since their school-days distinguished themselves in their various pathways in public as well as private life; but as Mr. Crawford has allowed us a glance at their names as recorded in his books, we have concluded to copy the names of a few that we have met and become acquainted with, sensi- ble as we are of their worth. Judge John Moore, of Saginaw city, recently judge of the Saginaw circuit, and Democratic candidate for governor of this State in 1872, was one of the first names recorded as attending school in 1845 ; fol- lowed by that of Dr. James Sleeth, a druggist and physician of Byron, Shiawas- see county, one of the surgeons in the army during the war of the Rebellion. Edwin and N. J. Hubbell, sons of Deacon Hubbell, the first still a resident of this village ; the second at the head of a commercial agency at Detroit ; Smith Barnes, connected with the mammoth firm of Hannah, Lay & Co., of Traverse City. P. F. Wells and D. W. Wells, late " Wells & Brother," founders. Mrs. D. W. Wells, née Nancy J. Lee, wife of the latter, lately deceased. Henry B. Mowry and wife, née Mary S. White, still residents here. Mary J. Foote, now the wife of Professor T. D. Nutting, of Jacksonville, Illinois. William H., Charles C., and James L. Foote, brothers of Mrs. Nutting; the first still a resident here, the last two residents of Saginaw ; the wife of Charles, Sarah Peters, and the wife of the latter, Caroline Shepard, were all attendants of Mr. Crawford's high school. Laura E. Fuller, eldest daughter of Luman Fuller, and wife of John L. An- drews. Samuel C. Fuller, brother of Mrs. Andrews, bookseller and postmaster of Traverse City. Sardis F. Hubbell and wife, nee Emily A. Mowry, of Howell, Livingston county. Willard C. Wixom, half-brother of Mrs. Crawford, founder of the village of Wixom. and senior partner of Wixom & Sibley. Margaret Wells, now wife of William A. Arms, a merchant of this village. Sarah A. Wells, her sister, wife of B. F. Davidson, a successful farmer of Highland. Reuben Wood, a brother of Mrs. Crawford, now a business man of Grand Ledge, Eaton county, and one of its first settlers. John Ross, M.D., physician and large landholder, Texas. ( Bradley M. Thompson, a successful lawyer, now of East Saginaw. S. Emory Casey, railway superintendent, of Mississippi. Joseph E. Bigelow, son of the first teacher of the town (Mrs. Bigelow), lawyer, a graduate of the State university. Sanford Ladd, lawyer, also a graduate, now resident of Kansas City, Missouri. Clara Fuller, his wife afterwards. Thomas, James, Wal- ter, and Sarah Crawford, still residents here, and Clark Crawford, now resident of Pontiac, children of Alfred Crawford, judge of probate of this county, and who died an incumbent of that office. Mary E. King, now the wife of Jason Rich- ardson, of Leavenworth, Kansas. Cephas B. Robinson, who was superintendent of the Reform school at Lansing at the time of his death, a few years ago. Jay Marlatt, of Lyon, and his sisters, Margaret and Eleanor; the first now the wife of Hiram Covey, and the latter wife of Spencer Renwick, of Lyon,-Renwick him- self one of their pupils. Rufus M. Ladd and wife, nee Maria Mudge, now de- ceased. Joseph Vowles, manufacturer and land-owner, still resident here. Tru- man B. Fox, editor and proprietor of the Rochester Era, Rochester, of this county. A. W. Arms, justice of the peace, and resident merchant, Wixom. Elisha C. Newman, farmer, and resident here. H. D. Tenney, Findley H. Trump, and Mrs. E. A. Tenney, née Harriet Stoddard, all residents and in business here. William Johnson and wife, nee Nancy Phillips, daughter of Leonard Phillips, Esq., residents of this town. Hundreds of names equally worthy of mention might be added to the foregoing list of names, but want of space forbids. Since the close of his labors, in 1860, Mr. Crawford has been engaged in various enter- prises, which are more fully named in a brief biographical sketch in this work.
THE UNION SCHOOL
was formed by the consolidation of districts 4 and 5, September 6, 1869. The old building was repaired, and the frame portion of the present structure was subsequently erected. The trustees were John L. Andrews, William Greig, B. F. Wells, H. H. Van Leuven, and Daniel Morrison. The first principal was G. A. Brown, who was followed by P. M. Barker, Jesse McIntire; and in 1877 he was again engaged. The present corps of teachers consists of G. A. Brown, prin- cipal ; Mrs. Imogene Brown, Misses Eunice A. Ruggles, Emma Stephens, and Ida
J.J. MENDHAM.
CYRENA MENDHAM.
RESIDENCE OF J. J. MENDHAM, MILFORD, OAKLAND CO, MICHIGAN.
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Lamphier assistants. The number of scholars enrolled is three hundred and forty; number attending school, three hundred and two ; number of months taught, ten ; value of building, six thousand dollars : seating capacity, three hundred and fifty.
The graduates of the class of 1877 were Misses Mary Harper, Lizzie B. Thomas, Susie L. Browne, and Linnie B. Hutchison.
The common schools of Milford township generally are in a prosperous con- dition, have comfortable houses and good teachers ; and the people evince a com- mendable interest in matters pertaining to the education of their youth.
MILFORD LODGE, NO. 165, F. AND A. M.
This Masonic body was organized January 13, 1865, with the following officers : James B. Newton, W. M .; Joseph Pickering, S. W .; David S. Martin, J. W. The officers elected and installed at the last annual installation were : R. M. Ladd, W. M .; John Pettinger, S. W .; John Honeywell, J. W .; C. L. Northrup, Treas- urer, T. M. Birdsall, Secretary ; A. J. McCall, S. D .; William Price, J. D. ; H. D. Tenny, Tyler.
The society rent the hall they meet in, which was dedicated as a temple of Masonry December 21, 1869, by Hon. H. M. Look, of Pontiac.
The present membership of the society is one hundred and eight.
MILFORD CHAPTER, NO. 71, ROYAL ARCH MASONS,
was organized May 10, 1870, under a dispensation granted by the general grand chapter of the State of Michigan, with twelve charter members. The following were the first officers of the chapter, viz. : T. A. Smith, H. P .; I. P. Jackson, K .; S. B. Ferguson, S .; H. D. Tenny, C. H .; R. M. Ladd, P. S .; J. F. Pick- ering, R. A. C .; Charles W. Cate, M. 3d V .; F. H. Trump, M. 2d V. ; William P. Seever, M. 1st V. and Treasurer ; H. Crawford, Secretary ; D. S. Martin, Sentinel.
At the present time the chapter consists of thirty-nine members, with the following officers : I. P. Jackson, H. P. ; William P. Seever, K. ; P. S. Shepherd, S .; H. D. Tenny, C. H .; R. M. Ladd, P. S .; J. F. Pickering, R. A. C .; J. Allen, M. 1st V. ; J. Pettinger, M. 2d V .; William Stephens, M. 3d V. ; A. G. Shofer, Treasurer ; F. H. Trump, Secretary ; J. S. Wooton, Sentinel.
PETTIBONE LODGE, NO. 208, I. O. O. F.,
was instituted May 22, 1873, with the following charter members : W. R. Chapell, J. N. Lisk, S. M. Brown, Daniel Parbell, Charles Phipps, A. H. Hungerford. J. N. Lisk was elected the first Noble Grand, and W. R. Chapell the first Vice- Grand. The present officers are : George Dunham, N. G. ; Rev. N. Wright, V. G .; Charles Van Dusen, Secretary ; A. D. Mosier, Treasurer. The present membership is fifty.
KNIGHTS OF HONOR, NO. 564,
was instituted April 9, 1877, by D. D. S. Dictator, A. Terry. The charter mem- bers and first and present officers are : C. L. Northrup, P. D .; E. C. Roberts, V. D. D .; William H. Sebring, Dictator ; S. L. Rowe, A. D .; James Van Dusen, Guardian ; George Foot, Sentinel; Alvah Phillips, Reporter ; William Stephens, H. Rutzep, J. S. Wooton, and J. S. Hewitt, Trustees ; Dr. Hagadorn, Chaplain ; Dr. R. Johnson, Treasurer ; C. E. Lovejoy, Financial Reporter; A. H. Hungerford, Guide; C. Van Leuven. The present membership is twenty.
MILFORD REFORM CLUB.
Since the inauguration of the red ribbon or temperance reform movement over the country, nearly every village and hamlet in the land is represented by a local organization. Milford has quite a flourishing club, and one which has done, and is doing, a great deal of good in the cause of temperance and in the reclamation of the victims of the bowl. It is very gratifying to those interested to observe the beneficial results of the movement, as having been the means of reforming a number of local inebriates, who, apart from the habit of intemperance, are good men and worthy citizens. The series of temperance-meetings, lectures, and fes- tivals which have been had, under the auspices of the Milford Reform Club, have tended in a sensible measure, by social intercourse and moral suasion, to do what social ostracism and legal measures signally failed to accomplish.
On the 16th of May, in the year of our Lord 1877, a largely-attended mass- meeting was held at Milford, for the purpose of organizing a red ribbon or re- form club, which was done by enrolling a membership of two hundred and thirty, and electing the following officers : President, W. F. Wait; First Vice-President, William Perigo; Second Vice-President, Edward Kelley ; Third Vice-President, B. F. Howland; Secretary, L. McCoy; Financial Secretary, Frank Hubbell; Treasurer, E. C. Roberts ; Steward, Walter Crawford ; First Marshal, John Briggs; Second Marshal, Henry Servis; Sergeant-at-Arms, William Greig.
The club has rented for one year the room on Main street formerly occupied by H. H. Van Leuven as a store. Since the organization of the club its mem-
bership has increased to four hundred. It is now in a flourishing condition, and the enthusiasm that has characterized its operations so far will, doubtless, insure an enduring permanency, and a success commensurate with the intensity of interest that actuates the principal supporters and friends of the institution.
MILFORD GRANGE, NO. 377, P. OF H.,
was organized March 18, 1874, by State Deputy C. M. Wood, with the following charter members : John Sherwood, Master; J. C. Kinsman, Overseer; E. C. Newman, Lecturer ; John J. Mendham, Steward; A. B. Kinney, Assistant Stew- ard ; Francis Potts, Chaplain; William Clark, Treasurer ; James Greason, Sec- retary ; John Reed, Gate-keeper; Mrs. Francis Potts, Ceres; Mrs. E. C. New- man, Pomona ; Mrs. Kate Kinney, Flora ; Mrs. J. C. Kinsman, Lady Assistant Steward; Richard Hale and wife, Joseph Dickerson and wife, H. R. Kinney, Mrs William Clark, Mrs. James Greason, Mrs. John Reed, Mrs. John J. Mendham, Daniel Calkins, Orlando Calkins, Christopher Calkins and wife, Daniel Houghton, Francis Houghton, Albert R. Kinney, Alford B. Kinney, Charles Palmer, Lawrie Potts, Ambrose Orvis, Thomas Stevens and wife. The membership at first was thirty-six ; it has since been augmented to sixty. They formerly occupied the hall over Wm. Potts' agricultural implement store, in Milford, but now meet in the residences of some of the members. The officers elected at the last meeting were : E. C. Newman, Master ; John K. Reed, Overseer; D. A. Calkins, Lecturer ; John Bush, Steward; H. R. Kinney, Assistant Steward; William Potts, Chaplain ; J. C. Kinsman, Secretary ; William Clark, Treasurer ; Francis Potts, Gate-keeper ; Mrs. Francis Potts, Ceres; Mrs. E. C. Newman, Pomona; Mrs. Kate Kinney, Flora ; Mrs. J. P. Dickerson, Lady Assistant Steward.
THE FLINT AND PERE MARQUETTE RAILWAY.
The most prosperous period in the history of Milford was during the years from 1850 to 1856. In the latter year the Detroit and Milwaukee railroad was con- structed, and in a large measure took off the trade of the village. The business portion of the community saw that the only way to obviate the decrease in trade was to open railway communication with Milford, and thus, partially at least, secure to it the business that the Detroit and Milwaukee railroad had taken from it. For the furtherance of this enterprise several meetings were held, which were devoid of the desired results up to 1865, when the act of the legislature, known as the " Enabling Act," was passed, by which the people were authorized to sub- scribe by tax and otherwise to the Holly, Wayne and Monroe railway. The work of subscription was commenced under Messrs. Henderson Crawford, chair- man of the board of commissioners, and David H. Kirkpatrick, engineer of the company. These gentlemen succeeded in negotiating about three hundred thou- sand dollars of the company's stock, and in 1869 five-mile contracts for the con- struction of the road were let to various contractors. Bridges were built, piles driven, and grading done to the extent of two hundred thousand dollars, when the financial management found that it was impossible to continue operations for the want of funds. It was finally decided to negotiate with the Flint and Pere Marquette railway company for aid ; which was accordingly done. In September, 1871, the road was completed; and in May, 1872, it was consolidated with the Flint and Pere Marquette railway and its various branches, assuming the title of the above road, as at present.
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