History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories, Part 66

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts & co.
Number of Pages: 553

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 66

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The construction of the road, and its subsequent consolidation with a prosper- ous corporation, had the desired effect on the prosperity of the village, and gave an impetus to its growth and to the development of its manufacturing and busi- ness interests which are highly beneficial to the place.

As an evidence of the material importance of the village we will state that it now has four general stores, of which those of John Crawford and F. M. Ladd are among the most extensive. There are seven grocery-stores, of which those of James Austin & Bro., E. C. Bennett, Lovejoy & Son, Hubbell & Smith, Craw- ford & Van Dusen, and R. C. Bridgeman are the principal ones. It has three drug-stores : J. S. Hewitt, Davis & Grundy, and D. Morrison. Several dry-goods stores, notably those of William A. Arms, Thornhill Brothers, and H. Ratzek. A number of boot and shoe stores, among which Milton Williams, W. F. Barrett, and B. F. Russell take the lead. There are two furniture-stores, conducted by F. Ferguson and J. C. Danson. The village is supplied with all of the modern facilities for the transaction of its business, such as the post-office, with daily mails from all the principal points on the railroad, and from various villages by regular routes, an express-office, telegraph-office, and railroad depot.

The manufacturing interests are extensive, as can be seen by reference to the notices of the most important of them in the preceding pages of this work. It has two hotels, the " Milford House," of which William Odell is proprietor, and the " Central House," under the proprietorship of Frank Rice. There are two livery-stables, run by P. C. Slaughter and Horace Pinny.

Milford is situated in the midst of a fine agricultural country, and is a good

2:28

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

market for all the products of the farm. There are several extensive grain-buyers, the most prominent of whom are Stephens & Roberts, and two grain-elevators.

The moral and intellectual status of the place is sustained by various religious and benevolent institutions, churches, schools, etc. It has four churches,* denomi- nationally classified as follows : one Methodist Episcopal, one Congregational and Presbyterian, one Baptist, and one Roman Catholic. It has a good graded school, in the management of which great care is exercised, both in manner of its work and in the selection of its teachers. The place supports a weekly newspaper, which, under the editorial control of J. P. Jackson, its present proprietor, is an ably-conducted and interesting family journal. It has one lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and a chapter of Royal Arch Masons, a lodge of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd-Fellows, a lodge of Knights of Honor, a Red Ribbon Reform club. and reading-room, and a grange of the Patrons of Husbandry.

The delightful location of the village, which lies nestled on the banks of the Huron. surrounded by verdure-clad hills and fertile plains; the salubrity of the air. and its consequent healthfulness ; the abundance and cheapness of its domestic market. and its ample facilities for travel and transportation, render it one of the best places for business enterprise or retirement in the State. And many farmers who have toiled for years on their land, and by persistent industry and care have made it bring forth its increase, are now enjoying the fruits of their labors by spending their declining years in comfortable homes in the village.

In fine, the indications for the subsequent prosperity of Milford are highly flat- tering : and that it will one day become a place of very considerable importance is a fact established beyond reasonable doubt. It had the good fortune to be settled by an enterprising and thrifty class of people, and the impress of their work is ineffaccably left as a criterion for the present generation, who are energeti- cally engaged in its fulfillment.

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

Foremost in the ranks of the profession in Milford is found Dr. Henry K. Foote, who located here in 1838, and of whom a more extended notice is given elsewhere. He died in 1863. Dr. Fox came the same year as Dr. Foote, and died after two years' residence, in 1840. Dr. Zebina M. Mowrey located in Mil- ford in 1841. He was a graduate of the. Berkshire medical college, Massa- chusetts, and a most thoroughly-educated physician. He died while riding, August 1, 1874, of disease of the heart. He was a man of distinguished ability as a physician, and highly esteemed as a citizen. He was in practice for several years with Dr. Henry Foote, and with him was honored with official position by the votes of the people. He was in the State legislature in 1847, and the con- stitutional convention of 1850. Dr. Joseph Browne settled in Milford, July 17, 1850. He was a graduate of Edinburgh University, Scotland, and was formerly a surgeon in the British navy. He died April 23, 1877, of apoplexy. Dr. Robert Browne came to Milford in 1849, and Dr. Alexander Bryce about the same time or later. Dr. D. S. Martin located here in 1845, and removed to White Lake in 1875, and engaged in farming. Dr. Robert Johnston settled here in the spring of 1866. He is a graduate of the Ohio medical college, at Cin- cinnati, and also of the Bellevue Hospital medical college, New York city, and is still in practice. Dr. W. F. Honey located here in 1868. He is a graduate of Cleveland medical college, Ohio. He removed to Bay City, Michigan, in 1875. Dr. A. D. Hagadorn located in Milford in 1873. He is a graduate of the medical department of the University of Michigan, and is yet in practice here. Dr. Charles G. Davis located in Milford in 1875. He is also a graduate of the Michigan University, medical department, and is in practice here.

We acknowledge ourselves indebted to the following persons for assistance in the compilation of the history of Milford: Henderson Crawford, Esq., Leonard Phillips, William Potts, Ansley S. Arms, Thomas Curdy, John L. Andrews, Mrs. Laura E. Andrews, John Crawford, Abel P. Grow, Seldon Vincent, Mrs. Charles T. Riley (formerly the Widow Mendham), C. L. Northrup, Charles Lovejoy, town- ship clerk, and others.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

LEONARD PHILLIPS.

Among the representative men and pioneers of Milford township, the gentle- man whose name heads this sketch holds a prominent position. Coming here as he did when a few straggling log houses constituted the entire settlement in what now comprises the township, and at a time when hard and persistent labor, hard- ship and trial, were the prime factors, not only of success, but even of life itself,

he has witnessed the progress of the township, and has accomplished not a little himself towards its development.

Leonard Phillips was born in Ontario county, New York, March 26, 1811, whence his father emigrated from Massachusetts, seventy-eight years ago, with his family of six children. He died at the age of eighty-nine years and seven months, where he first settled, and doubtless now holds a higher and nobler place in the spirit world.

At the age of twenty-two years Leonard Phillips married Miss Rosetta Al- bright, and immigrated to Michigan in the month of May, 1833. In 1852 he sustained the loss of his wife, who had been to him a faithful companion and a true and loving wife and mother. He married a second time, his choice falling on Miss Henrietta Lapham, who is still living. He has twelve children living, all of whom enjoy good health, and are worthy representatives of worthy parents.

Mr. Phillips experienced considerable sickness when he first came to the country, but after becoming acclimated he has had no serious inconvenience, except on one occasion, when his life was almost despaired of by his friends, and he believes with them that had he not received assistance from the spirit world he would have "joined the white-robed throng" in the eternal hereafter.

Mr. Phillips is the only surviving pioneer who purchased land directly of the government. When he came in he was accompanied by his brother, his brother's wife, and their three children. They cleared up the farm afterwards owned by the Widow Harper, and now owned by George Harper, on which they hewed the logs, made the shingles, framed and inclosed a log house, and moved into it in eight days.

He now owns one hundred and eighty-five acres of well-improved land, on which he has fine, substantial buildings, as can be seen by reference to the illus- tration elsewhere in this work.

Mr. Phillips is Democratic in politics, adhering to the old-time principles of Jacksonian Democracy. In religion he is a spiritualist, having embraced the be- lief of that body about eleven years since, after a thorough investigation of its merits as a belief. Finding it all he could wish, he has since been a firm advocate of its principles, and like the poet, believes

" There is no death : the stars go down To rise upon some fairer shore, And, bright in heaven's jeweled crown, They shine for evermore. And ever near us, though unseen, The dear immortal spirits tread, For all in God's great universe Is life. There are no dead."

Mr. Phillips is a man of sterling integrity, good judgment, and practical economy. He enjoys the respect and esteem of his neighbors, and altogether presents a fair type of the pioneer citizen. (See illustration and portraits.)

LUMAN FULLER.

Among the worthy pioneers and representative men of Milford, the subject of this brief sketch occupied a prominent position.

Luman Fuller was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, in 1801. At an early age he removed with his parents to Mendon, Monroe county, New York, and subsequently, in 1831, to Michigan. He took up six hundred acres of land on section 10, in Milford, the deeds for which are signed by Andrew Jackson. After entering his land in Milford, he settled at Birmingham, this county, and went into the hotel business, being one of the pioneer hotel-keepers of the county. In 1834 he settled on his land, and occupied himself in clearing it. In 1836 he erected the grist-mill now owned and operated by Jacob Peters, and conducted the same until 1840, when he sold it, together with thirty acres of land, to ( William J. Wells. The balance of his large tract he kept and managed up to his death, which occurred June 1, 1866.

Mr. Fuller was three times married, and raised nine children out of a family of twelve. Of these, but one now resides in the township or county,-and that one is Laura E., now the wife of John L. Andrews, Esq., who lives on the old home- stead. The balance of his large family are residents of different parts of the Union, and are all doing well, being worthy descendants of a worthy parent.

In religion Mr. Fuller was a Presbyterian, having been one of the original members of the United Congregational and Presbyterian church of Milford, to which he belonged up to the time of his death. In politics he was originally a Whig, and subsequently, on the organization of the Republican party, became a member of it.

In character he was a man of unblemished reputation, industrious and econom- ical, honest and upright in his business relations, and diligent in the care and management of his extensive property.

* For more extended notices of these various affairs, see under their proper headings.

Thomas Burchy

My of y bundy

PROPERTY OF THOMAS CURDY, HIGHLAND TR. 3 MILES NORTH OF MILFORD,

OAKLAND CO. MICH.

RESIDENCE OF THOMAS CURDY, MILFORD

229 .

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

In 1862 he returned temporarily to Detroit, and while there started on a trip to California, in company with ex-Governor Baldwin. While on their way out, the boat they were in was captured by the " Alabama," and each of the passengers were compelled to give a bond, to be paid to the Southern Confederacy when it should have control of the government, which, fortunately, never transpired. He also made a trip to Cuba, and remained there one winter, in order to recuperate his health, which had become impaired by close application to his business.

He subsequently returned to his home in Milford, where, surrounded by the several members of his family, on the 1st of June, 1866, he breathed his last, and went to his grave an honored and respected pioneer and citizen.

HON. JOHN L. ANDREWS,

son-in-law of Luman Fuller, was born in Monroe county, New York, April 8, 1822. When in his fourteenth year he removed to Michigan, and settled at Brighton, Livingston county, where he remained until 1840, when he came to Milford, and went to work for William J. Wells, in the mill. He there learned the trade of a miller, which he followed for a number of years. January 15, 1859, he married Laura E. Fuller, being at the time a widower. He now has a family of five children,-one by his first and four by his present wife,-namely : Charley B., Luman F, Harry C., Walter K., and Arthur E.

In politics he is Republican, having been elected by that party to represent the third (now the second) district in the State legislature, in 1871. He served the people faithfully and well in that position. In religion he is a Presbyterian. He is now engaged in farming, occupying the old Fuller farm, than which no better exists in the township. (See illustration and portraits.)

JAMES MOORE.

James Moore, son of Henry and Sarah Moore, was born in the town of Stark, Herkimer county, New York, March 14, 1826. In the fall of 1833, being then seven years of age, he came with his parents to Michigan, and settled on a farm which his father located from government, in the township of Milford, this county.

April 4, 1861, he was joined in marriage with Miss Maria Everett, of Lyon township, Oakland County, Michigan. They have three children : Catherine L., their elder daughter, was born January 25, 1863; Martha Z., born July 9, 1865; John Everett, born March 5, 1871.

Henry Moore, father of James Moore, was born in Springfield, Otsego county, New York, December 2, 1798, and died in Milford, July 10, 1842. Sarah Wil- sey Moore, mother of James, was born in the town of Stark, Herkimer county, New York, April 15, 1800.

John Everett, father of Mrs. Maria Moore, was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, April 18, 1809 ; immigrated to Michigan in 1829, and died in Lyon town- ship, November 12, 1869.

Polly Harvey Everett, mother of Mrs. Maria Moore, was born near Fairport, Monroe county, New York, February 7, 1814; died in Lyon township, this county, October 2, 1867.

James Moore is a gentleman who occupies a very prominent position among the extensive farmers of Oakland County. He was born on a farm, raised as a farmer, and by mature experience and agricultural education is certainly one of the best and most successful farmers in this county, and among the best in the State. He now owns five hundred and twenty-five acres of land in Milford town- ship, and five hundred and forty-three in Lyon, making a total of one thousand and sixty-eight acres, the cultivation of which he personally superintends. As a citi- zen he is public-spirited, and always liberally supports all institutions of a benevo- lent character. As a neighbor he is highly respected, and in his domestic life is loved and revered. His wife is a lady whose attainments eminently qualify her to preside over their beautiful home. Her fine taste for flowers is lavishly dis- played in the beautiful conservatory attached to the house, and in the well-kept beds in the garden, as shown in the illustration on another page. Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Moore are also inserted.

JAMES MENDHAM.

James Mendham was born in England in 1802. He emigrated to America in 1833, and four years afterwards settled in Milford township, on the farm now owned and occupied by his son, John J. Mendham, and resided there until his death, which occurred in 1843.

In 1837 he married Mary Ann Potts, sister of Mr. William Potts, one of the oldest remaining pioneers of Milford. Mrs. Mendham (now the wife of Charles T. Riley, of Milford) was born in England in 1815.

Mr. Mendham was a good practical farmer, and by industry and economy accu-

mulated a handsome property. In politics he was a Whig; in religion he was liberal. He was generally considered a good citizen and an honest man.

JOHN JAMES MENDHAM,

son of the above couple, was born in Milford, January 24, 1842. Married Cy- rena Clum, November 29, 1863. The issue of this union has been four children, -one boy and three girls,-namely : Minnie F., born October 15, 1864; Wil- helmina, born August 27, 1867 ; Bertha, born March 28, 1874; Burt James, born September 23, 1875.

Mr. Mendham now owns and cultivates one hundred and forty-two and one- half acres of land, has fine stock and good buildings, and is considered a good practical farmer. In politics he is a Democrat; in religion a Methodist. (See illustration and portraits.)

THOMAS CURDY.

Thomas Curdy was born at Clarence, Erie county, New York, March 25, 1816. He was early taught those habits of industry and self-reliance which have been so beneficial to him in his subsequent life, and to which he owes, in a large meas- ure, his present success. He worked by the month for nine years, and saved . enough to purchase of the government eighty acres of land, which he did on arriving in Michigan, in 1836. In 1843 he settled in Highland township, on part of the farm of two hundred and two acres he now owns, located on sections 28, 29, and 33. In 1869 he removed to Milford township; and to his present farm, in the same township, in 1873. This farm contains one hundred and sev- enty-four and a half acres of land, which Mr. Curdy has improved, and keeps highly cultivated. On this is his home, a substantial residence, with good out- buildings, and everything calculated to enhance the personal comfort of himself and of his estimable wife.

In 1844 Mr. Curdy married Miss Sarah J. Lockwood, a native of Parma, Monroe county, New York, where she was born September 2, 1829. They have had a family of six children, of whom five survive, namely :

Amelia Ann, born March 6, 1845; married Henry C. Andrus, January 15, 1867.

Scott Eugene, born December 26, 1846; married Sarah J. Miller, December 10, 1868.

James Franklin, born May 15, 1848; died May 20, 1849.

Thomas J., born December 11, 1851.

Sarah Effie, born February 16, 1853 ; married Thomas Thornhill, of Milford, November 24, 1870.

Frank L., born June 25, 1854 ; married Capitola B. Nicholson, October 24, 1876.

During the trouble between the government and Canada over the Mckenzie affair, Mr. Curdy served as a militia-man for one month ; thus evincing a patriot- ism which he sustained at the more recent trouble occasioned by the Rebellion. Though disqualified by age to serve as a soldier, his heart was always with his country, and his purse ever ready to aid the cause. He started in politics a Whig, casting his first vote for Harrison, in 1840; remained with that party all through its existence, and on the formation of the Republican party was one of the first to espouse its principles. He never aspired to any political preferment, always choosing to vote intelligently, and to support such candidates as were worthy his suffrage and that of the party he represented. He was once elected justice of the peace for Highland township, but failed to qualify, not desiring the office. He was induced to serve one term as township treasurer, the only office he could ever be persuaded to fill.

In religion he is liberal, never having joined any religious denomination. His life has been an upright and honorable one, equally as fruitful of good as though he had made a profession of religion. He is generally regarded as a representa- tive citizen ; a good, practical farmer, and a man of sterling integrity. In his private life he is a kind and affectionate husband, and a fond and loving parent, which are the grandest constituents of individual character, and the highest attributes of human worth. (See illustration and portraits.)

JOHN KESBY.

This gentleman was a native of England, having been born at Kent, July 23, 1809. He emigrated to America in 1824, and first settled in New Jersey, sub- sequently in Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, and finally, in 1833, in Milford township, Oakland County, Michigan. Mr. Kesby was twice married, first to Mrs. Betsy Moore, a widow lady, and mother of Judge John Moore, of Saginaw. After her death, in January, 1860, he remarried, this time Miss Lucy A., daughter of Eleazur E. Calkins, Esq., of Lyon township, who survives him, and now resides in the village of Milford.

230

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

Mr. Kesby was essentially a farmer. He first settled and improved the farm now owned by Charles P. Bennett, on section 29, and subsequently the one now owned by Jonathan Phillips. In religion he was a Methodist, having belonged to that denomination of Christians for the last twenty-five years of his life. In politics he was nominally a Republican, but always exercised his own judgment in casting his ballot, supporting the candidate he thought best fitted for the office for which he was nominated, regardless of partisan bias. By industrious and frugal habits he became quite well-to-do, and left his widow in very comfortable circum- stances, his property being entirely unincumbered at the time of his death. Ne- gotiations had been entered into having the sale of his farm in view, which were perfected by his widow after his demise, she deeming it prudent to retire to the village and live on the interest of her dower.

Mr. Kesby was a gentleman well and favorably known in this community, and was respected by all with whom he came in contact, either in business or society. He was a genial, whole-souled man, who extended hospitality ungrudgingly, and lived such a life as gave promise of an eternal reward. (See illustration and portraits.)

H. CRAWFORD.

Henderson Crawford, Esq., who first came to this town in 1839, and has been a resident here between thirty and forty years, was born in Seneca, Ontario county, New York, August 11, 1818; purchased a farm in Wayne county soon after his arrival here, and devoted his time alternately to the business of farming and teaching. Two years were thus occupied, when he married Miss Sarah W. Wood, also a native of western New York, born at Perrinton, Monroe county, October 23, 1822. She was one of the pupils in the first school he taught in this State. She came with her parents to this State in 1825, settling in the town of Farm- ington, then a wild, new country. Losing her father within a year after his coming here, after many privations and hardships her mother became the wife of Ahijah Wixom, Esq., and removed to the township of Commerce, in 1836. The relations of teacher and pupil were exchanged for husband and wife December 30, 1841. Since the spring of 1845 they have been permanent residents of the village of Milford, and have been most thoroughly identified in the history of this township and village. They are the parents of eight children,-two daughters and six sons, -- now all grown to years of manhood and womanhood: Lucy A. Crawford, born August 30, 1844, now wife of Edward Cahill, Esq , prosecuting attorney of Ingham county, and resident of Lansing, the State capital. Charles A. Crawford, born August 30, 1846, has been a resident of Traverse City, Grand Traverse county, since 1865;

has been connected since that time with the heavy mercantile and lumbering firm of Hannah, Lay & Co. Theron C. Crawford, born November 30, 1849, is a journal- ist, being now a.resident of Washington, D. C., and is Washington correspondent of the Chicago Times. Sarah E. Crawford, born September 2, 1852, has been a resident of Lansing since August, 1874; has a position in the auditor-general's office, and resides with her sister, Mrs. Cahill. Reuben H. Crawford, born Octo- ber 18, 1854, is now a resident of Chicago, Illinois, in the employ of the same firm as his elder brother, Charles. Willard H. Crawford, born July 23, 1857, has been a resident of Detroit two years ; is with E. W. Stoddard, an old pupil of his father's, in the hardware trade. The next son, George S. Crawford, born June 18, 1859, quite recently entered the employ of Hannah, Lay & Co., at Chicago, with his brother Reuben. The youngest son, Fred. C. Crawford, born September 15, 1861, is still with his parents, a resident here.

Mr. Crawford has held various offices of trust ; was justice of the peace from 1854 to 1858; was in the legislature during the sessions of 1861, 1863, and 1865; was enrolling officer for the town during the war of the Rebellion, and after com- pleting the enrollment, was ordered to report to the provost-marshal's office at Pontiac for duty, and continued in that office during the war. At the session of the legislature of 1865 he procured the passage of the enabling act for the build- ing of the Holly, Wayne and Monroe railway, and was elected chairman of the board of commissioners for the subscription of stock for the building of that road. He spent four years in the prosecution of this enterprise, and to his efforts, con stant and untiring, more than to any other single individual, in the expenditure of time and means, is this section of the country indebted to-day for railway commu- nications with the outer world. This railway was consolidated with the Flint and Pere Marquette, under the general name of the latter, in May, 1872, that com- pany,-the Flint and Pere Marquette railway company,-by the terms of the consolidation, agreeing to assume the indebtedness and pay all the outstanding liabilities of the Holly, Wayne and Monroe railway company. This contract they have shamefully ignored, and those who have faithfully labored for the suc- cess of the railway company are compelled to resort to litigation to secure their just rights or let them go by default,-a case of peculiar hardship, for a single in- dividual to attempt to cope with a wealthy corporation, made so by the hard labor and expenditure of money by those whom they thus attempt to defraud. Such dealings of railway companies with their employees have been the fruitful cause of the strikes and riots which lately devastated and destroyed millions of property and countless lives. It will be understood that Mr. Crawford was working under a contract made in writing, entered into in accordance with a vote of the stock- holders at a regular meeting of the same, and called for that purpose.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories, Part 66

Author: Durant, Samuel W Publication date: 1877 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts & co. Number of Pages: 553

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts & co.
Number of Pages: 553