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 82
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FRANKLIN.
This village is located on the northern boundary of the township of Southfield, and three-fourths of a mile east of the town-line of Farmington. A small stream, sometimes called the Franklin brook, enters the village at its northern extremity, and, flowing in a southeasterly course, joins the main branch of the Rouge in the northwest quarter of section 16, nearly two miles, by the course of the stream, above Southfield Centre.
The land on which the village stands was originally purchased, as before men- tioned, by Dillucena Stoughton and Elijah Bullock ; the former owning an eighty- acre tract on the east side of, and bounded by, the present main street of the village, upon which he settled in 1824; and the latter owning two hundred and forty acres, extending west from the main street to the town-line, on which he settled in 1825; and both owned on the street a distance of half a mile north and south. At this point the growth was earlier and more rapidly developed than in the other parts of the town. Nearly all the trades which were prosecuted in the township were first commenced here. The first professional man and the first school were established here.
Dr. Ebenezer Raynale, the first physician in Southfield, came from Pennsylva- nia, in 1828, to the Stoughton and Bullock settlement (for at that time it had not been named Franklin), and there established himself in his profession. He arrived on the 6th of May, and took board in the family of Dorus Morton, a kinsman of his, who had come in the preceding year. Six days later, May 12, he made his first charge for professional services ; his first patient being the wife of George Gage, who was one of the seven heads of families whom the doctor found settled there at that time. They were as follows : D. Stoughton, Elijah Bullock, his son-in-law, George Gage, Dorus Morton, Samuel Babcock, Henry S. Smith, and Richard Bignall. Of these, rather singularly, there were three me- chanics,-Smith, a blacksmith, Bignall, a carpenter and joiner, and Morton, a mason and bricklayer,-each being first of his trade who commenced work in the township. The following spring a shoemaker-Harvey Lee-was added to their little community.
In the summer of 1828, H. S. Smith built the first frame house in the village ; the same already mentioned as having been completed in the same season in which Benjamin Fuller built the first frame in the township. Mr. Smith's house was located on the east side of the main street, upon a small lot which he purchased of Dillucena Stoughton, just south of where Van Every's temperance house now stands. It was afterwards occupied by Peter Van Every, Sr.
In the fall of that year the present name was officially given to the village, by the establishment of the post-office of Franklin, with Dr. Ebenezer Raynale as first postmaster, his appointment bearing date September 19, 1828. The office was first kept at the log dwelling-house of Dorus Morton, where the doctor boarded for the first year and a half of his residence in Franklin. He held the office until 1835, when, upon his resignation, he was succeeded by Winthrop Worthing, who, four or five years later, was succeeded by his son, Benjamin D. Worthing, who now resides in the State of Missouri.
A school was also opened in the village in 1828, in a log school-house that was built on the west side of the street, near the spot where Daniel Broughton's house now stands. The first teacher was Miss Sophia Gotie.
In the summer of 1829, Dillucena Stoughton built a brick house, which was not only the first of that construction in Southfield, but is said to have been the first in the county of Oakland. It was afterwards owned by Winthrop Wor- thing, and is now the residence of Dr. H. S. Buel. It was comparatively easy to erect a brick house at that point, as bricks could be had at Bigelow's kiln, only a little more than three-quarters of a mile to the westward, in Farmington ; while an excellent bricklayer was at hand in the person of Dorus Morton, who had pur- chased land of Mr. Stoughton, and was, without doubt, glad of an opportunity to pay for it in work at his trade. This brick house was Mr. Stoughton's residence for a short time, and after him was occupied by Winthrop Worthing. It had, with other property of Mr. Stoughton, been bargained by him to a Mr. McCraney ; but the latter never consummated the purchase nor assumed possession.
About this time a great impetus seemed to be given to immigration, and many new settlers came to Franklin and its vicinity. Some idea of the rapidity with which they came may be had from the fact that when, in 1830, Dr. Raynale went
to Pennsylvania for his wife, he found upon his return that forty families, by actual count, had come in and settled within four miles of Franklin during his absence of only twenty-five days.
A public-house was built in Franklin in the year 1830, by Elijah Bullock. It was a log structure, and stood on the west side of the main street, nearly oppo- site the present hall of the Odd-Fellows. Mr. Bullock had now added to his original trade of blacksmith and his later one of farmer that of publican. Whether he was prosperous in it we are unable to say. He was of Revolutionary stock, his father having been in that service, and he had two elder brothers killed in the memorable massacre of Wyoming.
The first store in the village was opened in 1830, by William Houston, from Orange county, New York, the store building being erected and owned by Dr. Raynale. Houston was a consumptive, and died in 1832, when the business of the store was taken by Dr. Raynale and Morgan L. Wisner, a brother of Gov- ernor Wisner.
In 1831, Mr. Bullock also built a store upon the west side of the street, above his tavern. It is in existence to-day, having been repaired and remodeled, and is now occupied as a store by John B. Rust. At its first opening in 1831, the proprietors were Frank Darrow and - Thompson. Their successors were E. Matthews and John T. Raynor.
About the time of the erection of Bullock's store, Harvey Lee, the shoemaker of the village, started the business of tanning, on Winthrop Worthing's land,- the Stoughton tract,-by a little run which emptied into the main stream ; but it does not appear that he ever accomplished much in that enterprise. Tanning was also afterwards attempted in a small way by - West, who had previously tried the same business on section 8 of the township ; but in both cases the results were insignificant.
About 1833 another tavern was opened, by Dorus Morton, in a frame house which he had added to his log dwelling, west of the street, on the lot purchased from Stoughton. Afterwards it was kept by a Mr. Hulburt, and later by William Van Every, who named it the " Franklin Cottage."
In the same year, Edward Matthews came from New York and purchased large tracts of land adjoining Franklin, but across the town-line, in Bloomfield, which he laid out in lots, intended to be an addition to the village, and he also made extensive preparations for the erection of a mill upon the stream, but his means became exhausted and both projects. failed, though the mill was afterwards built by Peter Van Every, as mentioned in the history of Bloomfield. Matthews did not make much investment on the Southfield side of the line, his principal enter- prise in Franklin being the store which he opened there in company with John T. Raynor, as mentioned above.
Peter Van Every, Sr., removed from the vicinity of Detroit to Franklin in the year 1837, purchased the property of Dorus Morton, and took up his residence in the tavern-house on the west side of the street. He also purchased from William S. Sears, successor or assignee of Edward Matthews, a portion of the land which the latter had bought on the Bloomfield side of the town-line; and there he (Van Every) erected the mill which Matthews had projected, but had been compelled to abandon.
Although Colonel Van Every's chief business-mill, distillery, and potashery- was located outside the township, his residence was always in Franklin, and he was probably as widely known as any citizen of the village or of Southfield. He died December 23, 1859.
The next year after the erection of the Van Every mill in Bloomfield, a grist- mill was built in Franklin, on the same stream, by Worthington & Pratt. (See "Oakland County Mill.") A distillery was also built on the stream below the mill, by Wm. A. and Aaron Pratt, who operated it for a time, then rented it to William Evans.
The Franklin House was opened as a hotel by George Green after the year 1840. It was not a newly-erected building, but was formed of the store which had been built by Dr. Raynale, and opened by Wm. Houston in 1830. Another building was moved and joined to this, and the compound structure, remodeled and re- paired, became the hotel of Mr. Green. It stood on the original site of the Houston store. It was kept as a public-house until quite recently, passing through the administrations of several landlords, among the latest of whom were N. D. Lane and Ransom Tucker. It is now a dwelling-house.
A steam flour-mill was built and put in operation in the village in the year 1851, by Colonel Van Every. It was equipped with good engine, boiler, and two run of burrs. It was not, however, a successful enterprise; and after run- ning for five years, then lying silent for three years more, its machinery was re- moved to Muir, Michigan, where it was re-erected and again put in operation. The foundation-walls of this mill are yet to be seen on the east side of the main street, at the upper end of the village, near the bridge.
Southfield lodge, No. 59, I. O. of O. F., holds its meetings in a good and com-
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
modious hall-building, which was erected in the spring of 1871, on land purchased from Dr. H. S. Buel, being near his residence, on the easterly side of the main street. The cost of the structure was seventeen hundred dollars, raised by volun- tary subscriptions of members of the lodge. It was dedicated in May of the year named.
This lodge was instituted April 30, 1852, with the following charter members: Isaac A. Chapman, O. W. Fuller, Jonathan B. Sherman, A. F. Jenks, G. Blind- bury, C. Lawrence, S. F. Beardslee, A. J. Owen, Wm. Smith, Luman Williams, and John M. Harden. Their first place of meeting was at Southfield Centre.
The re-organization of the lodge was effected July 12, 1865, with the follow- ing officers: N. G., Samuel Wheeler; V. G., Charles Coder; Rec. Sec'y, R. L. Bryan ; Per. Sec'y, G. Blindbury ; Treas., Nathaniel Higby. Number of mem- bers, thirty-five. The present officers-elected June 30, 1877-are: N. J. Rob- erts, N. G .; Melvin D. Sly, V. G .; John B. Rust, Rec. Sec'y ; Henry S. Cox, Per. Sec'y; Nathaniel Higby, Treas.
Franklin at the present time contains three physicians, a church, school-house, the post-office, one temperance hotel, two flour-mills (one being across the town- line, but still properly included with the village), three general stores, one drug- store, one hardware-store and tin-shop, four blacksmith-shops, and two wagon- shops. The village has not realized the expectations of those who came there forty years ago; still, it is far superior in thrift and enterprise to most places of its size which are similarly isolated from railway advantages.
SOUTHFIELD VILLAGE.
The location of this village-which is oftenest known as Southfield Centre- may be described as being on both sides of the road which runs from the quarter- post on the east line of section 20 westward to the river Rouge.
The first settlement upon its northern part, that is to say, north of the quarter- line, was made by Archibald H. Green in the year 1829. On its southern part 'Niah Dodd had built his cabin four years earlier, but had soon sold out to Hiram Sherman, who also, in a short time, wearied of his possession, and disposed of it to Moses Peck.
Mr. Green, a sober and industrious man, built upon his premises a log shop, in which he not only carried on the ordinary business of blacksmithing, but also upon occasion added to it the manufacture of cow-bells. This was the first mechanical industry of the place, and, in fact, about the only one of any kind except agricul- ture until the erection of Sabin's grist-mill upon the stream a few rods west, in the year 1837. Up to that time the farmers' trade of nearly all the southern portion of Southfield had been secured by John Trowbridge, at the store opened by him in 1832 or 1833, at a point in his farm a few rods north of where Dry run crosses the east line of the northeast quarter of section 28; this being the only merchandising establishment in the township south of Franklin. Near by this store a tavern was also opened about the same time by John Thomas, a most enterprising man, who came in the year 1831 from Geneva, New York, and purchased lands from George W. Cook and Abraham Crawford,-eighty acres from each,-on sections 22 and 27, seemingly with the expectation of building up at that place the central village of the township; which indeed he might per- haps have accomplished but for the illiberal spirit manifested by some of the proprietors of that neighborhood in the matter of the sale of their lands; the very opposite of the policy which was afterwards pursued at Southfield Centre. Thomas' tavern was built in the southwest corner of section 22, and the locality, thus advanced in importance by the store and the public-house, became known to some extent as " Crawford's Corners."
In 1833 the post-office of Southfield was established there, and a mail-route opened to Birmingham, Thomas receiving the appointment of postmaster and the award of the mail contract. This was another step towards giving importance to the place, and for some time the township-meetings were held at Thomas' tavern, and the Southfield militia " trained" at the corners, under command of Captain Morris Jenks and Lieutenants George Beardsley and Melvin Drake.
Two other stores were opened soon after, on the same section with Thomas' tavern ; one by Ammos Davis, on the northwest quarter, and the other by George P. Tyson, on the northeast quarter, by the stream, on the present farm of M. Erwin. Davis was a professional weaver, and besides his store he carried on in a small way the weaving of cloth in the same building. He afterwards removed to Birmingham, where he is still living. Tyson's store was soon discontinued, and after engaging for a while in saw-mill business with Benjamin Fuller, Jr., he removed from the township.
The above may be thought a digression, but when it is remembered that these enterprises were commenced within a short distance of the present village of Southfield, and that the trade and patronage which for a time supported them was afterwards transferred, with the post-office of Southfield, to its present loca-
tion, this short account of them will not be considered as irrelevant to the history . of the village.
Soon after the completion of the grist-mill at "the 'burgh,"-by which name the village then commenced to be called,-Cornelius Lawrence built a large frame house on the south side of the road, and opened it as a tavern, and it was not long after this (about 1838) that John Trowbridge, who evidently foresaw that the immediate vicinity of the grist-mill would become a better point for trade than Crawford's Corners, closed his store at the latter place, sold the building to Dr. John Jeffery,-the new physician, who had then just established himself there,-and removed not only his mercantile business but also the post-office to the 'burgh ; he having succeeded Thomas in the office of postmaster.
It was evident now that the Thomas settlement had seen its most prosperous days, and must definitely yield all hopes of village importance. After the open- ing of Lawrence's, the house of Thomas languished for lack of support, and after a little time was finally closed. It was afterwards changed into a store, by William Ives, Jr., a son-in-law of its former landlord, but it was unsuccessful and short-lived. Mr. Thomas died on the 19th of May, 1844, and lies in the burial-ground a little north of his old tavern-site.
The primary cause of the advantage gained by Southfield village over the settlement at Crawford's was the water-power furnished by the Rouge, and this was perhaps aided in a great degree by the public spirit and liberality of such men as A. H. Green and others ; but whatever may have been the causes, the result was the permanent establishment of the post-office and village of Southfield in their present location.
The village, however, has never attained any considerable size. The hotel opened by Cornelius Lawrence was kept as such for many years, but at last closed, as Thomas' had been, for lack of support. A store was afterwards kept in it, but that no longer exists. There is now no public-house here, nor in any other part of the township except Franklin. The village of Southfield now contains a flour- mill, the post-office, one church,-the Methodist Episcopal,-two wagon-shops, and the town-hall, which was built in 1873, and is a neat and appropriate build- ing. Prior to its erection the township-meetings had been held at private houses, at John Thomas' tavern, afterwards at that of Cornelius Lawrence, and in his ball-room after his hotel was closed, as well as in Murphy's wagon-shop, and per- haps at several other places.
THE SOUTHFIELD FLOUR-MILL.
This was erected in the year 1837, by Ezekiel H. Sabins, as has been stated, and was the first of the causes which brought business to Southfield Centre. It stands on the stream at the west end of the village, on land which Sabins pur- chased of Archibald H. Green. The present proprietor is Charles Chapman.
THE OAKLAND COUNTY MILL.
This is the name given to the flour-mill upon the stream at Franklin village. It was built in the year 1838, by Winthrop Worthing and William A. Pratt, proprietors ; the land upon which it was erected and the privilege of the stream being owned by Worthing, and the mill-work being done by Pratt, who was a professional millwright. Since their time it has passed through the hands of sev- eral owners, and is now operated by - Shackleton.
ERITY'S SAW-MILL.
This mill, before mentioned as the first saw-mill in the township, and built by Michael Beach and Joshua Davis in the year 1829, has passed through many hands and changes. Beach soon sold his interest to David Johnson, and it was then known as the Davis & Johnson mill. Some years later it was owned by Chester Reynolds, who, about 1842, put in a carding- and fulling-mill in a small building, which he built upon the same dam, but which is now gone. About 1850 he built a large building with the intention of making it a cloth-factory, but never accomplished it. The carding and fulling, however, was carried on in the new building, and afterwards a man named Roberts put in some machinery, and suc- ceeded in turning out a small quantity of cloths during a year or two. The fac- tory building is now used as a cider-mill and vinegar-manufactory by William Erity, Esq., who also still keeps the old saw-mill in operation during the season of abundant water.
THE DANIELS SAW-MILL.
This mill was built by John Daniels, in the year 1832, on the west fork of the Rouge,-sometimes known as the Franklin brook,-in the southwest quarter of section 4. It seems to be quite extensively believed that this was the first saw- mill in the township : but that question is satisfactorily set at rest by Deacon Mel- vin Drake, who recollects that, immediately on his arrival in Southfield in 1830, he bought sawed lumber for his floors, etc., at the Davis & Johnson mill, which was then in operation ; and that afterwards he attended and assisted at the raising
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of the Daniels mill. In one feature, however, the Daniels mill was first, not only in Southfield, but probably in the State of Michigan, namely, the running of a. muley-saw. Mr. John Waters had, at the time of the building of the mill, just returned from a visit to the State of New York, where, for the first time in his life, he had seen one of these saws in operation, and being charmed by its novelty, recommended the idea to Bryant Bartlett, the millwright of the Daniels mill, who, on having the principle explained to him, was pleased with, and adopted, the plan. It never gave good satisfaction, and was finally changed for the ordinary saw, but it gave to the Daniels mill the claim to be called the pioneer muley-mill of the west.
THE RODGERS SAW-MILL.
This mill, located on the main Rouge, in the southeast quarter of section 20, half a mile below Southfield Centre, was built by David Goss and Smith Parks, in 1835. It passed through the hands of various owners, among them being William Sturman, Fuller & Tyson (Benjamin Fuller and George P. Tyson), and later. Israel Rodgers. It is now owned by Alfred Adams. Its business is not very large.
SCHOOLS.
The first school in the township was, as we have seen, that taught by Miss Sophia Gotie, in the old log school-house at Franklin, in the summer of 1828. There was no winter term, and during the summer of 1829 the school was under charge of Miss Eliza Fuller. Winter terms were commenced soon after, and among the earliest male teachers were Morgan L. Wisner, his brother Ira, and his brother-in-law, John Robinson.
The next school commenced in Southfield was opened in the summer of 1829 or 1830, in the log school-house which stood on the east line of the southeast quarter of section 21, about opposite the present site of the First Presbyterian church. The first teacher was Miss Ruth Stoughton, daughter of Amaziah Stoughton, Sr., now Mrs. William Barnum.
At the second annual township-meeting, held on the first Monday in April, 1832. it was " resolved that there be five commissioners of common schools elected, to hold their office for three years;" and Heman A. Castle, Morgan L. Wisner, Melvin Drake, Mason I. James, and George Beardslee were elected as such commis- sioners. At the same time George P. Tyson, Henry S. Babcock, Ebenezer Raynale, Clement P. Rust, and Abraham Crawford were elected inspectors of common schools. But there were no districts organized at that time. An act of the legis- lative council, approved April 13, 1833, ordered " that there shall be elected in each township three commissioners of common schools, to hold office for three years. Duties, to lay off the township into school districts, and to establish the same by numbers in numerical order;" and under this act the first district was established in the township, November 9, 1833. There was, however, no general organization until June 21, 1834, when nine districts were organized.
The standard of qualification for teachers was not Ligh. A young girl who was able to read and write, and to " cipher" through the four primary rules of arithmetic, was considered a competent teacher for the summer term; and some of the males who " kept winter school" were more remarkable for physical than for mental accomplishments, though this was not the case with all. An old resi- dent of the township mentions an instance in which a teacher was employed to teach school in one of the log temples of learning, and who worked at clearing his land in the morning and evenings, before and after school. He had not very good government of the scholars, and one day, in the course of the customary jerking of a pupil from his seat to the floor, he burst the button from the collar of his shirt, which, however, in itself was no very remarkable occurrence, and was no more spoken of until the day of closing the school, when, at the winding up, "the master" thus made his farewell speech : " This is the end of school. If you have learned anything, I hope you'll remember it ; if you've been wounded, I hope you'll get over it ; and I hope Otis Fall will get his shirt-button sewed on again, if he hain't done it already." All of which was received in a spirit of great good humor by the boys, who forgot their cuffings and ferulings, and went home on the best of terms with " the master" and themselves.
At the present time there are ten districts in the township; some are fractional, but the houses are all located in Southfield except one. There are nine good school buildings : six frame, two stone, and one brick. Valuation of school- houses, eight thousand seven hundred dollars.
The number of pupils reported, five hundred and four; number attending school, four hundred and eighty-seven; number of months of schooling in the last school year, seventy-five and one-half,-that is to say, by female teachers, fifty- nine and one-half months; by male teachers, sixteen months.
Amount of salaries paid, males, seven hundred and fifty dollars ; females, fourteen hundred and thirty-nine dollars.
The schools are in a prosperous condition, with good and faithful teachers. Some of the higher branches are taught. The township school superintendent for
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