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 9
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The assessment for 1828 was as follows : Troy township, $63,190 ; Bloomfield, $59,368; Farmington, $44,000; Oakland, $66,074; Pontiac, $106,377,-total, $339,009. The total taxes were as follows :
County.
Town.
Total.
Bloomfield
$144.34
$155.50
$299.84
Troy ..
150.04
73.00
223.04
Farmington.
104.53
64.00
168.53
Pontiac
253.24
194.00
447.24
Oakland
174.16
118.91
293.07
Total
$826.31
$605.41
$1431.72
The property assessed in 1828 consisted of horses and cattle of one year old and upward, wagons, carts, clocks, and watches, all assessed at their actual value. Notes, bonds, money, and stock in trade assessed similarly, and indebtedness de- ducted therefrom.
The assessment of 1829 produced the following taxes :
Town.
County.
Total.
Pontiac.
$460.00
$168.00
$568.00
Bloomfield
205.00
67.00
272.00
Troy.
47.00
61.00
108.00
Oakland
106.00
59.00
165.00
Farmington
66.00
48.00
114.00
Total
.$984.00
$403.00
$1227.00
At the March session, 1830, the following, called by the officials a moderate cash valuation, was fixed by the board as the rates of assessment for that year : Stallions kept for stock purposes, one hundred and fifty dollars; other horses, first- rate, seventy-five dollars ; second-rate, forty dollars ; third-rate, twenty dollars ; oxen for the same rates, fifty dollars, forty dollars, and thirty dollars per yoke ; cows, same grades, sixteen dollars, twelve dollars, and eight dollars ; hogs over one year old, one dollar and fifty cents ; sheep not valued. Household furniture and books exempt. Wagons rated as above, forty dollars, thirty dollars, and sixteen dollars; pleasure carriages, forty dollars ; carts, twenty dollars ; no other farming utensils valued, or to be assessed. Clocks and watches, five dollars and upward. Indebtedness to be deducted from personal property valuation. The sheriff was ordered to finish and furnish the court-room, and get it ready for occupancy by October 1, next ensuing. In October, Supervisor Hunter was directed to get a stove for the court-room. The taxes for 1830 amounted to five hundred and thirty dollars for township purposes, two thousand and thirty-nine dollars and sixty-seven cents for county purposes,-in all, two thousand five hundred and sixty-nine dollars and sixty-seven cents. In March, 1831, the job of completing the court-house was let to John W. Hunter and G. O. Whittemore; and at the- same meeting, in 1833, the balance was paid to the contractors and the work ac- cepted. At the October session, 1831, Elias Comstock appeared as clerk of the board, and at this session Southfield township was first represented thereon by Henry S. Babcock, its first supervisor. This meeting was held at the house of Solomon Close. Many meetings were held at Colonel D. Stanard's house in Bloomfield, in 1831-34. The tax levy of 1831 amounted to two thousand one hundred and forty-nine dollars and ninety-one cents for township and county pur- poses, including Sagana (Saginaw county), ninety-five dollars and fifty cents, and Southfield, one hundred and seventy-two dollars and ten cents. At the March meeting, 1832, Gardner D. Williams, supervisor of Sagana township (Saginaw county), appeared as a member. The assessment for 1832 amounted to six hun- dred and nine thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight dollars, Southfield being placed at thirty-one thousand four hundred and seventy-nine dollars, and Sagana (all of Saginaw county) at twenty-six thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight dollars. The treasurer's report, made in March, 1833, showed the following dis- bursements for the one year last past : poor account, five hundred and forty-four dollars and thirty-nine cents ; jail repairs, two hundred and forty-three dollars and one cent ; wolf-bounty, four hundred and ten dollars ; general expenses, five hun- dred and ten dollars and seventy-five cents,-total, seventeen hundred and eight dollars and fifteen cents. At the October session, 1833, the following newly- organized townships were represented by their first supervisors: Royal Oak by Major Curtis, Novi by Samuel Hungerford, and Grand Blanc (county of Genesee) by Norman Davison. The total assessment, that year, of the county and its dependencies amounted to eight hundred and nine thousand eight hundred and forty-eight dollars, and the total taxes to five thousand five hundred and fifteen dollars and eighteen cents. The new townships' first tribute as the price of inde- pendent sovereignty was as follows :
Assessment.
County Tax.
Town.
Total.
Novi.
$85,941.00
$424.15
$102.07
$526.22
Royal Oak.
28,966.00
143.14
48.41
191.55
Grand Blanc ..
22,906.00
112.61
116.45
229.06
E. Jewett was allowed fifteen dollars for arresting and taking to jail an Indian named Pa-ba-mash.
28
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
At the October meeting, 1834, four new townships were represented, viz .: Mia, in the county of Lapeer, by Oliver Bristol, supervisor; Commerce by Harvey Dodge, West Bloomfield by Terrel Benjamin, and Lyon by Wm. Dutcher. The assessment of the county was equalized by adding one per cent. to the assessment of Farmington, Troy, and Grand Blanc. The aggregate assessment of the county and territory under its jurisdiction amounted to nine hundred and ninety-six thousand and eighty-one dollars, and the total levy of taxes to three thousand three hundred and forty-seven dollars and six cents for county, and two thousand six hundred and ninety dollars and eighty-three cents for town purposes. The new townships were assessed and taxed as follows :
Assessment.
County Tax.
Town.
Total.
Mia.
.. $8,774.00
$36.26
$44.74
$81.00
West Bloomfield ..
40,971.00
169.15
57.29
226.44
Commerce.
16,436.00
49.06
41.43
90.49
Lyon.
34,364.00
141.85
105.26
247.11
The bounty of five dollars for wolfs' scalps was repealed, and one of three dollars, in conjunction with the State bounty of ten dollars, offered. Up to this time, from 1827, three hundred and seventy and more wolves had been killed in Oakland County. At this meeting the board resolved to allow the county officer no more rent for office room furnished by them.
At the October meeting, 1835, the following new towns were represented by their first supervisors : Waterford by Isaac I. Voorheis, supervisor of Pontiac on preceding board; Milford by Abel Peck; Highland by R. Tenney; Avon by Wm. Price; Groveland by Nathan Herrick ; and Orion by Jesse Decker. The total assessment of the county for 1835 amounted to one million forty-seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-five dollars, and the tax levy to four thousand two hundred and forty-nine dollars and seventy-nine cents for county, and two thousand and eighty dollars and seventy cents for town purposes.
The new townships' proportion of these amounts were fixed as follows :
Assessment.
County Tax.
Town Tax.
Total.
Avon
$89,209
$361.47
$155.40
$516.87
Waterford
36,058
146.11
38.42
184.53
Highland
23,238
94.15
55.84
149.99
Milford.
22,034
89.28
68.09
157.37
Orion
21,530
87.23
38.68
125.91
Groveland
10,089
40.87
21.18
63.05
At the October meeting, 1836, but one new sovereignty appeared among its peers, White Lake sending her first chief officer, Alex. Galloway. The first assessment of the property of the township for taxation was placed at fifteen thousand eight hundred and forty-two dollars, and the taxes to be paid thereon at sixty-three dollars and thirty-six cents for the county, and thirty-nine dollars and seventy-three cents for the township. At the October session, 1837, six new townships were present by supervisors or tax list, viz. : Addison by Lyman Boughton ; Brandon by G. P. Thurston ; Independence by J. Clark; and Rose by J. A. Wandle. Oxford and Springfield paid taxes that year, but were represented at the October meeting. The total assessment of the county was fixed at two million two hundred and eight thousand three hundred and fifteen dollars. The first State tax was paid this year, and Oakland's proportion amounted to two thousand and forty-three dollars and seventy-seven cents; the county taxes amounted to six thousand eight hundred and ninety-three dollars, and the town- ship levies to three thousand six hundred and ninety-five dollars and eighty-four cents, making a grand aggregate of twelve thousand five hundred and thirty-two dollars and sixty-one cents.
Of these amounts the new towns bore the following proportion :
Assessment. State Tax. County Tax. Town Tax.
Total.
Addison
$59,063
`$54.23
$184.54
$115.78
$354.55
Brandon ..
43,666
40.30
136.48
54.00
230.68
Oxford
62,509
57.72
195.79
101.04
354.55
Independence
73,818
68.28
230.88
80.00
379.16
Rose
63,727
58.94
199.09
127.48
385.51
Springfield.
73,437
67.82
229.45
135.00
432.27
At the October meeting, 1838, Holly came into and completed the circle of towns, by J. T. Allen, her first supervisor, and was assessed by so doing a tax of one hun- dred and three dollars and six cents for State purposes, two hundred and thirty dollars and eleven cents for county uses, and her own necessities called for seventy- three dollars and thirty-nine cents more, making her first tribute amount to four hundred and six dollars and fifty-six cents, levied on an assessment of sixty-six thousand six hundred and thirty-four dollars.
The legislature of the State did not seem to take kindly to the supervisor system, and in 1838 remanded the strong-box of the county into the keeping of a board of county commissioners, who made their début before the people, their masters, on the 7th day of January, 1839, the following gentlemen appearing and being sworn into office : Isaac I. Voorheis, George Brownell, and Wm. M. Axford. They organized the board for business by choosing Commissioner Voorheis chair- man. They allowed eleven dollars and three cents for burying a pauper, and four
dollars for trimming the judge's chair, and elected the first county superintend- ents of the poor, viz. : Wm. Price, Harvey Seeley, and Friend Belding, for a term of one year. They abolished the distinction between county and township poor, adopting them all as a county charge.
At the January meeting, 1840, John W. Hunter appeared as commissioner, vice Brownell, whose term of one year had expired. At the August meeting of the same year, Commissioner Axford being absent on the first day, Stephen Reeves, the judge of probate, was sworn as special commissioner, as provided by law in such cases. There was no change in the composition of the board from this time on to the last meeting thereof in March, 1842, at which time the curtain fell on their brief drama, and rose again on the anniversary of the natal day of the republic, as the new dramatis persona, the restored board of supervisors, made their re-entrance and assumed direction of affairs. John Ellinwood was chosen chairman of the re-established authority, all of the towns being repre- sented except Milford. The assessment of 1842 was fixed at two million one thousand nine hundred and six dollars on real estate, and at one hundred and thirty-eight thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine dollars on personal property. Total, two million one hundred and forty thousand six hundred and eighty-five dollars.
At the January meeting of the board in 1862, one of the members, the supervisor from Oakland, Mr. Redfield, having received a commission in one of the Michigan volunteer regiments, his brother members presented him a sword and belt at the close of the session one day. The action of the board during the war of the Rebellion was prompt and patriotic. The amount raised for relief of soldiers was liberal, and for the encouragement of enlistments munificent, some two thousand three hundred and twenty-six dollars and fourteen cents of bonds being issued for the latter object.
At the October meeting, 1865, a bill for stores furnished the county jail con- tained a charge of forty cents for tobacco, which was at first rejected, but after- wards, after a warm discussion, allowed, by a vote of twelve to seven, the ayes and nays being demanded on the question. One of the supervisors introduced a resolution indicting the custom of furnishing the weed to the prisoners at the county's expense, and which indictment contained a general count against the practice of using the same by anybody, but it touched too near the individual members, probably, for it was laid on the table. Among the first wolf-bounties paid, was one paid on the following certificate :
" Territory of Michigan, 1
County of Oakland.
" I hereby certify, that Wm. Keyes produced a skelp of one woolf, beang above the age of six months ould (which skelp and ears was destroid in my presents. I, William Keyes, do solemnly swear that the woolf mentioned in the above cirti- ficuit was killed in the town of Troy, in the county aforesaid, and was killed on the 7th day of Nov., 1828. And further, I have not spared the life of any bitch woolf in my power to kill with a desing to increase the breed. I further believe the said woolf was above the age of six months ould. Sworn and subscribed, &c., before L ---- W-, J. P."
The report of the county treasurer to the board of supervisors for the year ending December 31, 1876, showed an amount of ninety-two thousand four hundred and twenty-two dollars and eight cents received by him ; twenty-two thousand and sixteen dollars and twenty-three cents being for State taxes, forty- six thousand two hundred and fifty dollars for county taxes, and nine thousand one hundred and eighty-three dollars and eleven cents the liquor taxes paid in the county. Among the disbursements were eleven thousand one hundred and seven dollars and fifty-three cents for pauper relief on the poor-farm, in the townships and at the insane asylum at Kalamazoo; twenty-eight thousand and thirty-eight dollars and ninety-five cents for the general expenses of the county ; five thousand one hundred and fifty dollars for salaries ; and four thousand two hundred and twenty-five dollars and ninety-eight cents for jurors and witnesses.
The assessment and taxes of the county for the year 1876 were as follows, by townships :
Assessment.
State Tax.
County Tax. Town Tax.
School Tax. $1222.73
Total.
Avon.
542,470
1701.81
2365.71
1450.00
3217.54
8735.16
Bloomfield.
534,920
1677.81
2332.36
683.00
3658.54
8351.71
Brandon ..
222,200
696.93
968.84
764.00
2034.61
4464.38
Commerce
321,480
1008.34
1401.72
250.00
2284.93
4944.99
Farmington
534,100
1675.24
2328.78
1850.00
3215.88
9069.90
Groveland
204,910
642.10
893.45
329.24
1619.10
3484.49
Highland.
272,010
853.17
1186.02
250.00
1637.64
3926.83
Holly
330,195
1035.67
1439.71
470.69
5482.18
8428.15
Independence.
368,000
1154.25
1604.55
-400.00
2938.43
6097.23
Lyon.
410,110
1486.33
1788.16
60.00
2458.10
5792.59
Milford ..
420,408
1318.63
1833.06
668.00
4719.66
8539.35
Novi
438,225
1374.52
1910.74
1025.00
2606.94
6917.20
Oakland.
366,195
1148.59
1596.68
450.00
2000.00
5195.27
Orion
278,110
872.30
1212.61
200.00
2052.08
4336.99
.
Addison
$241,440
$757.28
$1052.73
$326.78
$3359.52
29
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Assessment. .$330,750
State Tax.
County Tax. Town Tax.
School Tax.
Total.
Oxford
$1037.35
$1442.05
$400.00
$2660.26
$5539.66
Pontiac Township
368,845
1156.90
1608.23
450.00
1430.59
4645.72
Pontiac City, Ist Ward .. 154,980
486.10
675.74
1892.81
2982.64
6037.29
=
2d Ward .. 174,650
547.79
761.50
2084.17
3284.26
6677.72
3d Ward .. 237,225
744.06
1034.34
2848.42
4488.67
9115.49
4th Ward .. 324,460
1017.68
1414.71
3964.74
6244.43
12,641.56
Rose .....
225,890
708.51
984.72
536.00
1145.16
3374.39
Royal Oak
285,680
896.04
1245 58
500.00
2743.12
5384.74
Southfield
375,370
1177.36
1636.68
500.00
2398.61
5712.65
Springfield
260,340
816.56
1135.13
325.00
1804.36
4081.05
Troy
510,730
1601.94
2226.88
351.51
2701.70
6882.03
Waterford
375,900
1179.03
1638.99
200.00
3516.67
6534.69
West Bloomfield.
323,880
1015.87
1412.18
225.00
#2500.00
5153.05
White Lake.
222,180
696.87
968.75
250.00
1878.28
3793.90
Total. .$9,655,733 $30,285.63
$42,100.00 $23,704.36
$80,927.11 $177,217.70
The State board of equalization, at their last meeting in 1876, placed the proportion of Oakland's assessment for State purposes at twenty-six million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which sum forms the basis of State taxation for five years,-1876 to 1880, both years inclusive. The total assessment of the State was placed at six hundred and thirty millions of dollars, on which amount the levies of the years before named have been and will be made ; and the amount charged to Oakland will be such proportion as the assessment before named bears to the entire assessment, which will be collected on the local assessments of the townships, as equalized by the county board of supervisors. The equalization of the State and Oakland County remains unchanged from the valuation of 1871. There were five hundred and thirty-three thousand five hundred and three acres assessed in 1876 in Oakland County, exclusive of city and village property, at an average of thirteen dollars and ninety-one cents per acre. The valuation of per- sonal property in the county was fixed at one million five hundred and thirty-three thousand nine hundred and seventy-three dollars, being a per capita valuation on the population of 1874 (thirty-eight thousand and eighty-two), of forty dollars and twenty-eight cents.
The chairmen of the board of supervisors from 1827 to 1877, inclusive, have been as follows : Roger Sprague, 1827-31 ; Lemuel Castle, 1832 and 1835 ; Amos Mead, 1833; Major Curtis, 1834; Johnson Niles, 1836-37 ; L. M. Part- ridge, 1838; John Ellinwood, 1842; Erie Prince, 1843-44; Isaac I. Voorheis, 1845 and 1851; L. M. Mowrey, 1846; Chas. Blanchard, 1847; Chas. Baldwin, 1848 and 1853; Joseph R. Bowman, 1849-50; Wm. Axford, 1852, 1854, and 1860; Francis Darrow, 1855-56; N. W. Clark, 1857; J. H. Butler, 1858; Wm. Cone, 1859; Chas. V. Babcock, 1861-66; Thos. L. Patterson, 1867-75 ; Wm. E. Littell, 1876-77. The board elected in April, 1877, have not at this writing met and organized.
THE COURT-HOUSE AND COUNTY JAIL.
The first public buildings of Oakland County were erected in 1823-24, or, at least, their erection was begun in one or the other of those years. They were a court-house and jail combined in one building, which was built of squared logs and framed work, the lower portion being used for jail purposes, and the upper, or second story, the framed portion, being used for a court-room. Major Oliver Williams, of Waterford, had the contract for getting out the timber, and the plank of which the cells were made, and which was six inches thick, was sawed at Mack's mill, Colonel Almon Mack, now living at Rochester, in Oakland County, acting as sawyer. The jailer's residence was in the upper story of the building also. The proprietors of the village plat of Pontiac made large concessions in aid of the erection of this building, subscribing heavily therefor. It stood very near the location of the present court-house. The upper portion of the building, however, was not finished during the existence of the board of county com- missioners, by whom it was begun, and at the first meeting of the board of supervisors a room was ordered finished in the southeast corner of the second story, which was done in 1827, and two additional rooms finished off in the jail- hall, early in 1828. The court-room was not finished until the summer of 1830. At the March session of the board of supervisors, 1835, a resolution was intro- duced to petition the legislative council for a law authorizing a loan to build a court-house, but it was rejected by a vote of nine to four. At the February term of the circuit court, 1835, the grand jury indicted the court-house for inconvenience, and asked the board of supervisors-in which request the presiding judge of the court joined-to take immediate steps towards the erection of a convenient court-house, and the action of the supervisors was above shown.
At the October term of the supervisors, 1835, a resolution to appoint a com- mittee of five to procure drafts and plans for a court-house was lost by a vote of ten to eight. At the March session of the board a committee reported in favor of extensive repairs on the old court-house, and again in October another appro- priation was made for finishing the prison-cells, the whole amount appropriated for the year amounting to two thousand dollars. An act was passed in 1835 autho-
rizing the board of supervisors to loan sufficient funds to build a convenient court-house, fixing no limit to the amount to be expended, but limiting the taxa- tion therefor to one-fourth of one per cent. in any one year. In October, 1836, another resolution looking to the erection of a court-house was voted down at the board of supervisors, twelve to six. In March, 1837, a resolution was carried through the board of supervisors, appointing supervisors Richardson, Niles, and Mack agents to negotiate a loan for the erection of county buildings, at a rate of interest not exceeding seven per cent., and to contract for the erection of a court- house, and to prescribe the plans. In case the legislature did not authorize the effecting of a loan by the county for such purpose, then the agents were to con- tract for brick and lumber necessary for the work, to be paid for out of the taxes of 1837. The committee effected nothing, and in October the clerk was ordered to give notice to the inhabitants of the county to take into consideration at the next annual town-meetings the expediency of making a loan for the erection of county buildings; subsequently, a committee, consisting of John Davis and N. B. Newcomb, was appointed to notify the people. At the March session of the board in 1838, the matter of a loan was referred to the people at the November elections next ensuing, and John Davis directed to give due notice of the same. At the October session, 1838, a sum of one hundred and eighty dollars was raised to pay the rental of a certain building for county purposes, and a committee was appointed to secure a lease of the same for six months, from January 1, 1839.
In March, 1839, two hundred dollars were appropriated for repairs on the old court-house and jail, and in October following six hundred dollars more went the same way. In June, 1840, the board ordered the sale of village lots, 29 to 34, inclusive, in Pontiac, the same belonging to the county, and the proceeds covered into the treasury for county purposes. In April, 1841, a contract was made by the county commissioners with Solomon Close, for the erection of a building for county offices, for the sum of nineteen hundred and thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents. John W. Hunter was appointed superintendent of con- struction, but he resigned, and E. B. Comstock was appointed to the position. This building stood just in front of the present court-house. The last session of the county commissioners, March 9, 1842, passed the following resolution relative to the county offices :
" Resolved, That if E. B. Comstock shall by the first day of July next com- plete, build, and fix fifty-nine feet of balustrade on the roof of the front side of the building of county offices, made panel work of good pine lumber, paint, sand, and letter the same with the words, ' Oakland County Offices,' he then and in that case shall be entitled to the sum of sixty-four dollars."
But the supervisors at their July session, 1842, rejected Comstock's bill, and allowed him but twenty-five dollars, on the ground that he had not fulfilled his contract with the commissioners.
%
In October, 1843, a committee of the board reported the jail insecure and the court-house unfit to use, and the grand jury indicted the same as a public nui- sance; and, thereupon, under this pressure, the supervisors submitted to the people the question of raising a sum, not exceeding eight thousand dollars, for the pur- pose of erecting new buildings, and the clerk was instructed to give due notice of the same for the April town-meeting in 1844. The people voted the proposition down, and at the October session, 1845, a resolution to appropriate two thousand dollars and appoint a committee to contract for a new court-house was rejected. Abner C. Smith, Esq., of Minnesota, writing of the old days in Oakland, says of the old court-house, " An old New England red school-house would be a fool compared to the ragged edges of the old tables, chairs, and benches, to say nothing of the judge's fixtures, all of which had once been in apparent good society." At every meeting heavy bills for repairs on the old buildings were audited.
In June, 1846, a resolution was passed that it was " highly necessary and proper that measures be taken for the erection of county buildings, and a committee of three be appointed to procure plans and specifications." In October following a committee of three was appointed to procure plans for a jail, and another com- mittee appointed to receive proposals for the erection of a new jail, to cost not exceeding four thousand dollars, which sum, at a subsequent meeting, was stricken out. The committee on plans reported October 16, and their report was accepted. November 26, 1846, the bid of Solon B. Comstock, of five thousand three hun- dred and seventy-eight dollars, being the lowest one received for the construction of a jail, was accepted, and a contract made with him accordingly. The lot cost two hundred and twenty-five dollars, and in October, 1847, Comstock was allowed one hundred and six dollars and fifty-one cents for extras on his contract. In June, 1848, Comstock's work was fully accepted, and his bond returned to him.
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