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 96
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119
" He lived on this place until 1832; sold it and purchased the east half of the northwest quarter of section 15, same town and range as first purchase. The deed for this purchase was signed by Andrew Jackson, and both this and the older one are in possession of Mr. Judd's son, D. M. Judd.
" Many of Mr. Judd's hunting excursions in Michigan would be interesting ; but one must suffice as showing his tact as a hunter, and that too after he was sixty years old. A good tracking snow had fallen early in November. Himself, his son (Daniel M.), and Silas Moon's son, Alanson (the latter nearly green at the business), started early, and about daylight struck the track of a doe and two fawns. The old hunter left the tracks for the boys to follow, and struck off to the right. After following about half a mile very carefully they came to a ridge, and about fifteen rods distant stood one of the fawns. The son drew up his gun and was nearly ready to shoot, when his father's gun cracked and the deer ran about a dozen rods and fell. They went on to the next ridge, and, looking the ground over very carefully, saw the other fawn standing about twenty rods off. The son drew up his gun again, but had hardly got it to his face when his father's gun cracked the second time and the other fawn was killed. The boys felt rather cheap at being tricked out of two shots so nicely ; so their father told them they could go on after the doe and he would dress the fawns and hang them up. They went on ; but the doe seemed to be thoroughly frightened, and they left the track, and in a short time found the tracks of two bucks, which they followed up, and killed both before night. After their father had hung up the fawns he took the doe's track where the boys had left it, and finally killed her. In a single day he has killed five deer ; of bears in a single day, three; of elk, two; of bears and deer, two of each. All that young Moon did in the killing of the two bucks
៛ Major Ol.ver Williams.
307
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
above mentioned was to shoot at one on the run and miss him, and to shoot at the head of one that was wounded and lying in a fallen tree-top about four rods off, and-miss it ! Two or three years later the young man died of scarlet fever, but in the mean time became a fair hunter.
" The last of September, 1842, Mr. Judd was attacked by bilious fever. Al- though possessed of a strong and robust constitution, he seemed to be very vul- nerable to bilious complaints, and was also very much opposed to taking medicine or having a physician called, and it was only by the earnest entreaties of his children that he yielded a reluctant consent. Dr. Paddock was first called, and then Dr. Williams ; but all seemed to do no good, and he expired the 15th day of October, 1842. His widow survived him twelve years, and died the 29th of October, 1854. He was five feet nine inches in height, and of massive frame, with great powers of endurance, his eyes light and features somewhat coarse. For dress and personal appearance he had no models,-would often go for days without a hat, never had but two or three pairs of shoes and but one pair of boots, the latter not half worn out when he died, but dressed his feet usually in moccasins, the deer-skins from which they were made being dressed and tanned by himself. From hunting so much he had acquired a noiseless step, which was a constant habit everywhere. A fox would hardly step with more care.
" His traits were no less peculiar than the man in other respects. He was un- educated, reading quite indifferently, but still he read understandingly whatever books came in his way, and remembered thoroughly their contents. He was a man of feeling and strong affections, and much attached to his children; was truthful and honest; never owned a house better than a log one, and never owned but one horse; nor could he estimate his worldly possessions at any time above fifteen hundred dollars. He never closed the door of his humble dwelling against the stranger, nor taxed him for the hospitality he received; never owed a dollar in the world, for what he could not pay for he went without. He always gave something to the needy and something for benevolent purposes.
" He believed in a Supreme Being, but not in any revealed religion, except so far as it is revealed through Nature's laws. He believed that whatever there was in store for us after death was a fixed fact in Nature, as much so as our exist- ence here, and that our belief or disbelief in regard to it would avail nothing,- that it is fixed and immutable ; that to be truthful and honest is best at all times and under all circumstances ; that our duty is to live a moral, virtuous, and use- ful life. In his last sickness he retained his senses to the close, and died without regrets or compunctions of conscience, or fears for the future."
When the log houses of Daniel and Philo Judd were built, everything was first made ready on the ground, and both houses were raised in one day. Among those who assisted on this occasion were Major Oliver Williams and his two sons, -Alfred and Benjamin,-Naham and Jeremiah Curtis, Harvey and Austin Dur- fee, Jacob Carman. James Allen, Jesse Chapman, Oliver and David Parker, Isaac I. and Isaac Voorheis, Ira Donelson, Deacon Atherton, Pliny Skinner, Harvey Seeley, Thaddeus Alvord, Robert McCracken (the poct), and Peter Leonard. All were residents of Waterford township except the Parkers, who lived in Pontiac township. Of this number the only one now living in Waterford is Isaac I. Voorheis, and but few of the rest are living.
Isaac Voorheis came from Seneca county, New York, in July, 1822,* arriving at Pontiac about the first of that month. He came in company with his brother- in-law, Harvey Seeley, who brought also his wife and two daughters with him. Mr. Seeley located on the farm now owned by Clark Seeley, section 25, and pur- chased several lots of government land. Mr. Voorheis worked for him several years, and in 1825 Mr. Seeley entered for him the east half of the northeast quar- ter of section 36. Mr. Voorheis worked most of the time on his place until July 5, 1827, when he married Sarah Terry, and moved 'with his bride to his farm, upon which they have ever since resided.
When Mr. Seeley and family first came, they lived in their wagon, Mr. Voor- heis making his bed under it, until they could prepare a log house. On Mr. Voorheis' place a log house had been built by one Tappan, an organ-maker living in Detroit. This was on his west eighty,-Mr. Voorheis having purchased one hundred and sixty acres (two eighties) additional in 1824-25, before he married. Mr. Voorheis' first log house stood on the east shore of Timber lake, and was a mere shanty, made of small logs, or poles. It had a roof made of " shakes" and bark.
The first white female child born in Waterford was Mr. Voorheis' daughter, Lucy A. Voorheis, whose birth occurred August 23, 1828. She is now living at home with her parents.
The first marriage was possibly that of Mr. and Mrs. Voorheis, although Mrs. V. was not living in the township. This couple are the parents of six children, -four sons and two daughters,-all living, two sons and two daughters in Water-
ford township, the oldest son at Ovid, Shiawassee county, and another son in West Bloomfield township, Oakland County.
Mr. Voorheis was in his sixteenth year when he came to the county, and has performed in the fifty-four years of his stay here a great amount of hard work. He is one of the few old settlers now living in the township, and the only one in the southeast part who voted at its organization.
Game was plenty here, as elsewhere in the county, and Mrs. Voorheis says, " The only music we had was made by the wolves !" Deer were very numerous, and as many as thirty at a time have been seen in the neighborhood.
Shiawasse and Saginawt Indians lived in this part of the Territory in consid- erable numbers, and traveled all through the country. A village of some seventy or eighty lived on the island in Orchard lake, West Bloomfield township. ruled by an old chief named, or nick-named, " Goody Morning" (Gu-te-maw-nin ?). He had two sons, who were very intelligent. The Indians were very peaceable, and so truthful that they could always be relied on.
Nathan Terry, a Revolutionary soldier, father of Mrs. Isaac Voorheis, came in 1824, and settled in Pontiac, on the Saginaw turnpike, two miles northwest of the town. He lived to be about eighty years old, and died in the winter of 1838.
James Allen arrived in Pontiac June 9, 1827. He was born in Rutland county, Vermont, and when a boy his father removed to Clinton county, New York.
In 1810, James Allen settled in the town of Cambria, Niagara county, New York. When he came to Michigan he was accompanied by his second wife and seven children,-four sons and three daughters. One son was born afterwards, February 3, 1829. James Allen was born in 1778, and died May 23, 1864, aged eighty-six years. His wife died in 1859, at the age of seventy-two (born in 1787).
When Mr. Allen and family left for Michigan they came by the Erie canal from Lockport to Buffalo, thence on board a schooner to Detroit, and at the latter place Mr. Allen hired a man named Baldwin to take them to their home in Waterford. Mr. Allen settled on the east half of the northeast quarter of section 23. He had been to Michigan and located his land in June, 1826, and in the spring of 1827 built a log house upon it, the logs being hewn on the inside. While at work building his house he boarded with Robert McCracken, who settled on the east half of the southwest quarter of section 23, probably in 1825. He was from the same neighborhood with the Allens, and was a queer genius. His time was spent more or less in writing rhymes, generally on something pertaining to Pon- tiac. These poems exist to-day in a small pamphlet published a few years ago. Their author became generally known as " Old Bob McCracken, the poet."
Jacob Carman and Joseph and Timothy Hawks were also early settlers in the township, coming about 1825. Carman purchased on section 24 and afterwards on 23. The Hawks purchased together the southeast quarter of section 23. Timothy Hawks died in 1826, and was buried on the lot owned by his brother Joseph.
Ira Donelson came from Colerain, Franklin county, Massachusetts, in May, 1827, and in June of the same year located on the farm where his son, A. B. Donelson, now lives. He was accompanied by his wife and four sons. Two children, a son and daughter, have been born since,-A. M. Donelson, October 2, 1832, and Mary A., now the wife of G. M. Shatuck, of Pontiac, July 4, 1830. All the children are living. From their old home they came by team to Buffalo, thence on a schooner to Detroit, being ten days or two weeks on the lake, owing to adverse winds. After their settlement, Mr. Donelson was sick with the ague a good share of the time for three years, and but for his wife would have returned to Massa- chusetts.
Two of the sons (H. L. and A. L.) are now living in Genesee county, one (Ira W.) in Pontiac, Oakland County, and the other (Park S.) in Toledo, Ohio, being presiding elder of the Northern Ohio conference of the Methodist church. The latter son acquired his education, by hard work, at Ann Arbor. His brother, A. B. Donelson, when ten or twelve years old, took three bushels of cherries to Flint, Genesee county, and sold them out by the handful, sending the money (six dol- lars) afterwards to him to help him through his college course. Ira Donelson died in August, 1873, aged eighty-three years, and his wife in 1865, aged seventy- two.
Among the great occasions enjoyed by the boys of the early times were " gen- eral trainings." Mr. Donelson's boys were given at one time a silver shilling each on training day, and all but one of them spent theirs for gingerbread and cider. The one who saved his didn't propose to do that, so he bought a shilling's worth of cheese and took it home, using it to bait his fox-traps with. The next morn- ing he went to one of the traps and found it turned over and the cheese gone, but no fox. The cunning animal, however, had left a mark by which the boy
* Probably 1823, as this is the year Mr. Seeley entered his land.
t Old spelling, Sagana.
308
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
might know he had been there, and to show his utter contempt for any such tricks to capture him. Thus it happened that the hopes so greatly built upon were thrown away. the boy's speculation was a failure, and he was very probably both wiser and sadder afterwards, and a little regretful at having spent all his money in cheese.
The orchard on the Donelson place was set out in the fall of 1827, the trees having been obtained at Mount Clemens, Macomb county. Most of them were lately standing. They were set among the stumps in a clearing Mr. Donelson had made. His first dwelling was a log house eighteen by twenty-four feet in dimen- sions. in which he lived till 1838, when the present frame house was built. When Mr. Donelson came west he had about five hundred dollars. In 1838, eleven years afterwards, he had the frame house, and a frame barn fifty-two by thirty-six feet. built, fifty or sixty acres of ground cleared, and was entirely out of debt. This, in a country almost entirely new. is quite remarkable.
Ferdinand Williams is a native of Wayne county, Michigan, having been born in Detroit in 1806. His father and grandmother were also born in that place. His grandmother's people were from France, and came with the Norman emigrants who settled in Canada in the seventeenth century. His grandfather's people on his mother's side were originally Welsh, and settled early at Albany, New York. They came to Detroit probably soon after Pontiac's war. Mr. Williams located on the farm where he now lives, on section 18, in October, 1829. He was accom- panied by his wife and one child, a daughter. He purchased eighty acres of gov- ernment land on the shore of the lake since named for him, and was the first settler in the neighborhood. He has now reached the age of seventy-one years, forty-eight of which have been spent in his present home.
Mr. Williams set out an orchard about 1832, and the trees are nearly all stand- ing, although he has been obliged to plant a number of times in order to keep up his stock, the peculiar climate of this region being very severe on apple- and other fruit-trees, which wear out within a few years after beginning to bear.
John W. Hunter came from New York in 1818 or 1819, and lived in Detroit four or five years. He afterwards located in Birmingham, Oakland County, and built the second house in the place. Is now eighty-six years of age, and lives on section 18, in Waterford township.
Henry Mead came from Seneca county, New York, in 1832, when twenty-one years of age, and located on section 27, purchasing over three hundred acres of land. partly from the government. The land on the south side of the road was first owned by one of the Voorheis family, and was the place where Ebb Voorheis now lives. Mr. Mead was either married just before he came, or shortly after, and raised six children, of whom three only are living,-one daughter, the wife of Ebb Voorheis, of Waterford township, and another in Byron, Shiawassee county. A son, by his first wife, is living in Tuscola. Mr. Mead himself resides in Pontiac. A portion of the old farm is now the property of Mrs. Robert Scott.
The farm now owned by Stephen Congar was originally settled by a man named James B. Hunt, one of the early comers to the township.
John K. Dewey is a native of the town of Royalton, Windsor county, Vermont, where he was born in 1795. When seventeen years of age he was apprenticed to a man named Simon Bingham to learn the carpenter's trade. In 1813, Bing- ham removed to Oneida county, New York, and Dewey went with him. In Au- gust, 1814, there was a call for troops to go to Sackett's Harbor, and the company of militia to which Mr. Dewey belonged turned out about one hundred men for ninety days. They arrived at the harbor the day following the engagement, and helped bury the dead,-a serious job for boys. They were discharged in about two weeks.
After Mr. Dewey had served his time as an apprentice he came to Monroe county, New York, and purchased a small piece of land, on which he built a house and shop, and in 1819 was married to Harriet Hunt, daughter of Stephen Hunt, who came to Michigan also in 1831. Finally, on the 1st of March, 1831, Mr. Dewey, in company with three other men, started with a good span of horses, two chests of carpenter's tools, and their personal baggage for Michigan; crossed the Niagara river at Lewiston. After a severe trip of fourteen days they arrived at Detroit, and then came as far as Bloomfield centre, Oakland County, where Mr. Dewey stopped for a while with his cousin, Apollos Dewey, and built a house for Richard Close. During the following June Mr. Dewey's family, consisting of his wife and two children, also his father-in-law and family, arrived, and all moved into the house upon which he was working.
Mr. Dewey purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 33, Waterford township, and on the first day of April, 1832, raised thereon the first frame house in said township. The building is now occupied by Amasa D. Chap- man, and stands on the south shore of Elizabeth lake. In the years 1836-37, Mr. Dewey built a house and barn for Butler Holcomb, in Clarkston, they being the first frame buildings erected in that village.
In 1840 he removed from his farm at Elizabeth lake to section 32, where he
lived for some time, and finally came to the place on section 31 where he now resides.
Amasa D. Chapman is a native of New London county, Connecticut, and lived in that State until he was in his nineteenth year, when-in 1818-he removed to the town of Le Roy, Genesee county, New York, with his parents. He came to Michigan, probably in 1837, and settled in Pontiac township. Since then he has lived a number of years in the State of Kentucky, and removed to the place upon which he now resides-west half of northeast quarter of section 33, Waterford township-the old Dewey farm-in 1857.
When Mr. Chapman came west he was accompanied by his four children,- three sons and one daughter. His wife was dead. He was afterwards married in Michigan, and is the father of nine children, of whom eight are now living.
Almeron Whitehead came from Westchester county, New York, in 1836, with his wife and three children,-one son and two daughters. He settled on section 33, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land. A small frame house had been erected on the place by Henry Hunt as early as 1835.
Mr. Whitehead is the father of nine children, of whom six are now living,- three sons and three daughters. He occupies a fine frame dwelling in a beautiful location on the south shore of Elizabeth lake. He has been a man of much prominence during his life in Oakland County.
Judah Herrington, a native of the town of Clarendon, Rutland county, Ver- mont, and afterwards a resident of Niagara county, New York, came from the latter county to Michigan in 1844. His father, Theophilus Herrington, was su- preme judge of the State of Vermont during the last sixteen years of his life. Judah Herrington has now reached an advanced age. He is postmaster at Four Towns post-office.
William Whitfield came from Hampshire, England, in 1835, and in May, 1836, located where he now lives, on section 17. He purchased eighty acres on this section of Fleming Drake, whose father had settled upon it a number of years be- fore and built a small frame house. Drake finally sold out, as his sons were largely imbued with speculative ideas, and the fine lands comprised in Drayton plains afforded a considerable field for their purpose.
Mr. Whitfield brought with him his wife and one child, and two children have been born to them since. All are living,-two sons and one daughter. Mr. Whit- field and an Irishman named Mitchell built the mill dam at Drayton Plains village in 1836-37.
Mr. Whitfield says he thought his place-the first time he saw it-was the finest he ever looked upon. The timber upon it was high and free from under- brush, and the beautiful sheet of water known as " Williams lake" reflected in perfect outline the foliage around it, and with its glassy surface and smooth beach made a pleasing addition to an enchanting landscape. The surroundings of Mr. Whitfield's home have not yet lost their beauty, although the timber has been cut away to a considerable extent. He and his son own fine farms on the shore of the lake, and the reader is referred to the lithographic views of these properties, whereby he may judge for himself of their picturesque attributes.
Henry Birge came from Lansing, Tompkins county, New York, in 1836, when a young man and unmarried. In December, 1838, he was married to Sarah Steeples, who came from the same locality in New York which he lived in. Some years after they were married Mr. Birge purchased the farm where they now re- side-on section 3-of James Townsend. The place was originally entered by Oliver Newberry, who sold it to Richard Townsend, and he to James Townsend. The latter rented it, and the first improvements were made by his tenant.
Mr. Birge is the father of six children, of whom five are now living,-two sons and three daughters. One son, John W. Birge, is the present township clerk.
Caleb Horton arrived in Michigan from Wayne county, New York, June 3, 1835. He was formerly from Orange county, New York. He was accompanied to Michigan by his wife and eight children,-four sons and four daughters; one son, E. J. Horton, was born afterward, in 1836. One daughter, Harriet, died in 1845, and the rest of the children are living,-five sons and three daughters. One son, D. B. Horton, is the present proprietor of the " Davisburgh House," at Davisburgh, in Springfield township.
Mr. Horton settled on section 20, where he owned eighty acres, and also had an eighty just south of it on section 29. He had made a trip to Oakland County in the fall of 1834 and purchased his land, getting it from a man named Mars. This person had built a log house on the place, and had set out an orchard. He was always known as " Old Thunder and Mars."
Mr. Horton died May 11, 1859, aged sixty-four years. His wife died on the 3d day of September, 1865, at the age of seventy.
Joseph Parshall came from Wayne county, New York, with his wife and nine children, in the spring of 1834, and settled on what is now the Ira Stowell farm, which he purchased from second hands. Mr. Parshall was a native of Orange county, New York. Ezra K. Parshall came to Michigan in the fall of the same
309
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
year (1834), and settled in Atlas township, Genesee county, where he has since resided.
FIRST TOWN-MEETING.
The first election for officers in Waterford township was held in the old school- house in district No. 1, on Monday, the 6th day of April, 1835. William Terry was chosen moderator and Isaac I. Voorheis clerk. The following were the officers elected :
Supervisor, Isaac I. Voorheis; Town Clerk, John B. Watson ; Assessors, Har- vey Seeley, William Terry, L. Brownson ; Collector, Warren Hunt; Directors of the Poor, Ira Donelson, Jacob Carman ; Commissioners of Highways, John K. Dewey, James Allen, Stephen Hunt ; Constables, Isaac Voorheis, Warren Hunt; Commissioners of Common Schools, Isaac I. Voorheis, Gabriel R. Findley, John B. Watson ; Inspectors of Common Schools, Ira Donelson, John B. Watson, John K. Dewey, William Terry, Allen Briggs ; Overseers of Road Districts, Ira Don- elson, John De Vore, Nathan R. Colvin, Charles Johnson, Jacob Voorheis, Jacob Carman, Daniel Huntoon, Daniel Judd, Levi Holden, Samuel C. Munson, Archi- bald Phillips.
At this election it was "Resolved, That the supervisor use his influence to raise the county bounty on wolves to five dollars."
The supervisors from 1836 to 1877, inclusive, have been as follows : 1836-38, Isaac I. Voorheis ; 1839, Michael G. Hickey ; 1840-43, Isaac I. Voorheis ; 1844, Almeron Whitehead; 1845, Isaac I. Voorheis; 1846-47, James Gow ; 1848, Ephraim J. Williams; 1849, Isaac I. Voorheis; 1850, James Gow; 1851, I. I. Voorheis; 1852, Lewis M. Covert; 1853, James Gow; 1854-56, Lewis M. Covert; 1857, Francis W. Fifield; 1858, Daniel M. Judd; 1859-60, A. G. Allen ; 1861-65, F. W. Fifield ; 1866-67, A. G. Allen ; 1868-69, F. W. Fifield; 1870, Almeron Whitehead; 1871, F. W. Fifield; 1872, A. G. Allen ; 1873, Mortimer A. Leggett; 1874-77, Ezekiel I. Osmun.
Township Clerks .- 1836-37, John B. Watson; 1838, Warren Hunt; 1839- 41, Alexander Galloway ; 1842-43, Amasa Green ; 1844-46, Daniel M. Judd ; 1847-48, Albert Marble; 1849, Francis W. Fifield; 1850, Stephen Besley ; 1851, F. W. Fifield; 1852, William Windiate; 1853-54, John F. Church ; 1855-57, Augustus G. Allen ; 1858-59, Peter W. Freeman; 1860-61, Julius A. Wilcox ; 1862-63, Erastus C. Herrington ; 1864-65, A. G. Allen ; 1866-68, Charles E. Dewey ; 1869-72, John W. Birge; 1873-74, William E. Carpenter ; 1875-76, A. G. Allen ; 1877, John W. Birge.
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.