Farmington is one of the southern tier of townships in Oakland County, and is joined on its north, west, and east, respectively, by West Bloomfield, Novi, and Southfield. In its northwestern part the land is in a few places inclining to be swampy, but the remainder of the township has a fine rolling surface and a most productive soil, which gives to Farmington a rank with the best of the townships in the county.
It is watered by several small streams, all following in a southeasterly direction, and all eventually joining their waters with those of the Rouge river. The principal of these takes its rise near the northwest corner of the township, and flowing obliquely through it, past the village of Farmington, turns the wheels of the different saw and grist mills of the town, and then passes out through the southwest quarter of section 36.
Signs of very old Indian occupation are found in various parts of the township; perhaps the most noticeable of these was a place of ancient graves upon the farm of J. B. Francis, in the southwest quarter of section 19, near the Novi town line. At this place seven skeletons were found in a single grave, while over another was growing a tree of nearly two feet in diameter. Probably, however, there were no large established Indian villages here. The township was originally covered with dense forests, which were highly prized by them as hunting-grounds ; and through here, too, passed their long path, known as the Shiawassee trail, over which they came and went on their predatory or hunting expeditions ; but the margins of the limpid lakes that lay farther north and west, and gave them fish in unlimited supply, these were the places where they preferred to plant their lodges, rather than in the comparatively unwatered region of which we write.

About the 1st of February, 1824, a party of pioneers, consisting of Arthur Power (a Quaker), his sons John and Jared Power, with David Smith and Daniel Rush, men working in Arthur's employ, all of Ontario county, New York, set out from Mr. Power's home in Farmington, five miles west of Canandaigua, in that county, with the purpose of making a settlement in Michigan, on lands which he had entered the year before, in surveyed township 1 north of range 9 east, in the county of Oakland.
Their conveyance was a sleigh, drawn by a pair of good horses, and they headed their team westward with light hearts and no lack of courage. Crossing the Niagara river, they laid their course through Upper Canada, and, meeting with no adventures more exciting than such as arise from extremely bad roads and worse lodgings and fare, with the occasional howl of wolf or scream of panther, to break the monotony of the route, they arrived at Windsor, opposite Detroit, on the 15th of February.
After the usual delay in Detroit for the purchase of supplies and the transaction of other necessary business, they traveled by the Saginaw road to Royal Oak, and thence to Hamilton's (now Birmingham), from whence they proceeded by the settlements of Jenks, Sly, Darkee, and Baker to their place of destination, which they reached late in the afternoon, when the sun was within an hour of his setting. Not much time was lost in preliminaries ; they saw the foe before them, the great forest trees, which the pioneer universally recognizes as his enemy, and they moved to the assault unhesitatingly. Two of the party seized their axes, and, selecting one of the largest trees, attacked it on both sides at once. The old woods rung and echoed to the strange music of the axes, whose strokes fell with rapid and regular beat until, before the sun had set, the old giant, which had stood there unharmed for a century, trembled, swayed, and fell crashing to the ground. This was the first tree felled in preparation for white settlement in the township of Farmington ; the day was the 8th of March, 1824, and those pioneer choppers were John Power, who four years lator was laid to his rest in the old cemetery, and David Smith, who, at the age of eighty years, is still living, a mile and a half from the spot where his axe first tried the quality of Michigan timber more than half a century ago.
The spot where they commenced their clearing is now included in the farm of Charles Chamberlin ; not where his dwelling stands, but a short distance farther east, by the bank of a small run. Mr. Power had purchased this one hundred and sixty acres for his son Nathan. He had also purchased, or promised to purchase, a quarter section for each of his other sons, John, Ira, Samuel, Abraham L., and William, and a tract of eighty acres for each of his daughters. He had, however, promised his eldest daughter, Mary, who was the female head of his household (he being then a widower), that he would purchase for her an additional eighty, in consideration of her remaining at home to superintend the dairy and other feminine departments ; and to Nathan, who had also consented to remain and conduct the operations of the farm during his absence, he had promised that his first clearing and improvements in Michigan should be made on his (Nathan's) tract, the northeast quarter of section 22. In pursuance of this promise the clearing was commenced there, and the work was pushed so energetically that a good log house was finished, and nine acres of wheat and six acres of corn were put in, that season
Other immigrants came very soon after the advent of the Power company. Seven weeks after their arrival came George W. Collins, who brought with him his wife, the first white woman who entered the township. Mrs. Collins remained at Mr. Power's clearing for several weeks, and attended to the cooking and other affairs of the house, while her husband was making a start upon his own land, and preparing a log house for their occupancy. They settled in the southwest corner of section 28, upon land now the property of B. B. Mosher. Mr. Joshua Simmons distinctly recollects an excellent breakfast (his first meal in Farmington) which he ate at their house in October, 1826, when on his way to settle on his land in Livonia. During the year 1824 there also arrived Solomon Walker, who settled in the northeast corner of section 30; Samuel Mansfield, on the northwest quarter of section 27, on the stream near where Shackleton's mill now is; George Tibbets, on the town line, in section 13; Orrin Garfield, now living in Holly, Sanford M. Utley and his sons, George and Peleg S. Utley, who came in July, and settled on the southwest quarter of section 12; and Robert Wixom, Sr., who came from Hector, Seneca county. New York, and settled on the southwest corner of section 15, the central point of the township. He had four daughters and five sons, Ahijah, Benjamin P., Isaac, Robert, and Civilian, three of whom were already grown to man's estate; Benjamin P. Wixom settled a mile northeast from his father, on the northwest quarter of the same section.
It was scarcely more than half a year after the first settlers came before death sounded his dread summons in their midst. His first victim was Mrs. Sanford M. Utley, who died in two months after her arrival, from the effects of a fall from their wagon, just as they first came in sight of the spot which was to be their home. It was a singular circumstance that the day on which her remains were committed to the earth was also the birthday of John Collins, the first white child born in the township. Both he and his mother, Mrs. George Collins, are now residents of Farmington village.

As soon as Arthur Power had reared the log buildings and completed such work as was the most immediately necessary upon the land of his son Nathan, he proceeded with his force to clear a site and erect a large log house on the high ground on the northeasterly side of the creek, opposite the present village, and this house he made his residence for a time. About two years after, however, he built another large, long log house on his land in the northeast quarter of section 28, the location being now within the village, where stands the orchard of his son, William Power.
Dr. Ezekiel Webb, who had been a neighbor and friend of Mr. Power in Ontario county, New York, and who was also a member of the society of Friends, was one of the immigrants of 1824. He arrived late in the season, and built a large double log house in the northeast quarter of section 28, the spot being precisely where now stands the house of Mrs. Cynthia Collins, in Farmington Centre. Dr. Webb was the first and only resident physician in the township, and his establishment there, in addition to the building of the large house by Mr. Power, and his (Power's) contemplated erection of a mill upon the stream, seemed to confer on that point and its vicinity an importance beyond that possessed by any other neighborhood in the township, and to mark it as the possible site of a future village. Thus it became a place of comparative note, and was known among the settlers for several miles around as "Quakertown ;" the designation being given on account of the religious tenets of several of the neighboring residents, but more particularly with reference to Mr. Power and Dr. Webb

The number of settlers was very largely increased during the year 1825. Among those who arrived that season were Howland Mason, a Quaker, who settled opposite to Solomon Walker, on the southeast corner of section 19 ; Solomon Woodford and his wife, who for a time took charge of the household affairs of Arthur Power; George Thayer and Rufus Thayer, Jr., brothers, who settled on the northeast quarter of section 31; George Brownell, who came early in the year, and built his cabin just west of Buckhorn Corners; Timothy Tolman, a carpenter, also at the corners, on the farm now owned by J. M. Tolman; Nathaniel Tolman, Timothy's cousin, who, in the next year (1826), was married to Mary Lewis. (This wedding was the first which took place in Farmington. It was solemnized before 'Squire Amos Mead, at the place where Charles Parkerson now lives: and the couple commenced their married life in a house in the northeast corner of section 24, where John Boyle's house now stands.) Warren Lee, a son-in-law of Solomon Walker, settled on the northwest quarter of section 28, now the premises of Mrs. Mason; Ephraim Hildreth Utley (not a relative of the Utleys at Buckhorn Corners), Timothy Allen, Calvin Ray, and Drown, coopers, who came in with Deacon Erastus Ingersoll, of Novi; Amos Mead, southwest quarter of section 21, where R. H. Hatten's place now is ; Horace Hopkins, Samuel Mead, who settled on southwest quarter of section 20, and brought, in his employ, a young man named Myra Gage, from Seneca county, New York ; Luther Green and Leland Green, on sections 29 and 32 ; William B. Cogsdill, Abraham Aldrich, and his sons Royal and Jesse ; Hezekiah B. Smith, who settled a mile north of the base-line ; Charles Grant and David Grant, brothers of Mrs George Brownell, near Buckhorn Corners, and Philip Marlatt, a mile and a half west of that point ; Seymour Newton, on the northwest corner of section 33 ; David Maden and Willard Wadsworth, both bachelors, the former of whom established his hall on the east side of the town, one mile north of the base-line, and the latter in the south part of section 20, on land now owned by Deacon J. M. Adams.
Seth A. L. Warner came in that year, and settled in the northwest quarter of section 15 ; John Crawford on section 6 ; Esek Brown, a blacksmith, settled a mile south of Farmington Centre. Orange Culver came in from Wayne county, New York, and arrived in the township on the 8th of May, 1825, and, with his wife, occupied a part of the log house of Benjamin P. Wixom until a cabin could be make ready upon his own land. Into this cabin they moved before a floor had been laid or the gables closed, and in this condition they occupied it for many months, and in that house he says they received many a visit from Indians, whom he always found friendly and well behaved. In company with him came his brother George, who, in the previous year, had entered the southwest quarter of section 10, and it was upon that quarter that the brothers made their settlement. Mr. Culver afterwards removed to other lands which he purchased on the northwest quarter of section 3, North Farmington. George now lives near Bath, Clinton county, Michigan. The Rev. Eri Prince and Edward Steel came in 1825, as also Constantine Wood, who arrived in the month of November, from Perrinton, Monroe county, New York. He died in less than a year after his arrival in Michigan.
David Smith, who, with John Power, had felled the first tree in the township, having now completed his years’ service with Mr. Power, for which he received one hundred and thirty-six dollars, purchased and settled upon the east half of ' the northeast quarter of section 23, being enabled to do so by pecuniary assistance generously afforded him by his former employer. Daniel Rush, the other man whom Mr. Power employed in New York to come with him to Michigan, had been seized with violent homesickness immediately on his arrival, and, after enduring the pangs of the terrible malady for nearly three weeks, and seeing no prospect of alleviation, had started on foot for Detroit, intending to return thence to his eastern home, which probably he reached in safety.

Rufus Thayer, Sr., came to Farmington in the fall of 1826. He was the father of Rufus and George Thayer, who came the previous year, and settled in the southwestern section of the township. He, the elder Rufus, brought with him his wife and five daughters ; a very desirable accession, for women were yet very scarce in Farmington. John Brownell, brother of George, came that year, and settled near Buckhorn Corners ; and Elisha Doty located on section 2. Hiram Wilmarth arrived in October, 1826. He was a surveyor and school teacher by profession. After his arrival he kept house for a time in the bachelor's hall of Willard Wadsworth. Nathan S. Philbrick, Harman Steel, Benjamin Andrews, Jonathan Lewis, Clark Cogsdill, Willard Porter, Elihu Cooley, and John Thayer, a surveyor, from Richmond, New York, all came during the season of 1826.
Chauncey D. Wolcott, a Baptist preacher, came in 1827, and settled on the southwest quarter of section 3. Samuel Gage, from Seneca county. New York, arrived May, 1827, and settled on the northeast quarter of section 7. Thomas Johns, same year, on northeast quarter of 18. John Brownell, Sr., father of George and John, settled in the east part of the town near his sons, and Horatio Lee two miles south of them.
The following, whose dates of arrival cannot be given, were among the earlier settlers in Farmington : Ross Phillips, son-in-law of Samuel Mansfield, and John Phillips, his brother, both of whom worked in Mansfield's 'employ, Ebenezer Stewart, who married a daughter of Arthur Power, Thomas Ingersoll, cousin of Deacon Erastus Ingersoll, Darius Lawson, now living at Grand Ledge, David Wilcox, John Wilcox, John Walcott, father of Chauncey D. Walcott, Theron Murray, from Ontario county. New York, Samuel T. Bryant, William Daily, James B. Mellady, died 1876, aged eighty-two ; Salmon Stilson settled on northwest quarter section 6 ; Champlin Green, who settled for a time in Troy before coming to Farmington ; Chauncey W. Green, who settled in Avon in 1825, and afterwards moved to Farmington ; Alanson Brooks, from Saratoga, New York; David Coomer, who settled on the northwest quarter of section 2, with a family of nine children, and who, it seems, was in rather better worldly circumstances than many of the immigrants ; William Serviss, northwest quarter section 5 ; Warren Servis ; Barnum, on section 22, in whose family the dreaded cholera first made its appearance in the township, in 1832 ; Nathan Smith, Stephen Jennings, Darius Cowles, Frederick Monroe, Joseph Horton, Jacob Wood; these and others swelled the number of settlers, so that the first township assessment roll bore the names of seventy-nine resident tax-payers.

The first postal facilities were obtained for the people of the town in the fall of 1825, through the efforts of Dr. Webb, who was himself appointed postmaster, and the office was kept in his large log house at Quakertown. The service was infrequent, the mail-matter coming up once a week from Detroit, and being delivered by the doctor himself, when it was in any way convenient for him to do so, on his professional tours. Two shillings was the price which the pioneers paid for each letter at that time, and it was from this source that the medical postmaster realized his only compensation, excepting the privilege of franking his own letters. Such a mail service would at the present day be considered as little, if any, better than none, but at that time the people regarded it as a very great favor and accommodation, and were most grateful for its establishment among them.

The first school in the township was taught by Nathan Power, at Quakertown, in the year 1826. Its sessions were held in a small log building that stood near the bank of the creek, at a point about opposite where is now the house of Deacon Adams. As late as 1830 this was the only school taught in the town ; and during the winter of 1828-29 it was still under the charge of its first teacher. Thaddeus Andrews, now of Farmington Centre, and who was one of Mr. Power's pupils, recollects that one morning "the master" met him with rather a thoughtful and troubled expression of countenance. “Thaddeus," said he, " I lost one of my oxen last night; how does thee suppose I will manage to get another in his place? But as Thaddeus could not suggest any feasible plan to meet this unexpected necessity, the teacher explained to him that he had decided to catch wolves enough, so that the bounty upon their scalps would supply the necessary means. The State bounty was then eight dollars, and the county offered an additional five dollars ; and before the opening of spring the proceeds of the sales of wolves' ears had reached an amount sufficient for the purchase of the ox, and meanwhile the teacher's school duties had not been neglected in any particular. The female teacher who first wielded the rod of command during the summer term was Miss Polly Ann Mead, afterwards Mrs. Ladd. The terms were short, and of course this school, like all others at that time, were supported by subscription ; the Public School system not going into effect until some years later. The general law ordering the laying off and numbering of school districts in townships was passed in 1833.

The first of the mechanical trades commenced in the town was that of shoemaking, by Mr. Green, already mentioned as having worked and died near Amos Mead's. Blacksmithing was first started by Esek Brown, who, soon after his arrival in 1825, opened his trade in a log shop, about a mile south of Quakertown. The carpenter shop is supposed to have been that of Timothy Tolman, at Buckhorn Corners; although young Myra Gage, who came in with Deacon Samuel Mead in the spring of 1825, was not only a carpenter and millwright by trade, but was also both shoemaker and blacksmith by practice, and worked at all four of his callings in Farmington. He might, perhaps, dispute the seniority not only of Tolman as the first carpenter, but also of Mr. Green and Esek Brown in their respective crafts. He, however, had no shop or regular place of business, but contented himself with performing such jobs in either of the trades as might present themselves.
The first coopers in Farmington were Calvin Ray and Drown, who arrived in 1825, and worked together for a time in a small building not far from Amos Mead's.
The first mill in the township was the saw mill built by Arthur Power, at Quakertown. From the time of his first arrival he had entertained the project of the erection of such a one upon the stream at that point ; and so, after having completed his large log house on the northerly side of the creek, and attended to such other work as was indispensable upon the clearing, he commenced the cutting of timber and other preparations fur its erection. The dam was thrown across the stream nearly opposite where the Baptist church now stands, and from this dam the water was carried by a canal, constructed on the west side of the stream, to the mill, which stood some little distance below. Much of the work on this canal was performed by Gilbert Bagnell, who came from New York to work for Mr. Power. Dam and mill were completed and ready for operation before the last days of the year 1826. The millwright was Wm. A. Burt, now of Saginaw. The establishment probably never did a very large business; the stream at its best was not copious, and in the dry season there was great scarcity of water, and this trouble was greatly aggravated by the imperfect construction of the dam, which never could be made reasonably tight by all the repairs which were expended on it from time to time. The mill, however, answered its purpose tolerably well, and being then the only one in the township, its importance was estimated accordingly.
The first grist-mill was built in the year 1827. It was located on the west branch of the creek, in the southeast quarter of section 17, and about two and a half miles north and west of Quakertown. The proprietors were Edward Steel and Harman Steel. An interest in it was also owned by Howland 'Mason, who himself performed most of the millwork; he being a competent millwright, who had worked at Auburn and elsewhere, under that skillful mechanic and machinist, Aaron Smith, who was then pretty widely known hereabouts as Fifty-crooks." It is said that the bed stone and runner were manufactured from boulders found somewhere in the vicinity. The mill was completed, ready for work, in the fall of the above named year, and the first grist was ground for Orange Culver, who brought the grain and carried away the flour upon his shoulder, a distance of a mile and a half each way.
This was not only the first grist mill in Farmington, but in all the southwestern part of the county, and it was long known, and somewhat famed, as the "Steel mill." A few years after its erection it was sold to Joseph Coon and his son-in-law, Frederick Neidheimer, who were excellent millers, and fully sustained its reputation. Afterwards it passed through the hands of several other owners, among whom was John T. Little, who, designing to sell flour in Detroit, so as to do a more extended business than was afforded by the local custom, named the mill and his brand of flour the "Pernambuco." Little had followed the seas in earlier life, and in this calling had visited Pernambuco, in Brazil, and doubtless it was this fact which had suggested the name to him. His successors, however, dropped the name, and it has long been known as the "Hardenberg mill." Its first half-century of service is now almost completed.
The first framed dwelling house in the town was built by Timothy Tolman, at Buckhorn Corners, in the year 1828. Being himself a carpenter, doubtless Timothy wished to set such an example to his neighbors as would prove in the end beneficial to them as well as to his own calling. Mr. David Smith thinks that the frame house built by Arthur Power, on the spot where is now the house of his son, William Power, may have been earlier than Tolman's, but from a comparison of other information, it seems certain that Mr. Power's house must have been erected fully two years later. It stood, as has been said, on the present site of William Power's dwelling house ; and it was destroyed by fire in the year 1851, when the present house was commenced at once on the same spot.
Tolman's house, however, was not the first building of any kind which was framed in Farmington. That precedence belonged to the frame barn which Samuel Mansfield built in 1826. Next was Arthur Power's saw-mill, and then, in the next season, a barn was framed and erected by Solomon Walker, and a third—date, not precisely known by George W. Collins, on his farm, a mile and a half southwest from Quakertown.
In Farmington as in most other towns there are several conflicting accounts of the first barn raising carried through without the use of intoxicating liquor, and it is wholly impossible to say who was really the first to accomplish the end so worthy and much to be desired ; but the accounts seem pretty clearly to establish the fact that it was neither George Tibbets’ nor Chauncey D. Wolcott, as has been supposed by some to be the case. At Mr. Wolcott's raising," which occurred in 1836, and at which he proposed to raise his barn-frame without whisky, the work, after proceeding to a certain stage, encountered an obstacle which appeared to be absolutely insurmountable without further strength and assistance ; which Orange Culver then at once dispatched himself to procure. He soon returned with a strong reinforcement, namely, four men and a stone jug, by the aid of which the heavy frame was soon reared and every pin driven home. At the raising of Mr. Tibbets' barn (the date being considerably earlier than that of Mr. Wolcott) there appeared to be an abundance of strength present ; rather too much, it would seem, than too little, for in "plowing the plates," an operation which required the combined force of several men, the tool became clogged fast in the wood, and the power of the human team being irresistible, the timber itself was in a twinkling carried out of sight into the neighboring brushwood, from which it was found impossible to recover it without recourse to an expedient similar to that which was found so effectual at Mr. Wolcott's. It must be said, however, of Mr. Tibbets and Mr. Wolcott, that in the matter of excellent and wholesome cheer, both solid and fluid, to stand instead of the alcoholic auxiliary, they had provided most amply ; and having done their best to accomplish the desired end, the failure could in no manner be laid to their charge.
Distilleries have never flourished in the township of Farmington. The first one was established about 1830, by Seymour Newton, on the stream in the northwest corner of section 33, opposite George W. Collins store and potashery. Another was started on the mill stream below Slab city, by a Mr. Teas, from Pennsylvania ; and another, on the creek in the village, by Elijah F. Cook, who came there a tailor, then became lawyer, and member of the constitutional convention of 1835. He is now established in law in the city of Milwaukee. His distillery was discontinued in 1842. These comprise the whole list of distilleries which . have been run in the township.
The first tannery was put in operation by David Wilcox, on the stream in the northwest quarter of section 12, probably about the year 1835. Another was by Lewis, on a little stream near the present school-house, in district No. 1. Potash-works were started at Several points in the township at a very early day. The first of these was by Arthur Power, at Quakertown, in 1825. Another was built by Samuel Mansfield about the same time, near where Shackleton's mill now is and still another, not long after, by George W. Collins, at his farm, a mile north of the base-line.
The first to embark in the business of merchandising in Farmington was Lyman Boughton, before the year 1830. His store was located one mile north and one mile west from the territorial centre of the township. Another very early store that was that opened by George W. Collins, in the southwest corner of section 28, before his removal to the village. Another store (but not one of the earliest) was John T, Little, at his Pernambuco mill. This was destroyed by fire during his proprietorship, and was not rebuilt.

The openings of early public-houses are usually regarded as events of some importance in new settlements. In after-years, the sight or mention of these old houses, gray and dilapidated, or perhaps utterly wrecked and abandoned, often brings thronging recollections to the minds of those who, in their youth, knew them as resorts of pleasure, and welcome havens of shelter and refreshment to the traveler ; as places of exciting military or political gathering, or perhaps as centres which brought those first small beginnings of travel and trade which afterwards caused villages or towns to spring up around them.
The first tavern in Farmington was opened by Solomon Walker, in the year of the township organization, 1827. It was an unpretending log structure, that stood on the north line of section 30, in its northeast quarter. It was completed and opened towards the last of the year, so that a dedicatory new year's festival was held there at the commencement of 1828, on which occasion there was a very large attendance of young people, and perhaps some who could hardly be termed young, except in their perennial fondness for dancing and festivity. The revelers came from near and from far off. Their conveyances were exclusively drawn by oxen, with the single exception of a horse team which brought its load from Bloomfield. No doubt their enjoyment that night was as keen as if their teams had been fleeter, and their hall accommodations more spacious and splendid.
Small as it was. Walker's tavern soon became a place of some note, and in 1829 the annual township meeting was first held there, though its location was by no means a central one, being only a mile from the western line of the town. It was not long before Mr. Walker built a frame tavern building, a little east of the old log house, and this he sold to Nathan S. Philbrick. He in turn sold it to Robert Wixom, Jr., who increased its size by building to it, and it remained a prosperous place for a long time under his proprietorship. It became a stopping place for the stage-coaches of Hibbard & Burrill's line, and during their day was well known to travelers. Though now no longer a public house, it remains with its low porch and ample barn, suggesting, in spite of its deserted aspect, thoughts of the bustle and cheerfulness which once reigned there.
Another tavern was opened by Nathan S. Philbrick in the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of section 15, now Fisher Chamberlin's place of residence. The precise date we are unable to give. Some of the old residents think it was in the same year in which Walker opened ; others date it later. The township-meeting in the spring of 1828 was held at Philbrick's house, but that is not conclusive evidence that it had been then opened as a hotel; for, as it stood only half a mile away from the territorial centre of the township, this may have been the reason of its selection as a place of meeting, though not a public-house, just as the meeting had been held at the private house of Robert Wixom the preceding year. But whichever may be the correct date of its opening, it is certain that Philbrick's tavern, although not so located as to secure the trade of a great thoroughfare, yet became well known through a large section of country, and was highly regarded for the abundance and excellence of its entertainment. Mr. Philbrick was also for a short time proprietor of the Solomon Walker House before Wixom, as has already been mentioned. He filled several public offices, among them that of justice of the peace, and he was a most respected and esteemed citizen.

For three years after its first settlement, township 1, of range 9, was for all political purposes and intents a part of Bloomfield, under which name had been comprehended the two southern tiers of townships in the county. But in the spring of 1827 several new townships were formed, and among them was that of Farmington, which, at its erection, included not only its present territory but also that now embraced in the four southwestern towns of the county, Commerce, Milford, Lyon, and Novi.
An act of the legislative council, approved April 12, 1827, provided and directed that the townships above mentioned "be a township by the name of Farmington, and that the first township meeting be held at the house of Robert Wixom in said township ;" and accordingly the first meeting was duly held at Mr. Wixom's house, on the last Monday in May of that year. An account of the proceedings at that meeting cannot be given, because of the total destruction of the township records on the morning of the 9th of October, 1872. We know, however, that Amos Mead was chosen supervisor, and Robert Wixom clerk, and that William Yerkes, Seth A. L. Warner, and Amos Mead at that time held the office of justice of the peace, under appointment by the governor, and that the assessors elected at that first meeting were William Yerkes, Samuel Mead, and Philip Marlatt; Amos Mead being elected supervisor. He also filled that office for the years 1828 and 1833. Following are the names of some of those who held the position of supervisor after him : Edward Steel, 1829, 1 832, 1834, 1835; Loring Doney, 1836; Daniel S. Lee, 1837; Benjamin P. Wixom, 1838; Eri Prince, 1842-1844; John H. Button, 1845, 1853; Samuel T. Bryan, 1854- 1859; Henry F. Cobb, 1860; Jesse B. Aldrich, 1861; P. Dean Warner, 1862-1866; Henry R. Mason, 1867-1869; Ahijah J. Wixom, 1870 ; Oscar S. Harger, 1871 ; Jas. L. Wilber, 1872; Hix Horton, 1873-1875; B. F. Grace, 1876-1877. Among the incumbents of the office of justice of the peace are found the fol- lowing : by appointment from the governor, under the Territorial form, George Brownell, commissioned September 19, 1833 ; Elijah F. Cook, February 24, 1834; Amos Mead, August 12, 1833; Nathan S. Philbrick, February 14, 1834. . And the following, among others, have been elected to the office since the adoption of the State constitution: Nathan S, Philbrick, 1838 and 1840; Amos Mead, 1836 and 1838; Isaac Wixom, 1837; Benjamin P. Wixom, 1836 and 1857; George Brownell, 1836 and 1848; John Hovey, 1839; E. G. Stevens, 1841, 1847, and 1862; Charles K. Nichols, 1842; Warren Serviss, 1843 and 1850; Levi W. Rodgers, 1844; George W. Collins, 1845; Samuel T. Bryan, 1846, 1852, and 1853; Simeon Gage, 1849; Mark Arnold, 1851, 1856, 1860; Andrew C. Walker, 1854, 1862; Isaac Placey, 1861; William L. Coonley, 1861, 1877.; Andrew J. Crosby, 1862; Jacob A. Drake, 1863; J. W. Crandall, 1865; Eber Durham, 1856 and 1866; John A. Fairfield, 1867; Thomas Russell, 1870 and 1875; Horace A. Green, 1871 ; Dexter W. Green, 1876; John N. Power, 1876; P. Dean Warner, 1855 to 1863, and 1867 to 1875
Among those who have filled the office of town clerk since the organization we mention : Lyman Boughton, 1829 to 1833 ; H. Miller, 1835 ; John McCarthy, 1841 ; John Stewart, 1842 ; E. G. Stevens, 1843 ; John T. Little, 1844 ; Henry F. Walker, 1845, 1847, and 1850 ; P. Dean Warner, 1846, 1858, 1859 ; Samuel S. Gale, 1851; Harley Ingersoll, 1852; M. Augustus White, 1857 and 1860- 69; H. G. Saxton, 1870-71 ; Frank D. Clark, 1872; and he is the present incumbent.

In the extreme southeastern corner of the township is a small cluster of buildings known as Clarenceville. It lies on the line of the Detroit and Howell plank road, and it was to this thoroughfare, known in the early days as the Grand river military road, that the hamlet owes its existence. Its commencement was the building of a tavern at that point by Stephen Jennings, in the year 1836, for the accommodation of the travel over the road. He also opened a store there soon after. During all the days of staging over this road Jennings' tavern was a regular and favorite stopping-place, the sixteen-mile station out from Detroit. Clarenceville contains one general store, one wagon shop, and two blacksmith shops, and the hotel now kept by Milton G. Botsford ; but the travel which sup- ported it in the old time is no longer there, and its consideration as a public-house has departed with the stage-lines which created it

Although the neighborhood known as North Farmington does not reach the importance of a village, yet as the location of a post-office it may be proper to mention it in that connection.
The establishment of the post-office of North Farmington was in the year 1850, with Chauncey D. Wolcott as the first postmaster. The first location of the office was at Wolcott's Corners, one mile south of the town line. Mr. Wolcott was succeeded as postmaster by Nathaniel Thompson. At his death, about 1865, Thomas Marston was appointed postmaster, and the office was moved up to the town line, in the northeast quarter of section 4. The successor of Marston was John H. Button, who, on his removal from Farmington, was in turn succeeded by Theodore C. Armstrong, the present incumbent, who removed the office to his house upon the north side of the road, this being in the township of West Bloomfield.
Hon. John H. Button, the last resident postmaster of North Farmington, located his lands upon the northeast quarter of section 4, May 19, 1828, and settled on them in the year 1831. He resided there until 1872, when he removed to Flushing, Genesee county, Michigan, and died there December 1, 1876, having reached a good old age. During his residence in Farmington he filled many important and honorable offices, and stood high in the esteem of his fellow-townsmen.

The village of Farmington embraces within its corporate limits a territory one mile square, being the west half of section 27 and the east half of section 28. The business centre of the village is one and a quarter miles south of the geographical centre of the township. The creek, which furnishes water power to the Hardenberg, the Shackleton, and the Loveridge' mills, flows diagonally through the northeast quarter of the corporation.
We have seen how its first commencement was made by Arthur Power, in the building of his large log house on the left bank of the creek, and how its first claim to comparative importance was created by the settlement of Dr. Webb, the first and only physician of the township, and still further advanced by the establishment of the post-office, and the erection of Mr. Power's mill ; and we have seen how, because it owed its settlement and progress chiefly to these two men, and in less degree to others of the Friends who had settled in and near it, it came to receive the distinctive name of Quakertown. This name, however, although not objected to by them on account of its reference to their sect, was not favored by Dr. Webb and Mr. Power, who desired instead that it should be named in honor of the old home which they had left, in Ontario county. New York. This purpose had been in a great measure accomplished by them when the post office was established by the name of Farmington; for, from being first given to the office, it gradually displaced that of Quakertown, and then, naturally enough, came to be applied to the whole township, and finally was officially adopted in the organization.
In or about the year 1830, Arthur Power added a grist-mill to the list of his real estate at Farmington. It was built upon a new dam which he threw across the stream some distance below the leaky one which he had built for the saw-mill, and by the new arrangement both the saw and grist mill took their water from the new dam, and the first one, as well as the canal which led from it, were discontinued. This mill continued in operation there for many years, but it never attained as high a standing as that enjoyed by the Steel mill. The dam and the wreck of the mill building may still be seen just above the upper road leading from the village across the stream to the northward.
Before 1830 another physician came to Farmington, in the person of Dr. Isaac Wixom. He located not far from the Quaker meeting-house, just outside the village, but within the present limits of the corporation. Not long after came Dr. Hudson, a bachelor, who first took board in the village, but soon married. He afterwards removed to Lansing, where he died. With three resident physicians the people of the village and of the township had no longer any lack of medical advice and treatment ; and not only had they these three, but also Drs. Ebenezer Raynale just across the town line, in Southfield on the one hand, and Dr. J. J. Emery on the other, in the eastern edge of Novi; both excellent physicians, and both of whom practiced considerably in Farmington. Dr. Webb had, however, at this time, in a great degree withdrawn from practice, and (chiefly in consequence of a disagreement in matters of property between himself and Arthur Power) was preparing to remove from Farmington, which he did soon after; disposing of his property to George W. Collins.
There had been no public house in the village until about 1830, when one was opened on the north side of the Detroit, or Shiawassee road, as it was often called, then the main street of the village. This tavern (there were no hotels in those days) stood a little east of where the Baptist church now is, and but a short distance from the bank of the creek. We are not able to state positively whether it was the same building which was erected in 1826 by Constantine Wood, for upon this point the opinions of those who remember the house are about equally divided, some being positive that it was the Wood house, and others asserting with equal earnestness that it wtus not. But whoever may have been the builder of the house, it seems to be quite certain that Dr. Isaac Wixom was its first landlord. After Dr. Wixom it was kept by Myra Gage, who was followed by several other landlords during the time of its existence, which was about twenty years. Among the first of the village mechanics was Ebenezer G. Stevens, who opened the business of shoemaker in 1830, in a shop built for him by Arthur Power, on the north side of the road (or main street), and just east of the tavern, while nearly opposite to him a blacksmith shop was opened about the same time, by two brothers named Duteher.
In the business of merchandising at Farmington village Stephen Page was the pioneer. His store was opened in a dwelling house which stood on the north side of the main ruad, west of the present location of the Baptist church. Another store was opened soon after near Page's, by Henry Miller, who is now living in California. His store was also built for him by Arthur Power, who seems to have been foremost in the encouragement of all enterprises calculated to promote the growth and prosperity of the village. Whether the stores of Page and Miller proved profitable to their proprietors is not known.
Among the other early stores in the village were those of Wells (who died by suicide upon the bank of the creek, at Farmington, in 1836), James I. Mead, and George W. Collins. Mr. Collins had moved from his farm into the village, and succeeded Dr. Webb as postmaster when the latter removed from town. He also purchased the property of the doctor, and opened his store in a small red building at the corner, west of the tavern. This red store was afterwards removed, and changed into a school room for Mr. H. P. Daily, then again moved and transformed into a tin shop, and finally destroyed in the fire of October 9, 1872. John Thomas and Daniel S. Lee were also early merchants of Farmington.

The dates and locations of the various plats and additions of the village of Farmington are found recorded as follows: Ebenezer Stewart's plat, eastern part, located on section 28, March 8, 1841. W. D. Power's plat, located on northeast quarter of section 28, December 8, 1846. Henry P. Daily's plat, located on northeast quarter section 28, April 30, 1850. Davis' addition, located on the Davis farm, by Henry N. Walker, proprietor, September 3, 1850. Abraham Lapham's addition, located on section 27, May 2, 1867. Gardurus Webster's addition, located on section 28, October 10, 1870.

In 1850 the old tavern which stood on the Territorial road, near the creek, was consumed by fire. At the time of its destruction it was kept by Horace Swan, who then at once set about the erection of the present Farmington hotd. It was completed in due time, and was opened as a public-house by Mr. Swan in 1851. Its location was a favorable one, being on the Grand river road, which had then passed into the hands of the plank-road company, and had become the main street of the town, and the stage-route from Detroit to Lansing, which had then recently been established as the State capital. This, and the planking of the road to Lansing, which was finished in the following year, gave a great impetus to the stage traffic, for which the new hotel became (that which the old one never had been) a stopping-place and a station. The travel required two four-horse stage-coaches each way daily, with frequent extras as far as the Farmington hotel or the Wixom tavern, and often the extras were obliged to continue as far as Brighton, and even to Howell. Twenty-four passengers were carried by each coach, and they almost always ran with a full freight both ways. It was a usual thing to see nine passengers riding upon the top, so great was the travel at that time.
time. These coaches were owned by Hibbard & Burrill, of Detroit, though at various times during the days of staging Hibbard had other partners; as, for instance, Mr. Rose, of Mount Clemens, who died in Pontiac, proprietor of the Rose hotel at that place.
The stage-lines flourished until the opening of the Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan railroad, after which they declined, first reducing their capacity to a single daily stage, and finally disappearing entirely; and with them departed the days of prosperity to the public-houses along their former route. The Farmington mail now comes and goes via Fisher's, and the passenger travel by way of Novi; both stations are on the Holly, Wayne and Monroe railroad

The village of Farmington was incorporated, with boundaries as above mentioned, in the winter of 1866-67. The first charter election was held, in accordance with a provision of the act of incorporation, on the 6th of May, 1867, and resulted in the election of Justus B. Webster, Anson J. Cloyse, and George Matthews as trustees ; P. Dean Warner, president ; and John A. Fairfield, recorder. At the first meeting of the council, held on the 9th of the same month, it was "resolved that Mortimer Serviss be appointed marshal for the village of Farmington, Adopted,—yeas, Cloyse, Warner, Fairfield; nay, Webster," and Henry Riley was appointed pound master. The present officers of the village are : P. Dean Warner, president ; Frank D. Clark, recorder ; Gardurus Webster, treasurer; Louis Philbrick, John Jackson, Abraham L. Power, trustees.

On the morning of October 9, 1872, there occurred a fire which destroyed several of the business structures in the heart of the village, and which was quite a severe blow to Farmington ; more disastrous than any of the kind which she ever experienced. The buildings destroyed were a dwelling and shoe-shop, owned by Miss Lester, the shop being occupied by Saxton ; a store, owned by P. Dean Warner, and occupied by Porter Shepherd : a small wooden building, owned and occupied by Miss Pierman as a millinery-store; the stone stores of W. B. Selby and Oliver B. Smith, the latter being occupied by Wesley Horton, and a hall over the store by the Masonic lodge; a drug-store, owned and occupied by Dr. E. Woodman; a blacksmith-shop, and a barn and carriage-house in the rear. The stores of Selby and of O. B. Smith were joined as a block, and were the same which were erected in 1850 by Warren E. Selby and Joshua Simmons. Mr. Warner at once rebuilt upon his lots the substantial and most creditable building known as Warner's block, and good buildings have been erected on nearly all the area which was devastated by the fire. It was in this conflagration that the township records were consumed.

Farmington village now contains three churches, the town hall, school building, one hotel, a market, three physicians, two allopathic and one homoeopathic, one insurance agency, four general stores, one drug-store, one millinery and fancygoods store, one hardware-store and tin-shop, one shoe-store and manufactory, two jewelers, one cabinet-shop, two saddlery and harness-shops, two shoe-shops, three blacksmith and carriage-ironing shops, two wagon-shops, one foundry, one sawmill, and one grist-mill.

The Farmington town-hall is a two-story brick building thirty by sixty feet in dimensions, which stands on the principal street, near the business centre of the village, and is an edifice which, in solidity and architectural beauty, is excelled by very few, if any, of similar character, in Michigan, remarkable as this State is for the superiority of its public buildings.
The lot about five-eighths of an acre was purchased of Mrs. Cynthia M. Collins for eight hundred dollars, of which five hundred dollars was subscribed in the village as an inducement to secure the location of the building are. It was erected in 1876, and was completed, ready for occupancy, in December of that year. The contract price was four thousand one hundred and fifty dollars, which by certain extra expenditures was increased to a total of four thousand three hundred dollars. Of this the Masonic lodge paid eleven hundred and fifty dollars for a perpetual lease of the upper portion of the building, which left the whole expense incurred by the township at three thousand four hundred and fifty dollars, including the lot.
Prior to the completion of the hall, the township-meetings had been held at the public-houses, since the days of Nathan S. Philbrick and Solomon Walker.

Located in Lapham's addition, was built and first operated by Joshua Simmons. From Mr. Simmons it passed into the hands of George Hillicker & Brother; then to the proprietorship of Kent & Sprague, after whom it was carried on by Lapham & Wilber, who were succeeded in the business by the present proprietor, George M. Alfred. The foundry was formerly used in the manufacture of stoves; but at present its chief production is that of agricultural implement castings.

The irrist- and saw-mills of John H. Shackleton are located on the mill stream a few rods below the centre of the village, but within the corporation limits. The water power at this point was first utilized by Samuel Mansfield, who built a saw mill here (the third in the township) about 1833. A grist mill was afterwards built at the same dam by Samuel Power. At the raising of the frame of this mill an accident occurred by which Thaddeus Andrews sustained severe injury, the breaking of both wrists. The mills have now a steam engine, auxiliary to the water power, which was rendered necessary both by increase of business to the grain mill and by the steady decrease of water in the stream ; a result which always follows the clearing of lands and demolition of the original forests.

The Loveridge saw-mill, about half a mile below Shackleton's, on the same stream, occupies the seat of the old saw mill built by Darius Lamson about 1833. He also kept a small tavern there, and the place was at that time generally known as " Slab City." Across the end of his stable he had painted, in conspicuous characters, " 18 miles to Detroit." The tavern was afterwards demolished, and Lamson removed to Grand Ledge, where he is still living. The mill was purchased and run by Pheroras I. Perrin and Henry Maxon. In the year 1874 it was destroyed by fire, and then the present mill was built in its place by A. N. Loveridge. Thaddeus Andrews was the millwright. A cider mill, propelled by water from the same dam, was put in operation there by Louis Philbrick in 1876,

The Delling saw-mill, on a more easterly branch of the Rouge, which flows into Southfield, and is known there as Lee's creek, is located at the town line, on the eastern edge of section 13. It was built in 1828, by George Tibbits. Like all similar mills, it formerly enjoyed a much larger and more profitable business than at present, when logs are comparatively scarce, and the volume of water in the stream much lessened by the clearing and draining of the country. It is now owned by Elijah Delling.

The location of this mill is in the extreme northeastern corner of the township, on that branch of the Rouge river which flows through the village of Franklin, in Southfield. The first mill upon the Bigelow site was a saw mill, erected in 1833, by Dorus Morton, who afterwards sold it to Edward Proctor and Francis Gurney. After them, the property was owned by William Adams and others, until it became the property of Mr. T. A. Bigelow, the present owner. The mill was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1873, and has not been rebuilt for sawing purposes ; the entire water power being now used for the manufacture of drain tile and pressed bricks, both of which had been manufactured to a considerable extent before the burning of the mill.

Several other mills have at various times been erected and operated in the township, but have now passed out of existence. About the year 1835 a saw mill was built near the centre of section 17, by Rev. Eri Prince, a Presbyterian clergyman, who was evidently a man of enterprise, and did not regard his sacred vocation as a bar to the exercise of another honest and honorable calling. His mill was above Steel's, on the same stream. Probably it never performed a very large amount of work, and a few years ago it ceased to be used for the manufacture of lumber. It was then fitted up by John E. Davis as a cider-mill, and is still in that use.
About the same time a saw mill was built on the stream a few rods below the Steel grist mill, by Edward Steel and Byro French, the latter a young man who had worked for a considerable time in Steel's employ. This was destroyed by fire in 1837, and then the irons, gearing, and dam were purchased by Myra Gage, who, being himself a millwright, rebuilt the mill, and afterwards sold it to Collins Miller. He in turn sold it to Warren Serviss and Mark Arnold, who were both coopers, as before mentioned, and who carried on their trade in connection with the mill.
A saw-mill was built about 1831, by Dr. Ebenezer Raynale, in the northwest quarter of section 12, about a mile and a half above the Tibbets mill, and upon the same stream. The mill was sold by the doctor to John Wilcox. Its history was that of nearly all small dry mills. It remained in operation for a time, and then fell into dilapidation and disuse. A few years ago a steam saw mill was built on the southeast corner of section 30, by Corey. During its existence it passed through the hands of several and was finally destroyed by fire.

Agriculturally, the township stands high. The farmers, as a rule, are men of intelligence, and of advanced and liberal ideas, who readily adopt the most approved methods of cultivation, and arm themselves in their calling with the best modern implements of husbandry. With these influences acting on a soil which the hand of nature left exceedingly fertile, it is not strange that Farmington has attained the high agricultural rank which she holds among her sister townships.
A marked characteristic is the great number of fine springs in nearly every part of the town, which are invaluable for stock and dairy purposes. Perhaps the most remarkable of these is at the house of Mr. Francis, on the gravel road, about a quarter of a mile east of the Novi line. Here, in excavating his cellar, there was struck, at the depth of a few feet from the surface, a spring of cold, clear water, with a rapid flow, and of sufficient volume to fill a pipe four inches in diameter, forming a rivulet which ripples along by the roadside, till it falls into the larger stream at the foot of the hill. Such a location as this could not be surpassed in its capabilities for the extensive manufacture of butter or cheese. A factory of either kind, and of the largest class, could here be more than supplied with the requisite cooling facilities.
Of butter, there is no manufacture in Farmington, except by hand process, at the farm dairies; but of cheese factories there are several in the township, namely: The Spring Brook cheese factory, owned by a company of ten stockholders, is located a mile west of North Farmington post-office, and a quarter of a mile south of the line of West Bloomfield.
The South Farmington cheese factory is one mile south and half a mile west from Farmington village, its site being on land now or formerly owned by J. Walton. This is the oldest factory in the township.
The Silver Creek cheese factory is located two miles east and one mile north of Farmington village, nearly opposite the farm house of Mr. David Smith. The cheese factory of A. D. Power is located near the southwest corner of the township, and is doing a large business. The manufacturing season at these establishments is from April to the last of November.

Farmington Grange, No. 267, Patrons of Husbandry, was organized February 16, 1874, by C. L. Whitney, State deputy, with fifty-nine male and fifty-five female members. The following were elected and installed officers of the grange: Master, John H. Smith ; Overseer, Theodore C. Armstrong ; Lecturer, James L. Wilber ; Steward, Charles Dingman ; Assistant Steward, Perry E. Smith ; Chaplain, James M. Adams ; Treasurer, L. W. Simmons ; Secretary, H, R. Mason; Gate-keeper, Abraham Lapham ; Ceres, Ellen Lapham ; Pomona, Nellie Nichols; Flora, S. Emma Wilber j Lady Assistant Steward, Alice Thayer.
The officers for the year 1877 are : A. J. Crosby, Jr., Master j Addis Emmett Green, Overseer; Rufus T. Courter, Lecturer; Frank McDermott, Steward; Charles W. Button, Assistant Steward ; William S. Beach, Chaplain; E. H. Roberts, Treasurer ; W. L. Coonley, Secretary ; James L. Wilber, Gate-keeper ; Miss Mary Petti- bone, Ceres ; Miss Nellie Lapham, Pomona ; Mrs. Cetella Murray, Flora ; Mary B. Crosby, Lady Assistant Steward. The meetings of the grange are held in Dorhany's brick building, in Farmington village.
Farmington Lodge^ No, 151, jP. and A. M., was chartered January 30, 1865. The first officers of the lodge were: Oliver B. Smith, Master ; Oliver P. Hazzard, Secretary ; H. H. Jackson, Senior Warden ; B. Weidrick, Junior Warden. Their first place of meeting was the hall in the stone building of Oliver B. Smith, in Farmington village; and after its destruction by fire, in October, 1872, the lodge met for a time in the wooden building of Norman Lee, whence they removed to the hall in Warner's block, upon its- completion, and this they occupied until December 27, 1876, when the new Masonic hall was dedicated. It embraces the entire upper story of the town-hall building, the lodge holding a lease of the premises for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, for which was paid a cash consideration of eleven hundred and fifty dollars.

At the present time there is no military organization in the township. In the war of the Rebellion, however, there was no lack of patriotism here, and the names of those who then went to the front, from Farmington, will be found on another page, with the general list of the brave volunteers from the county of Oakland.
In the old times of military ardor, forty-five or fifty years ago, there existed in Farmington a fine independent military company, which was called the "Farmington Riflemen," in accordance with the prevailing taste of that day, which ran almost exclusively in favor of the sharp-shooting arm of the service.
The company was organized in 1831, their officers being: Captain, Warren Lee; First Lieutenant, George Brown ; Orderly Sergeant, Fitz Smith, Their uniform consisted of gray trousers and coat, with wrested on the shoulder, and chapeau surmounted by a green plume. Those who recollect the organization and uniform, remember both as being most creditable. They joined with the militia in the general trainings at Auburn or Walled Lake, and were regarded as "minute-men," to be called on to the northwestern frontier in case of sudden exigency. We have been unable to learn how long this company existed before its disbandment.

The schools of the township are ten in number, and in excellent condition. The houses are good, several of them very noticeably so. In district No. 5 (Farmington village) there are two departments, a higher and a lower, respectively in charge of a male and female teacher. The terms aggregate forty weeks per year. The annual salary of the male teacher in the village district is one thousand dollars, that of the lady teacher four hundred dollars. The other districts employ male teachers only in winter, the summer terms being taught by females ; the remuneration of the former being from thirty-five to fifty dollars per month, and of the latter two dollars and fifty cents to three dollars and fifty cents per week. The township school superintendent for the present year (1877) is Addis Emmett Green, Esq.; township school inspector, James L. Wilber, Esq.

The first Presbyterian church in Farmington was organized at the house of Amos Mead, on the 13th of August, 1826. The original members were Seth A. L. Warner and wife, Mrs. Stovens and her daughter, Mrs. Charity Walker, Miss Polly Thayer, afterwards Mrs. Francis Courter, Deacon Erastus Ingersoll, Mrs. Cynthia M. Collins, wife of George W, Collins, Mrs. Gould, and Amos Mead, Esq,
Before this time the Rev. Isaac W. Ruggles, of Pontiac, had occasionally preached to them, sometimes at one and sometimes at another of their dwellings, and it was chiefly through his efforts and influence that the little band had crystallized into a church organization.
In the spring of 1827, Rev. E. Prince became their pastor, and labored with them for several years. About the time of his coming a Sabbath school was commenced under the superintendency of Harman Steel, and proved to be a powerful auxiliary to the church. Worship continued to be held at private houses, or in the old log school house on the northeast corner of section 18, until the year 18B3, when they built and completed a neat frame church upon the extreme southeast corner of section 1 8. Deacon Ingersoll was very instrumental not only in procuring its erection, but in determining its location. It was dedicated in the autumn of that year with appropriate ceremonies, conducted by the pastor, Mr. Prince, assisted by Rev. Mr. Cleveland. Mr. Prince's successor in the pastorate was Rev. George Eastman, after whom came Rev. Mr. Bridgman, under whose ministry the church saw prosperity and increase.
After some years the location of the church came to be regarded as inconvenient for a majority of the members, and so its removal to Farmington Centre was decided on and executed ; its new location being at the upper end of the village, not a great way from the residence of one of its most influential members, Amos Mead, Esq.
At this period the congregation was at its greatest numerical strength, and for a time all went well ; but the highest point of their prosperity as a church had been reached and passed ; their numbers began to decrease, then dwindled away to such an extent that preaching could no longer be supported. It was finally discontinued, and this was followed by a complete disintegration of the church, some of the members going outside the township to attend Presbyterian services, and others distributing themselves according to inclination, and worshiping with some of the other denominations in Farmington. The church building was for a time leased to the Good Templars and then sold to Mr. Fairchild for secular purposes. It is now used as a shop an out building by Mr. L. Cowley. It would have caused great grief to Rev. Mr. Ruggles if, when he established the church, he could have foreseen the manner of its decadence and end!

The oTgani^tian of the Baptist church in Farmington was effected late in the year 1826. The original members were Deacon Samuel Mead and wife, Philip Marlatt and wife, Rev. Moses Clark and wife, and Mrs. S. W. Tibbets. That these were zealous and earnest worshipers is attested by the fact that prior to the organization they had thought it no insuperable hardship to travel in ox-carts a distance of twelve or fourteen miles over the bad roads of that day to attend at the services of Rev. Elkanah Comstock, at Pontiac. After their organization they held their meetings in the old log school house north of Thomas Johns' residence, or, in warm weather, in the commodious barn of Samuel Mead, where they worshiped under the ministration of Rev. Moses Clark, who, however, was not their settled pastor. He soon after moved to Northville, Wayne county, and the Rev. Nehemiah Lamb was regularly installed over the Farmington church, remaining with them until the year 1842.
As they grew in numbers they seemed to require a more convenient and permanent place for holding their meetings, and, by strong and persistent effort in that direction, they were enabled, during the year 1835, to build and dedicate a frame church building of proper size for their worship. This was located in the northwest corner of section 17, opposite the present site of the school house of fractional district No. 4.
In the year 1837 a remarkable series of protracted meetings was held in the new church, under the leadership of Reverends Barrett and E. Wever, and so great was the awakening at that time that the membership of the church was increased to more than one hundred. Other revivals followed this, but none equaled it in the number of souls brought to the shelter of the Saviour's fold. After many years of good service rendered by the old church building, it gradually became to be regarded by the worshipers as an undesirable place of meeting, on account of its remoteness from many of their residences and from the central village, and so, little by little, it fell into disuse, and was at last abandoned as a place of worship. It is now used as a barn, upon the farm of Alonzo Sprague.
The new organization of the Baptist church, at the village of Farmington, was effected August 19, 1857. The constituent members were J. M. Adams, Polly Adams, Jacob Loomis, Mrs. Therina Tibbets, N. J. Taylor, Celora Loomis, Rebecca Cater, Jane Allen, Lydia Andrews, John H. Rasco, Lucinda M. Rasco, Rosina T. Babcock, Parmela Pusey, and Elizabeth A. Green. Their first minister was Rev. John H. Rasco, at whose house the first meeting was held. For three years they met in private residences, school-houses, and the hall at Farmington village. In 1859 the subject of the erection of a church was agitated, and a lot, one hundred by one hundred and fifty feet, was purchased of John Thomas, for ninety-six dollars. A frame building, twenty-eight by forty feet, was built at a cost of sixteen hundred and eighty dollars, and dedicated in September, 1860. This edifice, their present place of worship, and the largest of the three churches in Farmington village, stands on the north side of the old Territorial, or "Shiawassee" road, which was once the main street of the village, and the church lot lies partially in each of the sections 27 and 28.
The pastors who came after Elder Rasco were Revs. David Loomis, N. Eastwood, William B. Grow, W. W. Northrup, Elder Bulls, S. S. Wheeler, S. Boyden, T. H. Carey, Elder Perry, Elder Bloomer, and G. Crocker. The present membership is forty-two. In connection with the church is a Sabbath school, with an average attendance of twenty.

This church edifice, standing on Warner street, in Davis' addition to the village of Farmington, and known also as the "Union church," is in no small degree the result of the determined energy and zeal of Mr. Sergus P. Lyon, whose object in its erection was not only to secure a place wherein he and his fellow worshipers might hold such service as their hearts and consciences approved, but to be able to offer the same privilege to other Christians of whatever creed; to be able, as Mr. Lyon himself says, to extend to others a courtesy which had been denied to themselves.
Before the building of the church, Universalist worship had been held in Farmington from time to time, whenever both a preacher and a place of meeting could be secured. Among the first of these ministers was Rev. Mr. Woolley, of Pontiac, who preached occasionally in a room over George Wright's wagon shop, and afterwards in a room which Mr. Lyon had fitted up to be used by Henry P. Dailey for a school room, but also with a view to its use for purposes of worship. This school and preaching room had been adapted from the old red store of George W. Collins.
At first the Universalists were very few, not more than five or six in number Messrs. Lyon, Philbrick, Green, Blakeslee, and two or three others, and their commencement was extremely unpromising. At their first meeting, notwithstanding it was invested with the charm of novelty, there could not be seen the flutter of a solitary ribbon among the hearers, not a female was present ; but in a very short time there were three ladies who attended regularly. From this beginning the numbers increased so much that after a while it became necessary to place props under the floor of the meeting room to insure its safety.
In the spring of 1853 it was thought that the time had arrived when they should have a more commodious and proper place of worship; but when a subscription was circulated for the purpose of raising the means, Mr. Lyon was told that his life would not be long enough to secure the necessary sum. The fallacy of this prediction was soon shown, for in nine weeks from that time the site, embracing nearly one acre upon the Delos Davis plat, had been purchased for two hundred dollars, and the building materials bought and delivered upon the ground ready for the commencement of the work of erection. During that summer the church was completed, and was dedicated and occupied the same season. That edifice is their present place of worship, being on the easterly side of Warner street, and the lot on which it stands extending on that street from Thomas to Third. The size of the church is thirty by forty feet, and its cost was nine hundred dollars. The society purchased and owns a share in the bell of the Methodist church (which stands nearby); as their own tower was not built with view to such a use.
The parties who have served this congregation since Rev. Mr. Woolley have been Rev. Mr. Cook, now residing on his farm in Eaton county, between Delta and Grand Ledge, Rev. A. Knickerbocker, who remained ten years, and was succeeded by Rev. H. Sisson, who was followed by Rev. A. M. Sowle, the present pastor. The congregation is now numerous and flourishing.

There had been a few irregular services held by Methodist worshipers in Farmington prior to 1827 ; but it was not until the summer of that year that the first stated meetings were commenced by Rev. John A. Baughman, who preached once in every six weeks at the house of Samuel Mansfield, just east of where Farmington Centre now is. Regular meetings were also held by Rev. William T. Snow at the log house of Warren Lee, and a few months later at the residence of Amos Mead. The first class was organized in 1829 with about twenty members: John Gould (class leader), Mrs. John Gould, Mrs. Samuel Mansfield, Mrs. Hiles, John Thayer, Leander Walker, Lucetta Walker, Samuel B. Mead, William W. Mead, Fanny A. Mead, Caroline M. Mead, Seymour Newton and his wife, Matthew Van Amburgh, James Vanduyne, Calvin Ray, and four or five others, whose names are not recalled. Their meetings were then held at the log school house on Solomon Walker's land, near where now stands the toll gate, just east of the Wixom tavern. Afterwards they worshiped in some of the other school houses, particularly that at Quakertown, now Farmington Centre, which, as the village grew to comparative importance, became their regular meeting place.
After more than ten years of irregular gathering in school houses and in the hall at Farmington, it was resolved that a larger and more appropriate house of worship was indispensable, and that such a one should be built. For that purpose a lot containing about three-quarters of an acre, upon the north side of the (then) main street of the village, was donated by Ebenezer Stewart; timber was procured, and, on the 3d and 4th days of July, 1840, the frame was "raised." The work of building, however, seems to have been attended with some difficulties and delay, probably from the usual cause, lack of funds, so that four years had elapsed before the building their present church was completed ; its size being forty-six by fifty six feet, and the total cost over three thousand dollars. It was dedicated in August, 1844, the services and ceremony on that occasion being conducted by the pastor, Rev. Oscar F. North, and Rev. James V. Watson, who died in Chicago, as editor of the Northwestern Christian.
Among the predecessors of Mr. North were Rev. James Shaw and William H. Ransom, and his immediate successor to the pastorate was Rev. David Thomas, who labored one year, and after him the following ministers filled the sacred office at different times, and nearly, though perhaps not exactly, in the order in which they are named: Revs. Ebenezer Steele, Isaac F. Collin, Thomas Wakelin, Frederick Warren, Flavel Britton, William Stambaugh, D. C. Jacokes, O. M. Goodell, Curtis Mosher, John Gridley, Richard McConnell, Rufus Crane, Barton S. Taylor, Erastus Hascall, William Donnelly, S. E. Warren, William C. Way, afterwards chaplain in the army, Samuel Kitzmiller, Raynor S. Pardington, John A. Mcllwaine, William J. Clack, and S. E. Warren (again), the present pastor. The membership is now (1877) about one hundred. A Sabbath school connected with the church was commenced in the year 1834, in the log school house at Solomon Walker's, and has been continued to the present time. It now has an average attendance of about eighty.

Forty-five years ago, Arthur Power donated two acres of ground lying a little north of the centre of section 28, and in its northeast quarter, to be used by the Quaker people of Farmington for church and cemetery purposes, one acre for each. Those two acres are now just within the western boundary of the corporation of Farmington village. Upon this ground the old Quaker meeting house, a good frame structure, was built in the year 1832 ; Mr. Power himself furnishing a goodly share of the necessary means. It was the intention that the ground which was not covered by the building should be utilized as a grazing-place, where the horses of the worshipers might refresh themselves while their owners were within the temple awaiting the moving of the spirit ; and for these purposes the building and the glebe were used by the peaceful, unostentatious Quakers and their beasts for a space of about thirty years, until death's ravages had so far thinned their congregation that the few survivors thought it best to discontinue their meetings as a sect. This is all the history of the Quaker church. Its existence was marked by no ceremonious installations, no schisms or bickerings, and no revivals, or notable harvests of souls. The generation have passed away, and the old house, whose walls witnessed their undemonstrative worship for many years, is now a dwelling-house, occupied by some of the descendants of Farmington's first Quaker man, Arthur Power

adjoining the church, and donated by Arthur Power, as before mentioned, received as its first occupants Mrs. Selinda, wife of Nathan Power, and their only daughter, seven years of age ; both of whom died of cholera on the morning of August 7, 1832, and were interred there in one grave in the afternoon of the same day. The second interment was that of Robert Power, brother of Arthur, in December, 1834. The third was that of John Whitman, who died May 18, 1836. Arthur Power was buried there August 8, 1837, and there his ashes rest today, with those of five sons and two daughters; Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Botsford near him. The acre is well filled with graves now, and is still used as a . place of interment, principally by the relatives and descendants of those who first projected and occupied it.

This is an enclosure of about two acres, lying on the north side of the Howell road, half a mile northwest of the centre of Farmington village. The ground was part of the original purchase of Arthur Power, and the old graveyard, the nucleus of the present cemetery, was first used as a place of sepulture in the year 1825, by the interment of a Mr. Green, the first male who died in Farmington. He had plied the trade of shoemaker in a little log house which stood a few rods north of the present residence of W. S. Beach, on the west side of the road, where it is now fringed by a row of young and thrifty willows. There he worked, and lived, and died ; and from there they carried him to the place of his final rest.
The next person buried there was Mrs. Sybil Hopkins, wife of Horace Hopkins. The third burial was that of Constantine Wood, in October, 1826 ;* and half a year later came that of the wife of David Smith, who died April 8, 1827. Another among the first interments there was John, son of Arthur Power, July 21, 1828. His remains were removed to the Quaker ground in 1867, by direction of his brother William. Seymour Newton was also buried here, in 1832
Four years after the incorporation of the village of Farmington (March 25, 1871) the ground was surveyed and platted, and lots were then sold under the regulations, rules, and restrictions usual in cemeteries. It is a spot of natural beauty, and has been creditably decorated.

Situated on the south line of section 12, and half a mile west of Buckhorn Corners, is the oldest place of graves in Farmington. Its name was given partly because it was donated from the original purchase of Peleg S. Utley, and partly, and more particularly, because his mother, Mrs. Sanford M. Utley, was the first of its occupants: buried September 26, 1824. Around this lonely grave the first ever made for a white person in Farmington others clustered in due time, establishing it as a ground of public burial. Some years ago, it having become quite populous and its extension seeming to be necessary, the inhabitants of the village enlarged its area by the purchase of adjoining land.

The location of this cemetery is on the eastern side of the road which leads from Farmington Centre to the North Farmington post office, and three-fourths of a mile south from the latter point. It is owned and controlled by a cemetery association, which was incorporated in March, 1837, under the leadership of Chauncey D. Wolcott, Orange Culver, and John H. Button, who held its leading offices at the time of the organization. The first interment in this ground, made after the laying out, but before the incorporation, was that of a young daughter of Austin Nichols. The second burial was that of Gardner Frink.
On account of irregularities or neglect in the keeping of the records the organization was lost, and a re-incorporation became necessary. This was accomplished in February, 1874. By the original plat the area of the ground was a little more than half an acre, being nine rods square. This has been added to by two different purchases, so that its present dimensions are ten by twenty-two rods ; area, one and three-eighths acres. The site is excellent, and the cemetery a handsome one. Formerly, before the laying out of the cemetery, there was a cluster of graves just south of the house of C. D. Wolcott, and on the same side of the road. The first who was laid in it was Horace Cowles, a young man, son of Darius Cowles. He died of consumption about 1830. The next burial was that of John Wolcott, father of Chauncey J., Wolcott, and the next after him was Lucy Cowles, who was laid beside her brother Horace. These remains were afterwards transferred to the cemetery.

There is an ancient burial-ground on the northwest corner of section 17, adjoining where stood the old Baptist church of 1835. It is still used as a place of burial, and the graves have become numerous. The name and date of the first interment within it cannot with certainty be given. This is really the successor of a still older ground, which was situated half a mile farther south, on land of Thomas Johns, and opposite the present residence of his son, Daniel Johns. The first person buried in this old graveyard was a son of Thomas Johns. The whole number of interments made there was probably about fifty.

There is, upon the farm of Ledyard Cowley, a spot of ground where several interments were made years ago. It might be called the Wixom grave-yard, as all its occupants were of that name, save one, Mrs. Conrad Hayner, whose remains, as well as those of Mary Jane Wixom, were removed and reinterred in the town cemetery. Robert Wixom, the ancestor of all the Wixoms of Farmington, was buried in this place. In the west part of the town, a little north of the gravel road, near the old Wixom tavern, is an in closure containing several graves of members of the Courter family; that of Harmenius Courter being the most noticeable, by reason of the more conspicuous monument which has been reared over it. This enclosure is on land owned by Francis Courter, and which was part of the original entry of Howland Mason.
The writer is under special obligations to the following persons, who have furnished valuable information : Dr. E. Woodman, W. L. Coonley, Esq., S. P. Lyon, John Collins, Mrs. Cynthia M. Collins, David Smith, E. G. Stevens, Thaddeus Andrews, C. Wixom, Myra Gage, of Novi, William L. Power, Esq., Orange Culver, Mrs. W. S. Beach, Milton G. Botsford, Thomas Pinkerton, of Xovi, Deacon J. M. Adams, and Dr. Ebenezer Raynale, of Birmingham.