This township lies upon the baseline between Farmington and Royal Oak, and has Bloomfield for its northern boundary. Its surface in the north portions is rolling, but grows more level towards the south. Upon these more level parts the original forest was heavier and denser, while the parts which are more rolling were also more open.

The waters of the township are the east and west forks of the Rouge, which enter it respectively on sections 2 and 6, and join on the northwest quarter of 16, forming the main stream, which flows in a very meandering course, and leaves the township at the southeast corner of section 32; Dry run, which rises in the springs of the northeastern part of the town, and leaves it from section 33 ; and Lee's creek, which has its sources in Farmington, and in the northwestern part of Southfield, joining the main Rouge in the southeast quarter of section 30.

There are the usual signs of ancient Indian occupation, but no indications that this was ever one of their great central points, or the seat of any of their permanent villages, though there are those living who recollect small patches of maize and irregular clusters of neglected apple-trees on sections 9 and 30, particularly in the former, where now is the farm of Mr. Brooks ; there was also an Indian sugar orchard there. These sections were originally laid off as Indian reservations, but upon the admission of the State they were disposed of in the usual way for the benefit of the educational fund, and the Indians were reimbursed in the form of annuities.

The earliest entries of lands in the township were made in the year 1821. The first was by John Wetmore, in May, and a little later in the same year were those of John Monteith and Peter Desnoyer, non-settlers; Desnoyer being a French merchant in the city of Detroit, who probably never saw the lands he entered.

The first actual settler in Southfield was, beyond a doubt, John Daniels, who came in the year 1823, and commenced work on his land, in the southwestern quarter of section 4, now the farm of John C. Daniels, then went east for his family, with whom he returned early in the following spring ; and with him also came Martin Lee and William Lee, Edmund Cook, and George White. The Lees located on section 18; Cook settled on the southeast quarter of section 7, where now is the farm of Robert Johnson, but afterwards removed to Ohio, where he died. White settled on section 18, near the Lees. On reaching his land, his entire movable effects consisted of a wife and five children, a barrel of pork, a bag of dried apples, and fifty cents in money. Notwithstanding which, by the exercise of industry and frugality he became reasonably prosperous, and lived for more than a half a century after his settlement, filling public offices and gaining the confidence and respect of his neighbors and townsmen. He died in 1875, at the age of eighty-two years.

In the same season, and at very nearly the same time, came Dillucena Stoughton and Eli Curtis. Stoughton purchased the east half of the northeast quarter of section 6, now comprehending the eastern part of the village of Franklin. Mr. Curtis purchased on sections 3 and 4 ; his house being erected in the northeast corner of 4. His pecuniary circumstances were better than those of most of the first pioneers, and from the capital which he brought he reaped the full measure of the advantage which capital is sure to command, particularly in a new country. About 1840 he became a convert to the doctrine of " Millerism," and removed to the city of New York, where he was engaged in the publication of a second-advent journal, entitled The Midnight Cry. His connection with the Miller sect brought him both financial and mental disaster, from which he never recovered. After some years he returned from New York to Southfield, and thence, after a time, he removed to the State of Ohio, where he died a few years since.

Elisha Hunter settled in the township in 1824, and with him came his sons Daniel and Rufus, and his son-in-law, William Hall. On their first arrival in Michigan, five years before, they had settled where the village of Birmingham now is. In Southfield Mr. Hunter settled on one hundred and sixty acres in the southwest quarter of section 3, now the farm of J, H. Johnson. Mr. Hall took the west half of the northeast quarter of section 10. Rufus, the youngest of Elisha Hunter's sons, is now living in Birmingham. He recollects that in the first year of their settlement in Southfield they planted three-fourths of an acre of Ohio corn, the product of which was sixty bushels ; which shows plainly the great fertility of the virgin soil. He also recollects that they procured hay from Wilkes Durkee's to feed their stock, but that the cattle left the hay, seeming to greatly prefer the coarse, dry, ludian grass which they found on the borders of the stream which passed through their farm.

Moses Rodgers came in 1824, and settled on the Rouge, in the southwest quarter of section 32. Mr. Benjamin Fuller recollects that while making a rather extended exploration down the stream, of a Sunday in the summer of 1825, he came suddenly upon the cabin of Mr. Rodgers, and was surprised to find a habitation where he had supposed was only an unbroken wilderness.

In 1825, Elijah Bullock came in. He was by trade a blacksmith, but having come to Michigan with no intention of following any other calling than that of agriculture, and having with him four sons, as well as a son-in-law, George Grage, he purchased two hundred and forty acres of fine land, namely, the west half of the northeast quarter of section 6, and the entire northwest quarter of the same section ; this including all the land lying on the west side of the main street in the present village of Franklin as far south as the southern line of the cemetery, and from thence westward to the town-line of Farmington.

Denison Smith came in 1825, and purchased the west half of the southwest quarter of section 2 ; and in the same year came Abraham Crawford, Benjamin Fuller, Jr., and 'Niah Dodd. Mr. Fuller is the only survivor of all these old settlers, and lives now a short distance north and west of Southfield Centre, on the same tract, though not on the same spot, where he then settled, the northeast quarter of section 20. He emigrated from Rutland county, Vermont. Crawford located on the northwest quarter of section 27, the premises now owned by W. Beatty. As regards Dodd (whose correct Christian name we have been wholly unable to ascertain, which may have been Zephaniah, though the contraction alone was universally used in speaking of him), 'Niah Dodd, as he was called, entered on the southeast quarter of section 20, and was the first comer upon the place now Southfield Centre. He was less farmer than hunter, fisherman, and trapper, and he built his cabin by the stream, in a location convenient for the exercise of his favorite vocation. The creek at that time swarmed with fish. Mr. Benjamin Fuller recollects how, in crossing it on a log, on the occasion of his first visit to 'Niah's cabin, he was surprised at their numbers and tameness, and how he killed a large and beautiful pike without spear or fishing apparatus of any kind, by the mere help of a stick. The purpose of his visit to the cabin at that time was to sharpen his axe on Dodd's grindstone, which appears to have been nearly or quite the first utensil of the kind in the township ; though how it happened that a fisherman, whose calling is usually regarded as a thriftless one at best, should have been in advance of the enterprising pioneer farmers in the ownership of so indispensable an implement, is hard to explain. A few years afterwards Mr. Dodd sold his land and " betterments" to Hiram Sherman.

Daniel Thorn came from Newburg, New York, in 1825, and purchased the east half of the northwest quarter of section 5, the present farm of T. Midgely. He did not bring his family, however, until 1830

Marvin Henry settled in 1825, on the southwest quarter of section 22. He afterwards sold to Asa Parker, and moved to Indiana.

Simeon Botsford came late in the autumn of 1825, and moved into the log house of Benjamin Fuller, Jr., while the latter had gone east to bring on his father's family. Afterwards he (Botsford) settled on section 19.

Ebenezer Wilson and his father, old Major Wilson, came in 1825, and settled on the town-line, in section 4. Afterwards, on their removal, Ebenezer sold his land to John Daniels, and the major disposed of his to Eli Curtis. Major Wilson's father and his uncle, Samuel Wilson, were officers in the army during the Revolutionary war.

Benjamin Fuller, Sr., came with his family in the spring of 1826, and settled on section 20, a little west and north of where Southfield Centre now is. He brought with him the first pair of horses that were owned in Southfield. Joseph Dodd, 1826, on the northwest quarter of section 22. Orville Goss, same year, settled on the town line, in the northwest quarter of section 18. He also purchased lands in section 22, which he afterwards sold to John Thomas. Joseph Blindbury and Jam^ Gunning also came in that year, and settled on section 19. Christopher Barnhart settled in 1826, on the northeast quarter of section 23. He afterwards sold to Edward Stephens, and removed to the "Bean creek country" with William Lee and Marvin Henry.

with William Lee and Marvin Henry. In the fall of that year, Amaziah Stoughton, Sr., came with his sons, William (a bachelor, who was virtually the head of the family), Amaziah, Jr., and Charles, then a boy, and settled on the southwest quarter of section 6, now the farm of W, Barnum. These were the father and brothers of Dillucena Stoughton, the first comer in that vicinity. Another brother of his, James Stoughton, settled first in Bloomfield, but afterwards came to Southfield.

John Fall came in 1826, with his large family, and settled where Ezekiel Hutton now is, on the northwest quarter of section 27. Isaac Heth came from Vermont in 1827, and located upon the southeast quarter of section 6, where he settled with his family. Dorus Morton, Henry S. Smith, and Richard Bignall came in the fall of 1827, and settled at Franklin, where Morton purchased four acres from Dillucena Stoughton. Asa Parker came in that year, and purchased lands of Marvin Henry, in the southwest quarter of section 22. Jonathan Worthing also came in 1827, and entered his lands in the northwest and northeast quarters of section 7, but did not settle on them until a considerable time later.

Mason I. James came from Avon in 1828, and purchased on the southeast quarter of section 22. He was a justice of the peace by appointment from Governor Cass, and a prominent citizen. Near him Nathaniel Armstrong and Mr. Patmore settled at the same time.

John Trowbridge came in the year 1828, and purchased the western half of the northwest quarter of section 28. Silas White came in that year, and settled in the northwest quarter of section 14. This, however, was not his first settlement in Michigan ; he had previously established himself for a few years in Bloomfield. Nathaniel Green settled in 1829, on the northwest quarter of section 20. George W. Cook, 1829, settled on the western half of the southwest quarter of section 22, land which he afterwards sold to John Thomas. Henry Frink, in the same year,^ built upon the southeast quarter of section 3, a tract which had been entered by Generd Hugh Brady, U. S. A.

Archibald H. Green, a blacksmith, came in 1829, and settled on section 20. He is now a resident of the city of Pontiac. A part of the village of Southfield Centre is located on his original tract. Henry S. Babcock settled in 1829, on the northwest quarter of section 28. Hiram and Oliver Sherman, from Oneida county, New York, came in the year 1829. Oliver, a bachelor, purchased on section 23, but afterwards exchanged for land in the northeast quarter of 21. Hiram bought from 'Niah Dodd his lands at Southfield Centre, but after one or two years sold out to Moses Peck, and returned to New York State.

Winthrop Worthing came in 1829, and in the following year purchased the eighty-acre tract of Dillucena Stoughton, at Franklin, except the four acres which Stoughton had sold to Dorus Morton, and another small lot sold to H. S. Smith

James Hall settled in 1829, on the tract which is now owned by Samuel Bell, in the northeast quarter of section 10. He was the father of four sons and four daughters, and was an industrious man, but afterwards made a wreck of his property in some injudicious contracts which he made to do certain work at the mill and foundry in Birmingham. William Connery also came in 1829, and settled in the southwest corner of section 14. Mr. Connery was the father of the Covenanters' church in Southfield

In September, 1830, Heman A. Castle came in, from Vermont, and took land on section 12. Levi Trowbridge and Hubbard Trowbridge settled in that year, on section 29. Caleb Hodge, 1830, came from West Bloomfield, and purchased on the northeast quarter of section 23, where he settled, and also bought a tract in the southeast quarter of section 14, now the farm of Mr. Erwin. With him also came his son, Ezra Hodge, and his son-in-law, John Solis.

Melvin Drake and his brother Walter came in 1830, and together took the southeast quarter of section 2, but afterwards Melvin exchanged his eighty acres with Isaac Heth for forty acres of the land entered by Heth, in the southeast quarter of section 6.

John Waters came in from Oneida county, New York, in the same year. He was part blacksmith, but more sailor, having served in the United States navy for the seven years preceding 1828, during which term of service the aggregate of his time on shore was less than twenty-four hours. He purchased from Joseph Dodd the west half of the northwest quarter of section 22.

Samuel D. Beekman came in 1830, and purchased in the northwest quarter of section 12. Morris Jenks came prior to 1830, and settled on the southwest quarter of section 28. His first settlement on arriving in Michigan had been made in Bloomfield.

George Beardslee, Jonathan Wood, Lorenzo A. Warren, Joshua Davis, Harvey Lee, David Johnson, John W. Turner, Asa Fuller, Thaddeus Griswold, John W. Brewster, George P. Tyson, Clement P. Rust, Samuel Babcock, Pitts Phillips, Michael Beach, James Shanklin, William Delling and Elijah Delling (brothers), David Brown, John Rodgers, James Gould, William Dutcher, all came in prior to the organization of the township in 1830, and they, with the others mentioned above, comprised nearly all of the list of voters in Southfield at that time.

The first white child born in Southfield was a son of George White, in the fall of 1825.

The first marriage was that of Benjamin Fuller, Jr., to Marietta Crawford, daughter of Abraham Crawford, in December, 1828. Not long after came that of Milton Crawford, brother of the first bride, to Miss Eliza Parker. Another of the very early marriages was that of Thaddeus Griswold to Harriet Fuller, daughter of Benjamin Fuller, Sr. ; and still another, that of Myrex Fuller to Miss Ives.

The first death among the settlers in the township was that of Elias Aldrich, a laborer in the employ of Benjamin Fuller, Sr. He died of congestion of the brain, at the house of Mr. Fuller, in August, 1828. He was attended in his sickness by young Dr. Ebenezer Raynale.

The first frame house in the township was built on the northeast quarter of section 20, by Benjamin Fuller, Jr., in the summer of 1828. Its dimensions were twenty by twenty-six feet. It is still standing, a little west of Mr. Fuller's residence, and is now occupied by Wilbur White. There was no other frame house built in the central and southern part of the town until 1831, when John Trowbridge erected one on his premises, the northeast quarter of section 28. In the northwest part of the town, however, a frame 'house was built by H. S. Smith, in 1828, a few months after the completion of Benjamin Fuller's.

The first saw mill was built in 1829, by Joshua Davis and Michael Beach, in the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of section 3, on the east branch of the Rouge. The first grist mill, by Ezekiel H. Sabins, in the year 1837, on the main Rouge, at Southfield Centre.

As regards the first tannery, it is not yet known whether precedence should be given to that of Hiram Rust, on section 19, where Jonathan B. Sherman now lives, or to that of West, on the northeast quarter of section 22. Both were started about 1830, and both were very inconsiderable establishments. West afterwards removed to the southeast quarter of section 8, and started his business on the Cook farm. Still later he removed to Franklin.

The opening of the first public house in Southfield was in about the year 1829, by Moses Rodgers, in his log building just south of the Rouge, in the southwest part of section 32; and, as it stood on the line over which the Farmington Territorial road was laid out, he is said to have done a very considerable business for that early day. He was known far and wide as " Uncle Mose Rodgers," and was held in good repute, although very eccentric. It appears that at one time he had been united with the Methodist congregation, and he had doubtless been enthusiastic in that, as he was in everything in which he engaged. But from being earnest in their support he afterwards reached the other extreme, of great hostility to them; the circumstances attending the beginning of this change, as related by himself, being something as follows: In the near vicinity of the place where he then lived a camp meeting of his denomination was appointed and held. One night during its continuance some of the more unruly of the preachers' horses became loose, and made a foray on his property, a very promising field of corn, which before morning they had utterly destroyed. He did not at the time make loud complaint, for he had some hope that partial, if not full, remuneration might be given him. But when the meeting closed and the preachers departed, leaving him only the benefit of their prayer that Brother Rodgers might "be blessed in basket and in store," his zeal in behalf of the Methodists declined, and from that day he grew more and more pronounced in his enmity to them, until finally he denounced them in a printed pamphlet. But in this he was once more doomed to disappointment, for the corrections in grammar and orthography which the printer had found it absolutely necessary to make had so changed the composition that the author did not recognize his own work, and despairingly said that it was completely "jumbled" and ruined. Nevertheless, it caused great merriment among the people at the time.

He was always an ardent admirer of the military; nothing charmed him more than the music of drum and fife, and no "training" would have been thought quite complete without the presence of Uncle Moses Rodgers.

In the days of "wild-cat" banks and of suspension of specie payment, when in lieu of small change " shinplasters," as they were called, were issued even by private individuals. Uncle Moses was not slow in his solution of the financial problem. He issued his own notes, of various denominations, from sixpence to four shillings, and the following is the tenor of the poetical promise which they bore upon their face: "This nimble sixpence I will pay, In oats, or corn, or in good hay; When you get a dollar, dun me, And then I'll pay in wild-cat money;" and we are not informed that he ever failed to make his promise good

In this township, as everywhere in the new country, the settlers at first traveled, as might be said, at random over those routes and trails where there were the least natural obstacles, and marking the tracks as they used them. These were generally inconvenient and circuitous, but such as they were they were used until, and indeed, in many cases, long after, the general declaration of roads on section lines. The first settlers nearly all came in by way of Royal Oak and Hamilton's (Birmingham) over the Saginaw road, and for a long time afterwards they used this route in their journeying’s to and from Detroit. The first road laid out through any part of the township was the Territorial road, usually called the Farmington road, which, however, only laid for the distance of a mile and a half in Southfield, passing diagonally from the base line at the quarter post of section 32 to the quarter bound on the west side of section 31, and thence northwesterly to the Quaker settlement in Farmington. The first road, however, which could in any sense be considered a township road, was one which was laid out on a route which was rather indefinitely described as commencing at Elijah Willet's signpost, in Bloomfield, and running thence southwestwardly to the river Rouge, at Moses Rodgers' house, which will be understood as traversing the township nearly from its northeastern to its southwestern corner. This was about 1830. The commissioners on the part of Southfield in the laying out were C. P. Rust and George White. By an act of the legislative council, approved June 26, 1832, it was ordered " that a Territorial road shall be laid out and established, running from a point four chains and eighty-seven links east of the quarter-post in the north line of section 18, in the township of Southfield, in the county of Oakland, on the most direct and eligible road to the city of Detroit; and Pitts Phillips, John Trowbridge, and George Beardsley are hereby appointed commissioners to lay out and establish said road." This road was rather an important one. It passed from its starting point diagonally through the southwest quarter of section 17, and the northeast quarters of sections 18 and 20, to the crossing of the Rouge at Southfield Centre ; thence east over the present main street of the village ; thence south on the section line to Henry S. Babcock's; thence southeastwardly through the west part of sections 28 and 33 to and across the base line, a short distance south of which it struck the Detroit and Farmington road. The opening of this road had the effect to change the route of travel between Detroit and the southern and western portions of Southfield ; though the extremely bad condition of the Territorial road made it a question whether anything was gained by the change. The opening of local roads on section lines was gradually accomplished in a few years, commencing about 1832.

Until 1830 township 1 north, range 10 east, had been included with Bloomfield, but on the 12th of July in that year it was, by act of legislative council, set off as a separate township, under the name of Ossewa. This name appears to have been considered an objectionable one, and quick work was made in ending its existence, for, seventeen days after its adoption, it was superseded, and, on the 29th of July, the name of the township was changed to Southfield.

At the first annual township-meeting, held at the house of Benjamin Fuller, April 4, 1831, Mason I. James was made moderator, and George White clerk, for the day. William Lee and H. S. Babcock were justices of the peace present. There seems to have been no formal balloting, but it was " resolved that H. S. Babcock be our supervisor for the ensuing year ;" and in similar manner it was resolved that A. H. Green be township clerk ; Benjamin Fuller, Jr., David Brown, and James Hall assessors ; Mason I. James, William Lee, and Morris Jenks commissioners of highways ; Ebenezer Raynale director of the poor ; Thaddeus Griswold constable and collector; George Gage constable; Abraham Crawford pound master.

There is no reason for supposing that the meeting passed off otherwise than in a quiet and orderly manner ; yet there was at least one voter, Mr. Eli Curtis, who was evidently displeased with the result. He wrote a poetical (?) satire on the different officers who were elected, and this production he had printed and posted in conspicuous places over the township. One quotation from it will suffice. It was his reference to the newly elected supervisor, and ran thus: "Our supervisor we elected According to our wishes; A better could not be selected To share the loaves and fishes."

And so it ran on through the list. But a resolution passed at the meeting seems to evince such a spirit of economy in public matters as makes it a matter of great doubt whether the supervisor or any other official ever had opportunity to profit by the township "loaves and fishes" to any very great extent. The resolution was as follows : "Resolved That the township clerk procure three blank books and three quires of paper for the use of the town." There certainly could not have been any very heavy division of percentages on the bills for public stationery.

The list of supervisors elected in Southfield from the organization to the pres- ent time are as follows: H. S. Babcock, in the years 1832-33-34, and 1835 ; Pitts Phillips, in 1836 ; Ammos Davis, in 1837 and 1838 ; Isaac Chapman, in 1839; Peter Yan Every, in 1840-41, and 1845 ; William A. Pratt, in 1842 and 1843 ; George White, in 1844 ; John Davis, in 1846 ; Melancthon W. Hicks, in 1847, 1849, and 1850 ; Lucius Miller, in 1848 ; Charles V. Babcock, in 1851-53, 1855, 1857-58, 1861-66, 1869, 1871, and 1874; Adam D, Sullivan, in 1854 and 1856 ; Harrison D. Hyde, in 1859 ; Roderick L. Bryan, in 1860; Darwin O. White, in 1867-68, and 1870; James W. Youngs in 1872; William A. Bristol, in 1873 ; William Erity, in 1875-77.

The persons elected to the office of township clerk have been : Archibald H. Green, in 1832-34; Thaddeus Griswold, in 1835-38, and 1849; Ezekiel H. Sabin, in 1839; Clement P. Rust, in 1841-43, 1845, 1848, 1856-57, and 1863 ; Charles L. Palmer, in 1847 and 1849 ; Melancthon W. Hicks, in 1846 ; Isaac A. Chapman, in 1850-54 ; Henry Simmons, in 1844 and 1855 ; James W. Young, in 1858-60, 1865-68, 1870-71 ; Darwin O. White, in 1861-62; Franklin Comstock, in 1864 ; Gardner M. Wood, in 1869 ; Joseph E. Delezenne, in 1872 and 1874 ; Lysander M. Dunbar, in 1873 ; Enos S. Lawrence, in 1875 ; and Edward S. Blakeslee, in 1876 and 1877.

The first election of justices of the peace of which there is a record was in 1838. Prior to that time H. S. Babcock, William Lee, Heman A. Castle, and Mason I. James had, among others, held the office, but we cannot with certainty give the names of the incumbents in that year. The list of those elected then and since then is as follows: 1838, William H. Edwards, John Trowbridge, to fill vacancy ; 1839, George Beardslee, Ezekiel H. Sabin, to fill vacancy; 1840, William A. Pratt: 1841, Pitts Phillips ; 1842, H. S. Babcock ; 1843, George Beardslee, Jr., Horace J. Johnson, to fill vacancy ; 1844, William A. Pratt ; 1845, Lucius Miller, Jonathan T. Stephens, to fill vacancy ; 1846, Horace J. Johnson ; 1847, George Beardslee, Jr. ; 1848, Jonathan L. Stephens ; 1849, Winthrop Worthing, Lodowic Stanton, to fill vacancy ; 1850, John Trowbridge ; 1851, Arthur Davis, Lewis W. Adams, to fill vacancy; 1852, Cornelius Lawrence; 1853, Benjamin D. Worthing, Warren Hunt, to fill vacancy ; 1854, George Beardslee, Jonathan L. Stephens, to fill vacancy ; 1855, Morgan L. Ferris ; 1856, Cornelius Lawrence, George B. Congleton, to fill vacancy; 1857, George B. Congleton ; 1858, George Beardslee, Alfred Foster, to fill vacancy , 1859, Jason W. Crandall, to full term, and also to fill vacancy; 1860, George Dolbeer; 1861, Lewis W. Adams; 1862, William Erity ; 1863, Jason W. Crandall ; 1864, Cornelius Lawrence, William Tan Every, to fill vacancy; 1865, Thomas Boden ; 1866, John Waters; 1867, Theodore Grace; 1868, George McStay ; 1869, Thomas Boden; 1870, Horace J. Johnson ; 1871, Theodore Grace, James A. Miller, to fill vacancy ; 1872, Nelson B. Reynolds, to full term, and also to fill vacancy ; 1873, Edward S. Blakeslee; 1874, Alexander L. Means, Horace J. Johnson, to fill vacancy; 1875, Horace J. Johnson; 1876, Henry S. Buel ; 1877, Edward S. Blakeslee.

This village is located on the northern boundary of the township of Southfield, and three-fourths of a mile east of the town line of Farmington. A small stream, sometimes called the Franklin brook, enters the village at its northern extremity, and, flowing in a southeasterly course, joins the main branch of the Rouge in the northwest quarter of section 16, nearly two miles, by the course of the stream, above Southfield Centre.

The land on which the village stands was originally purchased, as before mentioned, by Dillucena Stoughton and Elijah Bullock ; the former owning an eighty acre tract on the east side of, and bounded by, the present main street of the village, upon which he settled in 1824 ; and the latter owning two hundred and forty acres, extending west from the main street to the town line, on which he settled in 1825 ; and both owned on the street a distance of half a mile north and south. At this point the growth was earlier and more rapidly developed than in the other parts of the town. Nearly all the trades which were prosecuted in the township were first commenced here. The first professional man and the first school were established here.

Dr. Ebenezer Raynale, the first physician in Southfield, came from Pennsylvania, in 1828, to the Stoughton and Bullock settlement (for at that time it had not been named Franklin), and there established himself in his profession. He arrived on the 6th of May, and took board in the family of Dorus Morton, a kinsman of his, who had come in the preceding year. Six days later. May 12, he made his first charge for professional services ; his first patient being the wife of George Gage, who was one of the seven heads of families whom the doctor found settled there at that time. They were as follows : D. Stoughton, Elijah Bullock, his son-in-law, George Gage, Dorus Morton, Samuel Babcock, Henry S. Smith, and Richard Bignall. Of these, rather singularly, there were three mechanics, Smith, a blacksmith, Bignall, a carpenter and joiner, and Morton, a mason and bricklayer, each being first of his trade who commenced work in the township. The following spring a shoemaker, Harvey Lee, was added to their little community.

In the summer of 1828, H. S. Smith built the first frame house in the village ; the fcame already mentioned as having been completed in the same season in which Benjamin Fuller built the first frame in the township. Mr. Smith's house was located on the east side of the main street, upon a small lot which he purchased of Dillucena Stoughton, just south of where Van Every's temperance house now stands. It was afterwards occupied by Peter Van Every, Sr.

In the fall of that year the present name was officially given to the village, by the establishment of the post office of Franklin, with Dr. Ebenezer Raynale as first postmaster, his appointment bearing date September 19, 1828. The office was first kept at the log dwelling house of Dorus Morton, where the doctor boarded for the first year and a half of his residence in Franklin. He held the office until 1835, when, upon his resignation, he was succeeded by Winthrop Worthing, who, four or five years later, was succeeded by his son, Benjamin D. Worthing, who now resides in the State of Missouri.

A school was also opened in the village in 1828, in a log school house that was built on the west side of the street, near the spot where Daniel Broughton's house now stands. The first teacher was Miss Sophia Gotie.

In the summer of 1829, Dillucena Stoughton built a brick house, which was not only the first of that construction in Southfield, but is said to have been the first in the county of Oakland. It was afterwards owned by Winthrop Worthing, and is now the residence of Dr. H. S. Buel. It was comparatively easy to erect a brick house at that point, as bricks could be had at Bigelow's kiln, only a little more than three-quarters of a mile to the westward, in Farmington ; while an excellent bricklayer was at hand in the person of Dorus Morton, who had purchased land of Mr. Stoughton, and was, without doubt, glad of an opportunity to pay for it in work at his trade. This brick house was Mr. Stoughton's residence for a short time, and after him was occupied by Winthrop Worthing. It had, with other property of Mr. Stoughton, been bargained by him to a Mr. McCraney; but the latter never consummated the purchase nor assumed possession.

About this time a great impetus seemed to be given to immigration, and many new settlers came to Franklin and its vicinity. Some idea of the rapidity with which they came may be had from the fact that when, in 1830, Dr. Raynale went to Pennsylvania for his wife, he found upon his return that forty families, by actual count, had come in and settled within four miles of Franklin during his absence of only twenty-five days.

A public house was built in Franklin in the year 1830, by Elijah Bullock, It was a log structure, and stood on the west side of the main street, nearly opposite the present hall of the Odd-Fellows, Mr. Bullock had now added to his original trade of blacksmith and his later one of farmer that of publican. Whether he was prosperous in it we are unable to say. He was of Revolutionary stock, his father having been in that service, and he had two elder brothers killed in the memorable massacre of Wyoming.

The first store in the village was opened in 1830, by William Houston, from Orange county, New York, the store building being erected and owned by Dr. Raynale. Houston was a consumptive, and died in 1832, when the business of the store was taken by Dr. Raynale and Morgan L. Wisner, a brother of Governor Wisner.

In 1831, Mr. Bullock also built a store upon the west side of the street, above his tavern. It is in existence today, having been repaired and remodeled, and is now occupied as a store by John B. Rust. At its first opening in 1831, the proprietors were Frank Darrow and Thompson. Their successors were E. Matthews and John T. Raynor.

About the time of the erection of Bullock's store, Harvey Lee, the shoemaker of the village, started the business of tanning, on Winthrop Worthing's land, the Stoughton tract, by a little run which emptied into the main stream ; but it does not appear that he ever accomplished much in that enterprise. Tanning was also afterwards attempted in a small way by West, who had previously tried the same business on section 8 of the township ; but in both cases the results were insignificant

About 1833 another tavern was opened, by Dorus Morton, in a frame house which he had added to his log dwelling, west of the street, on the lot purchased from Stoughton. Afterwards it was kept by a Mr. Hulburt, and later by William Van Every, who named it the “Franklin Cottage."

In the same year, Edward Matthews came from New York and purchased large tracts of land adjoining Franklin, but across the town line, in Bloomfield, which he laid out in lots, intended to be an addition to the village, and he also made extensive preparations for the erection of a mill upon the stream, but his means became exhausted and both projects failed, though the mill was afterwards built by Peter Van Every, as mentioned in the history of Bloomfield. Matthews did not make much investment on the Southfield side of the line, his principal enterprise in Franklin being the store which he opened there in company with John T. Raynor, as mentioned above.

Peter Van Every, Sr., removed from the vicinity of Detroit to Franklin in the year 1837, purchased the property of Dorus Morton and took up his residence in the tavern house on the west side of the street. He also purchased from William S. Sears, successor or assignee of Edward Matthews, a portion of the land which the latter had bought on the Bloomfield side of the town line ; and there he (Van Every) erected the mill which Matthews had projected, but had been compelled to abandon.

Although Colonel Van Every's chief business mill, distillery, and potashery was located outside the township, his residence was always in Franklin, and he was probably as widely known as any citizen of the village or of Southfield. He died December 23, 1859.

The next year after the erection of the Yan Every mill in Bloomfield, a grist mill was built in Franklin, on the same stream, by Worthington & Pratt. (See "Oakland County Mill.") A distillery was also built on the stream below the mill, by Wm. A. and Aaron Pratt, who operated it for a time, then rented it to William Evans.

The Franklin House was opened as a hotel by George Green after the year 1840. It was not a newly erected building, but was formed of the store which had been built by Dr. Raynale, and opened by Wm. Houston in 1830. Another building was moved and joined to this, and the compound structure, remodeled and repaired, became the hotel of Mr. Green. It stood on the original site of the Houston store. It was kept as a public house until quite recently, passing through the administrations of several landlords, among the latest of whom were N. D. Lane and Ransom Tucker. It is now a dwelling house.

A steam flour mill was built and put in operation in the village in the year 1851, by Colonel Van Every. It was equipped with good engine, boiler, and two run of burrs. It was not, however, a successful enterprise ; and after running for five years, then lying silent for three years more, its machinery was re-moved to Muir, Michigan, where it was re-erected and again put in operation. The foundation walls of this mill are yet to be seen on the east side of the main street, at the upper end of the village, near the bridge.

Southfield lodge, No. 59, I. O. of O. F., holds its meetings in a good and commodious hall building, which was erected in the spring of 1871, on land purchased from Dr. H. S. Buel, being near his residence, on the easterly side of the main street. The cost of the structure was seventeen hundred dollars, raised by voluntary subscriptions of members of the lodge. It was dedicated in May of the year named.

This lodge was instituted April 30, 1852, with the following charter members: Isaac A. Chapman, O. W. Fuller, Jonathan B. Sherman, A. F. Jenks, G. Blindbury, C. Lawrence, S. F. Beardslee, A. J. Owen, Wm. Smith, Luman Williams, and John M. Harden. Their first place of meeting was at Southfield Centre.

The re-organization of the lodge was effected July 12, 1865, with the following officers: N. G., Samuel Wheeler; V. G., Charles Coder; Bee. Secy, B. L. Bryan ; Per. Sec'y, G. Blindbury ; Treas., Nathaniel Higby. Number of members, thirty-five. The present officers elected June 30, 1877—are: N. J. Roberts, N. G. ; Melvin D. Sly, Y. G. ; John B. Bust, Bee. Sec y ; Henry S. Cox, Per. Sec y ; Nathaniel Higby, Treas.

Franklin at the present time contains three physicians, a church, school house, the post office, one temperance hotel, two flour mills (one being across the town line, but still properly included with the village), three general stores, one drugstore, one hardware store and tin shop, four blacksmith shops, and two wagon shops. The village has not realized the expectations of those who came there forty years ago ; still, it is far superior in thrift and enterprise to most places of its size which are similarly isolated from railway advantages.

The location of this village, which is oftenest known as Southfield Centre, may be described as being on both sides of the road which runs from the quarter post on the east line of section 20 westward to the river Rouge.

The first settlement upon its northern part, that is to say, north of the quarter line, was made by Archibald H. Green in the year 1829. On its southern part 'Niah Dodd had built his cabin four years earlier, but had soon sold out to Hiram Sherman, who also, in a short time, wearied of his possession, and disposed of it to Moses Peck.

Mr. Green, a sober and industrious man, built upon his premises a log shop, in which he not only carried on the ordinary business of blacksmithing, but also upon occasion added to it the manufacture of cow bells. This was the first mechanical industry of the place, and, in fact, about the only one of any kind except agriculture until the erection of Sabin's grist mill upon the stream a few rods west, in the year 1837. Up to that time the farmers' trade of nearly all the southern portion of Southfield had been secured by John Trowbridge, at the store opened by him in 1832 or 1833, at a point in his farm a few rods north of where Dry run crosses the east line of the northeast quarter of section 28 ; this being the only merchandising establishment in the township south of Franklin. Near by this store a tavern was also opened about the same time by John Thomas, a most enterprising man, who came in the year 1831 from Geneva, New York, and purchased lands from George W. Cook and Abraham Crawford, eighty acres from each,—on sections 22 and 27, seemingly with the expectation of building up at that place the central village of the township ; which indeed he might perhaps have accomplished but for the illiberal spirit manifested by some of the proprietors of that neighborhood in the matter of the sale of their lands ; the very opposite of the policy which was afterwards pursued at Southfield Centre. Thomas' tavern was built in the southwest corner of section 22, and the locality, thus advanced in importance by the store and the public house, became known to some extent as "Crawford's Corners."

In 1833 the post office of Southfield was established there, and a mail route opened to Birmingham, Thomas receiving the appointment of postmaster and the award of the mail contract. This was another step towards giving importance to the place, and for some time the township meetings were held at Thomas' tavern, and the Southfield militia "trained" at the corners, under command of Captain Morris Jenks and Lieutenants George Beardsley and Melvin Drake.

Two other stores were opened soon after, on the same section with Thomas' tavern ; one by Ammos Davis, on the northwest quarter, and the other by George P. Tyson, on the northeast quarter, by the stream, on the present farm of M. Erwin. Davis was a professional weaver, and besides his store he carried on in a small way the weaving of cloth in the same building. He afterwards removed to Birmingham, where he is still living. Tyson's store was soon discontinued, and after engaging for a while in saw mill business with Benjamin Fuller, Jr., he removed from the township.

The above may be thought a digression, but when it is remembered that these enterprises were commenced within a short distance of the present village of Southfield, and that the trade and patronage which for a time supported them was afterwards transferred, with the post office of Southfield, to its present location, this short account of them will not be considered as irrelevant to the history of the village.

Soon after the completion of the grist mill at "the 'burgh," by which name the village then commenced to be called, Cornelius Lawrence built a large frame house on the south side of the road, and opened it as a tavern, and it was not long after this (about 1838) that John Trowbridge, who evidently foresaw that the immediate vicinity of the grist-mill would become a better point for trade than Crawford's Corners, closed his store at the latter place, sold the building to Dr. John Jeffery, the new physician, who had then just established himself there, and removed not only his mercantile business but also the post office to the 'burgh ; he having succeeded Thomas in the office of postmaster.

It was evident now that the Thomas settlement had seen its most prosperous days, and must definitely yield all hopes of village importance. After the opening of Lawrence's, the house of Thomas languished for lack of support, and after a little time was finally closed. It was afterwards changed into a store, by William Ives, Jr., a son-in-law of its former landlord, but it was unsuccessful and short lived. Mr. Thomas died on the 19th of May, 1844, and lies in the burial ground a little north of his old tavern site.

The primary cause of the advantage gained by Southfield village over the settlement at Crawford's was the water power furnished by the Rouge, and this was perhaps aided in a great degree by the public spirit and liberality of such men as A. H. Green and others; but whatever may have been the causes, the result was the permanent establishment of the post office and village of Southfield in their present location.

The village, however, has never attained any considerable size. The hotel opened by Cornelius Lawrence was kept as such for many years, but at last closed, as Thomas' had been, for lack of support. A store was afterwards kept in it, but that no longer exists. There is now no public house here, nor in any other part of the township except Franklin. The village of Southfield now contains a flourmill, the post office, one church, the Methodist Episcopal, two wagon shops, and the town hall, which was built in 1873, and is a neat and appropriate building. Prior to its erection the township meetings had been held at private houses at John Thomas' tavern, afterwards at that of Cornelius Lawrence, and in his ballroom after his hotel was closed, as well as in Murphy's wagon shop, and perhaps at several other places.

This was erected in the year 1837, by Ezekiel H. Sabins, as has been stated, and was the first of the causes which brought business to Southfield Centre. It stands on the stream at the west end of the village, on land which Sabins purchased of Archibald H. Green. The present proprietor is Charles Chapman.

This is the name given to the flour mill upon the stream at Franklin village. It was built in the year 1838, by Winthrop Worthing and William A. Pratt, proprietors ; the land upon which it was erected and the privilege of the stream being owned by Worthing, and the millwork being done by Pratt, who was a professional millwright. Since their time it has passed through the hands of several owners, and is now operated by Shackleton.

This mill, before mentioned as the first saw mill in the township, and built by Michael Beach and Joshua Davis in the year 1829, has passed through many hands and changes. Beach soon sold his interest to David Johnson, and it was then known as the Davis & Johnson mill. Some years later it was owned by Chester Beynolds, who, about 1842, put in a carding and fulling mill in a small building, which he built upon the same dam, but which is now gone. About 1850 he built a large building with the intention of making it a cloth factory, but never accomplished it. The carding and fulling, however, was carried on in the new building, and afterwards a man named Roberts put in some machinery, and succeeded in turning out a small quantity of cloths during a year or two. The factory building is now used as a cider mill and vinegar manufactory by William Erity, Esq., who also still keeps the old saw mill in operation during the season of abundant water.

This mill was built by John Daniels, in the year 1832, on the west fork of the Rouge, sometimes known as the Franklin brook, in the southwest quarter of section 4. It seems to be quite extensively believed that this was the first sawmill in the township : but that question is satisfactorily set at rest by Deacon Melvin Drake, who recollects that, immediately on his arrival in Southfield in 1830, he bought sawed lumber for his floors, etc., at the Davis & Johnson mill, which was then in operation ; and that afterwards he attended and assisted at the raising of the Daniels mill. In one feature, however, the Daniels mill was first, not only in Southfield, but probably in the State of Michigan, namely, the running of a muley-saw. Mr. John Waters had, at the time of the building of the mill, just returned from a visit to the State of New York, where, for the first time in his life, he had seen one of these saws in operation, and being charmed by its novelty, recommended the idea to Bryant Bartlett, the millwright of the Daniels mill, who, on having the principle explained to him, was pleased with, and adopted, the plan. It never gave good satisfaction, and was finally changed for the ordinary saw, but it gave to the Daniels mill the claim to be called the pioneer muley-mill of the west.

This mill, located on the main Rouge, in the southeast quarter of section 20, half a mile below Southfield Centre, was built by David Goss and Smith Parks, in 1835. It passed through the hands of various owners, among them being William Sturman, Fuller & Tyson (Benjamin Fuller and George P. Tyson), and later, Israel Rodgers. It is now owned by Alfred Adams. Its business is not very large.

The first school in the township was, as we have seen, that taught by Miss Sophia Gotie, in the old log school house at Franklin, in the summer of 1828. There was no winter term, and during the summer of 1829 the school was under charge of Miss Eliza Fuller. Winter terms were commenced soon after, and among the earliest male teachers were Morgan L. Wisner, his brother Ira. and his brother-in-law, John Robinson.

The next school commenced in Southfield was opened in the summer of 1829 or 1830, in the log school house which stood on the east line of the southeast quarter of section 21, about opposite the present site of the First Presbyterian church. The first teacher was Miss Ruth Stoughton, daughter of Amaziah Stoughton, Sr., now Mrs. William Barnum.

At the second annual township meeting, held on the first Monday in April, 1832, it was "resolved that there be five commissioners of common schools elected, to hold their office for three years;" and Heman A. Castle, Morgan L. Wisner, Meivin Drake. Mason I. James, and George Beardslee were elected as such commissioners. At the same time George P. Tyson, Henry S. Babcock, Ebenezer Raynale, Clement P. Rust, and Abraham Crawford were elected inspectors of common schools. But there were no districts organized at that time. An act of the legislative council, approved April 13, 1833, ordered 'That there shall be elected in each township three commissioners of common schools, to hold office for three years. Duties, to lay off the township into school districts, and to establish the same by numbers in numerical order ;" and under this act the first district was established in the township, November 9, 1833. There was, however, no general organization until June 21, 1834, when nine districts were organized.

The standard of qualification for teachers was not high. A young girl who was able to read and write, and to "cipher" through the four primary rules of arithmetic, was considered a competent teacher for the summer term ; and some of the males who "kept winter school'* were more remarkable for physical than for mental accomplishments, though this was not the case with all. An old resident of the township mentions an instance in which a teacher was employed to teach school in one of the log temples of learning, and who worked at clearing his land in the morning and evenings, before and after school. He had not very good government of the scholars, and one day, in the course of the customary jerking of a pupil from his seat to the floor, he burst the button from the collar of his shirt, which, however, in itself was no very remarkable occurrence, and was no mure spoken of until the day of closing the school, when, at the winding up, "the master" thus made his farewell speech : "This is the end of school. If you have learned anything, I hope you'll remember it ; if you've been wounded, I hope you'll get over it ; and I hope Otis Fall will get his shirt-button sewed on again, if he hain't done it already." All of which was received in a spirit of great good humor by the boys, who forgot their cuffings and ferulings, and went home on the best of terras with "the master" and themselves.

At the present time there are ten districts in the township ; some are fractional, but the houses are all located in Southfield except one. There are nine good school buildings: six frame, two stone, and one brick. Valuation of school houses, eight thousand seven hundred dollars.

The number of pupils reported, five hundred and four; number attending school, four hundred and eighty-seven; number of months of schooling in the last school year, seventy-five and one-half, that is to say, by female teachers, fifty-nine and one-half months; by male teachers, sixteen months.

Amounts of salaries paid, males, seven hundred and fifty dollars; females, fourteen hundred and thirty-nine dollars.

The schools are in a prosperous condition, with good and faithful teachers. Some of the higher branches are taught The township school superintendent for the present year is Rev. James P. Gibson ; township school inspector, Joseph Jackson.

The pioneers took early measures to secure the enjoyment of the privilege of divine worship, and it was not long after their coming before services were held ; in a humble way certainly, but they did not forget the promise that where a few are gathered together in humility and sincerity of purpose, there will the Spirit of the Lord be in their midst and give them comfort and peace. There were circuit riders and missionaries and other non-resident preachers who occasionally came among them, and on such occasions meetings were improvised at dwellings, in school houses, and often in barns. The old log school house just north of John Trowbridge's farm, and also that which stood on Elijah Bullock's land at Franklin, were most frequently called in requisition for this purpose. But when no such comparatively near and convenient opportunities offered themselves, then it was no unusual thing for the devout ones to travel to Bloomfield, or even to Pontiac, by ox-team, carrying all the members of the family from grandsire to babe, and to consider that the privilege was cheaply enough purchased by the labor and inconvenience of the journey. The cause of temperance, too, so nearly allied to that of true religion, was urged even in those early days, and old settlers recollect that temperance meetings were held (notably those at Franklin in 1831 and 1832) with gratifying results.

This church was organized at the house of Asa Fuller, on the 15th day of October, 1831, by Rev. Isaac W. Ruggles, of Pontiac, and Rev. Mr. Bridgman, of Farmington, missionaries of the American Home Mission Society. It was first designated as the First Congregational church of Southfield, and the original members were Meivin Drake, Harriet Drake, David Brown, Almira Brown, Edmund Cook and wife, Clement P. Rust, Anna Rust, Mrs. Betsey Heath, and Mrs. Eunice Fuller, by letter, and Mason I. James, Amanda James, and Patty Seely, on certificate of Rev. I. W. Ruggles.

The first preaching was by Rev. Mr. Bridgman, occasional supply, then afterwards by Rev. Eri Prince, of Farmington, stated supply, and after him came their first regular pastor, Rev. Noah Cook.

Up to and including a part of the time of Mr. Cook's pastorate, their worship was held sometimes in the log school house, near John Thomas' tavern, and sometimes in his barn, in summer time ; but in the year 1837 they built a good frame edifice on the west line of section 22, in its southwest quarter, one mile east and a quarter of a mile south of the present village of Southfield. It was on land which John Thomas had donated to the town in 1832 for school and cemetery purposes, but which gift was now so modified as to allow its use as the site of their church, and a deed was given to that effect.

This church building continued in use by the congregation as a place of meeting for fifteen years ; at the end of which time it was sold to the United Presbyterian congregation to be removed. The lot was then increased in size, by purchase from John Cooper, and a new church, their present place of worship, was erected in the year 1856, at a cost of about two thousand two hundred dollars. An appropriate parsonage was erected also upon a lot of one and a half acres, purchased from Mr. Cooper

In the year 1865 the name of the church organization was, by special enactment, changed to that which it bears at present. Following are the names of pastors who have labored with the church since the time of Rev. Noah Cook: Revs. A. Worthington, George Eastman, Nathaniel West, Evan Evans, Norman Tucker, George W. Newcomb, Thomas Forster, J. Sandford Smith, John Kelland, and Rev. O. C. Thompson, the present pastor

A Sabbath school under the auspices of the church holds its sessions during the greater part of the year, omitting the most inclement season. Present superintendent, Daniel Russell. Average attendance, thirty-five.

This, the first Methodist Protestant church in the State of Michigan, was organized on the 2d of August, 1840. The constituent members were Harry Bronson, David Parkhurst, Jonas S. Pratt, Nancy Smith, Mary Bronson, Lydia Parkhurst, Abigail Pratt, and Rev. Laban Smith, their first preacher.

At the time of the organization, and for several years after, "Franklin circuit," of which this church formed a part, embraced Oakland County and part of Wayne and Lapeer counties.

The list of Rev. Mr. Smith's successors in the desk of this church is as follows: Revs. Oliver Earls, A. Lorenzo Warren, James Gay, J. R. Stevenson, R. C. Lanning, S. T. Cranson, J. A. Parks, Joseph Pomfret, Thomas Plackett, Sullivan Clark, A. R. Button, D. McGregor, Daniel Birney, A. C. Fuller, Duke Whitely, J. F. Kellogg, J. C. Thompson, James H. Morton, Samuel Riley, and Delos Short, the present pastor.

The church edifice, their present house of worship, situated in the village of Franklin, was erected at a cost of about two thousand dollars, and dedicated in June, 1863.

Connected with the church is a Sabbath school, having an average attendance of seventy-five, and under the superintendency of Mr. J. J. Trott. Its sessions are held during six months of the year, commencing April 1 ; and it has a library of one hundred volumes.

Although the record of this church extends only as far back as the year 1857, yet it is known that classes existed in this community for many years before the organization of the church. The Revs. Laban Smith and John J. Young, circuit preachers of the Ohio conference, residing in West Bloomfield, had been very instrumental in the formation of these classes, and had frequently conducted their meetings for worship, which were sometimes held in the log school house near John Trowbridge's, sometimes at a house on the Farmington town line, in section 18, and often in barns during the warm season. Other of the old time preachers who served on these occasions were Revs. J. Baughman, James F. Davison, Connear, and E. F. Pilcher (now D.D.), all of the Ohio conference.

The church was organized about 1852, with twelve or fifteen, members, and their first preaching was by Rev. O. M. Goodell, of Farmington. About three years afterwards a lot was donated to them by Archibald H. Green, on the north side of the main street at Southfield Centre, and upon this they erected the neat frame building in which they now meet for worship. Its cost was about eight hundred dollars.

The first meeting for election of trustees recorded in their minute book was held in the church building May 18, 1857. Lorenzo P. Kneeland was chosen clerk pro tempore, and the election resulted in the choice of Horatio Lee, L. P. Kneeland, and Benjamin Fuller trustees for three years ; Isaac F. Warren, John Hutchius, and William Brace, for two years; Humphrey Hickay, Horace J. Johnson, and George Lee, for one year; Isaac F. Warren, collector and treasurer; and L. P. Kneeland, clerk of trustees. Their preacher at that time was Rev. Curtis Mosher

Since Mr. Mosher the church has been served by the following preachers: Revs. J. J. Gridley, James Webster, Richard McConnell, Thomas Stalker, Barton S. Taylor, Rufus Craue, Charles G. Yemens, A. Minnis, James F. Dorsey, Lewis Mitchell, J. Balis, A. C. Shaw, J. H. Curnalia, A. W. Wilson, Joseph B. Varnum, Alexander Gee, and J. G. Morgan, the preacher now in charge. The present membership is about fifty-five.

Auxiliary to the church is a flourishing Sabbath school, under the superintendency of Mr. Thomas Thorley. Its sessions are held through the entire year, and the average attendance is about fifty. Connected with it is a library of one hundred and forty volumes.

This congregation was organized, under the Associate church, by the presbytery of Richland, Ohio, and remained under that control until the organization of the Detroit presbytery, on the first Wednesday of September, 1852.

At the union of the Associate and Associate Reformed churches, making the United Presbyterian church, this congregation came into the union. It has frequently, though most erroneously, been called the " Seceder" church

All the original members were from the north of Ireland, coming hither when the county was new and unimproved. The greater part of the members who were here at the first are still living.

The first missionaries of the denomination were Rev. James Law and his brother John Law, also Rev. F. A. Hutchinson, who came in the spring of 1849. Following these were Revs. Lee and Brownlee. Very soon after came the organization, April 16, 1850, Rev. James Bull, of Richland presbytery, officiating. At its organization there were but seventeen members. Out of this number two were chosen ruling elders, Mr. Daniel Parks (now a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church) and Matthew Erwin, Sr., who has passed away. October 10, 1856, Mr. Ezekiel Hutton was ordained and installed ruling elder. In 1861, April 19, Mr. James Erwin and Peter Reid were ordained and installed ruling elders. November 10, 1875, Hugh Young and Adam Reid were ordained and installed ruling elders.

and installed ruling elders. Soon after the organization. Revs. James M. Smeallie and David Dinmore were sent out to supply this and other places in the presbytery. In the spring of 1851 a call was extended to Rev. James M. Smeallie to assume the pastorate. It was accepted, and he was ordained and installed on the first Wednesday of September, 1852, Rev. Mr. Hindman presiding. Mr. Smeallie remained as pastor a little more than seven years, resigning March 4, 1860. The second pastor, Rev. William Robertson, was ordained and installed March 26, 1861. He remained more than seven years, and resigned April 21, 1868. The third pastor, Rev. Richard M. Patterson, was installed October 15, 1868, remained two years, and resigned November 30, 1870. These were all good and faithful men, and have left good names behind them. The fourth and present pastor, Rev. J. P» Gibson, was ordained and installed April 22, 1874.

The first place of this congregation's worship, as well as the place of its organization, was in the old school house, not far from the First Presbyterian church, and on the opposite side of the road. They were not then, able to purchase a building, but in 1852, the Presbyterian people .desiring to sell their church (to make room for the erection, of a new and larger one), it was bought by this congregation, and removed to the northwest corner of the farm of Mr. Hutton, nearly half a mile south and east of its first site. In this they worshiped during all of Mr. Smeallie's pastorate, and through a part of that of Rev. William Robertson.

Mr. Smeallie's pastorate, and through a part of that of Rev. William Robertson. In the year 1865 a new church was erected and dedicated, the dedication sermon being preached by Rev. John P. Scott, D.D., of Detroit. This church, their present house of worship, is a neat and comfortable building, of which the cost was about eighteen hundred dollars. It occupies the site of the first one, which was removed to the. farm of Mr. Wm. Sturman, and is there still, in use as a barn

The condition of the congregation at present is very good ; their numbers are now about seventy-five. Since its organization about one hundred and fifteen members have been connected with it. They have a Sabbath school, which holds sessions during the entire year, with an average attendance of sixty-five. The present superintendent is Alexander L. Means.

A small organization of Reformed Presbyterians (better known as Covenanters) has existed in Southfield for more than forty-five years. Tempts prominent man among these early worshipers was William Connery, who lived on the present farm of Alexander Neil, and has Been regarded as the father of the Covenanter church in Southfield. Others of them were the McClungs, Anthony and Alexder, and their families, the McClellan family, John Stewart, and wife and John Parks and wife.

Their earliest meetings for divine worship were held, under the leadership of Rev. Mr. Johnson, in the summer of 1832, in the new frame barn of Mason L James (now Mr. Erwin's), and after that in the barn of John Stewart and in a vacant log building on the farm of John Parks, and also in his barn. Besides Mr. Johnson, the Rev. John Wallace was among their early preachers.

After their organization as a church, the date of which cannot be accurately given, but which was about 1834, the Rev. James Neil was installed as their first pastor; and it was during his term of labor, about the year 1838, that their first church, a good frame building, was erected upon an acre of ground donated by John Parks, from his lands in the northwest quarter of section 23.

After nearly a quarter of a century of service this old building was adjudged inadequate to the requirements of the congregation, and was removed to the corner opposite the dwelling of Alexander Neil, where it is still standing, and in its place was erected the handsome new frame church in which they now meet for worship, a half-acre of ground having been added to the church lot by gift from the heirs of John Parks.

This was done during the pastorate of Rev. James S. T. Milligan, who was installed over the congregation in November, 1852, and remained with them until March 5, 1871. After his departure there was an interval of a year in which the congregation had no pastor. Then came the installation of Rev. J. R. Hill, who remained until June, 1876, when he removed to St. Louis, where he is now living.

The present membership is one hundred and sixteen, but they have had no pastor since Mr. Hill. A Sabbath school was organized by Mr. Milligan, and is now in successful operation, with an attendance of nearly one hundred scholars, with eight teachers, and all under charge of Mr. Samuel Ball, as superintendent.

They have a small number of followers, hardly enough in nnmber to be called a congregation, in the northeastern portion of the township, and occasionally hold worship, but have as yet neither organization, preacher, nor regular place of meeting.

meetings were held at Franklin before 1830. One who preached to them was Rev. Mr. Woolley, from Pontiac, and afterwards they had Morgan L. Wisner for a spiritual guide, and about that time they must have effected an organization, for a church building was commenced in Franklin, and was considerably advanced, but was never completed. Their preachings were discontinued after a time, and today there is no worship by that denomination in Southfield.

This cemetery enclosure is situated a quarter of a mile east and a little north from the village of Southfield Centre, and comprehends an area of two acres. This spot, or rather a portion of it, has been in use as a burial place for almost half a century ; having been commenced as such in 1828, by the interment of Elias Aldrich, the first person who died in Southfield. Soon after, several residents, of whom Benjamin Fuller was one, purchased an acre of ground there, to be used for purposes of sepulture, and it was so used by the people until the year 1847, when the proprietors offered the ground as a gift to the board of health for the use of the town, only reserving the necessary burial lots for their own use.

At a meeting of the board held November 18, 1847, it was "resolved that we will accept from the proprietors the piece of land used as a burying ground, on the lands of Thaddens Griswold, in said town, for a township burying-ground; and it was further resolved that the township board of health do purchase of said Thaddeus Griswold one acre in addition to the above, to be used for the same purpose, and one and a half acres to be used as a road in getting to said ground." At a subsequent meeting " a plan of a fence was adopted, to surround the burying gound of said town, to be completed by the 1st of June next (1848). The job of building said fence was let to the lowest bidder, and the chairman and clerk directed to contract the same with Isaac A. Chapman for the sum of seventy three dollars. And the clerk was directed to have the grounds surveyed by the county surveyor, and laid out and staked according to the plan adopted by the board. And it was accordingly surveyed and laid off by Algernon Merriwether, county surveyor.

Its plan of avenues and walks is much the same as in most cemeteries of the present day, and it is well kept, but is rather deficient in trees, which, when properly planted, form such a beautiful and appropriate embellishment to the homes of the departed.

This cemetery is situated upon the high ground on the west side of the south extremity of the village of Franklin, in the southeastern corner of the tract purchased in 1825 by Elijah Bullock, who, two or three years later, made a deed of gift to Josiah Barkley, as trustee, of an acre of ground here, to be used as a place of public burial.

The first interment within it was that of a brother-in-law of Dillucena Stoughton, a man named Warner, who died of consumption at Birmingham in the spring of 1829. William Houston, the first merchant of Franklin, was also laid there in 1832, another victim of consumption. His was the first grave which was marked by a memorial stone, which stood alone, the only slab in the ground for a long time.

About twenty years later an additional tract, adjoining the old grave yard, was donated to the people of Franklin and vicinity for cemetery purposes by Benjamin D. and Charlotte Worthing, who appointed Jonathan Worthing, Melvin Drake, Cyrenius Wood, Solomon Whitney, George B. Congleton, and Harvey C. Judd trustees ; who, under a warrant of Benjamin D. Worthing, justice of the peace, proceeded to call a meeting to organize "The Franklin Cemetery Society" a body corporate. The first recorded meeting was held May 11, 1852, and the next was held on the 24th of October, 1853. After this there is no record of meetings until March 10, 1860, since which time the annual meetings of the society have been held regularly. At the present time (1877) the president and secretary are respectively Thomas Gillespie and John T. Midgely. The present area of the cemetery grounds is three acres, which has become quite thickly populated by the interments of forty-eight years.

In the ground of the Reformed Presbyterian church there is a cluster of graves, many of them of ancient date. The date and particulars of the first interment cannot be given. The ground was given by John Parks, forty years ago, for burial as well as church purposes. Probably about one hundred have been buried there.

This ground is called the Presbyterian grave yard, not that is distinctly sectarian in its uses, but because it is located beside the First Presbyterian church. It was a burial place, however, before the church was built there, having been donated by John Thomas in the year 1832, "for the purpose of school house and burying ground, "and was used for the latter purpose but not for the former, as no school house was ever built upon it, but the church instead; the conditions of the donation having been so changed as to permit it. The first interment was that of a colored person, formerly a slave in New York, who came to Michigan with the family of David Harmon. This was in the year 1833. The second burial, in August, 1834, was that of Mary Ann, daughter of John Thomas, the donor of the ground, who was himself interred there on the 21st of May, 1844. The graves have become quite numerous, and the ground has about it nothing of that neglected, dismal appearance which is too often seen in country burial places.

Valuable information and facts pertaining to the history of the township have been kindly furnished by the following named gentlemen, viz.: Hon. C.V. Babcock, Deacon Melvin Drake, Kev. J. P. Gibson, Mr. Benjamin Fuller, Peter Van Every, A. A. Rust, Esq., Dr. Henry S. Cox, Mr. N. J. Roberts, E. S. Blakeslee, Esq., Mr. Josiah Barkley, John Waters, Esq., William Erity, Esq., and Mr. John T. Midgeley, of Southfield; Dr. E. Raynale, Mr. Benjamin A. Thorne, and Mason I. James, Esq., of Birmingham ; and John M. Ellenwood, Esq., of West Bloomfield. For which they will please accept the sincere thanks of the publishers.