This township, known on the government survey as town 3 north, range 9 east, is among the oldest settled divisions of Oakland County. It was originally a part of the township of Oakland, and afterwards a part of Pontiac township, the latter having been organized in 1827. In 1834 Waterford was organized as a township by itself, and retains the name given to it at that time.

It has great diversity of surface, lake, stream, hill and valley, marsh and swamp, and beautiful plain, and as an agricultural township ranks high. The improvements are of a high order in most localities, and fine residences, good, substantial barns and outbuildings, and well-kept fields, are seen in all directions.

The Detroit and Milwaukee railway passes through the township, having two stations, those of Waterford and Drayton Plains, within its limits. This road follows very nearly the route of the old Detroit and Saginaw turnpike and previous Indian trails, and affords quick connection with Detroit and other markets, besides increasing the value of real estate along the line.

The principal stream is the Clinton river, which in its windings very nearly divides the township in halves, and receives the surplus waters of many of the lakes found within its borders.

Of these lakes, numbering altogether thirty or more, the largest is Elizabeth lake, a sheet of water some four hundred acres in extent, lying on sections 27, 28, 33, and 34, Its shores are bold and clean, and partly covered with timber. Cozy villas are numerous in its vicinity, and the beauty of the lake and its surroundings can scarcely be surpassed. The name, "Elizabeth lake," was given to it in honor of the wife of General Lewis Cass, the second Territorial governor of Michigan. "Cass Lake," a portion of which lies in Waterford, was named for the governor himself. A bay of the latter lake, called "Gerundegut" (possibly a corruption of "Irondequoit"), extends half a mile or more into Waterford township.

The larger lakes in the township and county have recently been stocked with white-fish. Elizabeth lake contained fish of this species previously in: small numbers, the manner in which they came there not being explained. This lake was stocked with two hundred thousand white-fish spawn in the winter of 1875-76. Among the other lakes of the township the finest are Williams, Watkins, Silver, and Scott's. Besides these there are Loon, Three-Mile (only partly in Waterford), Pond, Woodhull, Mace Day, Pleasant, Crescent, Otter, Timber, and a part of Pickerel, with numerous other smaller sheets not distinguished by name.

"Mace Day lake" has a curious origin for its name. A man named Mason Day, called "Mase" for short, who at an earlier period kept a livery stable in Pontiac, was a great hunter and fisherman, and also was fond of his rations of the extract of rye. Whenever he felt a spree beginning to enfold him int its mushes, or was caught with a desire to go on a hunting or fishing excursion, he almost invariably went to the shore of the lake which bears his name to engage in his favorite pastimes. On these occasions he provided himself with provisions, etc. and camped on the lake shore, generally staying several months. He probably went so far because the place was quiet, and both fish and game were plenty.

"Williams lake" takes its name from Ferdinand Williams, who settled on its shore in 1829. It is a beautiful sheet, having timbered shores more than half the distance around it, and possessing a clean, sandy beach. It abounds with various kinds of fish, perch being the principal representative of the " finny tribe" found in its waters. It also received a stock of white-fish two or three years since, but as it is seldom that a fish of that variety is seen in it, the success of the enterprise is somewhat doubtful.

Watkins lake is named after a man named Watkins, who settled early on its south shore.

The raising of dams at Waterford, Drayton Plains, and Clintonville has marred the beauty of a number of the lakes, by the consequent overflow. This is the case with Loon, Silver, Pond, Woodhull and Mace Day lakes, and the one at Waterford village.

Waterford township derived ite name from the circumstence of its containing so large an area of water surface. The name was proposed by Shubael Atherton, who settled on the northwest quarter of section 25 about 1825. The entire area covered by water in the township approximates two thousand six hundred acres, besides marsh and swamp, which have a small area each.

The first entry of land in Waterford township was made by Major Oliver Williams, on the banks of Silver lake, in section 13, in 1819. His brother-in-law, Alpheus Williams, and Captain Archibald Philips, settled the same year at the spot where the Detroit and Saginaw trail crossed the Clinton river, or the site of the present village of Waterford. David Mayo purchased land in the township on the 25th of September, 1821. Captain Chesley Blake, Harvey Durfee, and Austin Durfee purchased in 1822. Harvey Seeley, John S. Porter, Samuel Hungerford, W. M. Tappan, Thaddeus Alvord, Charles Johnson, and Joseph Voorheis purchased in 1823. Alpheus Williams also made the first purchase of land from the government in the township of Independence, locating on section 33, adjoining his purchase in Waterford, October 10, 1823.

The Williamses were prominent men in the county, and to their exertions the fact is mainly due that the region was settled so soon and so generally by an intelligent, industrious, and enterprising class of people. The name of Major Oliver Williams, especially, will long be known in the annals of Oakland as that of a bold, untiring pioneer.

For a more complete history of the Williamses and other families, the reader is referred to the following truthful and exceedingly interesting reminiscences of early settlers, from pioneer records and other sources.

The Williams family dates back in the history of the British islands to a remote age. The name is of Welsh origin, and the descendants among the mountains of Welsh claim to trace their ancestry back to the time of "Roderic the Great," king of Britain, about the year 849

Others claim that the family hm descended from Brutus, the first king of Britain, 1100 years before Christ, The famous Oliver Cromwell is said to have belonged to a branch of this family.

The earliest representative of the name in the American colonies is believed to have been Robert Williams, who emigrated from Norwich, England, and settled at Roxbury, Massachusetts, about 1638, eighteen years after the original settlement at Plymouth bay.

Among the noted men of this wide spread family have been Roger Williams, the pioneer settler of Rhode Island ; Colonel Ephraim Williams, killed at the battle of Lake George, in August, 1755 ; General Otho Holland Williams, a prominent officer in the American army during the Revolution ; Hon, Charles K. Williams, chief justice of Vermont -, Hon. Norman Williams, of the same State ; Hon. Archibald Williams, of Quincy, Illinois, and many others prominent in the field, in the pulpit, and at the bar.

Major Oliver Williams, one of the pioneer settlers of Oakland County, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, August 6, 1774. He removed with his family from Concord, Massachusetts, to Detroit, Michigan, in 1815. Michigan at that time was a Territory, having been formed in 1805. Lewis Cass was the governor.

Major Williams had established the mercantile business in Detroit, purchasing his goods in Boston, carting them overland in covered wagons to Buffalo, and dipping thence by water to Detroit. He ordinarily made two trips a year, on horseback, to and from Boston and Detroit.

During the winter and spring of 1810-11 he built, at the river Rouge, a large sloop, which he named the "Friend's Good-Will," and in the early summer of 1812, just previous to the breaking out of the war between the United States and Great Britain, made a voyage to Mackinaw, acting in the capacity of supercargo. At Mackinaw his vessel was chartered by the government to take military stores and supplies to the garrison at Chicago, then a small military and trading station. She was also to bring back a cargo of skins and furs for the government.

The commanding officer at Mackinaw, Lieutenant Hanks, furnished the major with a box of ammunition, twelve stand of arms, and a non-commissioned officer and six men, as a guard against the Indians, who were even then openly hostile, and it was known that war was imminent. Upon his return from Chicago he was decoyed into the harbor of Mackinaw, which had in the mean time been captured by the British, and made a prisoner. His cargo was of course taken possession of for the benefit of the British government, on account of his vessel being under a government charter. The name of the vessel was changed to "Little Belt," and formed a part of Commodore Barclay's squadron, captured the next year by Perry on Lake Erie. At the time of the battle she mounted three guns. She was burned at Buffalo the following winter.

Major Williams was paroled and sent to Detroit, and was present at Hull's surrender, and after General Winchester's defeat in January following he was sent east, with most of the business men of Detroit, before the arrival of General Harrison's army.

After Winchester's defeat, many of the prisoners, some badly wounded, were brought to Detroit by the Indians, and offered for a ransom. Major Williams ransomed several, and afterwards received from the United States government fifty-six dollars, being the amount he had paid for two Kentuckians. These were certified to by the proper papers. Several others were ransomed, but the technical vouchers not being given, he received nothing for them. For his vessel and property taken by the British he never received any compensation, and the amount remains unpaid to the present time. The amount of his business interests destroyed by the war may be estimated from the fact that his purchases in Boston the year preceding the war amounted to $64,000.

In the fall of 1815, Mrs. Williams left Concord, Massachusetts, with her family of eight children, the oldest not yet fourteen years of age, to join her husband in Detroit. The family traveled with a spring carriage, and their goods followed in a four horse covered wagon, to Buffalo, where they took passage for Detroit on board a small schooner named the "Mink." They arrived safely at Detroit after having been obliged to lay to at Put in bay for several days, on account of stormy weather. When passing Maiden the vessel was fired upon by drunken Indians, who had gathered in thousands to receive their annual presents from the British agents. Luckily, the shots flew wide, and no one on board was injured

The schooner cast anchor a mile below the fort, and the family were taken on shore in boats. They walked up past the fort, whose frowning guns, pyramids of balls, and strong stockade with its heavy gates, were all new and strange to them. The people all turned out to see the Yankees, and as they passed along by the curious one story and story-and-a-half French houses the women greeted the little ones with a kiss, saying, "Ahj mon petite Bostonian ." Detroit then contained only three brick buildings, and the resident population was probably about one thousand, exclusive of the United States troops.

In 1816 many families who had left Detroit during the war returned, and Governor Cass brought his family to reside there. Alpheus Williams, a brother-in-law of the major, also brought his family. The season of 1816 was remarkably cold throughout the United States, and provisions were very high. Potatoes went up to two dollars per bushel, and whisky sold at two dollars per gallon. The currency was mostly what was called "cut money," that is, a Spanish dollar, for instance, was cut into halves, quarters, and eighths, which passed current for small change.

On the 14th day of August, President James Monroe visited Detroit, and was received with public honors. The buildings were illuminated in the evening, and there was general rejoicing. Major Williams' youngest son was born on that day, and named, in honor of the president, James Monroe Williams.

The first steamboat upon Lake Erie, the "Walk-in-the-Water," visited Detroit in the summer of 1818. She was a great wonder to the Indians, and when she blew off steam many of them fled to the woods, believing, as some waggish Frenchman had told them, that it was the "Bad Spirit," right from his fiery home.

The fall of 1818 witnessed one of the first settlements of Oakland County. In the latter part of September of that year, Major Williams, Calvin Baker, Jacob Eilett, and, it is believed, Colonel Beaufait, together with Mrs. Oliver Williams and Mrs. Alpheus Williams, made a journey to Oakland County, on horseback. They had a French guide along, who was probably familiar with the country, and followed the Indian trail towards Saginaw, which crossed the Notta'a-seepe ( The Clinton River) where Saginaw street now crosses in the city of Pontiac. The two women were believed to be the first white women who had ever voluntarily visited the region now known as Oakland County. The party found the country most beautiful from Royal Oak to the present site of Waterford, and literally alive with all kinds of game, beast, bird, and fish.

An extract from Alexis de Tocqueville's " Fortnight in the Wilderness" is appropriate in this connection, giving as it does a graphic picture of the country as it appeared to the first settlers and those who visited it for pleasure: "After we left Mr. Williams' we pursued our road through the woods. From time to time a little lake (this district is full of them) shines like a white tablecloth under the green branches. The charm of these lonely spots, as yet untenanted by man. and where peace and silence reign undisturbed, can hardly be imagined. I have climbed the wild and solitary passes of the Alps, where nature refuses to obey the hand of man, and, displaying all her terrors, fills the mind with an exciting and overwhelming sensation of greatness. The solitude here is equally deep, but the emotions it excites are different. In this flowery wilderness, where, as in Milton's paradise, all seems prepared for the reception of man, the feelings produced are those of tranquil admiration, a soft melancholy, a vague aversion of civilized life, and a sort of savage instinct, which causes you to regret that soon this enchanting solitude will be no more.

"Already, indeed, the white man is approaching through the surrounding woods ; in a few years he will have felled the trees now reflected in the limpid waters of the lake, and will have driven to other wilds the animals that feed on its banks."

The party selected their lands in the vicinity of Silver lake, searched out the surveyors' lines, and marked the corners. There are three lakes closely connected in this vicinity, called at the present time Loon, Silver, and Upper Silver, lakes. The Indian name for Loon lake, and it possibly included the others, was Nis-so- ga-mong-ne-hing, " place, or lake, of the three loons." The Indian name for lake was ne-hing, and for river or creek se-pee'ov se-hee.

After an absence of three or four days the party returned, carrying many specimens of the shrubs and flowers of the region. Their report electrified the staid, quiet inhabitants of Detroit, among whom the belief was general that the interior of Michigan was a vast impenetrable and uninhabitable wilderness and morass.

The exploring party entered their lands at the United States land office, the price being at that time two dollars per acre, only a part of which was required to be paid at the time of purchase.

The succeeding autumn and winter were remarkably warm and open, scarcely any frost or snow being seen until March. Major Williams during the winter built on his land at Silver lake a double log house, fifty by twenty feet in dimensions, one and a half stories in height, and in March, 1819, moved his family from Detroit to their new home in the wilderness.

The journey is graphically described by Mrs. Hodges, a daughter of Major Williams, from whose notes we quote: " In the early part of March, the fifth day, I think, at seven o'clock in the morning, we left Detroit, all snugly packed in two sleighs. There was a light fall of snow, about six inches, perhaps, but there was no frost in the ground. There was not much road, only the Indian trail. We arrived at Royal Oak at sundown, and stayed at Wm. Thurber's overnight. Mr. T. had built a small log house, and lately moved in a family to keep house for him. The lady had several children, but she generously divided her house with my mother and her nine children. There was but one room in the house, and she gave us one side of the fire-place, occupying the other herself Each soon gathered her flock into her corner. The fire-place was in the old Dutch style, extending entirely across one end of the dwelling. This feature was extremely novel to us all. After a good warm supper, the beds were made on the floor and all camped for the night, but did not sleep much, for we were too full of play, amusing ourselves looking through the 'chinks' between the logs, counting the stars, watching the moon, and listening to the hooting of owls, the barking of foxes, and the howling of wolves, while every now and then a 'hush, children!' came from our dear, good mother. We finally passed the night, and at daybreak were astir. A big back-log, ten feet or more in length and two feet in diameter, was rolled in by two men, and a rousing fire built that heated the whole habitation. After a hearty breakfast the teamsters called out, ' All aboard for Pontiac!' and soon we were snugly packed for another day's journey. The day was bright and warm, the snow melting a little, and we arrived at Dr. Swan's about ten o'clock in the forenoon, near the present village of Birmingham. The doctor had erected a simple ' shanty' and moved his family in a few days before. Here we halted for a few minutes, to chat and exchange compliments, of which I remember nothing, excepting that when we parted from them I saw mother, Mrs., Swan, and Mrs. Dale (her daughter) all in tears.

" These ladies were real pioneers, and were well known by their repeated kindnesses to the early settlers of Oakland County " At noon we arrived at the famous town of Pontiac, situated on the Not-tawa-se-bee (or crooked river), as the Indians called it. "The town then consisted of one little log house, containing three families and a few workmen, who were felling the oak trees for timber to construct the Pontiac mill, which, I think, was the first flouring mill in the State, and the first propelled by water power, all others being wind mills. At this house we took dinner, which was spread on boards laid on barrels.

"Some sat on rough stools, while others stood up and waited their turn. All was gay and generous hospitality. After dinner we remarked and, bidding all a hearty 'good-by!' left the prosperous little town for Silver lake, where we arrived about four o'clock P.M."

'' The workmen had occupied a little log shanty while building the house for the family. The latter was in an unfinished state, the logs were all up and the roof was on and a rough floor laid down, but the gable ends were not finished, and there was no hearth but the ground. The walls were 'chinked' but not plastered, the material for this last work being clay mortar. This house was quite aristocratic, being fifty feet long and twenty wide, with a ten foot hall running' through the middle. The front door opened to the south and the back door towards the lake. In the hall was a closed staircase leading to a half-story room above, and also down into the cellar, which was thirty feet long and twenty wide. It was walled up with square timbers laid closely together and made very tight, to guard against wild animals and snakes, which were everywhere abundant and exceedingly troublesome. Rats were unknown for some years.

" Our first night in our forest home was a great novelty to us. A field bed was spread on the loose floor, and a large fire built on the earthen hearth, which hearth was replaced by one made of clay as soon as the material could be obtained in the spring. Carpets and blankets were nailed up to protect us from the weather, and we were very comfortable, and our good father made us happy by telling us that we had the largest and best house in the country; so we fell asleep talking about the big fire, the big logs of which the house was made, and all the strange things and wonders around us."

The rumbling of the cracking ice upon the lake, as it contracted, alarmed the children until they became accustomed to it, but the greatest scare of all was when the Indians visited the family. They were encamped at various places in the neighborhood, and came to pay their respects to the " Yankees" and become acquainted with the new comers. They were all introduced and shook hands, and the chief kissed all around.

The next autumn the family were all sick with the ague, but the Indians were exceedingly kind and attentive, one squaw in particular coming daily for weeks, bringing simple remedies, and also venison, birds, honey, maple sugar, and wild berries, with which the country abounded. The husband of this squaw, who was a great hunter, was finally killed in a terrible fight with a bear in 1824, and was buried on Major Williams' farm. The squaw died near Chesaning about 1873. In the fall of 1819, Governor Cass made a treaty at Saginaw with the Indians, and on his return stopped overnight with the Williams family.

" In the fall of 1820 the Indian chief and tyrant of all the Saginaw bands, the dreaded Kish-hor-ko,—encamped on our farm, and, accompanied by his old men councilors and a body guard of armed braves, came to the house and demanded to be furnished with two barrels of flour and one of pork, which we did not have. But after a smoke from a pipe of peace (one of which my father had), and a few speeches that were interpreted by a Mr. Riley, my father freely offering them what the Great Spirit had given us from the earth, consisting of corn, potatoes, and pumpkins, then in the field, Kish-hor-ko ordered about twenty men and squaws to go with Riley and my oldest brother and gather what was necessary to feed them, and then proceeded to name my father, calling him "Che-Pontiock" and adopted him as a brother, saying our family should belong to his people, which was solemnly confirmed by a shaking of hands by all the old men with every one of the family, and kissing each on the left cheek. After another smoke all around, including father, each taking a few whiffs from the two long stemmed pipes, one of which was Kish-kor-ko's, both passed around by his pipe bearer, each of the old men was presented with a plug of tobacco by Pontiac, and the chief with a double portion and some more for distribution among his braves. Then this solemn council broke up, and from that day no member of our family ever lost anything by theft, or was treated with any indignity by Indians from the Saginaws, although we became the pioneer settlers of Genesee, Saginaw, and Shiawassee counties, of Genesee in 1824, Saginaw in 1826, and Shiawassee in 1831."

Major Williams' family were all (except himself) prostrated with ague in July, 1819, and every settler in the region shared the same fate. At first the chill came on every second day, but soon the attack became daily and continued for months, until the cool weather in the fall checked it somewhat, and through the winter they were comparatively exempt from the scourge ; but the return of hot weather again brought it around, and fur years the early settlers of Michigan endured privations and plagues and sickness equal to any ever experienced in any other part of the continent. Whole settlements were prostrated, and there were not well ones enough left to half take care of the sick, and the people suffered for the lack of some one to do cooking and washing. The women in Detroit were loath to leave comfortable homes and venture into the sickly, inhospitable wilderness.

In the fell of 1819, Mrs. Alpheus Williams came out from Grosse point, ten miles above Detroit, and brought a woman with her ; and they found plenty to do. They brought some fresh beef with them and made broth for the poor, sickly, half starved people ; and then they went to work and washed up the wearing apparel which had been accumulating for months, there not being a man or a woman able to wash, with the exception of Major Williams, and he could not get time among his multifarious duties. The Indians were very kind, but they could not at tend to household duties. The major did everything, even to making bread, but he finally got discouraged and made up his mind to leave the place, at least long enough for his family to recover their usual health, but his wife said no; they had got over the worst of it, and she did not want to take her boys back to Detroit. She would rather stay with the Indians, for they would at least learn no immorality from them.

As the cool weather came on in the autumn the disease gradually abated, and the winter was passed very pleasantly. Game was very plenty, deer being frequently shot from the door, and the lakes swarmed with wild fowl. Snakes were a great annoyance, the blue racers in particular, which species grew to an enormous size. Major Williams sent quite a number of their skins, stuffed, to Boston and Ann Arbor museums.

Annually the British and American governments paid the Indians their annuities, which consisted, to a considerable extent, of silver coin, which they exchanged for their winter supply of clothing. Theft was unknown among the Indians, and their silver could hang in pails or buckets for months from the rafters of their cabins, and not be disturbed. The only things the Indians purloined were provisions. They evidently looked upon the taking of a few potatoes or roasting ears as a matter of no moment ; but they never entered a house to steal anything. They used often to come and dance the fearful war-dance around the white children, who became familiar with them and rapidly learned their language.

There were no cooking stoves in those days, all the cooking being frequently done out of doors by a log fire. Turkeys were roasted by hanging them on a string before the fire, and bread was baked in iron bake kettles, and pies and cakes in the same way. Afterwards, ovens built of clay were substituted, and it is doubtful if the most elaborate cuisine of the present day can produce more tempting cooking than that turned out from these primitive kitchens. Everybody, unless sick, had an appetite which relished whatever was eatable, and the plain but substantial and nutritive food of pioneer days was conducive to a vigorous and robust life. The thousand-and-one luxuries and little conveniences of the present day were almost unknown.

A single darning needle frequently did the mending for an entire neighborhood, and the children often went a mile to bring one home which had been loaned to a neighbor.

There was often a great scarcity of pins for household purposes, and when this was the case recourse was had to the wild thorns which seem to have been found plentifully in all the northern States. A single veteran thorn apple tree would supply a neighborhood with a no mean substitute for the universal pin now in use.

Major Williams kept a sort of trading post, where the Indians could find the various kinds of goods which best suited their fancy, broadcloths, blue, red, and green shawls, thread, needles, beads, gay and fancy colored calicoes, ribbons of all shades, etc. The squaws were quite ingenious, and trimmed blankets, leggings, moccasins, and other apparel with much taste, expending a great amount of labor upon them.

We give an extract from Mrs. Hodges' recollections of an Indian courtship, as something which with no doubt be interesting to the young people, at least, and especially to young ladies contemplating matrimony. She says, "I first noticed a young Indian, about twenty years of age, visiting a camp near our house. He came every morning about ten o'clock, sat on a log, or leaned against a tree, and played a sort of flute of his own making, constructed from red cedar. I noticed his tune was ever the same, wild and plaintive, well calculated to captivate the modest but savage maiden, as time proved. I went to the camp one day and inquired for Mash-quett. They told me he had gone away. I had missed him for several days. While we were talking the young man made his appearance with a deer on his back, which he laid down a little way from the door of the camp. Not a word was spoken for several minutes, when the mother of the girl went to the door and commenced dressing it. The young man then came to the camp door, and handed the father a package containing a variety of muskrat, sable, and mink skins. At first I supposed they were making a trade, but soon comprehended that the dusky wooer was simply endeavoring to prove his ability to support a family in a manner becoming the customs and usages of his nation.

"When the deer was cut up the mother made a soup, and invited the young man into her wigwam to partake with them, by which act, according to Indian customs, he was acknowledged as their son. A few days thereafter the young couple left for their home near Grand Blanc."

"In 1820 my father built a frame barn on his farm at Silver lake, the first one m the county, and it is still standing in a good state of preservation. The boards with which it was enclosed were all sawed from the log by hand. At the time of the 'raising' men came from long distances, from Mt. Clemens, Detroit, Royal Oak, Rochester, and Pontiac. The barn was a large one for those days. and the fifty men who were present worked for three days in putting up the frame,, and had a grand time. Pork and beans, bread, cheese, and doughnuts, tea, and coffee, with occasionally something a little stronger, were liberally served, and a more jolly or happier set of men I do not remember of ever seeing. For once there was perfect equality ; judges, lawyers, physicians, merchants, mechanics, and farmers, all met on a common level, worked, ate, and slept together, and together rejoiced over the work which their hands had accomplished.

"With the breaking of a few bottles of choice cider, they departed, each for his own fireside, never to forget the first frame barn raising in Oakland County. “Horses fared badly in the new country. The wild hay did not seem to agree with them, and tame hay had to be brought from Ohio, or still farther away, in bales- to Detroit, and from thence transported in wagons or carts inland over the worst roads in the country. Flies of various kinds, from the small but intolerable gnat to those aptly denominated "horse-flies," the size of a "bumble-bee," tormented all domestic animals terribly. In addition, the most common pest of all, the bloody mosquito," put in his bill," and helped to literally bleed the poor brutes to death. The tough little Canadian ponies were the only animals of the horse kind that could withstand these pests and thrive on the wild herbage of the country, and gradually they took the place of the larger and finer animals from the eastern States.

Another terrible pest was the squirrel, who ate up all the corn as fast as planted; or if any chanced to escape his cunning eyes and paws, innumerable swarms of blackbirds gathered it as it ripened in the fall. All small grains shared the same fate. Everybody, even to the women and children, were taught to use firearms as a means of defense against wild animals and pestiferous birds. When the people finally succeeded in raising a little corn, it became necessary to have some means of turning, it into meal, and Major Williams at length procured a " Virginia cornmill," which was simply a huge coffee-mill fastened to a stake or a tree, and turned by means of two cranks, one on each side. The hopper held about a bushel of corn. This mill was free to all the settlers, and answered a very good purpose, in the absence of something better. Wild honey-bees were very plenty, and the products of their industry were eagerly sought after in the hollow trees of the forest. They were greatly bewildered when flying by the discharge of firearms, and often came to the ground, and were easily captured and housed.

In 1823 the oldest daughter of Major Williams married Rufus Stevens, and in June of the same year the couple emigrated to Grand Blanc, and became the first settlers in Genesee county. In the fall of the same year Mr. Jacob Stevens also, removed with his family to Genesee county. In the month of January, 1826 the young people of Pontiac organized a sleighing party, for the purpose of visiting the Stevenses in their new home. The party consisted of fourteen, and made the trip in one double sleigh, two cutters, and two jumpers. They left Silver Lake about seven a.m., and took dinner from their own lunch-baskets at the Big springs, about midway between Silver Lake and Grand Blanc.

They arrived at Mr. Stevens' about sundown, after a pleasant ride of thirty-five miles. On their arrival the company divided, and filled both the dwellings occupied by the Stevens families, which were about a half-mile apart. After a hearty supper, the entire company repaired to the house of Rufus Stevens, which was only fourteen by twenty feet in size, yet they managed to all get inside, and a more enjoyable evening was probably never spent by any of the party. The chief orator and story teller seems to have been Colonel David Stanard, who had a rich fund of anecdotes and amusing stories.

The next day was spent in social visiting, and the second evening the party assembled at the house of Jacob Stevens, where they were joined by all the young people of the vicinity, in all two couples, and after a pleasant evening a grand supper was spread, and enjoyed with that keen relish which only the backwoods settler knows.

The next day at sunrise everybody was astir, and, after an early breakfast, the party bade farewell to their friends and turned their faces homeward, arriving at Waterford about five p.m., where they stopped for the night. After a warm supper, the evening was pleasantly passed in games of whist and other amusements, and after one more night "abroad" the company were again under way, and arrived at Silver Lake about nine o'clock a.m., where they were refreshed with a hot mug of "flip," after which they separated for their respective homes, somewhat tired, but all satisfied with their four days' experience and enjoyment. Thus ended the great sleigh ride of 1826. As a matter of interest to many, we append a list of the members composing this famous party.

Colonel David Stanard, Miss Sylvina Stanard, Origen D. Richardson, Miss Lavina Beach, Gideon O. Whittemore, Miss Sarah Comstock, Elias Comstock, Miss Lucy Sampson, Schuyler Hodges, Miss Mary A. Williams, Ephraim S. Williams, Miss Eunice Stevens, Gardner D. Williams, Miss Martha Stevens.

According to Mrs. Hodges' recollection, the first celebration of New Year's day was on the first day of January, 1823, at the house of Judge Davis, in Rochester, with music and a grand New Year's ball and supper in the evening.

The parties from Waterford, Silver Lake and Pontiac started for the grand rendezvous very early in the morning, and rode for hours in a snow storm, but in spite of storm and obscure roads, they succeeded in getting together about all the young people in the county, amounting to about sixty. A part of the company did not arrive until the regular supper was over, but they joined in the dance in a crowded room until about twelve o'clock, when hot whisky-punch and cake were passed around for refreshment, and then "the night drave on wi' sangs and clatter" until daylight, when the party broke up. The horses were obliged to stand out all night, on the leeward side of the house, sheltered as much as possible by robes and blankets. Several of the party came with ox-teams, and these fared no better than the horses. The bill was twenty-five cents per couple, and was paid without a murmur.

The next New Year's found the same fun loving party at the house of Judge Bagley, at Bloomfield Centre, where he kept tavern in a large frame house containing a bar room, dining room, and commodious sleeping rooms in the upper story. The bar room was used for the dancing hall, and after supper the dining room was cleared, and both occupied by the "gay and festive" party, who made a night of it," all ages joining, and enjoying themselves in the highest degree.

These pleasure parties, together with Fourth of July celebrations and "general trainings," constituted the holidays of the time. A dance once a year was considered about the proper thing. In the warm months the pastimes consisted of . logging bees, house raisings, and fighting the forest fires, which oftentimes became quite destructive, burning the cheap brush fences, improvised until they could build better ones of rails, and sometimes destroying an out building.

The young men of those days came to Oakland, many of them on foot, with an axe and knapsack, and commenced making a home by cutting down the forest, chip by chip, and at first putting up a small shanty to keep " bachelor's hall" in, then burning all the timber for the ashes, which they sold to the " ashery men," who came in and put up buildings for the manufacture of pot and pearl ashes. This was the first product of their lands, and enabled them to purchase groceries and oftentimes their breadstuffs. Inferior and discouraging as these beginnings were, many of those young men are now wealthy farmers, and their sons are filling positions of honor and trust, the gift of the people. Well may the pioneers, and especially the farmers, of Oakland County indulge in a just and noble pride when they behold the progress of two generations.

Many a home on the far off "Pacific coast has been planted by an Oakland boy, whose spirit of energy and enterprise gives abundant evideneo that he is indeed a "true son of a noble sire."

Sickness was the greatest obstacle which the settlers had to encounter. Mrs. Hodges says that before she was sixteen years of age she has walked miles to take care of the sick, and sat up many a night watching with the dying and the dead in Pontiac when the only sound to break the stillness of the night was the chirp of the August " cricket upon the hearth." Many families in Pontiac and Auburn buried all their children with the dreadful fevers that desolated the whole country, and many children lost both parents, and had to be sent to their friends in the east for care and protection The dead were frequently buried with few words and little ceremony, a chapter in the Bible and a hymn read, with a few simple words, and the cold earth covered those who had ended their earthly toils.

As an evidence of the hardships endured, and the horrors with which the early settlers were environed, the following incident, related by Mrs. Hodges, is given: " One night about eleven o'clock I heard voices and horses' footsteps at the door, and as I opened it a young Prenckman stood before me, who asked for Major Williams. I told him he had retired, when he said, 'I have a corpse at the gate, and I wish to stay all night.' My whole frame trembled with fear, I called my father, and the matter was arranged that they should stay in the barn with the corpse, which they had brought from Shiawassee county, some seventy miles, packed and lashed on the back of an Indian pony, and were going to Detroit, twenty-eight miles farther, to give it a Christian burial with the rites of the Catholic church."

An early pioneer, was born in Watertown, Litchfield county, Connecticut, May 11, 1778, and was the oldest son of Thomas and Mercy Judd. The family moved from Watertown to Harpersfield, New York, when Daniel was but seven years old. They afterwards moved into Otsego county, thence to Chenango county, thence to Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, thence back to Ontario county, New York, and lastly into Mayfield, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, where the head of the family died in August, 1820, aged seventy-six years. The widow died at Willoughby, Lake county, Ohio, in 1840, at the advanced age of ninety years.

" In the spring of 1799 or 1800, Daniel S. Judd, accompanied by his brother Thomas, left Ontario county. New York, to visit the 'Connecticut Western Reserve,'traveling on foot, and depending mainly upon their skill as hunters to furnish them with necessary supplies. They visited Cleveland, with its then three log houses, one a tavern, kept by a man named Carter, and the other two occupied for dwelling purposes. At that time they could have bought the site of the present city as cheaply as they afterwards purchased in the town of Mayfield, in the same county.

" They traced the shore of Lake Erie as far as Cleveland, from which point they turned southward, and struck the head waters of the Muskingum river, following it down until it became large enough to float a canoe, when they stopped and made a craft of that description, and floated down the stream as far as Coshocton. Here Thomas Judd was taken sick, and did not recover till some time in September, having neither doctor nor medicine. By the time he became able to walk five miles they started on the return trip. As the convalescent's strength increased, the distance traveled daily proportionately lengthened, and they finally reached their home on the west bank of Seneca lake late in the fall, making fifty-four miles the last day of their journey. During their absence they had worn out their clothes and had improvised suits of deerskin.

"Deer were extremely abundant along the Muskingum, and by placing a torch in the bow of their canoe, and floating down the river in the night, they could kill all they cared to, the animals keeping in the water to get rid of the mosquitoes, which were very large and abounded in swarms.

" The stay of the brothers at home was short. The abundance and variety of game on the reserve, together with good soil and fine timber, had determined them to make it their home. The next spring (1800 or 1801) they again left home, and on reaching the reserve Daniel purchased a farm nine miles above Chagrin (now Willoughby), and Thomas two miles above, both on the Chagrin river, and about sixteen miles east of Cleveland. As soon as they erected their log houses the family moved in from Ontario county, New York.

" After game began to get a little scarce about the settlement on the Chagrin river, the two Judds and another hunter by the name of Holmes planned a hunt over on the head waters of the Cuyahoga river, at an old trading post. Daniel led the way a day or two before the others. Thomas and Holmes, in going over, came across a new settler who had cut his foot very severely, and they tarried with him a few days, so that Daniel had been on the ground a week when they reached the post. The log house was unoccupied, save by eighteen deer hung up on its sides; he had killed twenty-one deer and brought them all in but three. A good tracking snow lay on the ground. Holmes thought there must be a dozen Indians hunting in the neighborhood, but Thomas examined the tracks about the old house and said there was no one there but Dan, as he made a peculiar track, having a short, thick foot. When Daniel came in, one of the number was sent home after a team. The saddles and skins were taken home, the surplus meat dried, and some of it salted for future use. The neighbors sent out a team and brought in the rest for their own use.

"During the first trip of the brothers to the reserve they formed the acquaintance of a reckless, venturesome man named John Salter. He had been down the Mississippi for the purpose of joining with a bandit crew then operating in the Gulf of Mexico, but before reaching them he was afflicted with a white swelling on his leg, which a Spaniard, with characteristics like himself, cured by cutting to the bone with his knife and scraping it. When Salter had recovered, the bandits had been captured and dispersed, and he, charmed with the freedom of a life in the wilds of the west, ever afterwards encamped with his family in the woods, or roved about in a canoe on the rivers and lakes, hunting and fishing as a sole means of subsistence.

" As early as 1808 the number of settlers on the reserve had increased considerably. Clearings were multiplying rapidly. Love of adventure and of the woods made the subject of this sketch restless, and, accompanied by his brother Freeman, he started that year with no determined destination, save some vast wilderness. They brought up at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, in Michigan Territory. Here it would seem that his untamed nature had learned of some necessaries which the wilds did not afford, some wants begotten of limited civilization and social life, and to procure them he worked a little at blacksmithing for a man by the name of Carlin.

"In the spring of 1809 the brother, Freeman, suddenly sickened and died. A singularity about his death was that he had predicted the time some years previously. This event seized upon the mind of Daniel Judd with wonderful effect. He regarded it as the great affliction of his life, and it determined him to return home, which he did, alone in a canoe, by going down the river Raisin and coasting along the lake-shore to the mouth of the Chagrin river, and up that to his home. From this time until 1812 he remained at home, improving his farm. War was declared, and his first discharge shows that he enlisted the day after that event was known, and went into camp at Cleveland.

"Truly a woodsman, inured to hardships and camp life, he was a valuable recruit for those times. Here he came into contact with another character as rare as himself, named Jonathan Williams, a man who held fear in perfect contempt. Williams 'first remark when he came into camp was,' I am glad war is declared, for now all the Indians that are killed will not be laid to me.' He would kill an Indian whenever there was an opportunity to do so and escape detection. His parents had been murdered by them, and he nurtured an implacable hatred towards the red race, and lost no opportunity to wreak the vengeance of an outraged and irascible nature.

"The Indians soon made their appearance at Sandusky, and the inhabitants left that place and came to Cleveland. Scouting was an important duty, and Judd and Williams were regarded as the very best material for it in camp. They made several trips to Sandusky in that capacity. On one occasion reports came in that the British and Indians were at Sandusky, gathering the grain left by the settlers and carrying it away. Judd and Williams were sent out to ascertain the facts, and learned that a few Canadians and Indians had come over in boats, thrashed out a little wheat, and gone away. They found an Indians bark canoe, Used with a piece of basswood bark, up the creek, and secreted themselves to watch for the return of the owner, but none came. At night they loaded it with apples and returned to Cleveland. The apples were a great treat to the officers and soldiers.

" A bark canoe b a light and frail craft, and must be fastened so as to float in the water, or taken out entirely. This one was tied to a stake in the river, and was an object of curiosity to all. A ruffled shirted officer, of pompous mien, came down to see it, stepped into it and walked to the stern, and, while noting its construction, it skipped from under him, and plunged him in the muddy water of the stream, much to the amusement of the soldiers.

" Mr. Judd's first enlistment expired at the end of six months. During this period there was no permanent occupation of Sandusky. He afterwards enlisted again as a substitute for his younger brother, Philo. During his second term of service Fort Stevenson was built at Sandusky, and he aided in its construction. Simon Perkins commanded the fort. At this time General Harrison was besieged in Fort Meigs, on the Maumee, and there was no communication between the two fortifications. From Fort Stevenson sundry parties had started with dispatches to General Harrison, but the farthest any of them had gone was the Portage river, half way through. Some did not get more than ten miles away, and were either killed or driven back by the Indians. Matters were looking exceedingly serious, when some one said to Perkins that Judd could go through. Perkins went to Judd, and asked him his price to go to Fort Meigs. He replied that he could not be hired, but, if it were necessary, he would undertake to carry his dispatches to General Harrison. On being asked how many men he wanted, he said one was sufficient. He wanted Williams, but as he was not there, he selected Ephraim Rose, as the next best choice. They dressed in Indian style, with moccasins, Indian blankets carried in Indian fashion, and handkerchiefs tied on their heads, thus resembling Indians as much as possible. They left Fort Stevenson about midnight of the 3d of May, 1813. There were a road and a trail running from point to point, sometimes in close proximity to each other, and in other cases two or three miles apart. They avoided both, as they were closely watched by Indians. At night they would turn at right angles from their general course, travel a mile or two, and encamp. By doing this they would escape the Indians who might be following.

" They reached the Portage river without difficulty, but the stream was bank full, and how to cross it was the question. They were below both the road and the trail, the latter being nearer them, and they approached the trail with great caution, and discovered between it and them two Indians watching the ford. They retreated down the river unobserved by the Indians, who were watching in an opposite direction. They found a fallen elm which had broken in two parts, one part being still held to the stump by a splinter, which they could not break. The detached part was carried to the river, crosspieces and bark procured for fastenings, and then the other part was cut from the stump with a hatchet, making a noise which seemed to them as loud as the boom of a cannon. They made quick work in finishing the raft and crossing the stream, and no delays were in order until they were several miles distant from the place where they had made such a noise. It was just night when they crossed the river, and they traveled two hours before encamping.

" The next morning they turned their course towards the trail and crossed it. A party of Indians had passed on so recently that the bubbles still stood on the water, which flooded nearly the entire country. They traveled a short time between the trail and road, then crossed the latter, and here too they found that a party of Indians had passed along, all going towards Fort Meigs. They came into the neighborhood of the fort the same day (May 5, 1813) that the twelve hundred Kentuckians, under General Clay, through a disobedience of orders, were so cut to pieces and slaughtered by the Indians. The Indians, emboldened by this success, immediately closed in and around the fort as before the fight. Judd and Rose lay concealed while a second sally was made from the fort to drive them off. The lines of the foe were cut, and he was driven up and down the river. As soon as the gap was of sufficient width, Judd and Rose hurried through it towards the fort. On the bank of the river, a little below the fort, were standing in line about one hundred and fifty soldiers. The two managed to keep behind trees and brush so as not to be seen by them until they reached an old log fence, about twenty rods from the line. As they jumped this fence they were discovered by the soldiers. The order was given, 'Left face! make ready' Judd and Rose had no flag to hoist, but they immediately reversed their arms, and marched rapidly toward the soldiers. One of them they heard say, ' By God! they are Indians!' 'Well,' said the officer in command, ' two Indians will not kill us all.' The escape from the fire of the troops was a narrow one, as the officer told them when they came up. They were taken into the fort, delivered their dispatches to General Harrison, and gave him all the information they were in possession of besides.

" Frequent rains were falling, horses, beef-cattle, and every thing else were crowded inside the fort, and the mud in many places was six inches deep. Judd remained in Fort Meigs one night and one day, and the next night started on his return to Fort Stevenson. Rose was used up by the fatigue of the trip, and could not return. Judd's company was to be twelve friendly Indians and one white man. He complained to the general of the character of his company, but was assured by him of their perfect trustworthiness, and consented to the arrangement. About midnight an Indian led off, followed by the two white men and the other Indians. Before the coming of the morning, Judd discovered that they were traveling in circles, as there was a certain plum thicket they had passed through twice and were entering the third time. He told the leader of the fact, and they sat down and waited for the morning-gun of the fort, and found they were not more than a mile away, and going directly towards the fort. They turned their backs to it, and traveled fast, and before daylight were in the Black swamp. The Indians were first ordered to Upper Sandusky, then to Lower Sandusky, and they took the direction of the former place. As soon as it was light, Judd showed the leader by his compass that his course was not right. He turned in the right direction a short distance and then resumed his former course. Judd fell back, and asked the white man to go through with him. He consented, and they started together, leaving the Indians. Judd's companion, who was not a soldier, but only a teamster, proved to be a troublesome customer. He had not acquired the skill of a noiseless step, and went crashing through the woods regardless of the noise he made. Judd felt it necessary to put him in the rear, just within sight. On one occasion his companion lost sight of him and hallooed. This so enraged him that he could hardly reconcile himself to continue longer in his company, and he told him he would surely leave him if he repeated the indiscretion. He adopted the same plan in returning that he did in going through, following neither road nor trail, as both were well picketed by Indians. At the Portage river they were fortunate enough to find a raft, on which they crossed, and finally reached Fort Stevenson in safety, after an absence of eight days.

" This, Mr. Judd said, was the hardest jaunt of his life. The country between the two places, for three-fourths of the way, was swamp, and the water from shoe deep to waist deep all over it, with current enough towards the lake to guide them on their course without the aid of a compass. Many times it was difficult to find dry ground to sleep on, or, rather, ground above the water, for dry ground was out of the question, as it rained almost continually. Two nights they had to perch themselves on little knolls that had been made by trees being turned up by the roots, and then there was barely room enough for them to lie down. They kept from rolling into the water by placing pieces of logs on each side of the knoll. At no time during the journey did they dare kindle a fire to dry or warm themselves by, or cook their food by. E-aw pork and bread formed their only provisions, and those they had to carry with them from fort to fort. Game they dare not shoot, if they saw it.

" Directly after his return to Fort Stevenson, Judd was transferred to Cleveland, where he was furloughed and sent home sick. He was still sick when the attack on Fort Stevenson was defeated by Colonel Croghan, and also during Harrison's campaign into Canada.

" One incident, showing his faithfulness as a soldier to orders and to duty, is worth relating : An artillery company was stationed at Cleveland, composed of large, strong men from the southern part of the State, who disregarded all the rules of the camp. Judd was put on guard between the camp of this company and the boat landing, with strict orders not to let any one pass without a written order from the officer of the day, ' What shall I do,' said he, if those lawless fellows attempt to pass ?' 'Our orders must be obeyed,' said the officer. He had not been on guard long before one of them appeared with his canteen under his arm. He was ordered to halt, and was told that he could not proceed without a written pass from the officer of the day. ' I have a pass,' said he, holding up a paper' ' and by God, I am going where I please !' He started on, stepped one foot on the line, the other over it, and stopped, seeing that the sentinel had his gun cocked and a good sight on him. He did not raise his foot off the line, but turned and went back. The next night but one this man was shot through the leg by a boat guard at the river for disobedience of orders

" Many of those who resided in Oakland County, Michigan, thirty-five or forty years ago, will recollect an old soldier by the name of Christopher Knowlton, better known as ' Uncle Chris,' who had a lame leg. This soldier applied to Morgan L. Drake to procure a pension for him, alleging that his leg was crippled in breaking cavalry horses while in the service. Mr. Drake applied to the sentinel above mentioned, who was then also a resident of Oakland County, to ascertain what he knew in regard to Knowlton, knowing that they were both stationed at the same place. He told Drake he was quite sure he knew him, but did not like to be positive; that if his memory served him correctly, he was a disorderly soldier who attempted to pass his line once, and had he taken one more step in the direction he was going, he never would have applied for a pension ; and instead of being crippled in breaking cavalry horses, he was shot by a boat guard for disobedience of orders.

"Not long after his fruitless attempt to secure a pension, a step-son of Daniel S. Judd (Jesse A. Mathewson) found Uncle Chris pretty drunk, and telling of being stationed at Cleveland. 'Did you know Father Judd there ?' asked Mathewson. ' Yes,' said he, ' the old cuss like to have shot me once.'

" Judd's hunting experiences, if all preserved and printed, would make a volume of amusing reading, but few of tL ^m can find place here. His faithful dog, which he brought with him to Michigan, was said to have been one of the best hunters of his kind. This one, with one owned by another hunter, named Holmes, it is said would bring any bear to bay they pursued. In those times the loss of such a dog was quite an affliction. He lost his in this way: An Indian, having tracked a bear into a windfall, went round it, and found the brute had not left it, and informed the two white hunters of the fact. They took their dogs, and posted themselves on the opposite side of the windfall from where the bear entered, and the Indian went in to drive him out. If the bear took the direction of the hunters, he was to halloo; if any other, he was to fire his gun. The gun was fired, and the dogs let go, but Bruin just emerged from the fallen timber and then turned back again. Soon Holmes' dog returned, all bristled up, evincing great terror. The bear soon came out with the other dog in his mouth. The hunters both fired, and the bear fell, but still held the dog. Judd went up and fired his second barrel (his was a double-barreled rifle) before the bear let go of the dog, which was now dead. On going into the windfall it was found that the dogs and bear had met just as the latter had jumped upon a large log, and the dogs springing one on each side, Judd's became entangled in some grapevines, thus becoming an easy prey to the bear.

"In February, 1817, Mr. Judd was married to Nancy M. Mathewson, a widow, with two children, Jesse A. and Lorton S., born respectively in 1805 and 1812. Her maiden name was Nancy Bacon, and she was born in Massachusetts, June 17, 1780. Lorton Mathewson died in La Grange county, Indiana, in 1853 ; Jesse now resides in Harvey county, Kansas.

"The fruits of Mr. Judd's marriage were two children, Daniel M , born January 17, 1818, and Martha, born July 23, 1821. The former owns and occupies the farm purchased of the United States by his father in 1832 ; the latter lives in Memphis, Tennessee.

"In the spring of 1818, Judd, Noah Wirt, and Samuel Miller started from Chagrin (now Willoughby) in a small open boat, and went down the river with traps, provisions, etc., for a trapping season up at the Portage river. A single incident only renders this trip memorable or worth relating. A day or two before the trappers were ready to leave, three Indians came to their camp and spent some time; examined everything with scrutinizing eyes, and seemed much pleased with a double barreled shotgun belonging to Wirt. They bought some powder, giving in exchange for it a wild-goose, and as they were about to depart Wirt treated them to some whisky. In the early part of the following night the two dogs of the trappers rushed out from the camp into the darkness, barking furiously for some minutes. Judd arose and stirred up the fire, the dogs came back, and soon, all being quiet, he lay down again. In a little while out went the dogs again as before. He arose a second time, took Wirt's gun, which was loaded with swans hot, cocked both barrels, and pointed it in the direction the dogs were barking, thinking he would fire it off" as soon as the animals were out of range, for he was quite sure that Indians were prowling around the camp, watching for a chance to steal something. While waiting for the dogs to come back the thought occurred to him that the shot were heavy enough to kill an Indian, and he did not care to kill one there, so he concluded not to shoot. Wirt roused up once and asked what the dogs were barking at, but Miller slept through the whole disturbance. The dogs quieted down about midnight, and nothing further transpired. The next day passed without incident, save some preparations to return home. The next morning, being the second day after the disturbance, an old In- dian came up the river in a canoe, landed, and came into camp. He undertook to tell them something, but they could not understand him, and he finally left and went down to the mouth of the river. When the trappers arrived there on their way home the same day, they found the old Indian there, interviewing Lieutenant Tupper, who was an interpreter. From Tupper Judd and his companions learned that two trappers named John Wood and George Bishop, who were encamped about two miles below their camp, had been tomahawked by Indians the same night they had been disturbed. But for the dogs, Judd, Wirt, and Miller would probably have shared the same fate.

" Lieutenant Tupper sent for an old Indian chief named SassaWy who was near by, and told him of the murder. Sassaw suspected the three Indians who had visited Judd's camp, as before related. They had been encamping up the Portage river several miles. He went up to the place, found their three canoes sunk in the river, and their camp deserted. Taking some Indians with him, he went over on the Maumee and captured the three transgressors^ and brought them back to Sandusky, where they were tried and the oldest two hung. The third was only eighteen years old and was set at liberty, being forced to do what he did by the other two.

" The confession of the Indians after being captured was as follows : After drinking the whisky Wirt had given them they felt like killing somebody, and determined to kill Judd, Wirt, and Miller, and take possession of their furs and guns. Being baffled in this undertaking, they resolved to kill a man who was encamped alone about a mile below, but he had left the place the day before. Then they concluded to kill Wood and Bishop, and in this succeeded. Wirt had treated the Indians as an act of generosity, and to secure their friendship, yet how near the three came to losing their lives by it, and two others did lose theirs by this indiscretion

"With regard to the murdered men, a coroner was sent for over on the peninsula below Sandusky bay, and an inquest held over the remains. The trappers had previously searched the lake beach both up and down for pieces of board, slabs, or other material from which to construct a box, however rude. Finally it was made, and after the inquest was over the remains of the murdered men were deposited in it and decently buried.

" Their trip homeward was now resumed down the lake. The first day their suspicions were somewhat aroused by the appearance several times on shore of two men, but their camp at night was arranged to meet emergencies. None occurred, and they reached home in safety.

"On the occasion of one of Judd's hunts with his brother Philo, the tracks of a drove of elks, some twenty-five or thirty in number, were discovered just at night, about two miles away from their home. Preparing for it, the next morning early they left home, and taking the track started the elk at daylight, killed one, dressed it, and hung it up. Still farther east, in Geauga county, they killed another, dressed and hung that up. Crossing a public road soon after, they met the celebrated but uncouth and eccentric Methodist preacher, Billy Brown, told him where the elk was to be found, and gave it to him. The drove turned about, and in the after part of the day went westward. A little before sundown the men found the elk were making towards the Chagrin river, and they started on a run to catch them while crossing: it. Daniel came up first, and shot one while they were crossing the stream. Philo came up just as they had crossed and were standing an the opposite bank, drew up his gun, and then lowered it. 'Why don't you shoot?'' asked Daniel. 'I dun't know which to shoot at,' was the reply. He did shoot, however, and both men were within sight of home.

"During the day the hunters saw one section corner twenty miles in a direct line from their home, and they estimated that in their meanderings since they left home in the morning they had walked and run at least sixty miles.

"On another occasion Daniel came across a bear track late in December, when the bears were nearly all burrowed up, followed it and found where the animal had made several attempts to burrow, but failed to find a tree large enough to hold him, until it finally went up a large whitewood tree, and entered a hole made by the breaking off of a limb. Below this was a smaller hole, evidently made by the Indians. He tried a shot info the small hole, and Bruin started up and presented his nose at the orifice, and Judd fired again. The bear climbed along up with much difficulty, the place being so small, drew himself out at the upper hole, and began to hitch down the tree, making its complete round every ten or twelve feet. When about half down he received the contents of one barrel of the rifle, but still kept hitching down. Judd tried his other barrel, which snapped and then flashed. By this time he began to be somewhat excited, as the bear showed no signs of being hurt. He primed his gun anew, and as he looked up the bear fell over backward, letting go with his fore paws and kicking with his hind ones as he left the tree, which caused him to land about ten feet from its roots, the shock of his fall making the earth fairly quake. The ball had passed directly through his heart, and he had held on to life with great tenacity, but was finally obliged to ' give o'er the struggle.' The animal was very fat, and the meat from it, free from bone, filled a cask that would hold three hundred pounds of pork.

•• In 1826 the three brothers, Daniel, Thomas, and Philo, started from home in a canoe they made for the purpose, went down the Chagrin river, thence coasted up the lake-shore to the Huron river, in Michigan, ran up the river to rapid water, left their canoe, went inland to Ann Arbor, thence to Detroit, back to their canoe, and down the lake home again, consuming about two months' time.

In 1827 the two brothers, Daniel and Philo, started again for Michigan, this time taking passage on a steamer from Cleveland to Detroit, from which latter place they came on foot to Pontiac. They were advised to call on Uncle Oliver Williams., living on the shore of Silver lake, about three and one-half miles northwest of Pontiac. They did so, and were shown various tracts of public land, finally selecting the southeast quarter of section 14, township 3 north, range 9 east, (Waterford township). The whole of said tract was taken in Daniel's name, but the west half was for his brother Philo. The entry was made on the 20th day of October, 1827, and signed by John Q. Adams.

The farms of the two brothers in Mayfield, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, had been sold previous to this purchase, but possession was reserved till the following spring. On the 15th of April, 1828, the two families moved to Cleveland, sixteen miles distant, with ox-teams. A steamer had just left for Detroit, and no other was expected to leave for some days, so the families the next day took passage in a small schooner. Its size can be inferred from its complement of hands, viz.: captain, mate, and one sailor, with the captain's boy, a lad of fourteen years, as cook. Fair time was made in crossing the lake, but when Detroit river was entered it was no go. Head winds baffled all efforts to get up the river. There were no tugs at that time, to tow sailing craft. Once they tried beating against the wind, but after shooting across the river a few times they dropped anchor ten or fifteen rods below their starting point. Favorable winds at last brought the little schooner to Detroit, where they landed the 1st of May, having made the trip from Cleveland in two weeks.

"The family and a few necessary articles of the older brother were moved from Detroit to their naw home by that veteran pioneer teamster, Diodate Hubbard. The younger brother was moved by an Irishman, who proved tricky and mean.

The remainder of the goods and provisions (making two wagon-loads) and a two horse wagon were left at Gillett's warehouse, and the last load remained there nearly two months, yet this kind-hearted, generous man would take but one dollar for storage. He was the father of Mrs. Henry W. Lord, of Pontiac.

"Spring crops were put in on shares on the farm of Ephraim S. Williams (son of Uncle Oliver), who was at Saginaw with his brother Gardner, trading with the Indians, and in whose house the two families resided until log houses were erected on their own farms.

"In due time the two stepsons of Daniel S. Judd, Jesse and Lorton Matthewson, arrived with the cattle, consisting of two yokes of oxen, three cows, and some young cattle. One yoke of oxen and one cow belonged to Philo Judd.

The boys left the old home as soon as the feed would permit, having rigged a dray on which to carry a box of provisions, a change of underclothes, some blankets, and an axe. Lest some of the readers of this may think the dray in question was a wheeled carnage, a description of it may not be out of order. Take a sapling large enough for a sled tongue, with a good crotch, cut the crotches four or five feet long, bore a hole in each about midway, put in two pins fifteen inches long, tack a board to the pins for a back and another to the crotch above the pins, for a bottom, leaving the body of the sapling long enough for a tongue, and the dray is ready for use. The load had to be lashed fast. When worn out another was made. It answered a good purpose except in crossing streams. They came via Toledo, camping out about half of the time.

" The first summer a log house was built and six acres cleared and broken up, and about the 1st of August sickness made its appearance. First the head of the family was taken down with intermittent fever, then the son, Daniel M., then Jesse, then the mother, and then Lorton, who was taken about one hour before he finished dragging in the wheat, but completed his work before quitting. The daughter, a girl of seven years, was the only well one in the family She could bring water in a small pail from a spring thirty rods distant about as fast as the rest could drink it.

There was but one doctor in Pontiac, William Thompson, and he gave calomel for all diseases; so none was employed, but all got well when cool weather set in. Philo Judd's family were all sick, which so discouraged him that he sold out the next spring to Jesse Mathewson and moved back to Ohio. A few years afterwards, while the Mormons were flourishing there, he joined them, moved to Jackson county, Missouri, was driven out with the rest of the Mormons by the Missourians, settled in the eastern part of Iowa, and died in 1840.

"The next summer (1829) sickness again visited the family (Daniel Judd's), but was not as severe nor protracted as it had been the first summer. Rations, too, were short ; or if not short the variety was not great, bread being the only food for at least one-third of the season. Both of the cows brought from Ohio died, one by being hooked, and the other by getting into the mire, so that milk and butter were out of the question, only as a little was secured at times as pay for labor. The pork, too, was gone, and the only dependence for meat was the killing of a deer occasionally ; but the father being sick all the latter part of the summer, that was not often done. When fall came and he recovered there was no more suffering for meat.

He lived on this place until 1832 ; sold it and purchased the east half of the northwest quarter of section 15, same town and range as first purchase. The deed for this purchase was signed by Andrew Jackson, and both this and the older one are in possession of Mr. Judd's son, D. M. Judd.

" Many of Mr. Judd's hunting excursions in Michigan would be interesting; but one must suffice as showing his tact as a hunter, and that too after he was sixty years old. A good tracking snow had fallen early in November. Himself, his son (Daniel M.), and Silas Moon's son, Alanson (the latter nearly green at the business), started early, and about daylight struck the track of a doe and two fawns. The old hunter left the tracks for the boys to follow, and struck off to the right. After following about half a mile very carefully they came to a ridge, and about fifteen rods distant stood one of the fawns. The son drew up his gun and was nearly ready to shoot, when his father's gun cracked and the deer ran about a dozen rods and fell. They went on to the next ridge, and, looking the ground over very carefully, saw the other fawn standing about twenty rods off. The son drew up his gun again, but had hardly got it to his face when his father's gun cracked the second time and the other fawn was killed. The boys felt rather cheap at being tricked out of two shots so nicely ; so their father told them they could go on after the doe and he would dress the fawns and hang them up. They went on ; but the doe seemed to be thoroughly frightened, and they left the track, and in a short time found the tracks of two bucks, which they followed up, and killed both before night. After their father had hung up the fawns he took the doe's track where the boys had left it, and finally killed her. In a single day he has killed five deer ; of bears in a single day, three ; of elk, two ; of bears and deer, two of each. All that young Moon did in the killing of the two bucks above mentioned was to shoot at one on the run and miss him, and to shoot at the head of one that was wounded and lying in a fallen tree-top about four rods off, and miss it I Two or three years later the young man died of scarlet fever, but in the mean time became a fair hunter.

The last of September, 1842, Mr. Judd was attacked by bilious fever. Although possessed of a strong and robust constitution, he seemed to be very vulnerable to bilious complaints, and was also very much opposed to taking medicine or having a physician called, and it was only by the earnest entreaties of his children that he yielded a reluctant consent. Dr. Paddock was first called, and then Dr. Williams ; but all seemed to do no good, and he expired the 15th day of October, 1842. His widow survived him twelve years, and died the 29th of October, 1854. He was five feet nine inches in height, and of massive frame, with great powers of endurance, his eyes light and features somewhat coarse. For dress and personal appearance he had no models, would often go for days without a hat, never had but two or three pairs of shoes and but one pair of boots, the latter not half worn out when he died, but dressed his feet usually in moccasins, the deer skins from which they were made being dressed and tanned by himself. From hunting so much he had acquired a noiseless step, which was a constant habit everywhere. A fox would hardly step with more care

" His traits were no less peculiar than the man in other respects. He was uneducated, reading quite indifferently, but still he read understandingly whatever books came in his way, and remembered thoroughly their contents. He was a man of feeling and strong affections, and much attached to his children; was truthful and honest; never owned a house better than a log one, and never owned but one horse; nor could he estimate his worldly possessions at any time above fifteen hundred dollars. He never closed the door of his humble dwelling against the stranger, nor taxed him for the hospitality he received; never owed a dollar in the world, for what he could not pay for He went without. He always gave something to the needy and something for benevolent purposes.

" He believed in a Supreme Being, but not in any revealed religion, except so far as it is revealed through Nature's laws. He believed that whatever there was in store for us after death was a fixed fact in Nature, as much so as our exist- ence here, and that our belief or disbelief in regard to it would avail nothing, that it is fixed and immutable ; that to be truthful and honest is best at all times and under all circumstances ; that our duty is to live a moral, virtuous, and useful life. In his last sickness he retained his senses to the close, and died without regrets or compunctions of conscience, or fears for the future."

When the log houses of Daniel and Philo Judd were built, everything was first made ready on the ground, and both houses were raised in one day. Among those who assisted on this occasion were Major Oliver Williams and his two sons, Alfred and Benjamin, Naham and Jeremiah Curtis, Harvey and Austin Durfee, Jacob Carman. James Allen, Jesse Chapman, Oliver and David Parker, Isaac I. and Isaac Voorheis, Ira Donelson, Deacon Atherton, Pliny Skinner, Harvey Seeley, Thaddeus Alvord, Robert McCracken (the poet), and Peter Leonard. All were residents of Waterford township except the Parkers, who lived in Pontiac township. Of this number the only one now living in Waterford is Isaac I. Voorheis, and but few of the rest are living.

Isaac Voorheis came from Seneca county. New York, in July, 1822, arriving at Pontiac about the first of that month. He came in company with his brother-in-law, Harvey Seeley, who brought also his wife and two daughters with him. Mr. Seeley located on the farm now owned by Clark Seeley, section 25, and purchased several lots of government land. Mr. Voorheis worked for him several years, and in 1825 Mr. Seeley entered for him the east half of the northeast quarter of section 36. Mr. Voorheis worked most of the time on his place until July 5, 1827, when he married Sarah Terry, and moved 'with his bride to his farm, upon which they have ever since resided.

When Mr. Seeley and family first came, they lived in their wagon, Mr. Voorheis making his bed under it, until they could prepare a log house. On Mr. Voorheis' place a log house had been built by one Tappan, an organ maker living in Detroit. This was on his west eighty, Mr. Voorheis having purchased one hundred and sixty acres (two eighties) additional in 1824-25, before he married. Mr. Voorheis' first log house stood on the east shore of Timber lake, and was a mere shanty, made of small logs, or poles. It had a roof made of "shakes" and bark.

The first white female child born in Waterford was Mr. Voorheis' daughter Lucy A. Voorheis, whose birth occurred August 23, 1828. She is now living at home with her parents.

The first marriage was possibly that of Mr. and Mrs. Voorheis, although Mrs. V. was not living in the township. This couple are the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters, all living, two sons and two daughters in Waterford township, the oldest son at Ovid, Shiawassee county, and another son in West Bloomfield township, Oakland County.

Mr. Voorheis was in his sixteenth year when he came to the county, and has performed in the fifty-four years of his stay here a great amount of hard work. He is one of the few old settlers now living in the township, and the only one in the southeast part who voted at its organization.

Game was plenty here, as elsewhere in the county, and Mrs. Voorheis says, "The only music we had was made by the wolves!" Deer were very numerous, and as many as thirty at a time have been seen in the neighborhood.

Shiawassee and Saginaw Indians lived in this part of the Territory in considerable numbers, and traveled all through the country. A village of some seventy or eighty lived on the island in Orchard lake, West Bloomfield township, ruled by an old chief named, or nick-named, "Goody Morning" (Gu-te-maw-nin) He had two sons, who were very intelligent. The Indians were very peaceable, and so truthful that they could always be relied on.

Nathan Terry, a Revolutionary soldier, father of Mrs. Isaac Voorheis, came in 1824, and settled in Pontiac, on the Saginaw turnpike, two miles northwest of the town. He lived to be about eighty years old, and died in the winter of 1838.

James Allen arrived in Pontiac June 9, 1827. He was born in Rutland county, Vermont, and when a boy his father removed to Clinton county. New York.

In 1810, James Allen settled in the town of Cambria, Niagara county, New York. When he came to Michigan he was accompanied by his second wife and seven children, four sons and three daughters. One son was born afterwards, February 3, 1829. James Allen was born in 1778, and died May 23, 1864, aged eighty-six years. His wife died in 1859, at the age of seventy-two (born in 1787).

When Mr. Allen and family left for Michigan they came by the Erie canal from Lockport to Buffalo, thence on board a schooner to Detroit, and at the latter place Mr. Allen hired a man named Baldwin to take them to their home in Waterford. Mr. Allen settled on the east half of the northeast quarter of section 23. He had been to Michigan and located his land in June, 1826, and in the spring of 1827 built a log house upon it, the logs being hewn on the inside. While at work building his house he boarded with Robert McCracken, who settled on the east half of the southwest quarter of section 23, probably in 1825. He was from the same neighborhood with the Aliens, and was a queer genius. His time was spent more or less in writing rhymes, generally on something pertaining to Pontiac. These poems exist today in a small pamphlet published a few years ago. Their author became generally known as "Old Bob McCracken, the poet,"

Jacob Carman and Joseph and Timothy Hawks were also early settlers in the township, coming about 1825. Carman purchased on section 24 and afterwards on 23. The Hawks purchased together the southeast quarter of section 23.

Timothy Hawks died in 1826, and was buried on the lot owned by his brother Joseph.

Ira Donelson came from Colerain, Franklin county, Massachusetts, in May, 1827, and in June of the same year located on the farm where his son, A. B. Donelson, now lives. He was accompanied by his wife and four sons. Two children, a son and daughter, have been born since, A. M. Donelson, October 2, 1832, and Mary A., now the wife of G. M. Shatuck, of Pontiac, July 4, 1830. All the children are living. From their old home they came by team to Buffalo, thence on a schooner to Detroit, being ten days or two weeks on the lake, owing to adverse winds. After their settlement, Mr. Donelson was sick with the ague a good share of the time for three years, and but for his wife would have returned to Massachusetts.

Two of the sons (H. L. and A. L.) are now living in Genesee county, one (Ira W.) in Pontiac, Oakland County, and the other (Park S.) in Toledo, Ohio, being presiding elder of the Northern Ohio conference of the Methodist church. The latter son acquired his education, by hard work, at Ann Arbor. His brother, A. B. Donelson, when ten or twelve years old, took three bushels of cherries to Flint, Genesee county, and sold them out by the handful, sending the money (six dollars) afterwards to him to help him through his college course. Ira Donelson died in August, 1873, aged eighty-three years, and his wife in 1865, aged seventy-two.

Among the great occasions enjoyed by the boys of the early times were "general trainings." Mr. Donelson's boys were given at one time a silver shilling each on training day, and all but one of them spent theirs for gingerbread and cider. The one who saved his didn't propose to do that, so he bought a shilling's worth of cheese and took it home, using it to bait his fox traps with. The next morning he went to one of the traps and found it turned over and the cheese gone, but no fox. The cunning animal, however, had left a mark by which the boy might know he had been there, and to show his utter contempt for any such tricks to capture him. Thus it happened that the hopes so greatly built upon were thrown away, the boy's speculation was a failure, and he was very probably both wiser and sadder afterwards, and a little regretful at having spent all his money in cheese.

The orchard on the Donelson place was set out in the fall of 1 827, the trees having been obtained at Mount Clemens, Macomb county. Most of them were lately standing. They were set among the stumps in a clearing Mr. Donelson had made. His first dwelling was a log house eighteen by twenty-four feet in dimensions, in which he lived till 1838, when the present frame house was built. When Mr. Donelson came west he had abour five hundred dollars. In 1838, eleven years afterwards, he had the frame house, and a frame barn fifty-two by thirty-six feet, built, fitly or sixty acres of ground cleared, and was entirely out of debt. This, in a country almost entirely new, is quite remarkable.

Ferdinand Williams is a native of Wayne county, Michigan, having been born in Detroit in 1806. His father and grandmother were also born in that place. His grandmother's people were from France, and came with the Norman emigrants who settled in Canada in the seventeenth century. His grandfather's people on his mother's side were originally Welsh, and settled early at Albany, New York. They came to Detroit probably soon after Pontiac's war. Mr. Williams located on the farm where he now lives, on section 18, in October, 1829. He was accompanied by his wife and one child, a daughter. He purchased eighty acres of government land on the shore of the lake since named for him, and was the first settler in the neighborhood. He has now reached the age of seventy-one years, forty-eight of which have been spent in his present home.

Mr. Williams set out an orchard about 1832, and the trees are nearly all standing, although he has been obliged to plant a number of times in order to keep up his stock, the peculiar climate of this region being very severe on apple and other fruit trees, which wear out within a few years after beginning to bear.

John W. Hunter came from New York in 1818 or 1819, and lived in Detroit four or five years. He afterwards located in Birmingham, Oakland County, and built the second house in the place. Is now eighty-six years of age, and lives on action 18, in Waterford township.

Henry Mead came from Seneca county. New York, in 1832, when twenty-one years of age, and located on section 27, purchasing over three hundred acres of land, partly from the government. The land on the south side of the road was first owned by one of the Voorheis family, and was the place where Ebb Voorheis now lives. Mr. Mead was either married just before he came, or shortly after, and raised six children, of whom three only are living, one daughter, the wife of Ebb Voorheis, of Waterford township, and another in Byron, Shiawassee county. A son, by his first wife, is living in Tuscola. Mr. Mead himself resides in Pontiac. A portion of the old farm is now the property of Mrs. Robert Scott. The farm now owned by Stephen Congar was originally settled by a man named James B. Hunt, one of the early comers to the township.

John K. Dewey is a native of the town of Royalton, Windsor county, Vermont, where he was born in 1795. When seventeen years of age he was apprenticed to a man named Simon Bingham to learn the carpenter's trade. In 1813, Bingham removed to Oneida county, New York, and Dewey went with him. In August, 1814, there was a call for troops to go to Sackett's Harbor, and the company of militia to which Mr. Dewey belonged turned out about one hundred men for ninety days. They arrived at the harbor the day following the engagement, and helped bury the dead, a serious job for boys. They were discharged in about two weeks

After Mr. Dewey had served his time as an apprentice he came to Monroe county, New York, and purchased a small piece of land, on which he built a house and shop, and in 1819 was married to Harriet Hunt, daughter of Stephen Hunt, who came to Michigan also in 1831. Finally, on the 1st of March, 1831, Mr. Dewey, in company with three other men, started with a good span of horses, two chests of carpenter's tools, and their personal baggage for Michigan ; crossed the Niagara river at Lewiston. After a severe trip of fourteen days they arrived at Detroit, and then came as far as Bloomfield centre, Oakland County, where Mr. Dewey stopped for a while with his cousin, Apolls Dewey, and built a house for Richard Close. During the following June Mr. Dewey's family, consisting of his wife and two children, also his father-in-law and family, arrived, and all moved into the house upon which he was working.

Mr. Dewey purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 33, Waterford township, and on the first day of April, 1832, raised thereon the first frame house in said township. The building is now occupied by Amasa D. Chap- man, and stands on the south shore of Elizabeth lake. In the years 1836-37, Mr. Dewey built a house and barn for Butler Holcomb, in Clarkston, they being Ae first frame buildings erected in that village.

In 1840 he removed from his farm at Elizabeth lake to section 32, where he lived for some time, and finally came to the place on section 31 where he now resides.

Amasa D. Chapman is a native of New London county, Connecticut, and lived in that State until he was in his nineteenth year, when—in 1818—he removed to the town of Le Roy, Genesee county. New York, with his parents. He came to Michigan, probably in 1837, and settled in Pontiac township. Since then he has lived a number of years in the State of Kentucky, and removed to the place upon which he now resides, west half of northeast quarter of section 33, Waterford township, the old Dewey farm, in 1857.

When Mr. Chapman came west he was accompanied by his four children, three sons and one daughter. His wife was dead. He was afterwards married in Michigan, and is the father of nine children, of whom eight are now living.

Almeron Whitehead came from Westchester county. New York, in 1836, with his wife and three children, one son and two daughters. He settled on section 33, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land. A small frame house had been erected on the place by Henry Hunt as early as 1835.

Mr. Whitehead is the father of nine children, of whom six are now living, three sons and three daughters. He occupies a fine frame dwelling in a beautiful location on the south shore of Elizabeth lake. He has been a man of much prominence during his life in Oakland County.

Judah Herrington, a native of the town of Clarendon, Rutland county, Vermont, and afterwards a resident of Niagara county. New York, came from the latter county to Michigan in 1844. His father, Theophilus Herrington, was supreme judge of the State of Vermont during the last sixteen years of his life. Judah Herrington has now reached ah advanced age. He is postmaster at Four Towns post-office.

William Whitfield came from Hampshire, England, in 1835, and in May, 1836, located where he now lives, on section 17. He purchased eighty acres on this section of Fleming Drake, whose father had settled upon it a number of years before and built a small frame house. Drake finally sold out, as his sons were largely imbued with speculative ideas, and the fine lands comprised in Drayton plains afforded a considerable field for their purpose.

Mr. Whitfield brought with him his wife and one child, and two children have been born to them since. All are living, two sons and one daughter. Mr. Whitfield and an Irishman named Mitchell built the mill dam at Drayton Plains village in 1836-37.

Mr. Whitfield says he thought his place, the first time he saw it, was the finest he ever looked upon. The timber upon it was high and free from underbrush, and the beautiful sheet of water known as "Williams lake" reflected in perfect outline the foliage around it, and with its glassy surface and smooth beach made a pleasing addition to an enchanting landscape. The surroundings of Mr. Whitfield's home have not yet lost their beauty, although the timber has been cut away to a considerable extent. He and his son own fine farms on the shore of the lake, and the reader is referred to the lithographic views of these properties, whereby he may judge for himself of their picturesque attributes.

Henry Birge came from Lansing, Tompkins county, New York, in 1836, when a young man and unmarried. In December, 1838, he was married to Sarah Steeples, who came from the same locality in New York which he lived in. Some years after they were married Mr. Birge purchased the farm where they now reside on section 3 of James Townsend. The place was originally entered by Oliver Newberry, who sold it to Richard Townsend, and he to James Townsend. The latter rented it, and the first improvements were made by his tenant.

Mr. Birge is the father of six children, of whom five are now living, two sons and three daughters. One son, John W. Birge, is the present township clerk.

Caleb Horton arrived in Michigan from Wayne county. New York, June 3, 1835. He was formerly from Orange county. New York. He was accompanied to Michigan by his wife and eight children, four sons and four daughters; one son, E. J. Horton, was born afterward, in 1836. One daughter, Harriet, died in 1845, and the rest of the children are living, five sons and three daughters. One son, D. B. Horton, is the present proprietor of the "Davisburg House," at Davisburg, in Springfield township.

Mr. Horton settled on section 20, where he owned eighty acres, and also had an eighty just south of it on section 29. He had made a trip to Oakland County in the fall of 1834 and purchased his land, getting it from a man named Mars. This person had built a log house on the place, and had set out an orchard. He was always known as "Old Thunder and Mars." Mr. Horton died May 11, 1859, aged sixty-four years. His wife died on the 3d day of September, 1865, at the age of seventy.

Joseph Parshall came from Wayne county. New York, with his wife and nine children, in the spring of 1834, and settled on what is now the Ira Stowell farm, which he purchased from second hands. Mr. Parshall was a native of Orange county, New York. Ezra K. Parshall came to Michigan in the fall of the same year (1834), and settled in Atlas township, Genesee county, where he has since resided.

The first election for officers in Waterford township was held in the old school house in district No. 1, on Monday, the 6th day of April, 1835, William Terry was chosen moderator and Isaac I. Voorheis clerk. The following were the officers elected: Supervisor, Isaac I. Voorheis ; Town Clerk, John B. Watson ; Assessors, Harvey Seeley, William Terry, L. Brownson ; Collector, Warren Hunt ; Directors of the Poor, Ira Donelson, Jacob Carman ; Commissioners of Highways, John K. Dewey, James Allen, Stephen Hunt; Constables, Isaac Voorheis, Warren Hunt; Commissioners of Common Schools, Isaac I. Voorheis, Gabriel R. Findley, John B. Watson ; Inspectors of Common Schools, Ira Donelson, John B. Watson, John K. Dewey, William Terry, Allen Briggs ; Overseers of Road Districts, Ira Donelson, John DeVore, Nathan R, Colvin, Charles Johnson, Jacob Voorheis, Jacob Carman, Daniel Huntoon, Daniel Judd, Levi Holden, Samuel C. Munson, Archibald Phillips.

At this election it was "Resolved, That the supervisor use his influence to raise the county bounty on wolves to five dollars." The supervisors from 1836 to 1877, inclusive, have been as follows: 1836-38, Isaac I. Voorheis ; 1839, Michael G. Hickey ; 1840-43, Isaac I. Voorheis ; 1844, Almeron Whitehead; 1845, Isaac I. Voorheis; 1846-47, James Gow ; 1848, Ephraim J. Williams; 1849, Isaac I. Voorheis; 1850, James Gow; 1851, I. I. Voorheis; 1852, Lewis M. Covert; 1853, James Gow; 1854-56, Lewis M. Covert; 1857, Francis W. Fifield ; 1858, Daniel M. Judd; 1859-60, A. G. Allen ; 1861-65, F. W. Fifield ; 1866-67, A. G. Allen ; 1868-69, F. W. Fifield; 1870, Almeron Whitehead; 1871, F. W. Fifield; 1872, A. G. Allen; 1873, Mortimer A. Leggett; 1874-77, Ezekiel I. Osmun.

Township Clerks; 1836-37, John B. Watson; 1838, Warren Hunt; 1839-41, Alexander Galloway; 1842-43, Amasa Green; 1844-46, Daniel M. Judd; 1847-48, Albert Marble; 1849, Francis W. Fifield; 1850, Stephen Besley; 1851, F. W. Fifield; 1852, William Windiate; 1853-54, John F. Church; 1855-57, Augustus G. Allen; 1858-59, Peter W. Freeman; 1860-61, Julius A. Wilcox; 1862-63, Erastus C. Herrington ; 1864-65, A. G. Allen; 1866-68, Charles E. Dewey; 1869-72, John W. Birge ; 1873-74, William E. Carpenter; 1875-76, A, G. Allen ; 1877, John W. Birge.

Justices of the Feace." 1836, Isaac I. Voorheis, Egbert Van Buren, Charles W. Harback; 1837, Isaac I. Voorheis; 1838, William Terry; 1839, John Osmun; 1340, Harvey Seeley; 1811, I. I. Voorheis; 1842, William Terry; 1843, John Osmun; 1844, Caleb Horton ; 1845, I. I. Voorheis; 1846, James Gow; 1847, Stephen Besley; 1848, Caleb Horton; 1849, John K. Dewey; 1850, James Gow ; 1851, Wm. Besley; 1852, Michael G. Hickey; 1853, Francis W. Fifield; 1854, Josiah C. Gaylord, Augustus W. Leggett; 1855, Henry Mead; 1856, George Robertson; 1857, Judah Herrington, Israel Osmun; 1858, Richard Brownson ; 1859, Israel Osmun ; 1860, F. W. Fifield ; 1861, Judah Herrington ; 1862, Richard Brownson; 1863, Frederick Bradley; 1864, Harvey C. Judd; 1865, Levi B. Colvin; 1866, George Robertson; 1867, Carlos B. Plumb; 1868, Harvey C. Judd; 1869, David B. Olmstead ; 1870, George Robertson; 1871, A. G. Allen; 1872, Isaac Voorheis, Ira Stowell, Judah Herrington; 1873, H. C. Judd, Henry Birge; 1874, Benjamin H. Warren, A. G. Allen, C. E. Dewey; 1875, Charles Wager; 1876, Charles E. Dewey; 1877, Harvey C. Judd, George Robertson.

The first school taught in the township was in the loft of Major Williams' sheep house, in the fall of 1821. The teacher was a man named Brett. The pupils numbered seven. The first school house was built in the Williams settlement in 1822. School taught by a Miss Stevens with twelve pupils. The house was built of logs.

The second school house in the township was built in 1827 or '28, and stood on section 26, on the site of the present fine brick school house in district No. 1. A summer term was first taught, the teacher being a young lady named Anna Tucker. The winter following the school was taught by Ira Donelson. This school house was built for a temporary residence by Thaddeus Alvord, who settled the land. It was a log building, and long ago succumbed to the touch of " decay's effacing fingers."

In what is now district No. 3, a school was taught by Miss Harriet Allen, in the summer of (probably) 1833. This was in a building erected for a dwelling by Jacob Carman. The first school-house in the district was built about 1837-38. It was also constructed of logs, and stood on the northeast corner of section 23. Its first teacher was Miss Mary Galloway.

In district No. 2 the first school house was built in 1838, and is yet standing. It is a frame building. The lumber was furnished by Almeron Whitehead ; also much of the work in building. The school in this building has always been well conducted. Among the earliest teachers in it, and possibly the first one, was Mrs. Holden, a young married woman, who boarded, while teaching, with Mr. Whitehead's family. The school house is becoming considerably dilapidated, and will no doubt soon be replaced by a new one.

A school house was built in district No. 4 somewhere in the neighborhood of 1840.

The third school house in the township was built in 1828 or '29, on the site of Chester Parshall's present residence, on section 11. This and the first and second ones were built before the school districts were established. In this third house the first winter term was taught by Charlotte Stevens, a sister of Rufus and Sherman Stevens, the former of whom settled in Genesee county, and the latter in Pontiac, where he built a house on the place now owned by Augustus Baldwin. Rufus Stevens was a son-in-law of Major Oliver Williams.

The first road in the township was the turnpike from Detroit to Saginaw, which followed the old Indian trail between those points, and was completed as far as Mount Morris, north of Flint, Genesee county, in 1834. Work was done upon it at odd times until as late as 1836.

It was established on the north shore of Elizabeth lake in 1834—35. It was called "Lake Elizabeth post office," and was kept by William Terry, who was the first postmaster at that place. The office was kept up eight or ten years and finally abolished. Mr. Terry was afterwards appointed lighthouse keeper on one of the islands in Thunder bay. Lake Huron, and died in that service.

The office at the south side of Waterford township, called "Four Towns post office," was originally established in White Lake township, about 1854, and afterwards (November 12, 1857) removed for the sake of convenience to its present location on section 32 in Waterford. The office took its name from the circumstance of its location, it being near the corner of the four towns, Waterford, West Bloomfield, Commerce, and White Lake. The postmaster when the office was first established was Solon Cooley. The present postmaster, Judah Herrington, has held the position since the removal of the office to Waterford township. The business is small, although considerable for the location.

The first settlers on the ground where Waterford village now stands were Alpheus Williams and Captain Archibald Phillips, who both came in 1819, Williams was from Charleton, Worcester county, Massachusetts, and was accompanied by his wife, four daughters, and two sons. The sons were Harvey, the elder, now residing in Bay City, and the only member of the family living, and Oliver, the younger, who died in 1820. He had been to Detroit with an ox-team for a load of goods, and died soon after with a congestive chill. The oldest daughter (and oldest child), Nancy, married Edwin Edwards, and died in 1826. Susannah was married to a man named Voorheis, and is since deceased. Harriet was married to Jacob Eilert, and Emeline to a Mr. Davis. Both Harriet and Emeline are dead.

Captain Phillips had come to Detroit as early as 1817, and while living at that place kept a small grocery and a bakery. When the settlers began to come into Oakland County, he came with Williams, and the two built a dam and a saw-mill on the Clinton river, at Waterford. When they built the dam and raised the pond much sickness resulted, and people died rapidly. The place now, however, is quite healthy.

Williams and Phillips built the first houses at the place in 1819. The Phillips house stood on the spot now occupied by George Robertson's store, and Williams' on the north side of the river. The latter was built of logs, while Phillips had a more pretentious frame dwelling. It is now standing three-fourths of a mile west of the village, on A. Windiate's farm, though remodeled and made over.

Mr. Williams died July 9, 1828, at the age of sixty-two years, and his wife, Abigail, died September 5, 1826, aged fifty-eight

After the death of Williams his property, including the saw mill, was rented to Asa Fuller. It was afterwards purchased by Henry Sanderson, Sr., who died in the village. His son, H. Sanderson, Jr., sold it to Merrick & Bruce. These gentlemen opened the first store in the village, about 1837-38. The establishment was sold to Horace Stevens, then to Johnson Jenness, who died here, and finally to George Robertson, Esq., to whom it still belongs.

Merrick was the capitalist of the firm of Merrick & Bruce, and after they purchased the Williams property they kept it for a while, and finally disposed of it to Elizabeth Windiate, after which Merrick went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he died. About 1840-42. Mrs. Windiate sold a small portion of the property to Richard Bronson, who built a carding mill, which he operated for some time. Since then the building has had several additions, and been transformed into a sash and blind factory, but the machinery is now all taken out and it stands idle. Tillage lots were laid out by Mrs. Windiate's husband, William T. Windiate, February 22, 1845. Additions have since been made by Nathaniel M. Martin, one in 1849 and the other in 1851.

After the death of Mr. Merrick, Dr. George Williams came to the village in 1844. and built the grist-mill now standing, and one at Clintonville at the same time. The one at Waterford contained three run of stone, as it does at present. Williams died while building it. He was no known relative of Alpheus Williams. He was from the State of New York. His wife and son, George Williams, are now living in the township. The mill is now the property of Francis W. Fifield.

Dr. Williams was the first physician in the neighborhood, although he never really settled in any one locality ; so that the first actual resident physician was Dr. Chark's Robertson, now of White Lake township.

The first hotel was kept by Captain Archibald Phillips, somewhere in the neighborhood of the year 1830. The barroom of this hotel is now standing, used as a doctor's office and drug store. Phillips also built a barn, which is yet standing. It was said at the time to have been the best barn in the state (then Tenitory).

The present hotel, known as the Waterford Exchange, was built by Stephen Besley, in 1841, and before it was quite finished he sold it to James Young. Young disposed of it to Daniel R. Lord, and he in turn to William Bradt, the present proprietor.

Blacksmithing was done previous to 1840 by Henry S. Andrews, who opened the first shop of that kind. He manufactured and fitted much of the iron work in the grist mill.

The first shoe shop was kept by Charles W. Harback, who first built in the village and then moved to a farm just west, where he continued the business, and also kept tavern for some time.

The saw and plaster mills now standing are the property of Francis W. Fifield.

A foundry was established about 1871, by Daniel R. Lord. Plows, cultivators, and general castings are manufactured. Two hands are employed.

A part of the present village of Waterford was laid out by Josiah H. Cobb in 1830, and bore the high sounding title of "New Philadelphia." It included the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 5, forty acres. The lots were sold at auction, principally in the east, and the proprietor undoubtedly made money off his speculation. Those who were victimized undoubtedly soon learned how they had been trapped, and did not consider " New Philadelphia" as important a place as maps and posters gotten up for the occasion showed it to be. New Philadelphia is now extinct.

A school was taught southeast of the village in 1840 and subsequently. Meetings were also held in the school house by the Episcopalians. In 1848 a frame school house was built in the village, and is now used for church purposes by the Methodist society. The present substantial two story brick union school building was erected in 1871 or 1872, at a cost of about five thousand dollars, including the lot.

The first religious meetings of any consequence were held in the village by the Methodists as early as 1838. Previous to this time a Presbyterian preacher named Ruggles held forth about once a year, but that denomination held no regular meetings. Ruggles came and preached funeral sermons whenever his services were required.

The Baptists have the latest organization. They held meetings some thirty years ago, although at that time they had no settled pastors. They convened in the old school house now used by the Methodists. The present fine brick church was built by the Baptists in 1869, and is surmounted by a neat spire. The membership at present is small, and Professor Van Dorn, teacher of the high school at Fenton, Genesee county, preached to them (April, 1877). He is not a regularly ordained minister. The church will seat about three hundred persons comfortably.

The Waterford cemetery lot was deeded by Archibald Phillips to Governor Lewis Cass (for the State of Michigan), for burial purposes, in 1826. The first burial in it was that of the remains of Oliver Williams, son of Alpheus Williams. He died September 3, 1820, aged seventeen years, and his was the first death in the township. The second interment was that of the body of Mrs. Nancy Edwards, wife of Edwin Edwards, now of Holly township, and daughter of Alpheus Williams. Her death occurred April 22, 1826, the same year the cemetery was kid out. Alpheus Williams and wife are both buried here. The oak tree standing by the grave of young Oliver Williams was a small sapling when he was buried, and is now two and a half feet in diameter near the ground.

Some trouble arose finally over the ownership of the cemetery lot, owing to its having been deeded to Governor Cass. The trouble occurred after his death, and George Robertson, Esq., who has charge of it, applied to the legislature and secured the passage of an act making it the property of Waterford township.

George Robertson came originally from London, England. For a number of years he lived in Glasgow, Scotland, and in March, 1835, when twenty-two years of age, he went back to London. On the 23d of April of the same year he left London for America, and came directly through to Detroit. In June he located land on sections 2 and 3 in White Lake township, where he lived most of the time until 1849, when he removed to Waterford village, where he is at present engaged in the mercantile business. His father's family came from England a year after he left, and he lived with and took care of them. His father, also named George Robertson, died in 1837, a year after he came. Andrew Robertson, brother to G. Robertson, Jr., died while a member of the State senate, in 1863. He assisted in drafting the present constitution of the State. Another brother. Dr. Charles Robertson (previously mentioned), lives in White Lake township. A sister, Violet, is now the wife of Livingston Axford, of Holly. Another sister, Mary, is the wife of Frederick Lewis, publisher of the Saginawian, at Saginaw city. The other sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Fishpool, is also living in White Lake township. These five are the only ones living of a family of eleven children. One son, Andrew, died in Scotland, and the other five children in England, Old Mrs. Robertson died early in April, 1877, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. "And we all do fade as a leaf."

Jervis Tuller came from Genesee county. New York, with his wife and one child, a daughter, and arrived on the site of Waterford village on the 16th day of October, 1830. At that time the only other families living here were those of Captain Phillips and Asa Fuller. Alpheus Williams and wife were dead and their children had removed, Phillips had been captain of militia, and derived his title from that fact. He finally died at Waterford.

Mr. and Mrs Tuller are the parents of ten children, of whom seven are now living, two sons and five daughters. Mr. Tuller and his wife are yet living, at an advanced age.

When the few families who settled at Waterford had been there a time, they received mail from their friends and relatives in the east. Captain Phillips had one or two shelves at his house, whereon he kept a few necessary articles for family use, a store in a primitive way, and as the most important man at the place, the mail for the settlers, after reaching Detroit, was directed to him, and he in turn distributed it among those to whom it was sent. Very seldom were there more than four or five letters, and the "mail" usually arrived about once a month. Major Oliver Williams also received mail at Silver Lake in the same way. These missives were usually sent through from Detroit by a French boy, and the carrier sometimes followed the trail as far as Flint and Saginaw. These were the first steps towards the system of postal routes which is now in vogue, Phillips probably received the mail at Waterford until the post office was established, and was then appointed the first postmaster. This was not, however, until the Detroit and Saginaw turnpike was completed and a mail route established over it, and must have been as late as 1834-36. The present postmaster at Waterford is F. W. Fifield.

The first settler on the site of this village was Samuel C. Munson, who came probably as early as 1830, and built a grist mill and a saw mill. In the fall of 1835, Israel Osmun came to the place, and in the spring of 1836 his brother, John Osmun, followed him. They were from Lansing, Tompkins county. New York, and their father, John Osmun, Sr., who never settled here, but purchased considerable land in the vicinity, bought the mill property for his sons in the fall of 1835. They owned it until 1844, when they sold to Dr. George H. Williams, who built a new mill, and also erected one at Waterford. As has been previously stated, he died while building the latter mill. He is said to have been an excellent physician by those who knew him best, and always very conscientious with his patients, working hard and long with them, and instilling new life into them by his manner.

Mr. Munson's house, the first one in the place, was a diminutive log structure, and in 1833-34 he erected a small frame dwelling. The second house was built by General James Ten Eyck, a veteran of the war 5f 1812, and is still standing. He was from New Jersey, and his house was also a frame building.

He was from New Jersey, and his house was also a frame building. The first store was kept by Isaac Osmun, about 1840-42. The next was by James Gow, a son-in-law of Dr. Williams. Gow and William Stiff operated the mill several years.

The first blacksmith shop was opened by Frederick Barkman, as early as 1838-39. He sold his shop finally, and removed to a farm in Rose township, where he afterwards died.

Edward Millholland started the first shoe shop.

William Drewatt, now living in White Lake township, was proprietor of the first wagon shop.

In 1838 a cabinet shop was established by Dodge & Sheldon, and Eaton Dewey worked at the business about the same time.

James Swartz built a hotel in 1838-39, and carried it on a number of years. There is none now at the place.

Several years before the village was regularly laid out the ground was divided into small lots and built upon. In 1847 the site was surveyed, and cut into uniform lots, by John and Israel Osmun. The place has a small population, and but little business aside from its mills.

The first settler on the beautiful plain which stretches northwest and south from this village was a man named Foster, who must have been here as early as 1822-23. Jonathan Perry and Harvey and Austin Durfee also came at an early day, the Durfees being the first settlers on the ground where the village now stands. They lived near the bridge across the Clinton river, and on the west side of the stream, and finally moved to Plymouth or Nankin, in Wayne county. None of them are now living in Waterford. A cousin to them also lived near by.

Daniel Windiate came from England in 1835, and settled just west of the present site of the village. Mr. Windiate and his son-in-law, Thomas Whitfield, built the hotel now standing, known as the " Drayton Plains hotel," in 1838-39. This is the second one in the place, as Whitfield had previously kept tavern in a small frame building, which had been erected by some other person. It was found inadequate for the purposes of a hotel, and the present large frame structure was subsequently built.

In 1836-37 the grist mill now standing was built by Windiate & Whitfield, and originally contained three run of stone, the same as at present. The dam is now standing which was first constructed, and, with the exception of necessary repairs from time to time, is about the same as originally. The fall is four or four and a half feet.

Mr. Windiate had been a miller in England, and his mill there was called the "Drayton mill." When he built the one at Drayton Plains he gave it the old name, and from that the plain itself derived its name. Windiate owned a little over a section of land. He and his son-in-law, Mr. Whitfield, and one or two others, built a small cluster of houses, including the hotel; but no village lots were laid out until 1860, when the ground was platted by Lewis L. Dunlap, now of Pontiac. An addition was made by Elizabeth C. Linabury, September 19, 1867. Daniel Windiate died December 11, 1843, aged fifty-six years, and is buried in the cemetery on section 10, northwest of the village.

The first store at Drayton Plains was started by William Besley (or Beasley), a son-in-law of Daniel Windiate. He possibly may have been in partnership with Thomas Whitfield. The store contained a general stock, such as is usually found in country establishments of the kind.

The first blacksmith shop on the plains was opened by Moses Southard, a short distance west of the site of the village, probably very soon after he settled. He was from near Bridport, Addison county, Vermont, and came to Michigan in 1835. He was accompanied by his wife and three children, one daughter and two sons. One son, Milo Southard, died shortly after they came. The other son, Alvin A. Southard, has lived at Drayton Plains since 1835, with the exception of eleven years spent in Wisconsin. Moses Southard died in the winter of 1872-73, in his ninetieth year.

The first boots and shoes were made by James Swartz, about 1840-42.

The first school m the district (No. 8) was taught by Lewis M. Covert, in the winter of about 1837-38, in a frame school house which stood east of the cemetery, on section 10. Simon Van Nortwick, the man who built this school house, was the same who had just previously finished building Windiate's mill. He afterwards went to Illinois, where he died.

William Van Ostrand came from Wayne county. New York, with his wife and seven children in 1836, and for some time lived in Drayton Plains. He afterwards removed to Swartzburg, Wayne county (?), and worked at milling. He died at Plymouth, Wayne county, within a year or two afterwards. His daughter, Phebe Van Ostrand, is now the wife of A. A. Southard, of Drayton Plains, to whom she was married January 1, 1837. The other children are all living, except one daughter, who died a number of years ago.

J. H. Linabury came from Warren county. New Jersey, and in June, 1836, located land in Independence township. He brought his first wife and two children with him, and for eight years lived in Pontiac, where he had charge of H. N. Howard's grist mill. He afterwards removed to his farm in Independence, and lived there until 1865, when he came to Drayton Plains, and purchased the "Drayton Plains hotel," together with thirty acres of land. He has resided in the village ever since.

J. W. Leonard, a native of Ovid, New York, settled in Waterford in 1843. L. G. Cole came from New York in 1832. C. P. Kellogg, a native of Marion, New York, settled in 1834. Thomas Grow, from Homer, New York, settled in 1835. William J. Davis, native of Llangibby, Wales, settled in 1835. Dinah Smith, born in Wickenham, England, settled in 1836. Robert Stanlake, born in Devonshire, England, settled in 1836. Harriet L. Hiller, born in Riga, New York, settled in 1835. Hannah S. Kellogg, born in Romulus, New York, settled in 1836

To the following named persons we are indebted for much valuable information regarding the history of Waterford: Mrs. M. A. Hodges, Pontiac ; B. O. William's, Owosso ; Isaac Voorheis, A. B. Donelson, John K. Dewey, Judah Herrington, Almeron Whitehead, A. D. Chapman, Daniel M. Judd, J. H. Linabury, Mrs. A. A. Southard, William Whitfield, Henry Birge, George Robertson, Esq., Mrs. Jervis Tuller, and many others in the township ; also D. B. Horton, at Davisburg.