History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests / compiled from the official records of the county, the newspapers and data of personal interviews, under the editorial supervision of Thaddeus D. Seeley.

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY

77

Of the daughters, Lovicy (born September 13, I795), married David
Cooper, a wealthy merchant of Detroit. Her twin sister, Lavina, was
the first white woman to die in Pontiac, September 2, 1823. Harriet
married Reuben Hatch, who had been a lieutenant in the army. He
died about 1827 while in charge of the lighthouse at Fort Gratiot. His
widow afterward married Hon. Gideon O. Whittemore. Dr. George
Drake is one of her descendants. Acseah died young.
Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, was a cousin of the Macks, and
visited Oakland county several times previous to his removal to Illinois.
Almira Mack, twin to Almon, joined the Mormons at an early day and
followed their fortunes to Utah, where she was living in I876. Mrs.
Mack joined her daughter in 1846 and remained with her until her death,
which occurred some ten years later. /Ruth Mack married
Buckland, and her twin Rhoda married - Stanley.
In 1824, during Colonel Stephen Mack's residence in Pontiac he
built a grist mill at Rochester. After the Colonel's death his sons,
Almon and John M., were appointed administrators of his estate, which
was involved in the collapse of the Bank of Michigan. Colonel Mack
was one of the bondsmen of James McCloskey, the cashier of the institution who defaulted to a large amount, and being the only one who
had available means, his entire estate, except a small dower to the widow,
was absorbed in the settlement, and his heirs were virtually left penniless.
JOSEPH TODD AND PARTY
Although it was through the agency of Stephen Mack that Pontiac
was located and settled, yet the first actual settlers were Joseph Todd,
his son-in-law, Orisson Allen and William Lester, and their families.
Joseph Todd was born February 11, I765, at Warsaw, New York, and
was a resident of that place when he enlisted for service in the Revolution in April, 1781, serving ten months and twenty days as a private in
Captain Peter Bertholft's company, Colonel Henry Wisner's regiment.
His father also was Joseph Todd who was a second lieutenant in the
same company.
In I8I8, at the time he applied for a pension, he was a resident of
Palmyra, New York, and it was in November of the same year that he
journeyed to Michigan, taking twenty-eight days to reach Detroit from
Buffalo. They were driven back to Erie three times by bad winds.
From Detroit they moved by wagons to Mt. Clemens and soon after Mr.
Todd and his party set out on an exploring tour into what is now Oakland county. It was now the middle of December and the snow lay
ten or twelve inches deep. Each man carried a supply of provisions, a
blanket and an axe. Two of them were armed with rifles.
The first night's encampment was where the village of Romeo afterward grew up. They cleared away the snow and built a fire and then
felled a hollow basswood tree, which they cut in seven foot lengths and
split open. Each man took half a log, placed it by the fire and with
his blanket snugly wrapped around him lay down in the hollow inside
and had a good night's sleep. The next day they camped where Pontiac
now is. They returned to Mt. Clemens convinced that Pontiac would