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

163

"On his application Daniel Le Roy satisfied the court that he was licensed to practice in the supreme court of New York and was admitted'
as an attorney of this court. Mr. Le Roy for many succeeding years
occupied a prominent position in the history of Oakland county, as well
as in the state of Michigan. He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York,
on the 17th day of May, 1775. After due preparation and study he was
admitted to practice in the supreme court in April, 800o. He was afterward admitted to the court of common pleas of Tioga county, and in
I80o established himself in Binghampton and commenced practice. He
also took an active part in political, educational and military matters.
In 1817, when the influx of travel from the east was tending westward, he followed with his family to Detroit, and there commenced
laboring in his profession. His record shows that he had business relations with Macomb county, filling there the office of judge of probate.
"Prior to I820 the Pontiac Company had erected a mill at Pontiac,
and the county seat having been established at that place and Mr. LeRoy
having made Pontiac his home, he was the first resident lawyer admitted
to the court.
"It cannot be supposed that business could be very extensive or lucrative; but the county was rapidly filling up; new settlers were continually
arriving, and to a discriminating mind it must have been evident that
Oakland county would soon furnish adequate support for an industrious
lawyer.
"Mr. Le Roy was appointed the first prosecuting attorney for the
county. He was also justice of the peace, and in 1822 postmaster. In
1831 he was appointed United States attorney for the territory of Michigan.
"Mr LeRoy was chief justice of the county court of Oakland county,
and held the office for two years, and in 1833 one of the judges of the
county for the term of three years.
"In November, 1835, Governor Mason, acting governor, appointed
him one of the commissioners to settle the boundary dispute between
Michigan and Ohio. He was a member as early as I830 and 1831 of
the territorial council. Upon the organization of the territory as a state,
Mr. LeRoy was appointed in July, 1836, the first attorney general of the
new state.
"The foregoing brief synopsis shows that Judge LeRoy took a very
active and prominent part in our history. The important offices that he
held is most convincing evidence of his popularity and ability. About 1850
he left Pontiac and removed to Fenton, where some of his children resided, and where he died at a ripe old age February 1, 1858.
"For several years after the organization of the county Mr. Le Roy
was the sole resident lawyer. The court was attended, however, by many
Detroit lawyers; among them George A. O'Keefe, John Hunt, Benjamin
F. H. Witherell, Charles Lamed, William A. Fletcher, Henry Chipman,
William Woodbridge and others; all men who subsequently became prominent not only in their profession but in the state's early history.
"William F. Moseley was admitted as a practitioner on the I4th of
February, 1825. He was the next person admitted after Mr. Le Roy,
as the records of the court show, who resided in the county of Oakland.
Vol. I- 1