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

177

and improvement of the Oakland County Agricultural Society. He was
active in having the Eastern Michigan Asylum for the Insane established
at Pontiac, and was a member of the board of trustees for several years.
As a trial lawyer, Mr. Crofoot was unexcelled. His practice was not
only in the county of Oakland, but in the adjoining counties of Lapeer
and Genesee. In his professional matters he was thorough, probing every
question to the bottom. He was frank and generous, and in his personal
friendships and attachments was warm and sincere. During the last years
of his life he suffered most excruciatingly from rheumatic troubles which
prostrated him, and rendered him incapable of transacting business. He
finally succumbed to the disease, departing this life on the IIth day of
May, 1884, mourned and lamented by hosts of loving and appreciative
friends.
"I have in the foregoing remarks attempted to give the names of all
the attorneys resident in Oakland county prior to I840, and a brief
synopsis of their professional career. In a paper of this nature more
lengthy statement could not be expected. Some of them are entitled to
a much fuller account than I have given, but it would require much more
research than would be possible to embody in this paper. I have not indulged in a fulsome eulogy of any of them, but have given a plain recital
of such facts as were necessary to place them fairly before their successors.
"It is not claimed that they were men of superhuman powers, or of
extraordinary mental faculties, but they were plain, sensible persons, devoted to their professions; men of intelligence, and some of them of
more than ordinary ability. They came into a land sparsely populated,
knowing that it had a destiny for great improvement; and they were
willing to suffer all the privations of pioneer life, believing that there was
a bright prospect in the future; hoping that that future would bear fruit
which would fully compensate them for their privations and trials. They
anticipated success, and many of them lived to see a full fruition of all
their desires.
"It was my fortune to come into this state, and the county of Oakland,
on the 12th day of November, I837, where I have since resided. In the
fall of 1839 I was connected with the county clerk's office, and on Judge
Whipple's holding his first term in the fall of that year, I was clerk-of
the court. Prior to that time I had an acquaintance with most of the
lawyers in Pontiac, and at the first session of the court all the lawyers
in the county were present. From that time onward I became more intimate with them, and after an acquaintance of a quarter of a century,
I believe they were as able, as learned, and as sober a body of men as the
most of the counties can present. They were an honor to the county and
their profession, and I am thankful that I have been permitted to present
their names to this society, and have them enrolled upon its records, where
they will remain so long as the society exists. Their deeds are part of
the history of the state, and when some future historian attempts to
write a detailed history of Michigan, the acts of some of these men must
therein have a permanent abiding place."