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

195

ship, J., A. Wandle. Oxford and Springfield paid taxes that year, but
were not represented at the October meeting of the board of supervisors.
CIRCLE OF TOWNSHIPS COMPLETED
At the October meeting of 1838, Holly came into and completed the
circle of townships, with J. T. Allen as her first supervisor. Her property was assessed at $66,634; taxes, $406.56. But the legislature of the
state did not seem to take kindly to the system of township and county
government and in the year named changed it from a board of supervisors to a body of county commissioners. On the 7th of January, 1839,
Isaac I. Voorheis, George Brownell and William M. Axford were sworn
in as the first three commissioners, with Mr. Voorheis as chairman. At
this meeting they elected the first county superintendents of the poorWilliam Price, Harvey Seeley and Friend Belding-and abolished the
distinction between county and township poor.
The dates of the organization of the various townships of the county
are given in the state census report of 1874 as follows:

Addison...................I837
Avon..................... 835
Bloomfield................I 827
Brandon.................. 837
Commerce................. 834
Farmington............... I827
Groveland................. 835
Highland.................. 835
H olly..................... 838
Independence............. 836
Lyon..................... 834
M ilford................... 834
N ovi...................... 832

Oakland................... 827
Orion....................835
Oxford................... 1837
Pontiac................... 827
Rose.....................837
Royal Oak................ 832
Southfield................. 830
Springfield................ 836
Troy...................... 827
W aterford................ 834
West Bloomfield........... 833
White Lake...............836

*ROSTER OF COUNTY OFFICIALS
From this time on, the civil government of Oakland county developed
along the usual lines, and is largely a matter of dry records which are
open to every citizen. The roster of county officials is given, as follows:
County clerks-Sidney Dole, 1820 to January I, 1827; Elias Comstock,
1827 to January I, 1837; Horatio N. Howard, 1835 to January I, 1837;
Charles Draper, 1837 to January I, 1839; Pierce Patrick, 1839 to January I, 1843; Joseph R. Bowman, 1843 to January I, 1849; John T.
Raynor, 1849 to January I, 1853; Alfred Treadway, 1853 to January I,
1855; Edward W. Peck, 1855 to January I, 1859; Charles V. Babcock,
1859 to January I, 1861; Zepheniah B. Knight, I86I to January I, I863;
Phillip M. Parker, 1863 to January I, i865; James D. Bateman, i865 to
January I, 1867; John Fitzpatrick, 1873 to January I, 1875; Theodorus
W. Lockwood, 1875 to January I, 1877; Daniel L. Davis, 1877 to January I, i88i; Mark Walter, I88I to January I, 1883; Charles M. Fay,
* For prosecuting attorneys see Chapter IX.
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