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

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on the day following its formation, the eighteen hundred acres comprising section 29, the northeast quarter of section 32, and the northeast,
northwest and southwest quarters of section 28, township 3 north, range
Io east. Between that date and the I9th of February, 1819, the original
town plat of Pontiac was laid out on the southeast quarter of section
29, by Maj. John Anderson. According to Capt. Hervey Parke's recollections, all the corners were marked with posts made of four-inch
scantling sawed at the mill completed in the spring of I8I9 by Mack,
Conant & Sibley.
FIRST PONTIAC SETTLERS
The first settlers on the spot now occupied by the city of Pontiac
were undoubtedly Col. Stephen Mack, Maj. Joseph Todd, William Lester and Orisen Allen, who, with a body of workmen, located on the
southeast quarter of section 29, in November or December, I8I8. In
I8I9 Calvin Hotchkiss and Jeremiah Allen entered lands in the vicinity;
that year also witnessed the coming of Harvey Williams and Elisha
Gardner, the first blacksmiths of the place who worked in the old shop
built by Colonel Mack. Among those who came in I820 and I82I
were Charles Howard, Oliver Parker, Capt. Hervey Parke, Judah Church,
Abner Davis, Eastman Colby, Alexander Galloway, Rufus Clark, Enoch
Hotchkiss, James Harrington, G. W. Butson, John Edson, Joshua S.
Terry, Joseph Harris, Stephen Reeves and Capt. Joseph Bancroft.
WORKS OF MACK, CONANT & SIBLEY
The firm of Mack, Conant & Sibley (Judge Solomon Sibley was a
silent partner) made the first improvements in Pontiac. They obtained
from the Pontiac Company the title to the water power, in consideration for which they agreed to pay a bonus of $I,ooo toward the erection
of county buildings, in case the county seat should be located at Pontiac.
The company itself also donated certain lots as an inducement for such
location, and reserved various sites for schools, churches and a cemetery.
This firm built a dam on Clinton river below Pike street and spent
the winter and spring of I818-I9 in the erection of their sawmill; but
the first house which rose on the present site of Pontiac was a small log
cabin built for the workmen who were engaged on these enterprises.
It stood where the Commercial Hotel was afterward built, and in March,
I819, after the sawmill was completed, it was occupied by Maj. Joseph
Todd and family, William Lester and Orisen Allen. After this cabin,
the next building completed was the blacksmith shop which stood near
the mill. In I819-20, the flour mill was finished-the first in the county.
It contained one or two burr stones, and one run of common stone
made from native boulders; but its completion was a great event, and
quite a number of the Pontiac Company from Detroit, as well as others,
celebrated the opening of the mill for business. Among those who
attended were William Woodbridge, Solomon Sibley, John L. Whiting,
Austin E. Wing, David C. McKinstry, Henry I. Hunt, Andrew C. Whitney, William Thompson, Judge Whipple, Daniel LeRoy and Colonel