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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I830-W. C. Palmer, Nelson Reynolds, Joseph R. Bowman, Joseph
Hunt and Eli Welch.
I83 i-Hugh Kelly, James Henry, George Hopkinson, G. W. Gray
and Levi Dewey.
I832-Alonzo Barbour and James Loop.
I833-George Reeves, Charles Torrey and Harrison Voorheis.
I834-David Cummings, E. E. Sherwood and Joseph Voorheis.
I835-W. B. Frederick, D. C. Dean and Ithamar Smith.
I836-Deacon A. P. Frost, W. H. McConnell, H. C. Linaburv and
John Springer.
COUNTY SEAT AND COURT HOUSE
The proclamation of Governor Cass, issued January 12, I819, announcing the bounds of Oakland county, also provided for the appointment of John L. Leib, Charles Lamed, Philip LaCuer, John Whipple and
Thomas Rowland, as commissioners to report upon the most eligible site
for the seat of justice. The town platted by the Pontiac Company was
duly selected as the county seat, March 28, 1820, and about 1824 the log
building which was to combine the qualifications of court house and jail
was begun. The distinction between the two lay in the quality of raw
material used in their construction; the upper part, or framed portion,
was the court room, and the first story, built solidly of logs, was the jail.
Major Oliver Williams, of Waterford, had the contract for getting out
the timber, and the plank of which the cells were made and which were
six inches thick was sawed at Mack's mill. The saw which did the
work was run by Colonel Mack's son, Almon. This first county building
stood near the present court house. The court room was not finished
until I830. In February, I835, the structure was condemned by the
grand jury, and the agitation for a convenient court house, or at least
for one fairly adequate to the needs of the county, resulted, after more
than twenty-one years, in the erection of the 1856-7 structure.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION
It was during the year 1827 that the original township of Oakland
was divided into five townships, of which Pontiac was one. When first
formed it included all of congressional townships Nos. 3, 4 and 5 north,
ranges 7, 8 and 9, and township 3, range io east, and also had attached to
it for township purposes a portion of the present county at Lapeer, and
all of the counties of Shiawassee and Saginaw. On the 29th of May,
1828, the present township of Orion was detached from Oakland township and attached to Pontiac. Subsequently, the counties of Lapeer, Shiawassee and Saginaw were organized, and the following townships were
formed from the original township of Pontiac, in the years named:
Waterford, 1834; Orion, Highland and Groveland, 1835; Springfield,
Independence and White Lake, 1836; Brandon and Rose, 1837; Holly,
I838.
The first meeting for the township of Pontiac was held at the old
court house on Monday, May 28, I827; present-Sidney Dole, Charles
C. Hascall, Gideon 0. Whittemore, Henry O. Bronson and David Stan