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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The purchase included besides the flouring mill, the woolen factory, the
trip hammer shop, and all property connected therewith. Mr. Howard
owned and operated the property until about I845, when he sold a twothird interest to A. A. Lull and Albert Draper. In the same year the
company built the Pontiac Mills, making it the largest and most complete establishment of the kind in this section of the country. It contained four run of burr-stone, and had a large storage capacity. It was
in every respect first class. The motive power was produced by a gigantic breast-wheel, twelve feet in diameter and thirty-six feet length
of bucket. The shaft was a splendid piece of workmanship for that
time. It was thirty-six inches in diameter and required a team of thirtysix yoke of oxen to haul it from the forest to the mill. It was cut from a
gigantic white-oak tree, found on the farm of Jacob Voorheis, living
two miles west of Pontiac and was hauled to town on a set of trucks
constructed expressly for the work. This firm operated, the mill for
about two years, at the end of which time Mr. Howard sold his interest
to his partners, and in I849 they sold out to A. B. Mathews. Mr. Mathews
raised the old gristmill, and also raised the dam about thirty inches.
The mill built by Howard, Lull & Draper was at one time valued as
highly as $40,000. After Mr. Mathews took charge of the mill, he operated it until his death in about I870, after which his son, George B.
Mathews, carried on the business for several years, selling it eventually
to James Orvis.
In I88I C. E. Wakeman & Company purchased the property and
conducted the knitting business under that name until about I890, when
the business was incorporated under the style of the Pontiac Knitting
Works Company. It operated under this name until May, I902, when
it was again incorporated, this time as the Pontiac Knitting Company,
and it has continued since that time under the present management.
The concern employs from one hundred to one hundred and fifty people, and has an annual output of about $I50,ooo to $200,000, their product
being a general line of knit goods.
THE HOWARD INTERESTS
Probably the first general store after that operated by Colonel Mack
and his company was that established by H. N. Howard when he came to
Pontiac in 1829. Mr. Howard, with Orson Bartlett and Amasa Andrews, also built a dam on the river where the Parsons dam was afterward located and dug a race across the peninsula to the subsequent site
of the old gas works, where he erected a machine shop. Soon afterward
he purchased the interests of his partners and changed it to what was
so long known as the "old red mill." This gristmill had two run of
stone and did a good business until its destruction by fire a number of
years after it commenced to grind. After Colonel Mack's death, Mr.
Howard also bought the distillery and operated it in connection with his
flour mill for quite a time; he commenced to use the old distillery as an
ashery about I846, built another ashery on the bank of the river at
Huron street, and engaged quite extensively in that industry. Mr.
Howard was another of the "hustlers" of those early days.