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

325

"These old mills were crude affairs, with overshot or undershot
water-wheels, and the machinery was of the simplest, yet it would be
hard to make any old pioneer believe that the bread made from a highgrade flour of today will equal the bread his mother made. Milling of
today is a complete revolution. Now the stone (except for feed grinding) is a thing of the past. The roller system, which crushes the grain,
is the universal system; wooden wheels are superseded by iron and steam.
Mills are loaded down with the finest machinery, very little hand work
being needed. Years ago when we would take our grist of wheat to
the mill it would be ground for us. Now our wheat is exchanged for
flour and we eat everybody's grain. When corn was little raised, farmers
would have their crops of wheat floured and by so doing get a lot of
feed in bran and middlings. The flour would be barreled and carted to
Detroit and there branded by the purchasers or perhaps sent down to
New York and there branded as 'Genesee Valley' flour. A great many
of our mills helped the New York mills out in this way. Millers as a
rule are honest; but then I have seen flour branded 'Minnesota hard
wheat,' when at the same time the wheat grew in this county.
"Thanking you all for your patience I will end my milling talk by
saying that our mills have been the pioneers in their line in this grand
county, and to them we are largely indebted for our healthy existence;
and while the rains are filling the streams to turn the wheels, the same
rains are making the grain grow that will be made up into so many
delightful kinds of food. So well may we bless the rains and bless the
mills."
PONTIAC'S EARLY BUSINESS MEN
As to the pioneer citizens of Pontiac engaged in trade and business,
perhaps we can do no better than to reproduce the picture offered by
Abiram Parker to the Oakland County Pioneer Society, at its meeting
of February 22, I899. He speaks of the period when he came to the
locality in I845. "In the days which I am speaking of," he says, "I
was a clerk working for meager wages. Let me say, however, that I
had only two clerkships, from both of which I was discharged, one for
going to a sleighride and dance, the other because I refused to work on
Sunday;-the first for being very, very bad, the second for being very,
very good.
"All stores in those days were general stores, each keeping calicoes
and sugar, silk and molasses, laces and codfish, men's clothing, hats and
caps, ladies' bonnets and salt. In some of them could be found good
old Scotch whiskey.
"Pontiac at that time was a village of about twelve hundred inhabitants and while small, was wide-awake, hustling, full of business and fun.
"Mr. W. M. McConnell, in business where now are Hutton, Church
& Linabury, was perhaps the most conservative as well as one of the
most successful merchants of that period. He was always upright and
genial, a friend to everyone and everyone a friend to him. The firm of
Matthews and Beach, in Hodge's House corner, bought more largely
of produce, wheat and flour, than any other, much of which was brought
from the counties of Macomb, Lapeer, Genesee, Shiawassee and Liv