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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plicity and strength being their strong points, and upon these qualities
in automobiles too much stress cannot be placed.
MONROE BODY COMPANY
The Monroe Body Company is one of the prosperous manufacturing
concerns in Oakland county. It manufactures automobile bodies exclusively, and has been in operation since June 24, I902, the date of its
organization. The first officers of the company were: J. A. Jacokes,
president; Chauncey Brace, vice president; H. F. Messinger, treasurer;
R. F. Monroe, secretary and general manager. In I905 the company
was reorganized and the name changed from the Pontiac Body Company to the Monroe Body Company. The plant also was enlarged at
that time, the cost of plant and equipment being approximately $Ioo,ooo.
The present officers of the company are: R. F. Monroe, president; J.
M. Parker, vice president and general manager; C. R. Talbot, treasurer.
The yearly output of the factory aggregates $350,000o.
TIE BEAUDETT BODY WORKS
Oliver J. Beaudett has also been at the head of a large manufactory
whose specialty is the turning out of the bodies of automobiles. He
has had a most trying experience with fires, his plant having been destroyed both in go90 and 1903; but he and his business have surmounted
all trials and his enterprise is firmly established and progressing in a
most substantial manner.
SLATER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
The Slater Construction Company is one of the most prosperous
organizations of the kind in southeastern Michigan, outside of Detroit.
It is also growing as rapidly as any, and in Pontiac, especially, are
numerous evidences of the extent, completeness and honesty of its
work. It was organized in I899 as a copartnership, consisting of Olney
A. Slater, Franklin A. Slater and Albert M. Slater, no exact amount of
capital stock being stipulated. Buildings have been erected from year
to year since 900o as the needs of the company grew, and it is doing
an approximate annual business of $350,000. At the present time the
company employs about one hundred and seventy-five men and twenty
teams.
PONTIAC BREWERY
The Pontiac Brewery was built in I9oo, and has been in continuous
operation since that time, with the exception of the years from I908 to
I9IO, when the business was closed up as a result of the Local Option
law going into effect in the former year. The company was reincorporated in 1905. The annual output of the brewery is ten thousand
barrels, and it produces two brands of beer, known as Blue Label and
Pontiac Favorite.