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

373

public education had been inaugurated in conformity with the provisions
of the legislative act approved April 13, 1833, which made it obligatory
upon townships to elect three commissioners of common schools. Their
duties were to lay off the townships into school districts and to establish them in numerical order.
THREE COMPETING TAVERNS
John W. Hunter is credited with being the first settler. With his
brother, Daniel, he traveled by sleigh from Auburn, New York, through
Canada, to Detroit, where he arrived in March, I818. At the landoffice there he entered the northeast quarter of section 36, which is now
the southeast part of Birmingham. Daniel and John Hunter awaited
the arrival of their father, Elisha (with family) until the July following, but they did not locate in Bloomfield until the spring of I8I9.
About the same time John Hamilton and Elijah Willets settled further
west, but still within the present limits of the village. By mistake, Mr.
Hunter erected his log house-the first in the township-on the Willets tract. He found a good "opening" there, and took advantage of
it. William Hall, a son-in-law of Elisha Hunter, occupied this house,
and John W. soon afterward built another a short distance southeast
of the first on his own land. In this one-room cabin Mr. Hunter opened
a tavern, and Mr. Hamilton, who had located on the southeast quarter
of section 25, followed his example very soon, as did Mr. Willets, who
established himself as an inn-keeper in the southwest quarter of the
same section. Three taverns thus stood but a few rods apart and competed for prospective trade.
Thus was the first settlement of Bloomfield made on the present
site of Birmingham. The permanent population increased but slowly,
but the name of the locality as a central point of entertainment for
"man and beast" became so well advertised that the immigrants and land
seekers who were attracted thither made quite a bustle. Hunter's was
not long maintained as a public house, but Hamilton and Willets continued their rivalry.
The result of all this was that the settlement was variously designated as "Hamilton's," "Hunter's" or "Willets' ". Still later, presumably on account of the religious character of its people as a whole, it
was quite generally known as "Piety Hill," until it was incorporated as
a village in I864.,MILLS AND STORES OUTSIDE OF BIRMINGHAM
Although, as we have seen, the three hotel keepers settled on the
present site of Birmingham, the earliest industrial and mercantile enterprises commenced at other points. A Mr. Doolittle opened a store
on the northeast quarter of section 24, about a mile north of Birmingham at what was called Fairbanks' Corners. He also started a potash
works at the same place, and about 1829 Zeba Rice built a fanning mill
there. The first distillery of the township had already been started
about three-quarters of a mile northeast of the Corners.