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.

378

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY

Bagley and family, and William Morris stayed over night with them,
on their way to their new home.
"The next thing to do was to decide where to locate a home. Section
23, town 2 north, range io east, soon took his fancy, and wishing his
wife to see it, he borrowed an old horse-at least I presume it was old.
It certainly should have been trustworthy, for he mounted his entire
family on its back. To tell the story in his own words: 'I put your
mother in the saddle, and one child behind her and the other in front,
then I took hold of the bridle and we started.' At this point my mother
invariably interrupted him with 'Why no, pa, you didn't lead the horse.
I knew enough to hold the reins.' But whichever was right, the small
cavalcade of three horsemen and one horse made the short journey
safely, and after looking around as long as they cared to, sat down by
a spring of clear, pure water, which was one of the attractions of the
place, and as they ate their lunch in the hazy sunshine of that Indian
summer day, and looked out on the peaceful landscape, they said to
one another, 'This is good enough; here we will make our home.'
"As soon as possible the land was entered at the land office, and
early in January, I820, a small house was ready for its inmates. It was
not a pretentious affair; my father used to say he measured the few
articles of furniture they possessed, and built his house to fit them. I
do not know its dimensions, but will venture to say it afforded them a
comfortable shelter. What if the walls were composed of unhewn logs,
and the floor of the same, split and hewn as smoothly as might be, the
roof of stakes, and the window sash whittled out with a jack-knife. A
few shelves were fashioned with a hand-saw, axe, adze, and were in
existence since my remembrance, not very bad- shelves either. The
great stone fireplace may not have been beautiful in itself, but then it
left half its ugliness outside, and when filled with a cheerful blaze that
shone out upon a spotless floor, and lit up the farthest corners of the
little room, it must have been a pleasant sight. I can imagine an economy that at times made its light suffice for a quiet converse or plain
knitting.
"A muslin curtain, dainty white, I imagine, shaded the one little
window. The bed, even but partially hidden by valence and curtain,
was made a thing of beauty. Early every morning the straw was thoroughly stirred and made to assume a uniform height, and the feather
bed and pillows were thumped and stirred and shaken, till each individual feather made an effort to stand up as light and airy as might
be; then coaxed, and smoothed and patted with many a backward step
to view the effect. At the last the shapely feather bank was ready for
sheets and blankets and comforter, and over all was carefully spread
the pretty blue and white counterpane, with a border of knitted fringe,
and it was not an ill thing to get a glimpse of between the parted curtains. But one thing I must not forget to mention. The door of this
house was a red board, brought from Detroit. True, it was hung with
wooden hinges, and opened with a wooden latch which was raised by
means of a buckskin string, but the door itself was not wholly of home
manufacture.
"Soon after the family moved in, it was found the shake roof was