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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* "Mrs. Rice died in California, within the past year or two, and
Mrs. Comfort, at the age of ninety, has also recently died."
VILLAGE OF BIRMINGHAM
The original plat of Birmingham was surveyed and dated August
25, 1836, being located on the northwest quarter of section 36, Roswell
T. Merrill, proprietor. Four additions were made to it prior to its
incorporation as a village, by the board of supervisors in January, I864.
That body resolved that a certain tract of country situated in the township of Bloomfield "be, and the same hereby is constituted a village
corporate, under the name of the village of Birmingham," the boundaries of the said village corporate being described as follows: "Commencing at the quarter-stake in the east section-line of section 25, town
2, north of range IO east; running south along the section-line to the
quarter-line of section 36; thence west along said quarter-line to the
west side of said section 25; thence east along said quarter-line to the
place of beginning,"-thus including the north half of section 36 and
the south half of section 25 in the corporate limits.
It was ordered that the first village election be held at the house
of James Grinley in said village, on the first Tuesday of March, I864,
for the purpose of electing village officers, and John Bodine, James
Hunt and John Fitzpatrick were chosen inspectors for the said election.
The election was held on Tuesday, March I, I864, and resulted in
the election of the following board of trustees: J. C. K. Crooks, George
L. Lee, Robert J. Mitchell, S. N. Hill, Hugh Irving, John Bodine and
C. W. Jenks. J. C. K. Crooks was elected president of the board, and
S. N. Hill village clerk.
At a meeting of the trustees, held May 9, 1864, Alanson Partridge
was appointed marshal of the village and John Bodine, treasurer.
A loan of three hundred dollars was obtained in April and another
of like amount in May, for making the village improvements usual in
similar cases, and these were duly made during the succeeding summer.
In I864 and 1865 the subject of the establishment of a village fire
department was brought up, but was not really organized until I89o.
REINCORPORATED
On April I6, 1885, a bill passed the state legislature to reincorporate
the village of Birmingham. The first election under the new charter
was held March 8, I886. Officers elected and appointed were as follows: President of board of trustees, Frank Hagerman; clerk, George
H. Mitchell; treasurer, Frank Blakeslee; assessor, Luther Stanley; street
commissioner, George Blakeslee; marshal, Samuel C. Mills.
VILLAGE PRESIDENTS AND CLERKS
Including 1877 the village presidents and clerks have been as follows:
1877-Frank Hagerman, president; George E. Daines, clerk.
1878-Frank Hagerman, president; John F. Alger, clerk.
* Written in 1888.