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.

390

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY

In 1839 William Young erected the pioneer blacksmith shop on
section 22.
The first road in the township was completed in 1834, being that
portion of the Detroit & Saginaw turnpike which crosses the northeast
corner, on sections I and 12.
The log schoolhouse, opened in 1833, on the line between Groveland
and Holly, was the first built in either township. Its teacher was an
Irishman named Hugh Dougherty, and his first class comprised twelve
pupils.
QUAINT ALONZO R. ROOD
Alonzo R. Rood bore the honor, for many years, of being the pioneer
settler of Holly township. He came from Genesee county, New York,
in 1822, and, with his wife and eight children, settled first in Bloomfield
township. Four children were afterward born to Mr. and Mrs. Rood.
In the fall of 1833 the family moved to section 26, Holly township,
where he resided to a very advanced age. Mr. Rood and his brother-inlaw, Vincent Runyon, came together, and the first timber cut in the
neighborhood went into his log house. About 1837 he erected a frame
dwelling, which is claimed to have been the first in the township.
Mr. Rood was still living on the land of his first choice in 1898, and
the following is an article published in the Detroit Journal which tells
the story of his life up to that time:
"The oldest living settler in Holly township, as well as one of the
most eccentric characters in the state, is Alonzo R. Rood, who resides
on his old farm ~about two and a half miles northeast of Holly village.
He is now a man of eighty-five years, and the story of his life as told
by himself is possessed of all the spirit of adventure of a novel. Although he has passed through a great many hardships, he is as hale and
hearty as a man of sixty years and can do a day's hard farm work as
easily as most men half his age. He is known for miles around for his
great hardihood.
"Mr. Rood was born among the beautiful hills of Orleans county,
Vermont, on April 19, 1812. When ten years old his parents caught
the western fever and prepared to follow the 'star of the empire' and
set out to seek their fortune in the new territory north of the Ohio.
Mrs. Rood and the children traveled from Buffalo to Detroit by water,
but the steamer was not large enough to carry the oxen and old Mr.
Rood drove them overland.
"'When we landed in Detroit,' said Mr. Rood, 'it was a straggling
little hamlet that could be put into a ten-acre lot, and here we waited
for father to come up with the cattle. When he arrived we immediately
set out for our new home-a piece of the wilderness near the present
site of Pontiac.'
"Ten months of the year Alonzo helped his father to reclaim the
forest and the other two months were spent at school. Here the scholars
were taught to read, spell and cipher. By great perseverance in home
study he got a fair education for those days.
"On attaining his majority Alonzo was given a yoke of oxen and a
cow. This made him rich, and in the fall of 1832 he decided to begin