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

worldly possessions, on a line, as near as could be judged, towards the
settlement at Farmington.
"These facts come to me from those who had the experience of that
journey, and were old enough to remember the incidents connected with
it, yet my first recollections are associated with that expedition. Having passed through the heavy timbered land on the route, we arrived
just as night came on, at an elevated ridge of land, with but few scattering trees, where we put up for the night, under the sheltering branches
of a large oak. The contrast between the low ground and heavy timber
through which we had been passing, which became still more dreary as
the night came on and the elevated country around us was so great that
the incident was thoroughly photographed upon my mind and the outlines of that scene are as visible to me today as they were on that eventful evening in the fore part of April, I825. The day following, we
reached the house of an uncle, a brother of my mother, in Farmington,
which was then known only as Power's settlement, or Quakertown. The
road then opened was the first one leading from Detroit in the direction of
Farmington, and the ox teams that brought through my father's family
and goods were the first teams ever driven over it. At Farmington we
moved into the house with my uncle's family, and before we had got
our own house built two other families came on from the state of New
York and moved into the same log house, which for a time constituted
a happy home for four families; and it was not a iarge house either,
presenting a striking and important contrast between the spirit of kindness and courtesy which universally characterized the first settlers of
our state, and some of those who have come after them.
"Nearly twenty families had settled in the town during the year
previous to our cominig-Arthur Power having been the first actual
resident, coming March 8, 1824, and others coming in about the following order: Geo. W. Collins, Benj. P. Wixom, Timothy Tolman, Judah
Marsh, Sanford Utley, Solomon Woodford, Robt. Wixom, Ed. Steele,
Howland Mason, Hiram VWilmarth, Wardwell Green, Leland Green,
Solomon Walker, Hezekiah Smith, Geo. Brownell and Matthew Van
Amburg. In I825 about the same number of families were added to
the population of the settlement, and among them were those of
Samuel Mansfield, Ezekiel Webb, George Culver, Orange Culver,
Samuel Mlead, Amos Mead, Philip Marlet, Elisha Cooley, Elisha Dotv,
Jonathan Lewvis, Thos. Johns, Absalom Barnum, Constantine Wood and
my father. From this time Farmington began to have quite a reputation
as being a favorable locality in which to make a desirable settlement,
and large numbers availed themselves of the opportunity of buying and
occupying farms in Farmington.
"In 1827 the township was organized, and we had the privilege of
voting at home. Previous to that time the resident electors who desired to vote at any election were compelled to go to Pontiac in order to
enjoy that great privilege of American citizenship.
"Our nearest grist mill was at Birmingham until 1827, when Steel
& Mason got their mill running in Farmington. In I825 Arthur Power
built a sawmill on the creek in the village, which was a great public
convenience to the people in and around Farmington. The mill was