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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VILLAGE OF LEONARD
Leonard, now the chief center of population in Addison township,
was incorporated as a village in I889, and is a station on the Pontiac,
Oxford & Northern Railroad, to whose building it owes its existence.
Its original site was settled in i880, and several saw and planing mills
have been operated to advantage while the timber supply of the northern part of the township was still large. That industry is still represented in a small way. As the surrounding country is productive of
grain and fruit, a grain elevator and a fruit evaporator are also among
its establishments. For the past twenty years Leonard has had a population of about three hundred, but its merchants do their banking at
Oxford, about seven miles to the southwest. The village has two
churches-the Methodist Episcopal and the Methodist Protestant-and
its educational advantages are equal to those of other intelligent communities of its size.
BRANDON TOWNSHIP
Brandon occupies the center of the northern tier of towns and
although it has a number of lakes they are small and unimportant. Bald
Eagle lake, in sections 19 and 30, in the southwestern part is the largest,
its name being derived from the fact that it was once a favorite resort
for eagles of this species. Cranberry lake, northeast of the central
part of the township, has had on its shores some very productive marshes
devoted to the raising of that fruit. The only stream of any size is
Kearsley creek, which rises about half a mile southwest of Cranberry
lake, takes a generally westwardly course to section I8, thence north
through the village of Ortonville, and out of the township into Groveland, over the line of section 6.
ITS PIONEER SETTLERS
Brandon township is not among the sections of the county which was
early settled. Its first land entries, in section 25, in the southeastern
portion, were not made until I831, and no actual settlements were made
until I835. In the spring of that year John G. Perry, a native of New
Jersey who had lived for some time in Oakland township, moved upon
the land which he had purchased two years before in section 35, east of
Seymour lake, and, after making a clearing on the plains, built a log
house and brought his family to it. In the fall of the same year George
P. Thurston, of Rochester, New York, located on sections 28 and 29, further to the west. After building a log house on his claim he returned
to Pontiac, where he had left his family, and a few weeks later reappeared upon the site of his dwelling with his wife, child and two friends
(with their families), who had intended to settle in the neighborhood,
only to find his house in ruins and its contents rifled. As there were
a great many Indians in the township at that time, especially around
Bald Eagle Lake, the outrage was laid to the redskins. But the Thurston party went on to Perry's, four miles east, where they were heartily