History of Oakland County, Michigan.

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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

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fallen, being oaks and sycamores, from four to six feet diameter. Eight trees
were standing at the time the measurement of this giant was taken, which were
from three to four feet diameter at their bases. A few rods west, on the farm of
Dr. Cantrell, an elm was cut measuring six feet diameter at the base. About
eight years ago (1869) the big tree fell, being prostrated by a heavy wind. The
twelve trees which were lying on the ground in its vicinity had been prostrated
in the same manner, and were rotten.
A FOURTH OF JULY IN 1826.
Although isolated to some extent from their neighbors in the outer world, the
people of Troy did not forget their fealty as Americans, and were keenly alive to
the patriotic requirements of the nation's natal day.
They had resolved to commemorate it in the manner predicted by the immortal
Webster so far as they were able, and in true pioneer fashion when these resources
had failed them. Accordingly, they met at the house of William Poppleton, on
the fourth of July, 1826, with such firearms as they could command, and after
having indulged in a general fusilade, the object of which was to see how much
noise their guns would make, they appointed one of their number to read the
Declaration of Independence and Washington's Farewell Address, to which they
listened with rapt attention. After this they partook of a dinner, prepared by
Mrs. Poppleton and her neighbor women, consisting of pork and beans, bread,
and pumpkin-pies, having at the same time a general reunion. Following this
was the burning of some more powder, and a game of base-ball, in which Alva
Butler, Ira Jennings, Harry Blount, John Jones, Ira Toms, William Stanley,
Orrin Sprague, Jesse Gregory, Daniel Burrows, Jesse Perrin, Ramah Cole, James
Bailey, Solomon Caswell, John and James Volentine, Johnson Niles, Calvin
Marvin, M. M. Toms, Pheroras Perrin, and others participated.
The day was pleasantly spent, and although they had no orator to flap the wings
of the American eagle and show them the greatness and power of their country,
there can be no doubt they were fully imbued with this sentiment as they went
to their quiet homes.
The history of the township of Troy has been compiled from the official records
of the town, and from the personal recollections of some of its present and former
citizens, among whom are Josephus Smith, Dwight Buttolph, Andrew Ebling,
James Bayley, Solomon Caswell, George Niles, A. C. Trowbridge, Rev. Tuttle,
James Skidmore, Alva Butler, Mrs. Jesse Lee Stout, Hon. Henry Waldron, Hon.
O. Poppleton, Luther Stanley, Ira Toms, William Martin, J. H. Alger, and Almeron Gibbs. The writer tenders his thanks to these and others who have assisted
him, and expresses the hope that his efforts to perpetuate the memory of Troy's
pioneers will not be in vain; and he assures all that whatever inaccuracies this
history may contain are the result of conflicting judgment and difference of
I opinion unavoidably attaching to a work of this nature, and not of a disposition
to misstate facts.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
JOHNSON NILES.
This gentleman was truly one of the pioneers of Oakland County. He identified himself with it when its inhabitants numbered scarcely twoscore, and continued laboring for its interests until his death, when its population numbered
nearly twoscore thousands. He came to Troy when it was a vast expanse of unbroken forests; he left it when its fertile surface was dotted with homes, surrounded by farms fair and productive as were ever wrested from the stubborn hand
of nature.
Johnson Niles was born May 2, 1794, at Richfield, Otsego county, New York.

His father, Samuel Niles, who was a native of Rhode Island, and a private under
General Greene in the Revolutionary struggle, was wounded in an action in that
State; and a brother of his held a captain's commission at the battle of Bennington, the sword he wore there being now preserved as a relic by the family of
Johnson Niles.
Young Niles grew to manhood in the State of New York, becoming, in time, a
citizen of Steuben county, where he was appointed to various offices of honor and
trust, among them to the position of paymaster in Colonel Archibald Campbell's
battalion of State militia, Governor De Witt Clinton having signed his commission.
In February, 1816, he married Rhoda Phelps, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, by
whom he had a family of three children,-Julia Ann, who afterwards became the
consort of George A. C. Luce, Orange J., and George, at present the only survivor of the family. Taking his young family in the fall of 1821, Mr. Niles came
to Michigan, and became a citizen of Troy the year following. He now began

the life of a pioneer, and applied himself with great energy to make a home and
a fortune in that then wild region; and, although primarily a farmer, his enterprise
led him to engage in business outside of this occupation. He opened a hotel at
Try Corners, and engaged in various mercantile enterprises, as well as other projects which were often more profitable to those associated with him than to himself. His was an active, stirring nature, which would never permit him to remain
idle; and he was always engaged in some project whose ultimate results redounded
to the good of his fellow-men. Being a man of more than ordinary intelligence,
of resolution and ambition, Mr. Niles was born to be a leader among men, and was
generally accorded this position in the Democratic party, of which he was a devoted member. It was frequently remarked that no Democratic convention was
complete without Johnson Niles; and his presence inspired courage and enthusiasm.
His political services, though not of a character to distinguish him abroad, were
many and long continued.
In 1823 he was commissioned the first postmaster in Troy, a position he held
without interruption until the election of General Harrison, in 1840. President
Tyler re-appointed him, and he held the office until the election of President
Pierce, when he was succeeded by his son, Orange J. In the fall of 1823, Governor Cass appointed him a county justice of the peace, and in 1831 re-appointed
him for the term of three years. At the expiration of this service, in 1834,
Governor George B. Porter renewed his commission, and he served as a justice
until Michigan became a State, when he was elected to the same office for several
terms.
In 1826, Governor Woodbridge appointed him a commissioner in and for the
county of Oakland, and he held that office several years. In 1834, Governor
Porter appointed him "' inspector of provisions and fish in and for the county of
Oakland;:' and at the expiration of his term commissioned him " inspector of
wheat and rye flour, buckwheat-meal, pork, beef, fish, butter, lard, domestic
spirits, and pot- and pearl-ashes, for the district composed of the county of
Oakland."
Mr. Niles was a representative in the first legislature of the State of Michigan,
and subsequently served two terms in the senate. He was also commissioned
mail apgent by President Pierce, and held numerous town offices to his credit and
his fellow-citizens' interests.
Mr. Niles was a Royal Arch Mason, and the Masonic compeer of General Cass,
Judge Burt, Levi Cook, Benjamin Woodworth, and many others of that time.
He died, after living a most useful, eventful life, on the 23d of March, 1872, and
was buried with Masonic honors, the fraternity from Pontiac, Birmingham,
Rochester, and Utica attending his funeral, together with a large, concourse of
citizens who deeply mourned his departure. Mrs. Niles died August 1, 1864,
after a life of courageous devotion to the interests of her family and service to
the community, who deposited her remains near the spot where she passed her
pioneer life.
THE JUDD AND HASTINGS FAMILIES.*
Mrs. Betsey Judd was born in Washington, Connecticut, August 28, 1786.
She was the daughter of Dr. Seth Hastings, one of the old Puritan stock, whose
family settled at Boston in 1652, and among whom were the curious names of
Hopestill, WTaitstill, and Standstill.
About the year 1796, Dr. Seth Hastings, with his wife and seven children,
emigrated to Clinton, Oneida county, New York. One of the brothers, Eurotas
P. Hastings, of Detroit, was a man well known by most of the early pioneers of
Michigan, on account of having been both cashier and president of the old Bank
of Michigan, once a great power in the land. Another brother was Thomas
Hastings, the eminent musical composer, and there were two others who rose to
distinction in the legal profession: Orlando Hastings, of Rochester, New York,

and Truman Hastings, of Cleveland, Ohio. These last three members of the
famlily were what are known as Albinos, and remarkable for two peculiarities,near-sightedness and wonderful memories. Dr. Seth Hastings was a practicing
physician in the village of Clinton, New York, and was father of the wife of
Rev. A. S. Wells, who will be remembered by the pioneer settlers of Michigan
as a Presbyterian minister, and agent for several societies of that organization.
Mr. Charles Hastings settled near Troy Corners, in this county, in the township of Avon, and died on the farm where he first settled March 15, 1849. He
was a teacher of music, and an enthusiast in his profession. His youngest living
son is a Presbyterian clergyman of the Brockway mission church of Detroit.
Each of the above-named brothers, and also the father of Mrs. Judd, and" her
husband, Dr. Elnathan Judd, to whom she was married, in the village of Clinton,
New York, in 1802, were fully imbued with the harsh Calvinistic doctrines of
which Jonathan Edwards and Dr. Hopkins were the chief exponents; and all
From notes furnished by Henry A. Judd.
-tp From notes furnished lay Henry A. Judd.