Excerpt from History of Oakland County, Michigan, Vol. 1: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People, and Its Principal Interest We present this history with pleasure, because it deals with a pleasant subject - Oakland county. There is another reason for this attitude toward our subject: - the cooperation of contributors and of citizens has been so general and hearty that the historical work required has been transformed from a task into a labor of love. Oakland county is peculiarly fortunate in the variety of her charms and riches, to which truth these pages bear witness. With her landscape beauties and sunny lakes, she is drawing thousands to her who seek restful homes and profitable investments. At the same time, her soil is fertile and invites the practical farmer, dairyman and horticulturist, while in the urban centers, the industrial and commercial interests have obtained a firm foothold and assure livelihood and profit to the citizen. No county in the state has better schools, and, as will be made plain in the progress of this history, in no section has woman had a more extended or elevating influence. In a word, Oakland is unexcelled as a home county; no more need be said to the good American, whether of native or foreign blood. As to the collaborators on the history, too much cannot be said of the quantity and quality of the assistance rendered by Hon. Aaron Perry. In those homely words which so truly express our feeling toward him - "what could we have done without him!" Also as to Miss Martha Baldwin and Mrs. Lilian Drake Avery - "what could we have done without them" especially in setting forth the scope of woman's work, and the splendid part taken by the pioneers of the county in laying the foundation upon which the later generations have builded their comfort and prosperity. Thanks are rendered all our associate editors - Fred M. Warner, Thomas L. Patterson, Harry S. Gardner and Samuel W. Smith, for their willing and effective cooperation. The county and village officials, business men, farmers and manufacturers - all, in fact, who have worked to make Oakland county what it is today and are laboring for its greater future - have our sincere thanks, both for what they are doing toward the progress of this favored section of the state, and for what they have done in enabling us to picture it in this history of Oakland county. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from History of Oakland County Michigan, Vol. 2: A Narrative Account of Its Historic Progress, Its People, and Its Principal Interests Mr. W ard's first venture in active business on his own responsibility was between the ages of fourteen and twenty, when he was engaged in the manufacture of cider vinegar. He would load one hundred bushels of apples, take a piece of bread and a glass of milk for his breakfast, haul the apples from Orchard Lake to Auburn and get there before day light; when Mr. Adams went down to his mill in the morning he usually found Henry Ward there waiting to unload his apples. Mr. Adams was an honest man. And he took an immense pride in Henry Clay W'ard, calling him his boy and remarking once that Henry Clay Ward was the only boy of his acquaintance who delivered apples to his mill before he arrived to commence his day's work. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.