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Initial Enterprises and Events

The first of the mechanical trades commenced in the town was that of shoe-making, by Mr. Green, already mentioned as having worked and died near Amos Mead's.

Blacksmithing was first started by Esek Brown, who, soon after his arrival in 1825, opened his trade in a log shop, about a mile south of Quakertown.

The carpenter-shop is supposed to have been that of Timothy Tolman, at Blackhorn Corners; although young Myra Gage, who came in with Deacon Samuel Mead in the spring of 1825, was not only a carpenter and millwright by trade, but was also both shoemaker and blacksmith by practice, and worked at all four of his callings in Farmington. He might, perhaps, dispute the seniority not only of Tolman as the first carpenter, but also of Mr. Green and Esek Brown in their respective crafts. He, however, had no shop or regular place of business, but contented himself with performing such jobs in either of the trades as might present themselves.

The first coopers in Farmington were Calvin Ray and ___ Drown, who arrived in 1825, and worked together for a time in a small building not far from Amos Mead's.

The first mill in the township was the saw-mill built by Arthur Power, at Quakertown. From the time of his first arrival he had entertained the project of the erection of such a one upon the stream at that point; and so, after having completed his large log house on the northerly side of the creek, and attended to such other work as was indispensable upon the clearing, he commenced the cutting of timber and other preparations for its erection. The dam was thrown across the stream nearly opposite where the Baptist church now stands, and from this dam the water was carried by a canal, constructed on the west side of the stream, to the mill, which stood some little distance below. Much of the work on this canal was performed by Gilbert Bagnell, who came from New York to work for Mr. Power. Dam and mill were completed and ready for operation before the last days of the year 1826. The millwright was Wm A. Burt, now of Saginaw. The establishment probably never did a very large business; the stream at its best was not copious, and in the dry season there was great scarcity of water, and this trouble was greatly aggravated by the imperfect construction of the dam, which never could be made reasonably tight by all the repairs which were expended on it from time to time. The mill, however, answered its purpose tolerably well, and being then the only one in the township, its importance was estimated accordingly.

The first grist-mill was built in the year 1827. It was located on the west branch of the creek, in the southeast quarter of section 17, and about two and a half miles north and west of Quakertown. The proprietors were Edward Steel and Harman Steel. An interest in it was also owned by Howland Mason, who himself performed most of the mill-work; he being a competent millwright, who had worked at Auburn and elsewhere, under that skillful mechanic and machinist, Aaron Smith, who was then pretty widely known hereabouts as "Fifty-crooks." It is said that the bed-stone and runner were manufactured from bowlders found somewhere in the vicinity. The mill was completed, ready for work, in the fall of the above-named year, and the first grist was ground for Orange Culver, who brought the grain and carried away the flour upon his shoulder, a distance of a mile and a half each way.

This was not only the first grist-mill in Farmington, but in all the southwestern part of the county, and it was long known, and somewhat famed, as the "Steel mill." A few years after its erection it was sold to Joseph Coon and his son-in-law, Frederick Neidheimer, who were excellent millers, and fully sustained its reputation. Afterwards it passed through the hands of several other owners, among whom was John T. Little, who, designing to sell flour in Detroit, so as to do a more extended business than was afforded by the local custom, named the mill and his brand of flour the "Pernambuco." Little had followed the seas in earlier life, and in this calling had visited Pernambuco, in Brazil, and doubtless it was this fact which had suggested the name to him. His successors, however, dropped the name, and it has long been known as the "Hardenberg mill." Its first half-century of service is now almost completed.

The first framed dwelling-house in the town was built by Timothy Tolman, at Buckhorn Corners, in the year 1828. Being himself a carpenter, doubtless Timothy wished to set such an example to his neighbors as would prove in the end beneficial to them as well as to his own calling.

Mr. David Smith thinks that the frame house built by Arthur Power, on the spot where is now the house of his son, William Power, may have been earlier than Tolman's, but from a comparison of other information, it seems certain that Mr. Power's house must have been erected fully two years later. It stood, as has been said, on the present site of William Power's dwelling-house; and it was destroyed by fire in the year 1851, when the present house was commenced at once on the same spot.

Tolman's house, however, was not the first building of any kind which was framed in Farmington. That precedence belonged to the frame barn which Samuel Mansfield built in 1826. Next was Arthur Power's saw-mill, and then, in the next season, a barn was framed and erected by Solomon Walker, and a third - date not precisely known - by George W. Collins, on his farm, a mile and half southwest from Quakertown.

In Farmington as in most other towns, there are several conflicting accounts of the first barn-raising carried through without the use of intoxicating liquor, and it is wholly impossible to say who was really the first to accomplish the end so worthy and much to be desired; but the accounts seem pretty clearly to establish the fact that it was neither George Tibbets, nor Chauncey D. Wolcott, as has been supposed by some to the case. At Mr. Wolcott's "raising," which occurred in 1836, and at which he proposed to raise his barn-frame without whisky, the work, after proceeding to a certain stage, encountered an obstacle which appeared to be absolutely insurmountable without further strength and assistance; which Orange Culver then at once dispatched himself to procure. He soon returned with a strong reinforcement, namely four men and a stone jug, by the aid of which the heavy frame was soon reared and every pin driven home. At the raising of Mr. Tibbets' barn (the date being considerably earlier than that of Mr. Wolcott) there appeared to be an abundance of strength present; rather too much, it would seem, than too little, for in "plowing the plates," an operation which required the combined force of several men, the tool became clogged fast in the wood, and the power of the human team being irresistible, the timber itself was in a twinkling carried out of sight into the neighboring brushwood, from which it was found impossible to recover it without recourse to an expedient similar to that which was found so effectual at Mr. Wolcott's. It must be said, however, of Mr. Tibbets and Mr. Wolcott, that in the matter of excellent and wholesome cheer, both solid and fluid, to stand instead of the alcoholic auxiliary, they had provided most amply; and having done their best to accomplish the desired end, the failure could in no manner be laid to their charge.

Distilleries have never flourished in the township of Farmington. The first one was established about 1830, by Seymour Newton, on the stream in the northwest corner of section 33, opposite George W. Collins' store and potashery. Another was started on the mill stream below Slab city, by a Mr. Teas, from Pennsylvania; and another, on the creek in the village, by Elijah F. Cook, who came there a tailor, then became lawyer, and member of the constitutional convention of 1835. He is now established in law in the city of Milwaukee. His distillery was discontinued in 1842. Those comprise the whole list of distilleries which have been run in the township.

The first tannery was put in operation by David Wilcox, on the stream in the northwest quarter of section 12, probably about the year 1835. Another was by ___ Lewis, on a little stream near the present school-house, in district No. 1.

Potash-works were started at several points in the township at a very early day. The first of these was by Arthur Power, at Quakertown, in 1825. Another was built by Samuel Mansfield about the same time, near where Shackleton's mill now is; and still another, not long after, by George W. Collins, at his farm, a mile north of the base-line.

The first to embark in the business of merchandising in Farmington was Lyman Boughton, before the year 1830. His store was located one mile north and one miles west from the territorial centre of the township. Another very early store was that opened by George W. Collins, in the southwest corner of section 28, before his removal to the village. Another store (but not one of the earliest) was John T. Little, at his Pernambuco mill. This was destroyed by fire during his proprietorship, and was not rebuilt.