By David Fleet
Editor
Ortonville— In the early morning hours of Nov. 7, 1916, bank robbers gained access to the Bank of Ortonville, 422 Mill St., broke into the vault and blew open the safe with high powered explosive, according to Oakland County authorities. The suspects allegedly gained access to the bank through a basement window, removed $4,863 (the equivalent of $140,128 in 2023) and made their escape from the village without notice. The robbery was not reported until B.G. Woolman, a cashier, opened the bank the next morning. The strongest clue was reported by E.R. Alleman, a liveryman, who witnessed a vehicle speeding toward Detroit at a high rate of speed at about 3 a.m.
The bank was only insured for $4,000 of the loss, thus incurring the balance and repairs to the safe.
The century old cold case and the apparent clean getaway while the village slept through the explosion, is just a small glimpse of just how quiet it must have been in the community more than a century ago.
The placid early 20th century grew and with it came the need for safety and law enforcement.
Oakland County Historian Carol Bacak-Egbo and Ortonville resident said if you were a very early settler in Brandon Township you would have found that law enforcement was handled at the township level by elected officials or ‘constables’ who served the function of police officers.
“The first constables, Isaac Shurter and Caleb Stanley, were elected at the very first township meeting held on April 3 of 1837,” said Barcak-Egbo. “Interestingly Stanley was also elected the tax collector. It likely made it easier to collect taxes if you were also a law enforcement officer.”
Constables were allowed to carry weapons, make arrests and, most importantly, enforce laws. Many of those laws related to what most people were doing at the time — farming, she said.
“For example, it was against the law to ‘“willfully commit any trespass, by entering upon the garden, orchard, or other improved land of another, without permission of the owner.’ It was also illegal to “willfully and maliciously kill, maim or disfigure any horses, cattle, or other beast of another person.’”
Violations of laws were handled by elected Justices of the Peace. In Brandon Township there were usually four of them, beginning in 1837 with George P. Thurston, Oliver Draper, Addison Cowden and John B. Seymour.
“They often held court in their own homes but sometimes in a public building like a school,” she said. “They could pretty much hold court wherever they wanted with this exception: “No Justice of the Peace shall hold any Court in any barroom or grocery, or any other place any intoxicating liquor shall be sold.”
On Feb. 2, 1976, Brandon Township and the Village of Ortonville entered into a contract with the Oakland County Sheriff Office.
While law enforcement has developed into a stronger position in Ortonville over the years, the firefighting has also much improved since the early years.
In April 1877, the first house built of slab wood by Orsamus Doty in 1848, was destroyed by fire.
“As far as firefighting was concerned you would have been dependent on a ‘bucket brigade’ of your neighbors,” said Barcak-Egbo, “This was a line of people with pails beginning at a water source like Kearsley Creek. Water was passed along with the last person tossing it at the burning building.”
Historical sources report that when a fire was spotted, the cry “throw out your buckets” would be sounded. Over time better firefighting equipment replaced the buckets, she added.
“In 1904 a ‘pumper’ that was pulled and operated by manpower was used,” she said. “In 1928 this was replaced by a Model A Ford fire truck which served the Ortonville Fire Department from about 1930 until the 1950s.”
In 1955 a fire board was created to develop a motorized fire department. Up until 1954 the Village of Ortonville had owned the fire department. In April 1959, area voters approved a special assessment millage to fund a township-wide fire department. Since that time the fire department grew and expanded to now include a three locations within the township: Station one, 53 South St. established in 1986; Station two, 3065 S. Sashabaw Road, established in the 1970s and station three, 5050 Oakwood Road, was completed in 2005. Brandon Fire Chiefs, Ross Franz 1938-41; 1941- 52 Leslie Saunders; 1952-74 William Buckingham; James Franz 1974-96; Bob McArthur 1996-2009; 2009- David Kwapis.