Farmer was the number one job through all the 1800s, followed closely by farm
laborer. The other jobs in early Livonia tell the story of progress. A close third
behind farmers and farm laborers was carpenters to build the barns, houses,
future shops, and even the furniture. In 1850 there were 11 carpenters, seven
shoemakers, five coopers to make barrels (the Tupperware of its time), four
wagonmakers, three fanning mill makers, a broom maker, two chair makers, two
lawyers, one cabinet maker, a weaver, a saddler, an innkeeper, and a tailor.
There were no dress makers, no milliners to make hats, no general storekeepers,
no restaurant owners, no sawmills, no grist mills and no doctors. Livonia folk
were tough and self-sufficient; if it didn’t grow on the farm, they probably didn’t
need it or at least they could wait for a trip to town. You wouldn’t think Livonia
needed three fanning mill makers, but the Ambler family sold them from a wagon
as a cover for transporting runaway slaves.
Not one man declared himself a politician. There were several that served many
terms like Dexter Briggs or Volney Gunning. Political office was considered a civic
duty, not a job. On Tax Day, men would meet Volney, the township treasurer, at
the appointed place or he would drive to their farms. Volney enjoyed a good chat
and recorded it in his diary daily. In 50 years as a diarist, he never missed a day.
Dexter held many offices in the township along with about 20 years on the board
of the Union Society of Livonia and an active membership in the Michigan Anti-
Slavery Society. He listed his occupation as drover, meaning he drove sheep to
market. Adolphus Brigham, a stonemason, was Livonia’s first township
supervisor. As supervisor he purchased the land for the Livonia Center Cemetery,
and as mason he carved several of the tombstones.
Signs of growth were everywhere by 1860. In that year Livonia had two grocers,
Horace Heath and Balfour Watkins, though people still went to other towns to
shop anyway. John White started a sawmill, which made it very convenient to
get lumber cut. For the ladies, Eliza Skinner made hats while Hulda Dolittle styled
herself as a tailoress. A half dozen more ladies were seamstresses. Livonia ladies
may have lived on farms, but they were ready to be as stylish as any town lady.
They kept up with all the latest through subscriptions to Harper’s Bazaar Weekly.
Time has a way of changing things and Livonia has caught up to its neighbors and
even surpassed them. No one is making brooms or saddles anymore. The largest
apple orchard in several counties is now a subdivision. What a difference 150
years can make.
