Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society - Research Article

Schulak Farm: by Neil Hepburn

According to Land Patents on file with the Oakland County Register of Deeds, the land the Schulak Farm now sits on was original sold by the US Government to Samuel Bassett, of Seneca Co., NY, on May 28, 1831. It was part of a 480 acre tract wholly in Section 32 of West Bloomfield Township.

Basset likely never settled the land, as he does not appear on any West Bloomfield tax role or census, and may have been merely a speculator, as was common at the time. West Bloomfield Tax Records indicate that by 1845, an 80-acre portion of Bassett’s land, including the parcel that is now known as the Schulak Farm, was owned by Theron Murray, a member of a family of early North Farmington pioneers. Theron, who was purchasing his own tracts of land by 1831, also owned the 80 acres adjoining to the south (fronting on 14 Mile). A very successful farmer, Theron Murray eventually rose to prominence in the area. His last house, now a Michigan Historical Landmark, lies about a mile away, in Farmington Township, on the west side of Halsted Road, just south of 14 Mile.

West Bloomfield Tax Records state that in 1845 Theron paid $320 in tax on the 80-acre parcel now containing the Schulak Farm. Based on analysis of the tax record over the ensuing years, it does not appear that Theron greatly improved the land, i.e. there was probably no, or no elaborate, structure erected during the 30-some years Theron owned the land. In contrast, the 80 adjacent acres he owned to the south appears to rise in value due to improvements that likely included his home. According to an 1877 History of Oakland County, Theron and his two sons were “extensively engaged in fruit growing, principally apples, which they have by intelligent management made very profitable.” Murray sold the 80-acres fronting on Maple Road to Charles W. Jewell in the late 1860s. Theron died in 1878 and is buried in North Farmington Cemetery.

Jewell, a New York State native, had moved to West Bloomfield with his parents, Edward (a blacksmith) & Sarah, prior to 1850. The 1870 Federal Census reveals a 31-year-old Charles, his Michigan-born, 28-year-old wife Hannah, and their 4 children living in West Bloomfield Township. However, the 1872 Plat Map indicates the Jewell house to be on another portion of his West Bloomfield landholdings, located on the east side of Haggerty Road, just south of Richardson Road. So it would appear that, as had Murray before him, Jewell employed the future Schulak property as ancillary farmland, perhaps as an orchard.

By 1880 the land now containing the Schulak Farm belonged to the Young family. The first among them, W. K. Young is noted as the property owner on the 1883 tax role. Young, a Pennsylvania native, who also owned an 80-acre farm and house on Walnut Lake Road, appears in West Bloomfield records as early as 1860. By 1886, John E. Young, W.K.’s West Bloomfield-born son, is the official title holder. John’s name is associated with the property through the early 1900s.

Here then is the dilemma. What year was the building known as the Schulak House built? The foundation of the present structure seems to be of pre-1900 construction, yet a home fails to appear on either the 1872 or 1896 West Bloomfield plat maps. It is possible that the structure now known as the Schulak House was not originally a dwelling. Was it, or its nucleus, perhaps an out building designed for equipment or apple storage (as these types of structures were not normally featured on the plat map), or was the original frame structure which sat on the stone foundation the subject of some disaster, such as fire? Or did the plat-mapmakers merely make careless omissions? It’s close to impossible to say.

In 1883 W. K. Young paid $1,700 in taxes on the 80-acre site. By 1906, John Young was paying $2,200 in taxes on the same property, roughly 60% of what surrounding farmers on 80-acre tracts were assessed. This hardly indicates vast improvement during that time span, appearing more likely to represent normal & steady appreciation of agricultural land. The 1917 West Bloomfield Plat Map is the earliest to indicate a structure where the Schulak House now stands and John’s is the name associated with it. It is very likely that this is the same structure which appears today. John E. Young died in 1928 and is buried in neighboring Commerce Township.

A 1927 West Bloomfield Plat Map shows John M. Ryan as the owner of the 80 acres.

A 1975 West Bloomfield Plat Map shows Bernard Schulak as the owner of a 4.85-acre parcel containing the present buildings. The balance of the former 80-acre farm, a total of 75.15 acres, was owned by Walled Lake Schools at the time.
 

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