unty, New York. Needham was drafted as a private in the company of Elias S
treeter along with his brother James in June 1812. The company march
ed to Buffalo and back to Batavia where Needham was honorably discharg
ed on July 15, 1812.

He married Merrillia and they were the parents of eleven childre
In 1824 Needham accompanied by his wife and four children traveled by ox t
eam to Buffalo, New York, and crossed Lake Erie to Michigan. They settl
ed first at Pontiac and then at Paint Creek ‎(Goodison)‎ Oakland Township, O
akland County. He built a home "a strong shanty, differing from the usu
al settlers who built log houses." Two years later, in 1827, he built t
he first frame house in the township. It stood for nearly one hundred yea
rs before it was torn down.

A society of Congregationalists was formed at the Needham Hemingway ho
me in Oakland Township of Oakland County, Michigan about 1833. Needham
's mother-in-law, Lydia Potter, was a charter member.

Needham had various interests besides farming. He dammed Paint Creek a
nd had a grist mill at Goodison, also dammed the creek forming Lake Orio
n. This dam was later used to carry the New York Central Rail Road over t
he creek. Here he had a saw mill and a grist mill and also plotted the vi
llage in 1843. He had a cooper shop, a blacksmith shop and built and own
ed with his son-in-law, David Shadbolt, the first permanent hotel at Orio
n. Needham and his brother-in-law, Benedict Baldwin, built the old Territ
orial Road from Rochester to Hunters Creek, a distance of twenty-five mile
s. This road was made by widening an old native trail for the passa
ge of wagons. The timbers for the bridges were sawed at the Hemingway Mil
l. In 1849 they moved to Marathon Township, Lapeer County, Michigan. He
re he and his sons, Henry and Isaac, dammed a stream, again forming a lak
e, which was named Hemingway Lake. In 1860 they had a steam operated s
aw mill. It was sold in 1881.

Merrillia was the daughter of two active participants in the American Revo
lution.

Needham died in 1878 and was buried on his 85th birthday. Both he and Mer
rillia are buried in the Hollenbeck Cemetery in Marthon Township.