On the ninth day of March, 1858, on the first day of a new term of court, the second court house was dedicated. A grand jury had on the previous day made its report, and the trial of the celebrated Tulley case was about to commence. The court, however, paused long enough to dedicate what was then regarded as their magnificent new court house. The principal address on that occasion was made by that skilled examiner and eloquent advocate, Michael E. Crofoot, then at or near the zenith of his fame. Extracts from the speech delivered at that time have already been given.

Perhaps I cannot do better than to quote from my address delivered as a farewell to the court house of 1858, the words being spoken in 1904: "When we now contemplate this old building with its cracked walls and ceilings, its cramped and crowded offices and its dearth of modern conveniences, we can hardly realize the genuine pride and satisfaction with which the bar of this county then regarded this newly completed building. As we now look about us and are reminded of its numerous inconveniences and its general unfitness and inadequacy and observe its long, crooked stove pipes and ancient, dilapidated and uncouth condition, we realize the fitness of the appellation given it by Captain Howard, when he recently dubbed it the 'Lime Kiln Club.' This court room certainly does have a striking resemblance to the hall in which M. Quad's famous Lime Kiln Club held its nocturnal meetings.
"Such thoughts, however, for those of us who have practiced here for over a quarter of a century, are quickly followed by memories that are akin to the pathetic. We are startled and rendered contemplative, when we recall that not a single lawyer who practiced at this bar when this building was first dedicated is now alive. Many months have passed since the last of them, our genial friend, Judge Ten Eyck, finally shut up his law books, closed his accounts and peacefully bid us an everlasting farewell.

"There are memories and memories, and thoughts and thoughts some of them 'that lie too deep for tears' that linger around this old court room. We shall leave it with feelings that are akin to those that tinge with sadness the joy the head of a family feels when he leaves the old house for the new, the old house in which, in his more impressionable years, he has shared with his good wife, in the companionship of his family, so many joys and so many sorrows.
"Old and out of date as this court house now is, it is a palace when compared with its predecessors.
"The first settlement within the county of Oakland was made by James Graham in the present township of Avon in March, 1817. The next settlements were made at this city, in the fall of 1818 under the auspices of the Pontiac company, of which Stephen Mack was then the manager.
"John Jones, a pioneer of Bloomfield, is claimed to have cleared the primeval forest from the site of the present court house. He is recorded as having done it at the moderate wages of fifty cents per day.
"The predecessor of this court held its first term of court in this city in an old log building which stood near the present Rose House, in the year 1820. Judge Crofoot said in his speech dedicating this building that that court house was without door, floor or chimney.
"Soon thereafter, in 1823 or 1824, a new court house and jail combined were built on the lot where the present jail now stands. The first story was constructed of squared logs or timbers, surmounted with a framed second story. The lower story was used as a jail and the upper story as a court room. The prison cells were made of six inch oak planks sawed by Almon Mack in his saw-mill at Rochester. The sheriff's home also adjoined the court room in the upper story of that building, and those upper rooms were not finally completed until about 1830, when the board of supervisors finally caused the court room to be graced with a modern 'up-to-date' finish of lath and plaster.

"But even that palatial court house did not satisfy the progressive people of this county long. As early as 1835 the building was indicted by the grand jury, and the struggle for a new court house began. Efforts were made by the board of supervisors that year to get the legislative council of the territory to authorize a loan for that purpose. The authority for such loan was secured but the board of supervisors finally refused to negotiate the loan. The matter was before that board again in 1837. The board voted to submit the matter to a vote of the people in the fall of 1838, but nothing finally resulted from that effort. In April, 1844, the electors of the county voted down a proposition to raise $8,000 for a new court house. The matter was frequently before the board of supervisors after that. In the spring of 1852 a proposition to raise the necessary funds for a new court house was again voted down by the electors of the county. In the spring of 1854 a similar proposition was again rejected by the people. But finally in the spring of 1856 the people by a vote of 2,277 to 744 authorized the building of the present court house During the year of 1856 the contract for the erection of this building was let to D. J. Pratt for $12,594.
"In 1848 Solomon Close entered into a contract to erect a building for county officers for the sum of $937.50 and it was probably erected during that year. That was a long one story wooden building situated in front of where this building stands, with a roof sloping to the front, surmounted with a balustrade fifty-nine feet long on which were painted in large letters the words, 'Oakland County Offices.' That building was used for county offices until the present court house was completed.
"In 1847-8 Solon B. Comstock built a new jail building for the county, for the sum of $5,539.51. That structure was replaced by the present very creditable jail building, only a few years ago. In 1874 the fireproof vaults now in this court house, were constructed at an expense of about five thousand dollars.

"The old court house was badly cared for. At the time this one was built the benches and tables were badly worn and had been carved in a disrespectful way by pioneer jack knives. The boys of the first generation in this county seem to have had much more license in the use of their 'Whittles,' as Burns calls them, than have the children of the present day. Judge Crofoot speaks in his dedication address of the old court house as then 'tottering on its foundation' and as having 'both graced and disgraced our county.'
"On March 9, 1858, after the dedication ceremonies, a jury was impaneled for the trial of the three Tulley boys on the charge of having murdered their father; and the next eight days were devoted to the trial of that famous case. Thomas J. Drake, Michael E. Crofoot and Moses Wisner appeared for the defendants. Charles Draper, then prosecuting attorney, appeared for the people, and Sanford M. Green presided as judge. All were learned in the law and skilled in its practice.
"At that time the following attorneys constituted the members of the Oakland county bar in active practice: Thomas J. Drake, William Draper, Morgan L. Drake, Moses Wisner, Randolph Manning, Augustus C. Baldwin, Charles Draper, A. B. Cudworth, Loren L. Treat, Michael E. Crofoot, Jacob Van Valkinburg and Junius Ten Eyck. Not one of them is now living.
"The judges who have presided over this court in this building are the following: Sanford M. Green, Joseph F. Copeland, James S. Dewey, Levi B. Taft, Augustus C. Baldwin, Silas B. Gaskill, William W. Stickney, Joseph B. Moore and George W. Smith.
"All have been able judges and an honor to the bench. Three of them, Hon. W. W. Stickney, Hon. Joseph B. Moore and Hon. George W. Smith still survive. And we are grateful to Providence for having spared their lives and preserved their health. And we appreciate the compliment of their having honored us with their presence on this occasion and joined us in bidding farewell to this old building, filled with recollections and associations dear to them as well as to ourselves.
"The tower, or cupola of this building, call it what you may, was formerly ornamented with the iron figures of four large American eagles with spreading wings. And more or less of the spread eagle style has manifested itself in the building ever since.
"During the last forty-six years this room has on many occasions resounded to the melodious cadences and fiery appeals of eloquent advocates, as well as to some speeches that have been dull and commonplace to speeches that have fired the jurors with indignation or suffused their eyes with tears, and to some that have lulled their wearied minds to involuntary slumber.
"Once an old lawyer was giving advice to his son who was just entering upon the practice of the father's profession. 'My son,' said the counselor, 'if you have a case where the law is clearly on your side, but justice seems to be clearly against you, urge upon the jury the vast importance of sustaining the law. If, on the other hand, you are in doubt about the law. but your client's case is founded on justice, insist on the necessity of doing justice, though the heavens fall.' 'But,' answered the son, 'how shall I manage a case where both law and justice are dead against me?' 'In that case,' replied the old man, 'talk round it!'
"I fear there has been some talking round the subject in this court room. This room has heard many Irish bulls, much keen satire, sparkling wit, quick retorts and ready repartee. But I am pleased that I can affirm that exhibitions of uncontrolled temper, heartless abuse, pettyfogging tactics and sharp practices have been extremely rare.

"Business in this court has vastly increased since 1848, both in the number and in the importance of the cases adjudicated. I also believe that there has been a corresponding increase in the gravity and responsibility felt by the attorneys practicing here.
"In 1848 the cases in this court rarely involved more than a few hundred dollars, while now they frequently involve many thousands. Then there was but one railroad in the county. Estates were small and great enterprises,
carried on by corporations or large aggregations of capital, were unknown, will contests and deed contests were rare, or involved only small amounts, and accident or negligence cases, which now form a large proportion of our litigation were almost unknown.
"To successfully practice law now requires much more general knowledge and a much wider examination of authorities than in those earlier days. Human affairs have become much more intricate and complicated. The increase in the number and size of incorporated cities and villages, the multiplication of machinery, the multifarious applications of steam and electricity, the increase in wealth and production, and the energy and strenuousness of the present age all have rendered the practice of law much more onerous and much more difficult. New points and new questions are arising more rapidly than they are being settled. Our supreme court dockets, as well as our circuit court dockets, are crowded and the multiplication of the decisions of the courts of last resort is almost appalling.
"When I began the practice of law in 1876 the 33d Michigan report was just out, while now we have 130 of them on our shelves and many more of them in the form of temporary pamphlet publications.
"The pace at which we must now do business is set by the stenographer, the typewriter, the telephone and the telegraph. It is little wonder that the courts now seek quickly to reach the merits of controversies, and do not listen patiently to technical objections, or permit attorneys, as in former years, to wrangle over the fine points and abstruse subtleties of common law pleadings.
"So much strenuousness, however, is extremely wearisome and wearing, and we sometimes feel as though we were being carried forward by a whirlwind; and, as the hart panteth after the waterbrooks we sometimes long for the old days of indolence and leisure when the lawyer was permitted to whittle the court room tables, when the court would adjourn business to go fishing, and when, after the regular day's work in court, all hands court, lawyers, and jurymen would adjourn to the village tavern, to play cards or sit with their feet on the table and smoke clay or corncob pipes and talk politics and spin yarns until bedtime.
"Like quill pens, windlass pumps, oxcarts and corduroy roads, this courthouse has 'seen its day.' It has served its purpose, but now must go. We do not like to see it torn down, but it is in the way, and like other slow and antiquated things, it must not obstruct the road of modern progress.
"Like public libraries, school houses and churches, temples of justice should be among the finest buildings in any community. The sources of justice must be guarded and kept from pollution and the courts must be respected, dignified, honored and obeyed. When, if ever, our courts shall become corrupt, disrespected, dishonored and disobeyed, anarchy will have arrived and ruin will follow. It is a mere truism to say that the peaceful settlement of disputes is necessary to the perpetuity of any government.
"But important as it is that courts should be furnished and preserved for the peaceful settlement of disputes, that is not the only important function they perform. The importance of the educational function of courts of justice, in connection with our jury system, cannot be overestimated or excessively magnified. This court and this courthouse have constituted, for forty-six years, the greatest educational institution in the county of Oakland. During that time nearly five thousand jurymen and many more spectators from all parts of this county have sat and listened day after day to the exposition of the law, the necessity of obeying it, and the inevitable penalties that must follow its breach. Not only that, but they have listened day after day to the testimony of experts and other witnesses as to how things ought to be done, and how they ought not to be done. They have learned the wrong way and the right way. But still more important than all that those jurymen, themselves, have sat as judges between man and man, and have learned to listen patiently to both sides, and not to decide or act until they have heard all the evidence on the question. They have been given judicial minds. That is the great safeguard to this community and to this republic. Men so educated do not act hastily. They do not act first and then think afterwards. They have learned to marshal facts, weigh arguments, reason logically, foretell consequences and to respect and obey the courts and the law. Mob violence cannot flourish in such a community. Maintain the purity of your judiciary, your present jury system and the present efficiency of your public schools and the republic is safe.
"Let us then not hesitate to bid farewell to this good old building, because we must; and let every vestige of it be removed, in order to make room for a still nobler and better one. But let us do it respectfully and reverently, feeling, as brick by brick shall be removed, that it has nobly fulfilled its purpose and that to tear down and destroy it, surrounded as it is with so many precious memories and associations, even for the purpose of making room for a better one, is a grave matter and one not lightly to be regarded."