This thriving town is situated in the western part of the county, on Logan Creek, in Logan Valley. The first settler here was a Mr. Aaron Arlington who, with his wife and four daughters, arrived from Philadelphia in 1859. One of his daughters married a half-breed by the name of Pilcher. At this time, their nearest neighbor was "Commodore" Decatur, over thirteen miles away. John Oak arrived here in 1862 and purchased the site of Mr.
Arlington, and it is after Mr. Oak the town is named. The next settler was James Askwig, in 1869, and, about the same time, came A. Morrell, George Healea and J. S. Lemmon, the present Postmaster at Oakland.
The first store was opened by Marks & Ross, in 1870. The first physician was Dr. T. W. Leeper, in 1877, and the first lawyer was A. B. Charde, 1878. The first preacher was Rev. W. E. Axling, of the Baptist Church, in the year 1875, and the first school was taught by Miss Paulina Clark, in 1878. The present high school building, a neat, two-story frame structure, costing $3,000, was completed in the summer of 1881, and the school opened on September 1 of that year.
In Oakland there are four church organizations, each one having an edifice of its own. These four are of the following denominations: Swedish Lutheran, Swedish Baptist, American Lutheran and Episcopalian. The town has two banks, one flouring-mill, two elevators, three agricultural depots, two drug stores, two lumber yards, three physicians and one newspaper, the Independent, established by George W. Brewster, on the lst of October, 1880. In 1880 the population was
345; in 1881, it is estimated at 700, and is largely composed of Scandinavians.
