Written by Sandy Kinter, from Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 18 Number 3
Williams Lake Road is the northern
boundary of Section 9, and the southern
boundary is Hatchery Road. West is
Huntoon Lake and Airport Road. The
Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad cuts across
the northeastern corner. In 1872 Section
9 would have been covered with farms.
Today it is mostly residential with
Waterford Kettering High School located
on the farm of George Richmond. The
adjoining farms of Beekman Van Zandt and
Richard King are now covered with
businesses along the railroad tracks.
In the southwestern corner of the section is part of the farm of Emily Huntoon. The Huntoon family was included with Section 8. Two parcels were owned by Oliver Hazard Perry Osmun. His residence was in Section 10, and he will be reported with that section’s biographies. George Richmond was a son-in-law of Oliver H.P. Osmun and, since he lived with his Osmun in-laws in the 1870 census, Richmond will be included with their biography. D.M. Judd, or Daniel M. Judd, owned an 80 acre property in the southwestern corner of the section. He resided in Section 15 and will be included with those biographies.
Richard Lawrence King
Margaret Louisa Lefurgy
Celia Adeline Nicholson
The family of Richard L. King were newcomers to Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan. In the1870 census they are found in Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York: Richard King, age 26, grocer, born in New York; Margaret, age 19, born in New York; John Irving King, age 8 months, born in November, New York; and Edward King, age 15, born in New York. On 7 April 1871, Richard L. King, of Dobbs Ferry, New York, is purchasing the property of John W. Stevens. Richard L. King does appear on the 1872 Waterford Township plat map in Section 9, under just his surname of King. The property was located on the south side Williams Lake Road, west of the intersection with the Saginaw Turnpike, now Dixie Highway.
Richard Lawrence King was born 11 November 1844, Ardsley, Westchester County, New York. (3)(4) He was the son of John King and Eliza Dobbs. (3)(4) Richard married his first wife, Margaret Louisa Lefurgy, (4) in New York. A marriage date of 30 October 1866 is given in online family trees, but no proof is given or has been found to verify this date. A biography of Richard L. King appears in a 1903 Oakland County history. (4) The biography says that Richard specialized in growing cucumbers for making pickles. In Richard’s hometown of Ardsley, New York, his father and brothers also grew cucumbers for pickle making. Later, Richard became a dealer in apples, “buying the bulk of the fruit raised between Holly and Detroit”. Richard L. King died 22 September 1913, in Pontiac, Michigan. (3)(5) He is buried in the Drayton Plains Cemetery, Waterford Township. (5)
The first wife of Richard L. King was Margaret Louisa Lefurgy, daughter of John Lefurgy and Elizabeth Leviness. (6)(7)(8) She was born 12 August 1850, Ardsley, Westchester County, New York. (5)(9) Margaret was visiting family in Ardsley, Westchester County, New York when she died on 8 February 1897. (5)(10) She is buried with Richard in the Drayton Plains Cemetery, Waterford Township. (5)
After the death of Margaret, Richard married secondly, Celia Adeline Nicholson, 27 November 1903, in Detroit, Michigan. Celia was born 10 March 1864, in Detroit, Michigan. (12) She was the daughter of Pickering Nicholson and Elizabeth Cowing. (12) Celia died 30 October 1944, Hudson, Lenawee County, Michigan. (12) Her death certificate says she is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan. (12)
Sources:
- 1870 Census, page 323, Greensburgh, Westchester County, New York
- Deed Records, Oakland County, Michigan, Volumes 101-102, 1870-1871; Volume 102,
1871, page 213, Image 439, FHL #0975455, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org - Death Certificate, Richard L. King, #318, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952;
Midland-Ogemaw, 1913, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Biographical Record, Oakland County, Michigan, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, IL,
1903, pages 666-667, Hathitrust Digital Library, www.hathitrust.org - Drayton Plains Cemetery, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, Find A Grave,
www.findagrave.com - Death Certificate, Daniel Dee Lafurgy, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952; Oakland,
1921-1925, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952; Kent-Wexford, 1897, Oakland County,
Margaret King, page 17, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - 1860 Census, page 939, town of Greensburgh, Westchester County, New York
- Cemetery Records of Oakland County, Michigan, Volume I, General Richardson Chapter,
DAR, 1924, page 245, FHL #0927419, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org - Obituary, Mrs. Marguerite T. King, New York Tribune, New York, New York, Wednesday,
10 February 1897, page 13, Genealogy Bank, www.genealogybank.com - Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Registers, 1887-1925, 1903 Wayne –
1904 Chippewa, Wayne County, page 717, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Death Certificate, Celia Adeline King, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952; Lenawee,
1938-1945, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com