Written by Sandy Kinter, from Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 15 Number 5
The center of Waterford Township is the intersection of Highland Road (M-59) and Crescent Lake Road. Section 21 is the southwest corner of this intersection. The business corridor, along Highland Road, is the northern boundary of the section. South of that lies the residential part of Section 21, with Elizabeth Lake Road marking the southern boundary of the section. Running through the center of the section is Pontiac Lake Road, which is where the 1872 plat map shows most of the residences were located. The Clinton River runs diagonally across the township on its way to Pontiac.
Matching residents’ names on the 1872 plat map to names in the 1870 census was a little difficult in Section 21. Sometimes, as in the case of J. Utley, the name appears on the plat map, but cannot be found in the 1870 census, or in any census. J. Utley is still unknown. Also unknown is the F. Sutton, found in the southeast corner of the section, with 49 acres along Elizabeth Lake Road and the intersection of Crescent Lake Road. No F. Sutton was found in the 1870 census or agricultural census.
Benjamin Franklin Elwood
Harriet Emily Moore
The 1870 census for Waterford Township, Oakland County reports on page 593 the household of F. B. Elwood, age 32, born in Michigan; wife Harriet, age 23, born in Michigan; and daughter Lucy, age 1, born in Michigan. Residing with the Elwood family are Adrian Ostrander, age 17, farm laborer, born in New York, and Harriet Briggs, age 17, domestic servant, born in Michigan. The census says that F. B. Elwood has $5,000 in real estate, while the 1870 Agricultural Census reports that F. B. Elwood owns 74 acres. The 1870 census does record Benjamin Franklin Elwood as F. B. Elwood.
There is no B. F. Elwood, who owned property in Section 21, on the 1872 plat map of Waterford Township. By following the 1870 census taker’s route, comparing the surnames with the 1872 plat map, it appears that the census taker traveled west on Pontiac Lake Road from Crescent Lake Road to Airport Road. This places B. F. Elwood on the 75 acre property owned by Mercy Sheldon. In 1868, Benjamin F. Elwood is purchasing part of the NE ¼ of Section 21, Township 3, Range 9 (Waterford) (1) and in 1871, he is selling this same land to Morris Sheldon. (2) Perhaps Morris Sheldon is really Mercy Sheldon?
Benjamin Franklin Elwood was born 1 December 1837, in Royal Oak, Oakland County, Michigan. (3)(4) He was the son of Daniel Elwood and Fanny Clark. (4) The Elwood and Clark families were reported under Benjamin’s brother, Solomon Clark Elwood, Section 18. Benjamin F. Elwood died 15 May 1902, in Pontiac, Michigan. (3)(4) He is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac.(3) Benjamin was married twice. His first wife was Louisa D. Rundel, married 5 December 1861, in Birmingham, Oakland County, Michigan. (6) Louisa died 21 June 1866, in Oakland County, Michigan and is buried in the North Farmington Cemetery, Farmington Hills, Michigan. (7) There seems to have been no surviving children from this marriage.
Benjamin married secondly, Harriet Emily Moore, 4 July 1867, in Pontiac, Michigan.(15) Harriet was born 10 December 1847. Some records report that Harriet was born in Fairport, Monroe County, New York. (3)(9) But her family was in Commerce Township, Oakland County, Michigan for the 1840 census. After the death of Benjamin in 1902, Harriet married secondly, Erastus Horton, 3 July 1916, in Oakland County, Michigan. (10) Harriet died 7 January 1929, in Detroit, Michigan. (9) She is buried with Benjamin, under the name of Elwood, in Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan. (3) Harriet’s death certificate is under the name of Harriett E. Harbow, with “(Horton)” following her name.
Harriet Emily Moore was the daughter of Charles T. Moore and Mabel Heath. (12) Charles T. Moore died 11 October 1857, in Milford Township, Oakland County, Michigan. (12) Harriet was a minor aged child at the time of his death and it is her guardianship papers that proved her father’s name. (12) Mabel Heath was the daughter of Joseph Heath and Sarah Luce. (13) She died 28 August 1853, in Oakland County, Michigan and is buried in the Wixom Cemetery, Wixom, Oakland County, Michigan. (14) Mabel was the sister of Harriet Heath, wife of Carlos B. Plumb, who resided in Section 17 of Waterford Township. Further information about the Heath and Luce families is found under Carlos B. Plumb, Section 17.
Incredibly, there are family trees found online that claim Mabel (Heath) Moore, who died 28 August 1853, was married to Charles Frederick Moore, 4 February 1903, in Newark, New Jersey, and had two more children. The fact that Mable Heath was married fifty years after her death is a feat worthy of mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Sources:
- Oakland County, Michigan, Deed Index, Volumes 5-7, 1866-1879; Volume 5,
1866-1870, no page numbers, Image 63, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org - Oakland County, Michigan, Deed Index, Volumes 5-7, 1866-1870; Volume 6,
1870-1875, no page numbers, Image 269, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org - Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
- Portrait and biographical Record of Oakland County, Michigan, Chapman Bros.,
Chicago, IL, 1891, pages 945-946, Hathitrust Digital Library, www.hathitrust.org - Death Certificate, Benjamin Elwood, Michigan Death Records, 1867-1950,
Oakland-St. Clair, 1891-1912, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Michigan, County Marriage Records, 1822-1940, Oakland County, 1847-1870,
page 172, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - North Farmington Cemetery, Farmington Hills, Michigan, Find A Grave,
www.findagrave.com - Michigan, County Marriage Records, 1822-1940, Oakland County, 1847-1870,
page 80, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Death Certificate, Harriett E. Barbow, Michigan Death Records, 1867-1950,
Detroit, 1920-1929, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952, 1916, Oakland-Wexford (Except
Wayne), page numbers unreadable, Record #283, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - 1840 Census, page 38, Commerce Township, Oakland County, Michigan
- Oakland County, Michigan, Probate Records, Volumes 26-27, 1857-1860;
Volume 26, 1857-1859, page 353, Image 191, and page 371, Image 202,
Film #0973912, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org - New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971, Monroe County, Wills, 1835-1841,
Volume 2, pages 272-274, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Wixom Cemetery, Wixom, Michigan, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
- Michigan, County Marriage Records, 1822-1940; Oakland County, 1847-1870, page 80, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com