Written by Sandy Kinter, from Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 15 Number 7
Today Section 28 is mostly residential with a handful of small businesses along the northern boundary on Elizabeth Lake Road. Most of the eastern portion of the section is occupied by part of Crescent Lake and the western en of Elizabeth Lake. There are many homes on the shores of both lakes. The Clinton River meanders along the western side of Section 28 on its way to Pontiac. On the 1872 plat map of Section 28 there were only five land owners and one, H.W. Lord, was an absentee owner. Henry W. Lord was a resident of West Bloomfield Township. He also owned land in Section 19 and was reported in that section’s biographies.
David Leland
Gitty Stottle
The 1872 plat map of Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan shows, in Section 28, the 160 acre property of D. Leland along the western side of the section. The farm stretches from the section’s northern boundary on Elizabeth Lake Road to the southern boundary shared with Section 33. The Clinton River flows south through the whole farm and the still existing residence, is shown as being located on Elizabeth Lake Road, just east of where the road crosses the river. The 1870 census for Waterford Township, page 590, has David Leland, age 55, born in England; his wife, Gertrude, age 63, born in New York; two children, William, age 24, and Sarah, age 21, both born in Michigan; and James Chapman, age 12, born in Michigan, who works on the farm.
If David Leland’s age at death is correct, he was born 19 August 1814, in England. (1) David died 5 April 1886, aged 71 years, 7 months, and 17 days, in Waterford Township, (1) and is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan. (2) The website, Find A Grave, says that David Leland died on 6 April 1886, but there is no picture of David’s headstone to prove this claim. (2) Online research did not find the names of David Leland’s parents.
An Oakland County history contains a biography of William Leland, son of David and Gitty. William claims that his father arrived in the United States in 1840 and “immediately” came to Michigan. In 1845 David returned east to Monroe County, New York, where he married Gitty Stottle on 20 August 1845. (3) The researcher has to wonder, if David came “immediately” to Michigan in 1840, how did he meet Gitty Stottle in Monroe County, New York? Whatever the circumstances, David Leland did marry Gitty Stottle, daughter of Peter and Margaret Stottle. (4) On 5 April 1846, David and Gitty are purchasing land in Section 28, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan. (5) The Leland family is recorded in the 1850 census on page 119, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan. (6)
Gitty (Stottle) Leland, died 15 May 1881, in Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, and is recorded in Oakland County death records under the name of Katy Luland. (7) If her age at death, 75 years, 9 months, and 13 days, is correct, then she was born 2 August 1805. (7) In the censuses she is always reported to have been born in New York and the 1870 census is the only one to record her name as Gertrude. Gitty Leland is buried with her husband in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan. (2)
The parents of Gitty (Stottle) Leland were Peter and Margaret Stottle of Chili, Monroe County, New York. (4) Peter died 28 June 1824 and Margaret died 20 March 1863, both died in Monroe County and they are buried in the Fellows Cemetery, South Chili, Monroe County, New York. (8) Nothing further is known about Peter and Margaret Stottle.
Source:
- Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950; Registers, 1867-1897, Marquette-Clare,
1881-1888; Oakland County, page 323, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
- Portrait and Biographical Album of Oakland County, Michigan, Chapman Bros.,
Chicago, 1891, William Leland, pages 532-532, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Monroe County, New York, Deeds, Volumes 210-211, 1867; Volume 210,
pages 102-105, Images 54-55, FHL #0825918, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org - Oakland County, Michigan, Deed Records, Volumes 34-35, 1845-1848; Volume 34,
1847-1848, pages 299-301, Images 156-157, FHL #0975575, FamilySearch,
www.familysearch.org - 1850 Census, page 119, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan
- Oakland County, Michigan, Record of Deaths, Volumes 1-2, 1867-1902; Volume 1,
1867-1886, page 205, Image 266, FHL #0973983, FamilySearch,
www.familysearch.org - Fellows Cemetery, South Chili, Monroe County, New York, Find A Grave,
www.findagrave.com