Written by Sandy Kinter, from Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 15 Number 9
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 end 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.
Alonzo D. Baker
Sarah E. Opdyke
The 80 acre farm of A.D. Baker was located on the land between Crescent Lake and Elizabeth Lake. On the 1872 plat map of Waterford Township the Baker residence is located on Cooley Lake Road, across the road from the north shore of Elizabeth Lake. Alonzo Baker is reported in the 1870 census, age 48, born in New York. Also in the household is his wife, Sally E., age 37, born in New Jersey, and Dolly, age 6, born in Michigan.
Alonzo D. Baker was born in 1822, Cortland County, New York, (1)(3) the son of Kasson Baker (2) and his first wife, Lucy Coburn. (4) He married Sarah E. Opdyke, (6)(7) 1855-1860, probably in Niagara County, New York since both Alonzo and Sarah were residents of that place in the 1855 New York State Census. (3) The Baker’s
were still residents of Lockport in the 1860 census. (5) Their daughter, Dolly, was born about 1864, in Michigan, so the Baker’s had moved to Michigan sometime between 1860 and 1864. Alonzo Baker died 21 December 1899, in Waterford, Oakland County, Michigan. (2) He is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan. (1) Alonzo’s entry on the website, Find A Grave, reports that he died on 24 December (1), but Alonzo’s death certificate says 21 December. (2) The death certificate says Alonzo’s cause of death was “Burnt to Death”. The story was found in the Bay City Times, Bay City, Michigan. Alonzo was burning marsh land on his farm, and was watching the fire to make sure his fences did not burn. Later that day he was found “burned almost beyond recognition”. It was speculated that he may have been overcome by the smoke and heat and lost consciousness. (8)
The Baker family can be traced back to Rev. Nicholas Baker who settled in Hingham, Massachusetts in 1635.(9) Alonzo’s father, Kasson Baker, was the son of Elijah Baker and Olive Kasson from Windham County, Connecticut. (9) Elijah Baker was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, serving from Windham County. Both Elijah and Olive received pensions for his service. (11)
Sarah E. Opdyke, also known as Sally, was the daughter of Albert Opdyke and Sarah Case of Hunterdon County, New Jersey and later from Berwick, Columbia County, Pennsylvania. (7)(12)(13) She was born 19 August 1834, in New Jersey. (7)(12) The death certificate for Mrs. Sally Baker says she died 20 August 1909 in Pontiac, Michigan. (12) She is buried with her husband in Oak Hill Cemetery, Ponitac. (1) The Opdyke family can be traced back to Louris Jansen op Dyke who sailed from the Netherlands and settled in Gravesend, Long Island in 1655. (7) Sarah’s great-grandfather was Albert Opdyke of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. He was a Captain in the 2nd Regiment of Hunterdon Militia during the Revolutionary War.
Sources:
- Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
- Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950; Muskegon-Saginaw, 1894-1899,
Death Certificate, Alonzo D. Baker, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - 1855 New York State Census, Lockport, Niagara County, New York, no page
numbers; Alonzo Baker, E.D. 5, and Sally Opdyke, E.D. 1 - Connecticut Herald, New Haven, Connecticut, Tuesday, 26 February 1805, page 3,
Genealogy Bank, www.genealogybank.com - 1860 Census, page 999, Lockport, Niagara County, New York
- Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950; Pontiac, 1930-1936, Jennie B. Hyde
Death Certificate, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - The Op Dyck Genealogy, Charles Wilson Opdyke, Weed, Parsons & Co., Albany, NY,
1889, pages 136 and 418, Internet Archive, www.archive.org - Bay City Times, Bay City, Michigan, Saturday, 23 December 1899, page 1,
Genealogy Bank, www.genealogybank.com - Genealogical Record, Rev. Nicholas Baker and His Descendants, Fred A. Baker,
Record Printing Co., Detroit, MI, 1917, pages 7, 14, and 36, Internet Archive,
www.archive.org - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, GRS, Elijah Baker,
#A004909, www.dar.org - Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, Elijah and
Olive Baker, #W18569, Fold3, www.fold3.com - Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950; Montcalm-Ottawa, 1902-1909,
Mrs. Sally Baker, Death Certificate, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - 1850 Census, page 163, the Borough of Berwick, Columbia County, Pennsylvania