Written by Sandy Kinter, from Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 15 Number 11
Section 29 is bounded on the west side by Hospital Road and on the north by Elizabeth Lake Road. The Clinton River flows along the east side of the section. Lockhaven Road curves its way roughly through the center of the section. Much of the section is still undeveloped with residential space found along the three main roads.
This section was a little different from the other sections previously reported on. Much of the land consisted of small twenty or forty acre plots whose owners did not reside on that property and most of them have been featured in other section biographies. They are:
- Jacob Terry of Section 19
- Joseph W. Chapman of Section 20
- Morgan R. Wormer of Section 21
- Calvin Rose of Section 21
- James Greer of West Bloomfield Township
- Erastus Herrington of Section 32
- Jacob Rowland of Section 20
Not included in Section 29’s biographies will be James Greer who had a fifteen acre piece of property and resided in West Bloomfield Township. Erastus Herrington will be included in the biographies of Section 32.
Joseph A. Briggs
Rachel Ann Smith
The 1872 Waterford Township plat map shows the 40 acre farm of J.A. Briggs in the northwestern corner of Section 29, formed by Elizabeth Lake Road and Hospital Road. On the 1870 census, page 591, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, the Briggs household has Joseph A. Briggs, age 52, born in New York; Rachel A., age 41, born in New York; and their children, Oscar E., age 22, Harriet, age 17, George, age 16, Elsie, age 14, Clara, age 8, and Anna, age 3, all born in Michigan.
Not much information about Joseph Briggs was available using online resources. The best source of information was Joseph’s death record. He died on 3 April 1895, Waterford Township, Oakland County, in the Oakland County Poor House. (1) The death record says Joseph was 78 years, 3 months, and 2 days and, if correct, that calculates to a birth date of 1 January 1817. (1) Joseph was born in New York and his father was Joseph H. Briggs. (1) No cemetery record was found.
Joseph Briggs married Rachel Ann Smith, 18 February 1847, Sterling, Macomb County, Michigan. (2) The Briggs family are residents of Waterford Township in the 1850 census and remained in Waterford Township for the rest of their lives.
The death records for Oakland County was also the best source of information about Rachel (Smith) Briggs. She died of tuberculosis, shortly after Joseph’s death, on 20 June 1895 in the Oakland County Poor House, Waterford Township. (1) If her age at death of 66 years 7 months and 19 days is correct, then Rachel was born 1 November 1828. (1) No cemetery record has been found, but Rachel’s obituary says that the funeral will be held at the Waterford Center school house, which is across the road from the Waterford Center Cemetery. (3) Joseph and Rachel’s son, Oscar, is buried in the Waterford Center Cemetery, perhaps his parents are also buried there but with no headstones.
The parents of Joseph Briggs could not be found. Rachel’s death record says her parents are R.D. and H.E. Smith. (1) The 1850 census reports a Robert D. and Harriet Smith, both born in Canada, are residents of Sterling Township, Macomb County, Michigan. (4) On 1 May 1838, Robert D. Smith, of Wayne County, Michigan, was purchasing land in Macomb County. (5) The Smith family is recorded in the 1840 census as residents of Warren Township, Macomb County, Michigan. Nothing further is known about the family of Rachel Smith.
Sources
- Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950, Kent-Washtenaw, 1893-1897;
Oakland County, page 24, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Michigan, County Marriage Records, 1822-1940; Macomb County, 1819-1850,
page 305, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Pontiac Daily Gazette, Saturday, 22 June 1895, page 1, Digital Michigan
Newspaper Portal, Clarke Historical Library, Western Michigan University,
www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/Pages/Michigan-Digital-Newspapers-Portal.aspx - 1850 Census, page 168, Sterling Township, Macomb County, Michigan
- Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records,
www.glorecords.blm.gov - 1840, page 257, Warren Township, Macomb County, Michigan