Section 20 – O’Brien, Reynolds

Written by Sandy Kinter, from Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 14 Number 6

Section 20 of Waterford Township is mostly residential. The northern edge of the section is on Highland Road, aka M-59, and is now commercial property. The western side of the section is on Hospital Road, to the east is Airport Road. The southern boundary is Elizabeth Lake Road. Pontiac Lake Road takes the traveler through the middle of the section going east and west. Waterford Center Cemetery, where many of Section 20’s residents are resting, is located on Pontiac Lake Road just a little to the west of the road’s intersection with Airport Road.

At this same intersection, the 1872 plat map of Waterford Township shows School No. 4. The school property is still on the northwest corner of Pontiac Lake and Airport Roads. The building is from the 20th century and no longer a school. It is now owned by a church.

Anthony O’Brien
Stella Reynolds

Found in the 1870 census on page 594, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan is Anthony O’Brien. He is 27 years old, born in New York. Also in the household was Lucy M. O’Brien, age 62, born in New York and Stella, age 22, born in New York. On the 1872 plat map of Waterford Township, A. O’Brien’s property is found in the northwest quarter of Section 20, with Highland Road (M-59) on the northern boundary

Anthony O’Brien was the son of Timothy O’Brien and Lucy Ballou, born 17 February 1843, in Monroe County, New York. (1) He married Stella Catherine Reynolds, 14 June 1869, in Shiawassee County, Michigan. (2) Anthony served during the Civil War in Company A, Michigan 5th Cavalry Regiment, enlisting on 26 August 1862, in Pontiac, Michigan. (3) In 1878 Timothy sold the property in Waterford Township and purchased land in Avon Township. (4) The O’Brien family is found in the 1880 census on pages 15B-16C, Township of Avon, Oakland County, Michigan. Anthony died 7 June 1918 and Stella died on 8 October 1918, both in Rochester, Michigan. (1)(5) They are buried in the Mount Avon Cemetery, Rochester, Michigan. (6)

In the 1850 census is found, Timothy and Lucy O’Brien, page 120, Waterford Township, Oakland County. Timothy was born in Ireland and is fifty years old, so born about 1800. Their son Anthony is eight years old, born in New York and the youngest son, Andrew is six years old, born in Michigan. The family had moved to Michigan about 1844. On an Oakland County deed, dated 14 November 1845, Timothy O’Brien of Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, is purchasing land in Section 29, Waterford Township, from Robert Green. (7)

Timothy died sometime before 1860. (8) His wife, Lucy Ballou O’Brien (1), married secondly, William V. Robbins, 11 April 1860, in Oakland County. (8) William and Lucy Robbins may have been divorced or separated by 1870, since she is recorded as Lucy M. O’Brien in the 1870 census. In 1878, when Anthony O’Brien is selling the Waterford property, he is also granting a “Life Lease” to Lucy M. Robbins. (4) A William V. Robbins died 12 June 1887, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan. It could not be determined if this was the same William V. Robbins who married Lucy M. O’Brien. Lucy died 1 August 1883 and is buried in the Waterford Center Cemetery, Waterford, Michigan, under the name of Lucy Ballou O’Brien. (10) The death certificate of her son, Anthony, says that her maiden name was Adams. (1)

The death certificate of Stella C. O’Brien says that her father was John Reynolds, from England. (5) The death certificate of her younger brother, Gregory Reynolds claims that his parents were John Reynolds and Elizabeth Godwin, both born in England. (11) The Reynolds family appears on the 1870 census, page 253, Burns Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan. Their daughter, Helen, was a witness to the marriage of Anthony O’Brien and Stella Reynolds. (2) No further information was found about the Reynolds family.

Sources

  1. Death Certificate, Anthony O’Brien; Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950,
    Certificates, 1897-1920, Oakland County, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com
  2. Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Registers, 1868-1886, Shiawassee County,
    page 128, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com
  3. U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com
  4. Oakland County, Michigan, Deed Index, Volumes 5-7, 1866-1879; Volume 7,
    1875-1879, no page numbers, 1878, Image 507, Film #097558, DGS#8190342.
    FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org
  5. Death Certificate, Stella C. O’Brien; Michigan Death Records, 1867-1950, Certificates,
    1897-1920, Oakland County, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com
  6. Mount Avon Cemetery, Rochester, Michigan, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
  7. Oakland County, Michigan, Deed Records, Volumes 30-31, 1845-1846; Volume 30,
    1845-1846, pages 383-385, Images 205-206, Film #0975573, DGS#8190348,
    FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org
  8. Michigan, County Marriages, 1820-1940; Oakland County, Marriage Certificates,
    Volume F, 1859-1866, page 91, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org
  9. Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
  10. Waterford Center Cemetery, Waterford, Michigan, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
  11. Death Certificate, Gregory Reynolds; Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950,
    Certificates, 1897-1920, Shiawassee County, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com