Written by Sandy Kinter, from Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 14 Number 8
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.
William Pierson/Pearson
Harriett Mandeville/Mandaville
The 1870 census, pages 593-594, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, records William Pierson, age 35, born in England; wife Harriet, age 33, born in New York; children, Belle, age 11, William J., age 9, both born in New York, and Jennie, age 3, born in Michigan. The census reports that William has $7,500 worth of real estate, but yet William Pierson does not appear on the 1872 plat map of Waterford Township. He is recorded on the 1870 Agriculture Census, page 5, Waterford Township. (1) In the 1870 census, on page 594, and recorded immediately after the Pierson family, is Sarah Fifield. F.W. Fifield does own property in the middle of Section 20, with two residences on Pontiac Lake Road. The Oakland County Deed Indexes do not show William Pierson purchasing land from the Fifield family. Francis Fifield and his mother, Sarah (Norris) Fifield, were reported in the Waterford Village biographies. In the 1880 census, the Pierson family is residing in Portland Township, Ionia County, Michigan. (2)
William Pierson was born 15 July 1833, in England. (3) According to the death certificates of William and his brother, James Pearson, their parents were William Pierson and Jane Dent. (3)(4) William died 30 September 1904, in Charlevoix County, Michigan. (3) He is buried in the Gallop Cemetery, aka Chandler Cemetery, in Charlevoix County. (3)(5) William married Harriett Mandeville/Mandaville, about 1857, probably in Niagara County, New York since that is where the family was residing in the 1860 census. In the 1900 census
William reports that he entered the United States in 1849. (8)
Harriett Mandeville/Mandaville was the daughter of Henry and Malinda (Gallop) Mandaville. (7)(9) She was born 31 March 1837, in Livingston County, New York. (7)(9). Harriett died 7 May 1911, in Chandler Township, Charlevoix County, (7) and is buried with William in the Gallop Cemetery. (5)
The Mandeville/Mandaville family can be traced back to Yellis Jansen de Mandeville of the Netherlands, arriving in New Amsterdam in 1659. (10) Henry Mandaville and his wife, Malinda Gallop, were residents of the town of Newfane, Niagara County, New York. (11) Henry died 5 December 1875 and is buried in the Corwin Cemetery, Newfane, New York. (12) Malinda died sometime after 1892 for she appears in the 1892 New York State Census, page 5, 1st Election District, Lockport, Niagara County, New York, residing with her son Wallace.
Sources
- 1870 Agriculture Census, page 5, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan,
Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - 1880 Census, page 224D, Portland Township, Ionia County, Michigan,
Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Death Certificate, William Pierson, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950,
Certificates, 1897-1920; Branch-Delta, 1894-1911, Charlevoix County, Ancestry,
www.ancestry.com - Death Certificate, James Pearson, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950,
Certificates, 1897-1920; Branch-Delta, 1894-1911, Charlevoix County, Ancestry,
www.ancestry.com - Gallop Cemetery, Charlevoix County, Michigan, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
- 1860 Census, page 1251, Newfane, Niagara County, New York, Ancestry,
www.ancestry.com - Death Certificate, Hattie Mandelville Pearson, Michigan, Death Records,
1867-1950; Berrien-Clinton, 1910-1912, Charlevoix County, Ancestry,
www.ancestry.com - 1900 Census, page 49A, Chandler Township, Charlevoix County, Michigan,
Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - 1855 New York State Census, 2nd Election District, Town of Newfane, Niagara County,
New York, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - “Yellis Jansen de Mandeville of Garderen, Holland, and Greenwich Village on
Manhattan Island, and Some of His Descendants”, Lucy DuBois Akerly, New York
Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume 38, pages 254-293,
AmericanAncestors, www.americanancestors.org - 1850 Census, page 773/387 Newfane, Niagara County, New York, Ancestry,
www.ancestry.com - Corwin Cemetery, Newfane, Niagara County, New York, Find A Grave,
www.findagrave.com