Written by Sandy Kinter, from Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 14 Number 10
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.
John Wiswall Ostrander
Martha Ann Smith
In the 1870 census, on page 593, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, is recorded John Ostrander, age 40; his wife, Martha, age 36, both born in New York, and children, Elbert, age 16; James, age 5;
Jacob, age 13; Charles, age 10; Byron, age 8; Carrie, age 3, and Lillie, age 2, all born in Michigan. John Ostrander does not own any property so he does not appear on the 1872 plat map of Waterford Township. By following the census taker’s route, and comparing this with the plat map, it looks as if the Ostrander family is residing on the farm owned by W. Latimer (William Lotimer), located in the southeastern corner of Section 20. This property of 160 acres is bounded by Pontiac Lake Road on the north, Elizabeth Lake Road on the south, and Airport Road on the east. In the northern part of the property the plat map has a tiny square with “Cem”. This is the location of the Waterford Center Cemetery.
The Ostrander family moved to Cayuga County, New York where, in 1850, they are found on page 212, Town of Springport, Cayuga County, New York. Next door to the family of Cornelius Ostrander is the family of Jacob Smith. John W. Ostrander married Martha Ann Smith, daughter of Jacob Smith, about 1851. (4) Their eldest child, son Adrian, was eight years old in 1860, and born in New York. (4) By the 1860 census John and Martha are residing in Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Before the 1880 census the Ostrander family had moved to Midland County, Michigan. (5) John W. Ostrander died on either 30 or 31 July 1917, in Midland County. His death certificate says 31 July (1), but the headstone picture on Find A Grave says 30 July. (3) Neither date could be confirmed with other online sources. What is agreed upon is that John is buried in the Laporte Cemetery, Laporte, Midland County. (3)
Cornelius Peter Ostrander, father of John, was born 20 August 1806, and baptized on 30 November 1806, in the Hopewell Reformed Dutch Church, East Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York. (1) He was the son of Peter Ostrander and Mary Phillips. (1) Cornelius married Elizabeth Van Osdall, probably in Dutchess County, since that is where some of their children were born. (1) The family moved to Cayuga County, New York, between 1846-1850. Cornelius’ wife, Elizabeth had died on 4 January 1846, in Dutchess County, New York and is buried in the New Hackensack Cemetery, Wappingers Falls, New York. (7) As mentioned before, Cornelius and family are in the 1850 census in Cayuga County. Cornelius died 31 March 1865, and he is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery, Scipioville, Cayuga County. (6)
Martha Ann Smith, was the daughter of Jacob Smith and Rosannah Bower, (9) born 20 May 1834, in New York. (3)(10) She died 8 March 1892 in Midland County, Michigan. (3)(10) Martha is buried with her husband in the Laporte Cemetery, Laport, Michigan. (10)
Jacob Smith, father of Martha Ann Smith, also moved to Waterford Township. In 1860, the Smith family is found on page 389, Waterford Township, Oakland County. Jacob died 6 May 1864 and is buried in the Waterford Center Cemetery. In the 1870 census Rosannah Smith and some of her children are found on page 362, Boston Township, Ionia County, Michigan. Rosannah left an estate record that says she died 4 February 1873, in Ionia County. (11)
Sources
- Ostrander Family Vital Records, Barbara Dahl and Emmett Ostrander, Ostrander
Family Association, The Anudsen Publishing Co., Decorah, Iowa, 1989,
pages 116 and 153, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org - Death Certificate, John W. Ostrander, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950;
Certificates 1897-1920, Macomb-Montmorency, 1911-1917, Midland County,
Indexed as John W. Ostranch, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Laporte Cemetery, Midland County, Michigan, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
- 1860 Census, page 373, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan,
Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - 1880 Census, page 188C, Ingersoll Township, Midland County, Michigan,
Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Evergreen Cemetery, Cayuga County, New York, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
- New Hackensack Cemetery, Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, New York,
Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com - Waterford Center Cemetery, Waterford, Michigan, Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com
- Death Certificate, Chester R. Smith, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950;
Certificates, 1897-1920, Ionia-Kent, 1899, Ionia County, Ancestry,
www.ancestry.com - Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950; Registers, 1867-1897, Cass-Saginaw,
1872-1893, Midland County, page 288, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Michigan, Wills and Probate Records, 1784-1980; Ionia County Probate Packets,
#895-942, 1877-1878, Rosannah Smith, #918, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com