Written by Sandy Kinter, from Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 17 Number 4
Hospital Road makes up the western boundary of Section 32, Waterford Township. The southern boundary is partly defined by Cooley Lake Road, which angles northward through the old Four Towns Post Office on it’s way toward Elizabeth Lake. The rest of the boundary is shared with West Bloomfield Township. North is Section 29 and east is Section 33. Lockhaven Road wiggles it’s way north from Four Towns to it’s conclusion at Elizabeth Lake Road. Today the Section is mostly residential with single family homes and some apartments. There are a few
businesses along Cooley Lake Road.
On the eastern side of the section is a 166 acre farm identified by surname of Colvin. This was the farm of Nathan R. Colvin. Across the section on the western side is a 20 acre property marked R. Colvin. This property also belongs to Nathan R. Colvin. To the north and east of this property are two parcels marked 20 acres. There are no owners given for these two properties. South of R. Colvin is property just identified by the name Hoxie. The Hoxie family will be reported on in Section 33.
The Herrington Family
Recorded on page 592 in the 1870 census for Waterford Township, is Judah Harrington, farmer, age 70, born in Vermont; his wife, Betsey, age 64, born in Vermont; Nelson W., age 36, born in New York; and Mary, age 23, a teacher, born in Michigan. The next entry is for the family of Erastus Herrington, age 42, farmer, born in New York; wife Sarepta, age 39, born in Michigan; and children, a son, Cass, age 13, Sam, age 12, Fred, age 8, Mary, age 6, George, age 4, and Elsie, age 2 months, born in April. All the children were born in Michigan. With the family is Cornelia Ford, age 17, born in Michigan. The 1872 Waterford Township plat map has the farm of E.C. Herrington on the northwest corner of the intersection of Cooley Lake and Lockhaven Roads. Across Cooley Lake Road is the small triangular plot marked J. Herrington. The E.C. Herrington property now has apartment buildings along Cooley Lake Road and Judah Herrington’s triangle is the site of a veterinarian’s office. Earlier generations of the family spelled their surname Harrington. Judah decided to use the Herrington spelling and that is the name the family is buried under in nearby Four Towns Cemetery.
Judah was the son of Judge Theophilus Harrington and Betsey Buck (1)(2), born 1799 in Clarendon, Rutland County, Vermont. (1)(3) According to Judah’s death record he was 80 years and 14 days old at the time of his death on 17 August 1879. (4) If the age at death is correct, that calculates to a birth date of 3 August 1799. (4)
In the 1830 and 1840 censuses Judah Herrington and family are residents of the Town of Hartland, Niagara County, New York. About 1844 the family moved to Waterford Township, Oakland County. (1)
Judah was postmaster for the Four Towns Post Office. The 1872 plat map of Waterford Township has “P.O” just above J. Herrington. On 18 July 1879 Judah’s right leg was amputated due to gangrene in the foot. (7) The newspaper article reported: “He (Judah) got up on the table and laid down just as easily as if he were going to sleep”. Judah died from pneumonia on 17 August 1879, in Waterford Township, (4)(8) and is buried in the Four Towns Cemetery. (3) His entry on the website, Find A Grave, has a picture of a modern replacement headstone which just has the dates of 1799-1879.
The Harrington family has been traced back to Benjamin Harrington, an early settler of Providence, Rhode Island. (9) Judah’s father, Theophilus Harrington, was a judge of Rutland County, Vermont and served on the Vermont State Supreme Court. Theophilus was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. (2)
Betsy Rounds was the wife of Judah Herrington. (10) Not much information was found in online searches for Betsey Rounds. The Round-Rounds genealogy says she was the daughter of George Rounds and Anna E. Weaver, of Clarendon, Rutland County, Vermont. (10) No further information is given for Betsy in the history. Some family trees say her first name was Elizabeth, which may be true since Betsy is a nickname for Elizabeth. No date or place of marriage to Judah Herrington has been found. Betsy is buried with her husband in the Four Towns Cemetery. (3) Their shared headstone is a modern replacement and has the dates of 1803-1877 for Betsy. Some online family trees have a death date of 10 September 1877, in Shiawassee County, Michigan, but no proof of this has been found. The Round-Rounds family genealogy traces the family back to John Round who settled in Swansea, Massachusetts. (10)
In the 1870 census, the entry immediately after Judah Herrington is his son, Erastus C. Herrington. Erastus was born 20 November 1827, in Hartland, Niagara County, New York. (11) He moved to Waterford Township with his parents. At age 21 he became a minister of the Congregational Church. (11) Rev. Erastus’ obituary says he “preached in every Congregational church in Oakland County”. Erastus Herrington married Sarepta A. Warren in 1856. (11)
In March 1852, E.C. Herrington purchased his farm in Section 32 from his uncle Samuel W. Herrington, of West Bloomfield Township. (12) On 26 March 1862, Erastus sold five acres of this property to his mother, Betsy (Rounds) Herrington. (13) Erastus died on 24 September 1895, in Pontiac, Michigan. (11) He is buried in the Four Towns Cemetery, Waterford Township. (3)
Sarepta A. Warren was born 9 January 1831 (14), probably in Oakland County since that is where her parents, Lorenzo A. Warren and Sarah Banner were married in 1828. (15) An exact date and place of her marriage to Erastus Herrington was not located with online sources. The year of 1856 is found in Erastus’ obituary. (11) Sarepta outlived her husband by many years. She died on 16 August 1915 in Pontiac, Michigan, and is buried with Erastus in the Four Towns Cemetery. (3)(15)
Any descendant of Sarepta A. (Warren) Herrington has hit the Mayflower jackpot. She is a direct descendant of Mayflower passenger, Richard Warren. (16) Sarepta is descended from Edward Fuller, another Mayflower passenger, four times. (19)
Sources
- History of Oakland County, Michigan, L.H. Everts & Co., Philadelphia, 1877, page 308,
Hathitrust, www.hathitrust.org - Manuscript of Harrington Family Genealogical Gazetteer, George H. Harrington, 1941,
pages 201 and 424, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Four Towns Cemetery, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, Find A Grave,
www.findagrave.com - Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952, Calhoun-Wayne, 1879; Oakland County, page 284,
Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - 1830 Census, page 354, Hartland, Niagara County, New York
- 1840 Census, page 160, Hartland, Niagara County, New York
- Pontiac Weekly Bill Poster, Pontiac, Michigan, Wednesday, 23 July 1879, page 3,
Digital Michigan Newspapers, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University,
www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/Pages/Michigan-Digital-Newspaper-Portal.aspx - Obituary, Pontiac Gazette, Pontiac, Michigan, Friday 22 August 1879, page 5,
Digital Michigan Newspapers, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University,
www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/Pages/Michigan-Digital-Newspaper-Portal.aspx - Round Rounds Genealogy, Descendants of John Round, Nathan Round Nichols, 1928,
page 45, Hathitrust, www.hathitrust.org - Obituary, Pontiac Gazette, Pontiac, Michigan, Friday, 27 Sept 1895, page 2,
Digital Michigan Newspapers, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University,
www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/Pages/Michigan-Digital-Newspaper-Portal.aspx - Oakland County, Michigan, Deed Records, Volumes 48-49, 1852-1853; Volume 49,
pages 112-113, Image 409, FHL #0975582, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org - Oakland County, Michigan, Deed Records, Volumes 73-74, 1862-1863; Volume 73,
1862, page 627, Image 322, FHL #0975441, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org - Death Certificate, Sarepta A. Herrington, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952,
Midland-Oakland, 1915, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Oakland County, Michigan, Record of Marriages, Volumes A-C, 1827-1849; Volume A,
1827-1837, page 31, Image 19, FHL #0973979, FamilySearch, www.familysearch.org - Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Family of Richard Warren, Volume 18,
Part 1, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 2004,
pages 1-2, 8-9, 39-40, and 164 - Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants 1700-1880, Richard Warren,
Volume 18, part 3, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth, Massachusetts,
1975-2015, page 68, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors,
www.americanancestors.org - Genealogies of Mayflower Families, Volume III, Peck-Wolcott, Gary Boyd Roberts,
Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, Baltimore, MD, 1985, pages 632 and 638,
Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Mayflower Families Through Fifth Generation, Family of Edward Fuller, Volume 4, page 213
General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1975-2015,
New England Historic Genealogical Society, AmericanAncestors, www.americanancestors.org