Written by Sandy Kinter, from Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 17 Number 5
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.
William Chafy
Julia Ormsby
The small black square indicating the 1872 residence of W. Chafy is found on the southeast corner of Cooley Lake and Lockhaven Roads. This is in the center of Four Towns P.O. East on Cooley Lake Road is “SCH No. 2” and next to the school is a very small square marked “Gr. Yd.” This Gr. Yd. is the Four Towns Cemetery. In the 1870 census, page 592, Waterford Township, W. Chafy is recorded as William Chaffee, age 30, blacksmith, born in Michigan, wife Julia, age 23, born in Michigan, and William, age 3, born in Michigan.
William Chafy was born 18 July 1840, in Oakland County, Michigan, the son of Samuel Chafy and Rhoda Squire. (1)(2) He married Julia Ormsby, 14 October 1861, in Royal Oak, Michigan. (1) In November 1869 William
is purchasing three acres of land in Section 32, Waterford Township, from Lucinda Hoxie. The Chafy family is
residing in Waterford Township in the 1880 census, (3) but in the 1900 census William and Julia, plus son William and his family, are farmers in Commerce Township. (4) William H. Chafy died 8 June 1911 in Commerce Township. (2) He is buried in the Commerce Village Burying Ground, Commerce Township. (5)
The Chaffee Genealogy, by William Henry Chaffee, says that Samuel Chafy, father of William, married Rhoda Squire, daughter of Rufus Squire, 9 July 1839, in Royal Oak, Michigan. (1) Samuel Chafy died 10 March 1847. (1) The genealogy’s author could not trace the ancestors of Samuel Chafy and current online sources did not add any further information.
Julia Ormsby was born 13 January 1847, in McHenry County, Illinois, not in Michigan as stated in the 1870 census. (6) She was the daughter of Marquis Fayett Ormsby and Betsy Hitchcock. (6) Julia died 24 February 1931, in Walled Lake, Commerce Township, (6) and she is buried with her husband in the Commerce Village
Burying Ground. (5) Marcus F. Ormsby and Betsy A. Hitchcock were married on 7 April 1846, in Oakland County, Michigan. (7) By the time of the 1850 census the Ormsby’s were residents of McHenry County, Illinois. (8) The 1860 census finds the family still in McHenry County, (9) but by 1870 they have returned to Oakland County, Michigan and are living in White Lake Township. (10) Residing with the family is Marquis’ elderly father, Nathaniel Ormsby. (11) In the 1870 census both Marquis and Nathaniel say they were born in Connecticut. (10) The marriage of Marquis’ parents, Nathaniel Ormsby and Mary (aka Polly) Burley/Burleigh is found in Union, Tolland County, Connecticut, married on 6 February 1822. (11)(12) In the 1840 census, Nathaniel Ormsby and family are residents of Royal Oak Township, Oakland County, Michigan. (13)
Sources
- The Chaffee Genealogy, William Henry Chaffee, The Grafton Press, New York, 1909,
pages 581-582, Hathitrust, www.hathitrust.org - Death Certificate, William H. Chafy, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952;
Monroe-Osceola, 1911, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - 1880 Census, page 422C, Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan
- 1900 Census, page 281A, Commerce Township, Oakland County, Michigan
- Commerce Village Burying Ground, Commerce Township, Oakland County, Michigan,
Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com - Death Certificate, Julia Chafy, Michigan Death Records, 1867-1952; Oakland County,
1929-1934, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Michigan, County Marriage Records, 1822-1940, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com
- 1850 Census, page 345, Town of Brooklyn, McHenry County, Illinois
- 1860 Census, page 125, Nunda, McHenry County, Illinois
- 1870 Census, White Lake Township, Oakland County, Michigan
- Death Certificate, Marquis F. Ormsby, Michigan, Death Records, 1868-1952;
Mason-Oakland, 1904, Ancestry, www.ancestry.com - Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870, Town of Union,
Tolland County, Connecticut, page 39, New England Historic Genealogical Society,
AmericanAncestors, www.americanancestors.org - 1840 Census, Royal Oak Township, Oakland County, Michigan