Alfred Van Wagoner

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Alfred was the third son of Michael Van Wagoner and Mary Barott. He was born on August 5, 1821, in Malta, Saratoga, New York.[1]

His family moved to Oakland County, Michigan, with his paternal grandparents and his uncle Jacob in 1823, arriving there in June of 1824. They settled in Stoney Creek, in the Avon Township, where Michael was granted 80 acres of land on April 1, 1825, with Certificate #832.[1]</ref> His parents had four further children while living here--Hezekiah, William, James, and Erastus. They are accounted for all in the same household on the 1830 census in Oakland, Michigan Territory, with Hezekiah, William, Hannah, Alfred, Lorenzo, and Denarvis all at home.[2] On the 1840 census, there are four Van Wagoner households adjacent to each other on the list in Oxford, Oakland County. By the numbers, it can be assumed that the household of "L. Van Wagoner" accounts for Lorenzo and his wife, "N. Van Wagoner" accounts for Denarvis and his wife, and "F. Van Wagoner" accounts for Michael, Mary, Alfred, Hannah, Hezekiah, William, James, Erastus, Michael, and Mary. It is probable that the nearby "J. Van Wagoner" is Michael's brother, Jacob.[3]

1. On February 5, 1843, Alfred was married to Betsy Travis, in the log school house in the Travis settlement. Michael Van Wagoner, Alfred's father, came from New York state in 1832 and settled first in Stony Creek, township of Avon. In 1834 he took up land in the western part of the .[1] Together, they had two children, Milton and George, before her death in 1848.
2. He was married again in 1850, this time to Julia Smith. In 1850, he, Julia, and his two sons by his previous marriage were all living in Brandon, Oakland, Michigan.[4] They had five children together--Betsy, Phoebe, Sarah, Charles, and Amos--before Julia's death in 1858. In 1860, Alfred and five of his children (Betsy having died in infancy) were living here, along with his mother and a relative named Elizabeth (age 17). [5] The family was still here, with his five remaining children and his mother, in 1870.[6]
3. On December 26, 1875, Alfred was married for a third time, this time to Cynthia (Price) Galloway of Monroe County, New York in Oxford, Oakland, Michigan.[7] In 1880, the couple was living together in Oxford.[8] Cynthia died sometime before 1889
4. he was married a fourth, and final, time, to Ann Duncan on March 20, 1889.[1]

He died on May 21, 1899, in Oxford, Oakland, Michigan. He is buried here alongside three of his wives (all of them except Cynthia), his parents, several of his siblings, and two of his daughters who didn't survive childhood--Betsy and Sarah. His married daughter, Phoebe, is buried here as well.[9]