History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests / compiled from the official records of the county, the newspapers and data of personal interviews, under the editorial supervision of Thaddeus D. Seeley.

CHAPTER XXXVII

NOVI AND WATERFORD TOWNSHIPS
T.r1'H NAME "NOVI"-THE COLONY OF I825-2 ---NOVI CORNERS, OR NovI
-WATERFORD TOWNSHIP AND ITS LAKES-COMING OF THE WILLIAMS' FAMILIES WATERFORD VILLAGE FOUNDED-SCHOOLS ANIT
CHURCHES-WATERFORD OF TODAY DRAYTON PLAINS-OLD CLINTONVILLE.
Novi is in the lower tier of townships, the second from the west, and
is by no means "unknown," as its Latin name implies. When Farmington township was established by legislative act of April 12, 1827, its
territory was included therein, with the present towns of Commerce, Milford, and Lyon, but in the autumn of 1830 the voters of what is now
Novi held a meeting for the purpose of detaching themselves from the
jurisdiction of Farmington.
THE NAME "NoVI"
When the matter of a name came up for discussion, it was evident
that a short, simple one was most in favor; and when Dr. J. C. Emery,
at the suggestion of his wife, proposed "Novi," the idea so took that
the name was forwarded to the legislature. Notwithstanding some opposition from a scholarly and somewhat sarcastic member of that body,
who called attention to the English translation-"unknown," "not
known," "forgotten," etc.-the name was adopted by the state authorities,
and in the fall of 1832 the township of Novi was detached from Farmington. Its territory then included the townships of Commerce, Milford and Lyon, which were separately organized in 1834, thus cutting
down Novi to its present area.
In 1827, when what are now Novi, Lyon, Milford and Commerce
townships were attached to Farmington township for civil and judicial
purposes. Novi was called West Farmington and Lyon, Farmington, Jr.
TIIE COLONY OF I825-26
The first to settle in what is the present township of Novi came in
1825, Erastus Ingersoll being the pioneer of them all. On the twentieth
of September, 1824, he entered the southeast quarter of section 24 at
the Detroit land office, and April 26th of the following year reached his
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