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Doraville Whitney was the
first Black settler in Isabella County in 1860. The first documentation of
an African-American settler in Mecosta County Michigan was James Guy.
His deed was signed by Abraham Lincoln. He obtained 160 acres in Wheatland
Township on May 30, 1861. Lloyd & Margaret Guy were the first
Black settlers in Montcalm County in 1861. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed each
settler 160 acres in Michigan. By 1873 African-Americans owned
1,392 acres in the three counties of Isabella, Mecosta and Montcalm.
In the 1860's most of the land in Remus was owned by the Old Settlers. |
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Private Benjamin F. Guy
102nd
United States Colored Troops. Co. 1
Civil War
Dedication Service
Mt. Hope Cemetery - Lansing, MI
Presented by: Jesse Lasorda
June 10, 2006
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Jesse Lasorda
Organizer |
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Our Fallen Heroes Monument |
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Benjamin F. Guy Headstone |
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Civil War re-enactors
were present. |
On August 31, 1864 Elijah and his brother Benjamin F. Guy age 27,
enlisted as Privates in Co. 1, 102nd USCT Volunteer Infantry in Grand
Rapids, Michigan. During the one-year he served, Elijah contracted consumption
and rheumatic fever. Elijah and Benjamin were both mustered out on
September 10, 1865 at Charleston, SC. They were paid and
discharged in Detroit on October 17, 1865.
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There are "Old Settlers"
who came from Canada via "The Underground Railroad." It was the
most dramatic nonviolent protest against slavery in the United States
that began in the Colonial Era and reached its peak between 1830 and
1865. An estimated 30,000 to 100,000 slaves
used the "railroad" to get to Canada; many others escaped to Mexico,
the Caribbean, and Europe.
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