Edward Cross

	Edward Cross

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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.

SECTION 1

Thomas W. Cross

SECTION 2

Amos Cross

Section 3

Edward Cross

SECTION 4

John Cross

SECTION 5
Joseph Cross

SECTION 6
Samuel Cross

Edward Cross

Picture Courtesy of

Fern Johnson-Cross

Edward Cross

Hershel Cross

Clyde Guy & Hershel Cross

World War I - US Navy

Edward, the seventh child of Catherine and Thomas Cross, was born on March 27, 1866, in Hocking County, OH. He married Myrtle K. Lett on November 24, 1894, in Remus, Michigan. Their children were: Charles (Herschel), Thelma Dale, and Thomas Theo. Edward lived in Portland, Oregon, and was a lumberman. He died in February, 1928 in Portland, Oregon. His son, Herschel, went to Oregon and brought his body back and buried him in the West Wheatland Cemetery, Remus, MI. Herschel was born September 15, 1895, in Blanchard, MI. He married Leona Roberts on March 10, 1920. There were no children born to this union. The marriage ended in divorce. Herschel later married Cynthia Johnson on March 24, 1940. They had no children. Herschel was a veteran of WWI. He served three years in the Navy at Norfolk, VA.


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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.