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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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Jacob Anderson
Photos Submitted by: Franklin
Anderson
& Marguerite Berry-Jackson
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Emily Anderson
Daughter of John Anderson |
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Jacob Alexander &
Marion
Anderson |
According to The Old Settlers: A
Nation Within Itself, Jacob Alexander Anderson, Sr., born in what
is now Anderson City, North Carolina. He was taken to Canada by
his Uncle John Anderson. There he resided and married one Lady
Cooper, and of this union four children were born. At a very
early age, Jacob, Jr., his brothers Will and Joe and sister Lucinda
were brought to Mecosta, Michigan, where he had heard their Uncle John
Anderson had repatriated. This is where Jacob Jr. spend his
childhood. Later in his teens he migrated to Detroit and sought
labor. The picture above shows Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Anderson in front of
their house in Riverview, Michigan.
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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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