Lett Log House

	Lett House

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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

The Original Letts

SECTION 2

Othias B. Lett

SECTION 3

Samuel Lett

SECTION 4

Aquilla McClelland Lett

SECTION 5

Lett Families

SECTION 6

Reunion 2005

Reunion 2006

Reunion 2007

Reunion 2008

SECTION 7

Lett Cemetery

SECTION 8

Lett Settlement Map

SECTION 9

Othia Lett Farm

SECTION 10

Lett Family Poem

SECTION 11

Lett Log House

Contributed by Robert Lett

Lett Log House - Williams County Ohio

The Lett log house which was built by George W. Lett can be found in Williams County Ohio. Williams County is the most northern and western county in the state of Ohio and borders upon Indiana and Michigan.

George W. Lett was born in 1821 in Muskingum County Ohio and was the son of Aquilla Lett and Charity Cobbler Lett and married Elizabeth Long in 1849.and lived in Guernsey County Ohio not far from the Muskingum County line and a section of Meigs Township called the "Lett Settlement."

In 1850 George W. Lett acquired 40 acres of land in Milford Township ( Defiance County) from the government at $1.25 per acre. He transported his family (wife and two small children) and belongings to his homestead by horse and wagon and eventually built his log house.

The structure which is often described as a log cabin is more appropriately called a log house as the structure had a stairway leading to a second floor.

The Letts lived in the log house for 36 years and raised 11 children in the home. Their children and year of birth are as follows; Mary 1840, Joseph 1850, Ira 1853, Doctor 1853, Laura L. 1855, Charles W. 1858, Elizabeth 1862, Sarah 1864, Amanda 1866, Josephine July 4 1869, and Martha E. April 5, 1872. Elizabeth Lett died from asthma on December 2, 1886 at the age of 62 and George Lett died at the age of 77 on February 5, 1898.

The Log House has been moved to the Williams County Ohio fairgrounds and is maintained in conjunction with the Williams County Historical Society which has refurbished the dwelling with appropriate era furnishings. The house is open for tour.


	Lett

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.