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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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Old Settlers Honored at Isabella
County's
Sesquicentennial
Celebration
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Diana Todd-Green, Kenneth Todd
Carol Norman |
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| Arlo Guy |
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Marvin Lett |
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| Oberlin School - One-Room School |
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| Nostrant School |
A number of Old Settlers were honored
at Isabella County's 150th Year Celebration. The celebration
kicked off February 11, 2009, at the Mt. Pleasant Court House. It
will be going on through the summer. Kenneth Todd had a display of
pictures shown above and plat census records dating to the 1800's.
He sold books and calendars for the Remus Historical Society. Carol
Norman displayed a quilt of the Old Settlers along
with Ione Todd and Deonna Todd-Green whose Todd Family Quilt is featured with the Smithsonian
and Michigan State Museums.
Arlo Guy, Marvin Lett, and Dianna
Todd-Green received awards for preserving and publicizing the
proud heritage of the Old Settlers. The awards were given by the
Genealogical Society of Isabella County. Guy received an award for the Guy and Tate Families. Lett received an
award for the Lett and Male Families. Lett also received the John Cumming Historical
Preservation Award.
Green accepted awards for the Caliman,
Cummings, Green, Gross, Guy, Myers, Norman, Rice, Sawyer, Scott, Segee, Tate, Todd,
and Whitney Families
for settling in Isabella County before 1899. Lillian Flowers-Mumford was
recognized as one of "Isabella County's Interesting
People" and interviewed by Marvin Lett.
The Oral Histories are available on DVD and sold by the Mt. Pleasant
Area Historical Society.
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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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