Absalom Johnson

	Absalom Johnson

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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.

Absalom Johnson

Pictures Courtesy of: Judy Caldwell Daughter of Marguerite Berry-Jackson & Fern Johnson-Cross

Thomas Johnson

Belle Johnson, Anna Johnson

Mary Luke

Uncle Jim Johnson

(Known as "The Hermit of the West")

Son of Absalom & Cynthia Johnson

Died in Mecosta 1951.

Mary Luke & Jim Johnson

Bertha Johnson

Fern & Cynthia Johnson

James Johnson

Beatrice, Elizabeth, Dorothy

& Little George Johnson

Cynthia (Wilson) Johnson &

Hazel Luke

Russell Edwin Johnson

Absalom Johnson of Virginia married Cynthia Wilson of North Carolina. They immigrated to East Windsor in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. All of their children were born in Canada except the youngest daughter who was born in Michigan. They came to Morton Township (Little River Area) in August of 1877 and homesteaded 80 acres of land. They farmed, cleared land and raised their family on this homestead. The following is a list of their children: Hattie Jane, Thomas H., James Edward, George Andrew, John Absalom, Mary Lucinda, Annie Frances and Ida Belle. Absalom and Cynthia are buried in West Wheatland Cemetery.

Hattie Jane married Arthur Archie. Thomas Henry Johnson married Bertha Gladys (Feb. 9, 1879 - Oct. 22, 1964) of Illinois. To this union four children were born: Cynthia and Fern, twin daughters, Lela Marie and Thomas Henry, Jr. Thomas Henry, Jr. died shortly after birth.


	Absalom Johnson

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.