Norman

 
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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

Grandison Norman

 

SECTION 2

George E. Norman

 

SECTION 3

Norman Family Pictures

 

SECTION 4

Marquis Norman

 

SECTION 5

George Lindley Norman

 

SECTION 6

George L. Norman Family
 

Grandison Norman

 

Pictures Courtesy of Deonna (Todd) Green

Marguerite Berry-Jackson

John & Marialyce Norman-Sunami

Henry Burke & Wilbur Norman

 

Grandison  (1788 - 1857) &

Anna Combs-Norman (1792 - 1880)

 

Hiram Norman Family - 1884

 

Horace Norman (Grandison's Son)

William (Harve) Norman & Wife

Mary Phillips (Grandison's Son)

 

Gilbert & Hannah Mingus-Norman

Wedding Day - September 22, 1853

(Grandison's Son and his Wife)

 

George Washington Norman

2/8/1871 - 1929

 

Lucinda Myra Lett-Norman

Wife of George Washington Norman

7/19/1883 - 1927

 

Joseph (Dow), William, George & John Norman

 

Marquis & Joseph Dow Norman

Sons of George Norman

Grandsons of Grandison I

 

Marquis DeLafayette Norman

 

Joe Dow & Mary Harding-Stevens

(Thompson) Norman

 

Wilbur Norman - Zanesville, OH with the Benney Goodman Band 1949-50

 

Brief History - Grandison Norman Family

 

Grandison and Anna (Combs) Norman married October 20, 1809, in Washington County, where all of their children were born.  According to the Ohio Census and marriage records, it appears they settled in Ohio between 1800 - 1809. Their children were: Theodore, Jesse, David, Grandison, Marquis, Ellen, Gilbert, Hiram and Henry.   Women were not included in the Ohio Census until 1850; therefore, information listed n the 1840 Ohio Census was limited to males of each family.  Those named were: Grandison, David, Jesse and George. 

 

The drawing of Grandison Pewinkle Norman (son of Bazabeel Norman) and his wife Anna Combs Norman passed down through Hiram Norman, who was the youngest child to survive his parents, to James Howard Norman. He and his twin brother were Hiram's youngest children.

 

The children of George and Mary (Stevens) Norman, oldest son of Grandison and Anna (Combs) Norman were:  Grandison, Michael, George, William, Horace, Eliza, Elizabeth, Joseph D. and Marcus.  The children coming to Michigan were:  Michael, Eliza, Joseph D. and Marcus.  Grandison married Rebecca Harris on April 22, 1858.  They had no children.  He was in the Civil War.  His property is now a Michigan Centennial Farm.  Grandison, son of George and Mary Stevens Norman bought land in Michigan before the Civil War.  There is a land grant signed by President Grant to Grandison Norman. 

 

Pictures from

 

Norman Reunion - June 17, 2006

 

Halls Lake

 

 

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Norman

 

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.