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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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The Barr School was
4 miles north of Remus
on M-66 and build in 1897. It
was closed in 1935.
Two people you might recognize who
attended the
school were Andy Flowers and Nile Perry.
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Nathan Meyers (1900)
Teacher - Lett
School
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Nostrant School
BACK ROW: (?) Whitney, Florence
Norman,
Florence Whitney, Evelyn Norman & Marshall Todd
FRONT ROW: Wilmer Norman, Harry Norman, Una Whitney, Ernest Sempsel &
Gertrude Sempsel
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Oberlin School 1912
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Little River School - May 6, 1921
Front: Alta Sutherland, Ada Sutherland, Carrie
Buskie Sylvia Quinn, & Perry Porter
Back: Fern Johnson, Cynthia Johnson, Helen
Hartlep John Bieskie, Harold Luke & Jakie Luke
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Oberlin School 1936
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Darnell School - 1922 |
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Remus School 1912 -
Property once owned by Joseph & Esther Cummins |
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Red
Brick School - Remus, MI 1914
Calestor Harris, Rosie Norman
Minnie Weaver & Maude Hill
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Mecosta School 1917 |
Schools Date Back to 1881 - Big
Rapids Pioneer (June 28, 1979)
In 1881, the first log cabin schoolhouse was built in the Village of
Mecosta. The same year, however, a frame school building was built.
In the 1930's the present school building in Mecosta was built. Even
though there has been a section added, the structure is basically the same.
At the time the school first opened there were four rooms--two upstairs and
two downstairs. Statistics for the Mecosta School District n 1883
were:
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Number of
children between five and 20 years of age - 172
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Estimated
value of school property - $2,100
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Amount paid
for superintendent and instruction. $356.50
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Average
monthly wages for male teachers - $49.06.
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Average
monthly wages for female teachers - $35.75
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Expenditures -
$1,285.59
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Mecosta H. S. -
1930
Fern Johnson & Marguerite Berry, Tess,
Dot, Irene, Tony, Pete, Edward & John |
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Souvenir from the Cross School - School Year
1906 - 1907
Grace Bond - Teacher |
Grade 1:
Roy & Guy Edward Thomas
Grade 2:
Lindley Norman, Oscar Norman, & Agusta Thomas
Grade 3:
Lizzie Yost & Howard Myers
Grade 4:
Lena Myers, Gladys Sleet, Nettie Sleet, Flossie Sleet
Grade 5:
Arthur Cross, ?, ?
Grade 6:
Homer Cross, M. Yost, Laurence Yost, Gneray Sleet
Grade 8:
Willie Stump
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Emma (Norman) Todd - Central Michigan Normal Teachers' College
(1907 - Mt. Pleasant, MI) |
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Remus School 1936-1937
Row 1: Ron Eldred, Harold
Howard, Cecil Nostrant, Harry Howard, Paul Schlegel, Frank Simon,
Harold Cook
Bob Wernette
Row 2: Arlene Bott,
Vevian Welch, Maregot Flowers, InaJean Gorton, Vera Hampel, Fawn
Crittenden, Jean Walker, Catherine Greyzck, Armeta Gast
Row 3: Bill Simmons,
Maxine Norman, Jean Bodyen, Rose Mary Peterson, Norma Taylor,
LaMoine Green
Winefred Fountain, Mr. Novak,
(Teacher)
Buelua
Meeker, Donna Randall, Mabel Evans, Eloise Esch, Carrie Steinman,
Alberta Nelson, Arthur Hein
Row 4: Henry Steinman,
Arvid Johnson, Vernon Cook, Ralph Snyder, John Evans, Rueben
Norman, Don Hatfield, Earl Taylor, Ralph Packard
Alvin Norman, Carl Carpenter,
Jack Compson, Homer Allen |
Back to Top
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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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