HomeOld Settler Family Pages

Old Settler Family Pages

Click on each family name to view photos.

Jacob Anderson

James Bannister

Isaac Berry, Sr.

William Bracy

Horace Bush

Daniel Branson

Moses & Benjamin Caliman

Richard Carruthers

Isaac Cook

Thomas W. Cross

(Amos Cross)

(Edward Cross)

(John Cross)

(Joseph Cross)

(Samuel Cross)

(Thomas Ulysses Cross)

John Cummings

Joseph Cummings

(Cummings Family Pictures)

Gabriel & Harvey Green

James & Abraham Gross

James Guy (Isabella & Montcalm Counties)

John Welcome Guy

Harry P Guy

James Guy (Mecosta County)

John Harper

George Tyron Harding

Thomas Harris, Sr.

William Hill

Absalom Johnson

Sabroth Johnson

Original Lett Families

Othias Lett

Samuel Lett

Lett Family Links

Lett Settlement Reunions

Little River Letts

George Male/Mayle

John Manning

James Mason

Richard Moore

Aaron Morgan

Reverand Charles Mortimer

Joseph Mumford

Jeremiah Myers

John Nelson

Newman

Grandison Norman

(Michael, Eliza, Joseph Dow & Marcus Norman)

Charles Pointer

Daniel Pointer and Thomas Pointer

James Porter

James Powell

Stephen Reed

Charles Rice

William Ricks, Sr.

Madison Robinson

James K. Sawyer

Robert Scott

Joseph Seaton

John Segee

Simon Sleet

Thomas Squires

Michael Stevens

John Tate

Stephen Todd

(Fred Todd)

(William Todd)

(Todd Family Pictures)

George Washington

William Weaver

Isaac Williams

NOTE: It is requested that any person or family who is an "Old Settler" and wants their family shown on this website, submit pictures in digital form to the Webmaster: Marsha Todd-Sanders. My email is listed on the Email and Links Page.

lady9

OSRW - 501(c)(3) Non-profit Organization

Old Settlers

The "Old Settler" families arrived in Michigan from different places. They came from Canada through "The Underground Railroad," and from Payne's Crossing in Ohio as "free" people. The draw was to homestead land made available through the Homestead Act of 1862 which allotted homesteaders 160 acres. The Underground Railroad was the most dramatic nonviolent protest against slavery in the United States beginning in the Colonial Era and reaching its peak between 1830 and 1865. An estimated 30,000 to 100,000 slaves used the "railroad" to get to Canada and eventually came back to the states and Mexico. A large settlement stayed in Ontario, Canada.

Doraville Whitney was the first Black settler to Isabella County in 1860, and 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 1860. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed each settler up to 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.

$10 + $3 (Shipping/Handling)

More Information at: http://www.osrw.org

Old Settler Dedication

Instead of disappearing into the dust that swallowed many other Black rural areas, the old settlers of Mecosta, Isabella, and Montcalm Counties prevailed. They came there in 1860 and they're still here. Some have moved to the larger cities of Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint, and Detroit. There is compiled data and drawn maps of Black households in nine townships in Mecosta and Isabella Counties. In 1870, the nine-township area had 41 Black households; 86 in 1975, and 106 in 1994. The website was created to remember our ancestors who were the trailblazers making us who we are. We have become enriched, enabled, and elevated because of the ample regard and gratitude for the work of our ancestors. This site is dedicated to the Old Settlers.