Home Old Settler Family Pages UncategorisedStephen Reed

Stephen Reed

Pictures Courtesy of Ken Todd, Drew Whitaker, Tammy Richardson & Marvin Lett

Eliza Norman and Elisha Reed

Eliza Norman - Daughter of George Norman and Sister of Grandison II - Bertha Reed-Lett's Mother

Elizabeth Betsey (Reed) Drew (Circa 1825 - 1870)

Elijah Reed

Elijah (Eli) & Diana Dicey Huff Reed

Gertrude & Ted Reed, Jr.

Theodore Reed, Sr.

Bertha (Hackley) Lett - Daughter of Eliza Norman & Elisha Reed

Fairplains Township 1870 Census lists: Reed, Stephen age 70, male, mulatto from Kentucky. Wife: Nancy age 60 female, also in Kentucky. Children: Elisha 30, Deliah, and Abner 21. It is believed that they also had a son named Alvin. No other children are known. The census also lists Avlance Hollingsworth age 15 as staying with Stephen and Nancy Reed in the 1884 Census. In the Millbrook Township Census, James H. Reed is listed as a stepson to the Hollingsworth family line. His mother or father could have been a child of Stephen and Nancy Reed.

Elisha Reed married Eliza Jane Norman Hackley. Their children were: Bertha, Bell, and Ret. Bertha Reed married Ira Lett. Bell Reed married Arthur Totten. Their children were: Doris and George. Doris married Paul Totten, and their children were: Betty, Mary, and George. These children were adopted by their great aunt and her husband, Bertha Reed, and Ira (Doc) Lett.

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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.

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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.