Manning

 
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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. 

John Manning

Pictures Courtesy of Raymond Pointer, Jr.

 

Manning Family:  Armintha, John, James (Welcome), Anna Hughes,

Letta, Minnie Elizabeth Penny

 

John J. Manning, son of John Manning and Rebecca Guy was (1873 - 1937) in Michigan and died in Hubbardston, Michigan.  He married Letta Sawyer.  Letta Sawyer was born September 3, 1882, and died in 1940 in Hubbardston, Michigan.  John and Letta Manning are buried at Westside Cemetery in Hubbardston.  Their children are Armintha Elizabeth (April 26, 1906 - 1940) and James Welcome Manning (January 29, 1916 - December 12, 1982).  They are both buried in West Side Cemetery - Hubbardston, Michigan.  To this union Rowena (Manning) Pointer was born November 12, 1923.  Armintha Elizabeth Manning was born April 26, 1906, in Hubbardston, Michigan and died in 1940.  She married Percy Jacob Cotton, son of James Cotton and Leona Mahoney.

 

Four Geneations: 

John Manning

Armintha Elizabeth (Manning) Cotton

Rebecca Elizabeth (Guy) Manning

& Elwyn LaRue Cotton

Aquilla Lett

 Letta (Sawyer) Manning

Sarah Jane (Caliman) Lett

 

Rebecca Elizabeth (Guy) Manning

and Grandchild

Rebecca Elizabeth (Guy)

Manning &  Granddaughter

Minnie Rowena Manning

 

Armintha Elizabeth Manning

John Welcome Manning

(with Bird Dog)

 

Letta (Sawyer) Manning holding one

of the children who died in infancy

Rebecca Elizabeth (Guy) Manning

 

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Manning

 

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.