|
Old Settler Sayers Sponsored by: Wheatland Music Organization Chippewa Hills Public Schools - Remus, MI
|
|||||||
|
???
The Old Settler Sayers are direct descendants of the original settlers of the three county areas of Isabella, Mecosta, and Montcalm who present oral history to the general public. The group was organized in 2007 to report and commemorate the history of the first African American settlers of central Michigan.
History
Doraville Whitney was the first African-American settler of Isabella County in 1860. The first documentation of a settler in Mecosta County Michigan was James Guy. Abraham Lincoln signed his deed. He obtained 160 acres in Wheatland Township on May 30, 1861. Lloyd & Margaret Guy were the first 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 the Old Settlers owned most of the land in Remus.
Jim Guy – First African American Settler Mecosta County - 1861
|
Sponsored by The Wheatland Music Organization
Phone: 989-967-8879 Fax: 989-967-8562 http://www.wheatlandmusic.org
The Old Settlers:Journey to Michigan
The Old Settlers: Journey to Michigan (Volume I), outlines James Guy as one of the first settlers to Mecosta County in 1861. The Old Settler communities have the first integrated schools in the State of Michigan. The Oberlin School was located in Isabella County, Rolland Township and opened in 1867. The Little River School in Mecosta County opened in 1880.
The Old Settler families have ties to Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and Sally Hemings through the Lett, Guy, and Tate families. All of these families migrated to Michigan from the Lett Settlement in Muskingum County, Ohio.
Warren Harding, 29th President of the United States, is a direct descendant through the Norman and Nelson families. The Hardings were ancestors of Ada Jane Harding, Mayles Nelson and Mary Harding, mother of Emma Todd, Lucinda Todd and Mary Lett-Harper, also the Charles and Myrtle Kettora Lett families. |
Program February 22, 2008
Pledge of Allegiance
Janessa Green (Solo)
Marsha Todd-Stewart
Green Family
Carol Norman & Jean Nelson
Diana Todd-Green
Kayla Green
|
|||||
