Charles Rice

	Charles Rice

Home Old Settlers Square Dance Old Settlers Honored History Old Settler Families Historical Events Memoirs 75th Reunion Historical Schools Wheatland Church Letter From Home Transitions Gladys Guy-Harper Military Gift Shop Norman-Cummings The Way We Are Benjamin Banneker Cemeteries Guess Who? Negro Folktales The Old Settlers: Vol. 1 The Old Settlers: Vol. 2 Old Settler Sayers Links Todd Ghost Stories Beyond The Gate

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.

Charles Rice

Pictures Courtesy of Nikki Langan & History Written by Jackie Hughes Daughters of Patricia (Maki) Walker

Raymond Rice (10/02/1875 -

2/04/64)

Katherine (Lett) Rice

Katherine (Lett) Rice, born to Joseph Lett and Elizabeth (Cross) Lett. Joseph and Elizabeth had two children: Ed and Katherine Lett.

(3/09/1883 - 2/07/1958)

Geraldine Ann (Rice) Maki &

Daughter Joyce

Harold, Claude, Jeanette, John, Reatha

& Geri

Charles Rice was born in Ohio in 1817. His father was from Germany and his mother was from Virginia. He had a son, John Rice, born 1852 in Ohio. Cynthia A. Bird was born in Ohio in 1830. Charles, a farmer, married Cynthia on March 14, 1869. He was 52 years old and she was 39 years old. This marriage was witnessed by Joseph Cummings. Cynthia brought 2 children to the marriage: James Bird, born in 1855; and Mary E. Bird, born in 1866. Although everyone in this family was born in Ohio, the United States Census indicates they were living in Wheatland Township in 1880. Charles and Cynthia are buried at the West Wheatland Cemetery in Remus, Michigan.

John Rice (age 24) married Sarah Rice (age 16), who was also from Ohio. During the 1880 Census, John’s occupation was a farmer and they had three children: Raymond Rice, born 1876; Mariah A. Rice, born 1878; and Florence Rice, born 1879.

Raymond Rice married Catherine L. Lett, daughter of Joseph Lett and Elizabeth (Cross) Lett, in Remus, Michigan. To this union eight children were born. Seven were born in Remus, Michigan, and the youngest was born in Isabella County. Their children were: Jeanette Bernice Rice – 1903, Claude Leroy Rice – 1906, John Richard Rice – 1908, Harold R. Rice – 1910, Ethel May Rice – 1212, Eva Ludelia Rice – 1915, Geraldine Ann Rice – 1918, Reatha Marie Rice – 1923.


	Charles Rice

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.