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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. |
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Sabroth Johnson
Pictures Courtesy of Deonna (Todd) Green
& Helen (Johnson-Guy) Morgan
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The Alonzo Johnson Family - Circa
1940
Front: Alonzo & Martha (Harris)
Johnson
Theodosia Johnson-Sawyer, Helen
Johnson-Guy-Morgan
Thelma Johnson (Palmer, Sanders) Dickerson, Olie,
Leverette (Bud) Friley, Albert
Johnson |
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Back: Sarah Harris, Martha Johnson
Front: William Harris, Alonzo Johnson
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Sarah Johnson-Harris
(Wife of William Harris)
William Harris was the son of
Thomas, Jr.
Sarah was the Daughter of Friley and
Minerva Norman-Johnson. |
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Martha Johnson |
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Circa 1958
Alonzo & Martha (Harris) Johnson
40th Wedding Anniversary |
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Circa 1935
Albert, Leverette (Bud), Friley,
Johnson &
Clifford Sanders |
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Circa 1935
Albert Johnson - Oldest son of Alonzo &
Martha (Harris) Johnson |
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Circa 1935
Olie Johnson - 4th Son of
Alonzo &
Martha (Harris)
Johnson - About 10 years old |
Sabroth
Johnson, a slave, was born in 1799. Her husband and several of their
children were sold to other plantation owners. She also had a
daughter, Julia Anna Johnson, who later married. Her husband is also
unknown. Julia Anna Johnson had two children by the slaveholder.
He was a general in the army. The two children were Friley, born
1847 in Mississippi and Mary Elizabeth Johnson Gomer. They were all
freed in 1851. Julia Anna, her mother, Sabroth, Friley and Mary
Elizabeth were given gold at the time they were freed. They came to
Megs County, Langsville, Ohio and purchased a homestead.
Friley
Johnson, son of Julia Anna Johnson, married Minerva Norman, daughter of
David and Elizabeth Stevens-Norman in 1868 in the state of Ohio.
They had 11 children. Three of the 11 children came to Michigan.
Alonzo, Sarah and Elmer lived in Boyne City. The rest of the
children stayed in Ohio. Friley died August 15, 1920.
Sarah, daughter of Friley and Minerva, married William Harris.
Alonzo Johnson was born December 7, 1884. He married Martha Harris,
daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Harper Harris, Jr. on April 10, 1911.
Back to Top
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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.
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