Stephen Todd

 
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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. 

Todd Family Quilt

 

 

Artist(s): Deonna Todd Green and Ione Todd
Genre(s): visual arts, storytelling
Medium/Media: textile, quilts
Material(s): cotton/polyester fabric, cotton embroidery floss, fabric paint
Technique(s): piecework, embroidery, painting, photo-transfer
Dimensions: 82"h. x 79"w.
Date made: 1989
Where made: Remus, Mecosta County, Michigan
In whose collection: Collection of Michigan State University Museum
Collection# (s): Michigan Quilt Project # 90.001, MSUM 7005
Photograph of work by: Mary Whalen
Rights to photograph courtesy of: Michigan State University Museum

In embroidered and painted pictures and text, the Todd Family Quilt chronicles the experiences of the Todd family members in their journey to and settlement in a mid-Michigan farming community. Each block portrays carefully researched information about the Todd family, including lists of individuals within each generation, a pictorial depiction of a family story, an embroidered copy of a family document or historical photograph, painted coats-of-arms, and plat maps of family farmsteads. As the makers -- Deonna Green and her mother, Ione Todd -- clearly reveal in their oral accounts, the quilt is the result of painstaking research into their family history.

This quilt is the third version of this design. The first one was raffled off at the Old Settlers' Reunion held annually in Mecosta for descendants of the first African-American settlers in Mecosta, Montcalm, and Isabella counties. A cousin won that raffle and now owns the quilt. A second version was made so that the Todd Family History could be shared with other family members; this version was shown in a national exhibition called "Stitching Memories: African-American Story Quilts," organized by the Williams College of Art in 1990. The third version was commissioned by the Michigan State University Museum for their collection and was included in the 1991 exhibition, "African-American Quilt Making Traditions in Michigan."

Note: 

In the last fifteen years there has been a surge of interest in historical and contemporary African-American quilt making, resulting in numerous exhibitions and publications. In 1983, as part of the Michigan Quilt Project, the staff of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program at the Michigan State University Museum began collecting information on African-American quilt making in the state. This program led to the museum's current exhibit, "African-American Quilt Making Traditions in Michigan," which runs through 29 September 1991. Approximately forty to fifty quilts are being shown with descriptive labels and photographs of the quilters. On these four pages are examples of the beautifully-pieced and skillfully sewn quilts presently [1991] on exhibit at the MSU Museum.

 

 

This article appeared in Michigan History Magazine, July/August 1991, pp. 20-23. Marsha MacDowell is the Michigan State University Museum curator of folk arts; Lynne Swanson is the assistant curator of folk arts. The quilts are from the collections of the Michigan State University Museum. The photographs are courtesy of the Michigan State University Museum and may not be reproduced without permission (Contact MSU Museum).

 

 

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Stephen Todd

 

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.