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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. 

Hill

 

 

William & Marinda Hill & Family

Seated:  William Josiah, Family Pet, Marinda Ann Cummins

Standing:  Maude Ethel & Emery Milton

 

Maude Ethel Hill - Daughter of

William & Marinda Hill

Wife of Andrew J. Williams

Mother of Andrew & Robert Williams

 

 

Mildred Doris Hill

 

William & Marinda Hill

 

Emery Milton Hill

Son of William Josiah Hill &

Marinda Ann Cummins-Hill

 

Maurice & Doris (Hill) Blackburn

Daughter of William & Marinda Hill

 

Mildred Doris Hill - 16 Years Old

Daughter of William Josiah Hill

& Marinda Ann Cummins-Hill

 

Maude Ethel Hill - Daughter of

William & Marinda Hill

Wife of Andrew J. Williams

Mother of Andrew & Robert Williams

 

Brother & Sister: 

Emery Milton Hill & Maude Ethel Hill

 

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Hill

 

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.