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Old Settlers

"Half of the "Old Settler" families came from Canada through "The Underground Railroad," while the rest came to Michigan as "free" people. The draw was to homestead land made available through the Homestead Act of 1862 that allotted homesteaders 160 acres. The Underground Railroad 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 and eventually came back to the states and Mexico. A large settlement stayed in Ontario, Canada.

Doravil Whitney

Doravil Whitney was the first Black settler to 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 and obtained 160 acres in Wheatland Township on May 30, 1861. Lloyd & Margaret Guy were the first Black settlers in Montcalm County in 1860. 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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Old Settler Dedication

Instead of disappearing into the dust that swallowed many other Black rural areas, the old settlers of Mecosta, Isabella and Montcalm Counties prevailed. They came there in 1860 and they're still here. Some have moved to the large cities of Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint and Detroit, but their roots go back to Central Michigan. There is compiled data and drawn maps of Black households in nine townships in Mecosta and Isabella Counties. In 1870, the nine-township area had 41 Black households; 86 in 1975, and 106 in 1994.