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Charles Pointer

Pictures Courtesy of Raymond Pointer & Peter Byrd

Charles Summer Pointer and Mary Clarissa Berry were united in marriage on November 11, 1890. To this union ten children were born: Henry Stanley, Oct 16, 1891; William Ray, Aug 28, 1893; Ruth Ester, April 5, 1895; Freddie, died in infancy; Charles Sumner, Jr., March 22, 1898; Cecelia Grace, Oct 6, 1900; Nancy Jane; September 11, 1901; Leslie Gilbert, April 17, 1903; Louis Glen, May 28, 1905 and John Benjamin, February 12, 1907.

Charles and Mary Pointer lived their entire lives on the same farm, with their children having been born in the same house. Charles lived to be 72 years. He was born in 1863 and died September, 1935. Mary Clarissa Berry was born near Windsor, Canada on February 6, 1864. She served as a mid-wife in the community, bring many of the Old Settlers' descendants into the world. She lived to be 103 years old. She died September 8, 1967.

Thomas Pointer and wife Maria were the parents of the following children: Emma, Mary, Bell and Sara. Emma married Russell Tate. Mary married Julius Robinson. Belle (Lina) married Thomas Guy. Sara married Charles Guy. Thomas was a brother to Daniel Pointer who raised Aaron Morgan, Isaiah Melvin and Gabriel Green.

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Old Settlers

The "Old Settler" families arrived in Michigan from different places. They came from Canada through "The Underground Railroad," and from Payne's Crossing in Ohio as "free" people. The draw was to homestead land made available through the Homestead Act of 1862 which allotted homesteaders 160 acres. The Underground Railroad was the most dramatic nonviolent protest against slavery in the United States beginning in the Colonial Era and reaching 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.

Doraville Whitney was the first Black settler to Isabella County in 1860, and 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 1860. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed each settler up to 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 larger cities of Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint, and Detroit. 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. The website was created to remember our ancestors who were the trailblazers making us who we are. We have become enriched, enabled, and elevated because of the ample regard and gratitude for the work of our ancestors. This site is dedicated to the Old Settlers.