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Thomas Squires

Pictures Courtesy of Betty Cummings-Shelby & Deonna Todd-Green, Duane Norman

Elizabeth Cummings, Elsie Hardie, Thomas Cummings, Velma Norman, Irma Guy, Rebecca Tate, Leona (Angie) Bow, Elvira Boyd - The Squires Reunion - Oldest Descendents - July 21, 1962

Johnnie Squires

Frank Squires

Elmer Squires and Gertrude Green Norman (Wife of Bill Norman) standing in front of a 1938 Ford

1944 - Alexander Harper, Jr. Birthday Party - L-R: Elmer Squires, Alexander Harper, Cy Harris, Amos Cross & John Caliman

Susan (Cummings) Green (Back) Philip Green, Caroline (Green) Squires, Eva (Gertie Green) Norman and Charlie Green

Thomas Squires was born in West Virginia. As a young man, he went to Ohio, where he lived, and married Ellen Harris, the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Harris. While living in Hocking County, Ohio, their first daughter Rebecca was born. Traveling by covered wagon, they came to Michigan. They first lived in the Niles and Decatur, Michigan area before coming to Millbrook, Michigan. Thomas, Ellen, and her family lived in and around Millbrook for while before buying a piece of land west of Millbrook. The land was a dense forest. Tom cleared the land to make a home for his family. Thomas and Ellen had seven girls and one boy. Their names were: Rebecca, Ardell, Victoria, Sarah, Mary, Coptora, Maude, and Elmer.

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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.