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Sabroth Johnson

Pictures Courtesy of Deonna (Todd) Green & Helen (Johnson-Guy) Morgan

Sabroth Johnson, a slave, was born in 1799. Her husband and several of their children were sold to other plantation owners. She also had a daughter, Julia Anna Johnson, who later married. Her husband is also unknown. Julia Anna Johnson had two children by the slaveholder. He was a general in the army. The two children were Friley, born in 1847 in Mississippi, and Mary Elizabeth Johnson Gomer. They were all freed in 1851. Julia Anna, her mother, Sabroth, Friley, and Mary Elizabeth were given gold at the time they were freed. They came to Megs County, Langsville, Ohio, and purchased a homestead.

Friley Johnson, son of Julia Anna Johnson, married Minerva Norman, daughter of David and Elizabeth Stevens-Norman in 1868 in the state of Ohio. They had 11 children. Three of the 11 children came to Michigan. Alonzo, Sarah, and Elmer lived in Boyne City. The rest of the children stayed in Ohio. Friley died on August 15, 1920. Sarah, daughter of Friley and Minerva, married William Harris. Alonzo Johnson was born on December 7, 1884. He married Martha Harris, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Harper Harris, Jr. on April 10, 1911.

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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.