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The first documentation of an
African-American settler in Mecosta
County Michigan was James Guy, who
obtained 160 acres in Wheatland Township
on May 30, 1861. By 1873
African-Americans owned 1,392 acres. The
Homestead Act of 1862 allowed each
settler 160 acres in Rolland Township.
Most of the land where Remus sits in the
1860's was owned by the Old Settlers.
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 SECTION 1
Thomas Harris, Sr. Family
SECTION 2
Walter Harris Family
SECTION 3
Harris
Family Pictures
SECTION 3
Ace Red Cloud
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Thomas Harris, Sr.
Photographs Courtesy of Ken Todd
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Elizabeth Harper-Harris
Daughter of John and Elizabeth McKee Harper &
wife of Thomas Harris, Jr. with sons William and Cyrus
She also a sister to Catherine Harper-Cross
and Sevilla Harper-Norman-Warrick |
Thomas, Jr.
was united in marriage to Elizabeth Ann
Harper, the daughter of John Harper and Elizabeth McKee on April 13, 1867,
in Hocking County, Ohio. Thomas, Jr. was a Civil War veteran.
To this
union eight children were born: Sarah, William, Cyrus, Fred, Frank,
Martha, Lydia, and Elizabeth. Thomas, Jr. and Elizabeth Harris came
to Michigan from Ohio to Berrien County in about 1880. They migrated
to Central Michigan in 1889. They settled in Mecosta County's
Wheatland Township two miles north and two miles east of Remus, on a 40
acre plot of land. They cleared the land and built their home close
to other relatives and friends from Ohio, who had come a few years
earlier. Thomas, Jr., died September 6, 1897, at the age of 55 years
old. After Thomas, Jr's., death, Elizabeth remained very active.
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Gertrude & Verda Harris |
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Mary Jane (Harris) Moore, Jessie (Harper) Harris
& Elizabeth (Harris) Roberts |
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Elizabeth (Betty) Harris Roberts, Dolphin Roberts,
Jessie (Harper) Harris & Mary Jane (Harris Moore)
Mother's Day |
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Verda L. (Harris) Todd |
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Juanita (Harris) Norman |
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Juanita (Harris) Norman |
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Liddy & Martha Harris
Thomas & Elizabeth
(Harper)
Harris' Girls
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Jessie (Harper) Harris &
Roy Harris |
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Mae & Roy Harris |
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Roy Harris, Sr. &
George Lee Crawford |
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Mary Jane & Dorothy Jean Harris |
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Betty,
Walter & Juanita Harris |
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Juanita, Walter & Betty Harris |
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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.
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