Brooklyn
The Rev. Calvin Swain
(1778-1856) filed the first land claim in what is now Brooklyn on June 16, 1832. A chaplain in the War of 1812, Swain was a Baptist minister and postmaster in Adamsville, New York, before coming to Michigan. By 1833 he had established a settlement and a sawmill here. He was the postmaster until 1841. The town was called Swainsville until a town meeting adopted the name Brooklyn on August 5, 1836. Swain founded Baptist churches in Brooklyn, Woodstock, and Napoleon. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Napoleon.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Marker data: Michigan History Center
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