A Nankin Pioneer

On May 10, 1825, Marcus Swift, from Palmyra, New York, bought the northwest quarter of Section 11 in Nankin Township from the United States government. He was the first to own land now part of Garden City. The Swift family’s log cabin overlooked the River Rouge, a few rods from this site. The area was a dense hardwood forest. On May 28, 1827, Swift was elected as the first supervisor of Bucklin, which consisted of the present Redford, Dearborn, Livonia, and Nankin Townships and had a population of less than five hundred, not including a few Indians. Swift was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Lewis Cass in 1828. He was also a Methodist circuit rider and a vociferous opponent of slavery.