Negro Settlers

In the 1860s Negroes from southern Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario settled this region as farmers and woodsmen. Some of them moved to new villages in Mecosta and Isabella Counties. Schools and churches founded in the area were integrated. Among these was the Wheatland Church of Christ, established in nearby Remus in 1869. Their pioneering spirit provided a unity that led to the first Old Settlers’ Reunion at this lake in the 1890s, a get-together which is still held annually.