Black History Month, observed in February, was first celebrated in 1970. It was officially recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976 as part of the United States Bicentennial celebrations. He encouraged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” With President Ford’s words in mind, this article will review the little-known history of Black homesteaders in Leelanau County.
Before the Civil War, Michigan “was known as a Beacon of Liberty for fugitive slaves and free Blacks seeking a better life.”(1) Michigan’s first Constitution (1835) and Revised Code (1838) repealed discriminatory “Black Laws” that had been in effect when Michigan was part of Ohio. After the Fugitive Slave Law, which required U.S. Marshals in the North to return escaped slaves to their masters, became law in 1847 Michigan became what we would today call a “Sanctuary State” for a law enacted in 1855 forbade any officers of the State from assisting U.S. Marshals when they were attempting to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law and required prosecuting attorneys to defend captured fugitive slaves.
So, many escaped slaves going to Canada via the “Underground Railroad” traveled through Michigan and crossed to Ontario at Detroit, often with the aid of Quaker families in the southern part of the state. Some chose instead to settle in Michigan. The 1860 U.S. Census enumerates just under 7000 Blacks living in the state. However, in Leelanau County—sparsely populated, far away from the routes escaped slaves traveled to Canada, and isolated from the outside world after Lake Michigan froze each winter—no Black residents were listed.
The Homestead Act of 1862, which went into effect on January 1, 1863 along with the Emancipation Proclamation, changed everything. A total of 1,048,799 acres of government land were entered as homesteads at the General Land Office in Traverse City between 1863 and 1878. That accounted for about two-thirds of all the land ever sold at that Land Office. However, a provision of the Homestead Act of 1862 stipulated that only United States citizens, or those intending to become citizens, could enter homestead claims. In 1857 the United States Supreme Court ruled that people of African descent could not become citizens. That was the Dred Scott Decision and it remained the law of the land until Congress passed the Civil Rights Law of 1866, which went into effect on April 9th of that year. Evidently, this citizenship requirement may have been overlooked or ignored on occasion by officials at the Traverse City General Land Office.
The Smith Family
The first Black family to enter a homestead claim in Leelanau County, on May 16, 1864, was the Smith family. The Smiths were a biracial family from Canada who came to Leelanau County by way of Niagara County, New York, where they lived for four or five years. The 1851 Census of “Canada West, British North America” (present-day Ontario) finds Alexander and Nancy Smith living in King Township, York County, which is near Toronto. Alexander and Nancy Smith and nine children are enumerated as having been born in Canada and as having been members of the Wesleyan Methodist church. This was a rural area, largely inhabited by Quakers.
The land Alexander Smith chose was a 160-acre tract along the south shore of Lake Leelanau in present-day Solon Township, and his homestead application provides information that he moved there on June 3, 1864. Later on, Smith purchased additional land nearby from the state of Michigan. By 1869 he had “ploughed, fenced, and cultivated” about 50 acres of land; built a house “of logs, one story high, shingle roof, board floor, 2 doors and 2 windows,” and erected a “barn and other outbuildings.” He received a patent for this land on May 2, 1870.
Back in 1937 Edmund Littell wrote a number of articles for the Leelanau Enterprise about the villages of Leelanau County. People were still living then who remembered the early days around Lake Leelanau and that must have been how Mr. Littell learned that Alexander Smith kept a small dock called “Smith’s Landing.” Mr. Littell wrote that “it was quite generally used by settlers to the north, who in the summer months came to the landing by canoe, then walked to Traverse City for provisions. In the winter months they walked down over the ice, following the same route to Traverse City.” The Smith’s next door neighbor was John R. Fouch. Later on, when the Manistee and Northeastern Railroad was extended across the Fouch’s land to Lake Leelanau, Mr. Fouch built a hotel.
On March 27, 1877, Alexander and Nancy Smith sold their land (by then they owned 253 acres) to a man named James Venn, from Leland Township, the sale price being $800. At the time of writing this article, it has not been possible to learn when Alexander and Nancy died or where they are buried and we know very little about their children.
The Boston Family
Charles Boston, a biracial person from Massena County, New York, entered a homestead claim for 160 acres of land, on Miller Hill in present-day Glen Arbor Township, on May 19, 1866. Since May 19th 1866 was six weeks or so after the Civil Rights Law of 1866 went into effect, Mr. Boston could proudly attest that he was “a citizen of the United States and the head of a family.” Charles and his wife, Sarah Ann Flanigan, were both born in New York State. Sarah Ann was always recorded in civil records as “White.” Charles and Sarah Ann were the parents of seven children (that we know of).
When Charles Boston went to the General Land Office in Traverse City on March 1, 1872 to “prove up” on his homestead he stated that he had resided on his claim since November 1, 1866; that he had built a house “of logs, story & a half board floor & shingle roof. one door & two windows” and a log stable; “ploughed, fenced, and cultivated” about eight acres of land; and planted 35 fruit trees.
The Leelanau Enterprise reported on March 28, 1878, that “Mr. Boston, of Glen Arbor Township, was killed while felling a tree, by some of the limbs striking him on the head.” On November 20, 1878 Sarah Ann, by then remarried and living in Central Lake Township, Antrim County, sold the last of the Boston family’s land in Glen Arbor Township to a neighbor for $300. We do not know where Charles or Sarah Ann are buried, but there is a small grave marker in the Kelderhouse Cemetery in Cleveland Township for Effemay Boston, who is believed to have been their granddaughter. She died in 1876, when she was less than a year old.
The Johnson Family
Levi Johnson, a native of North Carolina, filed a 160-acre homestead claim in Empire Township on September 19, 1868. By that time, most, if not all, land in Leelanau and Benzie Counties had been purchased or claimed as homesteads. Levi’s 160 acres had previously been selected by someone else but, having been abandoned, reverted to the General Land Office. Levi was a former slave who had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. On his homestead application, he stated that he was a resident of Benzie County. He was unmarried and had no children. The 1870 census shows Levi living with Reuben Wickham, a Civil War veteran from New York State who had filed a homestead claim next door.
Levi received a patent for his land on September 15, 1874. He reported that he had made the following improvements: a log house “story & half, board floor & shingle roof, one door and one window”; a frame barn; 150 fruit trees; 25 currant bushes; and 100 strawberry plants. 30 acres of his land was “plowed, fenced, and cultivated” with 8 more acres “chopped.”
Levi married Anna Stevens, also an emancipated slave, in 1875. Levi and Anna had eight children, the youngest of whom was born after Levi died on February 20, 1889 of typhoid fever. After Levi’s death, Anna and her children remained on the farm raising what crops they could. Life was hard, and years later, a neighbor recalled that Anna made clothes for her children from feed bags. Leelanau County’s Superintendent of the Poor provided financial support on occasion.
It was unusual for local newspapers to publish a full obituary when a woman died. Usually, a sentence or two was considered sufficient. However, Anna Johnson’s passing in 1922 did not go unnoticed in the Traverse City Record-Eagle:
“. . . The community was saddened by the death of Mrs. Levi Johnson which occurred on Monday, October 30, at her farm home on Glen Lake. No pioneer of Leelanau County has rendered greater service in sickness and death than “Aunt Chloe” as she taught the children to call her. For forty seven years she has earned her livelihood and that of a large family, by going about nursing the sick and ministering to the needs of those in trouble. She has been a second mother to several families of motherless children, and her passing leaves a sad loss to many friends.”
Leelanau County’s Black homesteaders worked diligently to improve farms in the wilderness and contributed to the communities in which they lived in many ways. As our country celebrates 250 years of American independence this year the Leelanau Historical Society is proud to honor their memory.
(1) “Michigan’s Strange and Unexpected History of Equality” by Paul Finkleman.
Researched & written by Andrew White, historian, LHS Board Member, and local author.
Further Learning:
Watch the recorded lecture with Dr. Anna-Lisa Cox, M.Phil., Ph.D. Hosted by the the Leelanau Historical Society and Leland Township Public Library on July 19th, 2024 at the Old Art Building.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about the diverse people who once called Leelanau home. In 2023, we began work on a documentary film project:
The Search for Anna & Levi: A Lost History of Black Homesteaders in Leelanau County.
The project has sparked growing interest in uncovering the stories of other Black homesteaders in the region. This work is also an effort to complete historical narratives that, while grounded in truth, lacked critical detail. Such was the case of Alexander Smith, who appeared in earlier accounts only under a racial slur rather than by his proper full name. By restoring names, stories, and context, we aim to honor the full humanity of those who helped shape our community.
This remains an ongoing project, and LHS is deeply grateful to the many researchers who have contributed their time and expertise.