Several McDonnels are listed as first landowners in the area: Charles in Osceola and James and Michael both in Hartland Townships. A John McConnell, of Monroe, N. Y. recorded on May 11, 1833, a purchase of 160 acres in Section 26 of Brighton Township. (Buno and Spencer Rd. area.) Some McDonalds purchased land in Green Oak and Hamburg Townships. The Handwritten early documents can be difficult to clearly determine accurate spelling.
Patrick and Rose McDonnell, of New York, bought t the land in Section 26 in 1852 and 1860. They also bought, in 1869, in section 25. The 1875 record indicates they sold theses pieces. Is the John McConnell, the spellings vary, related to the Patrick McDonnell who purchased Johns property (Brighton Section 26) in 1852? Both are from New York. We hesitate to draw unsubstantiated conclusions.
Not all of the McDonnells who bought land in the county lived on the land at the time. The various spellings (MacDonald/McDonald) in which land transactions are recorded prohibit us from ascertaining accurate family connections without much more comprehensive research. At one time Rose McDonnells (Patricks wife) name is on the 360 acres bounded by Buno Rd. on the north, Spencer on the south with Kensington Rd. dividing on the section line.
The McDonnell SPRING BROOK FARM may be a cousin, Michael (b. 1855). The last McDonnells to own the Section 26 property were Michaels children: Duncan, Rose Mary, Dorothy, Gertrude and Jessie. Several of the girls married, the others worked in offices in Detroit.
As has occurred with much of the areas acreage, small parcels were sold to individuals who have built comfortable homes on the rolling real estate. Governmental regulations may have encourage the sale of these smaller pieces even as these regulations reinforce the Sprawl with which we are all familiar. Other land owners in Section 25 and 26 included: W. Sterling, New York City, Daniel Durfee, Montgomery, New York and several others from New York City. It is very possible, if not likely, these families know each other for some time and decided to would be better to strike out for the wilderness together.
Compiled by Marieanna Bair from census records and atlases of Brighton Township. Also First Land Owners, Early Land Owners and Settlers, copies of Local obituaries and records of Calvary Cemetery all by Milton Charbone.