Abram Dean and wife Catherine bought the NW ¼, Section 29 and the N ½ NW ¼ section 20 in Brighton Township in 1838. Their son, William Henry Harrison, b. 1836 in New York was with them. As was often the case, they traveled with friends for mutual support. Timothy Warner, Cyrenus Morgan and […]
LeGrand Beach a farmer, (b. Nov. 4, 1810, N.Y.) came to Green Oak Township c. 1845. He purchased government land, 120 acres, in Section 1. East of Kensington Rd., south of the Grand River Trail, north of the Huron River, it is now part of the Island Lake Recreation Area. A house was built and […]
Born July 22, 1819, in Scotland, David Thompson came to America at age 16. He had previously been employed as a foundry man. Upon settling in Brighton in 1840, he established one of the first industries in the Village. He built a foundry at 300 E. Grand River. Census records state his occupation as a […]
Samuel M. Conelys ancestors sailed with Lord Baltimore to find new homes in the new world. His father, Jerimiah, was born c. 1766, in Snow Hill, Maryland, and became a seaman. Sams mother was a Norris, born at the east end of Long Island, New York. Born 9/26/1806, Sam had six siblings: Achseh b. 1797, […]
Beginning in 1835, many with the surname of Power(s) began making the journey from the east, mainly New York, to buy and settle land in Michigan. Among them was Robert D. Power and wife, Aleta. They built and operated the first public house in Brighton on Grand River at the southeast corner of the Trail and […]
Among the flood of Easterners to Michigan following the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, came several by the name of Bishop, all born in New York. Their relationship has not been established. They may be brothers or cousins.
Several families by the name of Buck are recorded as having purchased land in Livingston County in the first half of the 19th century. All, of course, came from the East. Jasper and Rhoda (Hendricks) were in the Brighton Village area by 1841. Shortly after their arrival, their two oldest children, Willis, seven, and Philena, […]
Altho many who invested in land in the area in the early 1830s bought it sight unseen, John Cushing, a farmer (b. 1783, Nova Scotia) and wife Elizabeth (b. 1787 MA), arrived in Brighton Township c. 1835. With them came sons Benjamin (b. 1814 Canada), William (b. 1819 Canada) and Alonzo (b. 1825 N.Y.). Elizabeth […]
In 1910, at the age of 14 (b. August 31, 1896), Jesse Barton Cooley came from Milford to Brighton with his mother, Frances. October 4, 1917, his mother married widower Frank S. Conely four days after Jesse entered the Army September 30, 1917. After training at Camp Custer, the Private was transferred to Camp McArthur […]
One of the many who crossed the mountains on the Erie Canal and sailed across Lake Erie, Benjamin, age 26, arrived in 1833. From Detroit he found his way to the cabin of his older brother, Ammon, October 21. Ammon (27) and wife Lucy had arrived a year earlier, and had taken up land in […]
