The Portland daily press., 1896-08-22
Henry CLAWS Negro COLONY.

few miles from Edwardsburg, Mich,
Is a settlement exclusively of colored
people known as Calvin Center. In fact,
| the entire township in which Calvin Con-
ter is located is possessed by coloTed peo-
pie, nearly all of whom are farmers on q
large and successful scale. TIE town
ship has no small degree of interest at
taohing to it, both from an historical and
sociological stan dpoint, rs some of those
who now live there and the ancestors Of
the present generation were slaves on the
plantation of Hnry Clay, the great Ken
tucky statesman, and were granted their
free ON by him a few years prior to his
death for long and faithful servituds.
Henry Clay one day, in recognition of q
number of his old family servants, and
in characteristic spirit of generosity,
gave them their liberty and conveyed them
to Ohio, where he bought the land and
located them. He returned to Kentucky,
but few weeks afterwards, while sitting
on the Veranda of his plantation home one
evening in reverie, he was aroused by
a loud shout, and looking up, saw the
entire band of his emancipated slaves
plodding down the roads towards him,
swinging their hats and sunbonnets and
shouting hosan mas Of gIaduess that they
We're again Oh the old familiar grounds.
~ response to his questioning, they In
formed him thaS they had become so
homesick that they could stand it no
longer, and, pulling stakes and dlSpoSlng
OF their 1.-Two stock and goods they had
walled the entire distance back to Ken
lucky to spsnd their remaining days In
tho fields they had known SO we'll. Clay
had some pet theories in regard TO
them, and was ohagrined at being dis
appointed. He decided to make another
effort, and after disposing of the Ohio
lands he had bought for them, he again
loaded them up an d, conc luding that he
would remove them to a more distant
point. whence they would not be SO like
ly to walk back to Kentucky, ne Landed
them in Calvin township. Michigan, and
there they have stuck ever since, increas-
Ing and plospering.
III Henry Clay's theory was sociologl-
cal one-thar the negro could be made
self-respeoting. independent, and self
sustaining-he was RICH, in it, for under
the thrifty care of his pioneer ex slaves
the broad and fertile acres of Calvin
have bsen made to yield most beautifully
and today the most prosperous farmers
OF that section are to be found among the
negroes. Considerable Indian blood has
orept into the colony, and straight hair,
high cheek bones, and mi xture of In
dian and African features are very notice
able. stE
The oolored people show .greas shrewd
ness in getting possession of hundreds and
hundreds Of acres of hardwood timber
that abounded in their ne1ghhorhood be-
fore the matter Of timber supply assumed
the Importance of question, and rs
result they are today owners of nearly
all the hardwood timber in the locally.
10 the summer time they push their
farming, and in the. winter haul wood
ana saw logs, and by this means always
Keep themselves supplied with ready
money, having the advantage in this re-
spect OF majority of their white friends.
some OF them also do an extensive char
Goa! business. Thers used to be great
deal of lawlessness in Calvin, and serious
cutting and shooting affrays were com
mon occurrences. But lawlessness has
become thing fof the past in Calvin, and
now the colored people of that section are
looking after the educational interests Of
the!r oHspr1ng as are the whites, and !
majority OF the young men and women
are OF good education. Everything about
the township has thrifty appearance;
1he original cabins have either boon con-
verteo lnto sheds or pulled down, and re-
placed with neat, commodious frame
ana prick buildings, many of them Of
considerable pretensions, while no better
farms can be found anywhere. Among
thesyounger generation the negro dialect
has disappeared and good manners and
Intelligence are everywhere apparent
They have very oredltable brass band
aud orchestra, have their schools, liter
airy societies, and keep we'll in line with
their wnlte nelghhors of the surrounding
Press.