Born Margareeta Johanna Konttra Niiranen in Tornio, Finland, in 1861, Maggie Walz came to the United States at the age of twenty. After arriving in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, she took a job as a domestic servant for the Jacob Ojanpera family in Oskar, near Houghton. Walz had other aspirations, however.
Joseph Brand was born free to Mildred Ann Brand, a single mother, on March 22, 1839 in Pennsylvania. After he arrived in Joyfield Township, Benzie County, Michigan, he was married to Mary Belle Imes. On May 21, 1868, Joseph Brand Davis filed for a homestead. He received his patent certificate on November 1, 1872. In 1898, In 1898, Joseph Brand Davis donated two acres of his homestead land to the Reorganized Church of the Latter-Day Saints to build a church.
David Imes was born around 1840 in Pennsylvania. Born free, he was the eldest son of John and Elizabeth Imes. In 1863, while he was in Ohio, Imes registered to fight in the Civil War. He served as a Private with Company K, with the 5th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment United States Colored Troops (USCT). Following his time in the Colored Troops, Imes moved to Joyfield Township, Benzie County, Michigan. Here, he married his wife Emaline and filed for a homestead claim.
The Marshes are believed to be the first people of color to homestead in Manistee County, Michigan. Right after the Civil War, they left West Virginia and headed east. Their first stop was in Morrow County, Ohio where they for about two years before heading to Michigan to homestead. The Marsh family still owns 30 acres of the homestead property.
It is believed that the Davis family was the first family of color to homestead in Benzie County, Michigan. William Davis filed Homestead Application #450 to claim 160 acres of land in the Joyfield Township, Benzie County Michigan in July 1863. After the death of his daughter, Davis sold 5 acres of land for $35 to the township for the purpose of creating the Joyfield Cemetery, the first in the township. The land remained in the family until 1974.
