Rochester Colony

In Rochester, New York, on Feb. 29, 1836, a group called 'The Rochester Colony Association' met to plan colonization "in the far west" and the kind of life they would have.

This colony was to be a planned community with town lots to be drawn equal to the number of shares owned. Farm lots could be purchased from the original claim. W. G. Russell, Joseph Sever, and E.R. Everest were appointed to act as agents to select and purchase the land. Direction for promising locations had come from friends in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan.

By the middle of May the work was completed. Russell wrote, "We found all the important places taken except for one which lies on the Maple. We think that the water privileges are good and the land first best. Sever and myself are much pleased with it."

And so, the Colony, which later was known by the name of Mapleton, was formed. The first families to arrive in 1836 included John Ferdon, Samuel Barker, and Oliver Beebe, along with Ellen Lowe. They journeyed to Detroit by water and then followed the Grand River Trail to a point where Laingsburg now stands. From there, they struck north "through trackless forest," cutting a trail as they went. The 20-mile trip took nine days to complete.

By the mid-1800s, Rochester Colony featured stores, a grist and sawmill, a casket and furniture company, two churches, doctors, a blacksmith, and a school. However, plans for a canal linking the Shiawassee and Maple rivers never materialized and the railroad that residents hoped for was eventually built further south - in the village of St. Johns.

After the turn of the century, business left and the area became more residential. The community is not extinct, being home today to families and serving as a gathering spot for members and guests of the Duplain Church of Christ that is located nearby.

Historical information taken from the 1980 Clinton County History; complied by Jeanne Temple.