Among early arrivals to the area were both Aaron A. and Hiram S. Newman.  By 1859 Aaron owned 200 acres in Section 5, 6 & 7 of Brighton Township.  The 1875 Atlas records 80 acres in Sec. 9 in Hiram’s name.  Hiram was a commissioner in the Howell Lansing Railroad Company, which brought the railroad to Brighton  July, 1871.  He and wife Rachael had two sons, John Calvin, who married neighbor Margaret McClements in 1880 and Charles A., who married neighbor Ella Thurber in 1878.

Charles acquired two adjoining 40 acre parcels in Sec. 14 & 15, through which Mann Creek flows by 1895.  Intersected by Pleasant Valley Rd., a structure is indicated on the west side.  The neighbor to the east is Adeline Bird.  There are also 22 acres on the northwest side of Beach Lake in Sec. 23.  Sixty acres of his father’s 80 in Sec. 9 can now also be included.  This brings total acreage to 162.  Ella has 33 acres in Sec. 4 in her name which were probably acquired from her father, J.B. Thurber.  (Buried in the Village Cemetery.)

1915 finds Charles in possession of 223 acres in Sec. 14 and 15 and 91 acres in Sec. 13, which would later become a part of the southwest corner of General Motors Proving Grounds

Charles and Ella had four sons and a daughter at the time of the inclusion of “MAPLE RIDGE” farm in the c. 1900 listing.  One can believe the Newmans were a prosperous family.  However, this did not keep sadness from coming to the household.  First son, Claude, who had married neighbor Callie Bitten and fathered four children, died tragically.  He fell while guiding a recently acquired wood cutting machine.  He “slipped on some ice and fell.  In the fall his head went in front of the rear wheels. . .”

In later years we find the names of sons Judd (who never married) and Bert (married to Minnie Kourt, 1909) as owners of Charles’ Sec. 14 and 15 acreage.  Bert and Minnie lived in their home on Newman Road.  Judd lived in the older house on Pleasant Valley.  Altho’ buried in Fairview, second son Ralph, lived in South Dakota for many years.  Daughter Edith married neighbor Charles Paddock.

But Stedman of Florida writes “Charlie was one of the charter members of the Brighton State Bank.  He was a smart farmer.  I remember seeing Charlie and . . . Judd bringing in hay at midnight full moon when it was cooler and easier on the team of horses.”  Another source recalls Charlie could swing a mean scythe even at an advanced age.  Ella died in 1927, Charles in 1949. 

Compliled by Marieanna Bair.  Thanks to Marge Wilcox, Bud Stedman, 1880 History of Livingston County and Milt Charboneau’s Early Land Owners and Settlers and copies of early obituaries.