East of Saginaw and a tad northeast of Frankenmuth is the town of Vassar in Tuscola County. According to
USGenNet, Vassar s beginnings kicked off on March 1, 1849, when James Edmunds, Joseph Grovenor, Townsend North, and James Saunders ended up here while searching for a place to create their own city.
But what to name this new community? It easily could ve been named after one of those four men, but they decided to dub the town Vassar after James Edmunds Uncle Matthew. Proud of his uncle for many reasons, Edmunds was more than pleased to name his new town after him.
Why name it after Matthew Vassar?
This Michigan Village Was Called a “Hotbed of Abolitionism”
Who woulda thought this little town in Cass County would be pinpointed and shouted out in the U.S. Senate?
In Cass County, at the junction of State Street (M-60) and Water Street in Vandalia, is an Historical Marker, noting where two underground railroad lines met. The Illinois line that came from St. Louis, and the Quaker line up from the Ohio River formed a junction here, combining into one that proceeded to Canada and freedom.
Vandalia, not yet a town, was involved in the Kentucky Slave Raid in 1847. According to the
Villages of Shiawassee Township That Have Fallen off the Radar
HERE), I found some other little-known communities in Shiawassee Township.
Hartwellville didn t last very long.
Fremont started out great but dwindled.
Newburg had a good amount of businesses, but most of them went away.
Bancroft is the only one that grew and prospered.
Get our free mobile app
Hartwellville didn t have much to begin with, except for a school and post office. It was mainly a postal station and became the first to go.
Newburg first settled by Hosea Baker in 1833, was named after Newburgh-on-the Hudson, New York, the hometown of another early settler, Dr. Nicholas Harder. It showed some promise with a mill along the Shiawassee River and a good amount of shops. Today it s mostly residences.