The first pioneers to own the Asylum Lake property were Enoch Harris, the first black resident to Kalamazoo, and his wife Deborah. They arrived from Marion County, Ohio in 1830 and are also credited with planting the first apple orchard in Kalamazoo County. For twenty years prior to the Civil War, Harris was known to participate in the Underground Railroad, assisting fugitive slaves to the freedom of the north. Their daughter Louisa married Henry Powers in the first marriage of the township in 1836. When Enoch passed away in 1970, his widow resided on their farm until her passing. The 1860 county census listed the value of Harris' real estate as $80,000. Their son Charles lived to retirement, mysteriously passing away in his sleep a few days after he had sold the remaining 80 acres of his original land grant of 320 acres to Charles Rickard for $1,800. Charles Harris was believed to have resided in Kalamazoo County continuously longer than any other man within its borders at the time of his death in 1903. In 1973, one of the first historical markers erected in Michigan in honor of African Americans was dedicated to Enoch and Deborah Harris at Genessee Prairie Cemetary in Oshtemo Township. |
The First Owners: Enoch & Deborah Harris |
Asylum Lake History Kalamazoo County, MI |
The first pioneers to own the Asylum Lake property were Enoch Harris, the first black resident to Kalamazoo, and his wife Deborah. They arrived from Marion County, Ohio in 1830 and are also credited with planting the first apple orchard in Kalamazoo County. For twenty years prior to the Civil War, Harris was known to participate in the Underground Railroad, assisting fugitive slaves to the freedom of the north. Their daughter Louisa married Henry Powers in the first marriage of the township in 1836. When Enoch passed away in 1970, his widow resided on their farm until her passing. The 1860 county census listed the value of Harris' real estate as $80,000. Their son Charles lived to retirement, mysteriously passing away in his sleep a few days after he had sold the remaining 80 acres of his original land grant of 320 acres to Charles Rickard for $1,800. Charles Harris was believed to have resided in Kalamazoo County continuously longer than any other man within its borders at the time of his death in 1903. In 1973, one of the first historical markers erected in Michigan in honor of African Americans was dedicated to Enoch and Deborah Harris at Genessee Prairie Cemetary in Oshtemo Township. |
