1. Historical Articles from Historical Society
2. County Township Pages History of each Township.
3. Michigan County Histories. Part of the Humanities Text Initiative, a unit of the University of Michigan's Digital Library Production Service.
4. History of Stanton
5. Board of Supervisors Proceedings 1913-1914

Montcalm County was formed in 1831 from Ionia, its parent county. According to the 1990 census, the  population of Montcalm County was 53,059.   The County consists of 713 square miles of prime farm land, numerous communities and beautiful lakes. Stanton is the county seat.

According to records, Judge (later Governor) Epaphroditus Ransom, made the first purchase of land in what is now known as Montcalm County.

The first land transfer, other than those from government land grants was recorded on October 18, 1837 when Benjamin Young of Phelps, Ontario Co., New York transferred a parcel of land to Carso Craneof the same city in New York.

Newcomb J. Ireland was the county's first Register of Deeds. He made his first entry a transfer of land from the State of Michigan to one Ebenezer Salyer.

The probable first settler was found in the wild lands of Montcalm County in the Spring of 1837, by Thomas Cornell, the Ionia County Surveyor. Mr. Cornell came upon Luther Lincoln and his young son of about 13 years of age, living near the junction of the Flat River and the Black Creek.

The first marriage on the books of Montcalm County was that of Benjamin A. Weaverand Gertrude Stockholm. The marriage took place in Greenville on March 19, 1851. Wilson Mosher,a minister of the gospel performed the marriage.

First court proceedings in Montcalm County took place June 21, 1853 before JudgeMartin in Greenville. Both proceeding were divorce cases: Washington D. Coons vs. Martha E. Coons and Mary West vs. John West.

Most likely, the first white man to make a permanent home in Ferris Township, which included present day Home, Richland and Day Townships, was Edward Wolbert. He built a cabin in the corner of the township which would be atthe present day location of the area east of M-66 and north ofLake Montcalm Road.

In the spring of 1863, a group of ten pioneers, consisting of John Peoples and family, John's brother-in-law Frederick Bishop, John's un-married brother Hugh Peoples and their families, stopped at the remote cabin of Mr. Wolbert. They all built cabins in the area and started clearing land.

In 1854, a group of area residents presented a petition to the Board of Supervisors, asking that a new township be allowed. They wanted to call it Home Township. This was allowed and election ofofficers was held in April of 1865. The township records burnedin 1872 so no actual records have survived regarding the seelections. However, further records indicate that John Peoples was the first Supervisor.

The first marriage in the township was that of Hugh Peoples to Maria Wysick, who parents had settled in the eastern part of the township. This marriage took place July 4,1865.

Births were not recorded in the township until May of 1867, and it appears that the first white child born there was AnnaPeoples, daughter of John and Eliza Peoples.

The first death, according to the old history books was a Mrs. Rapp, probably the wife or mother of the early settler, Solomon Rapp.

The first buried in the Home Township Cemetery was probably Salina E. Beard, daughter of J. F. Beard and D. H.Beard. She died in August of 1866. The records of thecemetery burned, except for the plot map. No records areavailable of the early graves that were not marked.

There were few from the township that served in the army during the Civil War as the area was still very sparsely inhabited. The known soldiers were: Henry W. Hewes, James Ovenhouse, Leroy Park, Gilman J. Wright and John Arnold from Edmore; Moses Bennett, John Bush and Azariah Soule from Cedar Lake; Nelson G.Richardson, Lafayette Shepardson and Philo R. Smith from Wyman; James Gilson, Albert Jennings, Osmond S. Tower, Josiah H. Gibbs, James K. Train, Peters Stoddard Alonzo M. Wolaver. Surelythere were others that served, but records are sketchy.

The first school district was organized in the spring of 1865 with Orlando Evans as the first teacher.