Original Highland Township Landowner Jason Swift Little is known about this man beyond his name and the fact his patent gives his residence as Wayne County, Michigan. He appears to have been a merchant in Detroit. A biography of John W. Pierce of Grand Rapids, Michigan, recounts how he came to Detroit in 1835 and became "... a clerk for Jason Swift...," American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-Made Men of Michigan, (1878) 4th District, p. 93. In addition to his purchase in Highland Township, Oakland County, Swift also bought land in Flint and Vienna Townships, Genesee County, and in Conway and Unadilla Townships, Livingston County. There is no evidence he ever settled on his purchase in Highland Township. Milton Everett Charboneau, Land Owners & Settlers of Livingston County, Michigan, 1828-1870's, notes that Livingston County records identify Jason Swift's wife as Sophia and that the couple lived at Dexter, Washtenaw County, Michigan. This suggests he is the Jason Swift who married September 5, 1844, at Washtenaw County, Ann Sophia Brigham, born October 15, 1820, the daughter of Dr. Philip S. Brigham. |
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