The Establishment of Webster Corners

Early settlers of the Webster area were the Hon. Samuel W. Dexter (1824) and Charles B. Taylor (1824), purchasing land in the southwest corner of the township near the present-day city of Dexter. Thomas Alexander from Wales and Luther Boyden from Conway, MA, settled in Webster Township (1826) in an area called Boyden’s Plain and were later that same year joined by Israel Arms (1826) from MA. Charles Starks arrived from PA and settled on the north side of Boyden’s Plain in 1827. Salmon H. Matthews arrived here in 1827 from Conway, MA. Next came Peter Sears who settled in the southeast corner of the township and Sturms Kimberly. Ezra Fish and Ira Seymour also came in 1827. In 1828, John Williams arrived from Sempronius, NY, with his wife and 10 children to settle in Webster Township and Henry Scadin. In 1829, Munnis Kenny and family and Tillotson Wheeler settled in Webster Township. Munnis Kenny suggested the township be named after the statesman Daniel Webster. Accounts of all of these people can be found in the several books written by James Baldwin Parker* and many of their graves can be found in the Webster Church Cemetery.

James Baldwin Parker, area historian, wrote a few books about the history of the four corners of Webster Township. To learn more, please read the books listed below. They are available from WTHS, so contact us for more information.

James Baldwin Parker and Osbert Oliver Williams, 2008. The Third Marked Tree: Paths through the Wilderness – John Williams of Webster Township and His Descendants. Smith Falls, ON, Canada: Performance Printing.

James Baldwin Parker and Jeannette Mumford Straub, 2010. Brookwater Farm of Webster Township: 184 Years of Agricultural Leadership. Dexter, MI: Thompson-Shore.

James Baldwin Parker, 2011. Burr Oaks Farm – The Kleinschmidt Family of Webster Township and Washtenaw County, Michigan. Dexter, MI: Thompson-Shore.

James Baldwin Parker, 2012. Voices of the Past: The Saga of Gordon Hall – Judge Samuel W. Dexter’s Historic Mansion Near Dexter, in Webster Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan. Dexter, MI: Thompson-Shore.

James Baldwin Parker, 2013. Journal of Munnis Kenny, Michigan Pioneer: His 1828 Jouney on the Erie Canal from Putney, Vermont to Washtenaw County. Dexter, MI: Thompson-Shore.

James Baldwin Parker and Thelma Wheeler Tucker, 2014. Sky Blue Pink with Orange Polka-Dots: The Wheeler Family and the Community in Which They Lived. Dexter, MI: Thompson-Shore.