Upcoming Events
November Membership Meeting: Digging Down in Dimondale: They Were Here First Potawatomi Keepers of the Fire
Sam Corey Senior Center, 2108 Cedar Street, Holt, MI
Presenter: Terry Hill
America 250 Exhibit at Ingham County Courthouse
The Ingham County Courthouse currently has a new display. It features America’s 250th birthday and honors the two Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Ingham County; Ephraim Wheaton and Martin DuBois.

Private Ephraim Wheaton (1760-1853) served in the American Revolution as both a soldier and a musician. He enlisted at Northampton, MA on 14 February 1781 for a term of three years. For a period of ten months and one day he served as a fifer with Captain Dean’s Company, Colonel Benjamin Tupper’s (10th) Massachusetts Regiment of the Massachusetts Line. On 1 August 1781 he was appointed a drummer. On 1 January 1782 he reenlisted for twelve months as a fifer. During his enlistment he served at the Battle of Kings Bridge, Fort Washington, Philadelphia and was with General Washington’s Army to witness Lord Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown in 1781.
Private Ephraim Wheaton was honorably discharged at West Point, New York on 18 December 1783.
Upon his discharge Ephraim Wheaton continued his living as a farmer and ‘cordwainer’ (shoemaker) in New York. About 1836, he moved his family to Stockbridge in the Territory of Michigan because of less expensive land for farming in Michigan, and his desire to establish homes for his younger children, something he could not do in New York because of the high price of land.
Private Martin DuBois (1764-1850) served as a private in the American Revolution as a soldier and a bugler. He enlisted in Marbletown, Ulster County NY on 1 April 1782 and served nine months under Captain Gilbert Livingston, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Weissenfel’s Regiment of New York Levies. He remained in Ulster County during the nine months of his service except when sent out on short scouts into adjacent counties. During one of those scouts he engaged in a skirmish near Pockotocka.
Private Martin DuBois was discharged in December 1782.
In 1832 Martin purchased 81 acres in Saline Township, Washtenaw County, Territory of Michigan. About 1839 he travelled with his family, their spouses and extended families to Michigan settling in Washtenaw County where he remained until his death while visiting family in Ingham County in 1850.
Honoring Revolutionary War Patriots

Information on forty-eight Revolutionary War Patriots, direct ancestors of members of the Lansing Chapter DAR, is on display in the Ingham County Courthouse. . Information included along with the Patriot's name includes his birth and death date and place and where he served. The profiles also give the name of the DAR Chapter member who is a direct descendant.

The book, Ingham County Rural One-Room Schools, is available for purchase from AMAZON. The book provides information on 155 early Ingham County one-room schoolhouses. The book, published by Ingham County Historical Commission, includes chapters organized by township according to when the township was established. An 1874 map featuring color-coded school districts begins each chapter, followed by schools listed by district number and name. Where information is available, the timeline begins with the earliest known school's location and description and includes deed and lease information as well as information on consolidation/annexation. The appendix includes teacher information by school and date, if known.
