Caledonia Township
Shiawassee County, Michigan

Captain John Davids, who had been the agent for the Shiawassee County Seat Co. bought the Swain farm and gave up his position of agent to become a farmer. Other first settlers were, Philo Rockwell and Stephen Hawkins.

Hawkins built the first County Courthouse, at Corunna, and several homes. He also built the first school known as Hawkins School, east of Corunna on Lytle Rd. and the first bridge known as Hawkins Bridge.

Early settlers of Corunna, the county seat, include Alexander McArthur, Andrew Mack, J.C. Schwartz, John McDonnell, S.B. Miner, Horace Comstock, John Davids, and Nelson Ferry. Mr. Ferry was a teacher and surveyor and taught at the first school in Corunna.

Elected officials for Corunna in 1858 were A. McArthur, B.O. Williams, E.F. Wade, A.A. Belden, C.W. Coe, George Wilcox, P.S. Lyman and Daniel Bush. Joel K. Akrim was the first postmaster. Other early pioneers were Luke Parsons, Hugh McCrudy, Andrew Parsons, Silas and Daniel Ball, A.H. Beach, John Frasier, James Wheeler, Chauncey Hurlburt, John Ingersoll, Henry Gilbert and Todd Kincaid. Titus Yerkes and his wife had come from New York and Pennsylvania in 1849. He was a miller and had a dam built across the Shiawassee River. Lemuel Eddy built a grist mill known as Valley Mills.

The first township meeting was held in 1839 in the home of Alexander McArthur, who was elected Supervisor. Samuel Warren was secretary and treasurer. D.P. Congdon, Alexander McArthur and W.R. Seymour were assessors. S.N. Warren, McArthur, and John Davids were the school inspectors.

Stephen Hawkins, Ninion Clark and John Davids were the highway commissioners. Justices of the Peace were Samuel N. Warren, McArthur, Davids and Don C. Griswold.

James Thompson of Jefferson Co., NY, came in 1857 and with the help of another settler named Moe, built a cabin on 160 acres in section 14. He later brought his family and established a school for his children. The area surrounding the farm later became the Caledonia Coal Mines.

The village of Kerby was located on M-21 two miles east of Corunna. This settlement was named after Samuel W. Kirby, who came in 1870. He was a preacher and his family included 12 children. His son, Samuel Kerby Jr., operated a grain elevator on their farm in section 24.

Joseph Levitt became the first postmaster of Kerby, on August 1, 1888. He also owned a store there. The Post Office closed in 1904. In the 1920's there were three gas stations here and a general store, all of which closed.

Kerby is also known for its old red country school, owned today by Don Mitchell, and used by an Art club. The Kerby Park which includes a brick school is owned by the county. The coal mines and clay pits were located just north of M-21 on Kerby Rd. At one time there was a railroad spur to the coal mine.

The clay pits later became a favorite swimming hole, and in the 1960's this area became known as Lake Leslie, named after Ray Leslie who purchased the property. He was an Owosso building contractor. Several homes have been built around the lake in the 1990's.

In 1847, the county purchased an 80 acre farm to be used as the county poor farm. Many elderly people lived there in their last days and a cemetery is located on the property in section 32 on Lyons Rd.