BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Many history buffs are aware that American abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth spent some time in West Michigan, but now, thanks to the work of a local historian, we know exactly where Truth owned property.
Truth bought land in 1857 in a town called “Harmonia,” which we now know as the Battle Creek area. She lived there until 1867.
Local historian and president of Southwest Michigan Underwater Preserve, Kevin Ailes, was able to pinpoint Truth’s exact property location.
“I saw on some historic maps that her name was listed there as a property owner and, you know, the town is long gone. There are no landmarks anymore to identify this with, so it’s been really a mystery where this was,” he said. “This was kind of a progression over [the] years, and actually, my wife and I, our fifth date, we were actually looking at old foundations in the woods trying to determine if this was Sojourner Truth’s home,” Ailes added. “We actually were in the wrong place, but I knew that I had the right girl.”
Ailes, and his wife Amy, used old maps mixed with new technology to compare what was previously Harmonia to what’s on the property now: DENSO.
Truth’s former home was right where the mobility supplier’s thermal manufacturing facility stands now in Battle Creek.
“I’ve become a little more fluent using Google Earth and GPS and a certain app that I use that manages to lay the surveying lines over Google Earth,” Ailes explained. “I was able to actually line up information from the old maps with the more modern maps to get a very good idea of where she was.”
Ailes told FOX 17 Truth bought lots 48 and 65 in June and July of 1857; however, the town was devastated by a tornado in 1862. They rebuilt Harmonia, but it was never the same and went into decline.
Lot 65 is where Truth's house was and it stayed in the family until 1896.
He says this discovery is years in the making.
Ailes, with the help of his wife Amy, Sally at the Calhoun County Register of Deeds and Michael at the library in Battle Creek, he uncovered the mystery.
“I walked out of there with, you know, maps of the original Harmonia, the deeds with her name on it, the name Sojourner Truth on them, for both of her properties, descriptions of exactly where these were,” Ailes walked FOX 17 through the process. “And a lot of patience and a fair amount of Aspirin because reading this tiny little cursive print is not easy to do…managed to follow the descriptions like a map right to where her home was.”
Somewhat surprisingly for Ailes, DENSO was thrilled to learn about the historical significance of its Battle Creek property.
“Sojourner Truth is the hero and I just want everyone to stand back and look at her and see what she accomplished and under the adversity she accomplished [it].”
Ailes, Sojourner Truth historian and reenactor Donna Rickman, DENSO employees and members of DENSO’s Black Resource Network gathered Tuesday to share the significance of this discovery and talk about Truth’s contributions to human rights.
“I think that her name has always been on the map somewhere, you know. We’ve always known who she was, what her contributions are, but this is really an excellent opportunity to revisit her story,” Ailes told FOX 17 Wednesday. “I’m hoping that with the story getting out, many people will take the time to Google Sojourner Truth, to look her up on the different research sites out there to learn a bit about what she did, what she accomplished and how it affects us in a very positive way today.”
Ailes also reached out to some direct descendants of Truth, the McLiechey family, and plans to connect with them in the near future to share his discovery and learn more about Truth's life and legacy.
