Most records indicate that Rumsey met Allen in Detroit,
but an account in the historical volume, Past and Present of Washtenaw
County, Michigan has Cleveland as the meeting site for the pair.(4) It
seems that Allen and Rumsey had common backgrounds. Allen was trying to
shake off some bad debts he accrued in Virginia. Perhaps it was natural
for the two to join forces in their quest of starting new lives. Whatever
their reasons were in forming a partnership remains unknown. What is known
is that the two men filed a claim in the Detroit Federal Land Office on
February 24, 1824 for their newly found plot of land.(5) Rumsey was the
less wealthy of the two, purchasing only 160 acres which was considerably
less than Allen's 480 acres. |