- By Louise Bement
In 1799 Thomas North purchased all of Lot # 71 (600 acres) in the Town of Milton (now Lansing). There he built the log cabin which is now at the entrance to Myers Park. Thomas Jefferson North was born April 5, 1813 in the cabin. He married Jane Elmira Townley of Lansing in 1837. They moved to Ohio where their first son, James E. North was born in 1838. During the winter of 1838-39 Jane returned to Lansing where Frank J. North was born. Later that spring she returned to Ohio where Luther Hedden North, the third son, was born. Frank and Luther were at Fort Kearney on the Platte River in 1860 when the Pony Express rider came through from the west. Both boys tried to get a job as Pony Express riders, but were told that they were not taking anyone under 20 years old.