Samuel and Anna Dexter led the Dexter Colony that first settled the village of Ionia in 1833, and Samuel Dexter became a leading businessman in Ionia. Erastus and Phoebe Yeomans were original settlers of the village, and Erastus Yeomans was Ionia's first postmaster. Dr. W.B. and Anthy Lincoln were members of the original party of Ionia colonists, and W.B. was Ionia County's first doctor as well as the settlement's first school teacher.