Nathaniel Bryant was one of Dexter's most successful early farmers. In 1845 he operated 4 farms, and by 1848 he kept 900 sheep and 5 pair of oxen. During the 1850's he reduced his sheep herd and by 1853, he had only 250 sheep. His focus turned more and more to dairy cows; he owned 56 by 1853, and churning butter became a big business. The buter was churned by horse power, and it is said that he employed "a Dutch dairy maid from Pennsylvania, who had a plump and sturdy figure, strong white arms and good hands for butter making." Mt. Pleasant Cemetery was created from his lands on Bryant Hill.

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