The world according to Graydon Meints (Michigan Railroad Lines, Vol 1, pp 329-331):
The line was built by Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw in 1896 and leased to the Michigan Central. MC merged the JL&S into MC in 1916, at which time they abandoned the last 1.2 miles between Needham and Cromwells Mills. There appears to be branches off this line (Sturgeon Branch and Richardson Branch, which itself had a network of branches.