Director

The Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society &amp; Black Mecca Museum features displays that contain a wealth of information, local artifacts and genealogical information on the achievements and struggles of Blacks in early Chatham. Visitors to the museum can also experience a guided walking tour of the surrounding area, discovering the streets and places where people like Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Martin Delany and John Brown once walked. BME FREEDOM PARKThe BME Freedom Park is located on the former site of Chatham’s BME Church. In response to the growing tensions surrounding slavery in the United States, Canadians formally established Chatham’s British Methodist Episcopal Church in 1856. In 1983 the church was designated a heritage building by the municipality because of its historical significance as one of the earliest religious institutions owned and governed by former slaves who escaped to and settled in Canada. In 1989 however the BME Church was demolished due to disrepair and the lot remained vacant until the BME Freedom Park was established.The park, developed in conjunction with the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, East Side Pride, University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, was officially opened in 2009. The park’s focal point is the bronze bust of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, sculpted by Artis Shreve Lane.Head Contact: Samantha Meredith, Executive Director-Curator

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A Benjamin Drew Article: Gilbert Dickey, Chatham-Kent resident, Former Slave

The Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society & Black Mecca Museum shares the story of Chatham’s Black community beginning at the end of the 18th century until the present day. 

In the early 1800’s Black families began to settle along McGregor’s Creek and by the 1850 the village of Chatham, then known as “the Forks” was almost one-third Black. Rev. Richard R. Disney is quoted as saying: “Chatham was not a Mecca only. In a broader and truer sense, it was the Coloured Man’s Paris.” Once here, Blacks in Chatham thrived in business, education, medicine, sports, literary and cultural arts. News of their success attracted Blacks to the area from across North America.

Black Historical Society/Black Mecca Museum

This interactive tour allows you to explore the prominent African-Canadian history in various parts of Southwestern Ontario. 

Blacks in Canada Before the Civil WarBy 1860, more than 200,000 Blacks could be found in Canada West (Upper Canada prior to 1841), most of whom had left the United States in order to escape either slavery or the restrictive life free Blacks were forced to lead even in the northern states in the years before the Civil War. While the free Blacks could emigrate on their own, most of the escaped slaves, known as ‘fugitives,’ arrived in Canada via the Underground Railroad which developed in the 1820s and 1830s. The Underground Railroad was a network of escape routes and sanctuaries manned by abolitionists, Quakers and former slaves, who provided food, lodging, directions and transportation. In some cases, fugitive slaves traveled as much as 1000 miles with little more than a compass and a loaf of bread.In strictly legal terms, Canada West was a haven for Blacks, slaves and free. Although slavery was practiced within the province in the 17th and 18th centuries, the number of slaves remained small and a direct trade from Africa to Canada was never established. The Upper Canadian Act Against Slavery (1793) prohibited the importation of slaves into the province and by 1834, slavery itself was declared illegal throughout the British Empire. However, prejudice and racist attitudes persisted. The Black population, including former slaves and free people of colour, dramatically increased following the United States Congress’ passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The Act also required state and local authorities to assist in the return of escaped slaves.While the Black population of Canada West greatly increased after 1850, there were already several Black settlements in southwestern Ontario, some of which had been specifically established to provide a home for escaped slaves. While many were short-lived, during the time they flourished, Black settlements were proof that former slaves could build successful lives for themselves, refuting claims to the contrary.

There are many structures and monuments throughout Ontario connected to the province’s Black community, whose history extends back into the early 19th Century. Although London had a relatively small Black community until the 1980s, there are several historic sites and monuments from the pre-Civil War era, when Canada was a safe haven for thousands of escaped slaves. There are also many resources in London for Black History studies, some of which are listed.

People and Places: Black History Tour (London and Southwestern Ontario)

A focal point for many local anti-slavery activities, the Sandwich First Baptist Church stands as an important symbol of that struggle. When a bounty hunter was seen in the area, a bell was rung and every person who heard the ringing of the bell picked up a bell and began to ring it so that those who had escaped from the South would have time to hide in a designated spot in the church. The pastor would lock the door at the hearing of the bell. When all the enslaved people were hidden away he would instruct his church to start singing "There’s a Stranger at the Door" and the church doors would be opened. Unable to find whoever they were looking for; the bounty hunter left the church and the area. When you visit Sandwich First Baptist Church today, you will be transported back in time to discover what folklore and history have taught us.

Erected in 1851 on land donated by the Crown, the Sandwich First Baptist Church (a National Historic Site) represents the once numerous Black border-town churches which were built to serve the rapidly increasing numbers of Underground Railroad settlers. This church received, sheltered, and assisted many of these new arrivals. All members were required to aid in its construction by giving donations or making bricks. It replaced a log cabin on Hill Street in Olde Sandwich Towne whose use as a Black church dated back to the early 1820s.

Sandwich First Baptist Church

The Amherstburg Freedom Museum offers exhibits and archives that preserve and share Amherstburg’s connection to the Underground Railroad. The site includes Nazrey AME Church, National Historic Site and a terminus of the Underground Railroad, and the Taylor Log Cabin from the same period that looks like the occupants just stepped out for a moment. It is entirely appropriate, and even necessary, that the Museum was established in Amherstburg. Amherstburg meant freedom, as the Canadian destination for many freedom seekers escaping enslavement in the United States. The Museum is uniquely situated to resource a profound history, steeped in its surroundings, to further extend public knowledge and enjoyment.

Amherstburg Freedom Museum

In 1846 John Freeman Walls a fugitive slave from North Carolina built this log cabin on land purchased from the Refugee Home Society. This organization was founded by the abolitionist Henry Bibb, publisher of the Voice of The Fugitive, and the famous Josiah Henson. The cabin subsequently served as a terminal of the Underground Railroad and the first meeting place of the Puce Baptist Church. Although many former slaves returned to the United States following the American Civil War, Walls and his family chose to remain in Canada. The story of their struggles, forms the basis of the book The Road That Led to Somewhere by Dr. Bryan WallsThis site is sponsored by Proverbs Heritage Organization (a Federally registered charitable not for profit organization) and was developed to express the theme of: EQUAL SISTERHOOD AND BROTHERHOOD OF HUMANKIND world wide. Email: bryanugrr@aol.com

The John Freeman Walls Historic Site is family owned and operated. Meet descendants of the Underground Railroad, as tour guides take you on an interactive trip back in time. The focal point of the visit is a log cabin built in 1846 by escaped slave John Freeman Walls and his wife Jane King Walls, who rest in the family cemetery on the property. School/Bus tours welcome. Call in advance. Admission Charged.

John Freeman Walls Historic Site and Underground Railroad Museum

Today Buxton is inhabited by descendants of the original settlers dedicated to preserving a rich heritage and the Buxton National Historic Site &amp; Museum is the nucleus of these efforts. In addition to permanent and travelling exhibits of settlement artifacts, the museum houses a library and research centre of papers significant to North American Black history. The site also preserves the original schoolhouse and cemetery. For more than 95 years, on Labour Day weekend, a Homecoming is held in Buxton. During this four-day celebration, thousands of people return “home” to renew ties with their roots and with their family and friends. The Buxton area was recognized by the Canadian Government in 1999 as a place of National Historic Significance. We invite you to visit here where you will find the evidence of 150 years of the life of this unique Underground Railroad community. We hope that as you leave you will be left with a feeling of hope, inspiration, of friendliness and of family. Email: <a href="mailto:buxton@ciaccess.com" target="_blank">buxton@ciaccess.com</a>

The Buxton National Historic Site & Museum is located just outside the city of Chatham. Started in 1849 by Rev. William King, an Irish born Presbyterian minister, the Buxton Settlement was established as a safe haven in which to extend freedom to the 15 slaves he acquired through a variety of circumstances. Under Rev. King’s guidance and with the assistance of some Canadian abolitionists, a 9000-acre tract of land was purchased. The goal of the founders was to build a self-sufficient, self-sustaining community for both fugitives and free Blacks. 

Buxton National Historic Site and Museum

The Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society &amp; Black Mecca Museum features displays that contain a wealth of information, local artifacts and genealogical information on the achievements and struggles of Blacks in early Chatham. Visitors to the museum can also experience a guided walking tour of the surrounding area, discovering the streets and places where people like Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Martin Delany and John Brown once walked.  BME FREEDOM PARKThe BME Freedom Park is located on the former site of Chatham’s BME Church. In response to the growing tensions surrounding slavery in the United States, Canadians formally established Chatham’s British Methodist Episcopal Church in 1856. In 1983 the church was designated a heritage building by the municipality because of its historical significance as one of the earliest religious institutions owned and governed by former slaves who escaped to and settled in Canada. In 1989 however the BME Church was demolished due to disrepair and the lot remained vacant until the BME Freedom Park was established. The park, developed in conjunction with the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, East Side Pride, University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, was officially opened in 2009. The park’s focal point is the bronze bust of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, sculpted by Artis Shreve Lane. Head Contact: Samantha Meredith, Executive Director-Curator

The Dawn settlement, comprised of mostly Black settlers, grew around the school. Its residents farmed, attended the Institute, and worked at saw mills, gristmills, and other local industries. Some returned to the United States after emancipation was proclaimed in 1865. Others remained, contributing to the establishment of a significant Black community in this part of the province. Harriet Beecher Stowe used Josiah Henson's memoirs, published in 1849, as reference material for her novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Henson's dramatic experiences and his connection with Stowe's book made him one of the most famous Canadians of his day. The Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site recognizes the accomplishments of Josiah Henson through interpretive videos, interactive exhibits, numerous artifacts and tours reflecting the Black experience in Canada. The five-acre site consists of the Josiah Henson Interpretive Centre, with its Underground Railroad Freedom Gallery and North Star Theatre, plus three historic buildings, two cemeteries, a sawmill and numerous artifacts that have been preserved as a legacy to these early pioneers. Each August Civic Holiday weekend the site hosts Emancipation Day, with various speakers, performers, exhibits and cuisine reflecting early Black life in Ontario. Black History Month programming takes place each February, as well as a Diversity Dialogue retreat for youth from the local school boards in the spring and an annual workshop for educators on how to incorporate Black history into their curriculums. The museum is owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust.

Recognized internationally for his contribution to the abolition movement, Josiah Henson asserted his leadership as preacher and a conductor on the Underground Railroad. He worked with energy and vision to improve life for the Black community in Upper Canada (now Ontario). After escaping slavery in Kentucky, 'Father Henson' quickly attained the status of leader within the Underground Railroad community of Southwestern Ontario. In 1841 he co-founded the British American Institute, a vocational school for Underground Railroad refugees. 

Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site

Many of Upper Canada’s earliest Black settlers were members of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church which formed an Upper Canada Conference in 1840. Soon a London Circuit of the AME was formed and in 1848 a church was built on Thames Street, the centre of early Black settlement in London.At this time, there were about 300 Black residents in London supporting a total of three churches - two Methodist and one Baptist. This population continued to increase particularly after the passage in the United States of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850. The Act was one reason that caused the Canadian AME churches to break away from their American parent in 1856 and form the British Methodist Episcopal (BME) Church. In the early 1860s, London’s BME minister, Rev. Lewis Chambers, reported on the success he’d had in establishing a temperance society, encouraging Sabbath schools, and in the growth of the congregation. In fact, several years later they purchased a lot on Grey Street, in an area where many in the congregation now lived. Here, they built a new church, in 1868, naming it Beth Emanuel. The little wooden chapel was then sold and for many years was used as a house.When the original church building on Thames Street was threatened with demolition in 2013, Beth Emanuel offered to provide it a new home next door. Hundreds of private citizens assisted by the City of London contributed to the relocation of the chapel.Working with Beth Emanuel, the Fugitive Slave Chapel Preservation Project was formed, with the goal of restoring the chapel, building a small addition, and establishing a learning centre about slavery (both historic and contemporary), the Underground Railroad, and London’s Black history.

Many of Upper Canada’s earliest Black settlers were members of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church which formed an Upper Canada Conference in 1840. Soon a London Circuit of the AME was formed and in 1848 a church was built on Thames Street, the centre of early Black settlement in London. 

African Methodist Episcopal Church

To supplement his acting wages, Harrison maintained a railway porter’s job for many years and taught drama and speaking at several colleges. He left his last teaching post to take up the role that would make him famous, that of “De Lawd” in the play The Green Pastures. Written by Marc Connelly, the play is a theatrical version of Roark Bradford’s Ol’ Man Adam and his Chillun. Seen today as somewhat patronizing and fostering African-American stereotypes, the play was well received in its time, winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1931. That same year, Harrison received the NAACP’s Springarn Medal, presented annually for outstanding achievement by a Black American. Harrison played “De Lawd” for the last five years of his life, both in the Broadway production and on the road. When The Green Pastures came to London’s Grand Theatre in October, 1934, Richard Harrison was officially welcomed back to his home and given the “freedom of the city”.

Richard B. Harrison (1864-1935) was born in London to parents Thomas Harrison and Isabella Benton, both former slaves who had escaped to Canada in the 1850s. The family remained in London until 1880 when they moved to Detroit, where Harrison trained as an elocutionist. His stage work, which took him all over Canada and the United States, was comprised of dramatic monologues, as well as readings of poetry and literature.

Richard B. Harrison Park and Plaque, Wellington Street at the South Branch of the Thames River

Following WWI, the Black community in London began slowly to grow again, rising to about 250 people by 1930. This was the estimate made by the Canadian League for the Advancement of Coloured People, an organization founded in London in 1924. The League, whose leadership included both Black and White Londoners, was organized “to improve the condition of the coloured people of Canada,” particularly through the provision of educational opportunities for the young. The founding of the League was mainly the work of James F. Jenkins, a Georgia native who had been a resident of London since 1907. The League had an official newspaper, The Dawn of Tomorrow, which Jenkins had founded in 1923. The Dawn carried news of interest to the Black community, much of it originating in the United States. It also brought the Black communities in other Ontario towns and cities closer together by listing their activities in columns of social and church notices. It was also Jenkins’s intention to “chronicle any achievements of (the) people and any advance that would spur young people to self effort.” James Jenkins died suddenly following surgery in 1931. His widow Christina (later Mrs. Frank Howson), who had, from the beginning, supported and encouraged her husband’s work, carried on the publication of The Dawn of Tomorrow with the help of her large family. The success of the newspaper, at first a weekly and then a monthly publication, is a testament to the efforts of the Jenkins family. At its height about 1971, it had a total circulation of 48,000, and 21,000 subscribers in various parts of the world. Full files of the newspaper are at the Ivey Family London Room, London Public Library and the Archives at Western University.

Site of the first convention of the Canadian League for the Advancement of Coloured People, 1927
It “is not what we were yesterday, not yet is it what we are today that gives us so much hope, but it is, according to the handwriting on the wall, what we shall be tomorrow. And thus we have chosen our name: The Dawn of Tomorrow”

	Robert Paris Edwards, Associate Editor
	Dawn of Tomorrow, July 14, 1923


James Jenkins and The Dawn of Tomorrow

Initially led by James C. Brown and later by Austin Steward, the immigrants established a farming community which, within several years, grew to include 32 families from Cincinnati and elsewhere. It then began to decline, possibly because many of the residents found it difficult to move from life in an urban setting to starting a farm in the dense bush of Upper Canada. Several of the settlers stayed on however, including Peter Butler, a former slave from Maryland whose descendants remain in the area today. More information regarding the Wilberforce Settlement and the Butler family can be found at the Lucan Area Heritage and Donnelly Museum. The Museum includes a display on the Wilberforce settlement and also has an extensive research collection accessible to the public in their Library. There is also an Ontario Heritage Foundation plaque describing the Wilberforce Settlement on the property of the Museum. The Butler Cemetery is located just north of Lucan on the Coursey Line at Richmond Street.

One of the first Black settlements in Canada, Wilberforce (named after the leading British abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was established in 1829 near the present-day community of Lucan, 15 miles north of London, by a number of free Blacks from Cincinnati. In Ohio, violence and prejudice had escalated with the strict enforcement of the state’s “Black Laws” which, among other things, required free Blacks to register and provide a $500 bond for “good behaviour.” 

Lucan Area Heritage and Donnelly Museum

Many fugitive slaves arrived from across Lake Erie at Port Burwell. From there they were brought by stage coach to Ingersoll along the newly-built “plank road.” The stage was driven by Harvey C. Jackson, an abolitionist, and owned by Absolom Daly, whose Daly House was the biggest hotel in Ingersoll. Construction of both the plank road itself and the Oxford County section of the Great Western Railroad provided jobs for the recently arrived former slaves. By the 1850s, one-quarter of the population living in Ingersoll were Black. Upwards of 500 people had found freedom and a safe haven in the town.These stories and more can be found on permanent display at the Ingersoll Museum.

The story of Black settlers in Oxford County follows two main threads: that of free Black people encouraged to move to the region by the Norwich Quakers, and that of others fleeing their enslavement in the United States along the Underground Railroad and reaching safe haven in Ingersoll. Being centrally located between Detroit and Niagara, Ingersoll was chosen by famed American abolitionist John Brown as a place to hold fundraising and friend raising events.

Ingersoll Cheese and Agricultural Museum

In particular one of the first settlers, Frederick Stover, became involved in abolitionism through travelling to Quaker Yearly Meetings in the United States. It was Stover who was appointed to purchase the land for the Wilberforce Settlement near Lucan.Other Norwich Quakers were involved in the abolitionist movement, including the settlement’s co-founder Peter Lossing. As the dowry from his first marriage, Lossing was offered a number of slaves; on receiving these people as property, he not only freed them but helped them in finding employment. Others, like Jesse Stover, simply encouraged free Black people to move to Norwich Township. The majority of these Black residents lived around the settlement of Otterville.

The township of Norwich was founded in 1810 by settlers from Dutchess County, New York, many of whom were members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). By the 1830s, these Quaker settlers began to encourage free Black people from the United States to move to Upper Canada, including South Norwich. 

Norwich and District Museum and Archives

By 1856 they had constructed the African Methodist Episcopal Church on the outskirts of Otterville. Renamed the British Methodist Episcopal Church, this structure became the centre for large church camp meetings attended by Blacks and Whites from surrounding areas. Often the visiting Black minister preached in the Otterville Methodist Church. Surrounding the site of the former church is the cemetery, which was restored by the South Norwich Historical Society in 2007. Guided tours are available of this site and the Grand Trunk Railway Station Museum that houses the local Black History collection. These souls found their way to Otterville as early as 1829 looking for a better way of life here in what was at the time Upper Canada, some before the term Underground Railroad was coined. Though the Black population in the Otterville area thrived for many decades, by the early 1900s the community was in decline, as most of its members had moved to live elsewhere, many resettling in the United States.

*Mill is located at 243 Main Street West, Otterville N0J 1R0*

Otterville's Black Settlement and the African Methodist Episcopal Cemetery

Black people leaving the northern United States for Canada often settled near Quakers. Around Otterville, home of ardent abolitionist William Cromwell, they felt safe and were accepted. The first recorded land record for a Black settler is dated 1833. By 1840, the Otterville area had become a significant area of Black settlement in Upper Canada. Education was extremely important to them and they soon built a school for their children, which became S.S. #18. School records show Black children attending every school in the former Township of South Norwich.


Discover Black History- Tour of Southwestern Ontario

Black Historical Society/Black Mecca Museum

Introduction

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information