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by Mary Jo Hoag  Class of 2009

On some CAC tours we discuss the Underground Railroad. This “railroad” was a system in place before the Civil War that helped escaping slaves reach Canada and freedom. It consisted of a series of safe houses where slaves could stay on their way to Canada. Many ordinary, unheralded citizens aided the escapees.

For some years docents have written and guided two tours about the Civil War in Chicago: “The Civil War and Chicago’s Role” at Rosehill Cemetery and “Civil War to Civil Rights” at Oak Woods Cemetery. During the Graceland tour we visit the graves of Mary and John Jones, African-American Chicagoans and conductors on the Underground Railroad. 

During these Civil War tours we discuss prominent Chicago abolitionists who helped establish stations, promoted the Railroad in newspapers, and conducted on the Railroad. Men like Zebina Eastman, at Rosehill, and Calvin DeWolfe, at Oak Woods, were prominent abolitionists, newspaper men (The Western Citizen), and conductors who worked to abolish slavery in the United States by helping slaves out of the south, through the north, and into Canada.

But what happened to those people once they reached Canada? Where did they go and what did they do? I had no idea, so, I took a trip to Ontario to visit a friend in London and explore some of this fascinating history.

Harriett Tubman escorted slaves to Canada, where she spoke to large abolitionist crowds. In 1851 she rented a house in Saint Catherines, Ontario, and by 1855 more than 500 slaves lived in there. While I did not visit St. Catherines, I did see other very important escaped slave settlements in Ontario.

I was surprised to learn that at one time Canada allowed slaves! Historians catalogued the existence of about 4,200 slaves in Canada between 1671 and 1834, when slavery was abolished in the British Empire. Most were First Peoples and about a third were Black, most likely purchased from American slave owners. When Canada abolished slavery, it became a safe haven for slaves from the U.S.

My first stop was Dresden, Ontario and the Josiah Henson Site. In 1841, the Reverend Josiah Henson established the settlement for Black refugees called Dawn. His reputation grew in the U.S. because of the great success of his farming community and his prowess as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. He is reputed to be the model for Uncle Tom in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. His two story house, built around 1842, is now part of the Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden.  

The next stop, the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society and Black Mecca Museum, reflected the considerable history around abolitionism movements. The people of Chatham are passionate about this history and about keeping it alive! Firebrand abolitionists like John Brown brought his ideas here. He held a series of meetings at the First Baptist Church where he proposed to liberate the South through insurrection. He later seized the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and held it for two days and was executed for this rebellion.

Mary Ann Shadd Cary was another prominent abolitionist and newspaper woman. She began The Provincial Freeman newspaper in 1853 with the mission to encourage Blacks to seek equity through education and self-reliance. She is the first Black woman known to have published a North American newspaper.

The final stop was in Buxton at the Buxton National Historic Site and Museum. It was here, in 1849, that the abolitionist Reverend William King secured 9,000 acres to be available to any fugitive slaves or free Blacks looking for opportunities for a better life. This settlement, like the Dawn settlement in Dresden, was a complete community that included a blacksmith, lumber mill, bank, store, and other things necessary for self-sufficiency in the pioneer era. At its peak, nearly 1,200 residents lived in what is considered the most successful of the planned fugitive settlements in Canada. The school for Black children is completely intact and restored, an amazing piece of history.

During the Civil War, many Black Canadians volunteered and fought in the War. After the Civil War, many of them returned to the U.S. to look for loved ones and continue the work of Reconstruction. Still others remained in Canada and are the ancestors of many contemporary Black Canadians.

I certainly learned so much and was very moved by following the routes of escaped slaves into Canada. There is still so much more to know! I am grateful to the Canadians for keeping and promoting the stories I impart here and many, many more. I’m also grateful to my friend in London, Wilma, for being willing to chauffeur us all over Ontario in search of the Underground Railroad in Canada. What a trip! 

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