Did you know that Owen Sound, Ontario was the northernmost terminus of the Underground Railroad, the secret network of citizens who helped escaped slaves reach freedom in Canada?

The Underground Railroad operated between 1783 and 1865 (especially after 1850), with the term coming into use in 1830. Between 30,000 and 40,000 fugitives reached Canada, settling mainly in Ontario.

Slavery had been abolished throughout the British Commonwealth since August 1st, 1834. Interestingly Owen Sound has held an Emancipation Picnic since 1862 — that’s 156 years — the longest running one on the continent! In 2004 a cairn commemorating escaped slaves and their contributions to society was unveiled in Owen Sound’s Harrison Park. Canadian Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard is currently working to have August 1st recognized as Emancipation Day.

Fugitives who reached Ontario through the Underground Railroad settled in places like Windsor, Chatham, London, Hamilton, Toronto, and Owen Sound. In 1851 Henry and Mary Bibb founded an abolitionist newspaper, The Voice of the Fugitive, in Windsor, which reported on the Underground Railroad.

You may wonder why many slaves continued their journey all the way to Owen Sound after they had crossed the Canadian border. Perhaps they wanted to get farther away from slave catchers. Owen Sound was also a good place to find work. The town was initially surveyed in 1837 and incorporated in 1857, during the height of the Underground Railroad. Escaped slaves were able to settle and find work in quarries, lumber camps, shipyards, and railways.

The Owen Sound tourism site states, “Owen Sound’s Historic Walking Tour includes several stops that help illustrate the city’s Black history, including the Kennedy Foundry site, Molock House, the British Methodist Episcopal Church, Pettigrow/Urquhart house, the Farmer’s Market building, Tone Yoga Studio (a former Congregational Church) and Harrison Park.” You can read about these sites on the Historical Walking Tour page.

Owen Sound’s first town crier was a black man named John “Daddy” Hall, who was actually born in Ontario around 1800. During the War of 1812 he and his family were captured by American soldiers and sold into slavery. He eventually escaped and settled in Owen Sound.

Information about other black settlers can be found in a collection of obituaries compiled by Grey Roots Museum & Archives. Here are some excerpts that I found interesting:

“Henry Clayburn, a colored man, who ran away from slavery in 1842 at the age of fortyfive years, died on Tuesday, the 4th inst. at Williamsford, and on account of the storm interment was prevented until Monday last when the remains were laid to rest at the Rocky burying ground. The deceased was the last of a number of negroes who left Virginia at the same time and settled as a colony in the townships of Glenelg and Bentinck about a mile north of Rocky Saugeen, four miles north of this town. He was the first settler in the township of Glenelg… Mr. Clayburn claimed to be born in 1796, but some of the older settlers think he was about two years younger, that is 110 at the time of his death. Mr. Edge, who knew him since 1844, has very little doubt of his being 112 as Clayburn himself claimed. Mr. Nathan Dunsmore, who lived beside him for sixty years, regarded him as a good neighbour, and this opinion is borne out by all who knew him as such. He was fond of fishing and trapping, and seemed contented and happy when he had enough to eat and wear. He was always at home telling stories of the slavery days. Only two or three years ago he was a familiar figure in this town, but since 1904, when he moved to Williamsford, he has not been around. He leaves no relatives.”

“The death of Mr. William Ringo a highly respected colored man, who has long been a resident of the town, took place on Friday. The deceased was injured about nine years ago by falling from a tree in the late ex-chief of police Egerton’s orchard while picking fruit and had never fully recovered from the injury. He also suffered from Asthma, and lately from bronchial trouble. He was born in Maryland, and in early life lived in slavery from which he escaped by running away when about twenty years of age. His wife, who predeceased him only about two weeks ago, had never been a slave. The family  consists of seven children, only two of whom live in Canada. The funeral took place yesterday.”

“Saturday morning as Geo. Lee, watchmaker, who resides in Brooke, was walking along the G. T. R. track to his work, he found the body of Wm. Gordon, an old colored man and also a resident of the suburban village, lying on the ice under the railway over the Pottawatamie. … Gordon was one of the town’s oldest residents, having come here early in the fifties. He married the widow of his former master, a white woman, through whom he received the rental of some property in England, amounting to about $160 a year. This will now go to the daughter of his wife, who is a respectable resident of an adjoining township. For some time Gordon has been living an irregular life, the money received being soon spent. He has been in the habit of begging amongst the citizens. By a second marriage he has two sons, both respectable people, and it was from the residence of one of these that the funeral took place on Monday.”

“One of the oldest and most widely known of Owen Sound’s residents was claimed by death on Tuesday afternoon when Mr. Thos. Miller (colored) answered the summons. Mr. Miller
had been ill for about two months and a half and only his wonderful constitution sustained him so long against the afflictions evident from his very advanced age. At the time of his death he was in his ninety ninth year. Truly Mr. Miller was a wonderful man. A few months previous to his death he was able to come down town and was a familiar figure on the streets, being greeted with a kind word, a nod and smile, by young and old alike. Mr. Miller has been a resident here for the past sixty two years. He was born in Washington County, State of Maryland, ninety nine years ago. He was born free, for his mother who had been a slave was made a free woman by her master, a man named Barnes, before Mr. Miller’s birth. Consequently, though he was a colored man he was free in that country where slavery was an accepted condition. Growing up among his colored brethren, Mr. Miller worked and toiled with
them, but always as a free man and for wages, while those with whom he labored were slaves. Finally Mr. Miller’s father finding the condition of affairs intolerable decided to leave the country and taking his family fled to the north, arriving after many vicissitudes of fortune at Owen Sound where there was a large colored colony at that time. Since then Mr. Miller has been connected with every effort for the betterment of the condition of the colored population. He was a skilled and faithful workman too, and was thoroughly trustworthy. He will be remembered, however, more particularly for his labours in connection with the spiritual welfare of his compatriots. He was instrumental in having the first services for the colored people held here. These at first were held in private houses, but later a building was secured near the present S.A. [Salvation Army] Barracks, and when this was found to be inadequate, Mr. Miller was chiefly instrumental in the building of the old B.M.E. Church on what is now Second Avenue East. Here he was the life of the congregation. He conducted services year after year and was a great factor in raising and sustaining the spiritual standard of Owen Sound’s colored people.”

I enjoyed my research into this aspect of Owen Sound’s history, especially discovering the primary sources (obituaries). Maybe this post has inspired you to dig a little deeper into the local history of the place where you live.

Sources

• “Owen Sound’s Role in Underground Railway ‘nation’s best kept secret'” by Danis Langlois (Grey-Bruce This Week, Aug. 16, 2018)

• “Owen Sound: Northern Terminus of the Underground Railroad” by Paul McManus via Mysteries of Canada

• “Black History” via Owen Sound Tourism
• “Black Settlement in Ontario” via Ontario Heritage Trust
• “Underground Railroad” via The Canadian Encyclopedia
• “Owen Sound” via The Canadian Encyclopedia
• “Black History in Grey County” via Grey Roots Museum & Archives
• “Heritage Obituaries” via Grey Roots Museum & Archives

(You might also enjoy my photo quiz of historical figures from Owen Sound.)