Northern Terminus: the African Canadian History Journal
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Northern Terminus: The African Canadian History Journal 27 February 1851 Artemesia Township petition to George Snider, Crown Land Agent “Sir we as a body of colourd (sic) people” Vol. 16/ 2019 Northern Terminus: The African Canadian History Journal Vol. 16/ 2019 Northern Terminus 2019 This publication was enabled by volunteers. Special thanks to the authors for their time and effort. Brought to you by the Grey County Archives, as directed by the Northern Terminus Editorial Committee. This journal is a platform for the voices of the authors and the opinions expressed are their own. The goal of this annual journal is to provide readers with information about the historic Black community of Grey County. The focus is on historical events and people, and the wider national and international contexts that shaped Black history and presence in Grey County. Through essays, interviews and reviews, the journal highlights the work of area organizations, historians and published authors. © 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microreproduction, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission. For copies of the journal please contact the Archives at: Grey Roots: Museum & Archives 102599 Grey Road 18 RR#4 Owen Sound, ON N4K 5N6 [email protected] (519) 376-3690 x6113 or 1-877-473-9766 ISSN 1914-1297, Grey Roots Museum and Archives Editorial Committee: Karin Noble and Naomi Norquay Cover Image: Grey Roots Archival Collection PF502S1F3I4 Special Thanks to: Bonnie Altman, Susan Fraser, Petal Furness, Joan Hyslop, Terri Jackson, Sarina King, Cathy Laird, Donna Maine, Katrina Peredun, Mollie Wilson Welcome, readers, to the sixteenth volume of Northern Terminus! Our opening quote is from the novel by Esi Edugyan which won the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The august writers for the journal are therefore in good company! Bonita Johnson deMatteis makes good her promise to endure a second interview – a follow-up to the one published in Volume 14, 2017. She had lots to say about her creative endeavours and how they emanate out of her life as a member of Owen Sound’s Black community. Aly Boltman shares an exciting community project to rally folks around a proposed monument for Greenwood Cemetery’s Potter’s Field. The unstoppable Peter Meyler presents a trilogy of articles that shine a light on Amherstburg, and result in an interesting connection between Amherstburg and Artemesia Township, in particular, the Black settlement on the Old Durham Road. This settlement is the topic of my paper. I was intrigued by the 1851 letter to George Snider from Old Durham Road residents that has found its way into the Archives here at Grey Roots. The Journal is rounded off with an interesting heritage article and photo, reviews of Carolynn Wilson’s advocacy work at her church in Collingwood, the 2018 Black History Event, the 156th Emancipation Festival, and an upcoming exhibit at Grey Roots. As always, I am amazed and humbled by the generosity and talent of our writers. Archives volunteers make all the difference as they turn recorded interviews into transcripts, comb heritage material, format articles and insert images, proofread and get the whole put together in time for the annual launch at the Black History Event. We welcome your comments! Correspondence can be addressed to: Grey Roots Museum & Archives 102599 Grey Road 18 RR#4 Owen Sound, ON N4K 5N6 [email protected] (519) 376-3690 x6113 or 1-877-473-9766 Naomi Norquay Co-editor UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREE PRESS Awards shine a light on Canadian, Lezlie Harper Wells! Northern Terminus wishes to congratulate Lezlie Harper Wells who has been awarded the 2018 Free Press Hortense Simmons Memorial Prize for the Advancement of Knowledge. Lezlie, who has contributed to the journal and has spoken at the Black History Event, has been running tours of Black historic sites in the Niagara region since 2004. Peter Meyler, quoted in the accompanying article in the Underground Railroad Free Press newsletter, states: “Without Lezlie Wells and Niagara Bound Tours, Niagara’s Black historic sites would be just bricks and mortar. With Lezlie, they become the stories of real people whose hopes and dreams were fulfilled. For her, providing freedom-seeker tours is a divine calling and passion. Her personal knowledge of the struggles of African Americans for equality and justice is just the starting point of her tours and presentations. She not only teaches people the stories of individuals escaping enslavement, but her passion and fervor let people feel the stories."1 The Underground Railroad Free Press has been making awards since 2008 to recognize “the most outstanding contributions in the international Underground Railroad community in promoting the Underground Railroad”.2 Three prizes are given out annually: for preservation, leadership and advancement of knowledge. Lezlie Harper Wells joins other prestigious Canadian winners of the Underground Railroad Free Press awards, who include: Grey Roots Museum and Archives (2016), Bryan and Shannon Prince (2011), Wilma Morrison (2010) and Karolyn Smardz Frost (2009). You can find out more about Lezlie’s tours at: www.niagaraboundtours.com CONGRATULATIONS, LEZLIE! 1 The Underground Railroad Free Press, September 2018, Volume 13, Number 74, p 1. http://www.urrfreepress.com/index_files/Sep_2018.pdf 2 Ibid. Northern Terminus Table of Contents Contributor Biographies “They’re going to be interested! So I’ll write it for them!” An Interview with Bonita Johnson deMatteis 1 ~Naomi Norquay Greenwood Cemetery Potter’s Field Monument and Interpretive Plaque 16 ~ Aly Boltman Amherstburg, Freedom Crossing 21 ~ Peter Meyler Human Spoils of War: Enslaved Captives from Kentucky 25 ~ Peter Meyler The William Lee Family: From Amherstburg to Artemesia and Beyond 30 ~ Peter Meyler Old Stock Canadians: Artemesia Township’s Black Settlement 36 ~Naomi Norquay Heritage Article: Sea Island Merry Makers 48 Tea & Revelations at Heritage Community Church 50 ~Anne McGouran Highlights: 16th Grey County Black History Event and Launch of Northern Terminus: The African Canadian History Journal, Vol.15 52 156th Emancipation Festival 57 ~Gillian Wagenaar A Portrait of Spr. James Henry Hall from Surviving the Unthinkable: Citizen Soldiers of Grey, Grey Roots Museum and Archives Exhibit 62 ~Stephanie McMullen Author Biographies Aly Boltman Aly Boltman is a researcher, writer, advocate of the arts and local history, a true blue believer in the credo "learn local." Born and raised in Toronto, she has been living in Grey County for the past 16 years, where she has served a number of professional roles in the arts and philanthropy sectors. She is currently writing a book of historical fiction about the life of Margaret (Mag) Matthews, and has had her work featured by The Owen Sound Sun Times, The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, The Ontario Museum Association, Tin Roof Press and many other local publications. Anne McGouran Toronto-born Anne McGouran is a freelance writer based in Collingwood, Ontario, where she has developed a fascination with ice huts and orchard ladders. Her nonfiction appears in CutBank, Queen’s Quarterly, Smart Set, Coachella Review, and Journal of Wild Culture. Her fiction appears in Understorey Magazine and Emrys Journal. Stephanie McMullen Stephanie has enjoyed a varied career at Grey Roots Museum & Archives, beginning back in 1999. After earning an MA in history from the University of Calgary, Stephanie worked at the Centre d’Interprétation de la Côte de Beaupré, the Mackenzie King Estate and the Canadian Museum of Civilization before arriving at the County of Grey-Owen Sound Museum. Over the years, Stephanie has worked in historic site interpretation, education programs, program development, exhibit writing and development, promotions, memberships and grant writing. Since 2007, one of her great pleasures is working with volunteers. Their enthusiasm, creativity and dedication inspire possibilities every day! Peter Meyler Peter Meyler is the editor of Broken Shackles: Old Man Henson From Slavery to Freedom and co-author of A Stolen Life: Searching for Richard Pierpoint, both published by Dundurn Press. His articles on travel and historic subjects have appeared in the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Canada's National History magazine and a number of other publications. His presentations on Richard Pierpoint, John "Daddy" Hall and Lemuel Brown have helped raise the awareness of African Canadian importance in Ontario's history. Naomi Norquay Naomi Norquay teaches in the pre-service and graduate programs in York University's Faculty of Education. She is currently president of the Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery Committee. In 2014, the ODRPCC was awarded an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant to rebuild the headstone display monument, recently unveiled in the fall of 2015. Her current research includes archival research about the road’s historic Black settlement and an investigation of 19th century cultural practices regarding burials and cemeteries. She is Co-Editor of Northern Terminus: The African Canadian History Journal. Gillian Wagenaar Gillian Wagenaar worked at Grey Roots Museum & Archives as Summer Student Archival Assistant in 2018. She is currently in her second year at the University of Waterloo, majoring in History, and minoring in Digital Arts Communications. “You took me on because I was helpful in your political cause. Because I could aid in your experiments. Beyond that I was of no use to you, and so you abandoned me.” I struggled to get my breath. “I was nothing to you. You never saw me as equal. You were more concerned that slavery should be a moral stain upon white men than by the actual damage it wreaks on black men.” -From Esi Edugyan's, Washington Black Washington Black as a youth became the manservant of his slave owner's brother, Christopher Wilde, "Titch", a naturalist, explorer, scientist, inventor, and abolitionist. Black is left in a position where he is free and far from the Barbados sugar plantation he came from, but in physical hardship, with limited means, and a significant bounty out on him.