orthern Terminus: N The African Canadian History Journal Mary “Granny” Taylor Born in the USA in about 1808, Taylor was a well-known Owen Sound vendor and pioneer supporter of the B.M.E. church. Vol. 17/ 2020 Northern Terminus: The African Canadian History Journal Vol. 17/ 2020 Northern Terminus 2020 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. © 2020 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: “Owen Sound B. M. E. Church Monument to Pioneers’ Faith: Altar of Present Coloured Folk History of Congregation Goes Back Almost to Beginning of Little Village on the Sydenham When the Negros Met for Worship in Log Edifice, “Little Zion” – Anniversary Services Open on Sunday and Continue All Next Week.” Owen Sound Daily Sun Times, February 21, 1942. Special thanks to: Bonnie Altman, Susan Fraser, Joan Hyslop, Kate Jackson, Mollie Wilson Welcome, readers, to the seventeenth volume of Northern Terminus! This issue brings together many forms of ongoing Black history cultural work. Brenda C. Miller offers a poem about a historical “gem” in neighbouring Simcoe County. Lezlie Harper shares her challenges and joys of conducting Black history tours in southern Ontario. Peter Meyler draws on American history to shed light on the life and tragic death of one Grey County resident. His article on music places credit where credit is due. I provide the last installment on the Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery monument that explains its most unique feature. Several heritage articles remind us of the rich documented history housed in Grey Roots archives. There are reviews of three annual events and five fabulous reviews of five fabulous books! The final touches to this issue were made amidst the Covid-19 pandemic that has gripped the global community. I am, as always, thankful to the team of volunteers that my co-editor, Karin Noble, musters each year to ensure that transcription, editing and compiling make the process of putting this whole thing together seamless and painless. Read on and enjoy! 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 Northern Terminus Table of Contents Contributor Biographies Bethel in Candlelight/Bethel Union Cemetery 1 ~Brenda C. Miller “Keep Goin’ ‘Til You Can’t Go No Mo”: An Interview with Lezlie Harper 4 ~Naomi Norquay William Luke: Grey County Martyr 18 ~ Peter Meyler Minstrels, Musicians and Misappropriation 21 ~ Peter Meyler Points of Light: An Experiment in Fibre Optics at the Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery Monument 28 ~Naomi Norquay Heritage Article: Excerpts from Meaford Town Council Minute Book: 1875-1880 35 Heritage Article: Excerpts from Owen Sound Town Council Minute Book: 9 January 1857 – 13 January 1868 37 Heritage Article: Died: Death of Mary Taylor 41 Heritage Article: Died From Cancer (Mrs. Harris) 42 Heritage Article: Milk Maid’s Convention 43 Highlights 17th Grey County Black History Event and Launch of Northern Terminus, Vol.16 45 157th Emancipation Festival Speaker’s Forum 48 ~Jacquelyn Watton Culture Days Tour on the Old Durham Road 54 ~Naomi Norquay Book Review: Black Eyed Peas and Races: A Love Story of Memories and Recipes of the Emancipation Picnic 59 ~Mollie Wilson Book Review: Steal Away Home: One Woman's Epic Flight to Freedom - And Her Long Road Back to the South 61 ~Natasha Henry Book Review: The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832 64 ~Peter Meyler Book Review: Grandpa Stops a War: A Paul Robeson Story 67 ~ Julet Allen Book Review: Washington Black 70 ~ Rhonda C. George Author Biographies Julet Allen Julet Allen is currently the Program Director at Delta Family Resource Centre, where her work focuses on working with Black children and youth experiencing conflict with the law and various systems, leadership development and behavioural challenges. She has over 25 years of experience in the social service sector as a Social Worker and is a professor at York University and Humber College, where she teaches on issues of poverty and equity, anti-black racism and oppression. Her practice centers a methodology grounded in Blackness and its radically transformative potential. In 2019, she was recognized as one of the ‘100 Black Women to watch’ by Canadian International Black Women. She continues to work and volunteer in the African Canadian community as a trainer, youth advocate and community development worker. Rhonda C. George Rhonda C. George is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at York University. Her current research explores the specific social, educational and athletic experiences of Black Canadian female athletes that have pursued U.S. athletic scholarships. She is interested in explicating the particular ways in which the axis of gender, intersecting with class and race, creates athletic, educational and social experiences, opportunities and outcomes that are distinct from the current Black male-centered narratives. Her broader research interests include Critical Race Studies, Social Reproduction, Black Women’s Studies, Caribbean Diaspora, the Sociology of Sport, and the Sociology of Education. To date, she has published in Race, Ethnicity, and Education, the Canadian Review of Sociology, the Canadian Journal of Education, and the Canadian Journal of Higher Education. Natasha Henry Natasha Henry is the president of the Ontario Black History Society. She has been an educator for 20 years, and is also an award-winning author and an award-winning curriculum developer, focusing on Black Canadian experiences. Natasha Henry is a 2018 Vanier Scholar and is currently completing a PhD in History at York University, researching Black enslavement in early Ontario. Through her various professional and community roles, Natasha’s work is grounded in her commitment to research, collect, preserve, and disseminate the histories of Black Canadians. 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. Brenda C. Miller Brenda C. Miller was born and raised in Collingwood. Living four years on Cape Breton Island inspired her to start writing. She is a past member of the Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery Committee. Being of local Black descent has instilled strong emotions regarding the Old Durham Road pioneers. 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 a Co-Editor of Northern Terminus: The African Canadian History Journal. Jacquelyn Watton Jacquelyn Watton worked at Grey Roots Museum & Archives as the Summer Student Archival Assistant in 2019. She has a B.A. in English and Book and Media Studies. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Toronto. Mollie Wilson A retired teacher and life-long resident of Owen Sound, Mollie taught her entire career for the Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board at three schools in Owen Sound. She holds a BSc degree from McMaster University and a BEd degree from the University of Western Ontario. Mollie’s musical interest led her to play cello with the Georgian Bay Symphony for many years. Also, she was a long time choir member at St. Mary’s Church. She is a qualified Celestial Navigator, and has been an instructor for the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron. Descended from Loyalist stock, she is interested in all things historical as they pertain to Owen Sound. In her spare time, she enjoys spinning her own yarn and knitting surprises for family members. “Had he stabbed me to the heart in the presence of a hundred slaves, not one of them, by the laws of Louisiana, could have given evidence against him.” -Solomon Northup, 1808 – c. 1863, 12 Years a Slave BETHEL IN CaNdlelight (inspired by: Bethel Union Cemetery - Ceremony Aug. 18, 2018 7 p.m.) Audacious weeds, binding Bethel’s history, wrenched, powerless Trash possessing disrespect to foul this holy ground, vanquished Uninvited debris, dormant as stones, unable to break Bethel bones.