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NOTABLE FIGURES IN CANADIAN BLACK HISTORY

© Mary M. Alward

This article is being written for the Black History Month Event. I am going to tell you about some little known people that have made a great difference in the world we live in. They struggled against surmountable odds or fought for the rights of others. These people are all remarkable and I hope you enjoy learning about them. Thornton and Lucie Blackburn Thornton and Lucie Blackburn fled from Kentucky to Toronto, Upper Canada in 1833, to escape re-enslavement. Thornton was illiterate, but soon found a job at Osgoode Hall as a waiter. Thornton knew that other cities similar in size to Toronto had great transportation systems. Toronto had none. He took it upon himself to get a pattern for a horse-drawn cab. He commissioned Paul Bishop to build it. In 1837, he started his very own cab company. "The City," cab company was a great success in the city. The red and yellow taxis became a popular sight on Toronto's streets. "The City" cab company was the very first of its kind to operate in the city of Toronto, thanks to a runaway slave. Thornton's business was very successful and other entrepreneurs began to start taxi companies of their own. Thornton and his wife, Lucie, were soon prominent and respected members of Toronto's Black community. William Hamilton Merritt William Merritt was an entrepreneur from the time he was a young lad. He played a key role in the building of the Welland Canal. It all began when William became frustrated with the lack of a water source for his mill on Twelve Mile Creek. He built a canal to connect the creek to the Chippawa River. From his experiment, the Welland Canal Project was born. William and his friend, Oliver Phelps, were prominent figures in St. Catharines society. The sold the Black community land to build the Salem Chapel (now the British Methodist Church) for five pounds. William also helped to establish Zion Church, which was founded by the Baptist Society of St. Catharines. William was an abolitionist. He fought for the rights of Black freedom seekers. Along with fellow abolitionists Elias Adams and Harriet Tubman, he formed the interracial Refugee Slave's Friends Society. The group helped escaped slaves come to Canada and aided them in adjusting to their newly found freedom. Slaves often had trouble adjusting to freedom, as they lacked skills and were often only trained to do one job. Most slaves were never allowed to learn how to read and therefore had trouble finding work.

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