NOTL Black History #4: The Early Niagara Community

by Karen Couch
4 years ago
Near Niagara-on-the-Lake, CA

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NOTL, one of few towns in Ontario with black residents since beginning of province, 1791. Newark/NOTL: capital of the province, known as Upper Canada; head to VOF park to start journey back thru time, find out more about some of the earliest residents of African heritage

1. HARRIET TUBMAN MEMORIAL ; after 1850 and passage of the US Fugitive Slave Act, underground movement became increasingly active; she made 13 trips, across the Niagara River, rescued 70 people; lived in St Catharines

2. VOF PARK (enter off Johnson/Regent): built in 2018 park gives expression to forgotten stories of people of African descent whose sacrifices, labor, skills, & talents contributed to the development of Niagara; these people were a mix of enslaved, freed & free; Communal Circle Wall represents kinship, harmony & identity through community action; motif represents the homes of Black residents during mid/late 19th C, the "Coloured Village"; 1861, [show illustration] 104 Black residents; most lived btw King & Butler, & Centre/William & Ann. together for mutual support. Many worked on farms or were labourers, some became prosperous. continue to sites of homes & businesses owned by black residents

3. LOUIS ROSS BARBER SHOP (43 Queen) circa 1865; opposite Court House; only barber in town; step father to FANNY ROWLEY

4. ROWLEY BUSINESS BLOCK (last 3 bldg on north side Queen @ King); FANNY (nee WESLEY) married Salmon Rowley 1881, a wealthy white merchant from Philadelphia; Fanny biracial, step-daughter of LOUIS ROSS (barbershop) & granddaughter of WILLIAM RILEY (former slave, one of earliest African American landowner in NOTL); now go their home

5. FANNIE ROWLEY HOUSE (177 King); 1886. Queen Ann style; she helped run businesses & properties (Held in her name) for 20 years; he died 1905; she liquidated & moved to the US; after she died requested to buried St Marks (with her young 2 children)

6. PROMENADE HOUSE (55Prideaux @ Regent); owned by DANIEL SERVOS WATERS one of the 1st successful Black businessmen in Niagara mid-late 19th C; ran carriage service from here after 1875; go now to his home where he 1st ran his business

7. DANIEL WATERS SLAVE COTTAGE (243 Gate @ Johnson); never a slave (born free in UC); term likely used b/c of his racial background; grandson of well respected Black Loyalist, HUMPHREY WATERS Sr and Daniel Servos (British elite); In 1870s, his brother JOHN WATERS ran for & was elected Niagara's first black town councilor; re-elected 3 times. buried in St. Marks

8. NEGRO BURIAL GROUND (Mississauga near Mary); Baptist church erected here in 1830. predominantly Black members; church moved but cemetery remained. Plot used by the WESLEY family although Methodists; headstones belong to George WESLEY Sr (at the back) & Jr and Susan Oakley (daughter of white minister who founded the church). now go to home of 1 of his granddaughters, Winnifred WESLEY, the last descendant of a slave in Niagara take a round about route, down to Anne, & then along to King, streets bounding CV

9. WESLEY HOME (519 Mississauga St); George WESLEY Sr and his family lived here in the mid 1800's. George was a freedom seeker from Kentucky.

10. WILLIAM RILEY LOG CABIN (NW corner Mary & Victoria); FANNY ROWLEY's grandfather; purchased for £50; lot sold by Fanny 1905

11. WINNIFRED WESLEY HOUSE(309 Victoria & Gage); her grandfather, George WESLEY Sr (Negro Burial Ground)had 1 boy (Geo Jr) & 3 girls. In 1889, 1 of the daughters gave birth to Elizabeth Winnifred. lived with family on Mississauga St; 1931 she inherited this house from John Thomas Samson, Canadian born of Scottish descent. their relationship not clear. she was one of several smart Black women (including Wesleys) of that time; knew owning land alleviate hardships of race & gender. did housework & home nursing until death Feb.4, 1961; Winnifred buried as St. Andrew's Church, with her mother (in the middle area of the cemetery, slightly towards Centre St