Wilberforce Settlement Mural
This is the Wilberforce Settlement Mural located at 180 Main Street, Lucan.
Lieutenant-Governor Sir John Colborne’s response to a request from Cincinnati Black leaders to establish a settlement in Upper Canada, 1829:
"Tell the republicans on your side of the line that we royalists do not know men by their colour. Should you come to us, you will be entitled to all the privileges of the rest of His Majesty's Subjects."
Wilberforce, founded in 1829, was one of the earliest settlements attempted by African-Americans in Upper Canada. It was initiated by residents of Cincinnati, Ohio, a free state which was located across the Ohio River from Kentucky, a slave state. Both Black refugees from the south and Free Blacks were arriving in the city seeking jobs, joined by a growing number of Irish immigrants. By 1829 when rioting broke out there were 25,000 people in the city, most seeking work and housing. In June, 1829, to put the Black population at a disadvantage, the city voted to enforce the "Black Law,” a statute that had been on the books for over 25 years, requiring Blacks put up a bond of $500.00 immediately or face expulsion. Then, in August, violence erupted, when over 200 whites attacked the Black neighbourhoods in an attempt to force their departure. Unable to pay the bond and with the threat of violence close at hand, many Blacks sought new homes.
A colonization society was formed and Upper Canada was decided on as a potential place of safety. Two representatives met personally with the Lt-Gov. of the day, Sir John Colborne, who enthusiastically welcomed them. They had come at a time when a large tract of land, including what is now Huron County, had just been opened up for settlement. It is possible that Colborne directed them to this land which had been put under the management of a private company called the Canada Company. Seeking to escape city life, they agreed to purchase 4000 acres in Biddulph Township, then part of the tract, at a total cost of $6000.00.
Within weeks, as many as 1500 Blacks departed the city, most making their way to Canada where they dispersed to various locations. 18 families were known to have crossed from Sandusky to Port Stanley, but only 5 or 6 of them walked the additional 35 miles to the township which had just been surveyed. Funding the immense purchase had proved impossible and only at the last minute did Quakers in Ohio and Indiana provide funds to purchase 800 acres located along the main settlement road (now Highway 4). Arriving in the Upper Canada wilderness must have posed a challenge for the settlers. Yet they persevered and were soon joined by several families from the Boston area. By 1832 the settlement was composed of log houses, crops, livestock, saw mills, stores, and a school.
The settlement came to be led by Austin Steward a successful grocer in Rochester who had escaped slavery himself. He heard about the settlement at a convention in Philadelphia he attended in 1830. After an initial visit, he sold his business and brought his family to live there in 1831. He stayed for six years during which time he served as the president of the management board for the settlement. It was Steward who named the settlement after a prominent British abolitionist, William Wilberforce.
The first few years were tough for the settlement. It was unable to grow because the Canada Company was unwilling to sell additional land to prospective settlers fearing it would deter white settlement. As well, Irish immigrants were arriving in increasing numbers creating the potential for tension. Also, many of the initial settlers were finding the gruelling work of creating farms out of a wilderness overwhelming and decided to move on. A population which had reached about 70 by the mid-1830s began to dwindle over the next several years. Steward himself left in 1837. The settlement later contained the small village of Marysville. It would grow rapidly once the Grand Trunk Railway came through in 1859 and was thereafter renamed Lucan.
Lieutenant-Governor Sir John Colborne’s response to a request from Cincinnati Black leaders to establish a settlement in Upper Canada, 1829:
"Tell the republicans on your side of the line that we royalists do not know men by their colour. Should you come to us, you will be entitled to all the privileges of the rest of His Majesty's Subjects."
Wilberforce, founded in 1829, was one of the earliest settlements attempted by African-Americans in Upper Canada. It was initiated by residents of Cincinnati, Ohio, a free state which was located across the Ohio River from Kentucky, a slave state. Both Black refugees from the south and Free Blacks were arriving in the city seeking jobs, joined by a growing number of Irish immigrants. By 1829 when rioting broke out there were 25,000 people in the city, most seeking work and housing. In June, 1829, to put the Black population at a disadvantage, the city voted to enforce the "Black Law,” a statute that had been on the books for over 25 years, requiring Blacks put up a bond of $500.00 immediately or face expulsion. Then, in August, violence erupted, when over 200 whites attacked the Black neighbourhoods in an attempt to force their departure. Unable to pay the bond and with the threat of violence close at hand, many Blacks sought new homes.
A colonization society was formed and Upper Canada was decided on as a potential place of safety. Two representatives met personally with the Lt-Gov. of the day, Sir John Colborne, who enthusiastically welcomed them. They had come at a time when a large tract of land, including what is now Huron County, had just been opened up for settlement. It is possible that Colborne directed them to this land which had been put under the management of a private company called the Canada Company. Seeking to escape city life, they agreed to purchase 4000 acres in Biddulph Township, then part of the tract, at a total cost of $6000.00.
Within weeks, as many as 1500 Blacks departed the city, most making their way to Canada where they dispersed to various locations. 18 families were known to have crossed from Sandusky to Port Stanley, but only 5 or 6 of them walked the additional 35 miles to the township which had just been surveyed. Funding the immense purchase had proved impossible and only at the last minute did Quakers in Ohio and Indiana provide funds to purchase 800 acres located along the main settlement road (now Highway 4). Arriving in the Upper Canada wilderness must have posed a challenge for the settlers. Yet they persevered and were soon joined by several families from the Boston area. By 1832 the settlement was composed of log houses, crops, livestock, saw mills, stores, and a school.
The settlement came to be led by Austin Steward a successful grocer in Rochester who had escaped slavery himself. He heard about the settlement at a convention in Philadelphia he attended in 1830. After an initial visit, he sold his business and brought his family to live there in 1831. He stayed for six years during which time he served as the president of the management board for the settlement. It was Steward who named the settlement after a prominent British abolitionist, William Wilberforce.
The first few years were tough for the settlement. It was unable to grow because the Canada Company was unwilling to sell additional land to prospective settlers fearing it would deter white settlement. As well, Irish immigrants were arriving in increasing numbers creating the potential for tension. Also, many of the initial settlers were finding the gruelling work of creating farms out of a wilderness overwhelming and decided to move on. A population which had reached about 70 by the mid-1830s began to dwindle over the next several years. Steward himself left in 1837. The settlement later contained the small village of Marysville. It would grow rapidly once the Grand Trunk Railway came through in 1859 and was thereafter renamed Lucan.
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A colonization society was formed and Upper Canada was decided on as a potential place of safety. Two representatives met personally with the Lt-Gov. of the day, Sir John Colborne, who enthusiastically welcomed them. They had come at a time when a large tract of land, including what is now Huron County, had just been opened up for settlement. It is possible that Colborne directed them to this land which had been put under the management of a private company called the Canada Company. Seeking to escape city life, they agreed to purchase 4000 acres in Biddulph Township, then part of the tract, at a total cost of $6000.00.
Within weeks, as many as 1500 Blacks departed the city, most making their way to Canada where they dispersed to various locations. 18 families were known to have crossed from Sandusky to Port Stanley, but only 5 or 6 of them walked the additional 35 miles to the township which had just been surveyed. Funding the immense purchase had proved impossible and only at the last minute did Quakers in Ohio and Indiana provide funds to purchase 800 acres located along the main settlement road (now Highway 4). Arriving in the Upper Canada wilderness must have posed a challenge for the settlers. Yet they persevered and were soon joined by several families from the Boston area. By 1832 the settlement was composed of log houses, crops, livestock, saw mills, stores, and a school.
The settlement came to be led by Austin Steward a successful grocer in Rochester who had escaped slavery himself. He heard about the settlement at a convention in Philadelphia he attended in 1830. After an initial visit, he sold his business and brought his family to live there in 1831. He stayed for six years during which time he served as the president of the management board for the settlement. It was Steward who named the settlement after a prominent British abolitionist, William Wilberforce.
The first few years were tough for the settlement. It was unable to grow because the Canada Company was unwilling to sell additional land to prospective settlers fearing it would deter white settlement. As well, Irish immigrants were arriving in increasing numbers creating the potential for tension. Also, many of the initial settlers were finding the gruelling work of creating farms out of a wilderness overwhelming and decided to move on. A population which had reached about 70 by the mid-1830s began to dwindle over the next several years. Seward himself left in 1837. The settlement later contained the small village of Marysville. It would grow rapidly once the Grand Trunk Railway came through in 1859 and was thereafter renamed Lucan.
Within weeks, as many as 1500 Blacks departed the city, most making their way to Canada where they dispersed to various locations. 18 families were known to have crossed from Sandusky to Port Stanley, but only 5 or 6 of them walked the additional 35 miles to the township which had just been surveyed. Funding the immense purchase had proved impossible and only at the last minute did Quakers in Ohio and Indiana provide funds to purchase 800 acres located along the main settlement road (now Highway 4). Arriving in the Upper Canada wilderness must have posed a challenge for the settlers. Yet they persevered and were soon joined by several families from the Boston area. By 1832 the settlement was composed of log houses, crops, livestock, saw mills, stores, and a school.
The settlement came to be led by Austin Steward a successful grocer in Rochester who had escaped slavery himself. He heard about the settlement at a convention in Philadelphia he attended in 1830. After an initial visit, he sold his business and brought his family to live there in 1831. He stayed for six years during which time he served as the president of the management board for the settlement. It was Steward who named the settlement after a prominent British abolitionist, William Wilberforce.
The first few years were tough for the settlement. It was unable to grow because the Canada Company was unwilling to sell additional land to prospective settlers fearing it would deter white settlement. As well, Irish immigrants were arriving in increasing numbers creating the potential for tension. Also, many of the initial settlers were finding the gruelling work of creating farms out of a wilderness overwhelming and decided to move on. A population which had reached about 70 by the mid-1830s began to dwindle over the next several years. Seward himself left in 1837. The settlement later contained the small village of Marysville. It would grow rapidly once the Grand Trunk Railway came through in 1859 and was thereafter renamed Lucan.