1 3 | Friday June 3 0 , 2 0 1 7 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | w w w .in s id e h a lto n .c o m Oakville stop on Canada's Underground Railroad by Nathan Howes Oakville Beaver Staff Oakville was a gateway to Canada for m any African-Americans, as early as the 1830s -- something many residents m ay not know, according to Carolyn Cross, curator of collections at the Oakville Museum. Oakville played a pivotal role in helping African-Americans escape slavery in the United States through the Underground Railroad. William Chisholm purchased the land around Sixteen Mile Creek in 1827, and in 1834, Oakville became an official port-of-entry into Canada. Local ships sailed the Great Lakes and beyond, and m any slaves, assisted by captains, stowed away in grain ves sels. According to the museum, stories told of a tunnel, which ran from the Sixteen Mile Creek to the Herb Merry House on Trafalgar Road. There also m ay have been a tunnel under Navy Street, near the Custom House. Particularly remembered is Capt. Robert Wilson, who brought many African-Americans to Oakville con cealed aboard his ships -- a local school is named after him. The timing of Oakville becoming a port and slavery abolition by the Brit ish was "perfect," Cross said, since a lot of Freedom Seekers used the har bour to find liberation in Canada. "Being a primary method of trans portation, with the ships that sailed along the Great Lakes and through the Wellington C an al.. .the traffic helped Oakville become a destination for the Freedom Seekers," said Cross. Many residents, such as Wilson and the Chisholm family were "anti slavery sympathizers," Cross said. "Some of our m ost prominent merchants and comm unity members were anti-slavery sympathizers and really did put their lives on the line in trying to help these people find a bet ter life here," said Cross. "They assisted a lot of these former slaves through the shipping vessels," development of the community. Visitors will discover Branson John son, a freeborn African-American, who arrived with his family in 1855. His Certificate of Freedom from a Maryland court, and the pocket watch in which it was hidden for years, are featured. The certificate shows how subsequent generations defined and preserved evidence of freedom. "You get the local stories of who was settling here in Oakville and how they were important to the develop m ent of our community," said Cross. "It does tell a very local story" The Underground Railroad exhibit opened in 2 0 0 9 and features the ghost of Deborah Brown telling the true story of her heroic flight from a life of slavery in Maryland to her new life of freedom in 19th-century Toronto. The exhibit was created by Parks Canada, in partnership with the On tario Black History Society and the Royal Ontario Museum. One of m any notable figures ar riving in Oakville at the time was Jam es Wesley Hill, an escaped slave who crossed the Potom ac River into Pennsylvania and then the border, in a packing box. He, too, has a local school named in his honour. Hill, also known as CanadaJim, first stayed with his friend Warren Wallace in Bronte and became employed in Oakville by John Alton around 1850, to remove stumps and clear under brush from a cleared woodlot. He rented the 100-acre Samuel Har ris farm on Ninth Line and eventually built a house, which stands today at 4 5 7 Maple Grove Dr. Hill' s strawber ry farm made Oakville the one-time strawberry industry capital of Canada. He made several trips to Maryland, leading an estimated 7 0 0 -8 0 0 AfricanAmericans back to Oakville along the Underground Railroad. His reputation as a `conductor' led to a price being put on his head, and in the United States, he was wanted dead or alive. James Wesley Hill Also known as "Canada Jim" Alvin Duncan Heritage Collection said Cross. To recognize the history of African-Americans, the Oakville Mu seum has two permanent exhibitions. Freedom, Opportunity and Family: Oakville' s Black History and The Un derground Railroad: Next Stop Freedom are housed at Erchless Estate. The former, opened in 2 0 1 0 and tells the stories of m any AfricanAmerican families, who settled in Oakville and were important to the For related story, see Emancipation on p.15 W IN D O W S & DOORS SHUTTERS & BLINDS Since 1999 Bronte & Dundas, O akville V O T E F O R Y O U R F A V O U R IT E S N O W ! HunterDouglas # Gallery online at www.oakvillereaderschoice.com