We have reached the Promised Land...Stories of Freedom

Crossing the Niagara River into Canada



Some fugitives swam across this river in order to reach freedom.

 Friday
Distance Travelled via bicycle today: 6km
Distance Travelled via bicycle TOTAL:  253km

Today was a travel day. We left Erie, Pennsylvania and headed across the Niagara River towards Canada – The Promised Land as it was often referred to.

The Crafts
While on this trip we have learned about a number of stories of successful slaves (either at the museums, books, information panel, etc.) and how they were able to escape. One bold couple were able to make a daring escape. William and Ellen Craft escaped from Georgia. Ellen was very pale skinned. She dressed up in a top hat and a fancy suit like she was a planter. He husband tied a bandage around her head like she had a toothache and gave her a sling for her arm. This way she didn’t have to talk (because she sounded like a woman) or write (which she couldn’t because she didn’t know how to write). They masqueraded as a master and slave – William as her slave did the talking and organizing for her while on the trip. Ellen slept in first-class accommodations and William in the slave quarters. They managed to do this ALL the WAY TO Philadelphia!! Amazing! I can’t think how terrified they must have been thinking that at any moment they would be discovered.

Canada
Yesterday, I wrote about Harriet Tubman. She actually lived in St. Catherine’s for eight years. When the Civil War started, she returned to the U.S. to help the Northern States. All that I have read about her talks of her ‘brutal and horrible’ treatment as a slave. In one way, I am glad it has not been described; I can only imagine how awful it was. Harriet was described by a fellow abolitionist as a quite ordinary woman with a bravery that was unprecedented at that time nor will it be in the future. I can’t imagine going back to the U.S. after escaping but she was resolved to ensure others didn’t suffer one more moment as a slaves.

I also didn’t know that Dresden, Canada was the home of Josiah Henson (his home is still there). He is said to have been the character Harriet Beecher Stowe based TOM in Uncle Tom’s Cabin on. He was a trustworthy slave to his master and was often given high responsibilities around the plantation. However, once he realized that the master planned on selling his children – he and his entire family made their escape. Once he arrived in Canada he visited England in attempts to raise money for his “Uncle Tom’s British Institute” which became the first vocational school in Canada. His intent was for the school to give fugitives an opportunity to learn self-supporting skills.

I have never heard of Edgar or Oro Ontario. The Oro area was known for its gold during this time. A portion of the township was intended for liberated slaves. To make them feel more at ease, they called the town Oro after Rio del Oro which was on the west coast of Africa. Oro is the Spanish word for gold. James Dixon Thompson died in 1947 and was the last escaped slave to live in Oro Township. I know many slaves talked about ‘following the drinking gourd’ or North Star but I wondered what they did when it was cloudy at night? I know they followed the moss that grows on the north side of the trees – but how could they see that on a dark night? I found out that they actually FELT the bottoms of trees for the moss when they couldn’t see at night! Imagine trying to get somewhere on a dark night and stopping and feeling trees to make sure you were on the correct path? Amazing!

Also in Canada in Maidstone (near Windsor) is the site of the Walls family home. John Freeman Walls was an escaped slave from North Carolina. He fell in love with and married his late owner’s wife!!! They came to Canada and purchased land and built a home. He had double walls in the home. Although they were in Canada, he built it this way to protect people when slave catchers crossed the border to look for slaves to take them back south. I CAN’T imagine making it all the way to freedom and feeling safe here and then being captured and taken back!!!!   Outside their home today is a sign indicating the exact number of miles various slaves walked from various states to freedom.

As a result of this trip, I realize that I have learned a lot but it has only made me more curious. There are a number of places I haven’t seen and I plan to visit all of those that are in Canada when I return home and continue this journey. I do believe this is a journey that I will never finish. J

Today was a travel day so we only had a short ride until the rain drove us indoors. Tomorrow we plan to cycle along the Niagara Trail. Niagara was a place that many abolitionists and conductors on the Underground Railroad met and formulated plans, helped newly arrived fugitives, establish settlements and more!

Wish for sunny skies. We hope to make it over 300km! :-D