Written by Geoff Butler
Today, we visit the historic ‘Negro Burial Ground’ in the Niagara Region. With the passing of the anti-slavery act on July 9th, 1793, many people, for many different reasons related to race, began settling in the Niagara area. Some were enslaved persons who travelled to the region with the Loyalist immigration, many were black loyalists who served the crown, and others were fugitives seeking freedom from slavery. Many early black settlers gathered together and bought or rented properties south of William Street between King and Butlers streets. Over time the area became known as the ‘Coloured Village.’ At its height, the black community consisted of approximately 198 people.
As the Niagara community began to grow and the demographics started to change, there was a demand and desire for new social and spiritual needs. Many Black residents, especially newly arrived fugitives from the United States, identified themselves as Wesleyan Methodists or Baptists.
By the 1820s, the Niagara Baptist community had grown and wanted to establish its own meeting house. A property was purchased on the east side of Mississauga Street, just south of Mary Street, to build a Baptist place of worship. A fundraising campaign was proposed and led by John Oakley.
John Oakley: Photo credit- NOTL Museum
John Oakley was an Englishman and soldier who arrived in 1814 and served as Quartermaster at Fort George. In 1816, due to a reduction in the ranks, Oakley left the army and worked as a preacher and a teacher. Although he attended and married his wife in St. Mark’s Church, he heard the Baptist calling and wrote in his journal, “the Lord enabled me to obtain the means of building a chapel in the western side of town. It was a plain substantial building 30 x 40.” Oakley was instrumental in raising funds to build the Church.
The Niagara Baptist congregation was established in 1829 and consisted predominantly of white colonists with a few black members. The Baptist Church, along with the graveyard, was erected in 1831. The first sermon was conducted on June 28th, 1831. Oakley led the Church until 1845, leaving to lead another Baptist Church in Virgil. Many of the original white parishioners followed him.
Over time and with the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the Black congregation grew, and from 1849-1853 the Black Reverend Francis Lacey led and served the faithful churchgoers. As a result, the Church became known as the ‘Coloured’ Baptist Church.
Unfortunately, by 1878, the Church was in decline, and only ten members were recorded. The Church closed in 1878 and was moved to Garrison Village and was used as a storage shed. Although the Church was moved, the Wesleys family living across the street utilized the lot.
Over the years, “the burial ground became overgrown, and by 1960, the tombstones had fallen or completely disappeared.” There were supposedly 15 graves in the Church’s burial ground, including Herbert Holmes and Jacob Green, who were killed in the ‘Solomon Moseby Affair’ (1837). Sadly, both their tombstones have vanished. Apparently, some of the gravestones “found their way into local front walks and house foundations.” As a result, and thanks to local residents, a historical plaque was erected (1957), ‘The Negro Burial Ground.’
Fortunately, the Ontario Heritage Fund recently advised of a new plaque to be installed, renaming the site, “Niagara Baptist Church Burial Ground.’
Erin Semande, the Ontario Heritage Trust registrar, said of the new plaque, “We are working with local and community partners to ensure that these plaques tell an authentic, respectful, inclusive and accurate portrayal of Ontario’s history.”
There are presently three gravestones that can still be seen today. The two graves at the front are for George Wesley’s son George D. Wesley, and John Oakley’s daughter Susan. The gravestone located in the back is George Wesley’s grave. George Wesley was a freedom-seeker from Kentucky who settled with his family in Niagara-on-the-Lake, 519 Mississauga Street, and died in 1893.
Recently, there has been a concerted effort to understand and determine the identities and the actual number of persons interred there. James Russell, a Toronto journalist using penetrating radar technology, believes there are 13 more buried at the site, totalling 28 unnamed persons.
Russell’s hope, along with many others, is to identify all those buried on the site and erect proper headstones honouring their lives. Russell said to Town Council, “Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them.”
SOURCES:
Negro Butial Ground-NOTL Museum
Negro Burial Ground-baladodecouverte. Com
Niagara Baptist Church burial ground-tvo. Org
Niagara Baptist Church Burial Ground-Ontario Heritage Trust
Slavery and Freedom in Niagara-Michael Power and Nancy Butler
Honouring the dead-Niagaranow. com
Heritage Trust renames NOTL historic Negro Burial Ground-Niagara Now
