Wilberforce Colony

Wilberforce Colony
Colony
The Wilberforce Settlement[1]
Wilberforce Colony Location within the province of Ontario
Coordinates: 43°12′N 81°23′W / 43.200°N 81.383°W / 43.200; -81.383Coordinates: 43°12′N 81°23′W / 43.200°N 81.383°W / 43.200; -81.383
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Middlesex County, Ontario
Established	1829
Founded by	Israel Lewis and Thomas Crissup
Government
• Type	Colony
• President, Board of Managers	Austin Steward
Area
• Total	.1.6 km2 (0.04 sq mi)
Population (1835)
• Total	166
• Density	1,700/km2 (4,300/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)

Wilberforce Colony was a colony established by free African American citizens, founded in c. 1829 north of present day London, Ontario, Canada. It was the outgrowth of one of several movements connected with the American Colonization Society (which was established in 1816 to settle free blacks in an African colony). When American black communities favored emigration, they preferred a country where free blacks could hold full political control of their destiny. The establishment of Wilberforce Colony in Canada was one such movement, linked particularly to Cincinnati, Ohio.^[2] The colony grew quickly upon its founding, but internal disputes and lack of funding spelled its demise by 1850. Altogether, the colony survived as an independent community fewer than 20 years.

Background

The increase in Cincinnati's black population in the decade starting in 1820 was rapid and pronounced. In 1820, some 433 African-Americans comprised less than 4% of the city's population, but over the next decade the city's black population swelled by more than 400%.^[2] This change alarmed some white residents. In response to a citizens' petition in 1828, the Cincinnati City Council appointed a committee "to take measures to prevent the increase of negro population within the city."^[3] In March of that year the Ohio Supreme Court decided that the 1807 Black Laws, which placed restrictions on blacks in many areas of life and employment, were indeed constitutional. The Cincinnati City Council enforced this restrictive legislation.

Purchase of land in Canada

Near the end of June 1828, Cincinnati blacks elected Israel Lewis and Thomas Crissup to survey a site in Canada to which the Cincinnati blacks could emigrate. Lewis and Crissup met with John Colbourne, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, to discuss prospects of settling in the area. They entered into a contract with the Canada Company for the purchase of land in Biddulph in the Huron Tract in Ontario, lots 2, 3, and 5 north of the Proof Line Road and lot 11 south of the road,^[4] for the amount of $1.50 per acre. The land was on the Ausable River, some twenty miles (32 km) from Lake Huron, and about thirty-five miles from the northern shore of Lake Erie. The initial arrangement between Israel Lewis and Thomas Crissup envisaged the purchase of 4,000 acres (16 km²) for $6,000, to be paid by November 1830.

Emigration from Cincinnati

The Cincinnati riots of 1829 continued from the start of July to the end of August, instigating an exodus of around 1,000 blacks from Cincinnati.^[5] Those who left the city that summer comprised two groups. Those who were primarily forced out of Cincinnati by violence, fear, and inability to work generally settled in nearby towns or villages; the second group was an organized exodus of blacks, with many emigrating the distance of nearly 400 miles to the Canadian site. Since movement to the still-unnamed Wilberforce Colony required purchase of land, however, those without financial resources simply stopped and settled in towns on the southern shore of Lake Erie where they could find work. They never made it to Canada.

Those who did make it to Canada faced traveling some thirty-five miles northward from Lake Erie through untracked forest, and then having to clear land for crops and build dwellings. Although exact figures are not known, evidence suggests that of the initial exodus, only five or six families made it to the Ontario colony in the first year.

Settlement and naming the colony

The initial arrangement between the Canada Company and Lewis & Crissup called for a $6,000 payment by November 1830. But the number of colonists expected to support that purchase could not be immediately achieved, and the financial resources of the initial colonists could not support that arrangement. Financial stability for the colony was precarious for that first year.

Appeals were made for further support. Attempts in Cincinnati and pleas to the Ohio state legislature were in vain. But an appeal to the Quakers (mostly based in Oberlin, Ohio)^[1] was successful; and on September 20, 1830, James Brown and Stephen Duncan purchased 400 acres (1.6 km²) for Wilberforce.

With the land secured, the colonists turned to clearing land and building structures.

In 1831 the settlement was named "Wilberforce," in honor of William Wilberforce, the prominent British abolitionist who had led the fight for the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 that abolished slavery in most of the British Empire.

Growth of the colony

The initial group of emigrants tended to be from the more educated class of Cincinnati blacks, and education for their children was of great importance. This also built on a tradition formed in Cincinnati, where the community placed great importance on education of their children. The first institution established in Wilberforce was a school. American social reformer William Lloyd Garrison visited the colony in 1831, and noted that 20-30 children attended schools.^[6] By 1832 there had been three schools established, and the quality of these schools drew students from the surrounding white population. Aspirations for education extended beyond elementary and secondary schools.

The desire of the Wilberforce colonists was for more than mere literacy. By 1832 the settlement had crops in the ground and log homes. Settlers built three sawmills, one powered by water; a gristmill, and several general stores. The proximity of the settlement to the Ausable River gave transportation access to goods, and provided a way to export products, both agricultural and forest-related.

The riots in Cincinnati, and the establishment of Wilberforce Colony, helped raised a national black consciousness. Interest grew in emigration from other northern cities. The Mother Bethel Church in Philadelphia assembled black leaders from across the north to search for solutions to empower all African-Americans. In an 1830 convention, the Assembly organized itself as the American Society of Free Persons of Color (ASFPC), the beginning of the black convention movement. Impetus began at the first annual convention of the ASFPC, with the proposal to establish a manual labor college for young men in New Haven, Connecticut. When this seemed impossible, the convention turned to Wilberforce. A national subscription campaign in the United States and Great Britain, under the direction of Nathaniel Paul, was attempted. The subscription drive failed, but the importance of higher education to the Wilberforce colonists was clearly demonstrated.

Within the first 18 months, as Wilberforce grew from the initial few families, other black American emigrants joined them from Boston, Rochester, Albany, New York, Baltimore, and other cities. Subsequent recruiting efforts drew blacks from other northern cities, and by 1832 there were 32 families in the area. By 1835 the community had 166 inhabitants. Eventually about 150-200 families settled there.^[4]

With this infusion of African-Americans from several places, political growth began. A board of managers was created, primarily to oversee financial matters. Austin Steward was president. He and other newcomers replaced the old Cincinnati leaders, in 1831 relegating Israel Lewis, original colony organizer and land agent, to U.S. fundraising agent. He was one of two fundraising agents appointed, the other being Nathaniel Paul in England.

Decline and dissolution

The schism between the original Cincinnati families and new settlers eventually led to the decline of the colony. The Cincinnati leaders came from city life and did not adapt well to the harsh farming environment. Within that first decade, many of the leaders of the emigration movement who had located in Wilberforce, left. In addition, both fundraising agents failed to live up to expectations, and by 1839, suspicions of wrongdoing, particularly by Lewis, exacerbated the problems of Wilberforce.^[4]

By the late 1840s the Irish began moving into the area, and the black population declined greatly, with many of the original colonists moving on to larger, growing urban centers such as Detroit, Cleveland, or Toronto to obtain wage-based employment. Eventually the Irish community supplanted Wilberforce altogether, and the town of Lucan was incorporated. Wilberforce as a free black colony faded into history.

Peter Butler, an early Wilberforce settler who arrived around 1840. By the end of the 20th century only Butler's family had descendants still in the area of the Wilberforce Colony village.

A small number of blacks stayed on to work the land through subsequent generations, but by the end of the 20th century only a single family, that of Peter Butler, had descendants still in the area of the Wilberforce Colony village.^[4]

Chronology

1828

• June — Cincinnati blacks elect Israel Lewis and Thomas Crissup to survey a site in Canada to which the Cincinnati blacks can emigrate.
• July — Lewis and Crissup met with John Colbourne, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, to discuss prospects of settling in the area. They enter into a contract with the Canada Company for the purchase of land in Biddulph in the Huron Tract in Ontario, lots 2, 3, and 5 north of the Proof Line Road and lot 11 south of the road.

1829

• July–August — Cincinnati riots of 1829 force more than 1,000 African-Americans to leave the city. A group of these set out for the settlement.
• September —First wave of settlers, probably only five or six families, arrive in the area.

1830

• September 20 — James Brown and Stephen Duncan purchased 400 acres (1.6 km²) for the establishment of the colony.

1831

• Settlement named "Wilberforce" in honor of William Wilberforce.
• Emigrants from Boston, Rochester, Albany, New York, Baltimore, and other cities join the settlement.
• William Lloyd Garrison visits the colony, noting that 20-30 children attend schools.
• Board of managers created, with Austin Steward named president.
• Original colony organizer Israel Lewis is appointed as the local fundraising agent; Nathaniel Paul named fundraising agent for Great Britain.

1832

• Wilberforce has 32 families, with crops in the ground and log homes. The colony has three sawmills, a gristmill, and several general stores.
• Three schools established, drawing students from the surrounding white population.

1835

• Wilberforce population hits 166 inhabitants.

1836

• Lewis accused of mismanaging fundraising accounts.

1840

• Most of the original Cincinnati settlers have left.

1850

• Black population in the area declines in the face of Irish immigration; the colony effectively dissolves.

References