After rescue, kidnapped blacks tell their story.

       Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

      During her very first winter in St. Catharines, in December 1851, Harriet conducted a group of eleven people on the UGRR that included her brother and his wife.

      They earned their bread by chopping wood in the snows of a Canadian forest; they were frost-bitten, hungry and naked. Harriet was their good angel. She kept house for her brother, and the poor creatures boarded with her. She worked for them, begged for them, and carried them by the help of God through the hard winter.

      St. Catharines was a significant centre for the reception of black people on the Underground Railroad, with an African-Canadian population of over 1,000 out of a total population of about 7,000. Blacks primarily lived around the Geneva, Niagara, Cherry and Williams Street area, although some lived in the homes where they were employed throughout St. Catharines or in nearby farming areas. From the assessment records of St. Catharines, it was learned that Harriet rented a house for herself and for the reception of refugees on Lot 11, North Street, near the corner of Geneva. It was close to what is believed to be her house of worship, now called the British Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada, Salem Chapel, at 92 Geneva Street, which still serves the needs of the present-day community. She also had a connection to the AME Zion Church.

      Financial assistance, in addition to what Harriet earned, came from many sources, including the American Missionary Society and the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada, presided over by Dr. Michael Willis of the University of Toronto. Ideological support came through George Brown, an abolitionist and owner of the Toronto newspaper, the Globe and Mail. Anti-slavery support was very high in Toronto and was shared by some local, influential people. Black people settled throughout Canada, especially in Ontario and the Maritime provinces, but within Ontario Harriet preferred St. Catharines. Why did Harriet Tubman prefer St. Catharines to other Canadian cities? Clearly the booming economy of the 1850s made it relatively easy to make a living, but the acts of anti-black racism detracted from this potential prosperity and security. Since Harriet and her charges were fresh from plantation-style experiences she may have found more positive than negative in the St. Catharines community. Its distance from the American border suited her, it was inland enough to not be too attractive to bounty hunters and it meant that her Underground Railroad trips were somewhat brief within Canadian territory.

      The industrial growth in the area had ensured that former enslaved Africans would be able to find a means of supporting themselves. But Harriet liked to have a main contact in each town she passed through, someone whom she felt she could trust completely, someone who could provide unconditional support to herself and to her people, and in St. Catharines she found Reverend Hiram Wilson. Born in New Hampshire, Hiram Wilson had settled in Toronto after completing his religious studies. Acting as an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society, he travelled throughout Ontario and established ten schools. He worked with Josiah Henson to establish the British North America Institute in Dresden. However, he was saddened by the loss of his wife and the concerns over the financial management of the Dresden scheme. As he was about to return to the United States, the passing of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act made him consider remaining in Canada to assist the large numbers of fugitives entering the country.

      I was almost in despair of continuing in Canada & thought seriously of seeking some other field & in fact had packed up my effects at Dawn to facilitate removal before we made our journey to the East in September thinking then of planting ourselves in the West but after the infamous fugitive Bill had passed & became a law I resolved to return & continue in Canada, at this most fearful crisis with the colored people.

      He settled in St. Catharines, received financial support from the American Missionary Association, operated a fugitive relief station, and set up a number of schools with teachers who he knew from Oberlin College. He was one of the four whites to have attended the North American Convention, and with others he represented St. Catharines.

      I am to guard the Niagara Frontier and do all that can reasonably be done in this section of Canada for the welfare of the Refugees who are here quite numeral are rapidly increasing.

      We are in the midst of an enterprising village of 4000 inhabitants but 14 miles from Niagara falls 11 miles from Queenston 12 [miles] from Niagara 3 [miles] from Lake Ontario 34 [miles] from Buffalo.

      He was a main contact for Harriet Tubman in St. Catharines and was active as an abolitionist and a refugee supporter. In fact, upon her initial arrival she may have met him, or he may have made arrangements for her to be hosted by his supportive wife at Bethel Chapel, AME Church, a log building on North Street. It later became a BME Church. Wilson indicated that he was in New York State in December of 1851 — when Tubman made her journey with eleven others — and did not return to St. Catharines until New Years Day, which would have been January 1, 1852. He does not mention travelling with a band of freedom seekers — is this when Tubman arrived, or was it later? Was he just being overly cautious, or had he yet to realize the significance of his new arrivals? A letter Wilson wrote states:

      St. Catharines C.W

      Dear Brother Hill Feb. 5th 1852

      Some time having elapsed since I have communicated I take the liberty to make known to you something of our circumstances the foremost winter. I spent the latter part of Dec. in the state of N.Y making Utica the farthest point of travel Returned to my family on New Years day I have been at home …

      In his many letters written to fellow classmates from Oberlin, members of the American Anti-Slavery Society, or potential sponsors, he is careful to not reveal too many details of his efforts to aid refugee slaves. While Tubman was among the most famous of his associates, he rarely made full mention of her by name. Granted, this was early in her “career” as a freedom leader. Such was the ongoing issue connected to interacting with “fugitive slaves,” even when they were on free soil.

      Wilson needed to be able to travel freely to solicit funds, and his concern for undermining the effectiveness of the UGRR, should his letters have been intercepted, was clear. What is also clear was the difficulty in finding the means to provide the type of assistance that the new arrivals required. In this letter written soon after Harriet Tubman and her first group arrived in St. Catharines, one can see how dedicated Wilson was in trying to assist them with their crucial settlement issues, namely food and fuel:

      We have had some intensively cold weather this winter in this quarter, colder than has been known for many years thermometer having fallen down to 15 [degrees] below zero. It has been very hard on the poor.

      A considerable number of colored families had come over from the state of New York for protection late in Autumn & not having opportunity to prepare for winter they have suffered to some extent and but for over timely & [illegible] exertions in their behalf they would have been many greatly sufferers[.]

      From the first of [January] till about 10 days ago I was inexpertly on the move for the purpose of [illegible] living the destitute. Some were entirely out of provisions & had no means of obtaining any Some destitute of both food & fuel. My means were soon exhausted & to prevent people from suffering I have made the best use I could of credit and owe now [invalued?] to a considerable amount in behalf of others.

      In view of the destroyed condition of the people & my own [liabilities] incurred in releasing them I have made appeals to friends in New York and at the last which may meet with a response if we wait patiently but I do not expect much.…

      Wilson assisted those in need and harnessed the resources of individuals who could inspire the new Canadians — people like Jermain Loguen. Loguen was an ordained AME Zion minister who came to St. Catharines to avoid being arrested in Syracuse, New York, for his part in helping a slave escape. A self-freed man himself, Loguen worked not only with the church, but also with the Underground Railroad movement in New York. His own experiences and his expertise with fugitives made him a helpful addition to the abolition group in St. Catharines. He worked with Reverend Hiram Wilson providing for their needs.