The Huron Expositor, 1978-04-13, Page 10S-rendipity by Mice Gibb
Blacks had .colon.
Smorgasbord &' Dance
at
Blyth District Community Centre -
Roast Beef - Baked Potatoes, salads, etc.
Sponsored by Blyth, District Community Centre Board
PROCEEDS TO PAY ARENA DEFICIT
Tickets $6.00 per person
Music by Music-Makers
Dancing 9 to 1:00
Saturday, May 13, 1978
Marlen Vincent, Past President;.....
Cord Rimmer, President; Harold
Turnbull, 1st Vice' Pres.; Tom
Young, 2nd. 'Vice Pres.; Jack
Pickard, 3rd Vice Pres.; Robt.
Plulmsteel - •Treasurer; Jack
Talbot, Secretary; Stewart
Cottpland, Lion Tamer; Grapt
Little: Tail • Twister; Wm.
-VellrigItliri; Director; +Darwin
Bannerman, Director; .Lloyd
Hoggarth, Director; Irwin
Johnston, Director; Orville Oke,
Bulletin Editor.,
Bruno Braeker, R.R.4, Walton
won the montly ear club 8 draw. ,
The meeting draw' was won by
Robert Beuttenmiller.
COMMERCIAL
HOTEL
SEAFORTH
Entertainment
Thursday, Friday &
Saturday
Friday Special'
Ravioli
Friday & Saturday
Night
Chicken Wings ,
FINE FOOD
FINE. ENTERT AINMENT
•
Ii HURON HOTEL
N
11
1i
P' 411 Boston Strangler & True Grit
1111.1.4111 41111111=1111111e111111111 "111.4
MONDAY, ARIL 17 "
• At 8:30
Double Feature t.
' Line Fever & The Alamo
TUESDAY, APRIL 18
at ,8:30
',Double Feature
HWY. 8 DUBLIN
T11-1
Thursday, Friday,.
Sat. Watiiiee 6 -19-.ri1T& Night
Dave Wacco
Come To
The M vies
r
AND THE WINNER 'IS — 'Winner of a box of
groceries in a draw at Seaforth Minor Hockey Night
on Saturday was Dr. Ken Rodney of Egmondville,
left. Cheryl McClure made the„presentation:
(Expositor Photo)
Brodhagen
Mrs.- Herman Leonhardt and
Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred Prager and
'Larr\i 'of Seaforth were guests of
Mr. and mrs. Henry Leonhardt.
Dale, Colleen and Lisa of
Thamesford . on Sunday.
Congratulations are extended
from Brodhagen n to Gary n and
Dianne Josling on the safe arrival
of their son.. Daniel Franklyn,
little brother for Darrell, Julie and,
Colleen.
Mr. and Mrs. Leo Kenny have
returned home from the south
-where they enjoyed four 'months —
at• Bolmypainatrit City. t
MEL FERRER STEPHEN McNALLY • DARBY HINTON
NEVILLE BRAND • RALPH MEEKER • E PETERSON
OREYDON CLARK__
awe se.. en GEAALO LEE er, COYOTE AND THE PACK by MOVIELAIr.........d TODD A036
B' is WA WORLD AMUSEMENT CO FiANY RELEASE
OGepyrughl 1977
WHEN THESE-451
GIRLS RAISE HELL...
THERE'S THE. DEVIL
TO PAYI
HWY,. 8 GODERICH AT
CONCESSION RD. 4 .
• PHONE 524.99131
Town and'Country
Bowling League
Dance
Seaforth Community
Centre
,• Friday,
April 14,
Music by Nite Lights
$5.00• per couple
18 and over
10 . THE HURON EXPOSITOR, AP IL 13, 197
A fascinating pursuit of many contemporary writers is an
exployation of our roots - a discovery of the people and events
that. shaped our' country and turned us into the, nation we are
today.
One Canadian author , named Pierre Berton,, ha4 ereated a
lucrative career recounting episodes in our past from the
madness 'of the Klondyke, gold rush to the 'pounding of the last
gold spike linking, the country together by a narrow band of rail
to the national hysteria which greeted the birth of the five Dionne
girls in Calendar, Ontarle;, •
Then there's that. former newspaper reporter named Barry
Broadfoot Who discoVered oral history and the truth that people
love to talk about themselves. Mr. Broadfoot, armed only with a
tape recorder and a good deal of curiosity, has piovided a
channel for ordinary men and women to tell' hpw they survived
the Great Depression, our invplYerhent in World War 11 .and
internment in Japanese detention camps.,
In this column, we'd like to explore stories of SeaforKiftrren
County and neighbouring,towns, - the events and people from
the, past and preSent who make the area' what it is. Any
suggestions, anecdotes and .reminiscences about the "good old
days" would be more than welcome.
Although 'the town of Lucan is infamous for. the antics of its
Irish settlers., particularly those of a family named Donnelly,
another band of settlers once had high hopes for their new home
north of London.
The' settlers were black Americans who wanted to carve out a
life in a country where they were free to choose their own'
employer and where they did not live in fear of going on the
auction block,-often torn from .their families and sold like cattle to
the man' who offered the highest bid. , •
„ in 1829, the state of Ohio passed a law which would forever
alter the history of Lucan.
The law was the Ohio Black Law and it prohibited employment
of members of the black population.
Until the law-was passed, Ohio-had traditionally-been onestate .
which offered blacks their freedom-and the chance to earn a
living. But with the passage of the law, 3,000 blacks were
suddenly thrown out of work and, faced with the threat of being
sold back to the south and slavery:
Now as happens whenever laws are passed. a number of
FAN SUPPORT — Frances
Storey, right and daughter
------Evelyn Henderson Were
'among the BP Dumpers_
who accompanied the team
to the provincial broomball
championshi'ps in Ottawa
on the weekend.
(Expos itor Photo)
Every week more and more
people discover what mighty jobs
are accomplished by low cost
Huron Expositor. Want Ads. Dial
527-0240.
David
I Newlands
[Royal Ontario Museum]
SLIDE &
TALK SHOW
"Early Potters and
Potteries of Ontario"
April 197
8 On.
• Seaforth District High School .
Adults $2.00 Students $1.00
Sponsored by
an Egmond Foundation
blacks decided to organize, and they formed the Cincinnati
Colonization Society and sent their representative, one Israel
Lewis, to pay a call on the governor of Upper Canada,
The governor is quoted as telling Mr. Lewis to "tell the
Republicans on your side of the line (border) that we Royalists do
not know men by their color, Should you come to us you will be
entitled to ' all the privileges of the rest of his Majesty's
sabjeets."
This guarantee was published in the Citteinnati papers and a.
promise was .hastily made that the Ohio Black Law would be
repealed. But many of "the blacks weren't reassured and they
decided toproceed with their plan to purchase' a plot of land from
the Canada Ladd Company and to resettle in a country where
their freedom was guaranteed. • .
The settlers purchased. 1,200 acres of land in 4i'ddulph
Township and named their new home the Wilberforce colony,
,after the famous British abolitionist, The site was exactly where
the town of Lucah si is today and refugees hoped that someday
they could purchase the whole township as more blacks
emigrated to the colony.
Austin Steward was one of the original settlers who,included
six families from Cincinnati and about 15 more families from the
Boston area. .
Seward lived in the colony from'1830 to 1837 after escaping
from Virginia Where he had been a slave and earning enough to
open his own business in the state of New York.
In Seward's autobiography, published years later, he recalled
the Wilberforce settlement saying, "It is situated on what is
known as the Huron Tract, Kent County, London District and is •
the next north of the town of London. Our neighbours . on the '
south were a company of Irish people who owned the tbwnship
and en the west side were a company of Welshmen, a h ardy,
industrious and enterprising people."
But the Wilberforce settlement —was doomed from the
beginning and two of its_worst enemies proved to he Israel Lewis,._..-.
and Rev. Nathan' Paul. These men were' erfiploYed by the colony
as agents to solicit funds to build a school and purchase more
land in the Biddulph area for the colony..
Israel Lewis was to pursee,his fundraising in the United States
while Rev. Paul campaigned in Great -Britain, a country already
tieing swept by the abolitionist cause.
ewes was the first•to jeopardize the future of the colony.
While lie"colleeted considerable sums of money for the colony, he
didn't bother to send them back to Lucan nor did he fulfil his
agreement regarding payment to the Canada Land Company.
When this agreement wasn'tmet, the land 'company agent, a
man named JoneS, declared "Fre would have nothing to do with
any of, the colored. people."
The" dream of ., blacks someday owning all of Biddulph
Township came tb an immediate end, Mr. Lewis' feats were
featured in newspapers on both sides of the border and he finally
reached the peak of hiS dastardly dareer by trying to have Austin
Steward ambushed ,by three men with rifles in McCoinnell's
Dismal Swamp. Fortunately the men's aim was as crooked, as
they were. •
'—'"'ttittiis, who once seemed to have a brilliapt career as an orator
and leader of the Colonization Society, died a pauper's death in
Montreal.
• Rev. Nathan Paul also fared well in Britaip, not only raising a
considerable sum of money but also meeting and marrying an
Englishwoman while preaching the virtues of the black
Wilberforce colony. But the colonists didn't receive any funds
frori the minister -either. Although Rev. Paul claimed to have
raised over $8,000, he said his expenses were over $7,000 and
then hebilled the colony for additiOnal funds to the tune of $50 a
month for the time he had been away.
Austin Steward later recalled meeting Rey. Paul's English
bride and said she was "seated like a'queen in state, a gold chain
encircling her neck and attached to a gold watch in her girdle;
her fingers and person sparkling with costly jewellery wife of
our agent for poor Wilberforce Colony."
. in 1837, Steward returned to the.United States, disillusioned
and pepniless and he was soon followed by many of his fellow
colonists.
By 1852, only 20 black-families remained and the Irish settlerS -
had become the dominant group. in Lucan,
Today, the graves of some of the Wilberforce settlers can still
be found in the area. They remain 'a symbol .of the dreams of
emancipation and freedom which the black settlers nexer fully
realilzed in Lucan's Wilberforce settleittent.
fli n g
lin,
,.Catch it aliffarv tliiir -a.‘„,....
Some language may be offensive
Theatres Branch Ont.
APRIL 14th-20th
TWO SHOWINGS: 7-9
SAT. & SUN MATINEE 2:00
30 THE SQUARE Program
PHQNE 524-7811 subject
11, GODERICH , AIRCONDITIONED t° change s,
•••••••w•••••••
g
near Luccan
Seaforth Optimists Were guests
of the Lions Club for dinner
Monday night to mark the 10th°
anniversary of the establishment
of the OptiMists here.
As a memento of the event Patil
Carroll on• behalf of the Lions
pres,ented, the Optimists with . an
engraved gavel, Later members
' shared a 10th birthday cake. The
event was arranged by a
committee including 'Mr. 'Caroll,
Grant Little and Gerry Herbering-
ton. Lions Club president Marten
Join
the Canadian
minority group.
The Fit.,
Vincent' in welcoming the
Optimists recalled that the two
(-tubshad ommon objective -
th w are 'of the Seaforth
Community.
Optimist vice president Larry
Wesenberg and past presidents
Martin Murray and Ken Coleman
spoke on behalf of the Optimists.
Members reminded each other of
the Optimists Mardi Gras on June
3 and the Lions Barbeque on June
24.
A report of a geminating
committee recommending Lions
for Office for the denting year was
presented by Mr. Vincent and
adopted.
Incomieg officers will be:
DANCE
PINERIDGE CHALE
R.R.#2, Hensai
Sat., April 15
9-1
Roger Quick
& The Rainbows
. Food
.Riservations
262-221713-64m v2364113
Proceeds to the Hensall
Arena Building Fund.
Dale •
BANNERMAN
and
Lynne
BOWIE
[BRIDAL COUPLE]
Wish to invite relatives,
, friends and neighbours
to their open
Wedding Reception
Sat April 15 . 9 P.M.
Seaforth Legion Hall
Dublin Mixed Bowling. League
-'D -ante
Mitchell &District Cdmmunity Centre
Saturday, April 22
Music. by
LINCOLN GREEN
$5.00 Per Couple Everyone Welcome
NEXT ATTRACTION '
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
• OF 3RD KIND 41
*PARK
SEASON'S' OPENER
FRI.,. SAT.. & SUN... APRIL 14,'15, 16 SHOWTIME 7:30
10 111015
VIM Of 01 Of 9thl
161,,
DMITVANCE