Ontario Visual Heritage Project: Chatham-Kent

From the beginning this foul place was known as a place of refuge. In the coming years, the growing republic to the south and the crumbling empire to the east would force immigration of enterprising individuals seeking a safe haven. This unassuming part of Southern Ontario would come to be known as Chatham-kent.

Sir John Graves Simcoe traveled to Chatham-Kent in 1793, hoping to build an agricultural community based on the British Model. His plan was to link major settlements sites via a military road and a system of rivers and canals. By 1796, Simcoe had left the province because of health concerns. Much of his grand plan to integrate the province was never fully realized. However, before his depature he created legislature that helped prevent the spread of slavery.

In 1812, war broke out between the United States Of America and British North America. There are a variety of reasons as to why a conflict as monumental as the War of 1812 occurred. Regardless of motive, one of the first settlements to fall to the Americans was the Baldoon Settlement.

The Moravians were a peaceful society and abstained from war, but this fostered suspicion from the U.S.A and the British and they were forced to relocate several times due to persecution. An incident occured from which a large number of Moravians were massacred that led them to flee the United States and take refuge in Canada along the Thames.

Forty to fifty years after the original Baldoon settlement was established, the McDonald family began to experience some rather strange happenings at their home on the Baldoon site. This ranged from strange noises in the night, dishes rattling on the table, haystacks bursting into flames, bullets flying through windows and cabbages rolling down chimneys.

In the 1800's Chatham-Kent became known as a place of refuge for many fugitive slaves escaping from the United States. The land was rich in natural resources and far enough away from the border that it was relatively safe from slave hunters.

Josiah Henson was born into slavery on a plantation in Maryland in 1789. Soon after, he was sold to Isaas Riley who was a particulary cruel slave owner. When he tried to buy his freedom but was tricked out of it, he fled with his family on the underground railroad to Canada. He settled in Dresden and set about the goal of establishing a school to teach former slaves to read and write. It became known as the British American Institute and opened it's doors in 1842.

The settlement at Buxton, advocated by Rev. William King, was meant to be a home for escaped and free blacks but was vehemently opposed by Edwin Larwell-the local member of parliament. There were myths being perpetuated about blacks being dirty,lazy, and uneducated and many people were opposed to the settlement.

Thomas Talbot worked as an aide for Governor Simcoe and had come with the Govenor to North America. He eventually retired and recieved a tract of land in Southern Ontario and became a British land agent. Talbot understood Simcoe's plan for defense of the province and established settlements with this idea. Talbont settled people with the stipulation that you must clear and maintain the road in front of your property.

In 1792 Govenor Simcoe discovered oil in Chatham-Kent. When John Lick hit a well in Bothwell in the 1850's, wildcatters would come from all over to capitlize on the considerable amount of oil. This started the boom of Bothwell. The town was contructed very quickly and often flimsy, but it was necessary as within 2 years Bothwell became the largesttown center outside of Toronto.