I mention throughout this blog that the early pioneer settlers encountered "old growth" forests. I think it would be prudent if I introduce this post by taking a moment to show you a comparison of just how big some old
growth trees can get.
This tree is absolutely massive and it is not from
Ontario (it’s a picture of a redwood tree from northern California) but it gives you an idea of the size of
old growth trees. Stories about the trees in our area (mostly white pine) come
from the Mennonite settlers who said that they were often upwards of over 6-8
ft across. I recall a story whereby it was said that the Mennonites had set
about clearing their land in order to plant crops and that they were so
inundated by the felled trees that they tried to set them on fire and the only
thing that happened was that they smouldered for months. All I can say is wow!
In my last post, I mentioned that a number of black settlers (ex-slaves, mostly) had found their way to the growing
community in the Queen’s Bush area of Peel Township and Wellesley Township. Many of these were settlers who had left Paola Brown's settlement in order to re-locate.
Most of the group settled illegally as squatters and although the land was
considered to be a wilderness, wild game abounded and streams were full of
fish. Most importantly, perhaps, the soil was rich for agriculture. The majority of the
squatters hoped that with hard work, in a year or two, they would be able to
save enough to be able to purchase their land outright—but, in the meantime,
this also meant that they were also waiting for their land to be available for
sale since the land in the area had not yet been surveyed.
And, as if it weren’t
hard enough to build their homes in the harsh wilderness, much of the Queen’s Bush area was isolated from established roads at the time. It was said that the
trip from Hawkesville to Waterloo was a two day journey--one day out from the
bush to Waterloo and then one day back!
Simple log dwellings were built but planting and reaping crops were something
else, and few of the settlers were able to prosper—many, in addition to lacking the tools and
finances needed to survive, were also finding the harsh Canadian winters to be
particularly difficult to manage. Starvation was also a very real threat--especially
during those long winter months with no crops.
One couple, however, was
destined to become the area’s most prosperous farmers—black or white.
John and Eliza Little arrived in the
Queen’s Bush in February 1841. Exemplifying some of the harshest stories
experienced by former slaves, both had suffered terribly prior to escaping to
Canada. John Little had consistently defied his owners, often receiving brutal
beatings that left him scarred and disfigured but eventually his owner finally
conceded that Little was too stubborn to subdue. Having escaped several times,
he was eventually sold to a man who was somewhat more humane. This man also
owned Little’s future wife, Eliza. Eliza had been separated from her parents as
a child and grew up working as a domestic servant. She, too, had received
frequent beatings. When she was sixteen she married John Little and her master
assigned her to work in the fields. The work was back breaking and almost broke
her down. Following an insurmountable series of hardships the Littles managed
to escape and reached Chicago where some kind abolitionists paid for their
journey to Canada, crossing over the border at the Detroit-Windsor terminus.
Unable to find work in the Windsor area, they travelled to Hamilton where they
purchased two axes—one for each of them—half a dozen plates, knives, forks, an
iron pot, one dutch oven and for food a 50 pound bag of flour and twenty pounds
of pork. In John’ s own words he says “... we marched right into the wilderness
where there were thousands of acres of woods which the chain never run round
since Adam. At night, we built a fire, and cut down a tree, and put up some
slats like a wigwam. This was in February when the snow was two feet deep.”
Although isolated geographically, the early black settlers were often were the recipients of
kindness from local Mennonite merchants like Henry Stauffer Huber who sometimes
lent black settlers seed to plant, to be repaid when they could. As with other white settlers, the black settlers
also depended upon each other for survival and sometimes newcomers (new settlers to the area) would
receive gifts of field beans and potatoes from their neighbours who may have been white or black.
By 1841 a church is established in Peel---the African Methodist Episcopal
Church and the first preacher is an African-American from South Carolina—named
Morris Brown.
Since so many of the black
settlers were illiterate, pressure was building to establish schools to teach
the children. In 1844, Fidelia Cobourn, a missionary from Maine, arrived in the
Queen’s Bush to minister to and educate the children.
As an abolitionist, Fidelia
Cobourn actively campaigned for private donations and funding to build a school
and to provide for its upkeep. Donations were, at times, rather sparse and she
became very disillusioned when she found out that some still harboured racist
views toward the black settlers.
When she had arrived
in the community, Fidelia had shared accommodations with another white abolitionist
family in the area who lived in a small log house but once the school was
constructed and with no other lodging available, she moved into the sparsely
furnished schoolhouse known as the Mount Pleasant Mission School.
By 1845, a drought had effectively destroyed
much of the community’s crops and some of her students were arriving to school
so hungry that they ate the food scraps that she had set aside to feed her milk
(milch) cow. To make matters worse, government workers had arrived to assess
the land and farmers were now required to pay $50 up front as a down payment to
secure a 100 acre lot (this is rather small by comparison to the Mennonite lots
in Berlin and Waterloo which were, for the most part 448 acres). Many were not
able to pay the $50. Cobourn, accordingly, found it difficult to keep her
school open as her own funding dwindled. She tried desperately to obtain
donations for the children that went beyond money for the school and extra food:
things like clothing, shoes...but the choice for many was difficult but clear:
stay or leave?
In 1848, there were 1500 blacks living in the Queen’s Bush area. By 1851,
there were 237 recorded in the census. By comparison, there were approximately
700 people living in Berlin at that time and Berlin as an urban centre was
booming. As school enrollment for the children of black settlers also dwindled, the last black school in the
Queen’s Bush closed in 1853. The remaining children were integrated into common
schools in the surrounding areas (for the most part, the school enrollment in these schools had predominantly consisted of white students).
One of the black families from the Queen's Bush that relocated to Berlin was the Susand family.
Peter Edward Susand was a former slave who had been living in Wellesley
Township on a fifty acre farm as early as 1843. Peter’s wife, Elizabeth, had
been born in England and was a white woman. As I have discovered, there were actually a number of
bi-racial marriages at this time (some had been solumnized
by a minister and others were most definitely
common-law relationships). Peter and Elizabeth had twelve children and sometime
between 1851 and 1853, he and his family re-located to Berlin where he became a
respected member of his community. He established several businesses: he was
the first barber in the town of Berlin and at some point he opened the Meridian
Coffee House. He was a unique man, with a love of Shakespeare (having named some of his
children after characters in Shakespeare’s plays). Susand had also successfully
instituted and won several legal proceedings against some whites who had
damaged his Berlin property, receiving 5 shillings payment from one of the
hooligans as one of his settlements.
Mr. Susand's shop is the third building on the right--conveniently located beside the Red Lion Hotel.
Here is a copy of one of his ads that he posted in a local paper advertising
yet another one of his businesses—as a procurer and seller of fine meats. It
may be a bit hard to read but his slogan says “Call and see and you can have
the worth of your money.” He is looking to buy quality meat and then sell it to
the public. As noted, his shop was surrounded by a number of hotels, one of
which was known as the Red Lion, seen above.
Perhaps most significant of all for Mr. Susand, in 1856, several of his
white neighbours, themselves respected businessmen of the community nominated
him for Berlin town councillor. He was delighted and addressed the assembly
upon his nomination. His speech was most eloquent. Unfortunately, he did not
stand much of a chance since he was running against a man, Dr. John Scott, who
had been in the position for a number of years.
Unfortunately for Dr. Scott, he was re-elected but died later that same
year.
The Susand family continued to re-invent themselves and proved to be
integrated, contributing members of their community until 1862. At this point, something
happened to the family as Peter relocated to Guelph yet his family stayed in
Berlin. The assumption of researcher Linda Brown-Kubisch was that the family was
abandoned by him as they fell on hard times following his departure. Elizabeth,
his wife, eventually establishes her own successful business selling
confectionaries--(sometimes at the Berlin Train station) until she eventually purchases
her own property. The business is simply known as “Susand’s Taffy.” She lists
herself as a widow in 1865 yet I have located a later New York City census in
the 1870’s
that lists a PE Susand
living there and still working as a barber. Some of the family members, as you
may be aware, are buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Kitchener. Others left the area and moved to Michigan.
Now, Peter Susand was not the only black settler in Berlin to conduct legal
proceedings.
Of note was Robert
Sutherland, the first African-Canadian person to qualify as a lawyer in British
North America (Canada). A native originally of Jamaica, and not, I believe a
former slave, Mr. Sutherland practiced law for a short time in Berlin before
moving north to Walkerton where he enjoyed a successful law career, serving
briefly as a reeve of the town. A graduate of Queen’s University, upon his
untimely death in 1878, Mr Sutherland willed his entire net worth,
approximately $12,000 to Queen’s making him Queen’s first major benefactor. In
March of 1998, Sutherland Hall was dedicated as a place where students can come
together and, I quote, “appreciate the accomplishments of such an important
figure in the history of our school and our country. During the 150th
anniversary of his graduation from Queen's, let us not forget the
accomplishments of Robert Sutherland. May the students of Queen's ensure his
legacy lives on and that the contributions of people of colour are never again
forgotten. During his time at Queen’s he earned 14 academic prizes and
excelled at the fine art of debate"—no doubt a skill that he further perfected
as a lawyer and Politician.
One story I can share with you that concerns Mr.
Sutherland comes from Uttley’s “History of Kitchener.” This story also details
how respected Mr. Sutherland was in this community and how highly his fellow
citizens thought of him:
During the time that Mayor Huber was in office (1857-59?), a circus came to
Berlin. As one of the guests, Mr Sutherland purchased a ticket to attend but
when seated during the show he was racially heckled by a rude clown (how prosaic!) and the
white citizens jumped up and started to thrash the clown driving he and the
circus out of town. According to the newspaper article that later reported the
incident, Berlin, having been settled predominantly by Mennonites who were also
strong abolitionists, of course they would sympathize with their black
neighbour.
