Dresden and Chatham, Ontario

We're back on the train!! Today we went to Dresden, Ontario and found a wonderful museum centered around Josiah Henson. When Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin she used Josiah's autobiography as a model for her main character. The museum was well laid out and had some wonderful artifacts from the mid to late 1800's. It seems that every stop we learn a little more about the UGRR and the lives that were affected by it.

Our next stop was in Chatham at the Black Historical Society Museum. We felt like we were royalty at this small but powerful museum. We spoke with Brian Romineck and Gwen Robinson who gave us a guided tour of the history of Chatham and how it fit into the UGRR puzzle. Chatham was a destination for many free blacks and escaping slaves and they were very prosperous. It was in Chatham that John Brown came to plan his raid on Harper's Ferry and to gain financial support for his endeavor. Chatham was also the home of Mary Ann Shadd Cary who published a newspaper called The Provincial Freeman. Mary Ann became the first female black attorney at age 60! All I have to say is "you go girl!" We went to a cute little park dedicated to Black History in Chatham where this bust of Mary Ann Shadd Cary is displayed.

Tomorrow we are on to North Buxton another destination on the UGRR and perhaps John Freeman Walls Historic Site just outside of Windsor, Ontario. After that stop we are homeward bound!!