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.
Another St. Catharines black resident, Nelson Countee, a signor of the hotel petition, entered Canada in the 1840s and the AME ministry in 1844. He also was involved in fugitive relief.
As previously mentioned, William Hamilton Merritt, MP, was key in setting the tone in St. Catharines. He was born in Bedford, West Chester County, New York, on July 3, 1793. Merritt’s father was a United Empire Loyalist and a military man who served with a unit commanded by Colonel John Graves Simcoe. Upon learning of Simcoe’s new appointment as Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (now Ontario), he visited his old friend in Niagara and moved his family to Canada when William was three years old. Merritt’s father was appointed sheriff of the Niagara district and purchased land on Twelve Mile Creek — the area that became known as Merriton. His father was also credited with promoting the healthful qualities of the springs in St. Catharines.
As a young man, William Merritt fought in the War of 1812 and following the war he opened a general store, sawmill, and flour mill on the site of present-day St. Catharines. He also purchased some three hundred acres of land nearby. He promoted the transportation system to enhance commerce between Ontario and New York, including construction of the Welland Canal, which saw the first boats through the canal on October 24, 1829.
By 1832 he was elected to the legislature of Upper Canada and continued his interest in transportation facilities between the two countries. In the 1840s, he developed the concept of the Niagara Suspension Bridge, which was completed by 1849 and used by escaping enslaved Africans in the following years. He died on July 5, 1864.
The idea for a land connection between southern Ontario and Upper New York came from Merritt’s success in building the Welland Canal and his interest in improving trade between the two countries. He felt that a land route would allow carriages access to the markets of St. Catharines, encourage more business on both sides of the border, and attract tourists for the mineral spring spas. Merritt used his experience as a financial agent for the Welland Canal Company to start the project.
A community called Suspension Bridge grew up near Drummondville at the north end of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and a similar settlement on the American side had the same name. Later the community referred to as Suspension Bridge became known as Niagara Falls, and today Bridge Street marks the location of the centre of this community in Ontario. In 1849 the building of the suspension bridge was complete, with two levels combining a train bridge with a motor way, one over the other.
It was ideal for freedom seekers — perhaps there would be no guard posted at the entrance, or the guard would just look the other way. It is known that on at least one occasion, Harriet Tubman took an actual train ride across the suspension bridge with her human “cargo,” before making their way into St. Catharines.
8
Taking the Railroad into Canada
William Hamilton Merritt was called “the Father of Canadian Transportation” for his work on the Welland Canal, and he was also a member of the Refugee Slaves’ Friends Society (RSFS) formed in 1852. This organization offered financial, employment, and housing assistance to fugitives, and many local blacks, including Harriet Tubman, were involved with this organization. The first mayor of St. Catharines, Elias Smith Adams, was one of the founders of the RSFS.
In
