From February 2, 2008 to April 26, 2008, the Woodstock Museum presented "And Still I Rise" a travelling exhibit from the Hamilton Workers Arts & Heritage Centre that explored how escaped slaves and free Blacks migrated to Canada during the era of the Underground Railroad. The hardships they endured in the workplace as skilled and unskilled trades to fill a tremendous need in labour during 19th century Canada. I presented local content of various people and families in Oxford County from the turn of the century to present times. I also discussed various occupations that was employed.
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And Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise. (From And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou, by Random House, Inc.) |
The Exhibit “and still I rise…”
Roger Ferreira is the artist who designed the logo for the travelling exhibit “and still I rise…: A History of African Canadian Workers in Ontario 1900s to Present.” This multimedia exhibit has been home at the Ontario Workers Arts and Heritage Centre (WAHC) on Stuart Street in Hamilton, Ontario since March 16, 2003 which ran for a year. Afterwards it traveled to key areas throughout Ontario associated to the history of the Underground Railroad. From February to April 2008, this exhibit will be a temporary home at the Woodstock Museum which is another area that has a history of the Underground Railroad. (Hit the button below to read the rest of the article.) 
Artist Roger Ferreira with his logo for the exhibit
…and Still I Rise: A History of African Canadian Workers in Ontario 1900s to Present
This exhibit chronicles the working experiences of African Canadian workers in Hamilton during the turn of the century. To put this exhibit into our perspective, the Woodstock Museum will be show casing Black worker’s experiences in the work force throughout Oxford County from the 1800s to the present. (Hit the button below to read the rest of the article.) "...and still I rise:" A History of Black Workers in Ontario, 1900 to Present Teacher's Guide Click to download Teacher's Guide PDF |
…and Still I Rise Exhibit: Families of Oxford County
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Robinson/Dorsey Families – Eastwood, 1861 - 1974
John Robinson was a pageboy for a southerner plantation owner. While travelling with his master near Niagara Falls, he was whipped for a minor offence. As he sat crying in the street, someone suggested he cross the river to freedom in Canada. Robinson took up the suggestion and came to Canada. A man named McGuinn took Robinson in and taught him the skill of blacksmith. Robinson settled in Eastwood around 1861 where he opened a blacksmith shop which he had for 50 years. Both his sons, William Henry and Samuel helped in the family business. John Robinson died on May 6, 1891. William Henry Robinson married Hannah Lightfoot and had three children, Mary, Elizabeth and Joseph. Elizabeth worked as a seamstress in Eastwood and saved her money to train as a nurse in Chicago. She worked with Dr. Daniel Hale Williams who was the first doctor to perform open heart surgery. Elizabeth married Samuel Dorsey in 1902 in Omaha Nebraska. They had three children, Jeanne, Grace, and Joseph. Joseph Dorsey was born in 1906, when he was 10 years old his parents sent to live with his grandmother in Eastwood and to attend school. Joseph resided with his grandparents until they eventually moved to Omaha to live with his parents. Joseph became a medical doctor; he studied in France then practiced psychiatry in New York City. Dr. Joseph Dorsey died in 1974. ____________________________ Sources: Evens, Mary “Black History of Ingersoll” Pettigrew, Joyce A. A Safe Haven The Story of the Black Settlers of Oxford County, The South Norwich Historical Society 2006, pp. 155-156 |
The Williams Family – Milldale & Norwich, 1853-1945
Robert Williams – 1819-1899 A free Black born in Virginia in 1819, Robert settled in New York where he met Harriet Cooley. Harriet was also born free in New York State on February 8, 1818. The two were married in 1840 and resided in Rochester where five of their nine children were born. Due to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Robert had concerns. While attending a Society of Friend’s Yearly Meeting in New York State, Williams was encouraged to escape to Canada by William Baker and Jesse Stover whom he met there. Robert purchased land Lot 6 Concession 7 in Milldale. After settling Robert Williams brought over his wife Harriet and their five children from New York State. William Baker owned a mill in the area where Robert worked when he was not farming. He was a successful farmer who owned 100 acres by the time of his death. The remaining four Williams children were born in Milldale: Elizabeth, Martha, Isaac and John Williams. 
The Williams Family's photo album is at the Norwich Museum
The Williams family illustrates how affluent some of the Black families were in this area. On loan from the Norwich Archives is one of their many treasures. A wine coloured velvet photo album contains studio portraits of the Williams family. The album is quite unique as it has a music box. The family photo album was given to Mabel (Stover) McVittie by Martha and Isaac who remembers visiting the family with her mother to hear them sing.
The Williams were a musical family who entertained at garden parties and church socials. They also travelled neighbouring towns and villages to sing. Martha played the organ while Isaac and John sang. As members of the Milldale United Church, Robert and Harriet are buried in Milldale Cemetery. Robert died at the age of 83 in 1899 and Harriett in 1913 at the age of 95. When Isaac Williams died in 1945, the era of the Williams family also ended. ____________________________ Sources: Norwich Archives. “Norwich played part in Black heritage” Norwich Gazette, February 27, 2002 Pettigrew, Joyce A. A Safe Haven The Story of the Black Settlers of Oxford County, The South Norwich Historical Society 2006, p. 111; pp. 142-145. |
…and Still I Rise Exhibit: Individuals of Oxford County
George Gravy aka George Washington Jones – Woodstock, 1925 - 1951
Woodstock’s most famous, well liked but unofficial Town Crier was George Gravy. For a quarter of a century, this well-known figure was popular among Woodstock streets. In 1925, George Gravy arrived in Woodstock and appointed himself as the “city crier”. The people of Woodstock nicknamed him George “Washington” Jones, a name he did not care for but one that stuck with him nonetheless. Dressed in a silk top hat, swallow-tailed top coat bedecked in various medals, badges and flags, sandwich board and megaphone, George Gravy paraded up and down Dundas Street advertising hockey and baseball games, and local events like dances, the Lion’s carnival, Woodstock Fair and the Rotary Bingo. Many local merchants hired George to advertise their products and services. Prior to coming to Woodstock, George Gravy lived in Chatham, Ontario where he was a shoe shine artist at both the Hotel Rankin and the old Hotel Garner. Not much is known of his early life but he said he was born into slavery in the southern United States around 1856. It was said that George’s booming voice could be heard in Eastwood, five miles away, if the wind was right. During World War II, several Woodstonians serving in the armed forces in England claimed they could hear George’s voice announcing regular Saturday night dances. He was a friendly fellow who referred to almost everyone as “Buster Boy” or to the very few he called “My friend.” Aside from being the town crier, George Washington” (Gravy) Jones also shined shoes and washed windows. He had a shoeshine stand in the back of Sam Kostis’ restaurant at 369 Dundas Street in Woodstock. He also worked at the Steward Manufacturing Company for less than a year. George started out with a silver trumpet, which gave way to a single or double hand-bell which he rang before making his announcements aided by his brass megaphone. His megaphone is now an artifact in the Woodstock Museum. As George Gravy’s eyesight failed him, he would be found tapping his way around town with his white cane. It was common to see some prominent citizen helping him across the street. On December 8, 1951, George Gravy died at the House of Refuge. His friends arranged a proper funeral and he was buried in the Baptist Cemetery in Woodstock; famous businessmen were his pallbearers. In 1952, the same friends, spearhead by the late Percy Canfield, took up a collection and erected a headstone that read “George Jones, 1856 – 1951, Town Crier”. George “Washington” (Gravy) Jones, Woodstock’s famous Town Crier is now immortalized in a song written by the city’s current Town Crier. In November 1992, Woodstock City Council adopted a resolution to appoint Scott Fraser as the Town Crier. In 1994, Scott Fraser wrote about George Washington to composer James Gordon, from CBC Radio’s Ontario Morning Show, featuring the segment Home Town Tunes. Furthermore, in August 2004 a walkway located at the Woodstock Museum Square was named in George “Washington” (Gravy) Jones honour. |
The song composed for George Washington goes as follows:
George Washington Jones
By James Gordon, 1994 "George Washington Jones would walk
With a sandwich board and a bell, All through the streets of Woodstock And any local will tell You that there was no finer town crier, No one more loved in this town, With a voice filled with honey and fire, You could hear him for miles around. George Washington Jones Is gone now but you can still hear his cry, Calling all of Woodstock’s good souls home To that big town up in the sky. With his silk top hat and his swallowtail coat He would stroll along Dundas Street, And when George would open his golden throat, His words would echo for weeks. From as far off as Sweaburg and Eastwood, And away up Innerkip way, People claim that he could Be heard just as clear as day. George Washington Jones Is gone now but you can still here his cry, Calling all of Woodstock’s good souls home To that big town up in the sky. Way back in second world war, When our boys were fighting in France, They swore that they could hear Old George, Announcing the Saturday Dance. Now the streets of Woodstock are silent, Our town has lost its’ voice. We will miss George’s crying, We will miss that joyful voice. George Washington Jones Is gone now but you can still hear his cry, Calling all of Woodstock’s good souls home To that big town in the sky." _____________________ Sources: Geoff Dale, “Looking back.” The Sentinel-Review. Hilary Ibbotson, “Town crier immortalized in a song” The Sentinel-Review Scott Frazer, “Good Old George: George ‘Washington’ Jones – Town Crier The Tradition, and his legacy, endure.” Focus Magazine, Summer 1998. pp. 10-13 Gerry Sharpe, “Local History Spotlight on People of Oxford County: George Washington Jones.” Woodstock Public Library June 1993 Doug M Symons, The Village that Straddled a Swamp An Informal History of Woodstock. 1997. p. 157 Doug Symons, “Woodstock Way Back When.” The Sentinel-Review, 1993 Additional information: From Woodstock Newsgroup website
Marshall Anderson – South Norwich & Woodstock, 1871 - 1925
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Quote: “No family is perfect.. we argue, we fight. We even stop talking to each other at times, but in the end, family is family. The love will always be there.” ~ Unknown ~
…and Still I Rise Exhibit: Occupations in Oxford County
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The Herbalists
Dr. John Taylor – Tillsonburg & Innerkip, 1861-1884 Little is known of Dr. John Taylor who was a root and herb doctor who practiced herbal medicine in Innerkip from 1861 until the age of 80 when he died on March 28, 1884. According to the 1871 Census, Dr. Taylor, his wife Nancy and daughter Elizabeth (Eliza) Jane Taylor were all born in the West Indies, where 67 year old Dr. Taylor was listed as a Root Doctor in East Zorra Township. Taylor escaped from slavery in the United States during the 1950s probably coming to Canada by the way of Pt. Burwell. In 1861 the family resided in Tillsonburg but by 1871 they lived in Innerkip. Dr. Taylor was very secretive of the recipes of his herbal remedies but after his death, his recipe book was published. He gave his book of recipes to George Hotson and James Miller to publish after his death. In 1885, the Sentinel –Review Steam Publishing House published his THE MEDICINAL RECIPES of the late Dr. Taylor of Innerkip. The book contains 68 pages on the identification of herbs as well as herbal remedies. He had been trained in herbal lore by his father who was “a pure African doctor.” For 23 years, Dr. Taylor was famous for providing cures for chronic and dangerous diseases when the medical profession gave up. He dealt with the epidemics of his day like smallpox, measles, and scarlet fever by recommending a warm tea of Catnip and Saffron. Before the availability of antibiotics, Dr. Taylor added Lobelia to all his cough mixtures, as an effective remedy for lung infections. One of his favourite cough mixtures was made from Sage and St. John’s Wort. Dr. Taylor was known to be highly critical of the orthodox medical profession “whose ‘diplomas’ give them a licence to poison people with mercury, arsenic, antinomy, iodine and opium.” He was charged with violating the Medical Act by practicing without a licence. However, Taylor cites in his book that the charge against him was brought on for he saved a man’s life when medical doctors were going to amputate the man’s leg. As one of the last Canadian herbalists to have contact with Native healers, Dr. Taylor learned first hand of the Blue Cohosh: ‘This is an Indian remedy, and considered by them to be of great value to facilitate child birth. It is said that they drink a tea of this root for two or three weeks before the expected time of confinement and that owing to this, the confinement of the Indian woman is a matter of but short duration and small concern. It has been abundantly proved by our white women as a valuable medicine in cases of profuse menstruations, inflammation of the womb, in suppressed menses and in all cases connected with the uterus, or womb. It is mostly used in the form of a strong infusion or tea in proportion of an once of the root powered or bruised to a pint of boiling water. Dose, about half a teacupful three or four times a day.’ Today, Dr. Taylor’s book THE MEDICINAL RECIPES is used by the British School of Physiotherapy in Essex England. Dr. John Taylor is buried in the Innerkip Presbyterian Cemetery. Following his death, Eliza Taylor practiced Herbalism in Otterville until the early 1900s. Reverend Charles William & Susan LeBurtis - Woodstock, 1890s - 1926 Susan LeBurtis was born Susan Brown in Artimesai Township in Grey County in 1857. She was one of seventeen children born to Lemuel and Phebe Brown. She moved to Collingwood to find work and met Rev. Charles LeBurtis. In 1985, the couple moved to Woodstock where Rev. LeBurtis was a minister at the B.S.E. Church. Susan provided herbal remedies to cure her friends’ and neighbours’ numerous aliments. This became so popular that they sold herbal medicines from their home located on 331 Dundas Street. In advertisements, the business was known as William LeBurtis Manufacturer of LeBurtis’ Blood Purifier. After Reverend LeBurtis died in 1910, Susan took over the business. By 1912, she renamed this business Le Burtis Medical Company and moved to 327 Dundas Street. Susan was so well known for curing ailments with her herbal remedies that many of her clients came from the States. She only charged when there was a cure. Although charged by the Ontario Medical Association for practising without a licence, Susan’s case was dismissed. Susan LeBurtis continued to sell and practice herbal medicine until her death on April 8, 1926. ________________________ Sources: Chris Carter. “Practised 23 years in Innerkip. Woodstock couple tracks down historical herbalist” The Daily Sentinel-Review. Thursday July 28, 1994. p. 3 Pettigrew, Joyce A. A Safe Haven The Story of the Black Settlers of Oxford County, The South Norwich Historical Society 2006, p. 111; pp. 100-101 “Old Ontario remedies 1845: John Taylor Herb & Root Doctor” The Canadian Journal of Herbalism, April 1991, Vol. X11 No. 11. pp. 21-23 “Historical herbal medicine men sometime short on know-how.” The Oxford Review, Saturday July 6, 2002 |
The Comedian
Comedian Greg Morton grew up in
Woodstock
Picture from Greg Morton's website.
SportsWilliam (Hippo) Galloway
Born in Hamilton, Ontario in the 1880s, William came to Woodstock about 1899. He was a member of the Bain Baseball Team. This was a successful team that played in the Canadian Baseball League. Formed under the Bain Wagon Company, a manufacturer company in Woodstock, William played third baseman making him one the few Black players in organized ball until Jackie Robinson in 1946. 
(Picture from the internet of Hippo)
Also in 1899, William and Charles Lightfoot from Stratford were the first Black players to play hockey in the Ontario Hockey Association. However, due to racial tension when an American player refused to play with him. Although his Woodstock hockey wanted William to stay, they had to let him go. William left Woodstock for the States where he joined the all Black team called the Cuban Giants. He later played for the Page Giants.
Fred (Bud) Kelly, Ingersoll, 1916 Born to Henry and Arvilla Kelly, Fred is the eldest of two brothers who both were athletic. Born in Ingersoll, Fred joined Frank Selkes’ 118th Battalion hockey team which was an intermediate Ontario Hockey Association team. According to an article that appeared in Maclean’s magazine; “Kelly claimed his first pair of skates were whisky flasks tied to bottom of shoes.” In 1916, Kelly was scouted by NHL’s Toronto St. Pats which would later become the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kelly was passed over for playing in the pros not because of his race but as he reported due to a missed breakaway opportunity seen by the St. Pats’ manager. Charles Kelly, Ingersoll, Like his older brother Fred, Charlie was an athlete who played baseball in London England with the Coloured Stars. Charlie was inducted into the Ingersoll Sports Hall of Fame. ____________________________ Sources: Sue Ferguson. “Hockey’s blacked-out history.” Maclean’s Canada’s Weekly News magazine, May 22, 2000. p. 8 Gerry Sharpe. “Local History Spotlight on Sports Base Ball.” Local History Collection, Woodstock Public Library, July 1992 |
Quote: "I’ve learned that making a living is not the same as making a life." ~ Maya Angelou ~
