John Baker

Slavery was legal in Canada until 1834, when it was abolished by the British parliament. Upper Canada, now the southern part of Ontario, had limited slavery in 1793, when it passed an act that stopped the importation of slaves into Upper Canada, and freed the children of enslaved people when they turned 25, but one source I read said there were still were some enslaved people in Upper Canada until August 1, 1834, still celebrated as Emancipation Day in Canada. I first heard about this from Canadian singer Faith Nolan in Hamilton, Ontario in 1987 at the Festival of Friends in Gage Park  - I never learned about this in school. Listen to Emancipation Day by Faith Nolan , I finished writing my last exam I would ever have at the University of Guelph and walked across Gordon Street and stuck out my thumb and hitchhiked down it as it turned into Highway 6 to the Hammer, as Hamilton is called, and then to Gage Park.

John Baker was born into slavery in Lower Canada (now the southern part of Quebec), and was brought with his mother into Upper Canada. Baker had been freed in the will of his enslaver, and he joined a Canadian regiment and fought against American invaders during the War of 1812, notably at the Battle of Lundy's Lane in Niagara Falls, and the Battle of Waterloo against Napoleon. When Baker died in 1871, he was the last known surviving person to have been enslaved in Upper and Lower Canada.

Text on sign by historian Natasha Henry-Dixon and can be read here: One too many.

CBC story

 

Billy Bishop Home and Museum, Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada

Billy Bishop Home and Museum, 948 3rd Ave. West, Owen Sound, Ontario
Billy Bishop was one of the top fighter aces in World War I. I didn't know he was upper class - his home was a substantial Victorian red brick that had a servant's quarter. There was also an interesting display on black servicemen from the area. Often they couldn't serve in combat because of their race.

 Some of  Bishop's ancestors were United Empire Loyalists and used "Queen Anne's Flag" - this only has the two crosses of England and Scotland, not the three crosses to include Ireland in the modern "Union Jack"

Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church National Historic Site of Canada

Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church was designated a national historic site of Canada in 2000 because:
- it is the last built remnant of a community of African Canadians whose roots are uniquely anchored in the history of United Empire Loyalists,
- it represents the important role that Black militiamen played in the defence of Upper Canada during the War of 1812, and early Upper Canada land policy.
Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church was built by African Canadians. The Oro Black settlement was a unique approach to integrating African Canadians into a farming community. The idea for an African Canadian community originated in 1783 with Sir Guy Carleton, Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America. During the American Revolution, Carleton had promised that the slaves of non-Loyalists who joined the British Army would have their freedom and protection from re-enslavement. Black soldiers not only fought with the British during the American Revolution, but also as the “Coloured Corps”, a trusted unit of the Upper Canadian militia during the War of 1812. Between 1819 and 1826, the British granted 25 plots of land in Oro County to Black settlers, eleven of them former soldiers who received their grants in acknowledgement of military service. Although the area had strategic value, the land was both remote and agriculturally poor. Only nine of the original grant recipients took up their plots, settling along an area of the Penatanguishine Road known as Wilberforce Street. In 1829-1831, the settlement was augmented by thirty more families. They built Oro Church in 1847, and it remained active until around 1900 when the community itself faded away. The British Methodist Episcopal Church declared the building abandonned in 1916. Local residents rallied to preserve it in 1947, in 1956, and again after vandalism in 1981.
The heritage value of Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church National Historic Site of Canada resides in its associated history as illustrated by the form and composition of the building, the integrity of the remnant cemetery, and in their site and setting.
Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, June 2000
I couldn't get into this church when I went by in July of 2013 - the guy who was there to service it from the township said that it hadn't been inspected yet and wasn't open to the public.