The African Americans who settled in Oakville and Bronte found work where they could, and established themselves as part of the community. Benedict Duncan, William Holland and Lloyd Brown are remembered among the early African American citizens of Oakville. Benedict Duncan had walked away from his owners, who were experiencing financial difficulty, and made his way to Oakville on his own from Maryland. He found work as the sexton of St. John\’s United Church.
Christopher Columbus Lee was employed for many years by R.K. Chisholm as the butler at “Erchless” – the 1856 Chisholm family home on Navy Street, which operates today as a part of the Oakville Museum.
William Strothers made brooms for a living and was also employed as the sexton at a local church. It was noted that he attended the door on Sundays in his frock coat and received the worshipers with “the courtly manners of the southern gentleman”.
John Wesley Wallace was the bell-boy at the Oakville House in the 1880s. One night he noticed smoke across the street and gave the alarm. The fire eventually impacted the entire block, but the early warning had allowed for the safety of the inhabitants and the safe removal of stock from the stores.
© Oakville Museum at Erchless Estate, The Corporation of the Town of Oakville, 2000
The following information is reproduced from the display panels in the exhibit “Oakville’s Black History”, as written and designed by Deborah Hudson, Curator of Collections, Oakville Museum at Erchless Estate.
