Although lesser known as an extension of the Underground Railroad than other towns such as Amherstburg, Buxton, Chatham, Dresden, Hamilton, Kingston, Niagara Falls, Toronto, St. Catharines and Windsor, the Town of Oakville was the gateway to Canada for many African Americans, as early as the 1830s.
William Chisholm purchased the land around Sixteen Mile Creek in 1827 and in 1834 the Town of Oakville became an official Port of Entry into Canada. Ships from Oakville sailed throughout the Great Lakes and beyond, and many slaves were assisted by ship captains to stow away in grain vessels. Stories are told of a tunnel which ran from the Sixteen mile creek to the Herb Merry House on Trafalgar Road, and there is also some evidence to suggest there may have been a tunnel leading under Navy Street from near the Custom House.
Particularly well remembered is Captain Robert Wilson, who brought many African Americans to Oakville concealed aboard his ships. For years following the American Civil War (1861-1865), African Americans would come to George’s Square in Oakville to celebrate Emancipation Day, and those who had been helped by “Captain Robert” would visit him at his nearby “Mariners Home”, which still stands at 279 Lawson Street.
© 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.
