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© D 16 ) Priday March:4; 20055 NIAGARK THIS WEBK (; 74«( Beamsville resident finds Black history in 1871 census BY JOANNE MCDONALD neers who cleared the land were those who had gone i THIS WEEK through the adversity of seeking their freedom from slayâ€" ery," Cromwell said. BEAMSVILLEâ€" Time has covered the footsteps of the pioâ€" An even earlier forefather, Sambo Cromwell, who would _ @®@mmmmeRemeRmeReaaie neers who followed the north star along the trail of the _ later change his name to Joseph was a foreman on the . femmammenmmncmonpenrtnnoe underground railroad and laid the original path for what Cromwell plantation in Goose Creek South Carolina. It was _ MSWIRN@N may well become the route of Niagara‘s midâ€"peninsula _ during a family wedding in 1778 that he escaped with his . [ss corridor. _ wife Phyllis and two children to the promise of a British | rm=â€" zmm * Walter Cromwell doesn‘t have the calluses to show for it, _ General who said that any black slaves who escaped their ; i ol o e " % but he has walked each step with them during 16 years of _ masters and found their way to the British boats in l | to ag £ 3‘. â€" "if | research and now, writing the Canadian version of Roots, a _ Charleston Harbour would be free. PB " e ,~$3 * ; book that will light the path for his family members who From Charlton Harbour the family sailed to New York . [W*N @@ s § 3 wâ€"~ landed at the doorstep of Bertie Hall in Fort Erie in their _ City, one of the last pockets under British control and |@ @I/ e 93 â€" 2x ‘ courageous quest for freedom. remained there until 1783. They set sail in November, |. (MW W ‘,;,"\2_ E || - Cromwell was bent on a genealogical hunt to find his ~ headed to the Bay of Fundy, but a severe storm kept them . {@ hat p HeakAn: 5 roots and it was no surprise when he traced his mother‘s _ from landing in Nova Scotia and after a short stay in the . L_ JSS *eieritop family to London, England. But the trail went cold far Bahamas, returned to settle in Birchtown, Nova Scotia, in _ likik® x 4 m, Fus p short of the British Isles when he tried to find his Shelburne County. Sambo, which means son of a prince, . Mb mkâ€"Aâ€"2ta e e | Cidimwellian connection, changed his name to Joseph, the name of the ship, and â€" Mass_==~ / mf‘;&fi; I Scrolling through 1871 census records at the St. landed as a United Empire Loyalist. t $ RUARY 7â€"M. iss3 3 Catharines Library, he found a missing link to his past His grandso.n ?"d namesake Joseph with his wife Celia, Entmomemnroâ€"omremcommerm t | through his forefather Joseph Cromwell and an even bigâ€" left Nova Scotia in 1846. They passed through Fort Exc m aaniig : omm 8 } ger surprise to find it stated his racial origin as African. and as Cromwell was able to trace, continued along the _ Walter Cromwell of Beamsville is writing his family history, a "I didn‘t know we had black heritage," Cromwell said. _ Pioneer highway, the old Quaker Road (named for Quaker'S Canadian version of Roots. j His early forefather had come to Ontario by way of Nova _ Who provided help along the way) passing through Cook‘s 179.z o. .c cce Scotia in 1846 with his wife Celia and three children. _ Mills, Fonthill, St. John‘s (Shorthills), Campden, and conâ€" .. % â€"moges CS o t 0 Historians estimate that up to 40,000 people escaped slavâ€" _ necting with the King‘s Highway (Hwy. 8) on their way to 3 . en Wioo: ‘ ery in the United States to find shelter behind Upper _ Yatton, north of Kitchener in Wellington County. There, 4 J i j . Canada‘s humanitarian policies between 1833 and 1865. they bought 100 acres, cleared the Queen‘s Bush and built P . . eR e "It gave me shivers to stand in that basement and to _ 4 10g cabin. Ten years later, in 1856, representatives from : t‘ * & know that my family had passed through there," Cromwell _ the Canada Company told the black population they were * f e said, of Bertie Hall, believed to have been a "safe house" for _ SqUatters and had to leave. ‘ o fugitive slaves prior to the American Civil War. Local legâ€" The next move was to Guelph. Joseph, the father of 21 Piltlec aliin® x 3 9 A end claims that slaves were brought across the river under _ Children, was widowed and married three times, to Celia, . tss . e the cover of darkness and were kept in the basement until _ to Elizabeth Lake Erie Lewis and Susan Miller. It wo* 0. ult ‘ufi 5# f e arrangements could be made to take them to safer quarâ€" _ through Susan Miller that Cromwell was able to trace his . UR 9e w | ters further away from the border lineage. E. M "Too often when we think of pioneers we have a picture . February was Black History Month and marked a fous E4. f in... A of people who were European, but some of our early pioâ€" week celebration of African American history. 9 * ( Forefather Joseph Cromwelll and his wife Celia left Nova Scotia in 1846. They passed through Fort Erie, Fonthill and Lincoln before settling in Wellington County.