Canadian history · Drawing 11 of 43
A railroad with no trains
1850s
In the 1850s, people escaping slavery in the United States reached Canada West, now Ontario, thanks to the Underground Railroad, a secret network of helpers. At Buxton, a bell rang for each new arrival.
Look together
Why do you think the bell rang for each new arrival?
An idea to try
Ring a small bell or clap once each time someone comes home today. Talk together about how a warm welcome makes people feel.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
The American Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 gave slave catchers more power to pursue freedom seekers in the northern states, and arrivals rose sharply: 15,000 to 20,000 people reached the Province of Canada between 1850 and 1860. The Underground Railroad was not a railway but a secret network of people and safe houses; it borrowed railway words such as “conductor” and “station.” At Buxton, the Elgin Settlement, founded in 1849, grew to some 300 families at its peak, with farms, businesses and a school that outperformed its neighbours. Its founder, the Reverend William King, had been a slaveholder in Louisiana; the 15 people he freed were among the first settlers.
Freedom did not mean equality: Black newcomers faced discrimination, and some parts of Ontario had segregated schools. The Buxton bell, a gift in 1850 from Black residents of Pittsburgh, rang daily and for each new arrival; a replica now stands at the Buxton museum. Ask your child how a welcome can help someone feel safe.
Sources and illustration notes (3)
An imagined welcome: the building, bell and clothing are simplified, and the people portray no one.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography — KING, WILLIAMBiography by Jason H. Silverman (vol. 12): in Louisiana, King “married the daughter of a wealthy slaveowner, and became a slaveowner himself”; he resolved to bring the people he held to Canada and free them; he arrived at Elgin on November 28, 1849, and “the first black settlers were the 15 slaves he had freed as well as Isaac Riley and his family”; family farms, a brickyard, sawmill, grist-mill and general store; 130 families by 1853 and 300 at the settlement’s peak; a school soon recognized as superior to the district school.
- The Canadian Encyclopedia — Underground RailroadA secret network, not an actual railroad; railway terms such as “conductors” and “stations”; arrivals rose after the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act; 15,000 to 20,000 reached the Province of Canada between 1850 and 1860; Buxton among the destinations; segregated schools in parts of Ontario.
- Community Stories (Digital Museums Canada, Harriet Tubman Institute) — The Liberty BellBell given in 1850 by Black Pittsburghers; first steeple bell west of London, Ontario; it rang daily and marked each arrival of a freedom seeker; a 2007 replica stands at the Buxton museum.
Page prepared on September 24, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Canada’s Great Moments to Colour
Tax calculated at checkout. Terms of sale