February 10, 2010:

The City of Ottawa celebrates Black History Month in February of each year.

The Black community has a web site at http://www.blackhistoryottawa.org/. There, you will
find relevant links to events, regarding Black History, occurring in our region.

This web site (Bytown or Bust), records the history of the Ottawa area of Ontario, Canada, by a co-operative effort of researchers and
contributors to the web site. Something which I think is important for future generations, is for us to record our past family
history and our origins outside of Canada. Some of our descendants will be interested in learning about their past.

The City of Ottawa was known as "Bytown" prior to the year 1855. 

The first black person in this area was London Oxford, a free black man who was part of the original pioneer group which
came with Philomen Wright in the year 1800. 
(Source: "The Famous Township of Hull": Image and Aspirations of a Pioneer Quebec Community, by Dr. Bruce Elliott.

The first documented black persons, whom I have found in Bytown was a man named Perry Adams and his wife, Henrietta Joyce. 

They were in Bytown in the year 1844. On March 10th of 1844, they baptized their child, Frances, at 
Notre Dame Cathedral on Sussex Drive, in downtown Ottawa. The Godmother at this baptism was Mary McHale, an Irish immigrant, who with her
husband and family, farmed on the Manotick Station Road in Osgoode Township. The McHale family were friends and
neighbours of my Great Great Grandparents, Lawrence Burns and Margaret Doyle.

Here is a copy of the baptism of Frances Adams: (Source: Drouin Records for Notre Dame Cathedral at ancestry.ca)



... Al

February 12, 2010:

An Ottawa Citizen article dated September 5, 1931, tells the story of some of the early blacks who served
in the War of 1812 for Canada. Some of them were given land grants in our area.



Read the complete article at http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=2hUvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NNsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3737,6703365&dq=defenders&hl=en

 January 9, 2010:

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in the American South in about 1818. By 1845, he was a free man living in
New Bedford, Massachussetts. As part of a 2nd year American History course at Carleton University, the students were
required to write an article about slavery. See mine, here.