Crossing the Border

"In 1849, the Reverend William King and fifteen of his former slaves founded the Canadian settlement of Buxton on a nine thousand-acre block of land in Ontario set aside for sale to blacks. Although initially opposed by some neighboring whites, the town located near the shore of Lake Erie grew steadily in population and stature with the backing of the Presbyterian Church of Canada and various philanthropies." "Sharon A. Roger Hepburn's Crossing the Border tells the story of Buxton's settlers, united in their determination to live free from slavery and legal repression. Hepburn's study traces the establishment of educational, commercial, and political structures in Buxton and details how blacks formed tightly knit social and family units in protecting themselves from white hostility. It is the most comprehensive study to address life in a black community in Canada and adds to our understanding of black Canadians, free blacks beyond the South, and of blacks in planned communities established by emancipationists and abolitionists during the antebellum period."--Jacket.