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Wednesday, March 24, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER B1 Oakville B eaver Focus Editor: WILMA BLOKHUIS 845-3824 (Extension 250) Fax: 337-5567 Oakville's black heritage has deep roots By Teresa Pitman SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER *lvin Duncan's extensive knowledge about the histo­ ry of Affican-Canadians in Ontario, and in Oakville in particu­ lar, comes from many sources. His bookshelves are filled with books, some of them very old, that tell the stories of members of the black community. He has several photo albums filled with pictures and records of inter­ views. Alvin Duncan himself, though, is a living example of Oakville's role in African- Canadian history, and many of the stories he shares are about his own family and friends. He recently celebrated his 85th birthday with a surprise party, and congratulations from Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Ontario Premier Mike Harris, Oakville MP Bonnie Brown and Oakville Mayor Ann Mulvale. Duncan was bom and raised in Oakville, and has lived here all his life - but his family roots go much further into the past. "My family has lived in Oakville since 1850," he says. "My mother's grandfather was Sam Adams. "Adams was a blacksmith, and he made special tools to lift the flat stones out of Lake Ontario. With the money he made, he became a major landowner in Bronte, which was­ n't part of Oakville at the time." Adams had arrived in Oakville through the Underground Railroad, the secret route that helped runaway slaves from the southern United States escape to freedom. While there were several routes the runaways could take, Duncan explains that Oakville was one of the final desti­ nations of the journey. "Captain Robert Wilson was an Oakville businessman who shipped to Buffalo and Rochester. On his return trips, he'd hide runaways from the Underground Railroad in his cargo hold Underground Railroad. "His owner wasn't doing too well financially, so he just looked for his opportunity and walked away. He made it to Oakville, and became the sexton at St. John's United Church on Dunn Street. Sexton was a high-class name for janitor." While Duncan says that the African-Canadian community in Oakville was generally thriving and accepted, he recounts the story of at least one frightening incident: the day the Klu Klux Klan arrived in Oakville. "This was around 1930," Duncan says. "A black man named Ira Johnson, who lived on Kerr Street with his parents, was going out with a white girl. At first, her family didn't object, but when they seemed to be getting serious somebody contacted the KKK." A Klan member knocked on Johnson's front door and asked him to come out because he had a job for him. "This was during the Depression," Duncan explains, "and work was hard to come by. So Ira hurried out to find out about the job." What Johnson found instead was a front yard full of Klan members in full regalia and a cross burning on the lawn. His girlfriend, who was in the house, was dragged out and taken back to her mother's home and told to go to church and get some coun­ selling. Oakville's police force consist­ ed of one man at the time, according to Duncan, but that one police officer hurried out and deputized several people to help him - looking in particular for men who were good shots. He took them to the Johnson home and loudly gave orders that if anyone laid a hand on Ira Johnson, they would be shot. "It was that incident that caused the laws in Ontario to be changed, to pre­ vent this kind of thing," Duncan says. "While the Klan leader was arrested, they could only charge him with mas­ querading or being dressed in non­ and bring them to Oakville." Many of the families who arrived settled in Oakville. Duncan estimates there were about 1,000 black families here during the mid-1800s - a substantial percent­ age of the population at the time. Alvin Duncan during his British RAF days. Recognizing the needs of this com­ munity, Sam Adams established two churches, one in Bronte and one in Oakville. "The church that was in Bronte was eventually tom down," Duncan says, "but the one on Lakeshore is still there. It was built in 1891 and called the Turner African Methodist Episcopalian Church then. Now I think it has an Anglican congregation." Duncan's grandfather on his father's side, Benedict Duncan, also escaped slavery, but not by using the Photo by Barrie Erskine Alvin Duncan today: he recently celebrated his 85th birthday. civilian clothes, something like that. He was fined $90, which was a lot at the time." Duncan adds some interesting side- bars to the story - Ira Johnson's mother was a midwife, and she commented to the assembled Klan members in their yard that she recognized many of their voices. "Some of them were people she had brought into the world," he says. And while the Oakville community had rallied to protect Ira Johnson from the attack, when he and his girlfriend wanted to get married they were turned away by all the local ministers. They ended up going to Brantford, where a First Nations minister agreed to con­ duct the ceremony. Duncan, too, has made his mark in history. During World War II, he volun­ teered for a secret mission with the British RAF - working on radar. "Churchill needed people to do radar, and he made a personal appeal to Canadians," Duncan recalls. "So I vol­ unteered. We were sent first to Trenton to train, then overseas. I spent most of the war in the Hebrides near Iceland." Duncan explains that the North Atlantic was an essential route for bringing supplies into England, but that many ships were torpedoed and many planes were shot down as they attempt­ ed to reach land. Duncan and the oth­ ers who worked with him had the task of tracking the planes that were follow­ ing this route and finding survivors from planes that were shot down. In 1946, Duncan and the other Canadian radar operators were given a special citation from the British govern­ ment recognizing their contribution to winning the war and saving lives. "But the Canadian government shredded them all except one," Duncan says. "They said they didn't want to single out any one particular group of soldiers." (See 'Black history . . . ' page B2) O A K V ILLE i x r I d a . 191 WYECROFT ROAD OAKVILLE (905) 844-9831 Visit our website at www.oakvillehonda.com P a rts IASI SATURDAY o f e v e r y m o n th ! NEW OIL FILTER & OIL CHANGE J i f l V D * U k M rv r i . \ .... 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