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Later known as the Blackburn Riots of 1833, these events sparked one of the first race riots in Detroit’s history. It also established a strong community of skilled, free Black people who made the city an important stop along the Underground Railroad.
The Blackburn riots occurred during the summer of 1833 in Detroit, Michigan. [1] They were the first race riots in the history of the city. The riots were spurred by the imprisonment of Thornton and Rutha Blackburn, an African-American couple that had escaped slavery in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1831. [1] They were caught by slave catchers ...
Sep 14, 2018 · Two escaped slaves from Kentucky touched off riots in Detroit and set an international legal precedent. Detroit Sheriff John M. Wilson glanced anxiously upward. From the courtroom balcony came the sounds of angry muttering and restless shuffling. Peering down over the railing were dozens of black faces.
- Piecing Together The Blackburns’ Story
- Early Lives
- Escape to Detroit
- Trial and Escape to Canada
- Liberation
- Settlement in Toronto
- Community Involvement
- Later Lives
- Commemoration
- Key Terms
In 1985, archaeologists (see Archaeology) working in a downtown Torontoschoolyard unearthed the foundations of a small house, a barn and an earthen root cellar. This had once been the site of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn’s home and business. With support from the Toronto Board of Education, the Ontario Black History Society, and the Ontario governm...
Thornton Blackburn’s tombstone in the Toronto Necropolis states that he was born in Maysville, Kentucky. Maysville is on the Ohio River, which divided the slaveholding South from the free North before the American Civil War (1861–1865). (See also American Civil War and Canada.) Thornton was sold away from his mother when he was only three years old...
Thornton and Ruthie Blackburn feared that she was destined for the “fancy girl” market in New Orleans or Natchez, Mississippi. Rich Southern men and brothel owners went to these markets seeking mistresses and enslaved sex workers. Ruthie and Thornton made a daring escape by steamboat the day before Independence Day, 3 July 1831. Dressed in fine clo...
In June 1833, a traveler from Kentucky recognized Thornton Blackburn on a Detroit street. Reporting his findings to the Blackburns’ respective owners, they sent an attorney and the nephew of the widowed Mrs. Brown arrived in Detroit. The couple were arrested and tried under US federal law as “fugitive slaves.” Black Detroiters packed the courtroom....
Upper Canada’s lieutenant-governor, Sir John Colborne, was no friend of slavery. (See also Slavery Abolition Act, 1833.) When Michigan’s acting governor demanded the Blackburns’ extradition, Colborne asked Attorney General Robert Simpson Jameson to find legal grounds for protecting them. If tried for their supposed “crimes” in an American court, th...
Ruthie Blackburn changed her name to “Lucie” to mark her newfound freedom. After nearly a year at Amherstburg, she and her husband made their way to Toronto in 1834. There, Thornton discovered his brother, Alfred, who had fled Kentucky slavery five years before. Alfred was working on the city’s eastern outskirts for wealthy brewer Enoch Turner. Luc...
Thornton Blackburn only ever owned one cab, but his business was very successful. He and Lucie lived modestly and contributed generously to their community and to their city. Lucie Blackburn gave one of the first donations to build Little Trinity Anglican Church. She and Thornton also billeted incoming freedom seekers in their home. It is believed ...
After the Civil War (1861–65), Thornton and Lucie Blackburn retired. (See also American Civil War and Canada.) Thornton’s cab was given to the York Pioneer and Historical Society, which displayed it at Scadding Cabin on Toronto’s fairgrounds. (See also Canadian National Exhibition.) The couple were able to live off the interest of their investments...
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada named the Blackburns Persons of National Historic Significance in 1999. In 2016, George Brown College opened the Lucie and Thornton Blackburn Conference Centre at its first student residence. Including a striking and evocative mural by George Brown College students, this designation commemorates the ...
ExtraditionA legal process by which someone who has committed a crime, or is suspected to have committed a crime, is handed over to the justice system of the place where the crime was committed.
Mar 6, 2024 · Archaeologists uncovered the foundations of their barn during a 1985 dig. February 25, 2024 – Artifacts found at the site of Blackburns’ former property during a 1985 archaeological dig included buttons, bottles and marbles. Lucie and Thornton Blackburn lived on Eastern Ave, between Sackville St and Sumach St, from 1834 until 1890.
Blackburn Riots. In June 1833, Thornton and Ruthie were arrested and taken to the Detroit jail. Over four hundred people gathered to protest their arrest and possible re-enslavement (Smardz Frost, 2007; 179). The Blackburn Riots not only allowed the couple to regain their freedom, but also underlined growing racial tensions in the city.
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Feb 10, 2021 · The Underground Railroad is often in the spotlight during Black History Month, but there is one little-discussed aspect that allowed the railroad to function and enabled Thornton Blackburn, his wife Lucie, and many other Black slaves to seek refuge in Canada: the fact that the country did not have a formal immigration law until 1869.
