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May 6, 2021 · Thornton and Lucie (Ruthie) Blackburn, freedom seekers, entrepreneurs, anti-slavery activists and community benefactors (Thornton, born c. 1812 in Maysville, Kentucky; died in 1890 in Toronto, ON. Lucie, born c. 1803, possibly in the West Indies; died in 1895 in Toronto). After a dramatic flight from Kentucky slavery, their recapture in Detroit ...
Feb 9, 2022 · Thornton decided to introduce this new method of public transportation to Toronto. In 1837, Thornton and Lucie hired a mechanic to build them a cab and decided to call it “The City.”. Their horse-drawn cab was painted yellow and red, and the cab stand was located on Church Street. They ran a successful business that lasted until the 1860s.
Feb 11, 2007 · The Blackburn’s illustrated through their survival story, that they were going to be proud of their race and not conform to the norms of society. Thus, with Black drivers realizing that they are more likely to be stopped by the police; they could use this story as a motivation to fight for reformation of law enforcement practices.
Thornton Blackburn was born into enslavement in Kentucky. Separated from his mother at a young age, Blackburn was forced to work as a child, including driving carriages and working as a porter. As a teenager, Thornton met “Ruthie” (later known as Lucie), an enslaved, Caribbean-born woman who was working as a nursemaid.
Nov 11, 2016 · The Blackburn's land was left to the city where the Inglenook Community School now rests. In 1985, archeologist Karolyn Smardtz Frost secured the involvement of Dr. Daniel G. Hill, Paul Anderson and other Ontario Black History Society members to assist with the excavation of the site, unearthing many artifacts and bringing to light this Toronto story.
This policy became more widely understood after the famous Blackburn case of 1833. Lucie (originally known as Ruthie) Blackburn was born enslaved in approximately 1803, reputedly somewhere in the Caribbean, and died in Toronto in 1895; Thornton Blackburn was born in approximately 1812 in Maysville, Kentucky, and died in Toronto in 1895.
Parks Canada recognizes that the artwork of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn by Quentin VerCetty is an interpretation of the National Historic Persons. Return to footnote 1. Footnote 2. This plaque text describing the historical significance of the subject was approved by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada in 1999.
