The Buxton Settlement 1849

1849

Alan L Brown

Text from the plaque

In 1849 the "Elgin Association", founded by a Presbyterian minister, the Reverend William King (1812-95), purchased 4300 acres of land in this area on which were settled freed and fugitive Negro slaves. Under King's direction the settlement prospered, and in 1851 Buxton post office, named after Sir T.F. Buxton, the British emancipator, was opened. By 1864 the community contained about 1000 persons, a combined saw and grist-mill, a brickyard and other small industries. During the U.S. Civil War seventy Buxton settlers served in the Union forces. Following that conflict a number of the settlers returned to their former homes in the United States, but descendants of those remaining still live in this region.

Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.

Find the place

Chatham-Kent On the NW corner of County Road 6 and County Road 8