Slavery was officially abolished in the British Empire on August 1, 1833.
I was invited to The Griffin House in Ancaster, Ontario, (Hamilton), to help celebrate the life of an amazing man named Eneralis Griffin.
He was born into slavery on a plantation in Virginia and somehow managed to arrive in Canada in 1827 as a free man.
He was able to read and write AND able to save enough money to buy this house in 1834.
He must have been a very unusual man.
This a view of the back of the house.
It stayed in his family's hands for 150 years and is now a designated Federal Historic Site.
There is a cradle just under the window.
Two children's toys circa 1834.
I can't tell you how airy and comfortable this little house was.
The plight of Black people in Canada hasn't always been great but this is a happy house and I have a feeling that Eneralis Griffin must have been a happy man living in such a wonderful home.
A strange twist to the story is that when his descendants sold this property to the local conservation authority twenty years ago they didn't know about their black heritage.
And it was a beautiful day to celebrate such a momentous event in the struggle for human rights.
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