CANFIELD—From the Niagara border to the Grand River, the Duncan family’s journey shaped Canfield’s early Black settlement.
For Black History Month, the story of the Duncan family highlights both the hardship of early Freedom Seekers and the enduring roots they established in Haldimand County. Local historian and author Sylvia Weaver shared research from her forthcoming book on Black families in the Canfield area, expected to be published next year.
Weaver has spent years documenting the lives of local Freedom Seekers.
“(The book is) going to be dedicated to the Freedom Seekers who made Canfield their home,” she said. “It tells the story of who they are, where they came from.”
George Duncan, born around 1803, and his wife Ady – also recorded as Eda – Elder, born around 1807, escaped enslavement in the United States and immigrated to Upper Canada by 1822. They were in the Niagara area when their first son, Charles W. Duncan, was born in 1822.
George was not only building a new life for his own family – he was helping more Freedom Seekers cross the border to safety. Weaver said this was a common practice for settled families.
“When the Freedom Seekers came across, they would help them to get established,” she said.
By 1851, the Duncan family had moved to North Cayuga, settling in a log cabin on the southeast quarter of Lot 10, Concession 2. They attended the African Methodist Episcopal Chapel on Concession 2, a church that no longer stands.
The 1851 census records them among the earliest Black settlers in North Cayuga.
George was listed as a farmer in 1861. His wife was no longer recorded in the census, though George was still noted as married. Living with him was daughter Sindrilla, also known as Sintha, along with other members of the community, again suggesting that the family sheltered newly arrived Freedom Seekers until they could establish their own dwellings.
By 1871, George and his son Charles had relocated to Seneca Township, settling on what was known as the Brown’s Tract along Indiana Road East.
Charles donated a portion of his farmland on Lot 21 for the construction of an African Methodist Episcopal Church on the south side of the road. A cemetery was located on the north side. Though no visible evidence of the church or cemetery remains today, the 1877-79 Historical Atlas of Haldimand marks their presence.
Charles followed his father’s example, assisting Freedom Seekers arriving via the Underground Railroad.
He married Letitia Morris, and together they raised 10 children.
In 1872, records show Charles obtained a loan from Mr. Thompson of Ruthven to purchase flour from the Ruthven mill, an indication of the trust and working relationships forming within the community.
The family’s next generations spread across Haldimand and beyond.
Edward Alexander Duncan, born February 22, 1847, later moved to Hamilton with his family. Several of his children worked in trades and domestic service, with some crossing back into the United States.
Frederick Otto Duncan Sr., born December 23, 1884, was drafted during the First World War while living in the United States, worked in a shipyard, and later returned to Hamilton, where he died in 1972.
Myron Bruce Duncan, born March 11, 1925, enlisted in the Irish Regiment during the Second World War.
He was shipped to Italy, held as a prisoner of war, and released in 1944. After the war, he returned to Canada, married Constance Brown on June 29, 1946, and raised a large family.
Another branch of the family remained rooted in Cayuga.
George Samuel Duncan, born September 4, 1850, married Margaret Louisa Kennedy on October 24, 1870.
Their son, Charles Albert Duncan Jr., born April 16, 1874, enlisted in the 114th Battalion in 1916 at age 43.
Though he did not serve overseas, he later worked as a livery wagon operator and served for many years as a police constable in the Village of Cayuga. In his later years, he was caretaker of Cayuga Secondary School, where students in the 1950s and 1960s remembered him fondly. He died in 1971 at the age of 97.
Over the years, the Duncan family lived among several other Black families, including the Stewarts, Morrises, Johnsons, and Hunts.
Weaver emphasized the importance of recording these stories and ensuring they are not forgotten.
Weaver’s research connects the Duncan family to the broader network of Freedom Seeker families who followed what was once an Indigenous trail from the Niagara border to the Grand River, now known as Indiana Road. That trail became a path to settlement, employment, land ownership, and the establishment of faith communities.
More than a century after George Duncan first crossed into Upper Canada, his descendants were serving in wars, working in trades, raising families, and contributing to communities across Ontario and beyond.
As Black History Month invites reflection, the Duncan family’s journey from enslavement to land ownership, church building, military service, and civic leadership stands as a testament to resilience and community rooted in Canfield soil.
