This particular headstone is in bad shape, being around 130 years old. The only portion of the text that is still unmistakable reads "AGED 104 YEARS". It is currently difficult to read what comes before or after that.
I found conflicting information only as to the name of the individual buried here and also the year of death. There are two online sources with photos of the headstone along with partial inscriptions:
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Allen HOOPER
1784-1888
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COOPER, Unreadable
Died Sept. 21, 1886
Aged 104 Years.
The correct name is likely to be Allen Cooper, given there are a number of others in this very small graveyard with the same surname. In fact, there are two graves for the wife and daughter of someone named Allen Cooper:
CAROLINE COOPER, Dau. of Allen & Mary, Died Oct. 9, 1867, Age 25 years
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MARY COOPER, Wife of A. Copper, Died May 20, 1863, Aged 63 years
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However, the possibility does exist that the correct surname is Hooper. There is one still-legible grave for a Julane Hooper, Died Jan. 16, 1867, Age 52.
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A William Hooper was an early settler in Buxton (http://www.buxtonmuseum.com/history/PEOPLE/hooper-william.html) but he was not born (in the USA) until 1840 and he moved to Buxton as an adult sometime between 1864 and 1866. Interestingly, one of Williams children is named "Julie Anne" but this child must have been born after the death of the "Julane Hooper" buried in South Buxton Cemetery.
Regardless of his correct name and the year that he died, it is clear that this person saw some remarkable events during his lifetime. Assuming that he was associated with the nearby Elgin Settlement (a large and successful refuge for fugitive slaves entering Canada via the Underground Railway see WMJDMX (
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1782: The British government officially, yet informally, recognized American independence.
1783: American Revolutionary War: The Treaty of Paris (1783) ended the war.
1793: Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. This will have major implications to the cotton industry and subsequently to the many slaves used within that industry.
1793: Upper Canada (Ontario) abolishes import of slaves by Act Against Slavery.
1799: Papineau presents a citizens' petition asking the government to abolish slavery, prompting a series of anti-slavery measures. While these bills were defeated, a movement towards the abolition of slavery was clearly under way in Lower Canada.
1800: The Slave Trade Act of 1800, which forbade residents and citizens of the United States from investing in or serving aboard a ship engaged in the business of transporting slaves into the United States, was signed into law.
1812: The War of 1812 begins. It will last until 1815.
1819: Upper Canada: Attorney-General John Robinson declares all black residents of Canada free.
1849: The Elgin Settlement is formed near present day Chatham Ontario. In 1849, Reverend William King arrived with fifteen former slaves at a 9,000-acre tract of swampy, forested land. More refugees followed, buying and clearing 50-acre homesteads, establishing industries, churches and schools. The settlers created the rectangular pattern of roads and drainage ditches seen today, transforming the landscape into the prosperous Elgin Settlement, as it was then called, where neat cottages spoke of industry and thrift, and children received a classical education.
1850: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, eliminating the last civil and political rights of escaped slaves and imposing serious penalties for harboring or failing to arrest fugitives.
1851: Formation of Canadian Anti-Slavery Society.
1861: American Civil War: The war begins at Fort Sumter. Many former slaves living in Canada will return to the US to fight with the Union forces.
1863: In the United States, Abraham Lincoln issues the presidential order the Emancipation Proclamation declaring slaves in Confederate-controlled areas to be freed.
1865: US abolishes slavery with the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; about 40,000 remaining slaves are affected.
1867: Confederation: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario form the Dominion of Canada. John A. Macdonald becomes the first prime minister.
1872: With many former slaves returning to the USA following the end of slavery, the need for the Elgin Settlement has severely declined. The settlement ceases in this year. Not all return to the USA and even today descendants of some of the original Elgin Settlement inhabitants still live in the area.
1875: The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was signed into law in the United States, guaranteeing blacks equal treatment in public accommodations and public transportation and making them equally eligible for jury duty.
1883: A decision in the Civil Rights Cases legalizes the doctrine of racial segregation in the United States.
1886: On Sept 21 1886, the day that Allen Cooper/Hooper died, Teiichi Igarashi of Japan climed Mt Fuji at age 99.
Sources for information used in the timeline of events:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_history (
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolition_of_slavery_timeline (
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blackhistorycanada.ca/timeline (
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onthisday.com/date/1886/september (
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