Elijah of Buxton is a historical fiction novel. Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman lives in Canada's Elgin Settlement (Buxton). Elijah has the distinction of being the first child born in the Settlement, which was founded near Chatham, Ontario in 1849 as a refuge for freed slaves and their families. Elijah enjoys a life of freedom characterized by normal childhood activities, and is sheltered from the harsh realities of slavery. His only knowledge of slavery is obtained through secondhand accounts painfully recounted by residents of Buxton.
Most of the story takes place within the historic Elgin Settlement (Buxton), a 9000-acre settlement for refugee slaves (
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The following except is take from Chapter 2 of the book:
"I waren’t even a year old back when Mr. Frederick Douglass and Mr. John Brown visited Buxton. Pa said all the Settlement people had got excited and worked up something terrible ‘bout them coming and were dashing ‘round trying to polish Buxton up, sort of like the way you’d rub the dirt off your Sunday shoes if you knowed Mr. Travis was gonna give ‘em a hard look. They rushed to get the new schoolhouse finished so’s there’d be a place big enough for the meeting. They made sure the picket fences in front of everyone’s home had got a good slap of whitewash on ‘em They made all kinds of food and such and they even had a special blanket made out of sewed-together flowers to go ‘cross Flapjack the mule’s back so’s he could lead a parade.
All this fussing was going on ‘cause folks in Buxton were gonna celebrate three special people at this big meeting. Special person number one was Mr. Frederick Douglass ‘cause he use to be a slave, just like most the folks here in Buxton, and now they say he can talk the bees outta flying to the flowers. Special person number two was Mr. John Brown ‘cause folks say, other than maybe Reverend King, the man who started Buxton, there waren’t no white man ever made that was better’n him. And special person number three was me cause, it ain’t something I ever boast on, but I was the very first child to be born free in the Elgin Settlement at Raleigh in Canada West, what we call Buxton."
About the book (source: www.scholastic.ca/titles/elijahofbuxton)
Eleven-year-old Elijah is the first child born into freedom in Buxton, Ontario — a settlement of runaway slaves just over the border from Detroit, Michigan. He’s bright, spirited, and curious about the world around him…and the world his parents and his friend Mr. Leroy left behind in America. When a former slave and con artist who calls himself the Right Reverend Zephariah W. Connerly the Third steals the money Mr. Leroy has been saving to buy his family out of captivity in the South, Elijah is mad enough to join Mr. Leroy on a journey to America in pursuit of the disreputable preacher. There, he discovers firsthand the unimaginable horrors that his parents fled and an understanding of what it means to live free. Nominated for virtually every prestigious award both north and south of the border, this book, so profound in its depiction of humanity, and so entertaining in its portrayal of Elijah, has found its place in the hearts and minds of all who have read it.
About the Location:
The following description is taken from Canadian National Historic Site plaque, which has been waymarked (
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From the shores of Lake Erie to the seventh concession, from Dillion Road on the east to Drake Road on the west, Buxton's ordered fields are dotted with churches and homes from the epic experience of the Underground Railroad. 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. Buxton lives on today through descendants of these determined immigrants who carved out a free life for themselves and their families on the tranquil plains of southwestern Ontario.