Lucie Blackburn

Lucie "Ruthie" Blackburn (1803–1895) was a self-emancipated West-Indian, American former slave who escaped to Canada with her husband Thornton Blackburn and helped him establish the first taxi company in Toronto.

Early life Lucie was born a slave in Louisville, Kentucky, then known as "Ruthie," "Ruth," or "Rutha." By the age of 28, Lucie was working as a nanny for a merchant family in town. It was at this time that she met and fell in love with her husband, Thornton Blackburn, who was 19. The two got married and were almost separated shortly after when Lucie's slave owners died and she was sold off to a merchant who intended to trade her off in the Deep South. Before she could be auctioned off, however, Lucie and Thornton escaped to Detroit via the Underground Railroad. Thornton lived in Maysville, Kentucky, where he had escaped from his owner in Louisville. Lucie Thorton and her husband took the steamer Versailles up the Ohio River to Cincinnati, Ohio, and boarded for Sandusky, Ohio. It took them 15 days to journey and eventually arrived in Detroit to escape through the Underground Railroad. A woman named Mrs. Madison Lightfoot and the wife of Reverend George French visited Lucie Blackburn when she was in jail. They assisted her by exchanging clothing to take her place, which helped Lucie escape jail. Once she escaped, she was able to cross the Detroit River, entering Ontario, Canada. Thornton was rescued on June 15, 1833, by 400 abolitionists. This mob incited the Blackburn Riot. The rescuers took Thorton from the sheriff's custody to Randolf Street wharf, where an agent exchanged a gold watch for Thornton's freedom and passage. The couple was reunited in Toronto and settled on Eastern Avenue, which became their home of nearly 50 years.

Toronto In 1834, Lucie and Thornton relocated to Toronto where they would spend the rest of their lives. Robert Jameson, an attorney general of Canada, refused to send the Blackburns back to America. This set a precedent that was unaltered until the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863. In June 1846, there was still a lawsuit initiated by the slave owner against Lucie Blackburn that was still in litigation. In 1887 the Sackville Street School was built by the Toronto school board on land taken from the edge of the Blackburn property.

Legacy

In 1985, Karolyn Smardz Frost conducted a site survey for the Archeological Resource Centre of Toronto. It established the Blackburn house as the only fugitive slave residence in the excavated province. In 1999, the Government of Canada named Lucie and Thornton Persons of National Historic Significance.