Update on a Button

Turns out to be Civil War! Yes.

The back stamp states Horstmann Bros & Co, which places it directly as a Civil War era button, made between 1850 and 1863.

It is unusual to find such a button, all the more so in Canada. But we know that men from Buxton returned to the States to serve in the Civil War, fighting for the union army. So, it is not impossible to find these sorts of gilt buttons from time to time.

This one comes from the Buxton Settlement itself. What makes it even more intriguing is that it was found on land once owned by Henry K. Thomas, whose son is known to have served in the union army.

The full story is that the Thomas lad returned to Buxton, only to come down with small pox within a day or two. The entire household was quarantined, and all eventually got ill with the dreaded disease. Miraculously, only one died. Is it possible that this button was from a uniform burned and buried in fear of the deadly disease? Perhaps. One thing is clear, this is a precious find for Buxton, in recognition of its original settlers and their remarkable history.

Buxton in Context

Lest anyone think that Buxton is the "usual" example of a planned black settlement, I would like to relate the following:

In Ontario, there were other such settlements, but they were earlier. There were also similar settlement attempts in the United States in the 19th century.

In Ontario, there were also the Wilberforce and Dawn settlements. Wilberforce was established with the aid of Quakers, who bought land in Canada for a safe haven for blacks struggling in Cincinnati under Ohio's 1829 Black Code - a requirement to post $500 bond for residence and a certificate of freedom. In 1829-1830, about 300 to 500 blacks left Cincinnati to join Wilberforce. The settlement struggled from lack of adequate financing, and came to an end around 1850. The Dawn Settlement also had Quaker interest in its set up. A school known as the British-American School, was established there in 1842 with 12 students. Shortly after, the community grew around that institution. But the settlement's debts, which rose to nearly $5000, plus bad financial management, brought Dawn to an unhappy end as well.

What makes Buxton unusual is the degree of success that the community had. The factors that have led to this success have been touched on by various historians. It appears that proper financial management in the setting up of the community was a key matter. So too was the lack of success of a segment of Chatham's racist population, who tried to prevent the settlement from taking root. For me, the mark of success of this community is that today, descendants remain in Buxton farming the very same land their ancestors cleared and cultivated - before the end of slavery in the American South.

Folding in Social History

There is a great deal that is known about the Buxton Settlement historically. Census records, church records, tax records, and several historical accounts indicate that it was a prosperous farming community.

For anyone interested, there is a social history that was written by Jonathan Walton in 1979, entitled "Blacks in Buxton and Chatham, Ontario, 1830-1890: Did the 49th Parallel Make A Difference?" Ph.D. Dissertation, Princeton.

The total size of the settlement is about 9,000 acres. By 1852, 350 acres had been cleared and 204 were under crop. By 1854, this area of cultivation had doubled, and by 1857, almost doubled again, bringing a total of 1220 acres under cultivation. Roughly 1/3 was corn, another 1/3 wheat, oats, and potatos, and another 1/3 buckwheat, turnips, hay, and beans. The average number of people per cultivated acre was 2 for Buxton, or roughly half that elsewhere in Raleigh township.

A number of children went to local schools. As early as 1850, there were 16 students. A mere five years later, that number had climbed to 150. This was quite sizable for a town of about 1,000 souls.

In 1861, Buxton had 4 shoemakers, 2 carpenters, 1 blacksmith, and 1 printer. By 1871, there were 4 ministers, 2 shoemakers, 1 harnessmaker, 1 doctor, 1 carpenter, 1 barber, 1 blacksmith, and 1 cooper. Most residents, of course, were farmers.

Perhaps one of the more striking differences between 1861 and today, there were a total of 229 young men and boys and 299 young women and girls below the age of 20 living in Buxton. Today, there are less than 5% of that number.

The Button Find

Walking fields can turn up some very interesting finds. On one of the properties, we turned up a 19th-century button - a gilt button that may have come from a Union Civil War (U.S.) uniform.

Now, that's a pretty exciting find! Well... if it turns out to be from an American Civil War uniform that is.

In looking at similar buttons, one that has struck me as being very similar, at least until we can clean up the find, is the Eagle button used from 1875-1902. The shape of the eagle is strikingly similar to the Buxton find. So, the jury is out on whether or not we have a Civil War find until we can clean up the backmark. If I'm right, and it's post-Civil War, that backmark will say something like Horstma/Phila on it.

We know that Buxton residents served in the Civil War, so it is entirely possible that this is an 1860s button. I think it would be surprising to find a post-Civil War Union button in Buxton. We'll just have to see.

Community Approach

When you have an 1850s plan of the original Buxton settlement, you have a great resource to work with. This somewhat idealized plan shows how each street and each individual farm was laid out. There are 183 buildings shown on the plan, 97 in present-day North Buxton and 86 in South Buxton. The vast majority of these are individual house sites, which indicates a sizable population of the town from its earliest years.

Our first task was to figure out the dimensions of each of the lots. They represent a finer subdivision than the current, modern system. Here, a block of twelve 50-acre farms equals 600 acres. For lots that run north-south, early surveyors laid out lots 33.33 chains north-south by 15 chains east-west. For lots that run east west, and front on Centre Street (now A-D Shadd), surveyors laid out lots 16.66 chains north-south by 30 chains east-west. A chain equals 66 feet.

By laying out the original grid over modern-day Buxton, we are able to locate each of the properties and each of the original building locations within 20 yards of so. We have just about finished the survey in North Buxton. Of course, many of these properties are situated in farmer's fields. If planted in corn or soy beans, we have been able to surface collect on those locations. If planted in wheat, not so. We are also able to situate buildings that lie within present-day yards. Of particular note are perhaps half a dozen sites in North Buxton, including the site of the 1852 Colbert-Henderson house. These properties have intact yards that have never been farmed, and which represent a valuable archaeological resource.

What did an 1850 log cabin from Buxton look like? This is the only surviving cabin from the area, which now sits on the Buxton Museum property.

There were rules on the size of the buildings built at the settlement. Each of the houses had to be - at least - 24' x 18' x 12' high, with a porch across the front. Each was to be built 33' from the road with a picket fence and flower garden in front.

This particular cabin was built by Henry Colbert in 1852. It followed the Buxton plan almost to the letter, the only exception being that it sat much farther back on the property than 33'.

These were well-crafted log homes. There are two rooms at the front of the house, and a large kitchen than spans the width of the cabin at the back.

For more information and photos of the cabin, please visit: http://www.buxtonmuseum.com/exhibits/09_cab/pages/09_cab_01.htm

Project Goals

The overall objective of this year's work is to obtain sufficient information on Buxton's archaeological properties - specifically its earliest black heritage properties - to be offer a series of management recommendations to the Buxton Museum and Ontario's Ministry of Culture.

What exactly is the status of each of the mid-19th-century cabin sites? Of the 200 or so properties, how many of them are now farmland, how many have been completely destroyed, and how many are located on present-day residential lots? Are there artifacts associated? Is the stratigraphy intact? What sort of impact might agricultural tiling have made? Etc.

Hence, one of the main objectives of this field season is to relocate each of some 200 log cabin sites dating from 1850, and to examine each property briefly, if possible.

This may seem a daunting task for a small field crew to do in just 6 weeks. The truth of the matter is that it is relatively easy to locate each of the cabin sites. There is a map of the community that dates to the 1850s, which locates each of the cabins and the boundaries of each 50-acre plot. It is then a matter of simply re-surveying the entirety of the town - all 9,000 acres. Then standing in front of each of the 1850s structures, to collect a basic set of data. In the first 3 days, we located 40 of these cabin sites, some with modest surface collections of pottery.

Hence, I am hopeful that by the end of six weeks, we will have completed a reasonable survey, with an aim of being able to prioritize archaeological properties in the community. Of prime importance are those properties that have never been plowed, whose backyards and features have remained relatively intact.

Background

The community of Buxton, Ontario was one of four planned black settlements in Ontario. Also known as the Elgin Settlement, it began in 1849, when Reverend William King and his fifteen freed slaves first arrived. Lands had been acquired by the Presbyterian Church of Canada under Rev. King's direction (The Elgin Association), and a thriving community flourished within a few short years.

According to a historic map of the Elgin Settlement, there were some 200 homes built on its 9,000 acres by the early 1850s.

For more information on the history of the Elgin Settlement, please visit: http://www.buxtonmuseum.com/history/hist-ELGIN.html.

Today, the community remains in the hands of descendants of these early black settlers, at least in part. Some of them are successful farmers, and others are retired teachers, former railway employees, radio station "personalities," musicians, museum staff, church leaders, labourers, and students.

When visiting Buxton, one is struck by the beauty of the land, and its agricultural production. These are some of the more successful farms in southwestern Ontario, growing wheat, corn, and soy beans.

Of course, it does not take long to recognize historic aspects of the landscape. Farm lots, ditches, and tree lines still make reference to the original division of the community into 50 acre farm lots. None of the original buildings still stand, other than the lone 1850s log cabin that has been moved onto the museum's grounds. But the feel of the landscape speaks to the visitor in a way that touches its historic roots.

Of course, for the historian and archaeologist, Buxton is immediately recognized for its national historic significance. What is amazing is that hardly any archaeological research has been done to preserve its heritage. Notable exceptions are the designation of the museum property as a National Historic Site by Parks Canada, and a small excavation done by Karolyn Smardz-Frost to locate early burial plots.

But virtually nothing - up until now - has been done to assess the overall archaeological potential of the majority of this historic landscape.