St. Catharines, Ont., group wants to restore grave of Black businessman. City says search for his family first
City council voted on a path forward in July, but historian says the process has been frustrating
Standing in the historic Victoria Lawn Cemetery in St. Catharines, Ont., Rochelle Bush can point you to a hidden history.
The burial ground is the final resting place for significant members of the early Black community in Niagara, including freedom-seekers who escaped slavery and abolitionists who fought against that institution.
Bush is part of a small volunteer effort to identify and restore the gravestones of the freedom-seekers buried in Victoria Lawn. Since 2021, the group, known as the Salem Chapel Underground Railroad Cemetery Project, found markers belonging to 10 freedom-seekers, seven of which were buried underground.
They fixed up nine of those stones, which are now on display in the cemetery.
In June 2023, volunteers unearthed the stone belonging to John Lindsay, a wealthy businessperson who escaped slavery and settled in St. Catharines, where he became the richest Black man in the region, if not the country, Bush said. Lindsay sold lemon ale during tourist season, owned property and had a number of other businesses.
But since that discovery, the project has stalled, Bush said. That's due to a "disheartening" dispute between volunteers and city officials over what to do with Lindsay's stone — and who should be allowed to restore it, including how extensive the search should be for living relatives.
Lindsay's marker was buried and broken into about 35 pieces, making it irreparable. The volunteers want to re-bury the existing stone and raise a new monument, but the city initially refused, saying only interment rights holders could make that decision, and the volunteers aren't Lindsay's next of kin.
In July, a city council motion determined volunteers could place a new gravestone if they met certain conditions. Volunteer and historian Rochelle Bush says the proposed solution is problematic and leaves her small team discouraged from finishing the work as intended.
The goal of the project is to create a free cemetery walking tour, run by the church, so members of the public can learn more about local Black history.
Volunteers fundraised for the project, which did not receive city funds. The project's name comes from the Salem Chapel British Methodist Episcopal church, which Bush has worked to restore and for which she serves as resident historian.
City says volunteers must exhaust efforts to find next of kin
Originally, the city wanted to display Lindsay's broken stone under plexiglass in a float box, Bush said, but the volunteers were afraid it would be too easy for someone to break in and steal or scatter the pieces.
Bush's group, however, proposed they put up a new gravestone and accept legal liability should next of kin appear and want the stone gone.
Bush went to the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO), which regulates cemetery operators. They told her in emails viewed by CBC Hamilton that could be possible but it would be the city's decision.
The city meanwhile had disagreed that the group's proposal was in line with BAO regulations, city spokesperson Scott Rosts told CBC Hamilton in an email.
But in July, 2024, the city decided to move forward with the project. A council motion put forward then by St. Catharines Coun. Greg Miller resolved that the Salem Chapel church be allowed to raise a new monument provided it could produce documentation showing volunteers "exhausted all reasonable efforts to identify the interment rights holder(s) without success."
The church also had to agree to take the stone down should interment rights holders come forward in the future. The motion passed.
Rosts said the City of St. Catharines wants to "support the meaningful work of Salem Chapel Church and its volunteers" and "thanks to further discussions" with the volunteers, "obtained guidance" from the BAO on how to proceed in the absence of permission from interment rights holder.
Bush appreciated Miller's help in getting the ball rolling, but still found the city's decision frustrating, she said.
The project had already been paused for about a year and it took her several months more to produce a record of Lindsay's family history for the city.
Bush submitted her work in January, and Rosts confirmed the city is reviewing it "based on guidance from the BAO."
He said the next step will be for the city to post a public notice giving any local descendants another chance to come forward before any work begins.
There's a sensitivity required to this sort of genealogical research, Bush said.
Based on her research, it's "highly unlikely" Lindsay has any descendants living locally, she said, adding that other than one child who died in Niagara, it appears his family moved to the United States.
It also appears Lindsay's descendants were white-passing and today, many might not know they have Black heritage, or be deliberately keeping that secret.
In her experience as a Black woman and historian, Bush said, people sometimes react negatively to having their roots exposed.
"It's easy to say 'don't worry about it' but you don't know until it happens to you," Bush said, adding she tried to talk about that with city officials but it went "right over their heads."
CBC Hamilton asked the city to comment on Bush's concerns. Rosts said only that the city is "required" to follow its process.
The municipally owned and operated Victoria Lawn Cemetery is a "primary stop on Niagara's Freedom Trail," because of the people buried there, Bush said, such as the abolitionist Reverend Anthony Burns, and her own ancestors, such as Margaret Harper, Bush's great-great grandmother.
Bush has been leading tours there for over 20 years, she said, and her desire to learn more is part of why she launched the project with Adam Montgomery, who's since stepped aside.
Case prompted group to limit search for other gravestones
The historic Black church formed between 1814 and 1820, Bush said, and the chapel opened in 1855 while Lindsay was trustee. Famed Underground Railroad conductor Harriett Tubman lived across the street and attended the church, and some of her relatives are buried in Victoria Lawn too.
There are about 30 more freedom-seekers there whose stones the team could find, Bush said, but given the challenges with raising a stone for Lindsay, the team decided to limit its scope and stick to the stones it already found and restored.
"We wanted to be able to say we had permission from the city. … Look at how great St. Catharines is," Bush said. "Where's the joy in finishing off this project now?"
It didn't have to be this way, she said, adding the city didn't even know who all was buried at Victoria Lawn until the volunteers informed them.
"It's our ancestral history. We have the right to this. We should be telling the story and we should be in first place. We shouldn't feel like we're competing with somebody else."
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
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