Created by Brett Davis
Buxton bell officially rings in Black History Month
By Bill Rea

Brett Davis is seen here with a Styrophoam model he created to assist him in making the actual bell. The model was on display at Queen's Park too.

Local sculptor Brett Davis recently completed a replica bell commissioned by the Buxton National Historic Site, but it's making a few stops before it gets to its new home.

One of those stops is Queen's Park, where it was ceremonially rung last Wednesday, as part of the observances for Black History Month (February).

Buxton, located near Chatham, was one of the stops or stations in the famed Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape to Canada prior to the American Civil War, and a number of these black people settled there.

The original bell, which is still housed atop a church tower in Chatham, was given to the black people of the Buxton area by black people in Pittsburgh in 1850, and Davis said it reportedly rang every time a slave made it across the border from the States.

"It's such a powerful way of telling the story of the Underground Railroad," commented Bryan Prince, vice-chair of the Buxton Museum board, who was at the ceremonies at Queen's Park.

He also explained that black people in Pittsburgh had heard about Buxton and the work being done there, and they wanted to show their support. They also sent a letter to the people of Buxton, asking them to remember those still in slavery every time the bell rang.

Prince said there were about 1,200 black people living in and around Buxton between 1849 and 1865, when the Civil War ended, and many of them would have been former slaves.

Provincial Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle was on hand for the ceremonial ringing.

"During the 1800s, the Buxton settlement represented safety and freedom for hundreds of American slaves escaping through the Underground Railroad," he commented. "For the first time, here at Queen's park, the Liberty Bell and its significance in our history will be shared with Ontarians."

The original is in the steeple of St. Andrew's Church, and is still rung every Sunday morning. Prince said it's not accessible to the public, but it's still an important symbol, and they wanted a way for all to see it.

He added the new bell will be at Queen's Park until March 23. Then they hope to have it at York University in time for observances this year of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, before moving it to its permanent home in Buxton.

Davis said the bell was cast of bronze and he said it weighs 570 pounds. The surrounding work, including the frame holding it, the wheel and clapper, are all made of iron and they all weigh at about 500 pounds. It's 26.5 inches in diameter at the lip. It's 24 inches high from the lip to the top, and there's another five inches for the crown.

The original bell was cast by A. Fulton of Pittsburgh and it bears the embossed words "Presented to the Rev. Wm. King by the coloured inhabitants of Pittsburgh for the Academy at Raleigh C.West."

Those words appear on Davis's creation. He also copied the style of the writing on the original bell. The letters were a little uneven, and embossed rather than engraved. Davis's theory is it was not the artisans, but the people presenting the bell who placed the letters on it.