Family Histories

The following families have lived in Guelph and Wellington County and have become important members of our communities. Members of the various families were interviewed by our researcher, Rose Heffernan, in the course of developing this very exciting and important exhibit. Each of the families presented here for you to explore represent the rich heritage and living Black history of this region.

The Aylestock Family

William Aylestock and Minnie Lawson both grew up on farms in the Queen's Bush settlement. Minnie used to tell her children stories of how William would court her with a horse and buggy. William was the only child on his 200 acre farm and Minnie was one of seventeen children. The two eventually married and had eight children. After marriage, they stayed a short period in the Queen's Bush and lived near several German families. The Germans referred to the Aylestocks as good neighbours and they often helped each other when the fields had to be threshed. After threshings, all the men would visit the Aylestock's to enjoy some of Minnie's famous pies.

William and Minnie's first five children were born in Glen Allan, close to Elmira, and the last three were born in Lebanon. Lebanon was a very small town just outside Listowel, in northwest Maryborough Township, where the Aylestock's owned seven and a half acres. William worked in construction and also helped on other people's farms.

The eldest child, Addie Aylestock, attended the Medical Missionary College and the Toronto Bible College, most of the time working in domestic service in Toronto. In 1951, Addie became the first ordained Black woman in Canada and served in several British Methodist Episcopal Churches until she passed away in 1998.

Lloyd Aylestock, an engineer, was the first Black to be hired at the Avro Aircraft plant in Toronto in 1938. Frank Aylestock was a WWII veteran who later taught electronics in Quebec for over thirty years.

Rella Braithwaite (nee Aylestock) was one of their three children born in Lebanon. Rella, along with her brothers and sisters, attended Lebanon Rural School and Lebanon United Church (former Methodist-Presbyterian which became part of the United Church in 1925). When Rella was twelve, she was the only black student attending Listowel High School. She would get a ride into Listowel with the minister's daughter in the summer but in the winter had to live in Listowel, away from her family, and pay room and board. This proved to be very expensive so Rella stayed in high school for only one year. She went to Toronto at age 15 years and stayed with a married sister. She worked as a mother's helper and in a factory for a few years. She attended night school, first at the Shaw School and then at Canada Business School and eventually landed a job at Selected Service Association (similar to the present Human Resources Development Canada). Rella has since worked for newspapers, and has written books and plays. As well as being a busy career woman, Rella has raised six children. On December 11, 1996, in celebration of Scarborough's bicentennial, Rella was honoured with a civic award for her contributions to the community. She was one of seven Blacks honoured seven Blacks honoured.

The Bollen Family

Charles Bollen married Evelina Slaughter in Guelph in 1876. They had thirteen children: Annie (1878) married Zac Harper, lived in Canfield; Charles (1879-1882); Fred (1881) married Ethel, lived in Oregon; Eva (1883) married John Duncan, lived in Guelph; Gertrude (1886) married Cecil Smith, lived in Detroit; Louis (1887) married Nellie, lived in Montreal; Edwin (1889) married Ruth, lived in Youngstown, Ohio; Kathleen (1891) married Frank Ridell, lived in Hamilton; John (1893) married Queenie, lived in Detroit; Frank Junious (1894) married Lou, lived in Montreal; Ella (1899) married Lyman Hokan, lived in St. Catharines; Rita (1904) married Bill Stickland, lived in Guelph; Warren (1908)

The two children that remained in Guelph, raised their families on Toronto Street. Eva, who married John Duncan, had six children: Lloyd, Harold, Evelyn, Elise, George and Clyde. Lloyd Duncan married Rita and they raised one daughter, Mignon, in Montreal. Harold Duncan married Alice Harrison who had two daughters, Barbara Alice and Mary Evelyn, who were born in Guelph. The family later moved to Stratford. Evelyn Duncan married Donald Watkins Busby and had three children, Anita, Shirley and Donald. Elise Duncan married John Courtney and raised their two daughters, Jackie and Yvone, in Toronto. George Duncan married Madeline and they moved to Hamilton where they raised their three children, Brenda, Judy and George. Clyde Duncan married Isabel and their two children, Trisha and John, were raised in Montreal.

Rita, who married Bill Stickland, had one son, Warren. Warren married Betty and had two daughters, Susan and Lynn.

The Groat Family

William Groat was born in Upper Canada, possibly at Stoney Creek, in 1820. His mother is unknown but his father was Michael Groat. The signature of Michael "Grote", along with seventeen other free Negroes, appears on a petition sent to Lt. Gov. John Graves Simcoe in June 1794. They were requesting a tract of land to settle on together. Michael Groat of Nelson Twp., Gore District (Now Halton County) died in 1846.

William had a brother Peter and sisters Jemime, Margaret, and Hannah. William married Elizabeth Adams (Irish) about 1849/50. Elizabeth came to Guelph with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. William Archibald in 1842. After their marriage, William and Elizabeth moved to Marden where they raised nine girls, who were listed as mulatto in the census. In August 1874, William bought 1 acre on the southeast corner of Lot 15, Concession 1, Division D, on the Atkinson farm from George Atkinson. In July 1905, his widow Elizabeth sold it to Charles Atkinson. She then lived with her eldest daughter Hannah until her death in 1909. William died on August 27, 1900 at the House of Industry (now the Wellington County Museum and Archives) where he spent his last three years. William was 80 years old when he died and is buried in the Belsyde Cemetery in Fergus.

William is referred to in A.E. Byerly's The Beginning of Things: "William Grote (coloured), the Marden man in history, who chopped, split, and piled about 4,000 cords of hardwood. On putting up his two cords each day, he shouldered his axe and went home".

The Jewell Family

Henry Dangerfield Lawson I was an escaped slave from Virginia who settled in Peel Township with his wife Sophia (also a slave). Eleven children of their family survived including Henry Dangerfield Lawson II, Mary, Ellen Jane, Sophia, Agnes, Hannah, Marcus, James, Jacob, Herbert, and Phillip. Their third child, Ellen Jane Lawson, moved to Guelph around 1888 and married William Arthur Jewell. William Jewell came from Liverpool, England with his brother to Halifax in 1875. In 1876, William went to York and then looked for work and settled in Guelph. Ellen and William had four children, one of whom was Percy Jewell. Percy married Margaret Ida Brooks, in 1926 and had four children: Percy, Melba, Patricia, and Ted. The children were raised in Guelph and three of the children still reside in Guelph today. The eldest, Percy, married Marie Walker and had five sons, all of whom are now married and have children of their own. Ted Jewell is the former mayor of Kapuskasing.

Interesting connection - William Lawson (of the Hisson ancestors) and Henry Dangerfield Lawson (of the Jewell ancestors) were brothers. Also, Elwood Lawson (musician) was the first son of Henry Dangerfield Lawson II.

The Hisson Family

The Hisson family settled in Newmarket in the 1800s. Once the land had been stripped of trees by a logging company, the Hisson family purchased it and began farming. Edward John Hisson was born in 1881 in East Gwillimbury, York County, the son of Henry and Sarah Jane Hisson. Edward moved to Guelph when he found work making stoves. Two of his brothers, Samuel and Israel, also moved to Guelph and lived on Essex Street and Bedford Street respectively. It was in Guelph, where Edward met Mabel Lawson. Mabel was born in 1890 on the 4th Line of Peel and was one of ten children born to William (escaped slave) and Mary A. Lawson. She found employment in Guelph doing domestic work. Mabel had a brother who lived and farmed on the 3rd line of Peel. Edward and Mabel were married in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Glen Allan on the 26th day of April 1911 by Rev. Gaynor, witnessed by Audrey Lawson. They had seven children: Annabelle (1912), Elsie (1914), Ada (1918), Alice (1920), Edward Harold (1923), Norman Israel (1926), and Samuel John (1928). The children were raised on 15 acres located two miles west of Glen Allen. They all went to school in Glen Allen and worked as farmhands.

The Kelso Family

James Kelso III was born in "Guelph Gardens" in 1916. Shortly after his birth, his grandparents took custody of him. Both his mother and father died when he was very young. James remembers going to school in the basement of the BME Church on Essex Street. He had several chores that he had to finish before he walked to school, which included feeding the animals on the farm. James I, James' grandfather, worked in construction and also was a bootlegger. Eventually, James (at age 6) and his family were literally "chased out of town" by those opposed to his Grandfather's illegal activity. The family moved to Montreal. James was just a teenager when his grandparents died so he supported himself while he finished high school. He graduated from McGill University with a degree in music. He worked for several years as a cook in a Guelph hotel and at the University of Guelph and continued to keep up with his music. James has been very active in volunteer work in the community.