MAPLETON – A historic plaque commemorating the Queen’s Bush Settlement, and the Black pioneers who settled there in the 1800s, is absent from its moorings in Glen Allan Park.
Karen Smart, vice president of the Mapleton Historical Society, said she made the discovery on July 16 while showing some friends around town.
“We were touring friends around the area and drove by the park, and I mentioned the plaque. And then I looked again and noticed it was gone,” she told the Advertiser by phone.
After learning it hadn’t been moved for cleaning or repairs, Smart checked the grounds and walked the area.
“But there was nothing. Then I called police,” she said.
“They led us to believe it was probably gone for good.”
According to Smart, who spoke to area residents, the plaque might have already been missing for a couple weeks.
“I hope they took it for the metal,” Smart said. “I hate to think it was a racist act.”
She doesn’t hold much hope for its return.
The plaque, a collaboration between the Wellington County Historical Society and Mapleton Historical Society, was unveiled on Aug. 2, 2008 and had a safe haven in Glen Allan Park for 17 years.
Smart said the group reached out to descendants of William Lawson, one of the original Black settlers at the Queen’s Bush Settlement while researching its history.
Though not a member of either historical society at the time, Smart was at the unveiling, joining two of Lawson’s descendants, author Rella Braithwaite and her daughter, singer Diana Braithwaite.
Smart has remained in contact with many of the settler’s descendants since, and told Diana about the disappearance.
“She was very upset to hear it,” Smart said.
Smart has reached out to Ontario Heritage Trust, which was instrumental in getting the plaque, and she said the historical society will follow its direction for a replacement.
The plaque commemorated an important piece of local history, Smart said, and if it’s not found, she hopes it can be promptly replaced.
Anyone with information about the plaque can contact the OPP (1-888-310-1122) or Crime Stoppers (1-800-222-8477) or submit a tip online.
Words on the plaque read:
THE QUEEN’S BUSH SETTLEMENT, 1820-1867
In the early 19th century the vast unsettled area between Waterloo County and Lake Huron was known as the “Queen’s Bush.” More than 1,500 free and formerly enslaved Blacks pioneered scattered farms throughout the Queen’s Bush, starting in about 1820. Many settled along the Peel and Wellesley Township border, with Glen Allan, Hawkesville and Wallenstein as important centers. Working together, these industrious and self-reliant settlers built churches, schools, and a strong and vibrant community life. American missionaries taught local Black children at the Mount Hope and Mount Pleasant Schools. In the 1840s the government ordered the district surveyed and many of the settlers could not afford to purchase the land they had laboured so hard to clear. By 1850 migration out of the Queen’s Bush had begun. Today African Canadians whose ancestors pioneered the Queen’s Bush are represented in communities across Ontario.
