Joshua Glover Commemorative plaque, 2021.
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Original JPG File | 1800 × 1200 pixels (2.16 MP) 15.2 cm × 10.2 cm @ 300 PPI |
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Screen | 1200 × 800 pixels (0.96 MP) 10.2 cm × 6.8 cm @ 300 PPI |
372 KB | Restricted |
Resource ID
8475
Access
Open
Address
4208 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON M8X 1Y6
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
2021
Historical Themes
Black Heritage, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Towns and Villages
Program Category
Historical Plaques
Time Period
1794-1834, 1835-1899
Caption
Joshua Glover Commemorative plaque, 2021.
Description
Joshua Glover was a freedom-seeker who arrived from the United States in 1854. Enslaved in the state of Missouri, he escaped to Racine, Wisconsin. His temporary capture by his former enslaver and imprisonment in a Milwaukee jail led to his rescue by a large crowd angered by his arrest. He then escaped to Canada through the Underground Railroad.
Glover likely arrived in Collingwood or Owen Sound, Ontario and made his way to Etobicoke. Thomas Montgomery, the proprietor of Montgomery’s Inn, met Glover soon after his arrival in Etobicoke. Glover lived in the Etobicoke communities of Islington and Lambton Mills, renting a house from the Montgomery family. For over 30 years, Glover worked for the family cutting wood, harvesting crops, and doing other odd jobs. He married twice, both times to Irish women. Glover was one of about 40 Black residents out of a local population of 2,900.
Joshua Glover died June 4, 1888, at the York County Industrial Home in Newmarket, Ontario. Enslaved for half his life, Glover spent more than 30 years in Canada, where Black people were comparatively free but still faced racism and discrimination. His escape from slavery in the USA became widely known and was a factor in Wisconsin declaring the Fugitive Slave Act unconstitutional in 1854.
Marker lat / long: 43.660875, -79.512631 (WGS84)