Notice of Intention to Designate the Street Cemetery

On November 4, 2024 the Council of the Corporation of Haldimand County resolved to pass a Notice of Intention to Designate to designate the following property of cultural heritage value and interest under Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.18:

Street Cemetery

664 Haldimand Road 32, Canfield, ON (Part Lot N ½ lot 12, Concession 1S, Talbot Road North, Cayuga, Being Part 5 18R7895, Haldimand County, Province of Ontario).

Description

The Street Cemetery is a small family cemetery in Haldimand County; it consists of 434 square meters and is  located at 664 Haldimand Road 32, Canfield. The Cemetery is comprised of the burial ground which is accessed by a walkway (right-of-way). It is located within a relatively flat agricultural landscape.

The formal recognition consists of approximately six known markers (as of 2024). The designation is limited to the boundaries of the burial ground.

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value

The Cultural Heritage Value of the Street Cemetery is related to its design/physical value as an example of a small, mid-19th century, family cemetery set in a rural setting.

By the late 19th century, Canfield, in North Cayuga Township, was one of Haldimand County’s significant settlement areas that developed along the Talbot Road. One of the first Black settlers to arrive was Stepney Street.

The Street Family Cemetery was established in 1846 on property originally owned by Stepney Street. This burial ground is integral to the community’s collective heritage and one of the few remaining markers of Black history in the area. The burial ground is of great heritage value, locally and nationally.

Historical and Associative Value:

Colonel Thomas Talbot surveyed a road between Simcoe and Canborough, ON in 1832. The road, which came to be known as Talbot Road, was cut out of dense forest and was not made navigable for horses, wagons and other means of transportation until the 1840s when the government of Upper Canada sent labourers to make it fit for travel. The workers sent to build the road were a “company of coloured troops” formerly under the command of Captain Runchey

Talbot Road was located in a virtual wilderness which made it a logical and safe route for escaping slaves coming to Canada to start their new lives. Canfield, in North Cayuga Township, was one of the key settlements that developed along the Talbot Road. Many Freedom Seekers settled and lived along Talbot Road or on a side road known locally as the “Darky Sideroad”. For generations, several Black families resided along this road, marrying into each other’s families and making their homes in Canfield. The earliest evidence of Black settlement appears in the 1837 census.

In the early 1840s, Stepney Street, a Freedom Seeker from West Virginia, escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad. Six weeks later, his wife Lucy, their children, two brothers and another slave escaped  and followed him to Canada. By 1851, the Streets had moved to Canfield; the Street name appears in 1851 census records.

Stepney and Lucy Street and their 14 children were one of Canfield’s long-standing families.

Their children were: Henrietta, Ellen, Andrew, Eliza, George, Maryann, William, Charity, Lucinda, Emelia, David, Martha, Josephine and Frances.

Their eldest daughter, Henrietta, married William Alexander Barnes and relocated to Cayuga in 1871; they had several children: William Andrew Jr., Emelia/Emile, Albert, Arthur, Maud, Martha and Ernest. William Andrew, their oldest son, married Caroline Stewart, who was the niece to Harriett Tubman, the famed American abolitionist and political activist. They had five children: William Caroll, William Hubert, Lorne (Barney), Victor and Ollie.

Charity Street married John Harper and they had four children: Frances, Wesley, George and William. William became a famous artist. His paintings now hang in such renowned institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Museum of African American History & Culture (a Smithsonian Institution Museum) in Washington D.C.

Ellen Street married John Williams and lived in Canfield; they had two daughters, Mary and Jeanette.

Andrew, the oldest son, married Emily Marshall-Stewart and had five children: Robert, Amelia, Caroline, Mary and Emma.

George, William, David and Martha Street never married, or married very late in life. They lived on the home farm for decades, carrying on the farming and religious traditions started by their parents.

Josephine Street married Zachariah Harper and had two children, Zach Jr. and James Nelson.

Contextual Value:

Stepney was a devout man who opened his home for church services and later donated land on which was built a brick church for the strong Baptist congregation.

The Street Cemetery was created on a small section of farmland owned by Stepney; it is the final resting place of Stepney and Lucy Street and several family members including Carrie Barnes, the niece of famed American abolitionist and political activist Harriet Tubman.

Burials took place between 1846 and 1943, with the first being Stepney and Lucy Street’s two-year-old daughter, Maryann, on September 10, 1846 and the last being  William Andrew Barnes, Henrietta Street’s son and Carrie Barnes’ husband, on February 18, 1943.

A marker for Stepney reads: In memory of Stepney Street, died in the Township of North Cayuga, January 31, 1880 aged 72 years and six months.

While records indicate 11 known burials in the Street Cemetery, the number of interments may be up to 26.

The remaining gravestones and footstones are made of soft granite and limestone, and preserve the memory of the individuals interred within the small area. It  is a quiet and peaceful setting that contributes to its natural landscape.

Description of Heritage Attributes:

The following provides a description of the key heritage attributes for the Street Cemetery ‘s overall Cultural Heritage Value. Important to the preservation of the property are the original key attributes that express its value, including:

• All gravestones and markers with their surviving inscriptions and symbolism;
• All burials and interred remains in their existing location in-situ;
• Location set within an agricultural area including naturalized vegetation and mature trees.

Any objection to this designation must be filed no later than December 5, 2024. Objections should be directed to the  Clerk of Haldimand County, 53 Thorburn Street South, Cayuga, ON N0A 1E0.

Further information regarding this proposed designation is available from the Haldimand County. Any inquiries may be directed to Anne Unyi, Supervisor, Heritage & Culture 905-318-5932, ext. 6516, or by email at aunyi@haldimandcounty.on.ca