Harriet Tubman Worshipped Here: Salem

Chapel British Me thodist Episcopal Church

By Andrew Hind

Salem Chapel in St. Catharines is an old church, dating back two centuries. But its true value lies with the legacy of the people who worshipped within, including abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

From the early to middle 1800s, enslaved African Americans who had escaped bondage sought sanctuary in Canada. Many settled in Ontario’s Niagara peninsula, forming ‘Coloured Villages’ within communities like Niagara-on-the-Lake and St. Catharines.

In 1820, former slaves in St. Catharines established a branch of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) and built a small chapel to serve the faithful. Over the next three decades the congregation would grow slowly but steadily, necessitating two moves to successively larger churches.

The Black community is St. Catharines, and indeed in many towns in Canada, saw its numbers swell after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in the United States in

1850. This law stated that escaped slaves who had been living in the northern United States, where slavery had been abolished in 1804, could be legally captured and returned to enslavement in the South. The Act led thousands of freedom-seekers to take refuge in Canada, trusting that international borders would guarantee their safety.

As a result of the Fugitive Slave Act, most AMEC members in Canada were fearful of attending the the AMEC Conference in the US. This, and a desire to identify themselves more closely with the country that granted them their freedom and equal rights, led to AME Churches in Canada to separate from their American brethren and establish the British Methodist Episcopal Church (BMEC).

Among the flood of desperate humanity fleeing the United States during this turbulent period was Harriet Tubman.

Born in enslavement around 1822, Tubman escaped and became a vocal abolitionist and a ‘conductor’ on the Underground Railroad that spirited slaves to freedom in the North. At risk to her own life, Tubman led thirteen missions to rescue slaves, including her parents.

When the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, Tubman was living free from slavery in Philadelphia. Knowing she would no longer be safe in the United States – especially considering her high profile - she made the difficult decision to flee to Canada in 1851. Harriet brought her family and other formerly enslaved people with her, and together they settled in St. Catharines.

St. Catharines was considered one of the northern terminuses of the Underground Railroad. In 1855, there was 500 blacks living in the community, representing almost 10% of the total population. Many of the former slaves, Harriet and her family included, attended Salem Chapel British Methodist Church. It was a place a place of worship, of identity, and of social support. The church was, in a very real sense, the glue that bound the black community together.

Tubman was a highly respected, perhaps revered, member of the community. She campaigned for the end to slavery in the United States, sought to ensure the well-being of Blacks living in Canada, and was a ‘conductor’ on the clandestine Underground Railroad that spirited slaves from servitude to freedom.

Though she felt safe in Canada, Harriet’s elderly parents struggled to adjust to the cold winters. In 1859, Harriet decided to return her family to the United States, where they finally put down permanent roots in Auburn, New York.

Salem British Methodist Church, the oldest existing Black church in Ontario, remains little changed from the time when Harriet Tubman worshipped here and undoubtedly prayed for a time when slavery had been relegated to the dustbins of American history.

In 1999, the church, now known as the Salem Chapel, received a National Historic designation by the Government of Canada. Six years later, Harriet Tubman received the same designation. Pre-booked tours for groups of 30 or more are available April to the middle of November.

Salem Chapel is small, but its historic importance outweighs its modest dimension.

92 Geneva Street, St. Catharines, Ontario salemchapelbmechurch.ca