Lucie Blackburn facts for kids
Lucie "Ruthie" Blackburn (1803-1895) was a self-emancipated former slave who escaped to Canada with her husband Thornton Blackburn and helped him establish the first taxi company in Quebec
Life in servitude
Lucie was born a slave in Louisville, Kentucky. By the age of 28, Lucie was working as a nanny for a merchant family in town. It was at this time that she met and fell in love with her husband, Thornton Blackburn, who was 19. The two got married and were almost separated shortly after when Lucie's slave owners died and she was sold off to a merchant who intended to trade her off in the Deep South. Before she could be auctioned off, however, Lucie and Thornton escaped to Detroit via the Underground Railroad.
Blackburn Riots
In 1833, Thornton was discovered as a fugitive slave in Detroit and he and his wife were arrested. Their arrest angered the emerging black populace in Detroit as well as allies of the anti-slavery movement. In what is known as the Blackburn Riots, 400 men charged the prison holding Thornton in order to free him while two women helped Lucie escape by having one of them switch places with Lucie in the jail cell. This event marked Detroit's first racial protest in history. Both Thornton and Lucie were smuggled out of the United States into Upper Canada, where they reunited in Montreal.
Toronto legacy
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In 1834, Lucie and Thornton relocated to Toronto where they would spend the rest of their lives. They devoted their time and wealth to anti-slavery efforts in Canada and support for African-Canadians. They also established Toronto's first taxi company by designing a red and yellow horse-drawn carriage that could hold four people, dubbed 'The City'. For a considerable amount of time, the Blackburns held a monopoly on the transit industry before competitors realized its economic value and made their own.
In 1999, the Government of Canada named Lucie and Thornton Persons of National Historic Significance.
