Elijah of Buxton (33 page)

Christopher Paul Curtis was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. The second of five children, Christopher always loved reading, but as a child he didn't find many books that, as he says, “were about me.” After graduating from high school, he took a summer job hanging car doors on the assembly line at Fisher Body Flint Plant No. 1, figuring he'd make some good money before starting college at the University of Michigan-Flint in the fall. It turned out that the money was
too
good to walk away from, and Christopher's summer job ended up lasting thirteen years! While the experience left him with a lifelong aversion to getting in and out of large automobiles, it also gave him a chance to do something that would eventually change his life — to write. He and his work partner came up with a plan: Instead of taking alternate turns putting the doors on Buicks as they rolled down the assembly line, each of them would hang
all
the doors for thirty minutes straight, giving the other a half-hour break. Christopher took the opportunity to write in his journal. Though he hated working in the factory, writing allowed him to forget where he was, for thirty minutes at a time.

While working at Fisher Body, Christopher continued taking classes at night. He was supposed to be studying political science, but he found himself drawn toward writing fiction. A few years after leaving his job at the plant, Christopher took a year off to write a book. He spent his days at the children's room of the Windsor Public Library in Windsor, Ontario, writing this new story out by hand. In many ways, Christopher's writing became a family affair, with his son, Steven, typing up his drafts on the computer, and his daughter, Cydney, and his niece, Hara, adding musical and editorial comments. Steven was the very first person to read about ten-year-old Kenny Watson's family road trip to Alabama — the story that became
The Watsons Go to Birmingham — 1963
, Christopher's first book.

Christopher submitted
The Watsons
to the Delacorte Press First Young Adult Novel Contest. The story didn't win the prize, but Delacorte decided to publish it anyway.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham — 1963
went on to receive a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor, and its success finally allowed Christopher to consider writing as a full-time career. Christopher's second novel,
Bud, Not Buddy
, was inspired in part by his grandfathers, Earl “Lefty” Lewis, a pitcher in the Negro Baseball Leagues, and Herman E. Curtis, bandleader of the Dusky Devastators of the Depression. In 2000, it was awarded the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Author Award, among many other honors and accolades. Christopher's other novels include the Golden Kite Award-winning
Bucking the Sarge, Mr. Chickee's Funny Money
,
Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission
, and this book.

When he is not writing, Christopher enjoys playing basketball and collecting old record albums. To learn more about him, visit him online at
www.nobodybutcurtis.com
.

Q:
How did
Elijah of Buxton
come about?

A:
Elijah of Buxton
came to me very easily — in a way that was far different from any other book I have written. From the word “go,” Elijah and I became close friends. When I'd go to the library to write, it was as if he were anxiously waiting for me, waiting to tell about his life, his worries, and his adventures. I knew I wanted to write something about slavery, but I can't think of a more difficult subject to write about. When I write, I like to put myself in the place of a character and try to imagine what that person's life would be like. But I'm just not able to imagine what it would be like to be a slave, to be completely dehumanized — and even worse, to have to teach your children that they too have to give up their humanity.

 

Q:
What made you decide to set Elijah's story in the Buxton Settlement?

A:
Actually, the first chapter I wrote ended up being one of the last chapters of the book, and at the time, I didn't know it was going to be set in Buxton. Once I found out more about the characters I'd created and about the community in Buxton, which I'd visited, the idea of setting the story there just grabbed a hold of me. Buxton is about forty miles from Detroit, in Canada, and about two hundred descendents of the original settlers still live in the area. It was a terminus of the Underground Railroad, so many former slaves settled there after escaping from the U.S. By setting Elijah's story there, and by making him the first child born free, I was able to look at slavery without being actually in it.

 

Q:
Was it difficult to write this book?

A:
You might think it would have been, but Elijah just spoke to me and it took me about six months to finish. That's a
very
short time for me.

 

Q:
What is your writing schedule like?

A:
I still get up at five in the morning every day — I always worked an early shift at the factory, and I can't seem to break the habit of waking up before everyone else does. Early mornings are my editorial time. From five until about eight, I take whatever I wrote the day before and try to beat it into a story. From nine until noon, I go to the Windsor Public Library and write. That's my creative time, where I just let the story go. A lot of what I write won't end up in a book, but it gives me a little background on what I'm writing about. I can tell that I'm getting the story right when the editorial part becomes much shorter than the creative part.

 

Q:
Do you plan to write another book about Buxton?

A:
Buxton has such a rich and fascinating history that there are surely hundreds more stories to tell. I hope to tell a few more of them myself.

The Elgin Settlement, commonly known as the Buxton Settlement, was founded in 1849 in what is now North Buxton, Ontario, Canada. It was established by a Presbyterian minister named William King, who was a slave owner himself through his late wife, the daughter of a Louisiana plantation owner. Reverend King did not believe in the ownership of one human being by another, and he became a staunch abolitionist who supported ending the practice of slavery in the United States. While working as a pastor in Chatham, Ontario, Reverend King came to a decision: He would no longer own slaves, and he would do something to help the fugitive slaves who had fled the U.S. to find freedom in Canada. He approached the leadership of the Presbyterian Church of Canada and requested their permission to build a church and a school for the fugitive slaves. The Church agreed, and they also helped him create an association to establish a settlement where the former slaves could live and prosper. The association, and eventually the Settlement, were named for James Bruce, the Earl of Elgin, the Governor General of Canada West.

In 1848, Reverend King moved the fifteen slaves he owned from Louisiana to Ohio, a free state where his family had a farm. There, he told the slaves that they were free to do as they chose: They could strike out on their own, as free men and women, or they could join Reverend King in Canada, where he and the Elgin Association had purchased land which the former slaves could buy and settle upon. All fifteen chose to remain with Reverend King, and when they arrived in Buxton in 1849, they found several other refugees from America waiting there. These former slaves had heard of Buxton, and they too wanted opportunities for their families and their children. Together, these men, women, and children became the first residents of the Elgin Settlement at Buxton.

Although there were other settlements for former slaves in the area near Chatham, Buxton was destined to become the most successful — in part because of the strict conditions for ownership that Reverend King and the Elgin Association established. The 4,300 acres of the Settlement were to be divided into fifty-acre lots, which were to be sold exclusively to former slaves and free blacks. The land would be sold at a reasonable price, with a down payment of $12.50 to be paid within a year, with the remaining balance to be paid off over time. By creating these rules, Reverend King made sure that the new residents of Buxton would have the chance to build their own community without having to worry about white settlers, some of whom did not want the former slaves living there, trying to buy up the land.

There were other rules to ensure that the community was a pleasant place to live, unlike the shacks many of its residents had lived in when they were slaves. For instance, each fifty-acre plot had to be drained and cleared, and houses built on them had to be placed thirty-three feet from the road. Each house was also required to have a picket fence, a flower garden, and at least four rooms. All the children would be required to attend school, as well as help out with chores. The adults would also be given an opportunity to attend school, and they would work together to drain the land, cut down timber to clear it, and build the Settlement's homes and church with the lumber they harvested. Because Reverend King was a religious man, he also established a rule forbidding the sale of whiskey and other liquor in the Settlement.

Of course, it would take time for the Settlement land to be cleared, so Reverend King bought a huge farm nearby that had enough room to house Buxton's first settlers until their own homes could be built. The work was hard, but together, the settlers made progress. On Sundays, Reverend King held church services in his house while waiting for the Settlement church to be completed. By April 1850, the settlers had built their own cabins and had erected a building that could be used as a church and a school. All the residents of the Settlement and nearby towns were invited to attend both. On the first day of school, ten black children and two white children showed up, and over time other white residents of the area began to send their children as well. Classes for adults were held at the school at night, and many white residents who lived nearby also attended. The Buxton school soon became the finest in the area, and it got so crowded that a second school had to be built. The subjects taught included Latin, Greek, and other high-school level courses, as well as domestic skills. Later that year, a group of former slaves and free people in Pittsburgh joined together to provide a gift to the school: a five-hundred-pound bell that would ring each morning to call the students to class. The Liberty Bell was also rung at six in the morning and nine at night to remind the residents of Buxton that slavery continued to exist in the U.S., and it is said the bell sounded every time another fugitive escaped to freedom by entering the Settlement.

Buxton continued to grow in size after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 in the U.S. That law allowed slave owners to capture escaped slaves who had made it to freedom in the northern U.S. The only truly safe place for former slaves to go was Canada, and many of them settled in Buxton. In its earliest years, Buxton relied mostly on agriculture to sustain itself, and crops included corn, wheat, potatoes, beans, and peas. The residents also raised livestock, such as cows, oxen, horses, sheep, and pigs. But with the arrival of new residents, Buxton quickly grew into a successful commercial center. A brickyard and grist mill were established, and a tramway was built to float logs down to Lake Erie where they could be shipped out. The ash from burnt timber was used to make fertilizer, and lumber was converted into barrel staves. Soon, Buxton's many businesses included a general store, a blacksmith's shop, a shoe factory, a hotel, and a bank. As Buxton continued to prosper and grow, many residents became active in local government. After living in the Settlement for three years, Buxton's residents became naturalized citizens of Canada West, a British territory, and the men of Buxton became eligible to vote.

As the abolitionist movement continued to grow in the United States, the political turmoil eventually led to the American Civil War. The conflict slowed the rate of migration into Buxton, and Buxton's residents anxiously awaited the outcome. While the men of Buxton were eager to help fight for the cause of abolishing slavery in the U.S., they were not allowed to serve in the all-white Union army at first. Eventually, the Union army created all-black regiments, and seventy or so men from Buxton enlisted. After the war ended and slavery was formally abolished, hundreds of Buxton's residents returned to the United States to search for their families. Many of them returned to their former hometowns, using their education and the skills they learned in building Buxton to better the lives of the newly freed slaves in the American South.

 

Sources:

 

Civil War
by John Stanchak, Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc.

 

Something to Hope For
by Joyce Shadd Middleton, Bryan Prince, and Karen Shadd Evelyn, Buxton National Historic Site and Museum