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Underground Railway to freedom A tale of escape, love and mystery in Nassagaweya M m that couldbepresumed." the role of organist. CANADIAN CHAMPION SIAFF According to a brute Star article. a man When Little Georgediedin 1865 helefthis named Georgejohmon (its unclear which landtoBigGeorge,wholudfoursonswith Tuckedawayin Nasayweyaisaunique one)lndheenashv_ennaVlrglnlafintadon Emily. migympnebythatmndnm WM‘EWm -_ Thefarnilyfientontoéareforthe‘church, a ture . A . " with Wigwam)” and Undergroundllailwayarefugefoundinruralf‘flwieeby '_ ._ wifealrhlt Big Wilhelm-dig cent- Mtltonandafarnilyeemeterythathasalmost: * ' -. ,, _ eteryfrornl913tol933 mpqfiarqto vanishedintothepagesofhistory _ . y itown- luverrraintainedmetietilonsreeorrkthatare Suchisthetaleofthejohnsons,afoundingflip ‘ _;'.- . = "‘ eoiideredanimpnttanttoolfatthocre- familyofnotonlyN .hutalsoSt. Uponsettlingintoanew mralsearchingthearea’shistorytoday John‘s Anglican Church. vily involved Across the road at the Johnson‘s property Thesaga unfolds around the corner of at St. john‘s. withBigGeorgeservingas asthe records reveal that Little George. his wife. Guelph” Line and 10 Sideroad. The church churchh sexton at onetimeandwifeEmily Maryandpossiblyachildareburiedinapri- standsonthenorthside. whiletheoldJohn- son homestead lies to the south. It was here that George johnson established anewlife afterfreeinghimselffrom the shack- les of slavery As the pages of June Andrews‘ Footprints book about the history of St. John‘s Anglican reveal. the ZOO-acre farm was purchased by “Little" George Johnson in 1828. According to Andrews‘ research, Johnson “hadbeenaslaveintheUnitedStatesandhad escaped to Canada via the Underground Rail- way with sympathetic settlers sheltering and assistinghimonhisway toalifeoffreedom." Records from the Halton-Peel branch of the . Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) show thatlittleGeorgewasjoinedbyanotherman who was abo mmed George Johnson. with: the nickname “Big" Georg e. “ltisbelievedtheywereealledljttleandBig because of their setadture. not their ages" says the OGS Halton-P website. “‘1 hey a nt- ly travelled the U Wm- ertosettleinCanada. lttunclear. however. whetherthetwomenwererelated. although vate family cemetery. “It is not known how many graves are lo- catedinthefamilyfarmcemetery. butthereis at least one child‘s grave. in addition to those of Little George and his wife Mary." says the OGS Halton-Peel records. “A lady who lived onthislotasayounggirlstatedthatshe re- membered the old and tint it had one or two gravestones. which were difficult to read." Andrey Allison of the Nmagiweya Historial Society (NHS) saidseveralyearsago. two mem- bers of the NHS were nude aware of grave- stonesâ€" two large and one smallâ€" tlut 1nd been discovered on the oldJohnson property Atthattime. theywerelaidinthemiddleofa field surrounded by a clump of dogwood, but according to historieal data this location likely wasnt the burial site. she said. Hawtheyendedupthere'samysterybutAlli- sonsuspeestheynny havebeenrelocatedwhen 'hydrolineswereputthroughtheproperty The NHS took photos to document the stones. which Allison said were very heavy and distinguishable. While she nude sure the Town. OGS Haltonâ€" PeelandProvincewereallawareofthe family cemetery. it hasn‘t been formally registered as such When r berswenthathi'rireeent timestolnok dtegravatonesaphAlli- sonsaid 'tfindthem. “They. ‘snothing'therefll'heywere l ' evrdeneeofthejohnson _â€" NEED MORE COUNTER SPACE? Tiadyoisamobileappmoomectayouwithbuyors‘ ardenlerstttataroneareettommphotosandpoat itsmuouwanttoeelorehdwlththeeeletsorw - youwarittobuy. MfiMWWWSO- Minnow tradyo.com' Trains?