Mariah Dyke was born into slavery in 1830 in the state of Virginia. She was a mixture of Cherokee and African blood and had four children by her master George Dyke a Dutch shipbuilder who was a descendant of Dutch pirates. In 1852 George Dyke brought Mariah and her children to the Elgin Settlement more commonly known as the Buxton Settlement. There he purchased a 50 acre parcel of land in trust to Mariah and her children, gave them their freedom and he returned south. Mariah Dyke died Sept. 22, 1879, age 49 years, 5 months and 23 days. She is buried in the North Buxton Community Church Cemetery in North Buxton Ontario.

photo courtesy of Spencer Alexander,

Assistant Curator, Buxton National Historic Site & Museum

George Madison Crawford was a Cherokee born in the southern United States about 1820. By the mid 1800’s he is in Amherstburg Ontario and is married to a woman named Laura Virginia, who was born in Covington Kentucky. Their daughter Anna Louise Crawford married John H. Alexander, who was the son of a fugitive slave from Kentucky named Thomas Alexander. photo courtesy of Spencer Alexander, Assistant Curator, Buxton National Historic Site & Museum

This is Gilbert Baumhauer and his wife Julie Ann Parks. The name Baumhauer has nineteen spellings that I am aware of. Both Gilbert and Julie had aboriginal ancestry. The Baumhauer and Parks families are both large and found throughout Hastings County, Ontario.

This is a photo of a large charcoal drawing that once belonged to Jennie Dell Hannah (nee Lake). Gilbert and Julie were Jennie's grandparents.

William Herbert Lake, 1862-1959, was of both Mohawk and Algonquin descent.

This photo was passed down to Art Haines from his grandmother, Jennie Dell Hannah (nee Lake). Jennie was William's daughter.