I've Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad

As his bride, Lucie, was about to be "sold down the river" to the slave markets of New Orleans in 1831, young Thornton Blackburn planned a daring escape from Louisville. Discovered by slave catchers in Michigan, they were slated to return to Kentucky in chains, until the black community rallied to their cause in the Blackburn Riot of 1833. The couple was spirited across the river to Canada, but Michigan's governor demanded their extradition. The Blackburn case was the first serious legal dispute between Canada and the United States regarding the Underground Railroad, and set precedents for all future fugitive-slave cases. The Blackburns settled in Toronto and founded the city's first taxi business. Working with prominent abolitionists, Thornton and Lucie made their home a haven for runaways. The Blackburns died in the 1890s, and a chance archaeological discovery in a downtown Toronto school yard brought their story to light.