Freedom on the Grand: The Voice of Sophia Pooley

Among the 30 to 40 enslaved individuals Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) brought to the Grand River Valley, one voice emerges from the historical record with harrowing clarity. The story of Sophia Pooley is arguably one of the most significant and powerful narratives in Canadian history.

Her testimony, transcribed by the American abolitionist Benjamin Drew in 1856, is one of the only known first-person accounts of a person who lived through slavery in Upper Canada. It is not an abstract legal record; it is a humanizing counternarrative that gives a name, a voice, and a story of profound trauma and resilience to the history of slavery in this region.

"Beat Her and Cut Her with a Knife"

Sophia Pooley was born enslaved in Fishkill, New York, to parents Oliver and Dinah Burthen. Her life was violently disrupted when, at the age of seven, she was captured along with her sister. They were taken to Niagara and sold as property to Joseph Brant, who brought them to his home on the Mohawk reserve in Upper Canada around 1785.

In her own words, Pooley's life with Brant was a painful contradiction. She recalled that in some ways, she "was considered part of the family." Yet she also described horrific, casual abuse. She stated that Brant's third wife, Catherine Adonwentishon, "was a violent woman" who, in a fit of rage, "beat her and cut her with a knife."

This duality—being treated as both kin and chattel—was a common psychological trauma of slavery. At the age of 12, her status as property was made clear when Brant sold her to Samuel Hatt of Ancaster.

The Agonizingly Slow Path to Freedom

Sophia Pooley's testimony is a critical reminder that law and reality are two different things. Her life highlights the ambiguous and often-delayed nature of emancipation.

Even after the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery was passed, its implementation was gradual. Pooley was held illegally as an enslaved person by Samuel Hatt for seven years after that legislation had been enacted.

Freedom did not come from her enslaver or from a benevolent government. She only learned of her rights when neighbours, not Hatt, informed her of the law. This fact demonstrates that the end of slavery in Upper Canada was not a clean, singular event, but a messy, contested, and agonizingly slow process for those it was intended to liberate.

From Property to Pioneer

The power of Sophia Pooley's story does not end with her enslavement. After gaining her freedom, she survived and persevered. She settled in the Queen's Bush settlement (in present-day Huron and Grey counties), one of the earliest free Black communities in the province.

There, she married Robert Pooley, and together they raised a large family. When Benjamin Drew interviewed her in 1856, she was an elderly woman, living as a free and independent member of a community she had helped build. Her testimony, published in Drew's book "A North-Side View of Slavery. The Refugee: or the Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada," is the only reason her powerful story survives.

The Legacy Today: Why Her Voice Matters

Sophia Pooley's story is the heart of the work we do. It transforms the abstract number "30 to 40 enslaved people" into a human being who had parents, a sister, and a name. Her narrative proves that slavery in Canada was not "milder" than in the United States—it involved the same brutal violence and family separation.

Most importantly, her story provides two powerful lessons for our community today.

First, it shows that freedom was not simply "given"; it was a right that had to be claimed. But to claim a right, one must first know it exists. We cannot blame Sophia Pooley for not knowing the law; she was kept illiterate, isolated, and deliberately deceived by her enslaver.

Her freedom was stolen from her for seven years, not only by chains, but by a lack of information.

This holds a powerful mirror to our world. Today, we are all technically born free. Yet, how often is our own pursuit of happiness—a different kind of freedom—held captive by a similar detachment from the systems that govern our lives? Our potential can be shackled by ignorance of the law, a poor understanding of financial literacy, or a lack of civic knowledge. We may settle for "common knowledge" when it is "applicable knowledge" that truly sets us free.

Second, Sophia's story shows us how to break those bonds. She was only freed when her neighbours shared their knowledge with her. This demonstrates that community education is not just an academic exercise; it is an act of liberation.

By sharing Sophia Pooley's testimony, we give voice to the voiceless, honour her resilience, and champion the power of education. We commit to telling these complete stories as a tool to empower our entire community with the applicable knowledge we all need to achieve true freedom and progress.

Suggested Reading

For those interested in learning more, these resources provide deeper context into Sophia Pooley's life and era:

Drew, Benjamin.

A North-Side View of Slavery. The Refugee: or the Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada.

This 1856 book is the original source of Sophia Pooley's first-person testimony, alongside dozens of other powerful narratives from freedom-seekers in Canada.

Hill, Daniel G.

The Freedom-Seekers: Blacks in Early Canada. 

A foundational and accessible book that details the lives of the first Black residents of Upper Canada, providing excellent context for Pooley's experience

Brown-Kubisch, Linda. The Queen's Bush Settlement: Black Pioneers 1839-1865.

A detailed history of the community where Sophia Pooley settled and lived as a free woman, giving insight into her life after enslavement.

Murray, Alexander L. "The Provincial Freeman: A New Source for the History of the Negro in Canada and the U.S." Journal of Negro History 44, no. 2 (1959).

This article, available through academic journals, discusses the newspapers and networks that shared information among Black communities.

Murray, Alexander L. "The Provincial Freeman: A New Source for the History of the Negro in Canada and the U.S." Journal of Negro History 44, no. 2 (1959). This article, available through academic journals, discusses the newspapers and networks that shared information among Black communities.

Sources:

• Brantford's Black History :: The Importance of Sophia Pooley - Unite Against Hate! (https://www.uniteagainsthate.ca/blogs/brantfordblackhistory/the-importance-of-sophia-pooley)

• Black History of Haldimand County - Haldimand County (https://dev.haldimandcounty.ca/main_website/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20210301BlackHistoryEducatonPackage.pdf)

• Drew, Benjamin. A North-Side View of Slavery. The Refugee: or the Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada. Boston: John P. Jewett and Company, 1856. (Available via Library and Archives Canada & Project Gutenberg)

• "Pooley, Sophia" - Dictionary of Canadian Biography. (https://www.google.com/search?q=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/pooley_sophia_8E.html)

• "Sophia Pooley" - The Canadian Encyclopedia. (https://www.google.com/search?q=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sophia-pooley)