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

by Karolyn Smardz Frost

The freedom of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn became a cause célèbre in the mid 1830s, sparking a race riot in Detroit & a diplomatic incident with Canada. Runaway slaves, Thornton & Lucie eventually settled in Toronto & worked tirelessly with other abolitionists against the slavery they had left behind in the Southern States.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Canada, Biography, American History, African American, Civil War

480 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Karolyn Smardz Frost is an archaeologist, historian, educator, and author specializing in African American/Canadian transnationalism. She is Senior Research Fellow for the Harriet Tubman Institute, York University, Toronto, and a Harrison McCain Visiting Professor at Nova Scotia’s Acadia University. Her biography of fugitive slaves Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad, won the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction, Canada’s highest literary honor.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This meticulously researched book was the result of an archaeological discovery in Toronto in 1985.
From this dig, the author, a well respected archaeologist and historian, was able to piece together the lives of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, long forgotten citizens of Toronto, who had arrived as fugitive slaves, after a harrowing series of escapes. Their story and the legal precedents surrounding it, was instrumental in establishing the Canadian response to tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the U.S. to Canada at the height of the Underground Railroad. The Blackburn story is unforgettable, with twists and turns, and strange coincidences, that make this seem much more like a novel than a well researched historical work. At the heart, it is a love story, demonstrating incredible courage, resiliency, and resourcefulness, but even without such unforgettable protagonists, there is much to be gained by getting a better understanding of slavery on the border states and the many implications of the Fugitive Slave Act in both the northern states as well as Canada.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was better than any fiction I've read on this topic. We always hear about the Underground Railway as a creation of white, abolitionist, (often) Quaker people and very little of the efforts of the black population on their own behalf. The Blackburn's self theft had to have had some assistance, whether black or white is unknown, but someone had to have provided the forged papers they used on the boat, had to have got them timetable information for their second stage, and must have been connected with Detroit, otherwise why not continue across the river to Canada and be surer of safety?
The way the book presents the interweaving of the American and Canadian stories shows just how close the two histories are but one thing that comes very clear is that Canada has been prepared to accept anyone in fear for their safety regardless of their politics. The author remarks on the shocking truth that escaped slaves walking the street in Toronto or Chatham Ontario could have come face to face with their former owners with no real fear of consequences. She comments that the carefully crafted legislation (thank you John Beverly Robinson) that prevented the extradition of escaped slaves laid the basis for our refugee policies today. I do find it odd that Jefferson Davis actually "visited his children in Montreal" after the American Civil War and that it took such a short period of time (about a generation) before black people were beginning to feel prejudice against themselves. It would seem to be partially a result of that open border policy that didn't prevent "unreconstructed" Southerners from settling here and spreading prejudice - that and economic difficulties that tightened the job market. It is interesting that Thornton Blackburn's drinking buddies were Ulster Irish labourers from the Welland Canal project.
This is an essential book for anyone interested in the last years of slavery in North America and the after effects. The amount of research that went into this book is incredible, the tons of paper archives that have been consulted and the genealogical tree building reflected in the references to various families is extensive. A remarkable piece of work. I was a museum volunteer in Vancouver at the time of the excavation and I would like to know how it was that we weren't told of it, in my memory at least. There weren't any great discoveries may have been the reason so it remained of local interest only.

[Kaeleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars — By the time I finished the Introduction, I knew this was going to be an awesome read. Saturated with research and quotes, this book paints an engaging and fascinating picture at how North America changed over decades in the 19th century. This is a must-read! Will definitely be re-reading this in the future.

Half a star lost only because there were a couple sections that were so heavy on research/names/dates that I found myself zoning out a little. But the vast majority of the research was SO interesting!

[Zena Ryder · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're interested in the Underground Railroad in general, and the connection between Detroit and Canada in particular, you'll find this book fascinating. It's about Lucie (aka Ruthie) and Thornton Blackburn, who escaped from slavery in Kentucky in 1831. Their arrest in Detroit in 1833 sparked the "Blackburn Riot". With help, they escaped from the Detroit jail and made it to freedom in Canada, where they became very successful entrepreneurs.

It is a detailed and meticulous account which I appreciated, but I didn't read every single page because I wasn't as interested in every stage of the Blackburns' story. So bear that in mind — this is a non-fiction book that you'll find useful for research, not a page-turner from cover to cover. (Although the author does kick off with some great storytelling!)

[Vilo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Frost is an archaeologist and historian based in Toronto, Canada. In 1985 archaeologists found a foundation of a house under a school playground. Excavations and research showed it was the home of a married couple who had escaped from slavery in Kentucky and lived more than 60 years in Toronto. Over the next 20 years Ms. Frost researched the couples' lives, searching in both countries for clues and context. The result is an amazing book detailing much forgotten history. Written in an engaging, clear style, the book makes clear such details as how some slaves came to be sent out to work in trades and businesses, how slavery moved from the east coast throughout the south, the incredible determination of people to be free--most often motivated by wanting to keep their precious families together. Seeing the abolition movement, the Civil War, and its aftermath from the perspective of the African Canadian point of view is fascinating.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quotable:

“Behind Louisville the countryside is delightful: the houses and plantations vying with each other in point of elegance and cultivation. The woods have disappeared, and for the distance of twenty miles, the roads are lined in every direction with plantations.” -Fall 1829, Charles Sealsfield

Louisville was not a healthy place to live. The ground was low-lying and marshy, and there were many pools of standing water that bred mosquitoes and other ills. They were eventually drained but the early decades of the nineteenth century were the cause of epidemics and seasonal fevers. Yellow fever and typhus decimated the population on more than one occasion, earning Louisville the unpleasant epithet of “the Graveyard of the West.”

The story of how the term “Jim Crow” was coined is fascinating. A few days before his blackface comic debut at Louisville, [Thomas D.] Rice had observed the antics of a slave disables by arthritis who worked at Crowe’s Livery Stables. The old man sang a little song and did a shuffling dance to amuse himself. Rice wrote a song based on his tune, published it that same year, and went on to become famous as the father of American minstrelsy. By 1836, he had taken his racially demeaning blackface show to Great Britain, where, despite the great popularity of abolitionism within a certain segment of society, there was still strong color prejudice among the rank and file. The entertainment spread throughout the English-speaking world, where it continued through much of the twentieth century. Rice’s original lyrics went: “Wheel about, turn about, do jes so, An’ ebry time I wheel about, I jump Jim Crowe.” With the rise of legalized segregation, the old Louisville slave Jim Crowe’s name would become synonymous with the South’s racially discriminatory laws, especially in the 1890’s, although the process had begun much earlier.

Root cause of the Civil War… “Our new government is founded… upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery – subordination to the superior race – is his natural and normal condition.” -Alexander Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate States of America

[Anne Patkau · Rating 1 out of 5]

* good as dry text "I've Got a Home in Glory Land" heavily details every aspect of research on 1800s Negro slaves who escaped from Kentucky, to Detroit, to Toronto. Like a school text, Karolyn Frost recites dry minutiae, dates, names, records, letters, articles. Her observations never flesh to life for me. I would use this as an educational reference if I had need for such.
Central are slaves Thornton Blackburn 19, and his new wife 28, Lucie sold and in danger of rape for her gracious beauty. Their illiteracy and lack of progeny forces others to tell their tale, provoked in 1985 by digs on their home site.
I searched for personality, skimming faster, looking in vain for emotion. Thorn did get arrested in his senior years 3 x for drunkenness. Perhaps an archaeologist or historian would be intrigued, not I. I recommend instead 'Rabbit-Proof Fence' book and movie for a heartfelt conversation with another abused race.
The Detroit riot and jailbreak in part one was the most exciting and legally precedent setting incident. Lucie escaped the day before in a visiting ladies costume, yet even the wounded Sheriff indicted her personally. Canadians wanted to deport only criminals. Nasty Yanks.
Examples abound of related events. Thorn probably held a bridge against Americans; brave negro troops are cited. A tidal wave of immigrants returned after abolition; civil war affected Canada too. Sharecropping replaced slavery and kept the southern status quo.
Blackburn's rental hack, the first in Toronto, inspired the red and yellow colors of TTC streetcars; city Historical Society discarded the faded taxi in 1960. The schoolboard expropriated the property of the couple after the wealthy well-connected landlord died in 1885. Lawyers took all the estate when Lucie passed in 1890.
Some facts raised questions. If the 1885 funeral of Dick Jackson, hairdresser to the stars, attracted crowds, why did he die young? Usually beauties were recorded in art, photograph, or admiring letters, why not Lucie? How about shorter stories, easily accessible to any age, about actions?

[Robert Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thornton and Ruthie (later “Lucie”) Blackburn, an enslaved couple in Kentucky, make a bold break for freedom on July 3, 1831. Their journey seemingly ends in Detroit, Michigan, but when slave catchers arrive two years later, they escape again - this time from a Detroit jail, with the aid of the city’s African American community. The Blackburns settle in Upper Canada (modern day Ontario), and soon, there are requests for their extradition - first from the Detroit mayor and later from the Michigan governor. These requests ignore the Blackburn’s fugitive slave status (a condition that the antislavery British government would surely not appreciate) and instead charge the Blackburns with “inciting civic unrest” and the attempted murder of Detroit’s sheriff - both references to actions resulting from the Blackburns’ arrest in Detroit. The request was denied - a decision that would shape Canada’s policy toward similar requests for the next thirty years. The Blackburns would ultimately settle in Toronto, where they established, owned and operated that city’s first taxi service.

It’s astounding to think that the Blackburns’ story had been essentially forgotten. They had no children, and as neither could read nor write, they left no written records. Then, in 1985 - nearly 100 years after Thornton and Lucie’s death - archaeologists began excavating the site of a former schoolyard and unearthed traces of the couple’s home. Karolyn Smardz Frost was the project director, and I’VE GOT A HOME IN GLORY LAND is the culmination of her twenty-plus years of research.

That research is impressive. As Frost explains in her introduction, she pored through many government records in the United States and Canada. She visited grave sites and county courthouses, and spoke with descendants of both enslaved people and slaveholders. The book’s bibliography is quite extensive (As an aside, I’ll note that I’m an archivist at the Archives of Michigan and that this is among the institutions where Frost conducted research. I do not recall meeting her, however, and while I later attended a lecture by her on this book - and she signed my copy - we did not exchange introductions.)

These extensive efforts notwithstanding, one can not uncover written firsthand narratives of illiterate subjects. As I read I’VE GOT A HOME IN GLORY LAND, I longed to “hear” the Blackburns’ voices and read their accounts of their experiences. Certainly, the two were very brave (Frost even presents evidence that Thornton returned to the Southern United States from Canada to rescue his mother from slavery, despite the obvious risk to himself!). They also must have possessed an entrepreneurial spirit, and their devotion to each other seems clear. Frost does quote a petition that a prison chaplain wrote on behalf of Thornton Blackburn while Blackburn was jailed in Canada, waiting for the decision on his and Lucie’s extradition, and this remarkable find does give us something close to Thornton’s own words. Yet, it’s ultimately only a glimpse into his personality, and in Lucie’s case, we have even less.

Readers might find some parts of the book more thrilling than others. For sheer thrills, it’s hard to beat Frost’s account of the Blackburns’ escape from slavery, which is genuinely gripping. Later accounts of the couple’s relatively quieter life in Toronto simply can’t compete in terms of suspense, and thus, the later chapters admittedly took me longer to read.

Of course, I’VE GOT A HOME IN GLORY LAND is a history book, not a novel, and as history, it’s frankly invaluable. The Blackburns fled from Kentucky, a slave state, to Michigan, a “free state” subject to federal fugitive slave laws, to Upper Canada, with its anti-slavery government. Frost divides her book into three parts, each corresponding to one of those three locations, and examines the culture and politics of each, particularly in regards to race relations and attitudes toward slavery. The slaveholding South is perhaps the most fascinating, as Frost explains, among other matters, how enslaved African Americans coped and survived under the system, methods utilized by Whites to maintain the system and the relationship of “free Blacks” to the other two populations. In contrast, there were few enslaved people in Detroit in 1831 (It was illegal to import new slaves, but extant slaveholding residents could keep existing ones.). In Frost’s words, however, free Blacks were “generally excluded from public education and services,” and laws known as “Black Codes” were passed to discourage African American settlement. Further, escapees from slavery still legally belonged to their owners, who might try to recover them. Upper Canada, meanwhile, tended to be much more welcoming to these escapees and generally valued the skills that they learned in slavery, as the province suffered from a labor shortage. While the Blackburns and some others of African descent achieved financial success in Toronto, however, racist attitudes existed here, as well, and Blacks generally lived apart from Whites.

Sixty years of history passed between the Blackburns’ 1831 escape and their deaths in the 1890s, and Frost addresses the political and social changes that occurred during that time. Many are quite fascinating, and developments include the passage of a stronger U.S. fugitive slave law in 1850 and, of course, the U.S. Civil War and its aftermath. I found it especially interesting how African Americans such as Frederick Douglas discouraged Blacks from emigrating to Canada, even when the stronger fugitive slave act made it potentially easy for even “free Blacks” to be captured and sold into slavery (Individuals such as Douglas argued that fleeing the country only hurt the political fight for abolition.). It was also, perhaps, surprising to learn of widespread support for the Confederacy in “progressive” Canada, and Frost provides a good description of African Americans and African Canadians alike experiencing greater discrimination as their communities grew and they fought inequality.

Speaking as an historian, then, I found this book an invaluable resource. I did wonder if more casual readers might find it a tad dry in places, as the human interest hook of the Blackburns’ life sometimes suffers from a lack of primary material. The author provides detailed and insightful context, however, and if you’re even somewhat interested in 19th Century American and Canadian history, then you’ll be glad to have read this.

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the history of the Underground Railroad told through the story of one couple whose lives were fairly well documented at the time. The author fills in the narrative with general information about the fugitive slave communities. I dropped it from a four star to a three star based on the writing. The author has the annoying habit of using twentieth century social work lingo to describe both people of the nineteenth and their "feelings". Somehow I doubt that the leaders of the fugitive slave community in 1833 were really concerned with "self-actualization". Her points were well taken, but she should have avoided the jargon.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! Why didn't I learn all this African American history in Jr/Sr High or College? Better late than never, as the saying goes. This Canadian author does a great job of researching the migration of fugitive slaves to Canada in the 19th century, and more. I especially liked the legal wrangling between Canada, as a British Colony, and the USA, especially after Britain outlaws slavery in 1804.

[Maryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a perfect complement to a trip taken with friends a couple of years ago to several spots on the Underground Railroad. The author featured the escape from Ohio and eventual re-settlement to Toronto of 2 married slaves. The historical and social context for their lives in the 1830s is richly and thoroughly described. And Frost's telling was all inspired by the discovery in Toronto under an inner city school of the home of these slaves. A true story to be appreciated.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have wanted to read this book for years and finally had occasion to do so. I had never heard of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, much less that their home was the site of an archaeological excavation in 1985 that uncovered so much about the history of the Underground Railroad in Canada. I have been reading more about the history of the transAtlantic slave trade in Canada, particularly Lower Canada (what's now Quebec), so this book was definitely of interest to me. The author, Karolyn Smardz Frost, is an archaeologist and historian. She clears up some of the complexities and nuances of fugitive slaves escaping from the United States to Canada.

I think it is hugely important that the author has shed light on mostly forgotten and not very well-known area of the history of the transAtlantic slave trade, particularly as it concerns Canada's role. However, I found most of her descriptions of Thornton and Lucie (Ruthy) Blackburn to be problematic. They were both of mixed race. She refers to them several times as attractive/handsome/beautiful and attributes this to their lighter/fair skin. This, no matter how well-intentioned, is describing them from the white gaze. By extension, she has assigned value to them on the basis of their lighter skin--something which is a highly sensitive matter within the black community.

Nonetheless, despite some of the problematic descriptions and inferences of how Thornton and Lucie "must have" been feeling, the author provides a thorough background of slavery in Kentucky as well as other areas of the United States in the 1800s, and goes into great depth when discussing the Blackburns and how they travelled to Detroit. She also discusses some of the reasons they did not go straight to Ontario (or Upper Canada as it was known pre-Confederation). She also discusses the conditions and perils that fugitive slaves faced, particularly because of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, and the events that led up to Thornton's arrest in 1833. The legal history of how Thornton prevailed and subsequently fled to Canada is a bit convoluted, but nonetheless a vital part of the Blackburn story--and, to add an important distinction, in spite of Kentucky slave catchers who made their way to Upper Canada during this period.

Thornton's history as a cab driver as well as the discrimination he faced are discussed. There is also an extensive discussion of the Civil War, as well as Canadians who were sympathetic to the Confederate cause and the tensions that abounded because of this. The black community's early days in Toronto are also discussed and provide useful information to those researching this aspect of the period.

[Kristine Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read. Meticulously researched and superbly written, Karolyn Smardz Frost provides an overview of the Underground Railroad, specifically the route from Kentucky and Ohio to Detroit and Windsor. Using the narrative of Lucie and Thornton Blackburn, freedom seekers who found a home and success in Toronto in 1833, she gives context to what was happening in Canada at the time. Even though there is much that is not known about the Blackburns—they did not read or write and they had no children to pass on their family history—the couple was at the center of what would be Detroit’s first racial riot and their trial was the first to test Canada’s 1832 Fugitive Offenders Act. It “would establish the legal precedents upon which all subsequent fugitive slave extradition cases would be tried.” The legal documentary trail uncovered by Frost makes up only a part of the books heft. Frost’s intimate knowledge of the archaeological dig at the Blackburn site on the corner of Eastern and Sumach and her 20-year research odyssey described in the introduction makes this an extremely thorough and readable history.

If you know any Toronto history, figures like John Graves Simcoe, Chief Justice John Beverley Robinson, Reverend John Strachan, Attorney General Robert Jameson, Sir John Colbourne and Francois Baby will be familiar. Frost places these well-known historical figures right into Lucie and Thornton Blackburn’s story and exposes their direct involvement in the issue of slavery in Upper Canada. For the most part, they find themselves on the right side of history. Take Upper Canada’s Chief Justice John Beverley Robinson. A son of a slave-owing Virginia Loyalist family, he drafted Upper Canada’s 1841 Fugitive Offenders Act that protected runaways who reached Canada from being summarily brought back to the states by slave catchers. “It is not overstating the case to say that the Underground Railroad could not have found its main terminus in Canada had it not been for the legal decisions made by John Beverley Robinson”.

This, of course, was predicated on Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe’s anti-slavery position and his 1793 “Act to prevent the further introduction of slaves and to limit the term of contract for servitude within this province”, the first in the British Empire to rule against slavery by four decades. Intriguingly, but for a chance occurrence this Act may not have been passed. Simcoe failed on his first try; most of Executive Council members were slave owners. However, when a slave woman named Chloe Cooley was observed being bound and gagged and forced into a boat to be sold to the south, they could not ignore this insult to Upper Canada’s sovereignty. The Act, considered a gradual abolition bill, was reluctantly passed on its second attempt.

Frost does a great job of describing what Toronto was like during this time. She describes the neighbourhoods where black families settled, the type of work they did, efforts of the anti-slavery protest movement and their events at St. Lawrence Hall, the efforts to create employment for fugitives, Emancipation Day celebrations, and the black community’s support for the Lincoln during the US Civil War.

Frost provides both a gripping tale of the Blackburns escape from slavery and a real sense of what being black was like in 19th century Toronto. This is one of the best history books I've read in a while.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book, the result of 20 years of historical research.

The author was director in 1985 of an archeological dig on the grounds of the Sackville Street School in downtown Toronto (now Inglenook High School, at Sackville and Eastern Ave), which revealed the remains of a small house, barn and garden.

She learned that the house had been built and owned by Thornton and Lucie Blackburn. Further study told her that they were former US slaves, who escaped from slavery in the 1830s to Canada, and died in the 1890s after living for several decades in Toronto, where they had established the city's first cab company and became prosperous and respected residents.

The Blackburns, though practically forgotten by the time of the 1985 dig, had been the centre of some dramatic events. After their escape from Louisville (Kentucky) to Detroit (to prevent Lucie's new owner from selling her to New Orleans -- likely to a brothel or other sexual slavery, as she was a beautiful light-skinned woman) they were captured and about to be returned in chains to their owners. But a riot in Detroit -- largely by blacks, but also by a number of white abolitionists -- resulted in them being rescued and taken across the river to Canada (to Sandwich -- now Windsor).

There they were not yet safe: their former owners, and Michigan officials, tried twice to get them extradited. Canadian, and British, legal responses to this and several other attempts to have escaped slaves extradited to the US, established some principles that still apply today: Canada won't extradite someone for breaking a law that is not a "capital crime" in Canada, or in a case where their punishment would be worse than they would get if breaking an equivalent law in Canada. So escaping from slavery was not an extraditable crime -- nor was inciting a riot or (in other cases) stealing a horse, if the eventual result of extradition would be to have them returned to slavery.

So the Blackburns came to Toronto, where among others they became friends of George Brown - an avid abolitionist, editor of the Globe (precursor to the Globe & Mail), and a founding father of Canadian confederation. He is buried near them at the Toronto Necropolis.

Frost has consulted many many primary sources in archives, as well as a very extensive bibliography of previously published studies, and has consulted with many authorities on the Underground Railroad and black history.

The book is not lively, and has a lot of detail -- ie a bit dry. But it's not annoyingly academic and certainly did keep me reading. Now I'm thinking I want to visit some of the Toronto sites mentioned!

[Steve's Book Stuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the true story of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, two slave who "steal themselves" from their masters in Kentucky and successfully make it to a new home in Toronto, Ontario.

In 1985 Karolyn Smardz Frost, Toronto historian and archaeologist became interested in the potential for an archaeological dig beneath the schoolyard of one of the oldest continually used school buildings in Toronto. In researching the site, she discovered that it had originally belonged to one Thornton Blackburn, who records noted was a "cabman, coloured". Partnering with the Ontario Black History Society she got permission to excavate the site, and thus began her 20 year project of researching the story of how the Blackburn's arrived in Toronto.

The result is this book. Amazingly, Frost had stumbled on the homesite of the escaped slave couple who's court case cemented Canada as the main terminus of the Underground Railroad.

Escaping from Kentucky in 1833, Thornton and Lucie first made their way to Detroit, in the free territory of Michigan, where an attempted kidnapping by slave catchers resulted in the "Blackburn Riot", causing the couple and several other escaped slaves to flee across the Detroit River to Upper Canada (now Ontario). Upper Canada, the first British territory to rule against slavery, had just recently passed the Fugitive Offenders Act, formalizing extradition rules to the US. Among it's provisions was a rule that escaped slaves would not be returned to America with few exceptions.

The Blackburns were pursued across the border by the slave catchers, and the resulting court case became established precedent, setting a very high bar for returning slaves to the US from Canada.

Thornton and Lucie achieved much success in Toronto, and, though Frost has to rely on newspaper clippings and legal records she is able to flesh out their story quite well (the Blackburns did not have children, leaving no descendants).

I read this book after completing Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Water Dancer, and doing some research on books about the Underground Railroad. Recommended.

[Alex Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very dry book about a couple's quest to travel from Kentucky to Toronto, Ontario (known as York back then) via the Underground Railroad.

In short, this is a safe skip.

Karolyn Frost's history book is far too wrapped up in descriptions, long paragraphs and weird little asides to be very readable. While it's true that a lot of history books deal with complex subjects or want to get as much of the research on the page as possible, this is a story that would have benefited from a deft hand weaving a better narrative.

The story follows Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, a pair of slaves who risk everything to make a daring daylight escape from their plantation to Detroit, and later to Canada itself. Along the way are a serious of treacherous situations, the pair being captured before mounting another brazen escape, a cast of supporting characters and a strong message about freedom and liberty.

The problem is that the book is so bogged down in descriptions and explanations that the story loses most of its punch. After a promising opening chapter that elaborates on the pair's first escape attempt, things settle into monotony and don't pick up much from there on out. I get the sense that the author was so in love with her research that she tried to cram as much of it in as possible, without making it accessible to the reader.

While I give credit to Frost for being the one who spearheaded the archaeological dig that found the remains of the Blackburn homestead more than 30 years ago, as of this writing, her tone comes across as a bit braggart at parts. She would do well to just let the material speak for itself in parts instead of trying to rationalize the attitudes and activities of certain characters.

I've Got a Home in Glory Land does have a few good chapters and some compelling information on what life was like in the 1800's, but the writing is lackluster enough that it's only worth a read if you're already invested in the subject matter. Otherwise, it's a pass.

[Jazzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only substantial complaint I have about "I've Got A Home In Glory Land" is also a primary credit to the book. The amount of historical detail and background about the time, locations, people and events is immense. Sometimes, the narrative gets bogged down as several details are related in almost an annotated manner. While this sometimes feels unnecessary as the narrative is halted to allow for the intrusion of historical fact and explanation, once a particular event is completely told it becomes evident how important the sidebars were in comprehending the impact of some acts/decisions/discussions/etc related therein.

My complaint is further explained by the truth that Ruthie/Lucie and Thornton Blackburn's stories are so engrossing that I often wanted to get the Hollywood treatment of the tale first, and go back for the historical details later. I wanted this to be more of a novel than a serious book of scholarship. I just wanted to know what was going to happen to the Blackburns next!

That is a credit not only to the scope of their stories and the manner in which they lived their lives, but also to Karolyn Frost's incredible talent as a researcher and author. The way in which the story is introduced, presented, paced, and closed makes reading this very enjoyable as well as heuristic.

You may come for the tale, but don't be put off by the historical fact.

[Rachel G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read many fictional books taking place around the time of the American Civil War, but no nonfiction (that I can remember, at least!) and none that centered around the Underground Railroad. While I occasionally got lost in the legal details or confused by the many people and names involved, I very much appreciated learning about Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, their escape from enslavement, and their hard-earned freedom.
•
Much of the book takes place in Canada, and I loved this quote: “Upper Canada, by accepting runaway slaves and by fostering its growing reputation as a safe haven for refugees, encouraged more fugitives to settle there. This did untold damage to American slaveholding interests. The myth of white superiority, on which American race slavery was based, was shaken to its foundations by the successful flight and even more by the productive lives fugitives built for themselves after their escape.” Well done, Canada.
•
I’ll end my review with one more quote: “What makes the Blackburns memorable - indeed, what makes the whole collective African American emigration called the Underground Railroad worthy of remembrance - is the implacable and unrelenting resistance of people of African heritage to slavery. The Blackburns were ordinary people who made choices that placed them, forever, among the extraordinary of history.”

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tells the incredible story of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn escaping slavery to find freedom. This expands from Kentucky to Detroit to later Canada. The book also delves into the history and other research relatable to the time period prior to the Civil War. The coolest part of this amazing true story was what happened in Michigan. The Blackburns were on the run for a few years when they were arrested in Detroit. Fortunately, many were against the Fugitive Slave law that would have returned them to slavery (for Lucie, it was worse... she would have ended up in sexual servitude for she was seen as highly valuable). Supporters band together to help them escape and I applaud the men and women who did the right thing. Even though many faced charges... I would say it would have been worth it.

This shows the strength of the human spirit and how freedom is worth the fight. It's sad that there are those in the 21st century who are still unhappy with the outcome of the Civil War, and people don't see each other as people. This piece of history should not be forgotten. The Blackburns were ordinary people who wanted what we all take for granted. This is why we have to remember these stories and lessons.

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nonpartisan history of the underground railroad in Canada. The author uses one families journey along the underground railroad to link what lead up to the creation of the railroad, what the journey would have been like and what happened after they reached the end.

This book is not myopic in scope. It details the context of what was happening around the world, and in each region the couple would have been travelling through. Everything does not happen in a vacuum and the author includes everything that would have directly influenced the couple.

It does destroy a few myths that Canadians like to tell themselves about the underground railroad. It also celebrates the accomplishments of the black canadian settlers.

A recommended read for those who wish to learn more about black canadian history.

[Anne London · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting details. I had never heard of Lucie and Thornton Blackburn and live ten minutes from either Louisville or Jeffersonville. I discovered things I didn't know about black history as well as early Louisville--as well as Detroit and Canada. Lots of dramatic moments but written in a non-fiction book format--it would make a great movie! Most fascinating factoid to me was in reference to a Luke P Blackburn (not a relative of Thornton, actually a former governor of KY).

One thing to note: the book is not as "long" as it seems as there are many, many pages at the end that site references.

[Virginia Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born into slavery in Kentucky, Thornton Blackburn managed to escape with is wife to Detroit. Seized by slave catchers they managed to escape again fleeing across the river into Canada in the confusion of what are still known in Detroit as the `Blackburn riots`. The US demanded their extradition, but the British government refused, saying they would not extradite anyone unless for a capital offense. This court decision is why Canada became the final destination for the underground railroad. Settled into Toronto Thornton set up the city`s first taxi company and died a respected citizen of Toronto. Well researched and written, this book provides a fascinating look at important piece of Canadian history.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, slaves from Kentucky who escape to Detroit and then to Toronto. The author takes what very little information is know about the Blackburns and weaves it into a compelling narrative along with other primary writings and sources from the time period. The best part was the description of the Blackburns’ escape from prison in Detroit. At times there was a lot of tangential information that bogged down the story, but overall this book was quite good. Shout out to my dad for recommending it.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through archeological and historical research the lives of Thorton and Lucie Blackburn have been revealed. They were born in Kentucky as slaves and later escaped. While in Detroit a riot occurred and they fled to Canada. It caused an international incident but finally all was resolved. The Blackburns started up a successful taxi business and the rest of their lives were involved in promoting freedom for other runaway slaves.

[Jacquie]

An extremely good read, sometimes with just too much names and who is related to whom. Also, in order to fill out some of the context, the author uses "could have been in attendance", or "possibly would have done this same sort of ..." Otherwise, tonnes of information and a very good detective story about slavery and its impacts -- both sides of the border.

[Charles Terpstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 1st detailed read on this subject, plus Michigan characters played a major role in the UGR. Learned a lot about slavery and its vices, but author seemed one-sided. No mention of owners who treated slaves well, and showed Christian faith and compassion to them. Still a worthwhile read about a difficult and often troubling history.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this 15-hour book for my book club. I recommend it to anyone wanting a thorough, well-researched, well-written account of the Blackburns lives from being slaves in KY in the 1830’s to Canadian freedom.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book cover gives the impression of a narrative, but is complete statement of historical fact. Lots of interesting information about the underground railroad and black life during this time. Meticulously researched

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The depth of research is astounding! Such determination.

[Shannan Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the Blackburns, and how they were able to escape slavery in the untied states. The book gives a lot of historical information and did a pretty good job with the story.