Today, the land is the location of government buildings, a pond, a parking lot and a public park.
More than 200 years ago, it was home to a small, racially mixed community known as The Bog.
Small houses stood on wet, muddy land. Some were raised on stilts because of frequent flooding. Narrow roads ran through the area, and small shops served the people who lived there. Nearby, a pond stretched across what is now a parking lot.
That was the scene, tour guide Eboshogwe Igwoba asked visitors to envision before leading the small group through the area.
“Remove the big brick buildings from your mind,” she said.
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| A pond sits next to a provincial government office building and parking lot in Charlottetown. Tour guide Eboshogwe Igwoba said the pond was once much larger and covered the area where the parking lot now sits. Photo by Vivian Ulinwa /The Guardian |
Divided societies
The Bog was a community where formerly enslaved people built homes and businesses.
The 11 a.m. tour started at Beaconsfield Historic House. Built in 1877, it was once considered one of the most expensive and modern homes in Charlottetown. It had gas lighting and indoor plumbing at a time when many homes in the city did not.
But across from the stately manor was The Bog.
Igwoba led the group from Beaconsfield toward Government House, stopping along the way to show old photographs and sketches of the people and places connected to the community.
The tour traces some of the earliest Black history on P.E.I., including the history of slavery on the Island.
Enslaved Islanders
At Government House, Igwoba told the story of Susanna Torriano, a woman of mixed heritage who came to the Island with its first colonial governor, Walter Patterson. Torriano was described in historical records as Patterson’s enslaved mistress and became the first woman on the Island to receive land, according to Igwoba.
The tour also tells the story of David and Kesiah (Wilson) Sheppard, an enslaved couple brought to the Island by Patterson’s successor, Gov. Edmund Fanning.
Stella Shepard's ancestors lived as slaves at Government House in Charlottetown, having been brought to P.E.I. by the island's second governor, Edmund Fanning in the 1780s.
After Fanning returned to England, the couple became free. David lived in the Cardigan area, while Kesiah later lived in Charlottetown.
Igwoba said a few people who came for a previous tour discovered family ties with the Sheppards.
As the tour moved toward Government Pond, Igwoba held up an old photograph showing people gathered on the frozen water.
In the 1800s, the pond was much larger than it is today. It stretched through the area now used as a parking lot and froze during the winter, becoming a place for children and other residents to skate and play.
It was also where the West End Rangers, a Black hockey team from the community, practised.
The team had only seven players, Igwoba said, but was known for beating opponents by double-digit scores.
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| A historic photo shows people on the frozen pond where residents of The Bog gathered to skate and play hockey. The West End Rangers, a Black hockey team from the community, also practiced on the ice. Photo by Vivian Ulinwa /The Guardian |
The community also produced two boxers, including George Godfrey, who later moved to Boston and became a prominent heavyweight boxer. Godfrey trained another boxer from the community, George “Bud” Bias, whose nickname, according to the tour, came from the belief that no one could budge him.
The later part of the tour focused on crime, court and criminal records. One of those records tells the story of Andrew Joe.
Joe was an enslaved sailor who arrived in Charlottetown on ships travelling from the Caribbean. During earlier visits, he had made friends with people living in The Bog.
In May 1825, Joe escaped from his ship and disappeared into the community. His enslaver searched for him and had an arrest warrant issued, but Joe was not found before the ship left.
Months later, the ship returned.
By then, Joe was walking openly through Charlottetown.
He was arrested, but lawyer James Palmer took up his case and argued that Joe had not abandoned the ship, the ship had abandoned him.
The argument succeeded, and Joe became a free man.
Igwoba said little is known about what happened to him afterward, but it is believed he may have spent the rest of his life in The Bog.
The Bog’s beginnings
Near the pond, the tour turned to the man credited with founding the community.
Samuel Martin was born into slavery around 1750 and did not become free until he was about 62 years old.
After gaining his freedom in 1812, Martin repeatedly sought land from the government to build a home but was denied, Igwoba said.
He eventually turned to an area others did not want. The land was wet, muddy and regularly flooded by nearby water. Martin built his home there anyway.
When other formerly enslaved people saw that he was able to remain on the land, they began building homes there too.
And that was how The Bog started.
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| A memorial stands in recognition of the students and teachers of West Kent School in Charlottetown. The school was built near the Bog School and later accepted some students from The Bog after their community school closed. Photo by Vivian Ulinwa /The Guardian |
Life and death
The tour continued to Rochford Square, which was once an important gathering place for people living in The Bog.
An old image held up by Igwoba showed a water pump in the middle of the square. Residents came there to collect water. Young men and women would put on their best clothes and gather there to meet one another. If a match worked out, Igwoba said, the couple might later marry at nearby St. Paul’s Church.
But the area was also the site of one of the darker stories told on the tour.
In 1878, 14-year-old George Kelly was playing with a friend when two men travelling in a carriage accused him of throwing stones at them. One of the men shot him.
Despite witnesses to the shooting, the men were found not guilty.
The Bog School
The Bog School, built in 1848, was a small building that served children in the community and other low-income families in Charlottetown. It was taught by one teacher, Sarah Harvey.
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Tour guide Eboshogwe Igwoba shows a historic photo of the Bog School during a walking tour of The Bog in Charlottetown. The small school, built in 1848, served children from the community and other low-income families in the city Photo by Vivian Ulinwa /The Guardian |
Harvey is believed to have taught about 2,000 students during that time. The school eventually closed when she became sick with no one to take over.
By the early 1900s, The Bog itself had largely disappeared.
Igwoba said residents were not forced from the area. Many left Charlottetown in search of work, moving to other parts of Canada and to Boston.
The community had lasted for roughly a century.
If you go
The guided tour of The Bog is given by the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation and begin at Beaconsfield Historic House.
It is funded through the P.E.I. government’s anti-racism grant program in partnership with the Black Cultural Society of P.E.I.
Tours are free and offered at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday-Saturday and at 12 noon on Sunday.
For further information, call 902-368-6600.
Vivian Ulinwa is a reporter for The Guardian in Prince Edward Island. She can be reached at vulinwa@postmedia.com and followed on X @vivian_ulinwa.
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