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Oro Township, Ontario
African Methodist Episcopal Church in Oro.
From 1828 to 1831, the Upper Canadian government granted land to Blacks in Oro, which included a group from Ohio seeking asylum. It is estimated that 460 blacks immigrated to Canada during this time.
By 1831, Benjamin Rolling Sr. had registered for a property in Oro Township at Lot 8, Concession 5, east half. They did not stay long in Oro, and continued their travels to King Township.
To learn about their time in King Township, click
here.
Cincinnati, Ohio
The Rolling family had moved to Ohio by 1822, the year their first daughter, Charlotte Rolling was born.
If the Rollings were slaves, they likely moved to Ohio because the state was a passageway to Upper Canada in the Underground Railway.
It is estimated that by 1815, more than 1,000 slaves had travelled to Upper Canada via the Ohio River. If the Rollings were free Blacks, Ohio
would have been attractive because it had fewer restrictions on free Blacks than Virginia. To learn more about their time in Ohio,
click
here.
Alexandria, Virginia
Benjamin Rolling Sr. was born in 1797 in Alexandria, Virginia. He married Almira, who was born in 1801 in the United States. It is not known if they were slaves or free Blacks, or why they left Virginia.
