Oakville Black History

Lorenzo Wayner and Martha Johnson — whose work kept the Turner Chapel debt-free through the Great Depression — and the Wayner family’s legacy of service in Oakville.

Lorenzo and Martha Wayner — a garbage collector turned Turner Chapel pastor — helped keep Oakville’s Black church alive through the Great Depression.

Olympic boxer Gene ‘Clay’ Bonner and performer Minerva Bonner brought African American excellence to Oakville from Montreal, shaping the community into the 1970s.

The Duncan Family — Oakville’s only family tracing directly to the Underground Railroad — their six children and their lasting contribution to the community.

John C. Holland, Bishop James Albert Johnson, and Sgt. Henry Thomas Shepherd: Oakville-rooted African Americans whose influence reached Hamilton and beyond.

Built in 1891, Turner AME Church served Oakville and Bronte’s Black community for nearly a century. It still stands at 37 Lakeshore Road West.

The Nathaniel Dett Chorale honours composer Nathaniel Dett (b. Drummondville, 1882) — Howard-awarded, performing at Carnegie Hall and before U.S. presidents.

The Turner Chapel community — Samuel Adams, the Butler and Duncan families — and their lasting influence on Oakville through the American Civil War and beyond.

Samuel Adams and Rev. William Butler — Bronte’s blacksmith and church leader — whose work led to the Turner African Methodist Episcopal Church in Oakville.

Early African American residents of Oakville — Benedict Duncan, Christopher Columbus Lee, William Strothers and John Wesley Wallace — and their role in the community.