A part of P.E.I’s Black history
A proud descendant of David and Keisha Shepard, I didn’t know the word racism when I was young, but I felt it
Motorists driving along a stretch of highway on the Seven Mile Road near the village of Cardigan are most likely unaware of the Black Island history connected to the area. Slavery existed on Prince Edward Island. Descendants of Black African slaves settled on a section of the Seven Mile Road the locals of the day referred to as Darkies Hollow.
David and Keisha (Wilson) Shepard were Black Islanders that settled in Darkies Hollow. They had a family of four daughters and a son, Benjamin. The daughters married and had large families that populated the area for several generations. Through Benjamin, the Shepard name continued for generations to the present.
I am a descendant of Benjamin Shepard, son of David and Keisha. I grew up with eight siblings in the area where my dad, my granddad and my African ancestors once lived. The Red Shepard families shared the same lineage as a Black Shepard. A Red Shepard had dark, reddish hair and a brown freckled complexion. I am now seldom asked if I am a Red Shepard or a Black Shepard but it happened often when I was younger.
My siblings and I discovered the remains of the homes of Black Island settlers in a forested area of Darkies Hollow. We trampled through the woods where our ancestors once lived without much thought about our African heritage. Darkies Hollow that was once vibrant with wildlife, trees, hills, brooks, streams and twisted pathways, has since been cleared for blueberry production.
David and Keisha were one of the first enslaved couples to arrive on Prince Edward Island in 1786. Their names were recorded in the historic Book of Negroes, a British naval ledger that lists the names of Black Loyalists who came to Canada during the American Revolutionary War between 1775-1783.
David had been enslaved to a Southern plantation owner, William Shepard. No doubt, David had been christened Shepard by the plantation owner, which was a common practice.
David and Keisha later became enslaved to General Edmund Fanning, a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War. Fanning fled to Nova Scotia after the war ended and became the second lieutenant-governor of St. John’s Island, later named Prince Edward Island. It is said, Fanning freed David and Keisha and granted the family property on the Seven Mile Road before he left for England.
David died a free man and was probably buried in an unmarked grave in Darkies Hollow. Keisha remarried a former slave, Samuel Martin, known as Black Sam. Together they started The Bog, a Black community of former slaves located in Charlottetown.
There is little documentation of the lives of Black Islanders except what was written by white historians based on court records. Black people were and continue to be victims of racial profiling and punished with greater consequences.
In the 1700 and 1800s, Black Islanders were victims of racial profiling documented in court hearings by the colonial elite. It was noted a Charlottetown Black man was hanged for stealing a loaf of bread and a pound of butter in 1814. Twelve days earlier his brother was also hanged for a petty crime.
This is reminiscent of what continues today with the over policing of Black citizens. For example, in Minnesota, George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by police for allegedly using a fake $20 bill. His death captured attention with thousands of protestors marching through North American streets, including Charlottetown.
The enslaved servants had to be ready to obey orders and commands day and night, seven days a week. And they lived with the threat of humiliating public lashings, or worse, a death sentence. Every aspect of their life was controlled and dictated by the slave owners. The greatest fear of the slaves had was having their children sold and families separated.
Through DNA testing, we have found that David and Keisha were descendants of the Bantu-speaking peoples of West/Central Africa, now the area of modern-day Cameroon.
David and Keisha were survivors of the slave trade. Their descendants became farmers, fishers, shipbuilders, skilled trades workers, service men and women, war veterans, RCMP and police officers, firefighters, gifted musicians, artists, writers, athletes, public servants, entrepreneurs, health-care workers and scholars. Our success is what the slaves dreamed about.
Brothers James, Lemuel and Robert Shepard struck gold in the Klondike during the gold rush era. The brothers donated two magnificent angel statues and an organ to All Saints Church, Cardigan. They shared their good fortune with family and friends. The brothers moved to Boston and became successful businessmen.
James Shepard and his sister, Hannah Dodge, donated six marble candlesticks and a crucifix of Italian marble to All Saints Church. The parish priest stated it was the most beautiful, most appropriate, and most valuable gift All Saints Church ever received.
As a child, I had no word for racism but I knew it was not nice to be call a Black Shepard by an adult in a condescending tone of voice. I am proud of my African heritage and speak of the ancestors with respect because of their determination in their journey to freedom. I recognize that I have privileges and choices David and Keisha and Island slaves were denied.
The colour has been washed out of some descendants of David and Keisha, including myself, over the generations but you cannot erase history. The DNA of my African ancestors flows fiercely through my veins.
Stella Shepard is a descendant of David and Keisha Shepard, one of the first enslaved couples brought to Prince Edward Island in the 1700s. Her work appears in anthologies, newspapers, and magazines and her novel, Ashes of My Dreams, published by the Acorn Press is an Atlantic best seller.