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The settlement at Buxton, advocated by Rev. William King, was meant to be a home for escaped and free blacks. However, Edwin Larwell, the local member of parliament, vehemently opposed King’s efforts. Larwell gained support from local citizens because of the perpetuation of myths about blacks being dirty, lazy, and uneducated.
Rev. King moved from Ireland to Louisiana as a young man and married into a family that owned slaves. As King could not free his slaves in Louisiana, he traveled to Canada. Once in Chatham-Kent he bought a large tract of land on which to start his settlement. His goal was to create a Utopian settlement where blacks and whites would be treated equally. The school that he established played a large role in this and was key to unifying both black and white settlers.