Wilson Ruffin Abbott (1801 – 1876) was an American-born Black Canadian and successful businessman and landowner in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario. He was the father of Anderson Ruffin Abbott, Canada's first Black physician.

Biography

Born to a Scotch-Irish father and a free West African mother in Richmond, Virginia, Wilson Ruffin Abbott left home when he was aged 15 to work as a steward on a

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

steamer. He married Ellen Toyer, and moved to Mobile, Alabama, where he opened a general grocery store, but left in 1834 after receiving a warning that his store was to be pillaged. In late 1835 or early 1836, he moved to Toronto,

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

, where he prospered as a businessman. He served in the militia that protected Toronto from the rebels in the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion and was elected to Toronto city council in 1840. His son Anderson Ruffin Abbott in 1861 became the first African Canadian to practise medicine.Thomas, Owen
"Abbott, Anderson Ruffin"
''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''.

Death

Wilson Ruffin Abbott died at age 75 in Toronto.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Wilson Ruffin 1801 births 1876 deaths American emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario American people of Scotch-Irish descent Businesspeople from Richmond, Virginia Businesspeople from Toronto Politicians from Richmond, Virginia Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent People from Old Toronto Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople Toronto city councillors Immigrants to Upper Canada Black Canadian businesspeople Black Canadian politicians Upper Canada Rebellion people 19th-century American businesspeople Burials at Toronto Necropolis