Thornton Blackburn (1812–1890) was a self-emancipated formerly enslaved man whose case established the principle that Canada would not return slaves to their masters in the United States and thus established Canada as a safe terminus for the Underground Railroad. Early life Blackburn was born in Playson County, Kentucky, and grew up in Washington, Kentucky, now part of Maysville, Kentucky. He was first sold at age three. At 14, he was taken to Hardinsburg, Kentucky. Three years later, Thornton was sent to Louisville, Kentucky, where he was hired out to work as a porter for a dry goods company. In Louisville, at the age of 19, he met his future wife Lucie, 28 years old at the time, who was enslaved as a nursemaid. Escape Thornton and Lucie escaped from Louisville to Michigan in 1831. They had been living there for two years when, in 1833, Kentucky slave hunters located, re-captured, and arrested the couple. The Blackburns were jailed but were allowed visitors, which provided the opportunity for Lucie to exchange her clothes and her incarceration with Mrs. George French. Lucie was then smuggled across the Detroit River to safety in Amherstburg, in Essex County, Upper Canada. Thornton's escape was more difficult because he was heavily guarded, bound and shackled. The day before Thornton was to be returned to Kentucky, Detroit's black community rose up in protest in the Blackburn Riots. A crowd of about 400 men stormed the jail to free him. During the commotion, two individuals called Sleepy Polly and Daddy Walker helped Thornton escape and eventually find safety in Essex County, Upper Canada. The commotion turned into a two-day riot during which the local sheriff was shot and fatally wounded. It was the first race riot in Detroit, resulting in the first Riot Commission to be formed in the United States. While the unrest in Detroit continued, Thornton's supporters procured a horse-cart and conveyed Thornton away from Detroit to the northeast. A posse had formed to pursue Thornton and caught up with the cart about one mile outside of Detroit. Thornton's pursuers then discovered that Thornton had disembarked from the cart shortly after it had arrived in the wilderness outside of Detroit. With help from his rescuers, Thornton was able to circle west and south of Detroit. He boarded a boat near the mouth of River Rouge and crossed the Detroit River into Essex County to join his