Rev. Henry Pahtahquahong Chase, 1881 (Plymouth Mechanics Institute)

The Plymouth Mechanics Institute, situated here at the corner of what used to be Princess Square and Westwell Street, provided access to education for the working men and women of the city for a small weekly fee. There was a library from which members could borrow books and materials, and a lecture theatre capable of seating 1200 people.

It was here in June 1881 that Mississauga Ojibwe preacher Rev. Henry Pahtahquahong Chase delivered a lecture at the meeting of the Colonial and Continental Church Society, having preached at St Andrew's Church the previous night. Born near Belleville, Ontario, in 1818, Chase honed his public speaking skills for decades as a minister and an interpreter. By the 1870s, he was working for the Anglican Church in what is now Ontario and had built churches and schools on three reserves near Muncey. Fundraising to maintain these projects brought Chase to Britain in 1876, 1881, and again in 1885.

Described by one reporter in the 1880s as “a dignified, wise and eloquent old man,” Chase had a commanding stage presence and was widely recognised as a gifted orator. In Plymouth, he spoke of his early life and how his father wished him to become "a hunter, a medicine man, and a warrior" but that he had become a "Christian man." As a result, he said, he had chosen not to "appear in paint and feathers" but instead in a suit. He also emphasized his nation's loyalty to the Crown, that they had "never fought with the English but they had fought for England," which garnered applause from the crowd. Finally, he turned to the successes of his missionary work, particularly the churches and schools he had established, before asking the audience for their support in continuing this work.

You can learn more about Chase's life and his experiences during his later 1885 visit to Britain by reading the letters he wrote to his daughter: http://www.huronresearch.ca/confrontingcolonialism/working-with-primary-sources/157-2/

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