Chatham Manor the Custis slaves as executor after his in-laws' deaths. The plantation included an orchard, mill, and a race track where Fitzhugh's horses vied with those of other planters for prize money. Fizhugh named the mansion after the British parliamentarian William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who championed many of the opinions held by American colonists prior to the Revolutionary War. Flanking the main house were dozens of supporting structures: slave quarters, a dairy, ice house, barns, stables. Down on the river were fish traps. Fitzhugh sold the Chatham plantation to Major Churchill Jones, who had served under Col. William Washington
Chatham Coloured All-Stars Chatham Coloured All-Stars The 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars baseball team broke colour barriers as the first black team to win an Ontario Baseball Association title. The team included star players such as Wilfred "Boomer" Harding, Earl "Flat" Chase, Ferguson Jenkins, Sr (father of Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, Jr and other talented players. The team was formed in 1932 as a group of friends playing baseball in Stirling Park in the east end of Chatham, Ontario. The following year in 1933, the team was noticed by Archie Stirling, a local business owner and representative for the Ontario Baseball Amateur