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Born in 1837 in Toronto, Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott holds the title of the first Canadian-born black doctor.

The son of wealthy black landowner Wilson Ruffin Abbott, Abbott attended a number of prestigious public and private schools including Ohio's Oberlin College. Not yet twenty, Abbott enrolled at the University of Toronto pursuing Medicine, and at the same time studied under noted black doctor, Alexander Thomas Augusta. Abbott obtained his Bachelor of Medicine in 1857 from the University of Toronto and only three years later obtained a license to practice Medicine from the Medical Board of Upper Canada. In 1863, Abbott was appointed one of just eight black doctors to serve in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Abbott was one of precious few to stand vigil at the bedside of the dying President Abraham Lincoln. He was later honoured by Mary Todd Lincoln, former wife of the President, with the presentation of a shawl once worn by the President.

Returning back to his homeland in 1866, Abbott opened up medical practices in several Ontario cities including Chatham, Dundas and Toronto. Beyond his medical duties, Abbott took on a number of diverse ventures. These included acting as President of the Wilberforce Educational Institute and President of the Chatham Literary and Debating Society and the Chatham Medical Society.

Abbott was also a prolific writer who penned articles for magazines including Boston's Colored American Magazine, London's the Anglo-American Magazine and New York's, the New York Age. Among his subjects of interest were the Civil War, biology, medicine, and black history.

Anderson Abbott passed away in 1913 and is buried at Toronto's Necropolis Cemetery. Today he is recognized as one of the most important black figures in the history of Toronto. His life is commemorated by an Ontario Heritage Trust plaque in Chatham-Kent, Ontario.

Research by Maya Bilbao