Tinsley operated a successful construction company.
Source: The Globe October 6, 1892
John Meriweather Tinsley was a free Black man from Virginia who came to Toronto in the 1840s.
Tinsley owned and operated a successful carpentry and construction business on Agnes Street, now Dundas Street, west of Teraulay, which is now Bay Street. It's located where Eaton Centre is today. He often employed newly arrived freedom seekers in his business. Tinsley built two attached houses for his family in the same area.
When he passed away in 1892, he was recognized as a prominent citizen of the city.