Josiah Henson

Josiah Henson
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Josiah Henson

Josiah Henson in 1877
Born June 15, 1789(1789-06-15)
Charles County, Maryland, United States
Died May 5, 1883 (aged 93)
Dresden, Ontario, Canada
Other names Uncle Tom
Occupation Author, abolitionist, minister
Religious beliefs Methodist
Spouse(s) Nancy Henson
Relatives Matthew Henson
Josiah Henson (June 15, 1789 – May 5, 1883) was an author, abolitionist, and minister. Born into slavery in Charles County, Maryland, he escaped to Ontario, Canada in 1830, and founded a settlement and laborer's school for other fugitive slaves at Dawn, near Dresden in Kent County. At the time of his arrival, Ontario was known as the Province of Upper Canada (U.C.), becoming the Province of Canada in 1841, then Ontario in 1867, all within Henson's lifetime there. Henson's autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself (1849), is widely believed to have inspired the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). Following the success of Stowe's novel, Henson issued an expanded version of his life story in 1858, Truth Stranger Than Fiction. Father Henson's Story of His Own Life (published Boston: John P. Jewett & Company, 1858). Interest in his life continued, and nearly two decades later, his life story was updated and published as Uncle Tom's Story of His Life: An Autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson (1876).

Contents [hide]
1 Early life and career
2 Works
3 Miscellaneous
4 Sites
4.1 The Henson Cabin—Maryland
4.2 Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site—Ontario
5 References
6 External links


[edit] Early life and career

Henson's Dawn Settlement near Dresden, Ontario, offered Blacks the chance to carve a life in a young province.Josiah Henson was born on a farm near Port Tobacco in Charles County, Maryland. When he was a boy, his father was punished for standing up to a slave owner, receiving one hundred lashes and having his right ear nailed to the whipping-post, and then cut off.[1] His father was later sold to someone in Alabama. Following his family's master's death, young Josiah was separated from his mother, brothers and sisters, when he was sold as property in an estate sale. After his mother pleaded with her new owner Isaac Riley, Riley agreed to buy back Henson so she could at least have her youngest child with her; on condition he would work in the fields. Riley would not regret his decision for Henson rose in his owners' esteem, and was eventually entrusted as the supervisor of his master's farm, located in Montgomery County, Maryland (in what is now North Bethesda). He tried to buy his freedom by giving his master $350 which he had saved up over the years, only to find that it had been increased to $1000. Cheated of his money, he escaped to Kent County, U.C., in 1830, after learning he might be sold again. There he founded a settlement and laborer's school for other fugitive slaves at Dawn, Canada West. Henson crossed into Upper Canada via the Niagara River, with his wife Nancy and their four children. Ontario had become a refuge for slaves from the United States after 1793, when Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe passed "An Act to prevent further introduction of Slaves, and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude within this Province". The legislation did not end slavery in the province, but it did prevent the importation of slaves, meaning that any U.S. slave who set foot in Ontario was free. By the time Henson arrived, others had already made Ontario home, including Black Loyalists from the American Revolution, and refugees from the War of 1812.

Henson first worked farms near Fort Erie, then Waterloo, moving with friends to Colchester by 1834 to set up a Black settlement on rented land. Through contacts and financial assistance there, he was able to purchase 200 acres (0.81 km2) in Dawn Township, in next-door Kent County, to realize his vision of a self-sufficient community. The Dawn Settlement eventually prospered, reaching a population of 500 at its height, and exporting black walnut lumber to the United States and Britain. Henson purchased an additional 200 acres (0.81 km2) next to the Settlement, where his family lived. Henson also became an active Methodist preacher, and spoke as an abolitionist on routes between Tennessee and Ontario. He also served in the Canadian army as a military officer, having led a Black militia unit in the Rebellion of 1837. Though many residents of the Dawn Settlement returned to the United States after slavery was abolished there, Henson and his wife continued to live in Dawn for the rest of their lives. Henson died at the age of 93 in Dresden, on May 5, 1883.

[edit] Works
The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself (1849)
Truth Stranger Than Fiction. Father Henson's Story of His Own Life (1858)
Uncle Tom's Story of His Life: An Autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson (1876)
[edit] Miscellaneous
Josiah Henson is the first black man to be featured on a Canadian stamp. He was also recognized by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada in 1999 as a National Historic Person. A federal plaque to him is located in the Henson family cemetery, next to Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site.

Matthew Henson, the Arctic explorer who accompanied Admiral Robert E. Peary on his expedition to the North Pole in 1909, is Josiah Henson's great-grand nephew. The state of Maryland named an undeveloped state park site in Montgomery County after Matthew Henson[2] in 1991.

[edit] Sites
[edit] The Henson Cabin—Maryland

The 'Josiah Henson' cabin in MarylandThe cabin in which Josiah Henson and other slaves were housed remains standing and is currently in a residential development in Montgomery County, Maryland. The cabin is attached to a modern three-bedroom home[3] at 11420 Old Georgetown Road in North Bethesda.[4] While the dirt floor had been replaced by a wooden floor, the original stone fireplace was still in the house.[5] After having remained in the hands of private owners for nearly two centuries, on January 6, 2006, the Montgomery Planning Board agreed to purchase the property and the acre of land on which it stands for $1,000,000.[4][6] The house was opened to the public for one weekend in 2006.[7][8] As of March 2009, the cabin has received an additional $50,000 from the Maryland state Board of Public Works for the planning and design phase of a multiyear restoration project.[9] An additional $100,000 may come from the Federal government that would go towards restoration and planning.[9] The site is planned to be opened permanently to the public in 2012, until then there are guided tours four times a year.[9]

[edit] Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site—Ontario
Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site
Location Dresden, Ontario, Canada
Type Ontario Heritage Trust
Website Official Website
Located near Dresden, Ontario, this cabin was home to Josiah Henson during much of his time in the area (1841 until his death in 1883). The cabin takes its name from the novel, and although it has been moved more than once, it remained on the original Dawn Settlement lands. Opened as a museum in the 1940s, it was moved to its present location in 1964, and restored to an 1850 appearance in 1993–94. The Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust.[10] The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.





A federal plaque marks Josiah Henson a National Historic Person
The Henson Family Cemetery
Modern gateway to a historic siteJosiah Henson's House (Uncle Tom's Cabin)

The site includes:

Outbuildings: a sawmill, smokehouse, and a pioneer church—including the pulpit from the original church from which Rev. J. Henson preached in Dresden
The Harris House—one of the oldest houses in the area, and one of several final stops on the Underground Railroad
The Henson Family Cemetery
The Josiah Henson Interpretive Center—A visitor center and museum with 19th Century books and artifacts related to abolition and Henson's life. The North Star Theater offers educational films.
The Underground Railroad Freedom Gallery—A geographic history, taking visitors on the path from Africa, through slavery in the United States, and on to freedom in British North America.
The historic site was first managed by individuals, then was purchased by Kent County in 1984, then transferred to the St. Clair Parkway Commission in 1992, before being finally being acquired by the Ontario Heritage Trust in 2005.

[edit] References
^ "Father Henson's Story of His Own Life". http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/henson58/henson58.html#henso4. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
^ "Matthew Henson State Park SP" (PDF). Montgomery County Department of Parks. http://mcparksandplanning.org/parks/park_maps/map_pages/matthewhensonsp/documents/MatthewHensonSP.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
^ Fischer, Mark (2005-12-13). "Unique Montgomery Property for Sale: Uncle Tom's Cabin". The Washington Post: p. B01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/12/AR2005121201387.html.
^ a b Lenhart, Jennifer (2006-06-15). "'Uncle Tom's Cabin' Will Open to Visitors". The Washington Post: p. DZ06. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/14/AR2006061400939.html.
^ Shaver, Katherine (2006-01-05). "County to Buy Ex-Slave Home". The Washington Post: p. B03. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010401916_pf.html.
^ Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Montgomery County Planning Board (2006-01-05). "Planning Board Approves Purchase of Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site" (PDF). Press release. http://www.mcparkandplanning.org/department/news_releases/news_release_pdf/uncle_toms_cabin_rev010506_opt.pdf.
^ Lenhart, Jennifer (2006-06-08). "Public to Glimpse 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'". The Washington Post: p. GZ03. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/07/AR2006060701336.html.
^ Lenhart, Jennifer (2006-06-25). "'Where We Were and Where We Have to Go'". The Washington Post: p. C06. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/24/AR2006062400932.html.
^ a b c Bradford Pearson, "Uncle Tom's Cabin could get government funds", The Olney Gazette, March 4, 2009
^ http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_7784_1.html Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site
[edit] External links
Uncle Tom's Story of His Life. An Autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson (Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom"). From 1789 to 1876. With a Preface by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, and an Introductory Note by George Sturge London: Christian Age Office, 1876.
The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself. Boston: A. D. Phelps, 1849.
Truth Stranger Than Fiction. Father Henson's Story of His Own Life. Boston: John P. Jewett, 1858.
Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Josiah Henson commemorative stamp
Digital History: Josiah Henson
Josiah Henson
Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site, near Dresden, Ontario
National Historic Person plaque, and cemetery photo near Dresden, Ontario
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Josiah Henson
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Henson"
Categories: 1789 births | 1883 deaths | American abolitionists | American slaves | Black Canadian writers | Canadian autobiographers | Canadian military personnel | Methodist ministers | People from Charles County, Maryland | People from Chatham-Kent, Ontario | Pre-Confederation Ontario people | Writers from Maryland
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