Josiah Henson In Uncle Tom's Cabin

Josiah Henson, philanthropist
Josiah Henson and his wife Nancy circa 1875. A former slave from the US, Henson helped to establish the British-American Institute, a vocational school and refuge for fugitive slaves (courtesy Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site).

Josiah Henson, spiritual leader, author, founder of the Black community settlement at Dawn, Canada West (born 15 June 1789 in Charles County, Maryland; died 5 May 1883 in Dresden, ON). Born enslaved, Henson escaped to Canada in 1830. He founded the Dawn Settlement near Dresden, Upper Canada, for American fugitives from enslavement. He and a group of associates organized a trade-labour school, the British-American Institute. He was active on the executive committee until the Institute closed in 1868. Henson served as Dawn's spiritual leader and patriarch and made numerous fundraising trips to the United States and England. He published his autobiography in 1849, and he was allegedly Harriet Beecher Stowe's model for the lead character in her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852).

Escape to Canada …show more content…
His owner, Isaac Riley, needed money, and sent Henson to escort a group of 18 enslaved persons to Kentucky. While in transit, the group could easily have escaped to Ohio and made themselves free, but Henson believed his owner's offer of manumission (ownership of himself). Consequently, he would not allow the escape and was later disappointed when he realized that his owner had no intention of giving him his freedom. He was taken, along with his wife and four children, to New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1829 to be sold. Henson and his family fled to Upper Canada, reaching the Niagara Peninsula on 28 October

Show More

Related Documents: Josiah Henson In Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stoowe Influence