Josiah Henson – The Real Uncle Tom and His Canadian Connection

Black slavery in the United States remains a smudge on that country’s history, polarizing and almost imploding the nation. After the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Slavery itself may have been officially eradicated, but that in no way meant there was any sense of equality. In fact, many might argue today that the struggle for equality continues.

Runaway Train

During the decades leading up to the bloodiest war ever experienced by America, a movement led by northern blacks, Quakers, various missionaries, and their supporters, developed a comprehensive network of guides and safe houses to assist slaves in escaping their brutal conditions. Known as the Underground Railroad, its storied history dates back to before the Founding Fathers united the colonies, but are most chronicled during its rescue work in the 19^th Century. It was not an actual railroad, nor used trains, but rather gained its moniker due to its use of railroad terminology as code when communicating among its network.

In essence, runaway slaves needed to escape to a haven wherein the state laws that treated slaves as chattel and granted white slave masters impunity in all dealings with their property, had no force. Many runaway slaves resettled in abolitionist northern states, while some made their way into Upper Canada, all with the logistical planning and integrated systems operated by the Underground Railroad.

Things heated up and became more dangerous for the Underground Railroad and its passengers (railroad terminology to describe runaway slaves) when the United States passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, allowing bounty hunters to cross state lines to pursue, capture, and return to owners, runaway slaves. That enactment made the Canadas the most preferred destination for runaway slaves, placing them out of harm’s way of their pursuers.

The Underground Railroad became almost entirely responsible for populating Upper and Lower Canada with a black presence in its day. Even now, family trees can trace ancestral roots to those who found their way north of the 49^th parallel to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

A Slave Like All the Others, Yet Unlike Any Other

Josiah Henson was born into slavery in Maryland on June 15, 1789, on a 3700 acre tobacco plantation and lived a typical slave existence just like the 10 million black indentured servants in America who did so before him.

As was the custom of the day, slave families were routinely split up and sold off by their controlling masters. Henson’s family would not escape this reality, but his mother begged slave master Isaac Riley who had just purchased her (by this time it was in the early 1790’s), to keep Josiah, the youngest child, with her. She must have been very convincing because Riley bought Henson from the successful auction bidder to whom Josiah was sold.

Unable to read or write, Josiah’s illiteracy would not stand in the way of his learning. He was a keen observer and listened intently as others spoke, regardless of the subject matter. As his knowledge base increased, so too did Josiah’s gift of oration. He exuded confidence and wisdom beyond his years, often quoting the Bible, which led to him becoming the de facto preacher among his fellow slaves on the Riley plantation.

While fellow slaves looked to Henson as their spiritual leader, Riley began to depend on Josiah with more tasks and duties. He started out carrying buckets of water to the field hands and weeding between the corn rows. As Josiah aged, he would faithfully serve his master by taking care of horses and eventually became another field hand, and then promoted to superintendent and overseer of the field slaves.

Through it all, Henson developed a sphere of influence he would later parlay into becoming Reverend Josiah Henson. For now, he was the go-to person on the plantation, a role in which he both relished and excelled. Riley would learn the value of his purchase of Josiah, as Henson was to become a most reliable slave, hardworking and loyal.

To some extent history looks upon Josiah Henson in an unfavorable light because of this loyalty. There is a documented case when Josiah was entrusted to transport fellow slaves down south from the Riley plantation in Maryland unescorted. There would have been ample opportunity for Henson and his cargo to escape, but true to his word, Josiah delivered the slaves to their intended destination, and returned, again unescorted, to Riley.

As slavery and slave masters go, Riley certainly wasn’t the cruelest to their property and would have been seen as fairly lenient by his contemporaries. With plantation slaves frequently interacting with their neighbors beholden to another master, it is inevitable comparisons were made and conclusions shared.

As William Still would document in his book, The Underground Railroad Records, published in 1872, many escaping slaves using the network recounted that they left families behind just so that one or a handful had a real opportunity for freedom. For they and their families, the sacrifices made and felt were the only hope for the future.

By now a family man, Henson’s loyalty to Riley in this particular instance may have had more to do with not wanting to leave his wife and children behind than any true sense of obligation to his master. Many slaves had no intention of escaping unless the entire family could make the perilous journey together. For these, they were willing to endure continued untold cruelties for the sake of remaining as a family unit. Given that the Hensons escaped together as a family, it would be more apt to conclude that this was the pivotal consideration for Josiah as he marshalled those slaves southward to an unknown future.

In 1824, slave master Riley fell on hard economic times, largely due to a protracted lawsuit with his brother-in-law and was on the verge of ruin. His only remaining assets were his slaves. Throughout his ownership of Josiah, Riley would often confide in him, but the tone this time was desperate, master shedding tears in front of the slave he reluctantly purchased.

With the sheriff about to seize the slaves to satisfy judgements, Riley had Josiah make him a solemn promise to take the 21 slaves to his brother’s farm in Kentucky. That journey would begin in February, 1825. True to his pledge, Josiah delivered himself and 21 slaves to the farm of Amos Riley in Daviess County, Kentucky, in mid-April.

By the spring of 1828, Isaac Riley sent word that he would not be relocating to Kentucky and had his brother Amos sell off all his slaves except Josiah and his family (Josiah, his wife, and two children).

During that year, Josiah’s gifts of oration and leadership were recognized by a Methodist minister who helped secure occasional leave from Amos Riley for Josiah to preach on a circuit, including in Cincinnati, where he could earn money to purchase freedom for he and his family.

By 1829, Josiah earned enough to purchase his freedom but the transaction would be imperiled due to Isaac Riley fraudulently altering the bill of sale, claiming more than a thousand dollars still owing on the transaction. In mid-1829, the Riley brothers conspired to sell Josiah while he was in New Orleans offloading farm crops from Amos’s barge. They were unsuccessful in their attempt, however, the seeds of distrust were sown and Josiah knew he and his family were to be not long together under the present circumstances.

Now back in Kentucky, Josiah devised a plan of escape, doing so with his family via The Underground Railroad in 1830, making his way eventually to Upper Canada.

Thriving North of the 49

Josiah Henson, his wife Charlotte, and his two young children arrived in Upper Canada (now Ontario) on October 28, 1830.

Finding work and shelter the next day from a man called Mr. Hibbard, Josiah’s labor work ethic and productivity would not go unnoticed, finding himself favored by his employer.

One of his Maryland acquaintances arrived in Upper Canada and would proudly tell the entire neighborhood of this preacher, Josiah Henson, something Henson himself did not pursue at this time. Before long though, Josiah found himself at the pulpit preaching the gospel to a congregation of blacks and whites.

He remained with Hibbard for three years, all the while improving his wealth and acquiring pigs, a horse, and a cow, changing jobs to work for Mr. Riseley, only a few miles away. It was here that thoughts of establishing a slave refuge and religious settlement became serious conversation. Josiah was stoked!

Those embryos of salvation would come to fruition with the founding of The Dawn Settlement, near present day Dresden, Ontario, becoming a prominent destination for escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad and offering a fresh start for those who suffered at the hands of entitled brutes.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Of those who read Henson’s first autobiography The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself, was Connecticut school teacher, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Already an active abolitionist, Beecher Stowe was so awestruck by what she read that she would base the title character of Uncle Tom almost entirely on the real life Josiah Henson, with the publishing of her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly in 1852 (the novel was originally published as a 45 part weekly newspaper serial beginning 1851).

An instant best seller, Uncle Tom’s Cabin catapulted Harriet Beecher Stowe to worldwide fame, and would sell more than 300,000 copies in the United States (despite being banned in much of the South) and over one million copies in Great Britain within its first year of release.  So profound were the sales numbers of Uncle Tom’s Cabin that it became the best-selling novel of the 19^th Century, and the second biggest selling book in that century, outdone only by the Bible.

It has been, and continues to be, argued that Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped propel America into its Civil War and sowed seeds of revolution worldwide. While considerable controversy surrounds such claims, there exists little doubt that the mass appeal that Uncle Tom’s Cabin engendered served to open the eyes of readers to the plight suffered by black slaves in America, and turned the court of public opinion against slavery.

Josiah Henson’s place in history was forever enshrined alongside that of Uncle Tom and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

After the Passing

Josiah Henson died peacefully at the Dawn Settlement on May 05, 1883, having lived to six weeks shy of his 94^th birthday.

By the time of his death, Henson had been influential as a religious leader, a community shepherd, and an early human rights advocate on both sides of the 49^th parallel. Few before or since have risen to the levels of piety and obeisance than that of Josiah Henson.

Canadians and Americans continue to learn more about the contributions of Josiah Henson. In more recent times, the Ontario Heritage Trust has preserved The Dawn Settlement as a tribute and testament to the significance of Henson. What started out as a museum in the 1940’s by a local farmer has evolved into an iconic visitor destination sitting on five of the original 200 acres of The Dawn Settlement.

In 1983, Canada Post issued its first stamp to feature a black man. It was a 32 cent stamp (then the cost to mail a regular letter within Canada) depicting Josiah Henson. See picture below.

In 1999, Josiah Henson was recognized by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada as a National Historic Person.

The original Riley home in Montgomery County, Maryland is now part of the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program. While the Riley home was never Josiah Henson’s living accommodations during his younger years, the site is being preserved and studied precisely because of its formidable and familial connection to Henson.

Links:

Fugitive Slave Act

The Life of Josiah Henson Autobiography 1849

Truth Stranger Than Fiction 1858

Uncle Tom's Story 1876

Ontario Heritage Trust Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Thank You:

A special Thank You to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for providing online access to its vast collection of archives, including those referencing Josiah Henson’s written works used in our research for this article.

Fry The Goddamn Niggers!!!

America, and by extension the western developed countries, seems to rollercoaster through phases of intolerance. Not so long ago, interned Japanese after the bombing of Pearl Harbor suffered at the hands of overzealous white Americans, and most recently, those who practice the Islamic faith readily share in measures aimed at marginalizing and criminalizing their behavior. The treatment of Aboriginals, Mexicans, Communists, and various religious sects were all meted out similar forms of persecution, as did many immigrants. Many continue to do so even in this so-called enlightened age.

Arguably none suffered more repression, injustice, and outright discrimination than those we now refer to as African Americans. And perhaps, no single period in United States history brought about significant mindful change than the Civil Rights Movement of the (largely) 1960’s. It would prove to be a collision of ideals and culture for which no amount of triage could have prepared a country enjoying one of its most prosperous eras in history.

A pivotal time was May, 1961 – 55 years ago. The Congress on Racial Equality (CORE), one of several groups in America dedicated to changing racially harmful practices and behaviors but mostly invisible to those outside such movements, set out to confirm the December, 1960 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Boynton v. Virginia which ruled that segregation in interstate transportation such as bus and rail lines was unconstitutional.

CORE knew what everybody else in the South knew – despite this ruling of the highest court in the land and the previous 1946 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia, there were no changes to how things were done in Dixie. If you were white, you were granted the privilege of eating your lunch at the counter. If you were white, your restrooms were clean. If you were white, you were greeted with respect and a smile. If the pigment of your skin was anything other than white, you would be treated with contempt, you would order your meal from the back door of the restaurant, and you may or may not have more than a bucket to use as a toilet.

The Kennedy administration occupied the White House, but was wholly disinterested in domestic affairs. For brothers Jack and Robert, Russia was their focus and they viewed all domestic issues as distractions to their foreign agenda. African and Latin American countries were demanding independence from their European colonial oppressors, and Russia was swooping in on opportunities to expand their own influence and markets. With a recently toppled Cuba sitting on her doorstep, America felt she was losing ground.

On May 04th, 1961, the first of the Freedom Rides left Washington, DC. Destination New Orleans, LA. Boarding two regularly scheduled passenger busses, one Greyhound and one Trailways, the seven black and six white members of CORE embarked on a journey that would take them through some of the most segregated and bigoted parts of the South.

Knowing their mere presence in a segregated bus station would likely spark outrage and hostility, The Freedom Riders received intensive training in non-violent civil disobedience so as not to provoke the prevailing white angst.

The first leg of the trip was surprisingly uneventful as the busses, ninety minutes apart, travelled through Georgia. By the time the Greyhound bus entered Alabama on May 14th, Mother’s Day, the welcoming tension and mood was thick with hatred. The FBI learned that both the Greyhound bus and the Trailways bus were going to be intercepted and attacked by members and sympathizers of the Ku Klux Klan. The FBI did nothing, under apparent instructions from J. Edgar Hoover himself.

In the rural community of Anniston, Alabama, the Greyhound bus was confronted by Whites hell bent on sending their message to the country that no Supreme Court ruling was going to interfere with a way of life enjoyed by their pedigree.

The Greyhound was rocked back and forth in an attempt to topple it onto its side. The coach suffered countless dents after being pounded by the angry screaming mob armed with baseball bats, metal bars, bricks, and just about anything that could cause damage to a bus or a person. Inside, passengers, Freedom Riders or not, were terrified, helpless, and trapped.

As the petrified bus driver attempted to drive off, tires were slashed. And it was perhaps this one single act that was to contribute to the horror to come more so than any other. Chased by carloads of KKK members and sympathizers, many still dressed in their Sunday finest after attending church, the bus would come to a halt after about six miles, unable to continue on shredded tires, on the shoulder of what was felt to be the loneliest spot in America.

Far from uninhabited, that very spot was in front of the Forsyth and Son grocery store. The driver exited and abandoned the bus, leaving his passengers at the peril of the mob. He calmly walked to the store to escape the ensuing melee.

Back at the bus, things went from bad to worse. Surrounded again by the riotous horde, now even more blood thirsty after hunting it down like a pack of wolves, the Greyhound endured more vandalism. A window at the rear of the bus was quickly smashed and in was tossed an improvised Molotov Cocktail. One of the KKK members was heard to yell “Fry the Goddamn Niggers” as the bus interior caught fire. Another ordered "Burn them alive". The only door to escape was pushed shut from the outside by a group of fellow agitators, condemning those aboard to a certain death.

Two State Troopers arrived on scene, neither of which intervened. The bus interior continued to blaze, filling the coach with putrid smoke. Breathable air was a precious commodity. Later, it was reported that one of the Troopers was to have said to the frenzied throng something to the effect of ‘OK boys, you’ve had your fun’ as if to largely condone and lightly condemn simultaneously.

A few hyper voices among the KKK could then be heard frantically warning Klansmen to move away because the fuel tanks were about to explode. Only then was the exit door released. Klansmen scattered for safety, and the bus occupants were able to flee the engulfed coach with their lives scarcely intact. A few short seconds later, the fuel tanks burst into flames, consuming all but the coach’s hull. Miraculously, nobody died.

Stark photos taken at the scene showing the Greyhound bus fully involved quickly made nationwide newspapers. The accompanying lead stories recounted the incredulous moment by moment details of passenger’s terror.

What of the Trailways bus?

Not to be outdone by their corollory Klansmen of Anniston, as the Trailways bus pulled into Birmingham, Alabama, it was met with the full onslaught of a more organized, more ruthless, and better armed Klan that was protected not only by the prevailing white culture of Dixie, but also that of the infamous outwardly bigoted lawman Theophilus Eugene Connor.

Ensuring his cops were nowhere to be found for fifteen minutes, by prior arrangement with Klan leadership, ‘Bull’Connor, as he was known, gave the green light to the Klan to ambush the Freedom Riders and occupants of the Trailways bus. Without mercy, passengers were pulverized. Again, miraculously, nobody died.

While the Trailways coach was not torched, the shared fate of the two busses served to underscore the deep resentment White Southerners as a whole had toward the Yankees of the North. ‘How dare they interfere with our way of life!’ could be heard their Rebel Yell.

Perhaps what was not counted on by the likes of the Klan and Bull Connor, was how these two pivotal dark events would begin in a real meaningful way to serve in turning public opinion and government action in favor of ensuring U.S. Supreme Court civil rights rulings were enforced in the South.

The Kennedys were forced to act, as was Hoover’s FBI. Neither was happy about having to do so. Some would argue even today at how the Kennedy’s response contributed to at least one of the assassinations of Camelot. Most could not shrug off the possibility.

Some sixty Freedom Rides would take place over the summer months of 1961 following the Mother’s Day ambushes, each one a testament to the courage and fortitude of those willing to fight for a just America. Thankfully, none so violent and reprehensible.

For CORE, organizing and conducting these acts of passive civil disobedience meant it found a previously unattainable seat at important discussions to further the equality of Black America, on par with the likes of Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the NAACP. And, certainly, doing so secured its rightful place in the history of furthering a Civil Rights Movement in America that continues to this day.