“Uncle Tom” is based on a Marylander

Plantations in Charles and Montgomery Counties

March 20, 1852

Categories: African American, Arts, Civil War, Culture, Women
Tags: 1817 – 1860, Charles County, Montgomery County

Josiah Henson (1789-1883), having escaped enslavement, reaches Canada with his family and rejoices as a free man. Born in Port Tobacco, Henson has faced and survived the many cruelties of the enslavement system both in Maryland and Kentucky. Leading a free Black community called the Dawn Settlement, Henson learns to read and write and becomes a minister as well as a Canadian militia officer.

Henson publishes his autobiography in 1849 and is the model for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s (1811-1896) main character in her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. When the book is published in 1852, it becomes a best seller and one of the most popular anti-slavery stories before the Civil War.

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Josiah Henson Museum and Park

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