The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-08-11
From the Zanesville Courier.I
Mrs. Stoves Uncle Tom still Living


The facts upon which the story %
! Uncle Toms Cabin was founded, aT,
I given 20 the public in 4 late number
I of the y. Y. Tribune. Lewis Clarke
an oetOOOn, residing near Windsor
I Canada, and a successful agricuIhTist
; - the George Harris Of Uncle Tom.
Z Cabin, aid the man from whom Mrs
I Stowe gatl leTed the facts and particu
lars on which that remaFkable story
that has wielded such an influence
I upon our affairs, was founded.
Uncle Tom was a compound of two
I persons, Josiah Henson and Samuel
Peter. The former furnished the re-
ligiOHs clement of Uncle Toms char
acter and the latter his tragical end.
Peter, expiring from the effects Of a
whipping for a slight cause, sent the
/ following message tD his MASTER
''Ten massa he has killed me at last
for nothing; but if God will forgive
him / will" These are the expiring
words OF. Uncle Tom, as recorded by
| Mrs. Stowe, but Henson, who furnish
ell the religious and living element Of
the mythical Uncle Tom, is not in
Heaven but in Canada. He is still
preaching as a Methodist at Dawn, a
settlement in Canada built up by ftlg-
itives from the benign institutions of
slavery, and IS nearly Zoe years of age,
but few weeks since was reported
well and rugged.
Mr.. Clarke was for a time, after his
escape from servitude resident of
Oberlin, where he lived, as labOrer.
with John M. Eels, President of the
Young Mems Ahti-Slavery Society.
He was taught to read by Mrs. Eels,
and besides performing the faats told
Of him in the Cabin; he madethe first
spec Fersmade in the United States
by dTuna@ay slave pleading fer his
enslaved iellOw-men. This was i'm
1872 at Oberlin, and antedates Freder-
lex Douglass, as well as in copyright
ing book giving the story of his cap
flYitY. This was the first book ever
copyrighted by y slave,
BOr ten years after this he was en-
gagged in delivering anti-slavery adj
dresses in New England, and in 1917,
in Boston, he had the honor of being
the first slave that ever met a slave
holder in open debate and on an equal
footing. His opponent, at that time,
was w. w. Bryan of Lexington, KY,
who ObiectedtQ tho address Of the BOs-
ton Convention Of Northern and East
ern AbOlitionists to the people of the
United States. The Convention court
eously asked him to state his Objec-
tions and when he had concluded, it
called for, Clarke, n''Clarke." i" He took
the stand and all aglow with inspira-
ton, his tongue would scarcely serve
his thoughts. Mr.. Bryan attempted
a rejOinder, but failed to secure the at
tention Of the audience. The papers
Of the day awarded the glory of the
contest to the slave, Mr.. Clarke.
UptO the extinction of slavery his
house was the home of the fugitive.
He generally had 50 many that he
plOspered but slightly i'm pecuniary
matters. Since, he is doing better
and is now ipicking up"
The following contribution TO the
history of the john Brown raid is al
so made by Mr.. Clarke;
Several years ago the Hon. Gerritt
Smith gave to oolOFed and other set
tiers hundreds of farms, of from 40 to
$50 acres each, in Essex County, New
York. George Harris declares that
the purpose of this act, never before
made public, was to settle colony
there to drill in military tactics, in
order in due time to take part in a
scheme of which the raid at Harper's
Ferry was an imperfect Illustration.
The Immediate neighbOrhOOd of the
friendly soil of Canada, it was believed
would afford opportunity for rapid exit |
from tho authority of the United
States, in case the American eagle
should chance to fix jealous eye up
on the enterprise. John Brown was
Il participant in the councils OF this
colony. But tiIe scheme failed on ac-
count of the cold climate, which made |
it impossible for the negro, accustomed
10 the balmy airs of the South, to
live there When, in after years, John
Brown held council of war in Can
ada, and there decided upon the at
tack at Harper's Ferry, Mr.. Clarke
was present, opposed the plan, as he
did not think it WAS likely to succeed,
and declined to take part in it.