The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-06-06
THE REAL UNCLE TOM.
Was None Other Than Josiah Henson,
Maryland Slavc-iIis Remarkable Ca.
rccr- Masfcr,s Name Was st. Clair.


| rccr-Mastcrs Name Was st. Clair
| The death some time ago of Frederick
Douglass called to mind with vivid inter-
est many ante-bellum scenes and incidents,
and especially emphasizes points in regard
| to the colored race. Mr.. Douglas was
very remarkable man. A born slave, he
had no opportunity to acquire an educa-
| ton, and yet he became u good scholar,
vigorous Writer and one of the first orators
| of his day. But many people have said
that the "smartness" manifested in Doug
| lass came through the white blood that
| flowed In his veins, transmitted from his
| father, who was white man. such peo-
| ple are not willing to admit that there Is
any remarkable ability in the African race
To make their point good they have to
1 overlook the career of Toussaint L'Ouver-
ture, the great patriot of San Domingo,
who was pure African, and who was
born and reared slave, remaining such
| till he was fifty years old, and then devel-
oped powers of craftsmanship and mill
tary generalshp only second to that of
Hannibal, and to conquer whom the wits
and profoundest baseness of the great Ma
poleon were put to their severest test
| But 1t Is not necessary to so back as far
as I.'Ouverture to find n man of pure Af-
|
a career as that OF Douglass and who ex-
erted a remarkable influence upon his
race and the world at large. l refer to
Josiah Henson, who seems now to have
been well-nigh forgotten, but who had n
career rs striking and dramatic in many
ways as any man who ever lived
The story of Josiah Henson's life served
as the foundation for Mrs. Harriet
Beecher Stoves great story of Uncle
| Toms Cabin" Henson was born in Port
Tobacco, Nd. in 1881 When / called upon
him at his home In Dresden, Ont, in 1871,
he was 90 years old, but he was still vigor-
Gus and remembered all the events of his
remarkable life yividly. He lived four
years longer dying in 1881, at the age Of
"a.
Mr.. Henson had really great powers of
mind. He never faltered before difficulties
| and dscouragements, no matter how great
they appeared. When young he became u
preacher, and was to the end Of his life a
most eloquent and really able speaker and
lecturer. He took the slaves of his master,
when he was still young man, to n rela-
tive's in Kentucky, to prevent their pass
ing into the hands of creditors. There they
were hired out to the neighboring plant
ers to good advantage and the proceeds
sent to Maryland.
Henson himself worked for an easy-go-
ing master named st. Clair, which name
| actually appears In Mrs. Stoves novel, A
daughter Of this master read to him, es-
pecially out of the Bible. His arms were
badly crippled as was described in the
case of "Uncle Tom" by the blow Of a
brutal overseer when he was young. Fl
nally, when he had already paid $500 to-
ward his freedom. he-was suddenly taken
by his masters son to New Orleans to he
sold Before the sale was consummated
his young master was taken down with
the yellow fever. and had 1t not been for
"Srs" nursing he would have died. lie
subsequently accompanied his master back
to Kentucky.
This narrow escape from having been
torn from his family and being sold into
the Red River country. notwithstandinr
the fact that he had made so much of q
payment on his own freedom, set 81 tC
thinking In serious way In regard to es.
cape. He soon after left the Kentucky
plantation In the night, was pursued by
bloodhounds but he secreted himself ir
the swamps andtby means Of wading ir
the water with his two children on his
back and his wife by his side, he was able
to throw them off the track and finally
reached Cincinnati, where he had coloret
friends who sheltered him for time I'll
he was ready to resume his journey north
He mads his way clear across the state OF
Ohio on foot, carrying his children mos
of tho time on his back and travelling a
night, and through the forests till h,
reached the lake at Sandusky. Here
kind-heanted captain of a schooner con
veyed him to Canadn. He settled witt
his family at Colchester. Ont. but subse
quently moved to a tract Of land which hC
took up on the Sydenham river. where the
town of Dresden was afterward located.
He prospered as a farmer, and the 10
eating of Dresden made him wealthy /. H,
began to preach soon after his arriyN Il
Canada and his simple eloquence and piet,
made him an attractive speaker. At tn,