The descendants of abolitionist Rev. Josiah Henson,who inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic American novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, gathered in Montgomery County recently, where their ancestor was once enslaved.
The reverend’s descendants gathered at the Josiah Henson Museum and Park named after their ancestor on the very property where he was once enslaved. Some traveled from Canada, some from various parts of the U.S. and others are still local to the Washington Metro area. They hold the annual reunion in different locations, but say this one — happening 175 years after the book was written — feels special.
During the reunion, a quilt was unveiled by Sew Creative Lounge, a Maryland-based quilting, knitting and sewing studio, showing a patchwork portrait of Henson made from monochrome small squares of fabric.
Henson was enslaved on the lot of land that sits along Old Georgetown Road in North Bethesda, before escaping to Canada and creating a community for free African American expats there, Dawn Settlement in Ontario.
After he escaped to Canada, Henson became a world-renowned speaker and abolitionist who led more than 100 people to freedom as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. What he may be most known for is being the inspiration for Stowe’s novel. But few may know that it was Henson’s autobiography that inspired Stowe to write the book.
Still, many are not taught about Henson they way they are taught about other abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, but his descendants are working to changing that.
“Uncle Tom” is a controversial term because Henson did work for a European-American as an escort of enslaved people from plantation to plantation prior to his work on the Underground Railroad. But those who know the full story of Henson, say his descendants, share that the real-life “Uncle Tom” has a legacy of leadership and perseverance as a man of faith and principle.
