Hamil Harris had an interesting story in the Washington Post yesterday about Uncle Tom's Cabin, which the state of Maryland has purchased as a historical monument. Not only did the cabin really exist, Harriet Beecher Stowe's book was inspired by the autobiography of Josiah Henson, a slave who escaped to Canada and worked on the Underground Railroad:
Henson later returned to Maryland in hopes of buying his freedom, but Riley [his owner] refused to grant it. As a result, he returned to Kentucky to get his wife, and they escaped to Canada to freedom. Henson became a minister and founder of a Canadian settlement called Dawn.
In 1849, Henson wrote his autobiography. Stowe read it after they met in Massachusetts. Three years later she published "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
Marion Joyce, spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Planning Board, said that one of her favorite stories about Henson is about his return to Montgomery County after he had earned his freedom and Riley had died.
"When he knocked on the door, Mrs. Riley asked who it was, and he said Sy, which was his nickname, but she didn't believe him," said Joyce, adding that Riley's wife knew how to tell if it was really Henson because he had broken his arm protecting her husband in a fight.
Henson's arm was deformed, and Riley's wife asked to touch it.
"Sy, it is you. You are a gentleman now," the woman reportedly commented. Henson responded, "Mrs Riley, I always was a gentleman."