Josiah Henson was born in 1789 on June 15th. He was born into slavery in Charle's County, Maryland. When he was a boy, his father was severly punished for disobeying his slave owner. He was bought by someone in Alabama. Young Josiah was soon separated from his mother and siblings when he was sold as property in a house sale. His new owner was Isaac Riley. In 1830, he escaped to Kent County, U. C., because he learned he was about to be sold to a new owner again. Being free in U. C., he became a Methodist preacher, and he founded a settlement and laborer school for fugative slaves. He also served in the Canadian army as a military officer. He happily married and had four children. Also in 1830, he and his family went into upper Canada. Ontario became a free place for slaves, meaning that he and his family were free,and had nothing to fear about being sold or separated, like his own family had been. By the time that Henson and his family had arrived in Ontario, many African-Americans, most of which were former slaves, had escaped and made home in Ontario. In him new home, Henson became a farmer, slowly moving to different spots with friends. By 1834, he had set up African- American settlement on land that he had rented. There, he was able to buy 200 acres of land through contacts and financial assisstance. Eventually he purchased an additional 200 acres for his families land, which was right next to his settlement. Josiah Henson was the first African-American person to be on a Canadian stamp. Henson died on May 5th, 1883, when he was 94 years old. In 1999, he was recognized as a National Historic Person by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. Henson accomplished many things in his lifetime, including escaping from slavery, having a family (in much danger because he wasn't in free land), escaping to free land, buying 400 acres total when at one point in his life he had had no money, and many other things. He is very brave and heroic, and we could all learn something from him.
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