[ENSLAVEMENT & ABOLITION]. CDV of Rev. Josiah Henson, the "Original 'Uncle Tom.'" Philadelphia, PA: E.H. Hart.

2 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. CDV on cardstock mount (toning, soiling, some edge wear to print and mount). Mount recto with imprint in lower margin, "The Original 'Uncle Tom.' [Rev. Josiah Henson]." Mount verso with photographer's imprint and biographical information about Henson.

Born into slavery in Maryland, Josiah Henson (1789-1883) was barely five when he was sold after his first master’s death, ending up eventually on the plantation of Isaac Riley, along with his mother. A convert to Christianity at 18, Henson acted as a lay Methodist preacher and saved up funds to purchase his freedom, but nothing was to come easy for him. Facing financial straits in 1825, Riley transferred Henson to his brother Amos in Kentucky, who according to Henson’s autobiography, accepted Henson’s saving as the price for freedom in 1829, but then reneged on the exchange. After finding that Riley was shipping him to New Orleans to be sold - a plan fortuitously delayed - Henson decided to escape. In 1830, he, his wife and four children crossed the Ohio River through Indiana and Ohio, via Buffalo, into freedom in Canada. There Henson established a settlement for self-liberated enslaved people called New Dawn in 1834 and became a prominent member of the Black community in Canada, becoming known internationally as an abolitionist and preacher. His 1849 autobiography and encounter with Harriet Beecher Stowe led to his becoming the model for Uncle Tom in the best-selling antislavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.