What is the significance of Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site celebrates the achievements of Rev. Josiah Henson. Henson was an international figure recognized for his contribution to the abolition movement. He was an important community leader, author, preacher and a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Through his leadership, the British American Institute was founded – one of Canada's first industrial schools. The community of Dawn developed around the Institute. “Father Henson” worked with energy and vision to improve life for the Black community in Upper Canada (now Ontario). In 1999, the Government of Canada erected a plaque beside his gravestone designating Henson as a National Historic Person. More info …
What can you see and do at Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site?
The museum offers self-guided and guided tours of the five-acre property. A typical tour is 1½ hours in length, beginning with a 25-minute video presentation in the North Star Theatre. The Underground Railroad Freedom Gallery contains exhibits and artifacts reflecting Josiah Henson’s life, and the Black experience in Canada. The grounds include a period church, sawmill, two cemeteries, an early pioneer structure and the original Henson dwelling. More info …
What is the Ontario Heritage Trust's role at Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site is owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust. The Trust assumed operation of the site in 2005.
What happened to Henson's first wife?
Henson’s first wife, Charlotte, died in 1852. Four years later, Josiah remarried. His bride was Nancy Gambril, a free widow from Boston.
Where did Josiah first settle in Canada?
Henson crossed into Upper Canada via the Niagara River in 1830, with his wife and four children. Henson first worked on a farm near Fort Erie, Ontario. By 1834, he had moved with friends to Colchester, where they settled on government tracts of land. Through various contacts and with financial assistance from supporters in New York State, land was purchased to build the British American Institute near present-day Dresden, where Henson and his family finally settled in 1842.
How can I help support Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site?
The Ontario Heritage Trust works closely with donors and volunteers to support important heritage sites such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site. If you would like to support the site by donating or volunteering, please contact site manager Steven Cook at 519-683-2978. To support other heritage projects, contact the Trust.
How many editions of Henson's autobiography were published?
Henson's first published autobiography was entitled The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself (1849). Following the success of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Henson issued an expanded version of his life story in 1858 called Truth Stranger Than Fiction: Father Henson's Story of His Own Life (published Boston: John P. Jewett & Company, 1858). Interest in his life continued and nearly two decades later, his life story was updated and published as Uncle Tom’s Story of His Life: An Autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson. Buy one of these books today …
Why is there another Uncle Tom's Cabin in the United States?
The Josiah Henson Site is a cultural history park located in North Bethesda, Maryland. The park contains a historic house and a small portion of a former large, slave-holding plantation owned by Isaac Riley. Josiah Henson had been enslaved on Riley’s plantation from 1805 to 1825. The existing frame building, possibly dating to the late 18th century, was the home of Isaac Riley. The log wing was used as a kitchen in the early 20th century. Although Henson did not live in this house or the attached log extension, he was superintendent of the property. As such, he would likely have been inside conducting the business of the plantation.