Henson, Reverend Josiah National Historic Person

Dresden, Ontario
[Josiah Henson] [graphic material] / [designed by] Tony Kew © Canada Post Corporation | Société des postes canadienne [1983]. Reproduced with Permission | Reproduit avec permission.
Josiah Henson, design by Tony Kew
© Canada Post Corporation | Société des postes canadienne [1983]. Reproduced with Permission | Reproduit avec permission.
Henson, Reverend Josiah © Parks Canada | Parcs Canada[Josiah Henson] [graphic material] / [designed by] Tony Kew © Canada Post Corporation | Société des postes canadienne [1983]. Reproduced with Permission | Reproduit avec permission.
Address : 29251 Uncle Tom's Road, Dresden, Ontario

Recognition Statute: Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date: 1995-11-24
Life Date: 1789 to 1883

Other Name(s):
  • Reverend Josiah Henson  (Designation Name)

Importance: Community leader, Underground Railroad conductor

Plaque(s)


Existing plaque:  29251 Uncle Tom's Road, Dresden, Ontario

After escaping to Upper Canada from slavery in Kentucky, the Reverend Josiah Henson became a conductor of the Underground Railroad and a force in the abolition movement. The founder of the Black settlement of Dawn, he was also an entrepreneur and established a school, the British-American Institute. His fame grew after Harriet Beecher Stowe stated that his memoirs published in 1849 had provided "conceptions and incidents" for her extraordinarily popular novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Henson's celebrity raised international awareness of Canada as a haven for refugees from slavery.