Riley would not regret his decision, for Henson rose in his owners' esteem, and was eventually entrusted as the supervisor of his master's farm, located in Montgomery County, Maryland (in what is now North Bethesda).
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Born into slavery in Charles County, Maryland, he escaped to Ontario, Canada, in 1830, and founded a settlement and laborer's school for other fugitive slaves at Dawn, near Dresden in Kent County.
One of the Rileys' slaves, Josiah Henson, is thought by historians to be the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Jim Henson | Josiah Wedgwood | Josiah | Josiah Royce | Josiah Bartlet | Drew Henson | The Jim Henson Company | Josiah Clowes | Keith Henson | Josiah Willard Gibbs | Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood | Josiah Henson | Josiah Gilbert Holland | Leslie Henson | Josiah Meigs | Josiah Latimer Clark | Josiah Gorgas | Brian Henson | Josiah Wedgwood II | Josiah Quincy, Jr. | Josiah Parker | Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation | Josiah Gregg | Josiah Child | Jim Henson's Creature Shop | William Samuel Henson | Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly | Sammie Henson | Lou Henson | Lisa Henson |
The British-American Institute was a school started in 1842 by Josiah Henson near Dresden, Western District, Canada West, Province of Canada, as part of the Dawn Settlement, a community of fugitive slaves who had escaped to Canada.
He came to Upper Canada in 1852 to try to assist the British-American Institute of Science and Industry, a vocational school for black people, which was being managed by Josiah Henson, a former fugitive slave.
The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself is a slave narrative written by Josiah Henson, who would later become famous for being the basis of the character of Tom from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Henson worked on the plantation and his autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, was the model for Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Across the road is the burial ground for the Dawn Settlement and the British-American Institute, a school started by Josiah Henson.