User:Celestet149/Josiah Henson

Josiah Henson underwent untold hardships and sufferings, mainly at the hands of his masters, in the days when he was a slave in the Southern States. On one occasion both his arms were broken and his back injured as a result of an encounter with his Bryce Litton and was nursed back to health by his master's sister.

In about 1829, the last of these, Amos Riley, agreed to give forty-year-old Josiah his freedom in exchange for $300. Josiah raised the money by preaching, only to find that his master had raised the fee to $1,000. Soon after, Henson learned that Riley planned to sell him, separating him from his wife and four children. When he found this out, Henson became determined to escape to Canada and freedom.

earning enough to allow him to send his oldest son Tom to school. As the youth learned to read, he passed his lessons on to his father. The now literate Josiah became a leader among the growing community of fugitive slaves in Ontario.

Josiah served as the spiritual leader and patriarch of the Dawn Settlement and made numerous fund-raising trips to the United States and Great Britain. He was the first former slave to be granted a personal audience with Queen Victoria—at London's Great Exhibition in 1851.

Her Majesty listened with great interest to his story and presented him with a gold watch as a memento of his visit. While in England Henson addressed many audiences and raised more money to help his colony in Canada.