Upon his return to the plantation, Henson hatched a plan to escape to Canada with his wife, Charlotte, and four sons. He traveled 600 miles\u2014with the youngest two in a knapsack on his shattered shoulders\u2014several years before the Underground Railroad was even established.<\/p>\n
Henson\u2019s family joined a freeman settlement called Dawn, (now the site of Dresden, Ontario), near the location of a long-running series of riverside Christian camp meetings. But rather than settle into life as a free man, Henson returned to America again and again and rescued 118 slaves as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.<\/p>\n
As part of his fight for the freedom of others, Henson spoke and traveled extensively in an effort to raise funds and attention for the abolitionist cause and the work at Dawn. He traveled to the first World\u2019s Fair at the Crystal Palace in London, where he won a bronze medal for the community\u2019s high-quality black walnut lumber.<\/p>\n
Through his new British Christian friends, he was given an audience with the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace. Henson\u2019s handlers told him to expect no more than 15 minutes with the second-highest-ranking man in the empire. After more than half an hour, the Archbishop asked, \u201cAt what university, sir, did you graduate?\u201d Henson\u2019s answer? \u201cI graduated, your grace, at the university of adversity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n He was born into slavery. He became a Methodist minister. He inspired “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” He met the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Queen of England wrote about him in her diary. He was an Underground Railroad conductor.<\/p>\n Meet Josiah Henson https:\/\/t.co\/Jv4rFSlT4E<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) June 11, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n