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 title character from Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.[1] The Life of Josiah Henson, published in 1849, is Henson's first work but was dictated to Samuel A. Eliot, who was a former Boston Mayor known for his anti-slavery views. Although Henson was an accomplished orator, he had not yet learned to read and write.