High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! 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. The Life of Josiah Henson is his first work but was dictated to Samuel A. Eliot, who was a former Boston Mayor known for his anti-slavery views because although he was an accomplished orator, Henson had not yet learned to read and write. The narrative provides a detailed description of his life as a slave in the south.