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Having been owned by the same family for years, the cabin, along with the three-bedroom colonial house to which it is attached—is being sold. Historical associations are already campaigning to raise the funds to secure the building for future generations. The house and cabin in Rockville, Maryland, close to Washington, was owned by Hildegarde Mallet-Prevost, who died in September aged 100. Her son, Greg, said while her children would have liked to have kept the property, it did not suit their lifestyles. "The archaeologists come through here and just go nuts," he told the Washington Post. "They see the dirt floor in the cellar and it’s like they’re ready with their shovels." The cabin was once the home of Josiah Henson, whose 1849 autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson, formerly a slave, inspired Beecher Stowe. Born into slavery in 1789, he lived in the cabin after becoming superintendent of the farming operation on a plantation owned by Isaac Riley. He and his family eventually escaped to Canada where he later wrote his memoir, including a section which relates a journey Henson made to Kentucky, transporting 18 other slaves on behalf of Riley. On route, former slaves encouraged him to join them but he said he felt obliged to carry out his task for his owner. The phrase "Uncle Tom" has become an insult for African Americans accused of selling-out their race or seeking approval of the White community. In 2002, the singer Harry Belafonte, accused the then Secretary of State Colin Powell, of having become a "house slave." "In the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and were those slaves that lived in the house. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master," he said. The Rockville property is on the market for $990,000. — By arrangement with The Independent |
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