The story of the real Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom". Published in 1849, provides a detailed description of the Henson's life as a slave in the south. This slave narrative is Henson's first work but was dictated to Samuel A. Eliot-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. After the publication was released in 1849 it received little public attention until Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, , was published in 1852. Soon after it became widely believed, and Stowe confirmed the connection, that Hensen's book and life experience was a major source of her work.