Father Henson’s Story of His Own Life · Chapter
My First Great Trial explained
Josiah Henson recounts his early childhood with the kind Dr.
What happens
Josiah Henson recounts his early childhood with the kind Dr. McPherson, who gave him his name and treated him as a pet. After McPherson's death from drowning while intoxicated, the estate is broken up and the slaves are sold at auction. Henson's mother, Charlotte, desperately begs Isaac Riley to buy her youngest son along with her, but Riley violently kicks her away. Henson is sold to a cruel man named Robb, falls severely ill, and is eventually sold cheaply to Riley, reuniting him with his mother.
Themes in this chapter
Family Separation
The auction tears Josiah from his mother and siblings, and his mother's desperate plea to keep her youngest child is met with brutal violence.
Dehumanization and Identity
Josiah is given his name by his master, but is later treated as mere property, examined like livestock at auction, and sold for a small sum in horseshoeing.
Faith and Religion
Charlotte's deep piety and prayers, including teaching the Lord's Prayer, contrast with the brutality of slavery, and her cry 'Oh, Lord Jesus, how long' echoes her suffering.
Characters to notice
- Josiah Henson
Narrates his early childhood, including being named by Dr. McPherson, witnessing the auction, being sold to Robb, falling ill, and finally being reunited with his mother.
- Charlotte
Josiah's mother, a deeply religious woman who prays fervently, is sold to Isaac Riley, and desperately begs to keep her youngest son, only to be violently kicked away.
- Dr. Josiah McPherson
The kind master who gave Josiah his name, treated him as a pet, and was generally benevolent, but died from drowning while intoxicated.
- Isaac Riley
Purchases Charlotte at auction, violently kicks her when she begs him to buy her son, and later buys Josiah cheaply from Robb.
- Robb
A tavern keeper who buys Josiah at auction, treats him cruelly, and later sells him to Riley when Josiah falls ill.
Key passages
“She fell at his feet, and clung to his knees, entreating him in tones that a mother only could command, to buy her baby as well as herself, and spare to her one, at least, of her little ones.”
Charlotte dropped to her knees and grasped Isaac Riley's legs, begging him with a mother's desperate voice to purchase her youngest child along with her, so she could keep at least one of her children.
Illustrates the agony of family separation and the dehumanizing cruelty of the auction block.
“As she crawled away from the brutal man I heard her sob out, 'Oh, Lord Jesus, how long, how long shall I suffer this way!'”
As she dragged herself away from the violent man, I heard her weeping and crying out to Jesus, asking how much longer she would have to endure such pain.
Highlights the intersection of faith and suffering, a key theme in Henson's narrative.