1 A gentle breeze swept the Canadian plains as I stepped outside the small two-story house。 Alongside me was a slender woman in a black dress， my guide back to a time when the surrounding settlement in Dresden， Ontario， was home to a hero in American history。 As we walked toward a plain gray church， Barbara Carter spoke proudly of her great-great-grandfather， Josiah Henson。 "He was confident that the Creator intended all men to be created equal。 And he never gave up struggling for that freedom。"

Carter's devotion to her ancestor is about more than personal pride： it is about family honor。 For Josiah Henson has lived on through the character in American fiction that he helped inspire： Uncle Tom， the long-suffering slave in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin。 Ironically， that character has come to symbolize everything Henson was not。 A racial sellout unwilling to stand up for himself？ Carter gets angry at the thought。 "Josiah Henson was a man of principle，" she said firmly。

Patience with family is love, Patience with others is respect, Patience with self is confidence.