Henry Walton Bibb (1815-1854) was born in Shelby County, Kentucky to a slave mother and Kentucky state senator, James Bibb. Henry Bibb's master, David White, hired young Henry out to several neighboring plantations, where he often was treated inhumanely. Bibb's brothers and sisters were sold away from the White plantation during this time. As an adult, Bibb was traded frequently, and he lived in at least seven southern states. After trying to escape several times, he finally reached Canada in 1837. However, he returned to Kentucky a year later for his wife and child and was recaptured. His many later attempts to escape from slavery with his family were unsuccessful, and they were permanently separated in 1840. Bibb's final experience in slavery was with a humane Cherokee owner in the "Indian Territory" of Kansas or Oklahoma. On the night of his owner's death, Bibb made a final, successful escape through Missouri and Ohio. He eventually settled in Detroit in 1841 and became an active abolitionist and lecturer. Bibb and his second wife, abolitionist Mary Miles, were married in 1848 and fled to Canada following the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Known as one of the most effective antislavery lecturers of his time, Bibb continued to be a leader in the black community in Canada. In addition to founding a school, church, and several antislavery societies, he established the Voice of the Fugitive, Canada's first black newspaper, and was the founding director of a Canadian black colonization project, the Refugee Home Society. Despite his premature death at age 39, Bibb had a lasting impact on the abolitionist movement in America.

Henry W. Bibb's autobiography, Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave (1849), elaborates on his life story, which he presented during his antislavery lectures. Following Lucius C. Matlack's introduction, Bibb includes the report of an investigation that was conducted to ascertain the truthfulness of his testimony. The report concludes with findings that are consistent with Bibb's account. The text itself describes Bibb's childhood as a slave and his many experiences in slavery. It ends shortly after he secured his freedom.

Works Consulted: Andrews, William L., Frances Smith Foster, and Trudier Harris, eds., Oxford Companion to African American Literature, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997; Garraty, John A. and Mark C. Carnes, eds., American National Biography, New York: Oxford University Press, 1999; Halpenny, Francess G., ed. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. VIII: 1851-1860, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985; Logan, Rayford W. and Michael R. Winston, eds., Dictionary of American Negro Biography, New York: Norton, 1982.

Monique Prince