Matthew Alexander Henson

Explorer

• Born: August 8, 1866
• Birthplace: near Nanjemoy, Charles County, Maryland
• Died: March 9, 1955
• Place of death: Bronx, New York

Explorer, sailor, and writer

Henson was a member of the first team of explorers to reach the North Pole. He was an experienced and invaluable member of the team, having learned the language and survival skills of the native people of the region.

Areas of achievement: Exploration and pioneering; Science and technology

Early Life

Matthew Alexander Henson was born on a farm near Nanjemoy, Maryland, in 1866—the year after the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished in the United States. His mother died when he was only two years old, and his father, a sharecropper named Lemuel Henson, soon remarried. A few years later, his father died, leaving seven-year-old Henson (and five siblings) with his stepmother. Without his father, the farm fell into disrepair. At eleven, Henson ran away from home, walking more than forty miles to reach Washington, D.C. There, he found work at Janey’s Home-Cooked Meals Café. The proprietor, Janey Moore, took the young man in, employing him for a time as a dishwasher and waiter. While working here, Henson heard sailors’ adventure tales and, at age twelve, he walked to Baltimore, Maryland, where he was hired as a cabin boy on the merchant ship the Katie Hines.

Henson spent the years from 1879 to 1884 at sea. The ship’s captain became something of a father figure to him, and Henson saw much of the world. He learned a variety of useful skills during this time, such as navigation, carpentry, first aid, and how to read and write. In 1884, the captain died of a sudden illness. His mentor gone, the eighteen-year-old Henson found employment for a time on another ship. That ship’s captain, however, was abusive. In 1887, Henson returned to Washington, D.C., where he worked at a hat store called Steinmetz and Sons. There, a fateful event occurred that changed the course of the young man’s life: Mr. Steinmetz introduced Henson to Navy lieutenant Robert E. Peary. Peary, a civil engineer, was on his way to Nicaragua. There, he hoped to find fame by locating a viable route for a canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Peary offered Henson a job as his assistant. Without hesitation, the twenty-one-year-old Henson accepted.

Life’s Work

In Nicaragua, Henson earned Peary’s respect as a hard worker in the difficult jungle terrain. After seven months, they returned to the United States, where Henson met and later married Eva Flint on April 16, 1891.

Peary next turned to a new goal: to be the first explorer to reach the North Pole. After extensive preparations, Peary and Henson sailed for Greenland in June of 1891. Peary’s immediate goal was to explore the northern part of Greenland, where he hoped to find a land route to the North Pole. As an experienced seaman, Henson was very helpful on this voyage. He also quickly learned the language of Greenland’s native Inuits, who treated him as an equal. From them he learned how to dress in fur clothing, hunt, fish, build and handle dogsleds, build igloos, and generally survive in the hostile Arctic environment. Henson taught these skills to Peary and his team. They reached a location in Greenland that Peary called Navy Cliff in 1892 before turning back.

In 1893, Peary and Henson embarked on another expedition to Greenland that lasted for several years. Despite their efforts, they were unable to make much progress. However, they retrieved some large meteorites, which were sold to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Henson worked at the museum for three years, helping with its exhibits. His marriage ended in divorce in 1897.

In the summer of 1898, Peary mounted a four-year expedition, traveling to Ellesmere Island and Greenland. During this trip, the team made attempts to cross the rough ice over the Arctic Sea but turned back each time because of harsh conditions. In 1902, they returned to the United States, and Henson worked as a Pullman porter for the railroad for two years. With a new ship, the Roosevelt, Peary led yet another failed expedition in 1905. In 1907, Henson married his second wife, Lucy Jane Ross.

In July of 1908, Peary, Henson, and the rest of their party left New York for one final attempt at reaching the North Pole. They arrived at a northern point of Ellesmere Island in September and spent the winter aboard the ship. On February 18, 1909, they left the Roosevelt with dogsled teams. Peary, Henson, and several other Americans and Inuits reached a prepared camp, Cape Columbia, on February 22. As they drew closer and closer to the North Pole, support team members were sent back until only six men remained: Peary, Henson, and four Inuits. They pressed on until, on April 6, 1909, Peary took navigational readings and declared that they had at last reached the North Pole.

Upon his return, Peary received a hero’s welcome as the first man to reach the North Pole. Henson, however, was commonly referred to as Peary’s manservant and given little credit for the valuable role he had played. Only the African American community honored Henson’s achievement.

Based on his experiences, Henson published A Negro Explorer at the North Pole in 1912. Peary assisted Henson in securing employment as a messenger at the U.S. Customs House in New York City, where he worked until he retired in 1936. In 1947, Bradley Robinson and Henson published Dark Companion, which sold well and made the public more aware of Henson’s role in the Arctic expeditions. Henson died on March 9, 1955. He was later credited equally with the discovery of the North Pole.

Significance

The years 1888-1916 have been called the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration. Peary and Henson were central figures in this period. They reached the North Pole only after years of expeditions in which Arctic conditions repeatedly denied them their goal. Henderson was the quintessential Arctic explorer, able to interpret for the Inuits, drive a dogsled, hunt, and build igloos. Although Peary initially received most of the credit for the discovery, Henson eventually (and posthumously) was given his due as the codiscoverer of the North Pole.

Bibliography

Avery, Tom. To the End of the Earth: Our Epic Journey to the North Pole and the Legend of Peary and Henson. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2009. Chronicles Avery’s 2005 expedition, which sought to duplicate Peary and Henson’s final thirty-seven-day dogsled dash to the North Pole in 1909.

Henson, Matthew A. A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. 1912. Reprint. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2001. Henson’s early account of his life and the Peary expeditions to Greenland and the North Pole.

Henson, Matthew A., and Bradley Robinson. Dark Companion. 1947. Reprint. New York: Fawcett, 1967. Henson’s autobiography helped right the historical record as to his role in the North Pole expeditions.

Olmstead, Kathleen. Matthew Henson: The Quest for the North Pole. New York: Sterling, 2008. This small volume is a succinct yet thorough biography. It provides a time line of events in Henson’s life and includes a large number of photos and illustrations.

Peary, Robert E. The North Pole. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1910. The official expedition book written by Peary after finally reaching the North Pole in 1909.