Professor reveals the life of the ‘Plausible Man’ from South Carolina who inspired ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’

Five weeks before she began writing the book that helped outlaw modern slavery in America, Harriet Beecher Stowe met a South Carolina man on the run.

His name was John Andrew Jackson, and he escaped enslavement in Sumter County before inspiring "Uncle Tom's Cabin," the second-most-sold book in the world in the 19th century. Now, his life is fully illuminated thanks to years of dogged research by a Clemson University professor, detailing what led Jackson to Stowe's home in Brunswick, Maine, in December 1850 and the tumult he faced in later years.

Professor of EnglishSusanna Ashton's"A Plausible Man: The True Story of the Escaped Slave Who Inspired Uncle Tom's Cabin" publishes August 6, amplifying a story that has otherwise gone untold.

"We know a fair amount about enslaved people before the war when they tell us about their lives," Ashton explains. "We don't often know a lot about what happens afterward. This is a history story very much about documents left behind."

A tale centuries in the making

Jackson's tale of escaping Charleston and going north for freedom demanded in-depth focus from Ashton. Her work in slavery and freedom narratives recently led to the recognition of a previously overlooked stop on the Underground Railroad. But she learned about Jackson by working with a group of Clemson students in the early 2010s.

"It all started with teaching," Ashton said. "I realized that although we were on a former plantation labor camp, people didn't have the vocabulary to talk about it," she explained, referring to Clemson University's location on the site of John C. Calhoun's Fort Mill Plantation.

"A group of students and I worked on a book we published called, 'I Belong to South Carolina.' We didn't discover the narratives, but they were unrecovered testimonies from people who had survived slavery in South Carolina and either dictated or published their experiences."

It just so happened that the book's title is based on one of seven narratives inside -one being Jackson's. As the story goes, Jackson was attempting to board a boat headed out of Charleston when confronted by a group of men inquiring who he belonged to. He replied, "To South Carolina."

"'It was none of their business who I belong to. I'm trying to belong to myself,'" Ashton said, paraphrasing Jackson's thoughts after the incident. "The quote is so punchy, and you get his personality - he was full of bravado, sass and a big talker. I remember thinking he has all these details, but nobody knows him."

Ashton dove into a spray of archival documents and learned Stowe gifted money to Jackson after his one-night stay in the abolitionist's home, the only time she ever hid an enslaved person. Years of technical research that took Ashton to New England, Canada and Scotland resulted in her pulling an unpublished letter recounting Stowe's interaction with Jackson. She has even connected with the descendants of Jackson and the enslaver's family.

'A dreamer, and a hustler'

Each chapter begins with a piece of paper - a receipt, census page, letter or an arrest record. Ashton uses this as the foundation to guide readers through each document and the man's story.

The department is thrilled with the publication of 'A Plausible Man.' This meticulously researched and compelling biography makes a vital contribution to our understanding of American literary history and the enduring fight for freedom and equality. Congratulations to Dr. Ashton on this significant and inspiring publication.

WILL STOCKTON, PROFESSOR AND ENGLISH DEPARTMENT CHAIR

The book is also a "long and painful story" of the following 30 years of Jackson's life, Ashton said. The work moves through the post-Civil War era and details Jackson's efforts to start a school in South Carolina and build a home for aged people in a Black community.

"It doesn't work, but he still has an impact," she said. "It was a very complicated life."

Ashton said she was drawn to Jackson for this very reason.

"He was a dreamer, and he was a hustler. Those two are entwined, and he failed a lot. I would think he was defeated, but then he would appear in the newspaper leading another project. He kept moving himself forward, and I admire that so much," she said.

"If you fail but with ambition, love and hustle? I like that."

Her book can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org.

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