Matthew Alexander Henson (August 8, 1866 March 9, 1955) was an African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 explorer and associate of Robert Peary

Robert Peary

Robert Edwin Peary, Sr. was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole...

 during various expeditions, the most famous being a 1909 expedition which it was discovered that he was the the first person to reach the Geographic North Pole.
Henson was born on a farm in Nanjemoy, Maryland

Nanjemoy, Maryland

Nanjemoy is a settlement along Maryland Route 6 in southwestern Charles County, Maryland, United States, and the surrounding large rural area more or less bounded by Nanjemoy Creek to the east and north, and the Potomac River to the south and west. It and the creek draw their names from a Native...

 on August 8, 1866. He was still a child when his parents Lemuel and Caroline died. He was sent to live with his uncle, who payed for his education until he died.