Matthew Alexander Henson
Henson, Matthew Alexander (1866-1955), a member of the party that accompanied Robert Peary on the expedition that is generally credited with being the first to reach the North Pole. Peary, Henson, and four Eskimos (Inuit) reportedly arrived at the Pole on April 6, 1909. Henson was born in Charles County, Maryland. For more than 20 years he was Peary's valet and served as a dogsled driver on Arctic expeditions. Later he was a clerk of the New York Custom House, 1913-36. In 1988 Henson's body was reburied in Arlington National Cemetery next to Peary's.