Seth Eastman (1808-1875) and his second wife Mary Henderson Eastman (1818-1880) were instrumental in recording Native American life. Mary Eastman was a descendant of the First Families of Virginia. Aunt Phillis's Cabin: or, Southern Life As It Is an 1852 is a plantation fiction novel, and is perhaps the most read anti-Tom novel in American literature. Eastman portrays white plantation owners behaving benignly towards their slaves. She views slavery as a natural institution and essential to life itself. Aunt Phillis's Cabin was released in 1852 - the same year that Uncle Tom's Cabin appeared in book form.