Benjamin Singleton is the epitome of hope, grit, determination, and courage in Black History. Born a slave, Singleton became a beacon of hope for black people looking for freedom and settlement in the United States. He was born in 1809 to a white father and an enslaved black mother in Nashville, Tennessee, and spent his youthful years training as a carpenter. He tried to escape many times but was unsuccessful until 1846 when he used the Underground Railroad. He made his way to the north settling in Windsor, Ontario, and stayed there for a year before moving to Detroit, Michigan. During his stay, he hosted other fugitive slaves in a boarding house secretly, for a few years before moving back to Nashville to work as a carpenter. Singleton believed that his freedom was secured within Union Lines now that the Civil War had liberated the slaves. The Civil War saw African Americans living in the South enjoy the rights and privileges of an American citizen. However, federal troops were soon removed, leaving the blacks vulnerable to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a movement founded to enforce white supremacy in the South. The Ku Klux Klan killed many blacks and introduced a sharecropping system that re-enslaved black tenant farmers. Singleton was convinced that blacks would only be free if they owned farms, thus committing his life to helping the blacks move to their farms. He attempted to acquire land in Tennessee in the late 1860s but turned his eyes to Kansas thanks to John Brown’s efforts.
Well, my people, for the want of land — we needed land for our children — and their
Benjamin “Pap” Singleton
disadvantages — that caused my heart to grieve and sorrow; pity for my race, sir,
that was coming down, instead of going up — that caused me to go to work for them.
In 1878 he led the first black community (close to 200 settlers) to Kansas, a decision that has great significance in African American History. Now blacks could own and settle on land without fear of getting enslaved. Some lived in Singleton’s Colony in Cherokee County while others settled in Dunlap Colony near Emporia and others in Tennessee’s Topeka town. Singleton then advocated for an organized colonization of the black community in Kansas by forming the Edgefield Real Estate and Home Association. He led another group of 20,000 African Americans to Kansas in 1879-80, which got him christened- The Father of the Exodus.
You see we have the same heart and feelings as any other race and nation
Benjamin Singleton
His work didn’t end there. In 1883-84 he developed an interest to move the black community to the island of Cyprus in a bid to make it an Afro-American nation. However, the decision wasn’t fruitful, prompting him to form another organization – the United Trans-Atlantic Society-to help blacks move to their motherland, Africa. Since the venture was also unsuccessful, Singleton retired from this career. However, he took great pride and comfort in the role he played in Black History Online as the “Father of the Negro Exodus.” Benjamin Singleton, known affectionately as ‘Pap,’ died in 1900.