"Pap" Singleton, the Moses of the Colored Exodus

Abstract

During an investigation of that movement of negroes from the South to Kansas in I879-80, known as the "Colored Exodus," the writer of this sketch was impressed by the importance of the activity and influence of one man, an ignorant negro, who in himself seemed to embody the longings and the strivings of the bewildered negro race. His name was Benjamin Singleton, but on account of his advanced age and kindly disposition most people called him "Pap ;" he himself later added and insisted upon the title, "The Moses of the Colored Exodus." He was born a slave in I809 at Nashville, in middle Tennessee, and was by occupation a carpenter and cabinet maker. Evidently he was of a restless disposition, and probably his master considered him "trifling," for "Pap" asserted that although he was "sold a dozen times or more" to the Gulf States, yet he always ran away and came back to Tennessee. Finally he decided to strike for Canada and freedom, and after failing in three attempts he made his way over the "Underground Railway" to Ontario, opposite Detroit. Soon afterward he came back to Detroit where he worked, he says, until I865 as a "scavenger," and also kept a "secret boardinghouse for fugitive slaves." Singleton was not of imposing appearance. From newspaper descriptions of him written during the 70's we learn that he was a slender man, below medium height, a light mulatto with long, wavy iron-gray hair, gray mustache, and thin chin whiskers.' His square jaw showed strength of character; he had "full quick * This investigation was materially aided by a grant from the Carnegie Institution, Department of Economics and Sociology. 1 In the Kansas Historical Society Collections, Vol. IX, p. 385, is a portrait of Singleton. 6I 62 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY eyes and a general expression of honesty, courage, and modesty." He could not read. With all his later prominence Singleton remained frank, simple, and unspoiled.2 "After freedom cried out," Pap was not content to remain in the North and soon went back to his old home in Tennessee to work at his trade. His experience in the North had opened his eyes to the economic weaknesses and dangers of his race, and soon he began to complain that the blacks were profiting little by freedom. They had personal liberty but no homes, and they were often hungry, he says, and were frequently cheated. He then began his "mission," as he called it, urging the blacks to save their earnings and buy homes and little plots of land as a first step toward achieving industrial independence. His later career showed that he had little confidence in political measures as a means of elevating the race and it was always difficult for political agitators to get indorsement from him. His ideas and plans were chiefly about industrial matters and much of the criticism he received from his race was like that later directed at Booker T. Washington. He declared in i868 when he began his "mission" that his people were being exploited for the benefit of the carpetbaggers, whose promises were always broken: Afte...

The Consequences of School Desegregation in a Kansas Town 50 Years After Brown

“…Southern Blacks were further lured by propaganda that portrayed Kansas as the Promised Land, the new ''Canaan'' (VanDeusen 1936). The migration of African Americans was urged and led by leaders such as Benjamin ''Pap'' Singleton, a former Tennessee slave (Fleming 1909;Garvin 1948). Confronted with increasing racial violence and denial of civil rights and political disfranchisement due to southern Whites reasserting their power and dismantling reconstruction (Moneyhan 1991), it is not surprising that many African Americans chose to travel west not only to seek better economic and educational opportunities but to ensure their personal safety (VanDeusen 1936).…”