In 1846, Rutherford County slaveholder Robert Weakly published an ad in a Nashville newspaper offering $50 for the return of an enslaved man named Ben Singleton. In the ad, Singleton was described as “five feet five or six inches in height” and “a serviceable sprightly fellow.” He was also a “mulatto,” which meant he was of mixed race.
Contrary to Weakly’s wishes, Singleton made it to Ontario, Canada, and would never be enslaved again. However, “Pap” Singleton — as he was called from that point onward — would be heard from again in the Volunteer State.
During the Civil War, Singleton moved back to Middle Tennessee and went to work as a cabinet maker. As the war ended, he had high hopes for the future of African Americans in the South. But after the Ku Klux Klan became a force, he became convinced that Black people would never receive fair treatment in the South.
In 1874, Singleton and a Sumner County minister named Columbus Johnson cofounded the Edgefield Real Estate and Homestead Association. It went into the business of encouraging and helping African Americans move from Tennessee to Kansas.
“Brethen, friends & Fellow Citizens,” one of the company’s handbills said. “I feel thankful to inform you that the Real Estate and Homestead Association will leave here the 15th of April 1878 in pursuit of homes in the southwestern lands of America, at transportation rates cheaper than ever was known before.”