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William Henry Singleton
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William Henry Singleton
William Henry Singleton (August 10, 1843 – September 7, 1938) gained freedom in North Carolina and served as a sergeant in the United States Colored Troops during the American Civil War. After its end and emancipation, he moved North to New Haven, Connecticut. There he became literate and a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AME Zion Church), serving also in Maine and New York.
Born into slavery near New Bern, North Carolina, he was sold as a child but made his way home over 400 miles. During the Civil War, he served as a sergeant in the 35th United States Colored Troops, and recruited men for the First North Carolina Colored Volunteers. After being wounded in the Battle of Olustee, Florida, in February 1864, he was assigned to garrison duty in South Carolina.
As noted, after the war, Singleton moved North to New Haven, Connecticut. Proud of his military service, Singleton marched in parades of Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) veterans, including in 1937 and in 1938 at the age of 95. He suffered a heart attack during that event and died.
While living in Peekskill, New York, he had written and published his autobiography in 1922, an account of his rise from slavery, military service and later life. It was first serialized in a local newspaper. In 1999 the state of North Carolina published a scholarly, annotated edition. His tombstone in New Haven notes his service in the US Colored Troops. Singleton is also recognized in New Bern by a Waymarking plaque about him and his achievements.
In his memoir, Singleton said he was born into slavery on August 10, 1835, in Craven County, North Carolina, near New Bern. (Historians have estimated his birth year as 1843.) He noted that he was not really black, as his mother Lettis (also spelled as Lettice) Singleton was an enslaved woman of mixed race (Singleton described her as "colored"). His father was a white man, who he said was the younger brother of his white master John Singleton. The senior Singleton had one of the largest plantations and the most slaves of any planter in the county. (Singleton, descended from English colonists in Virginia, acquired his wealth by marrying the widow Mrs. Nelson). The memoir noted that all the slaves on the plantation were referred to by the Singleton surname, as was customary in that area; at a neighboring plantation, slaves were referred to by that master's surname.
(According to editors of the 1999 scholarly edition, John H. Nelson was the owner and master of the plantation where William lived when young. Nelson's younger brother also lived there, but they believe William's father was likely another white man, William G. Singleton, a clerk in New Bern. The boy may have been named after that man.)
Singleton later wrote in his memoir, "[M]y presence on the plantation was continually reminding them [the whites] of something they wanted to forget." He said that the brothers quarreled over him. John Singleton (Nelson) sold the boy at age four to a trader, who took him to a widow in Atlanta, Georgia. Singleton said she had a "slave farm", where she trained slaves for domestic service and artisan positions, and sold them at a profit. Singleton said that many were slaves of "good pedigree" like him, suggesting that the widow valued those of partially white ancestry.
Determined to rejoin his mother, at the age of seven William ran away. He showed great resourcefulness in making use of sympathetic whites along the way. He made his way back to New Bern by stagecoach for 400 miles from Atlanta, and walking miles more on foot. His mother hid him for three years in her cabin; he would hide under the floorboards where she stored potatoes in order to escape notice.
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William Henry Singleton
William Henry Singleton (August 10, 1843 – September 7, 1938) gained freedom in North Carolina and served as a sergeant in the United States Colored Troops during the American Civil War. After its end and emancipation, he moved North to New Haven, Connecticut. There he became literate and a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AME Zion Church), serving also in Maine and New York.
Born into slavery near New Bern, North Carolina, he was sold as a child but made his way home over 400 miles. During the Civil War, he served as a sergeant in the 35th United States Colored Troops, and recruited men for the First North Carolina Colored Volunteers. After being wounded in the Battle of Olustee, Florida, in February 1864, he was assigned to garrison duty in South Carolina.
As noted, after the war, Singleton moved North to New Haven, Connecticut. Proud of his military service, Singleton marched in parades of Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) veterans, including in 1937 and in 1938 at the age of 95. He suffered a heart attack during that event and died.
While living in Peekskill, New York, he had written and published his autobiography in 1922, an account of his rise from slavery, military service and later life. It was first serialized in a local newspaper. In 1999 the state of North Carolina published a scholarly, annotated edition. His tombstone in New Haven notes his service in the US Colored Troops. Singleton is also recognized in New Bern by a Waymarking plaque about him and his achievements.
In his memoir, Singleton said he was born into slavery on August 10, 1835, in Craven County, North Carolina, near New Bern. (Historians have estimated his birth year as 1843.) He noted that he was not really black, as his mother Lettis (also spelled as Lettice) Singleton was an enslaved woman of mixed race (Singleton described her as "colored"). His father was a white man, who he said was the younger brother of his white master John Singleton. The senior Singleton had one of the largest plantations and the most slaves of any planter in the county. (Singleton, descended from English colonists in Virginia, acquired his wealth by marrying the widow Mrs. Nelson). The memoir noted that all the slaves on the plantation were referred to by the Singleton surname, as was customary in that area; at a neighboring plantation, slaves were referred to by that master's surname.
(According to editors of the 1999 scholarly edition, John H. Nelson was the owner and master of the plantation where William lived when young. Nelson's younger brother also lived there, but they believe William's father was likely another white man, William G. Singleton, a clerk in New Bern. The boy may have been named after that man.)
Singleton later wrote in his memoir, "[M]y presence on the plantation was continually reminding them [the whites] of something they wanted to forget." He said that the brothers quarreled over him. John Singleton (Nelson) sold the boy at age four to a trader, who took him to a widow in Atlanta, Georgia. Singleton said she had a "slave farm", where she trained slaves for domestic service and artisan positions, and sold them at a profit. Singleton said that many were slaves of "good pedigree" like him, suggesting that the widow valued those of partially white ancestry.
Determined to rejoin his mother, at the age of seven William ran away. He showed great resourcefulness in making use of sympathetic whites along the way. He made his way back to New Bern by stagecoach for 400 miles from Atlanta, and walking miles more on foot. His mother hid him for three years in her cabin; he would hide under the floorboards where she stored potatoes in order to escape notice.