Early Life and Education
Although it is known that Benjamin Singleton was born in 1809 into slavery in Davidson County near Nashville, Tennessee, details of his early life remain scant. He was the son of a white father and an enslaved black mother. As a youth, he was trained as a skilled carpenter but regretted never learning to read and write. Reportedly Singleton made several attempts to run away but was unsuccessful.
In 1846 Singleton managed to escape to freedom. Singleton made his way north along the Underground Railroad to Windsor, Ontario, and remained there a year before relocating to Detroit, Michigan. In Detroit he lived as a scavenger and used what resources he could to help other escaped slaves find their way to freedom in Canada. Singleton remained in Detroit until after the Civil War had been underway. During this time, he worked as a carpenter.
Read more about this topic: Benjamin "Pap" Singleton
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or education:
“Franklin said once in one of his inspired flights of malignity—
Early to bed and early to rise
Make a man healthy and wealth and wise.
As if it were any object to a boy to be healthy and wealthy and wise on such terms.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“I notice well that one stray step from the habitual path leads irresistibly into a new direction. Life moves forward, it never reverses its course.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“Because of these convictions, I made a personal decision in the 1964 Presidential campaign to make education a fundamental issue and to put it high on the nation’s agenda. I proposed to act on my belief that regardless of a family’s financial condition, education should be available to every child in the United States—as much education as he could absorb.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)