William Henry Singleton

William Henry Singleton (August 10, 1843 – September 7, 1938

(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. He directed operations at the contraband camp, setting up classes for former slaves and organized work details for adults. He also managed development at the Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island. When it came time for action, the unit was assigned white officers, as were all the black units. The U.S. Army trained and armed the men, and shipped the regiment to South Carolina, where they participated in the siege of Charleston. The Union forces gave way before a Confederate ambush, and the 35th USCT and 54th Massachusetts, also a unit of the USCT, lost more than 200 men while helping defend the Union line of retreat. Seymour was severely criticized by the Northern press for his losses in the battle.

In April following this conflict and the Battle of Port Hudson, President Lincoln said,

Wounded at Olustee, Singleton was assigned to a 35th USCT garrison in South Carolina; the state was occupied by Union troops through the remainder of the war. Others of the 35th USCT were assigned to Florida. He was honorably discharged on June 1, 1866.

Postbellum years

Singleton moved to the North, as did many freedmen, where he settled in New Haven, Connecticut. He worked for six years as a coachman for Henry Trowbridge. After his death, Singleton was hired by his brother Tomas Trowbridge, and worked for him for 25 years.

During this period, Singleton joined the AME Zion Church in the city. It was an independent black denomination, the second established in the United States when it was founded by free blacks in New York City in the early 19th century.

Singleton helped with prisoners at the city jail, where he began to do missionary work with the AME Zion Church. He became a deacon and an elder. Singleton also worked to gain an education. He studied and saved to buy books, and taught himself to read and write.

Marriage and family

Singleton married Maria Wanton in New Haven, and they had a child together.

Shaped by his military service, Singleton likely joined a chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Officially African Americans were treated equally to white veterans.

He is known to have attended a GAR reunion (known as an encampment) at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1937. National events had been held annually since the late 19th century, but the number of surviving veterans was declining. The last reunion was held in 1949.

He was buried in New Haven, where he had been living again. A daughter and grandchildren also lived there. His tombstone reads: "Civil War /Sergeant /Henry Singleton /Co. G. 35th U.S. Col. Inf./ Died Sept. 7, 1938".

Legacy and honors

His memoir was published in 1999 in a scholarly, annotated version edited by David Cecelski and Katherine Mellen Charron. It was issued by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.

A waymarker honoring Singleton has been installed in New Bern by North Carolina Civil War Trails on Queen Street near Johnson Street and St. Peter's Church (formerly an AME Zion Church). Entitled William Henry Singleton/ From Slavery to Freedom, the large plaque includes an extended account of his life.

Slave narratives and interviews Singleton's autobiography is classified among the genre of slave narratives, which have been integral to historians' understanding of African-American experiences during and after the slavery years. They have been composed mostly by people who escaped from slavery and form an important part of American literature. A few are by people who won freedom suits, in which their slave status was overturned by court decisions.

Such independent histories were supplemented in the 20th century by work of the Federal Writers' Project during the 1930s and the Great Depression. Writers were sent out to interview former enslaved persons in the South to gather their histories. This significant work was published in 1941 as the Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. It includes more than 2300 accounts and 500 photos.