Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-04-05
Teaching CoIored People to
Lead Lives of Usefulness.
SUCCESS OF A SLAVE BOY
Now One of the Richest of His Race
in Alabama.
CAREER OF HOWARD GRADUATE
Builds Schoolhouse, Which Has
Grown Into an Educational In
stitution of Wide influence.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.

| BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
| Special Correspondence of The Star and the
| Chicago Record Herald.
| MOBILE, Ala, April 3, 1909.
| Like many other representatives of the
plantation aristocracy. certain young
officer who went into the Confederate
army from Alabama during the civil war
was followed to the front by a slave boy
who had been born upon his fathers
place and was about his own age. The
master was killed in battle; the slave
| loyal and conscientious, instead of taking
advantage of the emancipation proclama-
ton, returned to the stricken home. bring
ing the sword and the charger. He man
aged to find his way across more than
26O miles of hostile territory, eluding the
camps, 1.-THE pbckets and scouts of the
Yankee army. and delivered to the moth
err of his master the property of the dead.
Then he set about to find his own mother,
sister and two younger brothers, who
| had been sold to different owners, and to
! bring them together in place of safety.
| In the meantime he earned his living and
| paid the expenses of his search AS a COM
mon field hand. When the family were
| reunited and settled In a little cabin, he
obtained employment as overseer of a
small cotton plantation with wages of SO
month and board He saved his earn
| ings and bought few acres of land from
the owner OF the plantation upon which
| he was born, friendly white man, who
gave him liberal terms and long time for
| payment and furnished him with employ
| nfent at good wages during the winter
| months when there was nothing to do
upon his farm.
Rise of William Benson.
| William Benson, for that was his name
built cabin and bought a. mule, then
cow, and finally another and another He
| never wasted penny, nor was he idle
day. He often worked in his fields by
moonlight, making up for lost sleep on
rainy days He married bright colored
girl. the first of her race to teach school
in that section of the state. They were
happy and prosperous Children came to
bless them. They acquired more land
built a better dwelling. and few years
later started plantation store. Gradually
this young couple won and kept the re-
spect and confidence Of the community.
| Thirty years from the date when that
colored boy led home the riderless horse
| from the war he was recognized as one
of the richest and most influential colored
men in Alabama. His first few acres of
land had multiplied thousand times; his
| first mule and COW were the nucleus of
the largest and best herds of live stock in
that part of the state. His store had
proven profitable enterprise. and to his
cotton gin, a saw mill and a grist MILL
which were patronized by all the country
round.
William Benson's career is not unique.
| however. 1t has several, II not many,
parallels among the colOred population of
the SOUTH all of them illustrating what
can be accomplished by industry, intelli-
gence and integrity-the three big rs
that are essential to success in life every
where. William Benson kept out of poll
demand for social
ity. and he exemplified the theory that
black man will be respected quite as much
as a white man, when he demonstrates
that he is entitled to respect.
Potent Object Lesson.
Although William Benson never made
a speech in his life, his character and his
| career are object lessons more eloquent
and convincing than words to prove that
success in life does not depend upon what
other people do or say, but upon what
man does and says himself. 1t is the uni
versal testimony of those who know him
that every privilege, either in the pursuit
William Benson the same as to every
other citizen in that community, with the
exception of social equality with the
white, and that he has no desire for.
Although entirely self-educated, few col
ored men in the south have a better
knowledge of things than he, and he de-
termined that his children should have
| all the advantages and opportunities that
he lacked. His son was sent to Fisk and
Howard universities; his two daughters
spent three years at Tuskegee Institute
and then one went to Oberlin. and the
other to Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. Both
are now teachers.
Upon graduating from Howard Univer-
sity the son returned to his home at
Kowaliga a little village composed en-
tirely of colored people. among the hills
of eastern Alabama, sixteen miles from
Tallassee. the nearest railway station
The name is of Indian origin, and is de-
rived from a little stream upon which it
stands.
Young Benson assisted his father for
year or more, when he set up a store for
himself. and erected a modern building
with the first glass show windows ever
seen in that neighborhood. His business
prospered. and all went we'll until one
cold night in December the building and
81. 900 worth of stock went up In smoke
The cause of the fire has remained a
mystery even to this day. There was no
insurance, because underwriters will not
take risks upon buildings in the coun-
try especially if they are owned by
colored men,
Beginnings of Kowaliga
my first effort at reconstruction was
to build a good schoolhouse" said Mr.
Benson and I am going to let him tell
side a former classmate to take charge
of a summer school which lasted barely
three months. We called the people to-
gether and told them that we must build
a better schoolhouse and increase the
school term to seven months. A rough
outline of two-story building was drawn
on the blackboard, which we told them
we wanted to erect.
MY father offered to give the land
and saw the lumber for the new school,
We told the farmers that we knew they
had no money to give, but they had
plenty of labor and material and il each
one would do his share in this direction
the new schoolhouse could be erected.
Their doubts disappeared and they went
to work with will. Some gave trees
and others cut them; some hauled the
logs to the sawmills and others got out
shingles for the roof: some dug stones
for the foundation and others burned
brick for the chimneys.
Il organized the farm boys into a
glee club. and when work time was over
we went through the neighboring towns
and villages, giving concerts to mostly
white audiences. In this way over $500
was raised with which to buy doors, win
dows, nails and other such materials
as could not be manufactured at home |
Thus, through the gifts of $1,000 In labor
and material from the coored people
themselves and ten acres of land from
my father the first building of the Kow-
aliga School was completed two years
later The school now comprises five |
substantial buildings a barn, a small |
farm and live stock representing a prop
erty value of $4,000. 1t employs twelve |