Knowing the unfulfilled
dreams of Southern blacks for self-determination and land ownership, two
highly ambitious men, a black minister named Reverend W.H. Smith and a
white land promoter named W.R. Hill founded Nicodemus in 1877.
They formed Nicodemus
Township Company with five African Americans to create an all-black town
for profit. They mainly recruited African Americans from Kentucky and
Tennessee.
Their fliers joined
those of other groups encouraging southern blacks to leave home for Kansas.
These fliers typically exaggerated the abundance of resources and the
low cost of land.
|