Benjamin Singleton encouraged black Southerners to move to Kansas

Black southerners arrived by boat on the Missouri River

Delaware Township

Downtown KCK

Many settled in the downtown area of Kansas City, Kansas, but others settled near Edwardsville in Delaware Township.

Junius Groves arrived from Kentucky in 1879

Delaware TownshipDelaware Township

Groves’ Center 98th & K-32

Edwardsville

He started an African American Community in Delaware Township, which he named after

himself

He was so successful in his potato growing, it was said that he could produce 396 bushels an acre.

He did not only employ blacks, but also whites. He considered everybody equal.

He built a mansion near 98th and K-32. Groves’ house consisted of a 22-room brick mansion. It

featured indoor plumbing, electricity, heat and one of the first telephones in the area. The house had a third-floor ballroom that doubled as a play room.

Junius Groves died in 1925. He had one of the largest funerals Edwardsville had ever seen.

His land was worth $54,000 at the time of his death, but almost $42,000 was mortgaged.

Other Property owned by Groves totaled only $814.00

“It is my wish that … a monument be erected to my memory”

He left specific instructions in his will

“…if there be a wife of anyone of my sons who may become disagreeable…such wife to be removed from my land… and in the same way with my sons if he become disagreeable.”

Grave of Junius Groves’ Son

Groves Cemetery

There is no monument nor grave for Junius Groves in this cemetery. That and other questions about Groves and his legacy remain for future researchers to answer.

Thanks to The Wyandotte County Museum, John Nichols, and the descendants of Junius Groves for assistance with this research.