In 1879, a freed slave living in Texas decided to lead his family out of Texas, and out of the system of share-cropping, which had too many similarities to slavery. Paul Davis, his wife Martha, and their 16 children joined a wagon train leaving Shelby County, Texas. They made their exodus north to what they believed to be the “promised land” of Kansas.
These “Exodusters,” as they were called, traveled by ox-drawn covered wagons and other horse-drawn vehicles. Some walked and some rode on horseback. After suffering many hardships, the Texas Exodusters migrated to the city of Burlington in Coffey County, Kansas. It was here that Paul Davis met Daniel Votaw, a Quaker humanitarian. Votaw and Davis discussed the idea of establishing a colony for the Exodusters.
Votaw purchased 160 acres of land from E. P. Allen, and he divided the land into 8-acre lots. The property was located two miles north of Coffeyville in Montgomery County. Davis organized the families who were able to make a down payment, and Votaw sold each lot for $100. Votaw allowed the families to make the payments over time with no interest. The families in the Exoduster group who did not purchase lots in the colony settled in Coffeyville and Independence, and in other towns close by.
The colony existed until just after the turn of the century. The flood of 1895 was the chief cause for the dissolution of the colony. At the time of Davis’ death in 1900, the colony was slowly breaking up. The Exodusters eventually moved into the cities where employment and modernization were on the rise with the arrival of the telephone, paved streets, electricity, streetcars, and running water.