Biography Search Display Name: Benjamin Pelham Year of Birth: 1862 Year of Death: 1948       Biography: A newspaper publisher, businessman, political activist, and government official, Benjamin Pelham was one of the most influential African-American leaders in Detroit's history. Personally responsible for modernizing and organizing the government and finances of Wayne County in the early twentieth century, Pelham became the unofficial executive of the Wayne County government. Although he never held an elected office, Pelham controlled the county government through his positions in county government and his dedication and work. He played such an important role in county government that he became known as the "Czar of Wayne County." Pelham was born in Detroit on February 7, 1862. His parents, Robert and Frances Pelham, lived as free African Americans in Petersburg, Virginia before moving to Detroit in 1861. Pelham attended the first integrated schools in Detroit, completing his course of study in the Detroit High School in 1878. While in high school he worked as a messenger at the Detroit Post-Tribune. The owner of the paper was so impressed by Pelham's work that he paid for Pelham to take a course in accounting at the Bryant and Stratton Business College. In 1879, Pelham founded a printing business and began to publish a newspaper, The Venture, which focused on issues important to AfricanAmericans. In 1883, he and his brother purchased a failing newspaper and turned it into the Plaindealer, one of the most widely read African-American newspapers of the late nineteenth century.The Plaindealer was at the center of the African-American political scene in Detroit, Michigan and the Midwest. Pelham used the Plaindealer to champion civil and political rights for African Americans. He was instrumental in creating the 1884 "Colored Man's" State Convention that endeavored to push the struggle for civil rights into the national political debate. Pelham briefly served as a clerk in the internal revenue office until he was replaced with a Democratic political appointee after the election of Grover Cleveland in 1888. In 1895, his efforts were so instrumental in electing the Wayne County treasurer, that Pelham was appointed junior clerk in the treasurer's office. Pelham immediately realized that the financial records of the county were in total disarray and used his five years as a clerk in the treasurers office to modernize the record keeping system of the county. In 1900, Pelham transferred to the office of the registrar of deeds where he modernized the system of recording deeds in the county. In 1906 he was appointed both county accountant and clerk to the board of auditors. At the time the board of auditors controlled the county government through their ability to control the county finances. Pelham used his position as clerk to the board of auditors and county accountant to become the de facto head of the county government. As clerk, he prepared the agenda for all the meetings, which gave him the power to steer the issues and debate. Anyone who wanted anything from the county had to ask Pelham to be placed on the agenda. In 1920, Pelham was appointed clerk to the committees of the county board of supervisors, a position that he used to continue his role at the center of county government. Due to his position as a full-time employee working as an intermediary between the different committees of the county board of supervisor, Pelham was once again able to steer the county government. He became so powerful in the government that in the 1934 county elections the Democratic Party campaigned on the slogan "Throw Pelham Out." Once in office, however, the Democrats realized that Pelham was indispensable and did not replace him. Upon his retirement in 1942 Pelham left a legacy of debt-free development and modernized county finances.

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