Profiles

Stories of the Hastings Black community 1857-1954

Researched and written by Heidi Langenfeld

ANDREW JACKSON OVERALL

The 1860 census for Hastings recorded 1,642 people —11 of those were Black. One of those was Andrew Jackson Overall, who had come to Hastings from St. Paul shortly after the 1857 census. He joined R.S. Burns in offering first class hair styles to men and women residents. Their shops were located at various locations on 2nd and Vermillion Street.

A.J. had been born in Indiana in 1817 to free Black parents, James and Amy Overall. The year before his birth, Indiana became a state and outlawed slavery in its Constitution. His father, a land speculator and a conductor on the underground railroad sheltered fugitive slaves and directed them to the next stop on their journey to freedom.

In 1836 a white gang attacked the Overall home in the middle of the night with threats to murder the family. James sent his son, Andrew Jackson (A.J.), to get a local attorney and abolitionist to help the family. More information here

A. J., like his father, was an anti-slavery activist. In spite of, or perhaps because of their activism, the people of Indiana revised the state constitution in 1851 prohibiting further migration of African Americans into Indiana.

This revision likely motivated A.J. to check out Minnesota Territory as a new home for his family. He and Lucinda Thurman had been married in 1854 and their daughter, Nina was born February of 1857. When A.J. came North to check out their options, Lucinda and her infant daughter stayed in Indiana near her family until he got settled. The 1860 census records A.J., Lucinda, 3 year old Nina and 2 month old twins, Clara and Clarence in the Overall household.

Living near them was another Black family; John and Eliza Johnson with 5 year old Laura and 3 month old John, jr. Mr. Johnson ran a saloon. Both families lived at the rear of their businesses, which were located on 2nd Street between Vermillion and Sibley Streets.

They were actively engaged with a community of Black residents who lived across the Mississippi in Point Douglas, Prescott and south to Trimbelle. In August, 1863 they all gathered to celebrate the emancipation of slaves in the British Dominion and the emancipation proclamation by President Lincoln just months earlier. The celebration started in Trimbelle with dinner and speeches and ended on the main street of Hastings with a parade.
In January, 1864, the Black men of Hastings held a meeting to discuss pursuing their right to vote. R. S. Burns, J. H. Brooks and A. J. Overall drafted a petition to be presented to the legislature of Minnesota in 1865. Both houses of the legislature passed a bill that proposed an amendment to strike “white” from the suffrage provision. The amendment eventually passed in 1868.

New Year’s Day, 1869, they celebrated their success and the 6th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation in St. Paul at Ingersoll Hall with Blacks throughout the state. It was reported that the trains were full of celebrators. 40 people from Hastings joined those from Red Wing, Point Douglas, Prescott and Trimbelle.

A.J. continued exercising his rights as a citizen. In 1870 he served as foreman of the jury for a trial before Judge Francis Crosby. The newspaper reported that he proved entirely “capable.” He actively campaigned for incumbent Grant in the 1872 presidential election. He sued the editor of the Red Wing paper for libel for accusing him of being a deadbeat. Judge Francis Crosby ruled in favor of A.J. and awarded him $300.00 for damages.

In 1875 a civil rights bill written years earlier by Sumner was passed by the Grant administration. It was a cause for celebration and the Black citizens in Hastings were joined by their White neighbors- speeches were given, supper was eaten and they all enjoyed dancing together. (Stillwater Gazette)

Also in 1875 they formed a Literary Club named United States Debating Society with the goal of learning about and discussing topics of current events.

The Overall family joined other Black citizens in forming their own temperance group, part of the International Organization of Good Templars. A.J. was active in the African Church led by Rev. William Lee. It is uncertain where they worshipped, but in February, 1867 he was one of eight people who were baptized in the Vermillion River. (A hole was chopped in the ice!)

A.J. and R.S. Burns and 3 Black men from Prescott and River Falls, Wisconsin formed the North Western Land Ass’n in April 2, 1880. The nature of its business was to buy, hold, sell, let and transfer real estate and personal property and to provide any services appertaining thereto. Its principal place of business was to be the City of Hastings. It seems the corporation was not successful. A few months later when the census was taken, the Overall and Burns families were no longer living in Hastings. The Overall family was in St. Paul, where A.J. was barbering with his son Lincoln.

A.J. died April 27, 1881. His obituary from the Hastings Gazette reported; “One of Hastings’ old settlers, A.J.Overall, has passed to the other side. He died on Tuesday after a long sickness. He was one of the first colored citizens of Hastings having come to this City in 1857. Jack was one of the boys in his day, but some years ago experienced religion and since then lived according to his lights. He had many friends in this city.”

Sources:
Newspaper clippings in Pioneer Room
Shirley Dalaska, Over The Years, 2015
ancestry.com
google.com

LUCINDA HARRIET THURMAN OVERALL

Lucinda Harriet Thurman was born 1834 in Tennessee to free Black parents, James and Mary Thurman. Their first born daughter, Elizabeth, had been born in Alabama. By 1850 the family was living in Indiana and included John, Catherine and Pavel and 3 children with different sir names. Lucinda’s father was a Minister, who engaged in community welfare as well as conducting Religious Services.

At the age of 20, Lucinda married Andrew Jackson Overall, who was 18 years her senior, a barber by trade, and a Civil Rights Activist.

Their first child was born in November, 1854 and died 6 months later. In February, 1857 their daughter Nina was born. Later that same year, A.J. left to find them a better home in Minnesota Territory. Lucinda and Nina remained in Indiana until he found a place to settle, which ended up being Hastings, after a time in St. Paul.

Travel from Indianapolis, Indiana to Minnesota in 1857 began on the railroad out of Indianapolis and ended up on a steamboat on the Mississippi. Because travel on the river was impossible after late October and communication in that era required time for letters to be sent back and forth to arrange travel plans, it seems safe to assume that Lucinda and Nina would have spent the winter with her family in Indiana and traveled to Minnesota in the Spring.

Many questions surrounding this move come to mind. Did A.J. return to Indiana to accompany them on their trip to Minnesota? Travel with a young child was difficult for everyone in the late 1850s, but traveling for Blacks carried its own risks. The Fugitive Slave Act was in effect even in the North. They faced the possibility of being kidnapped and sold into slavery.

What is known is that the Overall family was eventually reunited, and in April, 1860 Lucinda gave birth for the third time. This time to twins, whom she named Clara and Clarence. Lucinda, her three children and husband A.J. Overall were among the 11 Black residents listed on the Hastings 1860 census recorded in June.

Lucinda and her children were also recorded on the 1860 census in Northfield, Minnesota, living next door to her sister Maria, Maria’s husband, James Adams, and their five children.

Considering that the Overall twins were only 2 months old at the time of the census, it seems likely that Lucinda and Nina had moved temporarily to Northfield so Maria could help with the birth of the baby. It is possible that Lucinda did not know she was carrying twins. Prenatal care was very rare and babies were born at home with the assistance of family members or friends.

Sadly, Clarence died in 1861 before his first birthday. Andrew Jackson Lincoln was born the same year. Two years later Sarah joined the family.

According to shared memories of “old timers” preserved in the Pioneer Room, the Overall family lived on Third Street between Sibley and Ramsey Streets. The children most likely attended the school house located on the NW corner of 6th and Eddy Street about 5 blocks from their home.

At the time of the 1870 census Lucinda was keeping house for her family and three boarders; John Mason, a barber by trade, and two of the Adams children, Lottie and Mittie. 19 year old Lottie was working as a milliner and Mittie was unemployed. She may have been recovering from her recent divorce.

Ten year old Clara is again recorded in both Hastings, living with her family, and Northfield, living with her Aunt Maria Adams. Maria’s husband, James had died shortly before this census. She was working as a washerwoman and besides Clara, two servants, Anna and Mary Oleson, 15 and 18 years old, from Norway lived in the household.

Throughout the 1870s A.J. pursued his barbering in several locations around Hastings and opened a second shop in Red Wing. Lucinda gave birth to Agnes, Henry and John Henry who all died within 1 to 3 years following their birth. In 1875, Sarah died at the age of 12 and two years later Clara died at the age of 17. Nina and A.J., jr, who was called Lincoln or Link, were her only surviving children.

In 1880 Lucinda, A.J. and Link were living on Minnesota Street in St. Paul. Both A.J. and Link were working as barbers. Nina was living in Mason City, Iowa with her Aunt Maria, who was remarried and suffering from a “Jaundice & Liver Complaint.”

In 1881 Andrew Jackson Overall died in St. Paul. His remains were brought to Hastings for burial at Lakeside Cemetery.

Lucinda lived periodically with each of her children after her husband’s death.

LUCINDA, NINA AND LINCOLN OVERALL

When he was 18 years old Lincoln Overall made an appearance on stage in the Academy of Music at the University of Minnesota. His performance was met with enthusiasm by the student body, but one observer expressed his disgust for the performance in a letter to the editor of the U of M’s newspaper, “Ariel” on February 19, 1879. He wrote, a “gentleman of African extraction, known by the beautiful combination, Abraham Lincoln Andrew Jackson Overalls, made his appearance and after a frantic effort to kick a pair of large shoes off his feet, made his exit amid University thunder.” The writer was dismayed that “our students are developing the base portion of their nature….dulling their moral sensibility, rendering themselves incapable of appreciating anything noble and dignified.” The entire letter is available here.

An article in the 1876, November 4th edition of the Hastings Gazette titled, “African Church Festival” might explain how a young lad of “African extraction” who grew up in Hastings was engaged as an entertainer at the Academy of Music on the campus of the U of M.

The festival was planned and supervised by Rev. William Lee, the pastor of the African Church. He was assisted by A.J. Overall, Wesley Taylor and John Foster. According to the article the event was “well attended, a large number of our best citizens being present, and contributing to the benefit of the church.” Entertainment was provided by the Jubilee Singers of Minneapolis, who provided music “of a spirited and triumphant character.” It was reported that “after the festival closed the young people were unwilling to give up, and a dance was improvised”, which lasted until five o’clock the next morning. The article does not provide the location of the hall in which the festivities were held nor is it known where the members of the African Church worshipped.

The members of the Jubilee Singers may have inspired Link to become a dancer and introduced him to those who booked entertainers for the Academy of Music. They themselves entertained at the venue through the years.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/181951067/?terms=%22Jubilee%20Singers%22&match=1

No other references to stage appearances by Link have been found. But, a court appearance was the topic of an article printed in The St. Paul Globe on December, 27, 1881. The previous day the Globe reported a “lively cutting bee, of the razor and cut-you-deep order” occurred at the corner of Fifth and Minnesota streets when Lincoln was upset by a comment made by a white man relating to a woman standing nearby. The case was continued to the 31st and Lincoln was found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon and committed for ninety days.

Lincoln Overall Newspaper Report

Following the report of this incident, newspaper articles about Link Overall were limited to notices about his Lodge memberships and business ads for his barber shop. He married Lizzie Cunningham around 1893. They had three children Clara, Lincoln, jr and Gwendolyn, who were aged 22, 15 and 12 when their mother, Lizzie, died in 1916. The following year, Lincoln, jr died at the age of 16. It seems likely that Link suffered a breakdown following the deaths of his wife and son. His obituary reported that he died October 8, 1919 at St. Peter’s Hospital in Nicollet after an illness of more than two years. His funeral was held at Pilgrim Baptist church under the auspices of Gopher Lodge, Elks, of which he was a member. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery in an unmarked grave. His daughters, Clara and Gwendolyn and sister, Nina, were his only survivors and not wealthy.

In 1900 Nina was living in St. Paul with her mother, Lucinda, who was working as a nurse. Lincoln’s 6 year old daughter, Clara, was living with them, because her baby brother, Lincoln, jr had just been born. Also living with the family was a widowed boarder, who worked as a Porter and his 18 year old daughter, who was attending school. Nina was in charge of housekeeping for the household. Her marital status was reported as widow, however, she was separated or divorced from her husband Richard Cousby.

On February 6, 1900 The St. Paul Globe, reported that Lucinda filed an action in district court against the city railway due to injuries she sustained when the street car started suddenly as she was getting off, throwing her to the ground. She asked for $10 to $100 for her injuries, mental suffering and the expenses of medical attendance. No follow up article was found so it is unknown if she received any compensation for her injuries.

It is likely that Nina helped care for her mother through this ordeal. They continued to lived together until Lucinda’s death, November 22, 1908 at the age of 74. The Appeal reported that “The funeral of Mrs. Lucinda Overall, mother of Link Overall, who died Sunday was held at Pilgrim Baptist church, on last Tuesday afternoon.. She being one of the old settlers, her funeral was largely attended and many floral tributes were laid upon her casket.”
Lucinda was survived by Nina, Lincoln, his wife Lizzie and their three children. Her remains were brought back to Hastings, where she had come as a young mother 50 years earlier. Interment was at Hastings Lakeside Cemetery in the family plot next to her husband, Andrew Jackson and three of the children who died much too young. Toward the end of her life Lucinda had been using the name Harriet, so that is the name recorded on the grave marker when it was installed in 2018.

Nina worked for a time as a machine operator and forewoman at a manufacturing firm in St. Paul, then as a dishwasher at a hospital. Following her mother’s death she lived in a rooming house in St. Paul. She took part in and donated to the Civil Rights movement. In October, 1891 she and Ignatius Donnelly from Nininger happened to attend the same rally. Donnelly wrote a letter of support to the Secretary of the Minnesota Civil Rights Committee following the talk titled “The Jim Crow Car Must Go””

Ignatius Donnelly Letter of Support

Nina was a member and leader in the Pilgrim Baptist Church. Her band, which is the same as a church circle, held successful “Musicales” with symphony music and literary readings to raise funds for the church.

She was 93 years old when she died on September 4, 1950 at Ancker Hospital in St. Paul. She is buried in Elmhurst Cemetery and her grave is marked as “Aunt.” It is possible there are living descendants of the Overall family. The search will continue to connect with them to share the history of their ancestors Andrew Jackson Overall and Lucinda Harriet Thurman.