Charles and Mattie Jackson House
This is one of only a few houses in Stillwater that was owned by a black family in the Nineteenth Century. Lots 4, 5, and 6, Block 2 of Holcombes Addition, were purchased by Charles and Mattie Jackson on June 1, 1877. In mid-November, the couple, anxious to build their house, took out a $900 mortgage from the Stillwater Building Association, followed by a second mortgage in January, 1878, for an additional $600. Their house, with its addition in the rear, is pictured on the 1879 Birds Eye View Map of Stillwater._x000D_ _x000D_ Charles Jackson was one of the few black men in Nineteenth Century Stillwater, and his biography is quite engaging. He was born a slave in central Georgia about 1851. After the Civil War, he followed the Union Army north, and eventually ended up in St. Paul, Minnesota. While working in a livery stable in St. Paul, he met Albert Lowell, proprietor of the Sawyer House, Stillwaters grand hotel. Lowell offered him a job, and Jackson came to Stillwater to work as a barber, first for Lowell, later on his own, and at one time, as a partner with Samuel Hadley, another black barber who also lived in Holcombes Addition._x000D_ _x000D_ The 1880 U. S. Census lists the household as Charles Jackson, age 29, a barber; Mattie, his wife, age 26, born in the District of Columbia; a son, Claude, age 6; a daughter, Eva, age 3; a daughter, Lilla, age 1; and a boarder, Bernice Hadley, age 7._x000D_ _x000D_ After little more than a decade in the house, Charles and his family were forced to move out of the house when their mortgage was foreclosed. _x000D_ _x000D_ Charles Jackson, one of Stillwaters black pioneers, died in Stillwater on May 5, 1903. While there were two or three other black families in Stillwater during this period, the city was hardly an oasis of racial harmony. In keeping with the spirit of the day, the Stillwater newspapers often carried articles insulting to the Negro race. And while individual black people were tolerated, there was little kindness toward the race as a whole._x000D_ _x000D_ Over the years, the house has been altered considerably with a front porch that was added long after the original house was built. It would be considered a vernacular style house.
Charles and Mattie Jackson House
This is one of only a few houses in Stillwater that was owned by a black family in the Nineteenth Century. Lots 4, 5, and 6, Block 2 of Holcombes Addition, were purchased by Charles and Mattie Jackson on June 1, 1877. In mid-November, the couple, anxious to build their house, took out a $900 mortgage from the Stillwater Building Association, followed by a second mortgage in January, 1878, for an additional $600. Their house, with its addition in the rear, is pictured on the 1879 Birds Eye View Map of Stillwater._x000D_ _x000D_ Charles Jackson was one of the few black men in Nineteenth Century Stillwater, and his biography is quite engaging. He was born a slave in central Georgia about 1851. After the Civil War, he followed the Union Army north, and eventually ended up in St. Paul, Minnesota. While working in a livery stable in St. Paul, he met Albert Lowell, proprietor of the Sawyer House, Stillwaters grand hotel. Lowell offered him a job, and Jackson came to Stillwater to work as a barber, first for Lowell, later on his own, and at one time, as a partner with Samuel Hadley, another black barber who also lived in Holcombes Addition._x000D_ _x000D_ The 1880 U. S. Census lists the household as Charles Jackson, age 29, a barber; Mattie, his wife, age 26, born in the District of Columbia; a son, Claude, age 6; a daughter, Eva, age 3; a daughter, Lilla, age 1; and a boarder, Bernice Hadley, age 7._x000D_ _x000D_ After little more than a decade in the house, Charles and his family were forced to move out of the house when their mortgage was foreclosed. _x000D_ _x000D_ Charles Jackson, one of Stillwaters black pioneers, died in Stillwater on May 5, 1903. While there were two or three other black families in Stillwater during this period, the city was hardly an oasis of racial harmony. In keeping with the spirit of the day, the Stillwater newspapers often carried articles insulting to the Negro race. And while individual black people were tolerated, there was little kindness toward the race as a whole._x000D_ _x000D_ Over the years, the house has been altered considerably with a front porch that was added long after the original house was built. It would be considered a vernacular style house.
Posted Date
Sep 27, 2021
Source Name
Heirloom Homes and Landmark
