The burning of Brown’s Chapel African Methodist Episcopal in Hastings

In the 1880s, most of Hastings’ black community attended the Methodist Episcopal Church on Vermillion Street. However, they were not always welcomed by the white members of the congregation. One particularly disturbing incident involved the christening of James and Ella Carey’s children. During the ceremony, the youngest child of a white local judge shouted a racial slur as the couple brought their children down the aisle. Whether this was unusual or the final straw in a series of indignities, the incident motivated the Curry family to begin organizing other members of the black community to create a church of their own.

On October 11, 1890, the Curries and some of their neighbors gathered for worship at the Fourth Street home of John and Nancy Wallace. Rev. JC Anderson of AME of West St. Paul attended the meeting and honoring the new congregation on behalf of church leaders at AME National Headquarters in Philadelphia. Thereafter the members elected James Wallace (Jr.) as their chapter leader and John Wallace (Sr.) as treasurer and James Carey as their secretary. They continued to meet in private homes until late 1891, when they began renting rooms upstairs from the Hanson Brothers store. At the same time, they actively sought funding from each other to achieve their goal of purchasing a house of worship for their family. In late 1891 an opportunity arose to purchase a 24 by 36 foot white framed church at the corner of Fifth and Sibley Streets for $500. Group members pledged what they could afford to achieve their goal of raising $200 as a down payment. Rev. Anderson explained in a letter to a newspaper editor Hastings Gazette On December 26, 1891, “Experience has taught us the necessity of having a place of our own, where we can be in a permanent position and worship God according to the dictates of our conscience without shame or fear.”

A July 16, 1892 article declared, “Preparations are under way for the opening of Brown’s Church. Three services are scheduled. The Methodist Church Choir will sing in the afternoon, and the Voices of the Twin Cities will engage in the morning and evening. The Rev. J.B. James of Minneapolis, a native of Haiti, will perform.” , by giving sermons during the day. The people of Hastings, whatever their religious opinion may be, are invited and cordially invited to attend.”

With financial support and assistance from both black and white communities, the Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church became a reality and opened on Sunday, October 17, 1892. For years afterward, it was a center of religious and social activities for blacks in the area, with many weddings and funerals taking place there. Former residents of Hastings visited the church after leaving it, attesting to their enduring ties to the community.

Two years after the fire, it was reported that Brown’s Chapel had been sold to Graus Lumber for $300. The Methodist Episcopal Church continued to operate, as the Carey family were subjected to racial slurs during their children’s baptisms. In 1925, her pastor served as chaplain to the local Ku Klux Klan.

The black population of Hastings was 35 in 1900 and has declined dramatically every decade thereafter. The death in 1954 of the city’s last black resident left Hastings all white for the remaining half-century.

Author James Carey is the great-grandson of James and Ella Carey. He has worked on numerous projects in Los Angeles and Minneapolis as well as in broadcasting, currently for KSTP.

For more information on this topic, check out original entry on MNopedia.