Haley Houses & Racial Diversity

Haley Houses and Racial Diversity. Hempstead Historic Neighborhood. , This has been a racially mixed neighborhood since at least 1850. In part this is due to the efforts of a passionate white abolitionist, Avillion Haley (1805-1866). In 1842 Haley purchased a tract of land occupying about half the block between Manwaring Street and High (now Garvin) Street on this side of Hempstead. By 1845 he had built several houses, which he sold to black families on generous terms to express his belief that African Americans "should be treated like other folks.", In 1842, the same year he purchased this property, Haley and William Bolles were arrested and fined for disturbing the services of the First Baptist Church by calling on the minister to open the church to anti-slavery lecturers. Haley, who ran a paint business, was by no means a wealthy man. His strong advocacy of controversial abolitionist views undoubtedly hurt his business., Other black families apparently lived in this vicinity before Haley built his houses. The addition of the five Haley houses led to the formation of a small African American neighborhood. Some of the families intermarried, and the building at 66 Hempstead developed into a social center for the black community. The present Shiloh Baptist Church had its origins there. Today, four of the Haley houses remain (Numbers 73, 77, 81 and 83 Hempstead Street). Around the corner at 89 Hempstead resided Elias Jennison, a successful African American butcher and meat dealer. Built by Jennison in 1876, the house was restored by New London Landmarks, Inc., a local historic preservation group.