In June 1860, Malinda Hall headed the household located at the southeastern corner of Main Street and Wolfe Street. Malinda lived with three other members of the Hall family, Calvin aged 29, Martha aged 23, and Robert aged 6. Another man named William L. Newman also lived with the family, although it is unknown if he was a relative. Malinda was approximately 50 years old and worked as a washerwoman.

 

Unfortunately, information regarding Malinda's background is largely speculative. From an 1855 deed, it is known that she and Augustus Hopkins were both "heirs" of a free black man named Jonathan Hopkins. Similarly, court records show that on February 4, 1832, a white Harrisonburg resident named Archibald Hopkins filed an affadavit with the Rockingham County Court attesting to the free-born status of two African Americans known only as "Malinda" and "Augustus." The ages for these two people approximate those of Malinda Hall and Augustus Hopkins, and were likely the same people. These facts suggest that Malinda Hall and Augustus Hopkins may have been siblings. Archibald Hopkins was from a slave-owning family, and his role in filing the affadavit suggests that he may have been acting on behalf of the children of a slave that his family had previously set free. The identity of Malinda's presumed husband, and origin of her Hall surname, is unknown.

 

On July 24, 1849, Daniel Jackson, a free African American, sold his aunt Malinda her home for $1, as well as "for love and affection." Jackson was acting as the executor of the Jonathan Hopkins estate, and noted that the "small tenant house" on the property had previously belonged to Jonathan and was already occupied by Malinda at the time of sale. This information further supports a Hall-Hopkins family connection..

 

Jonathan Hopkins purchased the property in 1837, but unfortunately no record of the deed survives. The fact that the home was a "small tenant house" located near the city's northeastern boundary could be evidence that the building may have originally functioned as living space for farm laborers on an outlying farm or plantation.

 

According to historian Wilma King, washerwomen like Malinda worked labor-intensive jobs that also afforded them some degree of economic autonomy. Washerwomen often made their own soap and starch, and the process of washing, ironing, and folding clothes could take upwards of two days. Despite these conditions, washerwomen who worked out of their own homes exercised agency over the amount of patrons' clothing they washed at one time, and many operated profitable businesses.

 

Malinda died in 1868, and her property was sold off by the executor of her estate, William Peters, another possible relative. Hall's property, which impressively totaled over 8 acres by the time of her death, was purchased by De Witt C. Jones, a developer from Minnesota who tore down the tenant house and subdivided the land into housing lots. Today the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church stands at the site.