(birth-death dates unknown). James Overall purchased land in Corydon, Indiana, as early as 1817 before moving to Indianapolis and acquiring land in 1830. Prior to the Civil War, Indiana experienced a swell in its African American population when free persons of color migrated from other states.
Land ownership gave Overall prominence in his community, as did his work as a trustee for the African Methodist Episcopal church. He also aided escaping enslaved individuals, such as Jermain Loguen from Tennessee, who became a well-known New York abolitionist. Loguen described Overall as “an educated man, and had a large character and acquaintance among colored people; and was much respected by white ones, for his probity, industry and good sense.”
On March 18, 1836, members of a white gang led by a local resident, David Leach, came to Overall’s door carrying arms and fence rails, trying to break into the home and threatening to kill Overall and his family. Overall defended his property and family by shooting one of the white gang members.
Prominent white allies such as Indianapolis banker and abolitionist came to Overall’s aid and corroborated his testimony. Despite an 1831 Indiana law that barred Black testimony against white defendants, Overall gained legal protection from further attack, and his affidavit put Leach in jail for a short time. Leach was released on bond, pending a hearing in Marion County Circuit Court. On May 2, 1836, Overall declined to proceed with his complaint against Leach.
Public outcry about whether Overall, a Black man, could “make an oath against Leach, a white man,” prompted Marion County Circuit Court Judge William W. Wick to write a lengthy statement that was printed May 7, 1836, on the front page of the . At a time when African Americans had few civil rights, Wick ruled that Overall, and ultimately all Indiana’s free people of color, had the “natural” right to defend his family and property. But Wick’s interpretation did not hold, and African Americans in Indiana continued to be without legal recourse in cases where only Black testimony was available against a white party.
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