When seven Christians united to form Columbia Baptist Church in 1856, little could they know how their Biblical justice values of abolishing slavery and ministering to those in need would affect the community of Falls Church and the larger world.  But, in those early years of church life, and down through the decades to our present day, the impact of their “spiritual DNA” would prove powerful and inspiring.

Columbia’s first preacher was Stephen Prescott Hill, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., filling the Columbia pulpit on alternate Sundays, as well as preaching to a wide variety of African American congregations.  After a year, Rev. Hill moved to Baltimore, and Rev. Hiram Read (respectfully titled “Elder Read) became Columbia’s pastor.  In 1860, Elder Read began to work for the U. S. Government and left his brother, John Read, a farmer/lay preacher, to pastor the Columbia congregation.

Just five years after Columbia was established, the American Civil War began and brought much hardship.  The new church building on Broad Street, as seen in Matthew Brady’s iconic photograph, was commandeered for a hospital, and worship services there were suspended.  However, in 1863, desiring to serve Christ and do something significant for His Kingdom, John Read, along with his wife Charlotte and daughter Lottie, established a “day school” and a “Sabbath (Sunday) school” at 121 Washington Street, a building owned by Eliza Henderson (great-great-grandmother of Edwin Henderson, founder of Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation, sponsor of the annual Music Fest in Falls Church).  Of course, teaching black children and adults (slave and free) to read and write were actions illegal in Virginia.  But, as Charlotte noted, the children were “destitute” and hungry, and so the Reads  provided food and other needs as they taught them.

Known to be a Union sympathizer and possibly a spy, John Read and an African American friend, Jacob Jackson, were abducted at night from the Read home on Broad Street by a Confederate squad of Mosby’s guerillas in 1864.  Read and Jackson were shot in the pine woods near Hunter’s Mill.  Read died instantly, but Jackson revived and returned to Falls Church to report the tragic event.  It is possible that John Read was confused with his brother Hiram, Columbia’s previous pastor, then a federal government employee, Union supporter, and informant.

John Read was buried in the cemetery at the Falls Church Episcopal Church, on the north side of the older church building.  The names and dates of Read, his wife, and daughter are visible on the single grave stone.  Detailed events of John Read’s execution are commemorated on an historical board at mile marker 13.6 on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, entitled “Terror by the Tracks.”  A plaque describing the raid in Falls Church by Mosby’s men, entitled “Living in Fear,” is located at 440 West Broad Street as part of the Virginia Civil War Trails system.

After the War, in 1865, Hiram Read, traveled west, preached, baptized hundreds, and raised funds that supported the start of two African American churches in Falls Church.  In 1868, Galloway Methodist Church was organized with Hiram Read’s assistance by Harriet Brice, a free woman of means and vision.  The church and cemetery are located on Annandale Road, near Hillwood Avenue.  In 1870, Second Baptist Church of Falls Church was organized and initially pastored by Hiram Read until the autonomous congregation could call a permanent pastor.  A church building was constructed on land owned by Eliza Henderson.  The church and cemetery are located on Costner Drive, off Annandale Road.