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WASHINGTON CHRISTIAN (1776-1850)

Washington Christian was born into slavery in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the year 1776. He escaped to the northern States, became a Christian, joined the membership of the African Baptist Church in Philadelphia PA, and became a preacher of the Christian faith serving in various African-American contexts for a period of six years from approximately 1826 to 1832. His ordination occurred at the Abyssinian Baptist Church of New York in 1829.

Frustrated with the lack of progress with regards to emancipation he made the decision to remove to Canada, likely arriving sometime in 1832. Here he joined the March Street Baptist Church of Toronto by 1833. However, in 1834, he left the church, and along with several others, founded the first black Baptist Church in the city. The church affiliated with the Haldimand Baptist Association in 1835. In 1837, the congregation secured longterm rented facilities in Richmond Street, where it met for a period of four years. In 1841, the church erected their own building on the northeast corner of Lot, now Queen, and Victoria streets. From 1842 to 1843, Christian was in Jamaica on behalf of his church and succeeded in raising funds from Baptist congregations to offset the chapel’s debt. In 1845, the deed of ownership was transferred to the congregation, the trust deed listing four trustees with lifelong terms and an official name for the congregation: First Coloured Calvinistic Baptist Church.

Christian continued to minister to the church until 1847, when he was effectively removed as pastor by a majority of the trustees with whom he lost support. In 1848, Christian was appointed as the agent for the Amherstburg Baptist Association. He continued in this capacity for a period of two years, his death occurring in 1850, in Toronto. He was buried in the Potters Field, and later reinterred in the Necropolis Cemetery.

<Tomlinson, Glenn V. Washington Christian (1776-1850) & The Dissolution of the Dividing Wall (2021).