[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 132 (Thursday, September 17, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2307-E2308]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN RECOGNITION OF THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF LAUREL GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 17, 2009

  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
the 125th Anniversary of the Laurel Grove Baptist Church and to 
celebrate the triumph of human spirit that this church symbolizes.
   Before the Civil War, Mrs. Jane Carroll, who was a slave of Dennis 
Johnston, received 10 acres of land from the estate of her owner. From 
these humble beginnings, a small but vibrant African American community 
developed.
   In the mid 1800's, George Carroll, one of Jane Carroll's children, 
along with Thornton Gray and William Jasper, settled in what is now 
known as Franconia. These three men had been enslaved or were the 
direct descendents of those who had been enslaved in the Franconia area 
since the 1700's. The community that they founded became known as 
Carrolltown.
   Carrolltown grew. Freed slaves settled there, bringing the talents 
and skills that form a community. A general store sprung up. A school 
was founded, the Laurel Grove Colored School, on land donated by 
William and Georgeanna Jasper. But there was no house of worship in the 
town. The people of Carrolltown had to worship in their homes or walk 
13 miles to the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria City.
   In 1884, a group of freed slaves and neighbors named George Carroll, 
Middleton Braxton, Thornton Gray, Laurenda Huntger, Elizabeth Lomax and 
William and Georgeanna Jasper, joined together in the quest to build a 
local place of worship. On May 10, 1884, William and Georgeanna Jasper 
donated a one-half acre parcel of land for the express purpose of 
building a house of worship adjacent to the Laurel Grove Colored 
School. This church became the Laurel Grove Baptist Church and has been 
known by many as ``The Little Church by the Side of the Road''.
   Since that time, over the course of 125 years, the Laurel Grove 
Baptist Church has ministered to neighbors, friends and descendents of 
the original founders and the community as a whole. Laurel Grove 
Baptist Church has stood witness to the history of African Americans in 
the United States. From the bondage of slavery, to the struggle for 
equal rights to the election of the first African American President, 
the spirit and faith of the African American community has been 
represented by the existence of the Laurel Grove Baptist Church. The 
determination of the congregants, past and present, has been symbolic 
of the fight for freedom, equality, fairness and respect.

[[Page E2308]]

   Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating 
Laurel Grove Baptist Church on the occasion of its 125th Anniversary 
and also in expressing our deepest respect and admiration for the 
triumph of spirit that is symbolized by this ``Little Church by the 
Side of the Road''.

                          ____________________