Anderson became pastor and for seven years labored for the
good of his church. During his ministry in Washington the church added
to its membership a thousand or more, chiefly as the result of the
additions to this city from the Negro population of the ex-slaves of
the South. But D. W. Anderson, as a man of great heart, labored for
all Washington. Under his leadership the Metropolitan and Vermont
Avenue Baptist churches were organized. The Nineteenth Street Baptist
Church building which had been altered and improved from time to time,
before his pastorate, was demolished and a new edifice erected in
1871. In 1872, D. W. Anderson passed to his reward and the church
erected a marble shaft in the Harmony Cemetery to mark the place
where his remains lie.

Anthony Binga, Sr., of Canada, followed D. W. Anderson, but his
pastorate was short. His successor was Jesse Boulden, of Mississippi,
who occupied the pulpit for about four years. During his pastorate
thirty members withdrew, and formed the Berean Baptist Church.
Sometime before this, the Salem Baptist Church had been constituted
with members from the churches of which Anderson, Binga and Boulden
had been pastors.[16]

The pastorate of Dr. Walter H. Brooks is the outstanding one in the
history of the church, extending from November 12, 1882, until the
present writing, the third decade of the twentieth century. During his
ministrations more than 3,500 have joined the church, 1,500 of whom
were personally baptized by him. The financial condition of the church
places it among the best managed churches in the country, although it
has at times assumed heavy obligations in making improvements and in
rebuilding. During the pastorate of Dr. Brooks a number of ministers
and preachers have gone forth from the Nineteenth Street Baptist
Church. Dr. J. L. Dart, the founder of an important education and
missionary work in South Carolina, was ordained at this church. Dr.
James R. L. Diggs, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, and head of
important educational work in Baltimore, is of this congregation,
having been baptized and ordained by Dr. Brooks. E. E. Rick, of
Newark, N. J., was ordained from the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church.
James L. Pinn is a product of this body, and Dr. Brooks was
influential in securing for him his first charge. John H. Burke,
pastor of Israel Baptist Church, came up under Dr. Brooks, as did also
Joseph Lee, of Arlington, Virginia, and James L. Jasper, of B