James H. Holmes

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James H. Holmes (December 9, 1826 – November 25, 1900) was a Baptist minister in Richmond, Virginia, who led the First African Baptist Church, one of the largest congregations in the country.

Born a slave in King and Queen County, Holmes grew up on a plantation and later worked in a tobacco factory. He was baptized in 1842. In 1846 he married a daughter of John Smith. When Smith and his wife escaped on the Underground Railroad, a letter about it pointed to Holmes, who was jailed and sold to a slave trader. He was taken to New Orleans, where he worked on the levee and became a deacon of the Second Baptist Church.

Holmes moved with his owners back toward Richmond and gained his freedom after the Civil War. He became a deacon at the First Baptist Church in Richmond in 1855, and later the pastor at the First African Baptist Church in 1867. Under his leadership the church grew into one of the largest in the nation, baptizing hundreds of people and building a new church in 1876 with a grand organ.

He was active in the community: founding the Colored Home of Richmond, helping start the Educational and Historical Association of Virginia, and baptizing Maggie L. Walker, the first Black woman to own a bank. He received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Shaw University in 1898.

Holmes married several times. His third wife, Maria Holmes, died in 1896; he later married Susanna Watkins around 1899 and had seven children with Maria. He retired in October 1900 and died November 25, 1900 in Richmond. His funeral was held at the First Baptist Church, and he was buried at Ham Cemetery (re-interred at Woodland Cemetery in 1918).