Rev. READ served as pastor of the First Methodist Church of New Virginia 1868. According to Clyde WRIGHT who wrote "Buckeye Prairie and Three River Folk" Rev. READ came to New Virginia in 1854 and was the second largest land owner in the township. (Source: First Methodist Church Of New Virginia, written by A. E. SAYRE, copied from the History of Warren County, Iowa, by Gerard SCHULTZ and Don L. BERRY, The Record and Tribune Company, Indianola, Iowa, 1953, pages 119-151)