A history of the Church of the brethren in Kansas

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CQEXRIGHT DEPOSIT.

Introduction

History is one of our most important sciences. During the last fifty years the science of History has come into its place as one of our most valuable assets. We now realize that only as we know the history of nations, movements, organizations, and peoples, can we understand their nature, their significance, and their probable direction and end. We do not expect to understand anything today without going into its history. This is true of the various sciences, philosophy, and art, as well as the modern human institutions. History is the key to the understanding of life, and therefore to the solution of our human problems. All our moral and ethical problems rest upon history, and our religious ideas and forms have an historical background, the knowledge of which is necessary to make them intelligible and vital.

It is most fortunate that a number of men have lately taken in hand the task of writing the history of the Church of the Brethren in the various districts and sections of the country before it is too late. Soon the pioneers will pass away and in many cases, since church records are often inadequate, their passing will entail an irretrievable loss. Professor Craik has done an incalculable service to the church to write the history of the Brethren in Kansas just in time to verify and clarify the most vital facts by consultation with the pioneers who are going yonder so rapidly. If this work had been begun a few years later, its value would be very much lessened. It is my hope that each new history that is produced will inspire some one in other districts to take up the task before it is too late.

Furthermore, Professor Craik has a unique fitness for this task. A native of Kansas, he has an abiding interest in this state. He has the instinct of the scholar and is one of the most painstaking men I ever knew in his zeal for accuracy and completeness. Every fact recounted in this splendid history has been verified from

INTRODUCTION 7

many angles and the whole scope of historical resources has been exhausted that he might give incontestable facts — real history.

But history is infinitely more than a chronology of facts. It is an interpretation of life, of the real currents of human thought and action, and therefore the historian must carefully evaluate facts and select those that are vital to a true interpretation of human achievement. With this rare and valuable talent our author is richly endowed. By instinct and training he has the gift of presenting to us the Brethren of the past as though they were living before our eyes. Just as national history is essential to develop patriotism, so the history of the Brethren, the pioneers, those splendid self-sacrificing saints who builded our churches, will promote loyalty to the Church and foster a greater zeal to promote her ideals. It is very important that we teach more history and that we should acquaint our children with the noble saints of the past so that they will have a growing admiration for the church that we love.

Professor Craik has not written this book in the spirit of simply presenting cold facts, but his love and loyalty to the church glows with the missionary spirit. He has labored patiently and hard and has gone to great expense that he might do a real service to the church and the Kingdom. I am sure that it will add interest to the reader to know of his fine devotion to the great Cause, and that added to his native ability and his excellent training for the work, his real fitness was possible because he loves and serves the church whose history he writes.

Professor Craik was born near the village of Marietta, in Marshall county, Kansas, on March 7, 1886. He is the oldest son (and only living son) of David J. and Mary (Rink) Craik. The father, now deceased, was of Scotch-English origin and the mother is German. The author's education was begun in the Marysville, Kansas, schools, but continued in schools in and about Adrian, Mo., to which place the family moved in 1893. At the age of fifteen he went to Tonkawa, Okla., where his parents had moved, and here in 1902, he entered the newly established University Preparatory School, from which, however, he did not graduate. It was here that he received his inspiration to become a teacher. He taught school two years in Oklahoma. The death of his father on April 17, 1906, threw the responsibility of supporting a mother and two sisters upon his shoulders.

His burning desire to enter college culminated when, on September 6, 1907, he arrived in McPherson, where in a few days he registered as a college freshman. His studies were largely along classical lines. On December 1, 1907, during a revival held by T. S. Moherman, he professed Christ and was baptized by Frank H. Crumpacker, now of China. He has always taken much interest in church activities. On May 27, 1910, he was graduated from McPherson College with the degree Bachelor of Arts. The following September he took charge of the department of Latin and Greek in his alma mater. Later the Greek was dropped and he taught German.

Desiring further preparation, in 1915 he secured a leave of absence and entered the graduate school of the University of Kansas, as a fellow in History. He spent two whole years in study, supplementing this, however, with summer work done in 1911, 1913, and 1916. In June, 1916, he was granted the degree of Master of Arts by the University. He was granted the degree Doctor of Philosophy by the University on June 5, 1922. His dissertation is entitled "Southern Interest in Territorial Kansas." He is a member of the American Historical Association, the American Political Science Association, and the Mississippi Valley Historical Association.

On September 7, 1910, Professor Craik was united in marriage with Miss Elva Rosetta Miller, of Lone Star, Kansas, a former student of McPherson College. They are the parents of two sons, David Warren and Eldon Lionel, and one daughter, Lois Laurene.

June, 1922. D. W. Kurtz

Foreword

The present work is the result of a preliminary study of Brethren history in Kansas carried on in the historical seminar of the University of Kansas during the scholastic year 1915-1916, which study satisfied the research requirement of that institution for the degree Master of Arts. Thru an examination of the files of the church periodicals and by means of correspondence the sources were opened up to such a degree that a more extended and more intensive treatment of the subject seemed the logical consequence. The thesis was therefore made the basis of the work in hand. Many errors occurring therein have been corrected, unnecessary introductory matter has been eliminated, and many details of interest chiefly to the Brethren have been introduced.

The purpose has been to include a creditable sketch of every congregation that has ever existed in the state — a plan which, it is felt, has been largely realized. Considerations of relative importance and the availability of data have largely determined the length of the various congregational sketches. Thousands of pages of source material have been consulted. Biographical material has been selected with great care and discrimination. Recognizing the high merit of the biographies in "Some Who Led" and "Thirty-Three Years of Missions", the author's policy has been to exclude details of all sketches which properly belong here but which are so well done in those works. This is done in the interest of economy of space and thanks are hereby tendered the authors of those works for the use of such data as has been taken. Lack of space has also necessitated the cutting down of material in several instances. The question of omitting certain facts has been as serious a problem as that of collecting facts. More cuts would have been desirable had not the cost been an obstacle.

The author has experienced many of the disappointments common to students in historical research everywhere. He wishes to add his testimony to the already abundant evidence of the altogether too prevalent indifference of the Church of the Brethren to her own history. He disavows any intention to omit salient facts in the story told in this book and the responsibility for any serious omissions must for obvious reasons be partially borne by others. Destroyed records, negligent correspondents, treacherous memories, and lack of interest in answering questionnaires, have hindered the progress and speed of an undertaking made possible only by the genuine historical insight and enthusiasm of a chosen few. Their cooperation has indeed been commendable. A list of all who have contributed information to the following pages would be unfair by reason of its necessary incompleteness, but the gratitude of the author is none the less deep and sincere.

I am under lasting obligations to numerous of my friends for material aid and encouragement in the preparation of this volume. The aid of several colleagues on the faculty of McPherson College has been inspiring. President D. W. Kurtz, A. M., D. D., and Professor W. O. Beckner, A. M., have read the manuscript and have given timely and helpful advice in the selection of material. Mrs. Amanda Fahnestock, A. B., B. D., long identified with the college, has read and criticized the chapter dealing with the history of McPherson College. Miss Edith McGaffey, A. M., professor of English, has read carefully the manuscript with a view of correcting grammatical and rhetorical errors. Isaac D. Gibbel of Carthage, Mo., has facilitated the labor of securing data by donating to the Carnegie Library of McPherson College rather complete files of the various Brethren publications dating back to 1851. 1 count myself fortunate to have had the late D. L. Miller and that veteran school-man, S. Z. Sharp, inspect the manuscript.

Although in some respects the work was begun too late, material in abundance is to be found, but it will require long and patient effort to bring it to light. The present task represents the serious endeavor of over four years. Accuracy of statement has been sought thru the medium of a voluminous correspondence carried on with

FOREWORD 11

persons living all over the United States. The writing of this book has been a labor of love thruout, and the author, writing amid the exacting duties of teaching, will experience his chief satisfaction in having placed at the disposal of the public a reasonably authoritative history, prepared for the humble purpose of preserving for those to come after us a record of which none may be ashamed. With the hope that a perusal of its pages may serve as a source of information, inspiration, and encouragement to the reader and with a prayer that it may tend to magnify the cause of the church we love, this book is sent forth by

The Author

College Hill, McPherson, Kansas.

June 18, 1922.

Chapter I. The Beginnings (1s55-1s61)

IT was in territorial days that the Church of the Brethren 1 made its advent into Kansas. While there were perhaps a very few members in Jefferson county, possibly several in Jackson county, and certainly one in Douglas county before 1855, it was not until that year that we have definite information regarding their presence. Brethren immigration to Kansas began with the coming of the Ulrich party, which was destined to be the nucleus of the Cottonwood congregation in Lyon (then Breckenridge) county.

Jacob Ulrich was a well-to-do farmer living in the Nettle Creek church near Richmond, Indiana. He had extensive holdings in both Wayne and Henry counties. Previous to 1855 he had made perhaps two trips to Kansas Territory, being, as one of his sons describes him, a sort of natural rover. His objective was eastern Kansas but on one of these trips he came as far west as Fort Riley. Disposing of his Indiana property early in 1855, Brother Ulrich headed a caravan of eleven wagons bound for Kansas. The other members of the party were : Aaron Eller and family, I. B. Hoover and family, William Rafe and family, Daniel Holsinger and family, Henry Messenheimer and family, the Evans family, and David Longanecker, an unmarried man. The Evans family stopped off in Illinois about fifty miles east of St. Louis, while the rest turned their faces resolutely toward the west. The route took them thru Indianapolis, Terre Haute, St. Louis and Kansas City (then Westport.) They arrived in Westport Oct. 20, 1855, and decided to spend the winter where comforts of life were easier obtained than they were on the Kansas side. Accordingly, they took up temporary

1. Thruout this work the name "Church of the Brethren" is used although in some instances the older form, "German Baptist Brethren", is necessary.

residence at Wyandotte, doing all their trading at Parkville, ten miles up the Missouri river.

It appears that while waiting here at Wyandotte Jacob Ulrich went out to Ozawkie to see his cousin Jacob Brown relative to the prospect of securing land, but the trip was fruitless, since there was no chance to make use of float titles in that locality. So in March, 1856, the immigrants started out on the old Santa Fe trail for Breckenridge county, where, thru the agency of Peter Ikenberry, also from Indiana, they found a favorable location. The float titles were used to secure for Ulrich two sections of good Wyandotte Indian land, ten miles southwest of the site of present-day Emporia. Daniel Ulrich, a son of Jacob, was present when the first load of material was unloaded preparatory to erecting the first building in Emporia. The other members of the Ulrich party settled in the vicinity of the future city.

Theirs was the usual lot of the frontiersman, but they went to work with a will. Their spiritual welfare was not neglected, for in that very summer (1856) the first congregation of the Church of the Brethren to be organized in Kansas was established under the name of the Cottonwood church. The charter members were : Jacob Ulrich and wife, I. B. Hoover, Peter Ikenberry, Gabriel Jacobs, wife and daughter, and David Longanecker. The first sermon preached by a Brethren minister was delivered in the summer of 1856, by Gabriel Jacobs, late of Delaware county, Ind., who had that spring taken a claim twelve miles south of Emporia. The first love feast was celebrated at Jacob Ulrich's home in December, 1856.

The location in Breckenridge county, however, did not prove to be altogether satisfactory. The ague became a disturbing feature, and as the closest physician lived fifty miles distant, considerations of health dictated a move. The Ellers and Messenheimers went to Iowa, the Ulrichs went to Douglas county, while the Holsingers remained where they first located. The first bit of correspondence from Kansas to be found in the Gospel Visitor is from the pen of Jacob Ulrich. He writes Dec. 30, 1856:

There are but a few members here and only one laborer in the Word. He holds meeting every four weeks in rotation. His name is

THE BEGINNINGS 15

Gabriel Jacobs. We now live on Cottonwood (river), twenty miles south of Council Grove; but we intend, God willing, by the first of March to move eight miles south of Lawrence to a place called Hickory Point, near the Santa Fe road. This is a pleasant and fertile country, the climate mild and good for a prairie country, and it is hoped that peace, one of the greatest comforts and blessings of this world, is once more restored in Kansas; this is the general belief here.

One has but to reflect that the Brethren entered Kansas during a period of violence to realize that peace was at this time much longed for. The Wakarusa war ended in December, 1855, but that was not the end of the struggle, for on May 21, 1856, Sheriff Jones entered and sacked the town of Lawrence and three days thereafter John Brown perpetrated the famous Pottawatomie massacre. Genuine border warfare set in for a period of about four months, — Missourians against Kansans, proslavery men against free-state men. Any history of the state will set forth the details of this period to the satisfaction of the reader. Suffice it to say that the arrival of Governor Geary, third territorial executive, betokened the restoration of order, and after September, 1856, lawlessness for some time subsided.

The subsequent history of the Cottonwood church will be sketched elsewhere. It is a checkered history. It strikes one as pathetic that this, the first congregation in the state, should have long since become decadent. We must now relate a few facts respecting the second congregation in the state, viz., Washington Creek.

Once settled south of Lawrence about eight miles, Jacob Ulrich became the prime mover in organizing the few members who either came with him from Cottonwood or had come directly to Douglas county. Among the newcomers was Elder Abraham Rothrock, late of the state of Pennsylvania, who had been attracted to Kansas by Bro. Ulrich's articles in the church paper, and who became the first elder of the Brethren in the state. Prior to the organization, services were held in the Ulrich school house. The organization occurred in the year 1858 in Stephen Studebaker's log house about four miles southwest of the present Pleasant Grove church. There were twelve members: Abraham Rothrock and wife, Stephen Studebaker and wife, Daniel Studebaker and wife, Daniel Keeny and wife, Jacob Markley and wife, Isaac B. Hoover, David Kinzie. At this first meeting the first election was held among the Brethren in Kansas, Daniel Studebaker being elected to the ministry and Isaac B. Hoover to the deacon's office. Brother Rothrock was chosen elder in charge. The first strictly accurate date we have concerning any meeting in the state is May 22, 1859, when a love feast was held at the home of Jacob Ulrich, south of Lawrence. A further account of the Washington Creek church, one of the most important in Kansas, will be found among the sketches of the various congregations.

One other congregation was organized in Kansas before the Civil War broke out. The Wolf River church in Doniphan county dates back at least to September, 1859, when the first love feast was held in that congregation. Its history was destined to be more or less tumultuous. It passed out of existence in 1900. During the Civil War one congregation of real importance was established, viz., the Grasshopper Falls (Ozawkie) church; 1862 was the year, but no one remembers the exact date. It has enjoyed a quiet career and today ranks as one of the leading churches in Northeastern Kansas.

But hard times came early upon the Kansas Brethren. The year 1860 brought a failure of crops because of the drought. Conditions in Douglas county are described thus :

We have had no rain to moisten the ground over four inches for one year. Sometime this week we had one shower. In February we had one; in May another; in August perhaps three or four smaller showers merely to start the eaves to drop. We had no snow to cover the ground last winter. Thus from the Kansas River to the South line of Kansas and as much further as we have heard from the drought is severe. The balance of the territory is a failure. Wheat has heretofore yielded productively; this year the 20th bushel sown is not harvested. The winds blew from the South regularly through July and August and some days were too hot for any human being to

be out There are perhaps 40 to 50 Brethren families in Kansas.

Some have funds to buy with until harvest, others are out of funds

now There has been wheat sent from Wayne county, Indiana, but

the freight and commission are $2.00 per 100 weight, and in some cases more, which is near what the price of wheat is in Kansas City.

JOHN HUMBAEGAR GEO. W. STUDEBAKER J. P. HARSHBARGER

M. M. ESHELMAN JONAS DeHAVEN J. L. SWITZER

L. E. FAHRNEY J. A. ROOT ALLEN IVES

JESSE STUDEBAKER SAMUEL EDGECOMB GEO. E. STUDEBAKER

1 think I may say that one-fourth of the land in Kansas

is under mortgages to Eastern speculators, and these mortgages will be due next spring and to purchase the land at a low price would be doing the present owners a favor and prevent it from falling into the hands of the speculators. The water in Kansas is very low. But each neighborhood has plenty for house use. 1

The drought began in June, 1859, and from then until November, 1860, it was intense. There were perhaps 100,000 people in the territory when it began to cease raining and of these fully 60,000 would need help. During the fall of 1860, 30,000 settlers forsook their claims and left Kansas. Charity was necessary for the 30,000 who remained on their claims. 2

Bishop Henry Kurtz, editor of the Gospel Visitor, in commenting upon Bro. Ulrich's letter, quoted in extenso above, suggested that the needy in stricken Kansas thru their respective church organizations appoint committees to receive and distribute aid. No doubt it was due to this suggestion that the Washington Creek church, southwest of Lawrence, authorized Elder Abraham Rothrock to solicit aid in the East and published in the Gospel Visitor a statement of that fact properly signed by the local church officials. Elder Rothrock left home on Oct. 9, 1860, to solicit funds not only for his own brethren but for his deserving neighbors as well. The details of his trip are not available, but his itinerary included the churches of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He went as far East as Philadelphia. He remarked that he found people willing far beyond his expectation to contribute to the needy in Kansas. Returning by way of Pittsburg and St. Louis he arrived home on Dec. 30, 1860.

This trip of Elder Rothrock together with the frequent appeals of Editor Kurtz and personal appeals of the suffering brought a ready response from the East. The same issue of the Gospel Visitor which gave an account of Rothrock's trip reported an offering of $216.74 from the Tuscarawas church, Ohio, to Jacob Ulrich in behalf of the needy near Lawrence. By the time of the February issue of the paper this fund for Western relief had mounted to $300. Editor Kurtz received these donations and sent

1. Jacob Ulrich in G. V., Sept. 13, 1S60.

2. Anna E. Arnold, A History of Kansas, pp. 10G-107.

THE BEGINNINGS 19

them on to Kansas, giving due credit in his paper. In March, 1861, reports showed that $750 had been expended.

The Brethren in the East felt moved, perhaps because of certain rumors, to investigate conditions in Kansas by sending representative men along with their donations. In the spring of 1861, David Frantz and William Gibson of Cerro Gordo, 111., were sent by their home congregation to take grain seed to Kansas. They took 600 bushels of corn, wheat, oats, and potatoes, and also 300 pounds of garden seed of all kinds, collected by the women of Illinois. Early in April they reached Lawrence, but seemingly left only thirteen bushels of their cargo here. Where the rest was distributed does not appear, but the same day they arrived in Lawrence four two-horse teams loaded with wheat and corn came from another direction. In less than four days all this was gone and more was wanted. There was great demand for spring garden seeds. It seems that Gibson and Frantz were rather "spying out the land" as a possible mission field, for while in Kansas they held fifteen meetings — all well attended — and reported conditions favorable for missionary activity.

The Kansas Brethren considered themselves greatly favored during these trying times when Bishop Henry Kurtz, editor of the Gospel Visitor, made a special visit to the new state in order to see for himself the real condition of affairs. On May 9, 1861, at a church council in Middle Pennsylvania, after depicting the sufferings of the Kansas people and securing the promise of aid, he announced his intention of going in person to Kansas. An offering taken at the time placed $30 in his hands at once. On May 16, 1861, he issued his "last appeal" thru the monthly Visitor and was soon thereafter headed for the West. On May 24, he wrote home from Lawrence telling of his experiences. On May 25, Elder Kurtz preached at the Ulrich home. The next day he spoke at the Washington Creek school house six miles southwest of Ulrich's. Of this latter meeting he said : "The school house, a very primitive building (cabin) was filled to the utmost capacity and surrounded by a crowd. The teacher's desk at which we were placed was of such a rickety fashion (a piece of board with four pins underneath for legs) that we were afraid to lean on it or lay our staff aside." This log school house was the second school building erected in Douglas county. Elder Kurtz's sermons were well received and made a great impression on the people of the community. His report was to the effect that he found fine prospects for crops and that there were very few cases of absolute want or distress. The crisis had now passed.

To correct a rumor that Kansas was subject to frequent droughts, C. Shank made this statement in the Gospel Visitor (Jan. 1861) : "Let us judge by the past, and the testimony we have from Indians and Missourians extends back nearly thirty years, and it is entirely against such a conclusion: they agree on all sides that such as the present failure of crops has not been known."

On July 15, 1861, Christian Shank of Lawrence rendered an account of his stewardship as clerk of the distributing committee in Douglas county. Most of the produce that had been shipped came from Illinois, — four shipments in all. Just how much money was sent is hard to determine. Shank placed the amount at $8,500, about a quarter of which was reported thru the Gospel Visitor. Abraham Rothrock was credited with having collected $500 during the winter of 1860-1861. But other accounts have it that Jacob Ulrich handled a total of $14,000 for the Kansas sufferers. 1 The Gospel Visitor received, according to a report published in July, 1863, a total of $2,289.33 for western relief. Illinois led in the giving, followed closely, however, by Indiana and Ohio.

That the aid was distributed without regard to color or creed was perhaps largely due to Brethren Rothrock and Ulrich. This was preeminently the fair thing to do, since the contributions were given by people of varying shades of belief. Nothing was received from Pomeroy and the General Aid Committee.

Two men — one a deacon and one at this time a layman — figured prominently in these trying times. More than any other man Jacob Ulrich put Kansas "on the map" as

1. One of his sons made this statement to the author.

THE BEGINNINGS 21

far as the Brethren were concerned. Born in Roaring Spring, Pa., in 1800, he early emigrated to Dayton, Ohio, and later to Wayne county, Indiana, locating near Richmond. His coming to Kansas has already been described. As already noted, however, he was not the first member in Douglas county, for while attending a Fourth of July celebration at Clinton in 1857 he met David Kinzie, who doubtless had that distinction. Henceforth these two men were warm friends. Jacob Ulrich was widely known in the community, and being a man of affairs was once urged by his friends to run for a seat in the legislature. He was an intimate friend of "Old Jakie" Branson, an Indianan, now living at Hickory Point, and a conspicuous figure in the Wakarusa War. Ulrich was also a friend of "Jim" Lane and often had the distinguished senator at his hospitable board. He was the mainstay of the Brethren in the famine of 1860. He was a man of influence and being a facile writer often wrote for the columns of the Gospel Visitor. Thus Kansas was constantly kept before the readers of that paper. It was his writing which induced Gabriel Jacobs to move from Indiana to the Cottonwood church in 1856, and Abraham Rothrock to leave Pennsylvania to become a resident of Douglas county in the same year.

One of the wealthiest and most influential Brethren in Kansas for many years was John C. Metsker of Marion township, Douglas county. He was a son-in-law of Jacob Ulrich. A native of Indiana, he came to Kansas with his family in September, 1859, and settled fourteen miles southwest of Lawrence. Here he lived until his death. Many times he proved himself to be the "friend indeed," and many times he came to the rescue of the finances of the church. At one time he was the largest taxpayer in Douglas county, being in possession of 2,100 acres of land. He spared neither time nor money in caring for the work of the church he loved. He was one of three brothers who settled near the Washington Creek church before the Civil War. Many descendants of these three men still reside in the community.

Chapter II. Civil War Times (1861-1865)

THE troublous days of the border warfare apparently brought little discomfort to the Brethren in Kansas. They were few in number and inconsequential in politics. It was generally known, of course, that they were strongly opposed to the institution of slavery. It happened, moreover, that most of the members settled in free-state communities.

In the spring of 1856 Jacob Ulrich was called on a business errand to his old home in Indiana. A wave of disorder set in before his return. It was just before the Wakarusa War. When he reached Kansas City on the return he was warned of the danger to be incurred across the border, and by advice of government authorities he took passage with the mail carrier who carried between Kansas City and Emporia. All went well until the two reached Bull Creek, where Ulrich's horses gave out, and acting upon the suggestion of the mail carrier, he looked up "Old Jakie" Branson of Hickory Point, just north of the present town of Baldwin. Being a stranger in the community he was able to find the Branson cabin only thru a government soldier stationed not far from the house. When the soldier and Ulrich caught sight of each other there was mutual trepidation, but upon drawing nearer together the former, noting the patriarchal appearance of the good deacon, said : "Ha, grandpa ; you're not dangerous." .