USA > Kansas > Kansas; a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence, Voilume I > Part 17
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From the first there were two branches of the English Baptists; those who followed the teaching of Calvin and those who adopted the the- ology of Arminius. The Arminian, or General Baptists, formed first under the leadership of John Smith, who established the first General Baptist church in London in 1611. The Calvinistic or Particular Bap- tists originated from a congregation of Separatists established in Lon- don about 1616. One of the first principles of the Baptist organizations was that the church as a spiritual body should be entirely separated from the state and that spiritual liberty be extended to all-Catholic, Jew and Protestant.
The first Baptist church in America was established at Providence, R. I., by Roger Williams. He was a minister of the Church of England, but soon after leaving the University of Cambridge adopted separatist
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principles. He sailed for America in 1630 hoping to find entire religious liberty in the new world. Landing at Boston, Mass., he was invited to preach in the established church, but refused as it was unseparated. After some time he finally located with the separatists of Plymouth col- ony. Because of his teachings, Williams became a disturbing element, and he was condemned to banishment and deportation to England in 1635. He managed to escape and made his way through the wilderness in midwinter to the Narragansett Indians of whom he bought land, upon which he founded the colony of Providence on the principle of entire civil and religious liberty. He advocated the most complete separation of church and state at a time when such ideas were almost inconceivable.
In 1639, a small band of only twelve believers originated baptism and the first Baptist church. About 1640, a Baptist church was formed at Newport, and in 1655 a church of this belief was established at Boston and maintained in spite of opposition. A colony of Welsh Baptists came to America in 1665, and after some difficulty located at Rehoboth, Mass., in 1667. By 1750 there were eight Baptist churches in New England.
The Baptists began to locate in the Jerseys and Pennsylvania after 1682, and as there was tolerance of religion a large number of Quakers and Baptists emigrated from England to these localities. In 1686 sev- eral Baptist families from Wales located on the Pemepek river, where and a year later a company organized a church. The same year a church was organized at Middletown, N. J., and by 1770, twelve such churches existed. Services were held in Philadelphia under the auspices of the Pemepek church from 1687, but the first church was not organized until 1698. The Philadelphia association was organized in 1707, and the New York colony churches sought admission to it as did the churches of Virginia and the Carolinas. Gradually the church became firmly established in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, North and South Carolina and Connecticut, and a few con- gregations were organized in Virginia. During the Revolutionary war the progress of the church was not materially checked and it is esti- mated that in 1792 there were 1,200 organizations with a membership of 100,000.
The great westward migration after the Revolution was an opportu- nity quickly improved by the Baptists. Missionary preachers were sent into the new western country and Baptist societies formed in the fringe of civilization. In 1845 differences arose over the question of slavery and the churches of the slave states formed the South Baptist conven- tion, while the northern churches organized the American Baptist Union. At different times branches have separated from the two orig- inal Baptist organizations, or new congregations have been formed until today the church includes the following bodies: Northern Baptist Con -. vention, Southern Baptist Convention, National Baptist Convention (Colored), General Six Principle Baptists, Seven-day Baptists, Free Baptists, General Baptists, Separate Baptists, United Baptists, Duck River and Kindred Associations of Baptists (Baptist Church of Christ),
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KANSAS HISTORY
Primitive Baptists, Colored Primitive Baptists in America, Two-Seed- in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists, Freewill Baptists (Bullockites), and United American Freewill Baptists (Colored).
The Baptist church was one of the first religious organizations to begin work in Kansas, for as early as 1831, Baptist missionaries were sent among the Indians. In July of that year Dr. Johnston Lykins came to the Indian Territory, "and at his own expense bought a small tract of land contiguous to the Shawnees," who were at that time located on the Neosho river. The next year, 1832, he was authorized by the Baptist board to erect mission buildings, and 1833, Lewis Cass, secretary of war, authorized him to visit various tribes west of the Mississippi river and report upon favorable sites for missionary establishments. In 1835 he was ordained, and given special charge of the Shawnees and Delawares. In June, 1837, the Ottawa Baptist mission was established about five miles northeast from the present site of the town of Ottawa, Franklin county, by Jotham Meeker and his wife, who had been missionaries to the Shawnees. In 1842, a large mission house was erected and a school established for the Indian children. The first missionary to the Potta- watomie Indians, in the territory now included in the State of Kansas, was the Baptist missionary, Robert Simerwell. In 1837, as soon as this tribe located at their new reservation on the Osage river, Mr. Simerwell and his wife located among them and when the Pottawatomies removed to their reservation on the Kansas river, the Baptist mission was estab- lished in what is now Mission township, Shawnee county. This became one of the largest and most prosperous missions in the territory. In 1840 another Baptist mission was established among the Miamis on Wea creek by David Lykins. Nearly all of the missions were maintained until the territory was thrown open to white settlement and the Indians were transferred to the Indian Territory.
When the Territory of Kansas was organized and thrown open to white settlers in 1854, most of the first immigrants were men who had belonged to churches in the east, and one of the first things they did upon establishing their homes was to organize churches where there were people enough to form congregations. Being among the first as missionaries, the Baptists were among the first to form permanent or- ganizations. Less than a year after the first settlers located in the town of Lawrence, the Baptist church was organized there by William W. Hall. The services were held in private residences and halls until 1870, when a church building was erected. The Baptists were among the pioneer religious organizations to become established in Nemaha county and probably the first sermon preached in the county was by Elder Thomas Newton, who came from Illinois in 1854. He ministered at Central City and later at Seneca. The first church society was or- ganized at Central City on Aug. 1, 1857, and the first pastor was T. R. Newton. A small church was soon erected, which was used as a school house during the week. The first religious services held by the Baptists in Doniphan was in 1855. A church was erected within a short time
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and Mr. Anderson became the first minister. As early as 1856, John Williams, a Baptist preacher, held outdoor services at Trading Post, Linn county, where a church was organized at an early date. In Shaw- nee county a church was organized at Topeka on March 1, 1857. R. M. Fish of Urburn preached until C. C. Hutchinson came as a permanent pastor on June 18, 1859. The first Baptist church in Osage county was organized on Aug. 6, 1857. During the first year the church was served occasionally by R. C. Bryant and J. B. Taylor, but no church building was erected until 1869. In Atchison a Baptist church was organized on Aug. 1, 1858, and the first minister called was a Mr. Anderson. A Bap- tist organization was formed at Manhattan, Riley county, on Aug. 14, 1858, and it was incorporated on Nov. 13, 1860, with M. L. Wisner as the first pastor. In the fall of 1858, the Tabernacle Baptist church was organized at Leavenworth by a Mr. Kermot. The First Baptist church was organized in 1860, and in 1864 the two were merged to form the Baptist church for which a building was erected in the early '6os. In Oct., 1859, a Baptist congregation of seven members, one of the pioneer religious organizations in Lyon county, was organized at Emporia by R. C. Bryant. The Baptists were the first to effect a church organiza- tion in Clay county at the Huntress' cabin, and the Clay Center church was organized in Aug., 1868, with twelve members. The first Baptist church in Miami county was started there on Feb. 25, 1860, by Elder A. H. Dean, with twenty members and became the leading church of Paola, a building being erected five years later. H. S. Tibbits organized the Baptist congregation at Hiawatha on Aug. 18, 1860, with fifteen inem- bers, and it soon began to be one of the leading religious organizations of the locality. The work of the Baptist church was started in Franklin county by the Indian mission in 1837 but the first church was organized in 1864 at Ottawa. This church adopted the New Hampshire Confes- sion of faith and held meetings in a building until a church was erected the following year. Religious services were held at Fort Scott, Bour- bon county, while it was a military post, but the Baptists did not effect an organization there until Feb. 18, 1866. In 1868 a church was organ- ized at Salina by J. R. Downer with fifteen members and a church erected within a short time. An organization was perfected in Neosho county in 1869 with seven members by Elder A. C. Bateman, who was cho-en pastor. Services were held at the Erie school house until a church was erected in 1871. Cherokee county was not opened to white settlement until 1870, when a Baptist church was organized at Columbus with twelve members on March 20, by Elder A. C. Bateman and the first pas- tor was a Mr. Maver. According to the census of 1875, there were 286 church organizations in the state, with 36 church edifices and a mem- bership of 12,197. By 1878 the organizations had increased to 334 with 69 churches and 16,083 members, and by 1890 there were 358 organiza- tions, 263 churches and 32,689 members. In 1906, the Baptist church ranked third in Kansas in number of members of all denominations both Protestant and Catholic, having 46,299 members.
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KANSAS HISTORY
Bar Association, State .- On Jan. 9, 1883, a number of the leading lawyers of Kansas met in Topeka for the purpose of organizing a state bar association. After the appointment of committees to formulate a plan for the permanent organization, an adjournment was taken until Io a. m. the next day, when the association was formed with 46 char- ter members and the following officers: "Albert H. Horton, president; N. T. Stephens, vice-president ; W. H. Rossington, secretary ; D. M. Valentine, treasurer. The objects and aims of the association, as given in the constitution, are "the elevation of the standard of professional learning and integrity, so as to inspire the greatest degree of respect for the efforts and influence of the bar in the administration of justice, and also to cultivate fraternal relations among its members."
To be eligible for membership one must have been admitted to prac- tice in the Kansas supreme court, and also have been engaged in regu- lar practice for one year next preceding his application for member- ship. In the beginning the constitution provided that the annual meet- ing should be held on the second Tuesday in January at the capitol, and that the executive council or committee might call special meet- ings at any time, giving the members thirty days' notice of such meet- ings. Subsequently the constitution was amended so that the annual meeting is held in January, upon such date as may be decided upon by the previous meeting or by the executive council. For a time two meetings a year were held.
The by-laws provide that all addresses delivered and papers read before the association shall be deposited with the secretary; that the president's annual address, the reports of committees and proceedings of the annual meeting shall be printed, but no other address shall be printed except by order of the executive council. The papers read before the association at the annual meetings have covered a wide range of subjects relating to the history, ethics and philosophy of law. Among these subjects may be mentioned: The Evolution of Law; Uniformity of State Laws; Politics and the Judiciary ; Municipal Gov- ernment ; Combinations in Restraint of Trade; The Lawyer and His Relation to Society; Legal Education ; Dramatic Art in the Jury Trial.
At the annual meeting on Jan. 11-12, 1911, at Topeka, the retiring president, C. A. Smart, of Ottawa, took for the subject of his annual address "The Establishment of Justice." The principal address at that meeting was delivered by Burr W. Jones, of Madison, Wis., whose sub- ject was "The Mal-Administration of Justice." Papers were read by A. O. Andrew, of Gardner; A. E. Crane, of Holton; C. E. Branine, of Hutchinson : J. T. Botts, of Coldwater; A. M. Harvey, of Topeka, and W. A. Mckeever, professor of philosophy in the Kansas State Agri- cultural College. Eighteen new members were admitted and the as- sociation joined in the enjoyment of the customary annual banquet.
The presidents of the association, from the time of organization to IgII, were as follows: A. H. Horton, 1883 to 1896; S. O. Thacher, 1887; W. A. Johnston, 1888; John Guthrie, 1889; Robert Crozier, 1890;
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CYCLOPEDIA OF
D. M. Valentine, 1891; T. F. Garver, 1892; James Humphrey, 1893; J. D. Milliken, 1894; H. L. Alden, 1895; David Martin, 1896; William Thompson, 1897; S. H. Allen, 1898; C. C. Coleman, 1899; Samuel Kimble, 1900; Silas Porter, 1901 ; B. F. Milton, 1902; J. G. Slonecker, 1903; W. R. Smith, 1904; Charles W. Smith, 1905; L. H. Perkins, 1906; W. P. Dillard, 1907; J. B. Larimer, 1908; J. W. Green, 1909; C. A. Smart, 1910.
At the annual meeting in 1911 the following officers were elected : President, W. E. Hutchinson, Garden City ; vice-president, J. D. Mc- Farland, Topeka ; secretary, D. A. Valentine, Topeka; treasurer, J. G. Slonecker, Topeka; executive council, R. A. Burch, B. W. Scandrett, J. J. Jones, J. D. Houston and H. A. Russell; delegates to the American Bar Association, A. W. Dana, Topeka ; J. W. Orr, Atchison, and Samuel Kimble, Manhattan.
Barber County, one of the southern tier, is bounded on the north by Pratt county, east by Kingman and Harper counties, south by the State of Oklahoma and west by Kiowa county. It was organized in 1873, from territory that was originally embraced in Washington coun- ty. The county was named for Thomas W. Barber, who was killed near Lawrence on Dec. 6, 1855. It was intended when the county was organized that it should bear the name "Barber," but in some man- ner the spelling was changed to "Barbour" and stood that way until 1883, when the legislature passed an act changing the name to "Bar- ber," its present form, according to original intention. Its area is 1,134 square miles and, according to the Kansas Agricultural reports of 1908, it then ranked 73d in population.
In the winter of 1871-2 the first white settler, a man named Griffin, located a ranch on a branch of the Medicine Lodge river, about a mile from the present site of Sun City, in the northwest part of the county. The following spring E. H. Mosley, and two men named Lockwood and Leonard, located on the Medicine Lodge river in the southeastern part of the county near the present town of Kiowa. Mosley brought with him goods for Indian trade and spent his time hunting buffalo and buying hides for the eastern market, while the other men broke some of the prairie and engaged in farming. This displeased the In- dians, who opposed white settlement in this section, and they raided the homes of the pioneer farmers. In the fight that ensued Mosley was killed, but the other two men saved themselves by remaining be- hind a stockade. The Indians left after killing most of the stock. In Oct., 1872, Eli Smith joined this settlement, and a store was opened there by a man named Hegwer in the spring of 1873. Derick Upde- graff settled on land near the present site of Medicine Lodge in Dec., 1872, and Salmon P. Tuttle drove a herd of cattle near this claim about the same time. During the year claims were taken up in the vicinity by William Walters, W. E. Hutchinson, Jake Ryan, A. L. Duncan, David Hubbard and John Beebe, while Samuel Larsh and a man named Wyncoop took up claims on Cedar creek 3 miles from the Up-
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KANSAS HISTORY
degraff ranch. Lake City, on the upper Medicine Lodge, was settled by Reuben Lake about the same time. During the spring and summer of 1873 a number of people came and the northern part of the county became settled. Ralph Duncan was the first white child born in the county, in the spring of 1873, and the first wedding took place in July, 1874, when Charles Tabor married a Miss Moore.
The first record of the county commissioners is dated July 7, 1873. The board consisted of S. H. Ulmer, L. H. Bowlus and J. C. Kilpatrick. On Sept. I the board made a contract with C. C. Bemis for a court- house to cost $25,000, and the clerk was directed to issue warrants for that amount, but the building was never erected. On Sept. 2, 1873, W. E. Hutchinson was appointed immigration agent, and warrants to the amount of $1,000 were drawn in his favor. On Oct. 6 G. W. Crane received the appointment as advertising agent and was given $5,000 or as much of that amount as was needed to advertise the advantages of the county. The first regular election of county officers took place in Nov., 1873. The vote of the Medicine Lodge district was thrown out for some reason, and the officers chosen by the remainder of the county were: M. D. Hauk, clerk; Jacob Horn, treasurer; D. E. Shel- don, probate judge; Reuben Lake, sheriff ; S. B. Douglas, superintend- ent of public instruction ; C. H. Douglas, clerk of the district court ; M. S. Cobb, register of deeds, and M. W. Sutton, county attorney. The county was divided on Nov. 7, 1873, into three districts for the election of commissioners, and on Feb. 11, 1874, a special election was held to determine the question of issuing bonds to the amount of $40,000 for the erection of a court-house. The result of the election was a ma- jority of 41 votes against the issue, but under a law of March 7, 1874, the county commissioners issued the bonds.
Indian depredations continued through the spring of 1874 and Cut- ler's History of Kansas (p. 1,521) says: "It was in the summer of 1874 that the so-called Indian raid occurred-when a band of Indians, led by a number of white men, it is alleged, came into this county and murdered several citizens up the Medicine river." For protection the citizens built stockades, one of which was erected near the center of the present city of Medicine Lodge. It was made of cedar posts set upright in the ground. Another stockade was built 12 miles up the river at Sun City, and for further protection a company of militia was formed to fight the Indians.
Barber county had but one contest for the location of the county seat-that of Feb. 27, 1876-which can hardly be called a contest, as Medicine Lodge received more votes than all the competing towns. The first school district of the county, which included Medicine Lodge, was organized in the spring of 1873, and the school building erected that year was used until 1882. Early religious services in the county were held by traveling Methodist preachers, but no regular organiza- tion was affected until 1878. The first newspaper was the Barber County Mail, which was started on May 20, 1879, by M. J. Cochran.
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It was sold the next year to J. W. McNeal and E. W. Iliff, who at once changed the name and started the Cresset. The first large body of cattle held in the county was a herd of Texas cattle brought by Solomon Tuttle in the fall of 1872, which wintered along the Medicine river. The first graded cattle were brought into the county in the spring of 1873 by William Carl, who held them on the river about 12 miles above Medicine Lodge.
The early railroad history of the county consists of one experiment. On Aug. 27, 1873, a special election was held to decide the question of subscribing $100,000 to the stock of the Nebraska & Southwestern railroad, and issuing bonds in a like amount in payment therefor. The measure was carried, the bonds were issued, and though the railroad was never built they became a valid lien against the county. At the present time the county has over 90 miles of main track road within its bounds. A line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe crosses the extreme northeast corner; another branch of the same system enters the county on the east and crosses to Medicine 'Lodge, thence north- west into Pratt county ; still another line of the same system crosses the southeast corner and runs into Oklahoma, with a branch north from Kiowa to Medicine Lodge.
The eastern part of the county is undulating and in some places. nearly level, while the western portion is hilly, breaking into bluffs along the streams. In the east the river bottoms vary from one and a half to two miles in width, but in the western part are narrower and deeper. The timber belts are usually about a half mile wide along the water courses, the native trees being walnut, elm, cottonwood, hackberry, ash, mulberry, cedar and willow. The county is a good agricultural country and stock raising is an important industry. Win- ter wheat, corn and Kafir corn are the staple products. while there are more than 50,000 bearing fruit trees on the farms of the county. Barber county is exceptionally well watered. All the streams have a general southeast course. Medicine Lodge river, the largest stream, flows diagonally across the county from northwest to southeast. Lit- tle and Big Mule, Big Sandy and Salt Fork creeks in the south, and Elm creek in the north are also important streams. Springs are abun- dant throughout the county, while good well water is reached at from IO to 12 feet on the lowlands. Soft red sandstone is abundant along the streams and an excellent quality of brick clay is found in several localities, the best being near Medicine Lodge. Gypsum is found in the central part of the county and shipped to different points.
The county is divided into the following townships: Aetna, Cedar, Deerhead, Eagle, Elm Mills, Elwood, Hazelton, Kiowa, Lake City, Mc- Adoo, Medicine Lodge, Mingona, Moore, Nippawala, Sharon, Sun City, Turkey Creek and Valley. According to the U. S. census of 1910 the population of the county was 9,916, a gain of 3,322 over 1900, and the Kansas agricultural report for the same year gives the value of farm products as $1.564,471, wheat leading, with a value of $675,094; corn second, with a value of $441,720.
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KANSAS HISTORY
Barber, Thomas W., one of the free-state martyrs in Kansas, was a native of Pennsylvania and a son of Thomas and Mary (Oliver) Barber. In the early '3os he located at Richmond, Ind., where he was engaged for some time in operating a woolen mill. Soon after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, he removed to Kansas and set- tled on a claim some 7 miles southwest of Lawrence. Being a sober, honest and industrious citizen, he made friends among his neighbors. Early in Dec., 1855, when the pro-slavery forces were threatening Law- rence, Mr. Barber decided to go to the assistance of the town. He had no family except a wife, who seems to have had a premonition of impending danger and begged him to remain at home, but he laughed at her fears and set out on horseback for Lawrence. On the morning of Dec. 6, in company with his brother Robert and Thomas M. Pierson, he started for his home, unarmed, promising to return as soon as he had arranged matters at home so as to permit his absence. When about 4 miles from Lawrence, on the California road, they saw a party of 14 horsemen approaching, two of whom rode on in advance of the others for the purpose of holding a parley with Barber and his com- panions. These two men were George W. Clark, agent of the Pot- tawatomie Indians, and a merchant of Weston, Mo., by the name of Burns. They tried to induce the Barbers and Pierson to join them, and meeting with a positive refusal, one of them drew his revolver and fired twice, mortally wounding Thomas W. Barber. He concealed the fact that he was shot until they had ridden about a hundred yards, when he informed his brother, who at first thought such a thing im- possible, but a few minutes later the wounded man was seen to reel in his saddle. His associates eased him to the ground, where a little later he breathed his last. The poet, Whittier, wrote a poem on "The Burial of Barber," beginning :
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