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 41
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In 1831 a union of the Washington and Cane Ridge churches was effected which was the beginning of an era of great progress and expan- sion of the Christian church. In 1900 there were 10,000 churches with 1,250,000 communicants in the United States. The largest and strongest bodies of this organization are found in the newer states of the west and southwest; Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio having the largest number of members. The first work of the Christian church in Kansas was begun during the early '6os, though services were held at
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Centropolis, Franklin county, as early as 1858. One of the first organ- izations was established at Holton, Jackson county, July 13, 1862, by Mr. and Mrs. Allen, B. Scholes and three others. The first services were held in the court-house by Elder A. J. Francis but no building was erected until ten years later. A Christian church was organized at Erie. Neosho county, in the spring of 1869 by C. F. Stauber, though services had been held previous to that time by George Booth. The same year a church was organized at Ottawa by Warren Skells. In 1869, the Christians organized in Jefferson county and erected a church within a short time after. A year later a church was organized at Girard. Craw- ford county, with 25 members who held services in a school house unti! 1871, when a church building was erected. Cherokee county was opened to white settlement in 1870, and in October of that year a Christian church was organized there with 40 members by J. A. Murray. There were a few Christians among the early settlers of Shawnee county. They met in a hall at Topeka under the leadership of elders, with an occasional evangelist, until 1870, when an organization was perfected and J. W. Mousen called as the first pastor. At Fort Scott, Bourbon county, a church was started in the fall of 1871 by Dr. Franklin of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, with 10 members. In 1876 a church was started at Hiawatha, Brown county, by James McGuire and it has become one of the leading congregations of the state. With the spread of the faith and growth of the church it has become divided and now consists of the Dis- ciples of Christ, or Christian church, and the Churches of Christ.
In 1880, according to the census, there were 54 Christian church organizations in Kansas, with a membership of 18,579; by 1890 the organizations had increased to 394 with 190 church edifices and a mem- bership of 25,143, and by 1906 the Christian church ranked fourth of all denominations in Kansas, with a membership of 43-572.
Christian College .- Kansas Christian College was founded at Lincoln on May 26, 1888. It is conducted under the auspices of the Kansas State Christian Conference. The college conducts a collegiate department. a business department, and a music department. The total value of the college property was estimated at $18,200 in 1900.
Christians (Christian Connection) .- Following the war of the Revolu- tion there was a period of general spiritual declension. This in turn was followed by a period of revival especially in the southwestern sections of the country. In many cases denominational lines were ignored and different churches united both in evangelistic and sacramental services. Efforts were made to enforce ecclesiastical discipline, which resulted in revolt in some cases, while in others independent movements were started. The pioneer of this movement was James O'Kelly, a Methodist minister in Virginia, who with some associates withdrew from the church and perfected an independent organization under the name of Republican Methodists but in 1794 resolved to become known as Chris- tians only, taking the Bible as their guide and discipline and accepting no test of church fellowship other than that of Christian character. A
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little later a similar movement took place among the Baptists in New England, headed by Abner Jones, a Baptist preacher of Vermont. He was soon joined by many others and the movement grew.
In 1800 a great revival took place in the Cumberland valley of Tennes- see and Kentucky. It was confined to no denomination and no atten- tion was given to the doctrines that divided the churches. In the Pres- byterian churches this was regarded with concern and resulted in charges being preferred against two ministers, who with three others, withdrew from the synod of Kentucky and formed the Springfield presbytery, which was dissolved within a short time and its members adopted prac- tically the same position as O'Kelly and Jones. General meetings were held in New England in 1809 but it was not until 1819 that the first general conference was held in New Hampshire. The Southern Chris- tian association was formed in 1847 which soon gave place to the South- ern Christian convention, which remained a separate organization until 1890, when the delegates from the south resumed their seats in the con- vention. The Northern Christian connection was incorporated in 1872.
The Christians hold to the general principles of the Christian faith, insisting that the name Christian is the only one needed. They uphold the right of private judgment and liberty of conscience. They teach baptism of believers by immersion but admit all believers to communion. The general policy of the church is congregational and each local church is independent in its organization, but at an early period conferences- were organized which admitted ministers to membership and in which the churches were represented by delegates. At first, these conferences were advisory only, but developed into administrative bodies. They have the oversight of the ministry, but do not interfere with the disci- pline of the churches. Besides the local conferences there are state con- ferences for administrative work. Nearly all the bodies are incorporated and hold property.
The church has become well established in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi and it was settlers from these regions who planted the faith in Kansas where it has had a steady growth. In 1890 there were 49 church organizations in the state with a total membership of 1,445. During the decade and a half from 1890 to 1906 there was a slight de- cline, for in the latter year there were but 26 organizations reported with a membership of 1,034.
Christian Union .- The churches forming the denomination called the Christian Union, trace their origin to the great revival which took place in the first half of the nineteenth century, which led to a larger liberty in religious thought, a greater freedom from ecclesiastical domination, and a closer affiliation of the people of different creeds. A number of organizations arose that had 110 connection, most important among them being the Evangelical Christian Union, which consisted of seven congre- gations in Monroe county, Ind. These were united in 1857 by Rev. Eli P. Farmer, who went into the army as a chaplain at the outbreak of the Civil war and as a result some of the congregations were broken up.
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During the war the intensity of the political strife became reflected in the services of the church to such an extent that many persons, both lay and clergy, withdrew from different denominations and joined the ranks of those who were impatient under the restrictions of ecclesiastical rule. Finally a call was issued for a convention to be held by all who favored "forming a new church organization" on broader lines than those of the existing denominations, free from both political bias and ecclesiastical domination.
The convention met at Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 3, 1863, and adopted resolutions by which was formed a religious society under the name of Christian Union. In 1864 a general convention was held at Terre Haute, Ind., attended by delegates from several states, at which the action of the former convention was reaffirmed and a summary of principles was adopted as follows : The oneness of the Church of Christ; Christ the only head ; the Bible the only rule of faith and practice; good fruits the only condition of fellowship; Christian Union without controversy ; each local church self governing; political preaching discountenanced. From this time the movement spread rapidly, some of its best known leaders being J. F. Given, J. V. B. Flack, and Ira Norris. On his return from the army Eli Farmer joined the movement and remained in active service until his death in 1878.
The local organizations differ somewhat in name, those in the middle west being known as the Christian Union for both local and general organizations. Some of those farther west call the local organization the Church of Christ and the general organization the "Churches of Christ in Christian Union," but while they differ in name the organiza- tions affiliate and recognize one another as parts of the same general movement, while the general council in all the states is known as the General Council of Christian Union. Each local congregation or church is absolutely self governing. For purposes of fellowship and the trans- action of business various councils have been organized which meet annually. Of these councils there are four classes-charge, district, state and general. The church now has organizations in ten states, the greater majority of them being in Ohio, which has 118 organizations. The church was established in Kansas in the 'Sos by immigrants from the older communities in the Ohio valley. In 1890 there were 16 organ- izations in the state : 9 in Bourbon county, I in Dickinson, I in Doniphan, 4 in Riley and I in Wilson, with a total membership of 50. In 1906 the number of organizations had dropped to four while the membership had increased to 99.
Church, a small hamlet of Geary county, is located on Humboldt creek about 10 miles southeast of Junction City, the county seat and most convenient railroad station. Mail is received by rural delivery through the postoffice at Dwight.
Church of Christ, Scientist .- This organization was founded by Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy. As early as 1862 she had written and given to friends some of the conclusions she had made as a result of her study
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of the Scriptures. In 1867 she began her first school of Christian Science mind healing at Lynn, Mass. Three years later she copyrighted her first work on Christian Science and in 1875 she published her Science and Health with key to the Scriptures. In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy gives the principles and rules whereby the sick may be healed and the sinner saved. She teaches the necessity of a practical Christianity reviv- ing the apostolic healing which Jesus enjoined.
The first Church of Christ, Scientist, was organized by 26 students of Mrs. Eddy and was incorporated in 1879. Two years later Mrs. Eddy became the pastor of the First Church of Christ. In 1892 a reorganiza- tion of the Boston church was effected under the name of First Church of Christ, Scientist. The central organization of the church is the mother church in Boston. Branch churches have been established throughout the United States and in some foreign countries, having their own rules and by-laws and managing their own affairs. There are also Christian Science societies not yet organized. There are no pastors in the sense in which that term is used in other religious bodies, the sermon lesson taking the place of the clerical address usually delivered by the minister. The sermon lesson, which forms the principal part of the service, is pre- pared by a committee connected with the mother church in Boston and is read in every church by two readers, who read alternately. The first reader from Science and Health, the second from the Bible.
In 1890 there were 15 organizations in Kansas with a total member- ship of 424. During the next sixteen years many new organizations were established, and in 1906, this church reported 31 societies, with a membership of 1,13I.
Church of God and Saints of Christ .- This religious organization among the colored people was started by William S. Crowdy, a negro, who in 1896 claimed to have had a vision from God, calling him to lead his people to the true religion, at the same time giving him prophetic endowment. He at once began to preach in Kansas and soon organized the Church of God and Saints of Christ at Lawrence. Only a few per- sons joined him for some time, but the numbers gradually increased and the headquarters were established at Philadelphia. Crowdy was ap- pointed bishop of the new body and two white men who were associated with him in the work were subsequently apponited to the same office.
Believing that the negro race is descended from the lost tribes of Israel, Crowdy taught that the Ten Commandments and a literal adher- ence to the teachings of the Bible, including both the Old and New Testa- ment, are the positive guides for the salvation of man. In order to make no mistakes in the commandments, a pamphlet has been published under the direction of the church, called the Seven Keys, which gives references and authority for the various customs and orders of the church. Members are admitted to the church upon repentance of sin and baptism by immersion. The Lord's Supper, the washing of feet and the pledge of the holy kiss are observed.
The central organization of the church is an executive board or coun-
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cil called a presbytery, which is made up of 12 ordained elders and evangelists whose duty it is to look after the general business of the church. The prophet (Crowdy) is not elected, but holds his position by virtue of a divine call. He is presiding officer of both the executive board and of the church. The followers believe that the prophet is in direct communication with God, utters prophecies and performs miracles by luis will. The district assemblies are composed of the different orders of the ministry and delegates from each local church. The ministers hold office during good behavior. The temporal affairs of the churches are looked after by deacons under the general supervision of the assemblies. Since the founding of the church in Kansas it has had a somewhat rapid growth and in 1906 had 48 organizations, located in fourteen states and the District of Columbia, the total number of communicants in the United States being 1,823. In Kansas there are 3 organizations with a membership of 78.
Church of the New Jerusalem .- (See Swedenborgians.)
Churches .- The first churches in what is now the State of Kansas were established while it was still unorganized territory. Missions were established among the Indian tribes during the first quarter of the nine- teenth century by various denominations, and from that time the church and the mission school dwelt side by side, and worked hand in hand for the evangelization and education of the red man. In 1854, when Kansas was erected as a territory, the Methodists had churches at Shawnee mission and at Wyandotte; the Baptists had a mission church 2 miles northwest of the Shawnee mission, one near the Delaware postoffice and still another in what is now Mission township, Shawnee county; the Friends had a mission and school west of the Shawnee mission, and among the Sac and Fox Indians the Presbyterians had located a mission and school near the present site of Highland, Doniphan county. Two missions had been established by the Catholics-St. Mary's, located in what is now Mission township, Shawnee county, with three stations within a radius of 20 miles, and a second on the Neosho river, in what is now Neosho county.
Nearly all the free-state settlers had belonged to churches in the com- munities from which they came, and one of the first provisions they inade after settling in the territory was for religious services and schools for their children. At first the services were held in the open air, in tents or rude cabins, but as settlements increased church buildings were erected, many of which are used to the present day in different localities. In the outlying districts where settlement was thin, the people gathered at some convenient locality and were ministered to by circuit riders or missionaries. Many of these early congregations later became permanent and prosperous churches.
The earliest available record of churches in Kansas is that taken by the state board of agriculture in 1875, which is meagre and may not accurately give an idea of all denominations, but it gives the largest which in that year were : the Catholic church with 202 organizations and
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a membership of 37,198; the Methodist church with 621 organizations and a membership of 22,696; the Baptists with 286 organizations and a membership of 12,197; the Presbyterians with 220 organizations and a membership of 7,962, and the Congregationalists with 121 organizations and a membership of 4,458, making a total of 1,484 organizations and 85,924 communicants. By 1880 the number of organizations had increased to 2,155 and the membership to 189,629, or more than twice that of 1875. As settlement has passed westward across the state, churches have been established in nearly every community and their growth has been steady and satisfactory. In 1890 the proportion of church members to aggregate population in Kansas was about 28 per cent. There were 4,920 organizations with a membership of 336.575. In 1906 there were 994 church organizations in the state with a total membership of 458,190. Of the organizations reporting, 4,020 have church edifices and 602 use halls or other buildings for places of wor- ship. The aggregate value of the church property in the state in 1906 was $14,053,454. It was found that in that year that 78.7 per cent. of all church members in the state belonged to Protestant bodies ; 20.3 per cent. to the Catholic church ; 0.5 per cent. to the Latter-day Saints ; and 0.5 to all other bodies. (For information concerning any particular church look under the denominational head.)
Churches of God in North America .- This religious organization arose as a result of the revival movement which spread through the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century. One of the leaders of the revival movement was John Winebrenner, a minister of the Reformed church at Harrisburg, Pa. His sermons were so impres- sive that some of his congregation became alarmed about their spiritual condition. Revivals were a new thing in that region and some of the members became so dissatisfied that they laid the matter before the synod of the Reformed church which met at Harrisburg, Sept. 29. 1822. The case was not disposed of until 1828, when Mr. Winebrenner's con- nection with the Reformed church was severed. After this he began to labor in the surrounding districts and towns, and in 1829 he organized an independent church calling it only the Church of God. Other congre- gations soon followed in and around Harrisburg, each assuming the name Church of God, and adding the name of the town in which the congregation organized, as Church of God at Hagerstown.
These churches, in which all members had equal rights, elected and licensed men to preach, but for some time there was no bond or general organization or directing authority. In Oct., 1830, a meeting was held at Harrisburg for the purpose of establishing a regular system of cooperation, which was attended by six licensed ministers. At this meeting an eldership, to consist of an equal number of teaching and ruling elders, was organized which was called the "General Eldership of the Church of God," to distinguish it from the local church eldership. The movement continued to spread to adjoining counties and to Mary- land, western Pennsylvania and Ohio. On May 26, 1845, delegates from
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the three elderships met at Pittsburg, Pa., and organized the "General Eldership of the Church of God in North America," but in 1896, the name was changed to "General Eldership of the Churches of God in North America."
In doctrine these churches are evangelical and orthodox, and are Arminian rather than Calvinistic. They hold as distinctive from other denominations, that sectarianism is antiscriptural; that each local church is a church of God, and should be called so; that in general, all Bible things should be called by Bible names, and a Bible name should not be given to anything not mentioned in the Bible. The members of the Churches of God believe that three ordinances are obligatory-the Lord's Supper, baptism and the religious washing of the saint's feet. They have no written creed but accept the Bible as their rule of faith and practice.
In policy the Churches of God are presbyterian. Each local church votes for a minister but the annual elderships make the appointments within their own boundaries. The congregation elects the elders and deacons, who with the minister constitute the church council and are the governing body, having charge of the admission of members and general oversight of the church work. The minister and an equal num- ber of laymen within a certain territory constitute annual elderships, corresponding to presbyteries, which have the exclusive right to ordain ministers. The different annual elderships combine to form the Gen- eral Eldership which meets once in four years, and is composed of an equal number of ministers and lay representatives (elders) elected by the annual elderships.
The Churches of God have been established in many parts of the country and are now represented in sixteen states. They were estab- lished in Kansas by the settlers who came from the older communities in the east and brought their faith with them. In 1890 there were 26 organizations in Kansas with a membership of 956. Nearly all of these churches were in the eastern third of the state. In 1906 only 12 organ- izations were reported with a total membership of 613. This falling off in Kansas is doubtless due to the emigration of many of the members to Oklahoma and the Indian Territory, where good cheap land was to be had.
Churches of the Living God .- This religious organization among the negroes was organized in 1899 at Wrightville, Ark., by William Chris- tian, with about 120 members. In general it holds to the articles of faith of the Baptist church but in policy is more like the Methodist ยท church. The first church became very successful and others were formed on the same basis. The name chosen by the new denomination was Church of the Living God. It grew rapidly but was divided because of dissensions, and at the present time three bodies are recognized: Church of the Living God (Christian Workers for Friendship) ; Church of the Living God (Apostolic Church) ; and Church of Christ in God. There are now 44 organizations located in 12 states. In Kansas the church had three organizations in 1906 with a membership of 135.
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Cicero, a village of Harmon township, Sumner county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 7 miles northeast of Welling- ton, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, a grain elevator, some good general stores, telephone connections, etc., and in 1910 reported a population of 48.
Cimarron, the county seat and largest town of Gray county, is located on the Arkansas river and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. R. R. a little northeast of the center of the county and 18 miles west of Dodge City. It was first settled in 1878, and in 1910 was the only incorporated city in the county. The population at that time, according to the U. S. census was 587. Cimarron has a money order postoffice, express and telegraph offices, 2 banks, a weekly newspaper (the Jacksonian), tele- phone connections, a hotel, Christian, Methodist, Presbyterian and United Brethren churches, good public schools, and a grain elevator operated by the Farmers' Cooperative Union. It is the most important shipping point between Dodge City and Garden City.
Cimarron River .- The history of this stream discloses the fact that early map makers and explorers confused it with the one known as the "Salt Fork." One of the earliest mentions of the Cimarron was in 1807 by Pike, who called it the "Grand Saline" or "Newsewtonga." In Nut- tall's narrative, 1818-20, he calls the stream the "Grand Saline;" Melish, 1820, the "Jefferson ;" Tanner, 1823, the "Nesuhetonga or Grand Sa- line;" Finlay, 1826, the "Grand Saline;" Gregg, 1840, the "Cimarron ;" Mitchell, 1846,. the "Cimarone or Salt Fork;" Tanner, 1846, the "Semarone, Negracka, or Red River ;" Mitchell, 1874, as "Cimmaron ;" and "First Red Fork of the Arkansas," "Red Fork" and "Salt River" attaching at various times. The term "Red Fork" was undoubtedly applied to the stream on account of the red tinge of its waters, received from contact with the red clay along its banks. "Negracka" is probably of Siouan origin, most likely an Osage word. Cimarron is a Spanish word, meaning "wild, or unruly." The name Saline and Grand Saline have been applied indiscriminately to the Cimarron and the Salt Fork of the Arkansas, the name Grand Saline being more applicable to the Cimarron.
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