USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > St Joseph > History of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo. : from the time of the Platte purchase to the end of the year 1915 biographical sketches of noted citizens, living and dead > Part 18
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Copeland Baptist church was established at 2600 South Eigh- teenth street a few years ago.
In 1901 the King Hill Baptist church was organized.
The negro Baptists have two churches. The Francis Street Baptist church was organized in 1865 by Rev. B. F. Marshall, with seventeen members. For seven years they worshipped in a frame building on their present location, Francis street. between Tenth
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and Eleventh streets. In 1873 Rev. W. W. Stewart was called to the pastorate, in which he remained until 1889, during which time the present building was erected and the church increased in member- ship to 350. In the fall of 1889 Rev. J. J. Lyons was settled as pastor. He remained nine months. Rev. A. M. Lewis was then settled as pastor supply. In August, 1891, Rev. E. M. Cohron was called to the pastorate, since which time the present building has been completed. Mr. Cohron is still the pastor.
New Hope chapel, on Sixteenth street, a frame building, was erected in 1884.
THE CHRISTIANS-In 1844 Elder Duke Young of the Christian church preached a discourse in the residence of Mrs. Northcutt. The growth of this church was slow and meetings were held at various places until 1847, when Elder Young instituted a revival at the court house, where the congregation continued to hold its meet- ings until 1858. A church was built at Third and Robidoux streets. This structure is still in existence, though not used as a church. The present Christian church, at Tenth and Edmond streets, was built in 1870. Dr. S. D. Overstreet and Allen G. Mansfield were the elders when the Third Street church was erected. Upon the death of Dr. Overstreet, Judge Joseph J. Wyatt was elected elder and filled the pulpit until Elder Moses E. Lard became pastor of the church. Rev. Lard resigned at the breaking out of the war and Elder Wyatt again took charge. Mr. Lard subsequently became prominent in the ministry in Kentucky and was one of the great lights of the Chris- tian church. In 1866 Elder W. C. Rogers was called, remaining two years. Elder Wyatt again served until the arrival of Elder John Lindsay, in 1869. Elder Lindsay resigned in 1870 and Elder Wyatt for the fourth time filled the vacancy, serving two years, and resigning to give way to Elder Thomas P. Haley. In December of 1876 Elder John H. Duncan succeeded Elder Haley. Elder John B. Corwine succeeded Elder Duncan, and was in turn succeeded in March, 1881, by Elder M. M. Goode, who, after a few years, was succeeded by Elder C. M. Chilton, the present pastor.
The Wyatt Park Christian church is located at Twenty-seventh and Olive streets; Woodson chapel at 2525 St. Joseph avenue ; Mitchell Park church at Eleventh and Jackson streets; King Hill church at King Hill avenue and Ohio street; Frederick avenue church at 1912 Frederick avenue.
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL-The first missionary service of the Episcopal church in St. Joseph was held in September of 1851. In the following year a parish was organized by Rev. M. M. McNa- mara. A small building at the northwest corner of Third and Jule streets was purchased and equipped. In 1856 the site of Christ church, at Seventh and Francis streets, was purchased and in Au- gust of 1857 the erection of a frame building, which fronted on
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Francis street, was begun. This structure was destroyed by fire on Christmas eve, 1876. The present church was erected as soon as possible.
Rev. McNamara remained in charge until March of 1854, when he was succeeded by Rev. W. N. Irish, who served until 1858, when Rev. W. R. Pickman took charge. In October of 1860, Rev. R. H. Weller succeeded Rev. Pickman and served until October 13, 1866, being succeeded by Rev. W. C. Hopkins, who served one year. In November, 1867, Rev. Pickman again took charge and served until April, 1869, being succeeded by Rev. Wm. Phillips, who served until January, 1871. The parish was vacant until June of 1871, when Rev. Dr. James Runcie was installed as pastor. Dr. Runcie served until his death, May 12, 1889. In the fall of 1889 Rev. H. L. Foote took charge and served six years. He was succeeded by Rev. John Henry Hopkins, who was followed by Rev. G. Heathcote Hills, in 1899; Rev. John D. LaMothe, in 1903; Rev. E. H. Eckel, in 1905; Rev. G. Hely Molony, 1914.
EVANGELICAL AND LUTHERAN-The German Evangelical Zion's church was organized in 1865, with Rev. A. H. Kirchoff as pastor. The old brick church at the northeast corner of Fourth and Francis streets was purchased and services were held there until October, 1881, when the present church, at Ninth and Jule streets, was com- pleted. Rev. Kirchoff was succeeded by Rev. Carl Nestel in 1874. Rev. Nestel gave way to Rev. Max Habeker, who died in 1899, and was succeeded by Rev. William Hackman. Rev. F. C. Klick is now the pastor.
The Second German Evangelical church was organized in 1874 and a building erected at Thirteenth and Monterey streets. Rev. Julius Kramer was pastor until 1876, when he was succeeded by Rev. F. Grabeau. Rev. F. Wellge succeeded Rev. Grabeau in 1880. A substantial brick church was built in 1893 at Fifteenth and La- fayette streets.
The German Evangelical Lutherans organized a church in August, 1881, and erected St. Paul's church at No. 1019 South Tenth street. A new church building was erected at Fourteenth and Lafayette streets in 1902.
St. Peter's German Lutheran church is located at 2104 North Fourth street, and Emmanuel Church German of the Evangelical Association is located at Twelfth and Lafayette streets.
The First English Lutheran church was organized in August of 1894 by Rev. Edward F. Treffz. Until the erection of a building, east of the custom house in 1895, services were held in the Y. M. C. A. auditorium. This congregation built a handsome new church at Tenth and Charles streets in 1913.
There is also a Swedish Lutheran congregation, located in the building at Tenth and Patee streets, formerly used by the Metho- dists.
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CONGREGATIONAL - On May 12, 1867, the Congregational Church of St. Joseph came into existence with only ten members. In October of that year Rev. W. L. Bray was called to the pastorate. He remained three years and was succeeded by Rev. Jonathan Crane, who served only a short time, however, being succeeded in the same year by Rev. F. L. Kenyon, who remained eight years. From 1878 until 1882 no permanent pastor was maintained. Rev. Frederick S. Hayden served from 1882 until 1888, being succeeded by Rev. Albert Bushnell, who began his work February 1, 1889. He resigned in 1899, and the pulpit was filled by Rev. J. G. Dough- erty of Kansas City, as supply pastor, until the call of Rev. W. W. Bolt, in the fall of 1900. Rev. Bolt was succeeded in 1904 by Rev. J. B. Kettle of Avon, Ill., who remained pastor until June, 1910. Rev. William M. Jones accepted the pastorate a few months later, taking active charge January 1, 1911. He was followed by the present pastor, Rev. Robert Porter, January 1, 1915.
In 1870 a frame chapel was erected on the south side of Ed- mond street, between Ninth and Tenth streets. This was abandoned in 1891, the present substantial edifice at Thirteenth and Jule streets having meanwhile been erected.
Plymouth church, at Thirty-third and Penn streets, is an active suburban congregation. Rev. Duncan Brown is the pastor.
UNITARIAN-In November of 1867 those who were inclined to the Unitarian belief held their first meeting. The service was read by John S. Crosby. For several years various clergymen came and preached to the society. Rev. Mr. Finney served one year as pas- tor, and Rev. E. H. Danforth served two years. Rev. Joseph A. Chase, Rev. A. F. Abbott, Rev. Charles B. Roberts, Rev. J. F. C. Grumbine served successively until 1891. The pulpit was supplied for a time by Rev. J. E. Roberts of Kansas City, and others. Serv- ices. were held in various halls and churches until 1888, when a modern building was erected on Ninth street, between Felix and Edmond street, which gave way to make room for The News-Press building in 1912.
THE Y. M. C. A .- On May 2, 1882, at a meeting in the Baptist church, the St. Joseph branch of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation was formed with forty members. Quarters were rented in the building at the northwest corner of Fifth and Edmond streets, and John W. Hansel of Peoria, Illinois, was installed as general sec- retary. In October of 1885 Rev. Sam Jones and Rev. Sam Small held a revival in the city. Sunday, October 11, was set apart as Y. M. C. A. day. A movement for a building had been in progress for a year or more. Upon this occasion Rev. Jones made an especial plea for a permanent home for the association, and before the meet- ing adjourned $39,000 had been subscribed. Later this sum was increased to about $60,000. As a result the Y. M. C. A. building at Seventh and Felix streets was occupied in 1887. The association
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outgrew this building in time, and the present modern building at Tenth and Faraon streets is the result of the efforts of some of St. Joseph's noble men. The building cost $145,000 exclusive of fur- nishings, and the ground on which it stands cost $15,000. It was opened August 1, 1912.
THE Y. W. C. A .- In the summer of 1887 the Young Women's Christian Association was formed. The object of this association is to unite all young women interested in physical, social, business, intellectual and spiritual development. The physical department includes a gymnasium, where proper instructions are imparted by a thorough teacher. A reading room, with a rapidly increasing library, is a feature. The business department seeks the advance- ment of young women in the business world, and an employment bureau, for the benefit of the employer and employe, is established and successfully conducted. The special features are the gospel meetings, participated in by members of the association. From 1891 to 1905 the organization occupied quarters in the Carbry block at Seventh and Edmond streets. It moved to the Bartlett building, at Ninth street and Frederick avenue, in 1905 and remained there until the new building at the northwest corner of Eighth and Jule streets was occupied, October 5, 1914. The building cost $150,000 and the lot $20,000.
JEWISH-In 1859 the congregation Adath Joseph erected the synagogue at Sixth and Jule streets. In the beginning services were held in a hall on Felix street. In 1857 a church building, which stood upon the site of the Hotel Donovan at Sixth. and Ed- mond streets, was purchased and fitted up. This building was de- stroyed by fire. Rev. S. Kauffman was rabbi in charge of the syna- gogue until 1875, when he was succeeded by Rev. S. Gerstman, who served until 1879, when he gave way to Rev. Isaac Schwab, who was followed by Rabbi Louis Bernstein in 1906. The handsome new synagogue at Seventeenth and Felix streets was built in 1910 at a cost of $60,000.
There is also an orthodox congregation, known as Shaare Sholem. The faithful worshipped in a rented hall at Sixth and Angelique at first, but in 1900 a synagogue was built at Seventh and Patee streets at a cost of $17,000.
OTHERS-The St. Joseph branch of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints was organized in 1870. Services were held in public halls and at the court house until the erection of the church building on Seventeenth street, north of Faraon street, in 1890.
In 1892 Rev. H. S. Gekeler formed a congregation of the Re- formed church. Meetings were held in the Y. M. C. A. auditorium for some time, until the church formerly used by the Congregation- alists, on Edmond street, was secured. A modern brick structure was erected at the corner of Tenth and Lincoln streets in 1903 by Rev. A. O. Reiter, who succeeded Rev. Mr. Gekeler.
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The First Church of Christ Scientists was formed in 1902. Rev. Charles M. Howe conducted meeting for a time in the Tootle theater; later in Unity chapel. This congregation owns one of the handsomest church buildings in St. Joseph. It is situated at Twelfth and Felix streets.
The Second Church of Christ, Scientists, was organized in 1902. This congregation worships in the building formerly used by the Congregational church, on Edmond street.
The Salvation Army has maintained barracks in St. Joseph since the summer of 1885. During 1898 a detachment of "Volun- teers of America" was also quartered in the city.
CHAPTER XIX.
BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH IN WAR .- THE WAR WITH MEXICO .- DONIPHAN'S EXPEDITION .- THE OREGON BATTALION .- THE CIVIL WAR .- A MOB DESTROYS THE UNITED STATES FLAG .- SOME OF THE MEN WHO WENT SOUTH AND DISTIN- GUISHED THEMSELVES AS SOLDIERS .- THE UNION REGIMENTS THAT WERE ORGANIZED IN ST. JOSEPH, THEIR OFFICERS AND WHERE THEY FOUGHT .- THE "PAWPAW MILITIA"; ITS HISTORY AND HOW IT CAME INTO EXISTENCE .- THE MISSOURI MILITIA AFTER THE WAR .- THE NATIONAL GUARD OF MISSOURI .. - THE WAR WITH SPAIN AND THE COMPANIES THAT WENT FROM ST. JOSEPH TO THE FOURTH REGIMENT OF MISSOURI VOLUNTEERS.
Having reviewed the political history of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, and touched incidentally upon commercial and social progress, it is deemed proper, at this point, to make a digression and to consider the various war periods. The war with Mexico, the Civil war and the struggle with Spain will be touched upon as far as they are related to the people of this county.
During the month of May, 1846, Governor Edwards called for volunteers to join the Army of the West in an expedition to Santa Fe under command of General Stephen W. Kearney. General Kearney was the father of Charles W. Kearney, later a resident of St. Joseph, and the uncle of General Phil Kearney. A number went from here, among them Willard P. Hall, who was then a candi- date for congress. Mr. Hall left a law practice and the campaign to take care of itself and joined the First regiment of Missouri cavalry as a private. This regiment assembled at Fort Leaven- worth and elected as its colonel Alexander W. Doniphan of Liberty, who had also enlisted as a private. The regiment went with Colonel Kearney as far as Santa Fe. From that point its operations be- came known as "Doniphan's Expedition," an achievement that is famous in history, and that is frequently compared with the mili- tary feats of Xenophon, Hannibal and the first Napoleon.
The entire Army of the West, at the beginning of the cam- paign, numbered 1,658 men. The army, composed of dragoons and cavalry, marched across the plains in detachments, the first leav- ing Fort Leavenworth on June 29, and the last on July 6, 1846. They rendezvoused at a famous trading post on the Arkansas river in Colorado, the present site of Fort Lyon, known then as Bent's Fort. After resting several days the reunited forces proceeded south, crossed the Raton mountains through the Raton pass and
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entered the city of Las Vegas without opposition on August 15. The alcalde and all other citizens of the place took the oath of al- legiance to the United States. Here Colonel Kearney received his commission as general, forwarded by messenger from Washington.
Learning that Armijo, the governor of New Mexico, had forti- fied Apache pass, through which led the road to Santa Fe, and was occupying it with a considerable force, General Kearney marched to meet him, in the expectation of battle. But at his ap- proach the Mexicans retired without offering resistance, and the army went through the pass and on to Santa Fe, which they occu- pied unopposed on August 18, 1846.
General Kearney at once proceeded to organize a provisional government for the Mexican state, the capital of which he held. To Colonel Doniphan and to Willard P. Hall was assigned the duty of constructing and formulating laws for the newly acquired terri- tory. They were given quarters in the "palace," as the residence of the governor of New Mexico has always been called, and went to work, each with four clerks and interpreters, in the room in which General Lew Wallace wrote "Ben Hur" a third of a century afterward. The result of their labors is known as the "Kearney code," which forms an important constituent of the laws of New Mexico today.
It was while thus engaged that Willard P. Hall was notified by Colonel Doniphan, who had received dispatches, that he had been elected to congress over Judge Birch of Plattsburg.
On September 26, General Kearney started with his column of regulars for California, leaving Colonel Doniphan in command of Santa Fe. On September 28, General Sterling Price arrived in Santa Fe, followed by a force of 1,700 volunteers from Missouri. Colonel Doniphan, who, at his own request, had been ordered to join General Wool in Chihuahua, was preparing to move south, when an order reached him, sent back by General Kearney, to make a campaign against the Navajo Indians, who had been attacking Mexican villages on the Rio Grande. Turning his authority as governor of New Mexico over to General Price, Colonel Doniphan at once proceeded to execute General Kearney's order.
The Navajos were at that time a powerful tribe, numbering some 17,000, and inhabited what is now northeastern Arizona. They had long been the terror and scourge of the civilized inhabi- tants of New Mexico. Colonel Doniphan divided his forces, dis- patching Major Gilpin with 200 men northwest into the San Juan country, while he himself, with the remainder of his regiment, marched to Albuquerque and thence west up the River Puerco to its headwaters. The Navajos were encompassed and surrounded by this movement and made a treaty in which they bound them- selves to cease their depredations and become friends of the United States.
On December 14, 1846, Colonel Doniphan commenced his march to Chihuahua. His route lay through a barren desert of ninety miles, known as the Jornata del Muerto (Journey of the
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Dead). No water is to be found the entire distance. Over this plain Colonel Doniphan successfully marched his troops in detach- ments, each requiring about thirty hours in the passage, and occu- pied the town of Dona Ana without resistance.
Leaving half his regiment here to guard the river crossing, Colonel Doniphan pushed south, and at Brazito met a Mexican force from Chihuahua that had advanced to oppose him. A sharp skir- mish followed in which the Mexicans were routed and followed to El Paso, which was captured with its military supplies.
In the enemy's baggage here taken were found dispatches im- parting the information that General Wool, instead of proceeding west to Chihuahua, had gone south to join General Taylor at Mon- terey. Colonel Doniphan was therefore confronted with the al- ternative of returning to Santa Fe or marching 1,200 miles through a hostile country to Monterey to effect a junction with Wool. He decided to go on and sent back for artillery. In response he was joined by a Missouri battalion of artillery and by the Laclede rang- ers of St. Louis, increasing his force to about 1,000 men and six pieces of artillery.
Before him lay the city of Chihuahua, rich, populous and pro- tected by a strong garrison. Colonel Doniphan marched south without serious opposition to the pass of Sacramento, sixteen miles north of the city of Chihuahua, which the Mexicans had fortified and where they were awaiting his coming with 4,200 men, cavalry and artillery. The Mexican flank was protected by a deep and precipitous ravine, difficult of passage.
Colonel Doniphan gave the order to advance as soon as pos- sible. He crossed the ravine, above mentioned, under fire, with his mounted troops, and on the other side was met by the Mexican cav- alry, which was repulsed. Then he ordered a counter charge, which was successfully made, and drove the Mexicans from the field. He captured eleven pieces of artillery, forty prisoners and the enemy's baggage, and entered the city of Chihuahua in triumph. The Mexican loss was 300 killed and wounded, while Doniphan's loss was one killed and eight wounded.
Reports were sent to Generals Taylor and Wood and the march to join the former at Monterey began. This expedition, in a hos- tile country, far from any base of supplies, had to rely wholly upon its own resources for existence, exposed equally to the attacks of the Mexicans, whose country they were invading, and of the preda- tory band of Indians which roamed over Northern Mexico. Over arid plains, through mountain passes, in which Mexican guerillas lay in ambush, and through fertile valleys as well, the expedition continued its triumphal march, defeating and dispersing all who opposed it, until on the first of May, 1847, it moved into Saltillo with banners flying, and joined Taylor.
But General Taylor was not prepared to utilize these reinforce- ments. There were reports of a change of commanders in Mexico and all operations were at a standstill. Colonel Doniphan's troops remained with Taylor about one month, when, their terms of en-
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listment having expired, and there being no prospect of active op- erations at an early date, he marched his command to Brazos de Santiago and embarked for New Orleans, where the men were mustered out.
From New Orleans to their homes in Missouri the progress of Colonel Doniphan's command was a continuous ovation. The ex- pedition indeed had been a wonderful one. In thirteen months the command had marched, mainly in a hostile country, 3,600 miles by- land and traveled 2,500 miles by water. On his arrival in Missouri Colonel Doniphan received the well-earned brevet of brigadier-gen- eral. Willard Hall did not participate in the campaign beyond Santa Fe.
In the spring of 1847 Governor Edwards called for a battalion of five companies for service on the Indian frontier, and the routes to Santa Fe and Oregon, to protect traders and emigrants. Lieut .- Col. L. E. Powell, of St. Charles, organized the battalion, among the companies being one formed at St. Joseph. Our company was of- ficered by Robert M. Stewart, captain; Henry Smith, first lieuten- ant; Howell Thomas, second lieutenant; John Searcy, third lieuten- ant. The battalion was formed at Fort Leavenworth. Beside Col. Powell there were the following officers: Dr. S. Todd, St. Joseph, adjutant; James McDowell, St. Joseph, sergeant-major; quarter- master, Capt. Stewart Van Vliet ; commissary of subsistence, Frank Warmcastle, Atchison County. The late Gen. James Craig com- manded a company raised in Holt County. Captain Stewart was stricken with rheumatism at Fort Leavenworth and returned home. After faithfully performing the mission upon which it was sent, doing business over a vast region of country between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains, the battalion returned home and the men were mustered out late in the fall of 1848.
After the war with Mexico interest in military matters lagged. In 1853, the Robidoux Grays existed, under command of Capt. Bela M. Hughes. In 1860 the Fourth Military District, in which St. Joseph was located, was commanded by Col. M. Jeff Thompson, and the First battalion, consisting of three companies, under Major F. W. Smith, was organized in St. Joseph. Company A, Jackson Guards, was commanded by Capt. Reuben Kay. Company B, Em- mett Guards, was commanded by Capt. T. J. Rafftery. Company C, German Rifles, was commanded by Capt. George Landry.
The Civil War period was in some respects the most momen- tous in the history of the community. Buchanan County was set- tled largely by people who had come from the Southern States and the fact that over 2,000 slaves, valued at $1,500,000, were owned here will readily explain why there was a strong feeling against abolition on the part of a considerable portion of the community. In the election of 1860, Bell and Everett, the Presidential candi-
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dates representing the remnants of the old Whig and Know-Nothing parties, under the name of Constitution-Union party, received 1,287 votes; Stephen A. Douglas, representing that wing of the Demo- cratic party which opposed secession and the interference of the National government with the local affairs and institutions of any State, received 1,226 votes ; John C. Breckinridge, representing that wing of the Democratic party known as strict State's Rights men, received 614 votes; Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, received 452 votes, of which number 410 were cast in the city of St. Joseph.
On February 18, 1861, an election was held to choose three delegates to the convention which was to decide the course of Mis- souri upon the question of secession or loyalty. Ex-Governor Robert M. Stewart, Willard P. Hall and Robert W. Donnell were elected. The first two were strong, outspoken Union men, while the latter sympathized with the South. Public sentiment was fairly reflected in the vote for these delegates.
Prominent among the local followers of Governor Jackson, who had declared that the destiny of all slave-holding states was alike, were M. Jeff Thompson, Alonzo W. Slayback, J. H. R. Cundiff, then the editor of The Gazette, and others. A delegation from St. Joseph assisted in the sacking of Liberty arsenal and a portion of the arms and military equipments there taken were brought here and secreted in cellars. The Emmett Guards and the Jackson Guards were disbanded, there being strong division of sentiment. Capt. John C. C. Thornton and Capt. Reuben Kay then formed companies of Jackson sympathizers and went into camp near the Patee house.
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