555 
 
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 P92 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 052 124 553 
 
^m 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924052124553 
 
a 9^ural ^urtiep in 
 
 MADE BY THE 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH AND COUNTRY LIFE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 IN THE U. S. A. 
 
 Rev. Warren H. W3son, Ph.D., Superintendent 
 Miss Anna B. Taft, Assistant 
 
 1 56 Fifth Avenue, New York City 
 
 The Field Work of this investigation was done by Rev. E. Fred Eastman 
 and Rev. Anton T. Boisen 
 
p7a 
 
9i JWissouri ^uttjep 
 
 The Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America has been mmistering to country parishes for more than 
 a century. It has sought farmers through forests and across deserts. It 
 has built innumerable Uttle white churches on the country crossroads for 
 him to worship in. It has baptized his children, taught them, married 
 them and buried them. It has striven to save his soul — striven earnestly 
 and valiantly, sometimes heroically. But never until within this year 
 has it made a thorough, official and scientific study of the country com- 
 munity it has attempted to serve. It has done everything in its power 
 to pave the farmer's road to the Celestial City, but it has paid Httle atten- 
 tion to his road to the nearest village. It has given great sums to allevi- 
 ate poverty, but given httle thought to the causes that make for poverty 
 — the American system of farm tenantry, the robbing of the soil of its 
 fertihty and stripping the hillside of its trees. It has pictured the 
 beauties of heavenly mansions and taken no account of the buildings in 
 which men and women must spend their lives here and now. It has been 
 a faithful steward in caring for the Elysian fields, but it has allowed the 
 riches of blue grass and corn and wheat fields to be squandered with 
 prodigal hand. It has made a glorious and untiring fight to teach the 
 children God's word in the Bible, but it has left God's word in the rivers 
 and hiUs, the grass and the trees without prophet, witness or defender. 
 Hereafter it is going to know something about the communities it at- 
 tempts to serve — of what stuff they are made, what their needs and their 
 aspirations. It will take an interest in the everyday affairs of the farmer 
 — ^his crops and stock, his buildings and machinery, his roads and school, 
 his lodge and recreation. The spires of the little crossroad church will 
 stUl point to the skies, but its footstone will He on the commonplace work 
 of the day. It will "preach the worth of the native earth," and it will 
 look upon American land as holy land to be guarded as a sacred trust from 
 the Almighty for His children of future generations. 
 
 METHOD 
 
 The survey of Adair, SuUivan and Knox counties, situated in northeast 
 Missouri, is one of the first attempts by any church at a detailed scientific 
 study of a rural community. It has covered three counties — Adair, 
 Sullivan and Knox — a total area, of 1,719 square miles. The total popu- 
 
 3 
 

 FIG. I 
 
lation of this territory is 53,701. The unit of the survey was the civil 
 township, chosen because it was the division aheady laid out, because 
 it was the basis of many of the Government statistics, and because it 
 made a fairly uniform geographical unit. Thirty-five townships in all 
 were covered. For each township the following information was sought: 
 
 /. Its Precise Location, Area and Topography. 
 
 2. Its Economic Conditions — Its natural resources, mineral and vege- 
 table; the character of its soil, its chief products, together with all the 
 surplus shipped out of corn, wheat, oats, hay and live stock; the size of 
 the farm, the percentage of owners, the wages and treatment paid to 
 agricultural laborers, the quahty and care of farm machinery, the num- 
 ber of farmers who practise a scientific rotation of their crops, the number 
 engaged in stock feeding, stock breeding, dairying, fruit growing and 
 truck gardening, the number who drain the land, the number who use 
 commercial fertilizers, the percentage of increase in value of land and 
 its cause. 
 
 J. The Population — Of village and rural district, the inhabitants per 
 square mile, the proportion of old settlers, the condition of the popula- 
 tion, whether stationary, increasing or decreasing, and the cause; the 
 number and nationality of the foreign born, the number of native born 
 of foreign parents, and the number of illiterates. 
 
 4. The Social Mind — The number of railroads, the percentage of the 
 population who have telephones and rural free delivery, the character 
 and condition of the roads, the centers of informal meeting, the leaders of 
 public thought, the economic standards prevailing, the assemblies 
 attended by all in common, the difference in costumes, manners and 
 amusements, the types in which a consciousness of kind can be observed, 
 the average size of family, the total number of families, the number and 
 kind of business corporations and firms, and the membership and average 
 attendance of each and every lodge, secret order and club. 
 
 5. Education — Each school was taken up separately, and information 
 sought regarding its material, style, condition, seating facilities, furniture, 
 educational apparatus, heating and ventilating, lighting, water supply 
 and toilets; the size and appearance of the ground, the attempts at beauti- 
 fication, the playground facilities, the value of the property, the assessed 
 valuation of the district, the levy, the per capita expenditure, the length 
 of session, the efficiency of the school board, the closeness of the county 
 superintendent's supervision, the teacher's salary, qualifications and 
 tenure; the enumeration, enrollment, average attendance, number of 
 graduates, number going away to higher schools, number of defective 
 children, the organization of the school, the number of twentieth-century 
 subjects in the curriculum (elementary agriculture, manual training, 
 domestic science, music and drawing and physical culture); the library. 
 
the number of volumes, the value, the increment and the character of 
 the selection; the number of entertainments a year, the other purposes 
 for which the building is used, and the need and practicability of consoli- 
 dation. 
 
 6. Recreation and Morals — ^The number and character and the per- 
 cent, of the community taking part or interested in baseball games, 
 dances, motion picture shows, pool rooms, parks, theatres, bowling, 
 basketball, football, lecture courses, literary societies, home talent plays, 
 indoor gyronastics, Y. M. C. A., tennis, golf, cards, picnics, entertain- 
 ments, socials, fairs and Chautauquas. The moral conditions among 
 the unmarried, the age of marriage, the moral conditions among employed 
 men and women, the tendencies of the boys of the communities to cigar- 
 ettes and criminal practices, and finally whether or not the moral tone of 
 the community is improving or the reverse. 
 
 7. The Religious Conditions and Activities — Each and every church was 
 taken up separately and studied in great detail — in fact, too great detail 
 for the patience of those from whom the information was sought. The 
 questions covered the membership ten years ago, five years ago, and now, 
 male and female; number of services per month, attendance morning and 
 evening, male and female, and the purpose, membership and attend- 
 ance, male and female, of Sunday Schools, young people's societies, 
 women's societies and men's clubs; the value of the church property, 
 the amount of encumbrance, the salary of pastor, the church budget, the 
 material equipment, number of rooms, condition of furniture, appearance 
 of ground, kind of heating apparatus, and thirty questions, personal 
 and more or less impertinent, about the minister, his family, his life 
 insurance and his library. Then some questions about abandoned 
 churches, the number of people in a township who attend no church, the 
 institutions that tend to satisfy men outside the churches, the general 
 attitude of the community toward religion, and the prevalence and cause 
 of denominational strife. 
 
 8. Social Welfare — ^The public health, number of persons over eighty 
 years of age, the number of insane, defective, blind, neurotic and deaf 
 and dumb; the number of professional men, wealthy business men, 
 tradesmen, farmers, laborers and mechanics; the distribution of wealth 
 and the community improvements of the last five years. 
 
 p. Maps— For each township a map was drawn on the basis of a mile 
 to the mch, showing churches, schools, school districts, villages, towns, 
 stores, roads, primary and secondary, and railroads. 
 
 Just how to obtam aU this information was no small problem. Some 
 of it could be collected at the county seats, from the books of the county 
 clerks, assessors and treasurers, from the reports of the superintendents 
 of schools, and from bankers, grain merchants and stock buyers. But 
 
 6 
 
THE BEST COUNTY CHURCH IN SULLIVAN COUNTY 
 
 by far the greater part had to be obtained on the field by personal observa- 
 tion and by interviews with farmers, school teachers, ministers and 
 physicians. 
 
 The field work in the survey was completed in three months under 
 the direction of the Department of Church and Country Life by 
 Messrs. Anton T. Boisen and E. Fred Eastman. They worked under 
 the immediate direction of Rev. William C. Templeton, D.D., pastor 
 of the Presbyterian Church m Kirksville, and of Prof. Harold W. 
 Foght, of the State Normal School at Kirksville. President John R. 
 Kirk, of the Normal School, extended every courtesy to the field men 
 and gave them faciHties for office and desk work in the school. 
 Printing and photographic service of the school was put freely at 
 the disposal of the survey men, and their introduction to the three 
 counties under survey was greatly facilitated through the friendly 
 and generous help of the leaders and the friends of the Normal 
 School. 
 
 Both men found the crowds at the country stores not only interesting 
 as types of citizenship, but gold mines of information when properly 
 approached. Much difficulty was experienced m securing data for indi- 
 vidual organizations and institutions, because of the great lack of sys- 
 tematically kept records of these organizations and mstitutions. Not 
 lo per cent, of the churches could give accurate mformation concernmg 
 their membership five and ten years ago, while many of them (and the 
 same is true of schools and commercial agencies) could make only esti- 
 mates of their present condition. 
 
 7 
 
FINDINGS 
 
 The summary of the findings of the survey may be given under the 
 heads already described: 
 
 1. Location and Topography — As stated above, the total land area 
 covered was 1,719 square miles, located in northeast Missouri, as shown 
 in Fig. I. 
 
 Knox County is largely level and rolling prairie land and is the best 
 farming county of the three. Adair contains some prairie land, but is 
 mostly rolling and hilly and is the poorest farming land of the three. 
 Sullivan is mostly rolling and hilly, but has a good proportion of prairie 
 land; as farming land it is better than Adair, but not so good as Knox. 
 
 2. Economic Conditions — Table A, page 9, shows the acreage of 
 each county and the money value of the surplus products shipped out in 
 1909, the latest statistics available. Only two townships, Ninevah and 
 Morrow, in Adair County, mine coal in any quantity; the rest of the land 
 is given up to farming and grazing: 
 
 Specialization in Farming — Corn, oats, hay, wheat, rye, tobacco and 
 garden vegetables are the chief products in the order named. The soil is 
 best suited for corn. By far the greater part of the grain is fed to the 
 stock and it is from the sale of stock that about 85 per cent, of the farmers 
 have their chief source of income. There is very little gardening or fruit 
 growing, except for home use. The surplus quantity of dairy products 
 shipped out looks large (Adair County, $112,231; Sulhvan County, 
 $112,428; Knox County, $53,961), yet there are very few farms given 
 over exclusively to dairying. There is no creamery in the territory sur- 
 veyed. The breeding of thoroughbred stock is more common; there are 
 fourteen farms in Knox County devoted to this purpose. The equipment 
 of the farm varies largely with the location and size of the farms. The 
 large farms of the prairie land, as a rule, are well equipped with good 
 buildings and good machinery. Even here, however, the neglect of the 
 machinery is shameful, nearly half of it being allowed to stand out the 
 year around. The farm buildings of the hill country are not as good, as 
 a rule, and a larger percentage of the machinery is uncared for. In one 
 day's drive through a township of Adair County, of 53 houses passed 24 
 were unpainted. The rotation of crops is beginning to receive more 
 attention than formerly, but there are still very few farmers who practise 
 the rotation advised by the State Department of Agriculture. The small 
 farmers and the renters practise a short rotation, leaving the ground 
 to rest but a short time between grain crops. Little commercial fertilizer 
 is used and only a few farms in each county have introduced tile drainage. 
 
 Tenure, Size and Value of Farms — ^About 85 per cent, of the farmers 
 own the farms they operate; the remaining 15 per cent, are tenants. The 
 
 8 
 
TABLE (A) 
 
 ADAIR, SULLIVAN AND KNOX COUNTIES, MO. 
 PLUS PRODUCTS, 1909. MONEY VALUE 
 
 SUR- 
 
 Adair 
 570 Sq. Miles 
 367,000 Acres 
 
 Sullivan 
 
 656 Sq. Miles 
 418.000 Acres 
 
 Knox 
 510 Sq. Miles 
 330,000 Acres 
 
 Live stock 
 
 Poultry and eggs 
 
 Apiary and cane 
 
 Farm crops 
 
 Vegetables 
 
 Fruit 
 
 Medicinal products 
 
 Nursery products. . . 
 
 Wool and mohair 
 
 Dairy products 
 
 Forest products 
 
 Fish and game 
 
 Mine and quarry products. 
 
 MOl products 
 
 Liquid products 
 
 Packing-house products — 
 
 Unclassified products 
 
 Total 
 
 $788,825 
 
 265,470 
 
 707 
 
 147,064 
 
 28,610 
 
 39,260 
 
 214 
 
 983 
 
 26,027 
 
 112,231 
 
 75,220 
 
 5,537 
 
 859,501 
 
 11,531 
 
 243 
 
 29,099 
 
 5,217 
 
 $1,858,890 
 443,218 
 1,372 
 232,567 
 13,653 
 23,663 
 131 
 339 
 38,025 
 112,428 
 31,842 
 
 1,519 
 12,220 
 
 8,86b 
 
 357 
 
 25,237 
 
 13,700 
 
 $1,213,834 
 
 212,086 
 
 1,036 
 
 154,618 
 
 12,137 
 
 7,686 
 
 45 
 
 1,030 
 
 23,765 
 
 53,961 
 
 27,077 
 
 5,360 
 
 5,772 
 
 4,090 
 
 36 
 
 19,110 
 
 5,460 
 
 $2,395,739 
 
 $2,818,021 
 
 $1,747,103 
 
 tables B and C show the percentage of the various classes of farms 
 operated by owners and the percentage operated by tenants. , 
 
 The size of the farm varies from 20 acres to 3,300 acres, the larger farms, 
 as a rule, being in the level prairie land of Knox and SulHvan counties. 
 The average size per farm in Knox County was about 160 acres, in Adair 
 County about 100 acres, in Sulhvan County about 147 acres. On the 
 whole the 1910 Census statement, that farms under 100 acres are decreas- 
 ing in number and those between 100 and 1,000 acres are increasing, holds 
 good here. Land is valued at $35 to $1,250 an acre, but the majority of 
 it would bring from $50 to $60 per acre. It is assessed at a fraction of 
 the actual value. Fig. II shows the actual value of an average prairie 
 farm compared with the assessed valuation. 
 
 There has been an increase of a little over 100 per cent, in the value of 
 land in the last twelve years; the reasons for this increase are as follows: 
 (a) The higher prices for farm products, (b) The growing scarcity of 
 cheap lands in the far West has turned the attention of buyers toward 
 Missouri, (c) Missouri land up to fifteen years ago had been undervalued 
 in comparison with the neighboring States, IlHnois and Iowa. This was 
 possibly due to the fact that she had been a slave State, and to the stigma 
 placed upon her by Jesse James and the Younger Brothers and expressed 
 
 9 
 
TABLE (B) 
 
 HOW THE LAND IS HELD. BASED ON 499 FARMS IN 
 SULLIVAN COUNTY, MO. PRAIRIE TYPE— 414 FARMS 
 
 OPERATED BY OWNER 
 
 Acres 
 per Farm 
 
 Number 
 
 Per Cent, of 
 Total Number 
 
 Acreage 
 
 Per Cent, of 
 Total Acreage 
 
 Average Size 
 
 1-40 
 
 40-80 
 
 80-160 
 
 160-240 
 
 -240 
 
 32 
 85 
 121 
 64 
 50 
 
 7.7 
 20.5 
 29.2 
 15.6 
 12.0 
 
 1,205 
 
 6,505 
 
 15,528 
 
 13,286 
 
 21,486 
 
 1.9 
 10.0 
 23.7 
 20.3 
 33.0 
 
 37 
 765 
 128 
 207 
 430 
 
 
 352 
 
 85.0 
 
 58,010 
 
 
 
 OPERATED BY TENANT 
 
 Acres 
 per Farm 
 
 Number 
 
 Per Cent, of 
 Total Number 
 
 Acreage 
 
 Per Cent, of 
 Total Acreage 
 
 Average Size 
 
 1-40 
 
 40- 80 
 
 80-160 
 
 160-240 
 
 -240 
 
 10 
 16 
 21 
 10 
 5 
 
 2.4 
 3,8 
 5.0 
 2.4 
 1.2 
 
 314 
 1,133 
 2,937 
 1,880 
 2,080 
 
 .4 
 
 1.8 
 4.5 
 2.8 
 3.1 
 
 31 
 
 71 
 
 139 
 
 188 
 
 416 
 
 
 62 
 
 14.8 
 
 8,344 
 
 
 
 in such phrases as "poor old Missouri." {d) Cheaper rates of interest, 
 (e) The generally low rate of taxation throughout the rural districts as 
 compared with neighboring States. (/) In Knox County, the railroad 
 debt has been paid off. 
 
 The increased value of land has had some important effects, as follows: 
 {a) It has increased the wealth of the community, {h) It has increased 
 the rental, (c) Many small farmers have sold their farms and moved 
 to cheaper lands in the West, thus making: {d) A decrease of resident 
 owners, and (e) an increase in the size of farms, as the small farm was 
 usually absorbed by a larger one. (/) Land today will not bring a 6 
 per cent, rental. A $10,000 farm rents for $350 to $450. 
 
 Agricultural Laborers — Agricultural laborers receive from $20 to $30 
 and "keep" per month. The great majority of them are the neighbors 
 and the owners of the small farms who help for a few days in the busy 
 seasons of the year. They are always treated as equals; in fact, the diffi- 
 culty in securing them is so great that they are frequently shown con- 
 siderable deference. 
 
 3. Population — As stated above, the population of these three counties 
 
 10 
 
TABLE [C] 
 
 BRUSHLAND TYPE— 85 FARMS 
 OPERATED BY OWNER 
 
 Acres 
 per Farm 
 
 Number 
 
 Per Cent, of 
 Total Number 
 
 Acreage 
 
 Per Cent, of 
 Total Acreage 
 
 Average Size 
 
 - 40 
 
 40-80 
 
 80-160 
 
 160-240 
 
 -240 
 
 13 
 
 24 
 
 23 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 15.3 
 
 28.2 
 
 27.0 
 
 7.0 
 
 3.5 
 
 466 
 1,746 
 3,027 
 1,200 
 1,070 
 
 .05 
 .19 
 .33 
 .13 
 .11 
 
 36 
 
 73 
 
 131 
 
 200 
 
 357 
 
 
 69 
 
 81.0 
 
 7,509 
 
 
 
 OPERATED BY TENANT 
 
 Acres 
 per Farm 
 
 Number 
 
 Per Cent, of 
 Total Number 
 
 Acreage 
 
 Per Cent, of 
 Total Acreage 
 
 Average Size 
 
 - 40 
 
 40-80 
 
 80-160 
 
 160-240 
 
 -240 
 
 5 
 4 
 4 
 3 
 
 5.8 
 4.7 
 4.7 
 3.5 
 
 168 
 296 
 519 
 564 
 
 .01 
 .03 
 .05 
 .05 
 
 34 
 
 74 
 
 130 
 
 188 
 
 
 16 
 
 18.7 
 
 1,547 
 
 
 
 is 53,701. Of this number 35,495 live in the country, 5,551 Hve in 23 
 villages under 750 population, and the remaining 12,655 live in towns 
 of over 750 population. Throughout this report, where towns and vil- 
 lages are mentioned, the same standard will prevail — anything under 
 750 being called a village and anything over that a town. There are 
 20.5 inhabitants per square mile in the rural district. As a rule, the 
 towns have been increasing during the last ten years, but the population 
 of the rural districts has been decreasing at an alarming rate. The 
 increase in the towns has not kept pace with the decrease in the country. 
 In spite of the town increase the total population of these three counties 
 is 1,788 less than it was ten years ago. There are at least six reasons for 
 this: (a) Smaller families, (b) The increased use of farm machinery has 
 lessened the need of farm hands. One man can now do what once 
 required two or three, (c) The increased value of land has induced some 
 farmers (as a rule the owners of the small farm) to sell out and go to 
 cheaper lands in the West, (d) The younger generation has been 
 moving out to seek greater opportunities in towns and in the cheaper 
 lands of the West, (e) Many well-to-do farmers have been moving to 
 town to seek better social environment and educational facilities, (f) 
 The retiring farmers have been moving to town. 
 
 11 
 
CAN THEY AFFORD IT? 
 
 WHAT 
 
 THE AVERAGE FARM — 
 
 
 
 IS REALLY WORTH. 
 
 
 
 Uye Stoc\< 
 $2000 
 
 
 
 
 MachinP.ni554a 
 
 
 
 Tii^r 
 
 
 WAS ASSESSED AT 
 
 
 
 
 $2400 
 
 
 $1603 
 
 
 IN 1910 
 
 IN 1911 
 
 WHAT THE AVERAGE COUNTRY FAMILY SPENDS- 
 
 $771.00 i^^KHiE39Hi^llH 
 
 $13.72 I ON ITS SCHOOL. 
 
 $5.00 1 ON ITS ROADS 
 
 $3.18 I ON ITS CHURCH. 
 
 (370 j'amiUes in SulKvau County, Missouri) 
 
 FIG. II 
 
 12 
 
WHERE FARMING IS MATURE 
 
 Of the present population about 90 per cent, of the families are old 
 settlers — that is, have resided fifteen years or more. Of these a small 
 proportion are foreign born, coming from Ireland or Germany some 
 twenty-five years ago. The newcomers are (a) the Italian and Hun- 
 garian miners who have come since the opening of the mines in Adair 
 County, and (J) American farmers from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Ken- 
 tucky. No language except English is spoken in business intercourse. 
 Probably 2 per cent, of the whites cannot read or write. 
 
 4. Social Mind — Means of Communication — Six railroads touch 
 some part of these three counties — the Wabash, Omaha and Kansas City, 
 the Qunicy, Illinois and Kansas City, the Santa Fe, the Iowa and St. Louis, 
 the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, and the Chicago, Milwaukee and 
 St. Paul. The local service on these roads is miserable, the usual schedule 
 being two slow trains each way per day. There are no troUeys or inter- 
 urbans. Practically aU of the farmers have rural free dehvery, and 
 about 83 per cent, of them have telephones. The latter have had an 
 important effect on the social life of the people; they have greatly 
 decreased the number of visits and calls between houses and have made 
 obsolete the good old custom of farmers' wives of taking their children 
 and their sewing and spending a day with some neighbor. Moreover, by 
 the present party-line system they have developed an vmseemly interest 
 in other people's business. When the 'phone bell rings along a party line 
 it is a safe assumption that there will be an ear at almost every receiver 
 along the line. On the other hand, by making communication possible 
 at any time of day they have brought the farmers much nearer each 
 
 13 
 
other and Help to do away with the isolation toward which farm life 
 seems to tend. 
 
 The Roads—It is difficult to describe the roads of this territory in 
 proper English. There is not a mile or an mch of gravel or macadam 
 road in the length and breadth of these three counties. All are of dirt. 
 They are laid out after a fashion contrary to all human convenience— 
 along section Unes and with entire disregard for the contour of the land. 
 To be sure, there is here and there a ridge road (glorious exception), but 
 as a rule the great majority of the roads clmg to the section Une with a 
 death grip. It is an absolute mipossibiUty to travel, as these survey men 
 did, over nearly 1,000 miles of such roads, shding down one hill and stall- 
 ing on the next, enduring breakdowns of bicycles and buggies, and come 
 to the end of the summer with \mruffied tempers. In winter there are 
 sometimes weeks at a time when they are impassable. At such times the 
 Good Roads Movement is popular. But in the summer, when it is pos- 
 sible to drive over them at a speed of three and a half or four miles an 
 hour, the Good Roads Movement is forgotten. Aggravating the situa- 
 tion are the culverts, which are in wretched condition, and in many cases 
 positively dangerous. The coimty officers — surveyors and engineers — 
 are not to be blamed for this state of affairs. These men are doing the 
 
 WHERE THE ROAD SYSTEM BREAKS DOWN 
 14 
 

 
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 THE WAY OF SALVATION 
 
 best they can with the means they have. The checkerboard plan on 
 which the roads are laid out must be charged to an earlier generation. 
 The present condition of neglect must be charged in part to the lack of 
 adequate government provision for the upkeep of roads, to the present 
 system of supervision by which it is said that $70 out of every hundred 
 is paid for salaries of surveyors, engineers and supervisors, and only 
 $30 left for actual improvement, and most of all to the lack of popular 
 sentiment strong enough to fight for anything better. 
 
 Centers of Informal If ee/mg— Which, being interpreted, means where 
 people meet to exchange greetings, ideas and gossip. The country stores, 
 the streets, restaurants, pool rooms and speak-easies of the villages and 
 towns, and occasionally the lodge halls, furnish such centers during the 
 week. On Sundays it is the custom for those at the church services to 
 remain after the benediction and chat informally for a few minutes in 
 the church building or upon the grounds. This is the meetmg place, 
 too, of the yoimg men and young women, who pair off at the close of the 
 service, and, getting into their buggies, race each other home— when the 
 roads permit. For the children there is no place to meet except the school 
 ground, and this for but a few minutes a day, for only 160 days out of the 
 year. For the Italian and Hungarian miners there is no place of meeting 
 but their labor union halls, which are open but one or two nights out 
 of^a week. 
 
 'Xhe Economic Standards of the Community— Ths main population 
 divisions are three: the American whites, the Italians and Hungarians 
 
 X5 
 
THE SOCIAL CENTER 
 
 and the colored people. Among the American whites, including, of 
 course, the naturalized Germans and Irish, there is little difference in 
 dress, manner or customs. A splendid democratic spirit prevails in 
 these things, although there are, of course, numerous small cliques. 
 These cliques are rather interesting from the fact that they seem to be 
 incipient class divisions. The standard in the town seems to be one of 
 dress, tastes and general congeniality, and comparatively free from 
 wealth status. The cliques in the country, on the other hand, seem to 
 be based more upon a wealth standard, the young men of wealthy fami- 
 lies who have good horses and rigs (sometimes automobiles) seldom 
 cliquing with the young men who cannot afford these. The Itahans and 
 Hungarians keep to themselves and are exclusive and clannish. The 
 colored people, of which there are but few and these confined almost 
 entirely to towns, have an economic standard of their own, but they form 
 such a small proportion of the population that only their religious 
 organizations and schools were studied. 
 
 Lodge and Secret Fraternal Organizations — Table D, page 17, shows 
 the lodge membership in Knox and Sullivan counties. The table shows 
 a total lodge membership of 53.5 per cent, of the adult male population of 
 Knox County, and 50 per cent, of the adult male population of Sullivan 
 
 16 
 
County. These figures, however, are no index of the part the lodge plays 
 in the social Ufe of the men, nor of the men's desire for fellowship and 
 social intercourse. For the table also shows that those lodges which 
 make much of the insurance benefit are by far the strongest and that 
 the average attendance per meeting of the lodge, despite the fact that 
 many of them meet but once a month, is but 32 per cent, of the mem- 
 bership in Knox County, and 29 per cent, of the membership in Sullivan 
 County. 
 
 Fig. Ill shows what the lodges are doing for the poor man. Taking 
 the size of a man's farm as a criterion of wealth, it shows that but a 
 small per cent, of the owners of farms under 100 acres are lodge members, 
 the percentage increasing with the amount of wealth. Whatever the 
 cause of this, whether it be that the owners of the small farms do not 
 want to belong to lodges, or cannot afford it, or that the lodges make no 
 effort to secure them, the fact remains that the lodge is not reaching the 
 poor man. It is not even reaching him as much as the church (which 
 is wofully little), as a comparison of the two sides of the diagram will 
 show: 
 
 5. Education — In these three counties there are 232 rural schools, 23 
 village schools and 22 town schools. Nearly 150 of these schools were 
 visited by the survey men. Two hundred and thirty-one of the rural 
 schools are frame ; one is of cement block. The rural schools are all one- 
 room schools; there is not a single consolidated school in the three 
 counties. The village schools have from one to four rooms each. The 
 town schools have eight to ten rooms. 
 
 TABLE [D] 
 
 LODGE MEMBERSHIP 
 
 
 Knox 
 
 Sullivan 
 
 
 Membership 
 
 Attendance 
 
 Membership 
 
 Attendance 
 
 M. W. of A 
 
 I. 0. 0. F 
 
 Masons 
 
 Yeomen 
 
 K. of C 
 
 867 
 293 
 354 
 325 
 151 
 60 
 24 
 
 '75 
 
 15 
 22 
 
 221 
 
 104 
 137 
 107 
 
 47 
 15 
 14 
 
 26 
 
 "6 
 9 
 
 711 
 
 1,016 
 
 548 
 
 230 
 
 120 
 
 '85 
 218 
 
 20 
 157 
 
 40 
 
 165 
 
 250 
 
 122 
 
 57 
 
 K. of P 
 
 25 
 
 Catholic Knights 
 
 M. B. A 
 
 Rebeccas 
 
 '87 
 
 R. N 
 
 15 
 
 E. S 
 
 50 
 
 P. s 
 
 20 
 
 Catholic Ladies 
 
 
 17 
 
HOW THE POOR MAN FARES. 
 
 151 Country famili'-' 
 
 WHAT THE CHURCH IS DOING 
 FOR HIM AIMD HI S FAMILY. 
 
 Ailsmlmij half the ttnii or mare 
 
 flttiLtidMij OCCtttiorja/lv ^ 
 /ItttilUin^ noun 
 
 WH/IT THE LDDGE IS DOING 
 FOR HIM. 
 
 Tenaitl 
 
 ^^ 1' '• 
 
 HireoL Mm 
 
 |[^ JJ7- 
 
 Farmers w"^ 
 
 ^ //?. 
 
 to 
 
 ^8^ '"• 
 
 (0 
 
 §1^ yo7. 
 
 to 
 
 ^t^iS '''■ 
 
 100 
 
 §8^i« /'?. 
 
 120 
 
 !«^^^ 4/7. 
 
 (to 
 
 ^^^^ 4f7. 
 
 ito 
 
 ^^^^ "'■ 
 
 ISO 
 
 ^^^^^ ^V- 
 
 200 
 
 ^^^^^ J-;;. 
 
 2«0 
 
 ^^^^^ "''' 
 
 300 
 
 i»$?8^l^l^ jy^. 
 
 3(0 
 
 ^§N^^^^ "/■ 
 
 ♦20 
 
 ^^^^^ J-2/. 
 
 500 
 
 ^^^^^^ «/. 
 
 &00 
 
 ^^^^^ ■"/• 
 
 Salonqin^ to 4 io<J(^e 
 
 1 Not btitonQlrtq to any lodae 
 
 FIG. Ill 
 
 Adair County has six one-room school buildings, built on model plans, 
 i.e., after the diagram of the model rural school on the campus of the 
 State Normal School at Kirksville. Knox County has one such building. 
 Sullivan County has a few rural schools that approximate the model 
 plans. The buildings in Knox Coimty are generally in good condition as 
 far as paint and repairs are concerned. The buildings in Adair and 
 Sullivan counties are in fair condition in these respects. 
 
 An interesting feature about some of the rural schools is that they are 
 placed in the exact geographical center of the school district, irrespective 
 of the roads. The worst school in this respect is probably McCauley, in 
 Knox County. It is over a quarter of a mile from the nearest road, in 
 a creek bottom, and in the middle of a large pasture field which is some- 
 times flooded in winter; the building is in a wretched condition — ^much 
 weather boarding torn off, without paint, old-fashioned, home-made 
 furniture, unpapered and generally dilapidated. It is in a district where 
 there are many Catholics, who send their children to a parochial school. 
 While this is the worst building in the three counties, there are others 
 almost as bad in Adair and Sullivan coimties. 
 
 A few of the schools stUl have home-made furniture. Very few have 
 
 18 
 
slate blackboards and not one has an indoor toilet. All except the 
 model schools have cross lighting. A few ha\e patent ventilating sys- 
 tems in connection with jacketed stoves. A few of the schools are with- 
 out water supply and over 75 per cent, of them have as their only water 
 supply unfiltered cisterns. The grounds vary from one-quarter to one 
 and a half acres, averaging about three-quarters of an acre.'j;, |^The 
 playgroxmds are usually unsuitable, as they were donated for 'school 
 purpose because they were not good for farming purposes. Not a 
 single flower bed was found in any rural school. There is no play- 
 ground apparatus. 
 
 The value of the school buildings varies from $100, in a case Uke that 
 of the IMcCauley School, to $1,400 for the model school, averaging about 
 $750. The average levy in cents per hundred dollars in Knox County 
 is $0.51, in Adair $0.59, in Sullivan $0.54. The teachers receive from 
 $23 to $55 per month in the country schools and as high as $125 in town 
 schools, but the average teacher's salary is less than $40 per month. One 
 of the worst features of the schools is the divided term, with a new teacher 
 at greatly reduced salary for the spring term. The evils of such a system 
 are obvious — one teacher has barely got acquainted^with her students 
 and secured good discipline when she must give up her school to a new 
 
 WHERE AMBITION LAGS 
 19 
 
RECESS 
 
 teacher who has the whole thing to do over. Missouri is one of the few 
 States in the Union to retain this custom. The average length of session 
 is a little less than eight months. The teacher's average tenure in a dis- 
 trict is a Uttle less than one year. Her preparation as a rule consists in 
 a common-school education (or parochial school), coupled with one or 
 two years at high school or normal. 
 
 The enumeration, enrollment and attendance for the three counties 
 are as foUows: 
 
 TABLE [E] 
 
 
 Knox 
 
 Adair 
 
 Sullivan 
 
 Enumeration 
 
 3,581 
 2,865 
 67% 
 
 6,394 
 5,109 
 
 71% 
 
 5,889 
 
 Enrollment 
 
 Attendance 
 
 5,090 
 
 68% 
 
 
 
 This means that there are 15,864 children between six and twenty years 
 of age, and only 13,064 enrolled in the public schools. The parochial 
 school in Edina, county seat of Knox County, enrolls about 250. With 
 the exception of a County Bread Club and a County Corn Club in Adair 
 County, the schools, both rural and town, are without organization 
 among the students. Nearly 90 per cent, of the schools have libraries 
 of about 40 volumes each. 
 
 Next to the physical condition of the schools the greatest charge 
 against them is that their curricula prepare the children for town life 
 rather than for farm life. Until the recent introduction of elementary 
 
 20 
 
agriculture into the school curriculum there has been nothing to teach 
 the farm boy about the hfe and growth of the things he works with and 
 handles every day — corn, wheat, oats, hay and garden vegetables. No 
 course to teach him that agriculture is as great a calling as any other 
 and to make him see the deeper significance of farming and its economic 
 place at the head of all the professions. Nothing to teach him how to 
 make his father's farm more productive. 
 
 mWith the schools as with the roads, the deficiencies lie not[in the county 
 superintendents, but in the lack of public sentiment to fight for any- 
 thing better. To quote from Superintendent Sipple, of Adair County, 
 the need is for an "intensive study by all of the rural-school problem. 
 We need little legislation but much consecration. We need httle more 
 'machinery,' but the ability to get the most out of that which we have. 
 We need more people thinking, talking and acting for good schools." 
 
 6. Recreation and Morals — The recreation facilities in the rural dis- 
 tricts are sadly deficient. The average township affords a Httle Sunday 
 baseball at some village, an occasional dance at some home or in a hall, 
 three or four picnics a summer, two or three ice-cream socials given by 
 the churches, one pool room and one or two school entertainments a 
 year. These are the only recreations offered to 150 families in a given 
 year. The recreations provided by the church, the school and the lodge 
 are provided not for the sake of the community so much as for filling 
 their own treasuries. Nowhere throughout the country districts is there 
 to be found any organization which considers itself obligated to offer 
 clean, wholesome recreation for young people or old. 
 
 The individual morality of these three counties is unusually good. It 
 is all Prohibition territory (although there are many speak-easies) . 
 There are very few employed women and the employed men are usually 
 the neighbors and the owners of the small farms. The average age at 
 which a girl in the rural district marries is 19. In many ways it is ideal. 
 There is a universal beUef ui work; practically no loafing or vagrancy. 
 One township has not had a constable for seven years. The constable 
 of another township is 86 years old. Practically the entire population 
 Kve in homes — typical American homes — and 85 per cent, of the homes 
 are owned by those who live in them. Only 15 per cent, are tenants. 
 A spirit of democracy prevails. 
 
 7. The Church — Membership and Distribution— Let the figures 
 speak for themselves. In these three counties there are 180 Protestant 
 churches, 159 of them bemg used at least occasionally, and 21 of them 
 totally abandoned. The ones that are still more or less active are 
 distributed as follows: eighty-three in the country district, 56 in the 
 villages and 20 in the towns. The total membership of the 83 country 
 churches is 4,362, or an average of 53 members to a church. The 
 
 21 
 
total membership of the 56 village churches is 3,976, or an average of 
 71 [members to a Jchurch. [The total membership of the 20 town 
 churches is 4,217, or an average of 210 members to a church. The 
 total membership for the 151 more or less active Protestant churches 
 is 12,555. This means that 23 per cent, of the total population of the 
 three counties is in the Protestant membership. 
 
 There are five CathoUc churches, three of them in towns and two in 
 villages, besides four or five little country Catholic churches which are 
 affiliated with the larger churches, and whose members all belong to and 
 attend the larger churches. The total membership is 2,925, distributed 
 as follows: 1,509 in St. Joseph's Church in Edina, 495 m the church of 
 Barmg village (Knox County), 225 in the church at Kirksville town, 
 Adair County, 575 in the church in Adair village, Adair County, and 126 
 in the church at Milan town, SuUivan County. This means that 5.6 
 per cent, of the total population are CathoHcs. (A comparison of this 
 percentage to the percentage of Protestants would not be just, however, 
 because Catholics count as members all who belong to a family the 
 parents of which are members of the church). This leaves a balance of 
 71 per cent, of the population that belongs to no church. 
 
 A study of 609 famihes of farmers in Sullivan County show that 42 per 
 cent, of the farmers' families attend regularly, 28 per cent, attend occa- 
 sionally and 30 per cent, attend not at all. This is probably a fair average 
 for the rural districts of the three counties. Fig. Ill shows how the poor 
 man attends as compared with the wealthier man. Taking the size of 
 farms as a criterion of wealth, it shows that the owners of the small farm 
 attend church the least, and that church attendance seems to increase 
 with the size of the farm. Here, again, as in the case of the lodges, what- 
 ever the cause of this — whether it be that the poor man does not want to 
 go to church, or that he feels that the church has no message for him, or 
 that the church makes no effort to get him — the fact remains that the 
 church is not reaching the poor man. 
 
 Prayer Meetings — ^A few of the town and village churches hold prayer 
 meetings. The country churches do not hold them. 
 
 Young People's Societies — Of the 83 country churches only 7 have 
 young people's societies. The average membership to a society is 19. 
 Of the 56 village churches 5 have young people's societies and their 
 average membership is 15. Of the 20 town churches, 7 have young 
 people's societies, with an average membership of 11. The chief aim of 
 these societies seems to be to keep from dying out. 
 
 Sunday Schools — 95 per cent, of the churches have Sunday Schools. 
 The coimtry churches have an average Sunday School membership of 
 4 teachers, 16 adults, 19 yoimg people, 18 children, making a total of 57. 
 The average attendance is about two-thirds of this number. The village 
 
 22 
 
23 
 
churches have an average Sunday School membership of 6 teachers, 16 
 adults, 18 young people and 26 children, making a total of 66. The 
 average attendance is about two-thirds of this number. The^^town 
 Sunday Schools have an average of 8 teachers, 29 adults, 34 young people 
 and 31 children, making a total of 102 members. The average attend- 
 ance is about 60 per cent, of the membership. This means that about 
 9,500, or about 18 per cent, of the total population, are in the Protestant 
 Simday Schools. The international ungraded lessons are used abnost 
 exclusively. In less than half a dozen of the whole 159 more or less active 
 Protestant churches is there anything like a teachers' training class. 
 About 41 per cent, of the young people and adults are males. 
 
 Societies and Clubs— Theit is not a single men's club among the 159 
 more or less active Protestant churches. There are eight small junior 
 organizations, including one group of Boy Scouts, but they are all in the 
 towns. In the towns and villages are the women's societies, about 40 in 
 number. In the 83 country churches there are but six or seven women's 
 societies. 
 
 Every CathoUc church in[this territory has at least one men's club, one 
 women's club and one junior organization. 
 
 The Church Property and Annual Expenses — The httle coimtry churches 
 vary in value from $500 to $3,000, averaging about $1,200. They are 
 practically without encumbrance. They usually have one room and are 
 equipped with pulpit, organ, stove, oil lamps and uncushioned seats. In 
 several of them the spades and [shovels for grave-digging purposes are 
 to be seen in the corner. In two of them were foimd signs reading 
 "Don't Spit on the Floor." The appearance of the grounds of the 
 country churches varies greatly in the different churches. Some grounds, 
 for example the Baptist Church of Colony Township, Knox County, are 
 shaded and beautifully kept. Others are unfenced, unsodded, unshaded 
 and imcared for. It is very rare that an outbuilding is found. The 
 viUage and town churches are usually without groimds. 
 
 The total amount spent for Protestant churches in one year in these 
 three counties is $50,500, which means a per capita cost of $4.08^per 
 church member, or 90 cents per capita of the population./ 
 
 The average country church budget runs hke this: "For minister's 
 salary, $115; for all other expenses, including Simday School, repairs, 
 incidentals and benevolences, $31." Fig. X shows how $1 of the church's 
 money is spent. It is based on the reports of 47 M. E. and M. E. S. 
 churches. These churches were used for two reasons: first, because 
 they are representative; and, second, because their reports are more sys- 
 tematically kept and printed in more available form; than the reports 
 of the other churches. 
 
 If missions and church boards be coimted as parts of the church 
 
 24 
 
WHO ARE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 
 
 83 Sunday Schools m Knox, AdaVr and SuUwan CounUes, Mo. 
 MEMBERSHIP IN — 
 
 COUNTRY 
 
 VILLAGES 
 
 Teachers:l8 
 
 69» 
 
 AduV 
 612=2 
 
 Younq P( 
 
 14-2. 
 
 763=2 
 
 Children 
 ll93=43.37o 
 
 TOWNS 
 (Ouer 750) 
 
 = Males ouer 14. 
 
 = Females and children under 14. 
 
 25 
 
AFTER THE MORNING SERVICE 
 
 organization 99 cents of every dollar the church receives is spent in 
 keeping up its own organization, and the remaining 1 cent is used for 
 benevolence and altruistic work. Is there justification for the charge 
 against the church that it is doing nothing but holding meetings and 
 taking collections? 
 
 Ministers — 92 per cent, of the country churches, as shown by Fig. XII, 
 have ministers on quarter or less than quarter time; 8 per cent, have 
 ministers on half time. Not a single country church is supporting a 
 minister on full time. Of the village churches 77 per cent, have ministers 
 on quarter time, 21 per cent, on half time and but 2 per cent, on full time. 
 Even in the town churches 15 per cent, of the ministers are on quarter 
 time, 50 per cent, on half time and but 35 per cent, on full time. This 
 means that 92 per cent, of the country churches, 77 per cent, of the 
 village churches and 15 per cent, of the town churches have " three-hour- 
 a-month ministers" — that is, ministers who come but once a month, hold 
 two preaching services on Sunday and leave the following day not to 
 return until the following month. In these three counties there are but 
 two ministers who reside in the country; but 2 churches of the 83 can 
 claim a resident pastor. One of these is a superannuated preacher who 
 is almost illiterate. His church (he is on quarter time and preaches but 
 once a month at the church, besides which he resides on his two-acre patch 
 of ground), pays him from $1.50 to $5 a month; once they gave him $7. 
 The average minister to a coimtry church lives in some town and has 
 fourxoimtry charges, one of which he visits each Sunday. Very few of 
 these ministers have horses and buggies, as their charges are so far apart 
 this means of conveyance would be useless. 
 
 26 
 
Um m DOLLAR Of THE 
 
 cnuRcns noNn i5 spent 
 
 BdseA upoY> the Y^Yorts o^ tj} Hclhodisl 4wA \i 
 
 7 ceirvts 
 
 SuY\i,^v. ScVvaii\ <, tii^^ 
 
 CiTii e^ NjN*\\^\x\^s ijU*-'"''^' 
 
 Z5 '^'""^ 
 
 "Sa^XS 
 
 £\.\.V«>iV\'i\o>^ f( fyi 
 
 
 FIG. X 
 
 27 
 
Their libraries range from 10 to 1,000 volumes, averagmg about 200, 
 although the bulk of them wiU not exceed 130 volumes, 75 per cent, of 
 which are on theology of an ancient cast. Less than a dozen mmisters 
 have any works on agriculture and as a rule the only works on social and 
 economic questions are the text books of school days. The current htera- 
 ture that the country ministers of this territory are reading seems to 
 consist largely in periodicals of their respective denominations. The 
 following sentence at the bottom of a church blank that had been sent 
 to an average country minister to fiU out is eloquently descriptive of his 
 education, his consecration and his Umitations: "I have did the best I 
 could." Given his education, his salary, the church's exclusive emphasis 
 on individual salvation and the overcrowding of churches in this terri- 
 tory, the country minister has done the best he could. 
 
 Abandoned Churches— There are 7 abandoned churches m Adair 
 County, 6 m Knox County and 8 in Sullivan County, making a total of 
 21; 19 of these are in the country, 2 are m viUages. If these three 
 counties are representative of the State of Missouri in this respect, there 
 are about 750 abandoned churches in the State. It is to be noted further 
 that these churches have been abandoned, not because their organiza- 
 tions have been federated with other organizations (with two exceptions), 
 or have moved into other buildings, but simply because they have died 
 out. The appearance of an abandoned church is usually that of the 
 abomination of desolation — ^windows broken, organ broken, pulpit 
 broken, seats in confusion, a bird nest or two up near the roof, and in 
 some corner a tramp's bed made out of the folded carpet. It is safe to 
 say that many other churches are on the road to abandonment, for less 
 than half of the country churches of these three counties are increasing in 
 membership. 
 
 Other Facts About the Churches— It is sometimes charged that lodges 
 interfere with church attendance, but it was found in these three counties, 
 as shown by Fig. XIII, that lodge attendance and church attendance 
 seem to go hand in hand and both draw from the same classes of people. 
 It cannot be said that any organization outside the churches in these 
 three counties is meetmg the religious needs of the people. 
 
 On the whole the attitude toward religion is sympathetic, lapsing 
 among some people to indifference, but seldom becoming hostile. While 
 there is much sectarianism there is httle denominational strife. One of 
 the things that impressed the survey men when they first arrived on the 
 field was the freedom and naturalness with which people, men as well as 
 women, spoke on religious themes. 
 
 If the churches were equally distributed there would be one Protestant 
 church for every 10.8 square miles, but theyare very unequally distributed. 
 The 23 villages, averaging 241 persons to a village, have 56 churches, 
 
 28 
 
What l5 Left Of The 
 
 Circuit RiderSy^tem 
 
 Country Churches-VillageChurchls-Iown Churches- Tota l 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 ^ 
 
 u 
 
 IChurches With Preaching HalfTheTime. 
 UChorche^ With Preaching OneFourthTheIme. 
 ^Chukches V^ith Preaching Fu llTi m i 
 BA5IS-I59 CHimCHES IN 
 
 KNOX ADAIR ^5ULLIVAN C0UNTIE5 MO. 
 
 FIG. xn 
 
 29 
 
Four villages — ^Novelty, Newark, in Knox County, and Gibbs and Brashear, 
 in Adair County, have 4 churches each. JTwo of these villages have less 
 than 225 inhabitants. The natural result of this overcrowding is to 
 weaken all the churches and to produce an inversion of the church's 
 purpose, so that their main effort is to keep up their own organizations 
 instead of serving the community in which they are located. There is 
 no church federation or pastors' union, except in Kirksville, the county 
 seat of Adair County. Union meetings are seldom held, except on 
 Thanksgiving, and on occasions of temperance rallies. There is abso- 
 lutely no territory here that would justify the planting of a new church, 
 for no spot can be found where within a radius of 5 miles from one to ten 
 churches cannot be reached. What is needed is a more intensive culti- 
 vation of the field. 
 
 8. Social Welfare — The vitality of this section is high — "distressingly 
 high, " as one M.D. said. The average township has possibly two persons 
 over eighty years of age, no insane, one blind, one deaf and dumb and 
 two or three neurotics. 
 
 The industrial types are not equally distributed, but the average per 
 township is probably one M.D., two tradesmen and four or five mechan- 
 ics. The rest are farmers. Wealth is increasing generally through the 
 increased value of land. 
 
 A CALL TO THE COUNTRY CHURCH 
 
 If, from the foregoing smnmary of the findings of the survey of these 
 three counties, Usts of the virtues and the sins of these counties were 
 taken they would read something like this: 
 
 Virtues — (a) Economic. The raising of good live stock; good farm 
 buildings on the farms in the level country; a single economic standard 
 and a prevailing spirit of democracy, (b) Social. Good morals, tem- 
 perance, industry and hospitahty, universality of work, large percentage 
 of land owners and great abundance of typical American homes, (c) 
 School. Tendency toward model rural school buildings and in general a 
 gradual increasing of teachers' salaries, (d) Churches are practically 
 without encumbrance. The attitude toward religion is sympathetic 
 and there is a good interdenominational attendance. 
 
 Sins — (a) Economic. Bad roads, dangerous culverts, unscientific 
 methods of farming, poor care of farm machinery, lack of cooperation 
 among farmers, weak agricultural organization and fai'ing to hold the 
 boys on the farm, (b) Social. No grange. No clubs, literary, sewing 
 or social, for farmers' wives, sons or daughters, and insufficient recreation 
 facilities, (c) School. Not one consolidated school; one-room, cross- 
 lighted, un ventilated buildings; no industrial training; divided' school 
 
 30 
 
RECORD of CHURCHES 
 
 FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS. 
 
 Knox.Adair and Sullivain Cos, Mo. 
 
 GROWING 
 
 267o 
 
 M% 
 
 ^^^m 
 
 
 STATIONARY 
 
 8fo 50^ 
 
 LOSING 
 
 24^0 
 
 53^ 
 
 ^<PZZ^ 
 
 DYING 
 
 SjS; 
 
 DEAD 
 
 \\% 86'yc 
 
 ORGANIZED WITHIN 10 YEARS 
 
 C^COUWrW C«UKCH£5 
 ^a VILLAGE CHU«C»t5 
 
 \lio ^Qi^\A9^'W 
 
 FIG. XI 
 
 31 
 
DO THE CHURCH and 
 THE LODGE INTERFERE? 
 
 Basis— 451 f ami lies in 
 
 SulHuan Co., Mo. 
 
 NOT lodge: 
 
 MEMBERS 
 68.)7o 
 
 LODGE 
 MEMBERS. 
 
 177. 
 
 m 
 
 \m 
 
 377. 
 
 CHURCH 
 GOERS 
 
 NON- 
 CHURCH 
 GOERS 
 
 OCCASIONAL 34.^% 
 CHURCH GOERS 
 
 £41% 
 
 □ Non-CUurcU Goers, if Not Lodge Meinbers 
 M Occasional Church Goers. ^ Lod^qe Members 
 
 Church Qoers 
 
 FIG. XIII 
 
 32 
 
term; poorly paid teachers; poor and uncared for playgrounds; they 
 prepare for town life rather than for farm life, (d) Church. Per capita 
 expenditure for church purposes, $1.11; denominationalism ; overcrowd- 
 ing; non-resident ministers; 92 per cent, of the country ministers and 77 
 per cent, of the village miaisters on quarter time or less; doing nothing 
 but holding meetings and taking collections. 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 The Country Pastor. 
 
 This survey of conditions shows that in these three counties the first 
 great need is pastors li^ing in the country. The ministers live where 
 they do not preach and they preach where they do not hve. The charts, 
 "What Is Left of Circuit-Rider System" and "A Three-Hour a Month 
 Minister," show this need in a graphic way. In one whole county there 
 is not a resident minister of any denomination in the coimtry. Even 
 in the \illages few preachers reside. The proportion in the towns is 
 much greater, and the bigger the town the more ministers live there. 
 
 Matching this condition of neglect of the country churches is the 
 exhibit of decadence, which is much greater among country churches, as 
 is shown in the chart, "Record of Churches." The greatest number of 
 churches in decay and the majority of those that have died are country 
 churches. The success of the church and its continuance are de- 
 pendent upon the residence of the minister in the parish. The dif- 
 ficulties of the church and the danger of its extinction are greatly 
 increased by a non-resident ministry. 
 
 This condition has become ingrained into the reUgious habits of 
 coimtry people in northern Missouri and the surrounding sections of 
 Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. The people in these sections do not want 
 a resident ministry. Church members and even church ofl&cers prefer 
 on three Simdays a month to "visit around." It is cheaper and the 
 responsibilities are lighter. When a prominent Presbyterian attends 
 public worship in a Baptist church, the Baptists are glad to see him. His 
 presence increases their audience. His responsibilities are at the lowest 
 point and his welcome is the highest, so that of course he favors the 
 system which gives him an opportunity to visit on three Sundays of the 
 month and be responsible for only one service in his own church. The 
 same condition doubtless exists in all the Protestant denominations. It 
 is a token of weak churches and it is obvious that many of these churches 
 are ready to perish. 
 
 This condition would not be so significant if it were nor universal. 
 The prevailmg custom of the preachers is to live in the towns at ease, 
 where their own advantages are the greatest, and to expect country 
 
 33 
 
The Three-Hour-A- 
 month-minister. 
 
 Qumr^iiiifcm 
 
 (^umsswmtiTminiNTPAsroiis 
 
 QtURCHES WITH RESIDENT PASTORS 
 VILLAGE CHURCHES 
 
 TOWN CHURCHES 
 
 BASIS 159 CHURCHES IN KNOX ADAIR '"^SUUVAN COUHTI£S Mo. 
 
 FIG. IX 
 
 34 
 
churches to support them. Their only service is an infrequent sermon, 
 a wedding ceremony once in a man's life, and a funeral sermon at the 
 end of his days. Few of the preachers call upon their people in the 
 country. This condition has succeeded to the " circuit rider system " of 
 the old days, but the "circuit rider" lived in the country; the modern 
 preacher Hves in the town. The town is a very different mode of life 
 from the country and the farmer knows it. The preacher in the town is 
 associated ^ith merchants, middlemen and agents, bankers and land- 
 lords, and the farmer thinks of these people as different from himself. 
 Indeed, the preacher has \'ery often a farm of his own and is an absentee 
 landlord, or he speculates in land or follows some other commerical 
 occupation, which does not commend him to the farmer as a spiritual 
 leader. 
 
 The successful country ministers throughout the United States live 
 with their people. The work of a pastor is far more effective in the 
 saving of souls and the building of churches than the work of a preacher. 
 The minister's wife does as much good, especially in the country, as the 
 minister himself. The household of the preacher and his Uttle children 
 exert an uplifting influence on the countryside. Under the present stress 
 and strain the leadership of the pastor is sorely needed in the country 
 community, where none, as a rule, reside who do not ha^e to work 
 twelve hours a day. 
 
 This situation lays a duty upon the preachers of Missouri and sur- 
 rounding States. It exhibits the great weakness of the country churches. 
 This weakness can be healed by the consecration of the ministers and 
 their families to the country people. There is no de\-otion to the country 
 church which does not state itself in terms of country residence. The 
 preacher and his family must make their sacrifice as definitely as if they 
 went to China or to Africa to preach the Gospel. 
 
 And the country churches must meet the preacher half way. The 
 members of country churches are confronted with the alternati\'e of 
 supporting a preacher in the country or of losing the churches in which 
 they have confessed their faith in Christ. The liberties and the ease of 
 the "part time preaching" system must be sacrificed and the burdens 
 of continuous service and attendance upon one's own church must be 
 undertaken. The financial burden, also, of providing manses for pastors 
 to live in and of increasing the support of the country church must be 
 undertaken by country churches, just as fast as the people in these 
 churches are prospered. That the churches of this part of Missouri are 
 able financially to bear this burden is exhibited in the chart, "Can They 
 Afford It?" Country people are contributing at the present time, 
 instead of one-tenth of their income to the church in the country, only 
 >^ of 1 per cent, of their income. This cheap and inexpensive church 
 
 35 
 
system gives a correspondingly thin and poor return. There is need 
 of personal consecration of the ministers and financial consecration of the 
 people to build the strong country church. 
 
 Provision of Social Life. 
 
 The casual meetings of this population should interest the churches. 
 These casual meetings exhibit the character of the people more than do 
 the appointed meetings. Each resident pastor on whom the improve- 
 ment of religious conditions now depends should cultivate the life of the 
 people in their relations with one another. He should provide places of 
 frequent assembly. These meetings should occur often enough to sat- 
 isfy the social inclinations of the people. It is to be presumed that they 
 will be held in private houses, but the church is none too good for this 
 use. It belongs to the people of the community, who built it with the 
 Lord's money. They should use it freely in the interest of the Kingdom. 
 Nothing is more near to the heart of the Lord than the growth of social 
 and neighborly feeling among the people. 
 
 These meetings, however, should be carefully organized. The pastor 
 who loves his people wiU study their needs. He will find the purposes to 
 be served by such assemblies, and will use these agencies to satisfy 
 popular needs. One of the greatest needs among these people is an 
 opportunity to study "better farming." In some States there are "Six- 
 teen Clubs," the membership of which is made up of sixteen farmers and 
 their wives. These clubs meet once a month at a farmhouse. They 
 inspect the farm, the barns and arrangements of the whole place, and, 
 after dining together, they hold a meeting for the criticism of the farming 
 methods of their host. When the club makes its second visit to a farm- 
 house the minutes of the previous meeting held in that house are read. 
 The description of conditions as they were at that time is read for com- 
 parison. These clubs have had a great value in improving the farming 
 methods of their members. They have also had a secondary influence 
 upon the whole community, for everybody learns to imitate these sixteen 
 farmers. The method is capable of indefinite extension, though it is 
 somewhat aristocratic in character. It is mentioned here as an illus- 
 tration of a shrewd device for accomplishing certain ends in the country 
 and at the same time giving incidental social culture to the people. 
 
 There is great need of social organization of all country people. The 
 farmer is undergoing rapid organization at the present time, and it is 
 important that the church, which is the only free institution existing 
 generally throughout the country, should have a leading part m this 
 organization of country people. It will be most unfortunate if the farm- 
 ers' organizations are perfected without the influence of the church. 
 
 36 
 
PROSPERITY 
 
 The Service of the Church to the Poor. 
 
 In this territory the farmer with 20 or 40 acres must work for his 
 neighbor. The methods of ciiltivating the land do not provide a Hving 
 on so small an acreage. The chart, "How the Poor Man Fares," shows 
 that through this section the families of working people are neglected by 
 the churches. They are represented in the membership all too Uttle. 
 To extend the membership of the church among these small holders of 
 land and among the hired hands and among the tenant farmers who 
 constitute 15 per cent, of the country population is the great task of 
 the church. This task cannot be performed by non-resident ministers. 
 Only the pastor can give the patient and persistent attention to the needs 
 of the poorer members of the community. His diligent and watchful 
 care is necessary to tide them over the exigencies of life, and, above all, 
 to provide them with a social friendhness and to knit them into the tex- 
 ture of the community. The hope of the church is with the poor man. 
 He has the experience which begets religion. His life is made up of the 
 simple elements which enter into all human experience, and he has no 
 .other disturbing factor. The larger land holders and the wealthy mem- 
 bers of the community can make contributions to the church which the 
 workingman cannot make, but he provides the warmth and the passion 
 of religious feeling. The future of the church as a religious institution 
 is bound up m her relation to the men who work the land. If the church 
 cannot win them in a greater degree than at present, the churches will 
 either die or become unreligious social clubs. This is the great task of 
 the ministers and church officers in northern Missouri. 
 
 37 
 
Good Roads Movement Needed. 
 
 It is true that in a time of bad roads people can be religious, and it is 
 also true that when better roads come church attendance for the time 
 being suffers. It requires a good church to survive and be strong in a 
 time of good roads and good schools. Nevertheless, the welfare of these 
 three counties is dependent on better roads. A higher character is 
 needed, dependent for its development upon more intense social life, 
 more frequent meetings and closer cooperation. The use of good roads 
 is essential to this better agricultural character. The churches, there- 
 fore, which are the watch towers of the moral and spiritual life, should 
 be interested in good roads. The time has come for a nobler develop- 
 ment of the people of this country, and the churches must lead in that 
 development. 
 
 The Improvement of Schools. 
 
 This survey was made possible by the cooperation of the Presbyterian 
 Department of Church and Country Life with President Kirk and 
 Professor Foght and their associates, of Kirksville Normal School. The 
 Department expresses its deep appreciation of the Christian spirit and 
 courtesy of the Kirksville Normal leaders. We commend their pro- 
 posals for the improvement of schools in this whole region and desire 
 to remind the ministers and church officers that the church and school 
 go hand in hand in the country. It will be impossible to provide better 
 churches unless throughout this whole section the schools be improved. 
 This improvement will come along the lines urged with such devotion 
 and intelligence by President Kirk, Professor Foght, Mrs. Harvey and 
 their associates. The increase in the number of model rural schools is 
 a sign of good things in this section. It promises that the day for better 
 churches is at hand. When to these model one-room schools are added 
 a number of consolidated and centrahzed schools, ministering in the 
 open country to a region whose radius is a team haul, then the whole 
 standard of rural education will be lifted and with it the intelligence and 
 progressiveness of country people will be improved. 
 
 Church Clubs and Societies. 
 
 Is it not strange that in this territory, in which lodges are increasing, 
 the Christian churches have made no use of the craving for organization 
 which prevails among country people? One sometimes finds a minister 
 joining a lodge, with divided mind, hoping in a furtive way to "uifluence 
 somebody for good." Why does he not organize clubs and societies for 
 men and boys in his own church? The Catholic churches, which are 
 wise in their generation, do so generally, as this survey shows. They are 
 the stronger for this added bond. The Protestant churches give to their 
 
 38 
 
members very little opportunity for Christian and social meeting. 
 Prayer meetings in the comitry are seldom held and the farmer has sur- 
 rendered to the dreary round of uninterrupted labor, with no promise of 
 refreshing meetmgs among his neighbors. Religion is warmed up for 
 him with no kindly social intercourse. This is a great need throughout 
 northern IMissouri. It is again a need that can only be satisfied through 
 the service of resident ministers. In e\-ery Protestant church the resi- 
 dent pastor should haA-e a brotherhood for men, a society for women and 
 a club or guild for boys, to which he should give his most earnest and 
 cordial service. For here he will reap the results of his preaching and of 
 the personal devotion to his people. 
 
 The last recommendation is that throughout this whole territory the 
 churches must train their people in giving. In recent years the farmer 
 ia northern Missouri has prospered. He is recei\ing better prices and a 
 fairer proportion of the profit from his labor. Of this he should give 
 systematically and regularly to the Lord. This prosperity has come as 
 a free gift of God. It was not procured by the farmer, and he should 
 give iQ grateful recognition of the blessings that have come to him in 
 increased wealth abundantly to the Lord's house. 
 
 The first great use of this new benevolence should be in increasing 
 salaries of the ministers. The work needed in the country church is going 
 to leave the minister no time to earn his living. The farmer now sup- 
 ports a farm agent and a half-dozen other special representatives of 
 concerns which he patronizes. These persons do not farm the land. 
 They live by serving the farmer. If the minister will live in the country 
 he should have enough to live on; and for the future of these churches 
 the minister's salary, considering the high price of commodities and the 
 fact that he will have to pay cash for nearly all he uses, wiU probably 
 be about SI, 000. In addition the churches in the country which face the 
 future with courage and consecration will build manses for their ministers. 
 When this is done it will be possible to retain in the country serviceable 
 and useful men. We do not think for a moment that religion is de- 
 pendent only on ministers. It will often be true under any system that 
 the leaders of the church will be the people and not the ministers, and the 
 greater devotion wiU be in the farmer or in his wife, but the present weak- 
 ness of country churches in Missouri is evidence of the weakness of that 
 sort of leadership. The minister is an agent of the efficient church and 
 without his devoted leadership the strong and active country church 
 cannot be maintained. 
 
 Ministers of a new type are coming forth now from the universities, 
 seminaries and even from the agricultural colleges. In the next ten years 
 many such devoted men will desire to live in the country. These men are 
 the key to the problem. The people now living in these counties in 
 
 39 
 
northern Missouri are religious people. In heart and in piety they are 
 not excelled throughout the whole country, but their churches are weak. 
 It is by the church that piety and devotion are transmitted from man to 
 man, from the farmer to his neighbor, and from one generation to 
 another. We plead, therefore, for the strong and active country church. 
 Without a resident minister this active and efficient country church can- 
 not be maintained. But the time has come when such ministers can be 
 secured, if the devotion and piety of country people will meet them half 
 way with the necessary supply of consecrated wealth. This is the most 
 needed of all reforms in the territory surrounding Knox, Adair and Sulli- 
 van counties. Mo. 
 
 Is there power enough in the country church to take upon itself the 
 task of delivering these counties from their sins? Can it take up the 
 task of securing better roads — take as its slogan: We believe in better 
 roads and we propose to have them — and stick to it till it has won out? 
 Who then could say that the churches are doing nothing but holding 
 meetings and taking collections? Can the church take up the task of 
 furnishing or encouraging agricultural organizations among farmers — 
 organizations that will work for the bettering of farm conditions, for 
 more scientific methods of farming, for cooperation among farmers and 
 for more reasonable financial returns to the workers of the soil? Can it 
 
 H 
 
 ''^^^•■'W^liPPHtr— Jf^. ■*» ' 
 
 '"^t 
 
 
 AN ABANDONED CHURCH 
 40 
 
THE RENIER AT HOME 
 
 introduce into these communities the Grange as one of God's twentieth- 
 century angels to the farmer? Can it offer to the farmers' wives and 
 sons and daughters opportunities for getting together and broadening 
 their minds and enriching their Hves in hterary and social clubs? Can it 
 furnish recreation facihties, clean and wholesome, for young and old? 
 It has preached long against Sunday baseball ; can it begin now the prac- 
 tice of overcoming e\il \dth good by furnishing enough baseball through 
 the week that boys will not care for it on Sunday? Can it take its place 
 in the battle line beside those who are fighting for better schools, better 
 buildings, better courses of instruction and better playgrounds? Can it 
 extend a helping hand to the country schoolteacher in an effort to secure 
 for her a more reasonable salary? Can it champion the cause of the 
 young men who have been leaving the farms in alarming numbers? 
 They have been leaving because farm life has been less attractive than 
 town hfe, because their schools have prepared them for town life rather 
 than for farm life, because of the drudgery of farm life, because they have 
 little opportunity of getting together with other young people, and 
 because they have no opportimity to get land of their own; and they will 
 continue to leave the farm as long as these conditions prevail. Can the 
 church champion their cause; can it throw open its doors to them, not 
 
 41 
 
three hours a month but three hours a day? Can it offer them a chance 
 to play, to mingle with each other and to broaden their Hves in literary, 
 athletic and social activities? Can it take upon itself the task of saving 
 the young men not only for Paradise, but for America and American 
 farms? 
 
 To do this may demand tremendous sacrifice. It may even mean that 
 some churches will have to die, but long ago the church's Master died that 
 others might Hve. Is the church afraid to follow His example? Will 
 some churches be wi.ling to die for the salvation of their community? It 
 may mean that some ministers must give up their homes in the towns 
 to take up a two-acre patch of ground beside a country church to live 
 and work and die there among people who do not appreciate or under- 
 stand. But the Kingdom of God will come nearer. Isthat worth while? 
 
 42