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Wabaunsee, Kansas. First Church of Christ,
Semi-centennial. 1907.

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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

1935

SEMI- CENTENNIAL

Wabaunsee Congregational
Church

June 27-28, 1907

cJU '¦.! Tci-- ok' CUvr!;'

Semi- Centennial

Wabaunsee Congregational
Church

WABAUNSEE, KANSAS

June 27-28, 1907.

ALMA ENTEtPRISE OBIM

The Kansas Emigrants

We cross the prairie, as of old
The Pilgrims crossed the sea,
To make the West, as they the East
The homestead of the free!
We go to, plant her common schools
On distant prairie swells,
And give the Sabbaths of the wild
The music of her bells.
Uprearing, like the Ark of old.
The Bible in our van.
We go to test the truth of God
Against the fraud of man.
-J. G Whittier.

(l.lf.%50

The Wabaunsee Semi -Centennial

The celebration June 27th and 28th, 1907, of the fiftieth anni
versary of the organization of the "First Church of Christ" of
Wabaunsee, Kansas, was an event of more than passing interest.
The circumstances of the birth of the church, her subsequent his
tory, the men she has sent forth and the position she holds as to
the future of the community all served to make the meeting a
notable one and the preservation of an accurate record of the pro
ceedings as far as might be done, most desirable. It has been im
possible to record all that was said and done. The. songs, the
prayers, the letters, the addresses, and the stories of early times
and struggles presented, these were all of interest and worthy
of reproduction. Since a choice has bejen necessary it has been
made in favor of the historic — past and prospective material.
The old church was beautifully dressed for the occasion.
There was something majestic in the way she greeted her sons and
daughters and friends Within, the eye first fell upon a beautiful
drawing of the church as it first stood before modern repairs chan
ged her appearance This was a gift of one of the original mem
bers, Mr S. H. Fairfield. Perhaps the next thing was the fresh,
clean paper, the gift of Mrs. Susan Earl's class of girls Over the
back door and window hung two drawings, made and framed in
green by one of her daughters, Miss Maude Mitchell; the one on
the left a drawing of the church, that on the right a representation
of the old ravine by the banks of which the pioneers held their first
meetings. On the pulpit lay three bibles; one the old pulpit bible
presented the church, through Chas B Lines, another, an old
Coverdale bible over three hundred years old, the property of the
Mitchell family, the third, one of the twenty-five presented by
Henry Ward Beecher's church, the property of Mrs. L M. Lines.
With these lay a copy of the Plymouth collection, used early in the
history of the church. On the walls hung two rifles, a Sharp's rifle,
the property of A A. Cottrell, and the rifle belonging to Col.
Lines (now the property of Mrs. L. M. Lines) presented to him
when the colony left New Haven. A picture of Col Lines was
hung on the wall behind the pulpit, and about the desk were like
nesses of Judge John Gould, Capt. William Mitchell and the Rev.
William T. Blenkam. Streamers of asparagus radiated from the
center post to the sides.

The anniversary services opened properly the Sunday previous
with a fitting sermon by the pastor, the Rev. S. L. Unger. It
was fittingly entitled, "The Value of a Church to the Commu
nity." The closing words are chosen from the address:
"This week we enter into the jubilee of the Fiftieth Anniversary
of our church. I would have you keep uppermost in heart and
thought the words of Jesus: "And I, if I be lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men unto me. " Christ is present * * * *
It is the universal testimony that each succeeding century has ac
complished greater things than the one preceding. Jesus in refer
ring to what he had done said to His djsciples, "greater things than
these shall ye do, " May we be able to ascend the mountain with
Christ this week and secure such a vision by a glance backward
over the past fifty years that Vre shall be not only made to rejoice
but also inspired to press on, "seeing we are also compassed with
so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and per-
fecter of our faith, who for the joy thai wan set before Him en
dured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God " And may we thus inspired, go on to
enter the second half of the century that the Lord may bless the
whole of Wabaunsee and all that pertaineth unto it, because of the
First Church of Christ continuing in our midst. "
Thursday afternoon the exercises opened with a devotional ser
vice led by the pastor. "Crown Him Lord of all, " was the first
hymn sunij as representing the purpose of the church all these fifty
years Exodus 15:1-20, the song of Moses was the scripture lesson.
The evening service opened with music by the choir in chaige of
John F. Conrow Among the singers throughout the services
were: Miss Victoria Anderson, Gladys Kanzig, Mrs Powers, Mes
srs J. F. Conrow, Ray Perry and Ira L. Perry. Their singing
added much to the pleasure of the entire celebration Several
anthems and solos were rendered Miss Delia Unger was the or
ganist. The Rev. James G Dougherty of Kansas City, and Supt. H. E.
Thayer of Topeka, were the speakers of the evening Mr. Dough
erty spoke of the influence of the men of the Conneciicut Kansas
colony who settled elsewhere than Wabaunsee and especially of
Harvey D. Rice of Topeka, who supported the presidents of Wash
burn college "When I was a boy" he went on, "I U.oked rather
skeptically on this talk of "bleeding Kansas" and thought there
was mucti humbug about slavery agitation. The slaves I saw
were well treated These New Haven men had not seen that side.
They had read Uncle Tom's Cabin and had heard Beecher and read
the New York Tribune. Those who formed the colony had had

slavery presented to them not as I had, but as it was. They left
their homes in '56 not '61 to make slavery a dead thing. In '61-'65
they did their part; when war was over they did not circle about
that. They lived on with their age. In New Haven they heard
the cry of Kansas and came. They came not to add acres to acres
but went over to help her. These lived their life not simply by
pushing their way through but by living on; the next generation
shows results " Dr. Dougherty spoke further of the early organ
ization of the church, fourth of present Congregational churches
of Kansas, of its influence, and of the hospitality of Wabaunsee
mothers wherever found.
Dr. Thayer, of Topeka, spoke of the frontiers past and
present to overcome. The fathers had overcome those of climate
and early hardships, the sons have theirs to face. He believed
the spirit of heroism was still present. "The frontiers now are
not of locality but of condition. These must be met; they are
more fearful than those of that time. The danger is now more
subtle. It takes the same kind of spirit now. We must strive to
keep idealism here in Kansas. Those things they won the sons
must keep ' ' He urged the sons of the colonists to face these as
courageously and intelligently as did their fathers their problems.
The Friday morning session was presided over by Deacon J. P.
Willard, the only one of the charter members who has held his
membership until this time. Papers printed elsewhere were read
by Mr. A. A. Cottrell and Mr. W. H. H. Blenkam. Mr. Blenkam
read the history of the church prepared by his father the Rev. W.
T. Blsnkarn bef )re his daiease. Father Blan'carn was the mov
ing spirit of the celebration and it was largely due to his enthu
siasm and energy that the semi-centennial was observed. Hardly
an one was present but what spoke of him in loving grateful terms
for his work and influence and cheerful personality. Letters were
read from former pastors. The Rev. G. H. Woodhull was present
and all were glad to hear from his lips his words. Of the boys who
have gone out from the church Dwight Piatt, J. S. Gould, and H.
F. Burt responded to the greeting of the church by letters. O, E.
A Blenkarn was present and gave some brief words as to the in
fluence of the church in his life. Sherman A. Willard spoke rather
in behalf of the sons and daughters as a whole and told what some
of them are doing. Miss Mitchell and Mr. Albert Cotton also re
sponded to calls for a few words.
The communoin service conducted by Rev. W. S. Crouch, of
Maple Hill, and Rev. D. R. Steiner, of Alma, was the most im
pressive hour of all. "Lead, Kindly Light," was the hymn. "AH
we depend upon is faith in the bread— symbolic of his broken body,
—and in the wine— shed blood," began the Shepherd of Maple Hill,

"Do this in remembrance of me. - A crumb of bread, a drop of
wine, a bit of remembrance is enough to bring us into close com
munion with him. There is none but is able to recall someone. If
it is so with mere mortal to attra^ t by character how much more,
putting all aside and putting all thought on Jesus, we shall
strengthen our flagging efforts to walk in his steps.
"How dear these walks, how sacred this roof that has echoed
the prayers of sorrow, how sacred every stone where met first
those early members? Here you gave yourself to the Lord Jesus.
Here you brought your babes Here they heard the Word. Here
when sickness and death darkened your homes you brought your
dead and the last words fell over them Hence you followed them.
Here you almost heard the words, "Come ye blessed." Gracious
and blessed as the past has been, the future is better "
Mr. Steiner spoke of the sacrificial spirit in service. ' 'That
spirit was here. The bible and rifle did not mean so much of them
selves, but joining together as they did they meant a life. "
Deacon J F. Willard and Deacon J. D. Faxon of the Lawrence
church passed the elements.
Following were a children's exercise and a song prepared for
the occasion by Mrs. Laura E. Newell.
The hour for reminiscences was most interesting. Mr. S H
Fairfield, of Alma, and Mrs. E. H. Bowen, of Manhattan read
papers. Mr J F. Willard spoke of life in the old tent that stood
near the present site of the church The first service of a Sunday
School nature was due to George Coe He said, "we were lying
around the tent one Sunday afternoon when Coe came in with his
bible and suggested that we have a reading or study of some sort
We talked about it and agreed to meet the next week. The next
Sunday the tent was full and a Sunday School was held Mr. Lines
was chosen leader. There were some children present whom Seldon
(Hezekiah) taught The bible class was led by Mr Lines. Mr
Gould taught the young men." Mr. Willard also recalled the
Fourth of July celebration in '56. A "fly," was erected and sev
eral speeches made Mr. Haines ^responded to a toast, "The lines
are fallen unto us in pleasant places."
M. L. Stone, of Wamego, spoke with feeling of his early con
nection with the church here and that he still felt he belonged over
here "Here we brought our daughter to be baptised. Here the
last words were said over our boy. " He recalled his first journey
on horseback from Wamego to J. M Bisbey's place and the hos
pitality he met at the hands of Mother Bisbey, and a Fourth
spent in Bisbey s grove, and paid tribute to the oldest member of
the church, Mrs John Willig. One incident he told of was the
"bee" they had when the hitching posts were put in, and the stones
that still form the walk leading up to the door. ' 'It was advertised

that the ladies would serve dinner for a quarter No one came for
not a soul had 25c. But in spite of what we call hardship the old
days were the happiest "
Mr.-!. Bowen also told of a great frosted cake that came to one
of their celebrations All eyed it eagerly But when cut it proved
to have been made of corn-meal She wanted to know who made
that cake. One of the early trials was lack of flour for cooking.
Mrs J E Piatt, of St Joseph, was present and was called
upon for a few words She said she was too near the point of
tears to talk, but told that today, (June 28) was her 68th birth
day. It was a pleasure to all to have her present. It must not
be forgotten that in the early day Mr and Mrs Piatt were among
the leaders of the musical interests of the church. Others with
them were S A. Baldwin Sr , J T Genn and George Beck with.
Deacon L M Benedict, presiding at this session presented
letters of greeting from former members. Mention of these is
made elsewhere. Miss Myrtle Jones, grand daughter of Rev.
Harvey Jones, was in attendance and expressed the greetings of
her own and of the family of the first pastor
The future of the church as indicated by the present was set
forward by the pastor, the Rev S L Unger in a unique way.
Representatives of each department were called to his side;
Deacon Benedict for the prayer meeting interests
Horace Smith, (Superintendent,) of the Sunday School.
Mrs. Martha Cottrell, the Missionary society.
Mrs. J. F. \N illard, the Willing Workers.
Charles Burt, the Endeavor Society.
Lulu Stewart, the Junior Society
Miss Victoria Anderson, the music, and Baby Orlin Smith for
the cradle roll. These represented their various interests and sev
eral gave reports of their work, summarized elsewhere.
The pastor expressed the desire that the church should go on
marching until we come to the 100th anniversary, and the throng
of 481 up to this time reached by the church membership should
be many fold increased.
The closing session F"riday evening was devoted to greetings
from the older churches Mrs Bowen responded for Manhattan,
Deacon Faxon for Lawrence and Dr Francis L. Hayes for the
First Topeka
Mr. Faxon recalled keeping watch in the New York Tribune of
the progress of the Wabaunsee colony. "I knew Capt Lines and
his moral enthusiasm I am glad to bring the greetings of our
church, —Dr Cordley's church. He was our pastor 40 years. So
tonight I bring you greetings of Plymouth church. We are glad you
can celebrate this 50th anniversary in this wholesome and admir
able way."

Mrs. Bowen spoke as follows: "I am glad to bring to you the
greetings of the Manhattan church. It was founded a year be
fore yours. I don't know which church I belong to. I belonged
first of all here, for 19 years. My earliest and tenderest recollec
tions are here. It seems to me that one of the bonds uniting the
two churches is our mutual love for that grand old man, Robert
McClure Tunnell He served us long; he left I doubt not an im
pression here as there. He was a grand good man. ' ' (Rev. Mr.
Tunnell was ordained at the Wabaunsee church.— Dr. Dougherty.)
Dr. Hayes brought the greeting of his church in a masterly ad
dress. He told of the early settlement of Topeka and how Pas
tor Bodwell worked on the foundation of his own church. "The
same spirit was showed in Wabaunsee. They came with rifle,
bible and shovel to found a state. I do not wonder Whittier re
called the crossing of the Jordan. It is the bible that made man
stand for their rights, that made men stand as equals regardless
of wealth, of birth or parents or color of skin."
He closed with an appeal to raise men on Kansas soil who
should face these dangers, and advanced the Gospel of Christ's
kingdom as the remedy for present day conditions.
The meeting closed with the expression of hearty good will to
ward those who had brought greetings of the churches, toward
all whose courtesies had been manifested in the preparation and
carrying out of the celebration, and toward all friends of the
church who had come in and met with them for the occasion.

The church is in splendid working condition. It numbers 45
male and 77 female members It has a full equipment of societies
The Ladies Missionary Society, Y. P. S. C. E and Junior En
deavor are all active and doing excellent work. The Willing
Workers Society was rightly referred to as the right arm of the
church. Mr. Horace Smith, superintendent of the Sunday school,
reported his department in fine condition; 120 members, a good
balance in the treasury, an active corps of teachers. He was
surely right in calling it the recruiting ground of the church in
time past and at present. It has had among its superintendents,
C. B. Lines, S H. Fairfield, J. E. Piatt, C. E. Pond, J. F. Wil
lard, G. S. Burt, and of the sons, F. I. Burt, S. A. Willard and H.
F. Smith.

History of the New Haven Colony.

BY A. A. COTTkELL.

CARLY in the fall of 1855,
•*-* two men, Mr. Russell and
Mr. English of New Haven,
Connecticut, commenced to or
ganize a company of Free-
state men to go to the Terri
tory of Kansas and help make
a free state of that Territory.
At that time there was no
public conveyance west of
the Mississippi river except by
boat up the Missouri river.
Before a company could be got
together for the journey, the
Missouri river was closed with
ice and the plan for the time
was abandoned.
Early in the spring of 1856,
those who had expected to
join the Russell & English
Colony were notified that these two men had given up going and
the plan had been turned over to Mr. C. B. Lines of New Haven.
Public meetings were held, some of the New England papers
favored the plan. The New York Tribune published a report of
eyery meeting. Speakers of note attended these meetings and
took an active part, among them Henry Ward Beecher of Ply
mouth church, Brooklyn, New York.
A company of about eighty persons was formed, they electing
Mr. C. B. Lines president for one year. At the time this company
was organized, U. S. senator; David R. Atchison of Missouri, was
raising a company of Border Ruffians in Piatt county, Missouri,
and appealing to the slave-holders of the south to send him one
hundred well armed men to drive out the Free-state settlers of
Kansas Beecher's church gave the New Haven company twenty-
five bibles and twenty-five Sharp's rifles. A few more rifles were
donated to the company by citizens of New Haven.

 10 
Before the company of New Haven started, five men were
appointed to go on in advance of the company and select a location
for settlement. The five pioneers, as they were called, were in
structed to find a location where they would not be entangled with
any town site company and where they would be free to make
such rules and regulations as they saw fit. The pioneers were J.
J. Walters, Benjamin Street, T P. C Hyde, a Mr. Webb and A.
A. Cottrell. On arriviog at Topeka, they were met by C. K.
HoUiday, president of the Topeka town company. Col. HoUiday
offered every inducement he could to us to have us locate near
Topeka and shaie with him the growth of the city. His offers
were rejected on account of our instructions It was the expecta
tion of some of the New Haven Colony that some time in the
future there would be built up in Kansas a second New Haven,
Connecticut. At Wabaunsee, forty miles west of Topeka, we found a few
settlers holding a town-site south of the Kaw River— a beautiful
location. The settlers agreed with us to give up their claim to
the town-site, if we would locate the New Haven Cokmy here, we
giving them share and share alike with us after the land of the
town-site had been surveyed and platted.
The parties to this agreement were J. M Bisbey, Harvey Jones,
Peter Sharria and some other of the old settlers, and the pioneers
on the part of the New Haven company. As soon as this agree
ment was made, part of the pioneers started back to meet the
company which was on the way west, they at that time knew not
where Those who remained were diligent in exploring so they
could make a report of the surrounding country.
On the 20th day of April, 1856, the entire company came _ in
and camped on the east side of Antelope creek, one half mile
north of the present crossing of the creek. The next morning
after their arrival, a meeting was held on the open prairie. The
pioneers who were left to explore the country . reported a fine
grove of Cottonwood trees, suitable for lumber or house logs, on
an island in the river near the town-site, and as the Kaw river
was supposed to be navigable at that time, the timber on the is
lands in the river would belong to the fellow that got it first Mr.
Lines after hearing the report wanted every axe-man in the com
pany to go and cut house logs and those who owned oxen to haul
the logs to the town-site and build and own, in common, houses
enough to shelter the whole company. Wm. Mitchell, a man of
much experience in the mines of California and Australia, said
that others might do as they pleased but he would build no houses
or anything else that he had to share in common with others
Mitchell carried the day and no houses were built in common

 11 
It was agreed at this time that every on 3 was to stake a claim
somewhere as soon as possjb'.e. Then the claims were to be
auctioned off for choice; those nearest the town site were supposed
to be most valuable, those fartherest away were not to be con
sidered worth anything; the money paid for choice of claims was
to be paid pro-rata to those taking or getting the poor or far away
claims. Mr. Lines was the highest bidder, bidding $130 for the
quarter section joining the town-site on the south, which he
occupied until his death, as a home for him.self and family.
In June, there came into our settlement three young men who
had been at work on the Free-state Constitution at Topeka. They
¦were well educated, smart men, fleeing from bogus Sheriff Jones
who had warrants for them; they were charged with treason
against the bogus Territorial Government Dr J. P. Root, J. J.
Walters, W. Griswold and I took them, with two yoke of oxen to
haul our camp outfit and tent, up on the Saline river to hunt
buffaloes We forded the Kaw river at Manhattan and the Re
publican river at Ft Riley West of Ft. Riley there was but one
man living and he was a little peppery Irishman that kept a few
cows and sold milk to the troops stationed at the Fort Keeping
northwest up the valley, the second day after crossing the Re
publican river, we met a man who had been out hunting buffaloes
and had got separated from his party and fell into the hands of a
roving band of Indians who had stripped him of everything he had
except a pair of ragged overalls The hot June sun had blistered
every particle of his body exposed, and to relieve the pain he had
rolled in buffalo wallows and plastered himself with mud. His
feet were bleeding and he was nearly starved. Dr Root gave him
a shirt. Root was a large man and this fellow was quite small.
The shirt was just the thing for him as it did not chafe his sore
spots. We wrapped his feet up in a part of our wagon cover, gave
him food to last him to the Fort and directions how to find it. We
never heard of him after he left us
After the first day of our hunt, two of us came into camp late
at night and found our TopeV a friends and the Doctor in a hot
debate over the question, "When a ttone becomes a rock and when
a rock becomes a stone. " When we wanted them to quit debat
ing and get water and fuel for supper, not one of them would
help, so my partner and myself warmed over a chunk of meat
and drank the coffee left in the camp kettle, stole out of our tent
with a blanket, went out on the prairie and went to sleep. Along
in the night, we heard a great howl for supper. We told them
that the dew had by that time dampened the buffalo chips so that
they would not burn and that the spring of good water was so far
away that in the dark they could not find it, so they went to bed sup-
perless, but the rest of that trip there was always plenty of fuel

 12 
Some time after our return from the buffalo hunt, there came
a messenger into our settlement with the report that the Indians
had besieged Ft. Riley and that the U. S. garrison -there wanted
help. Wm. Mitchell was elected Captain of the Beecher Sharp's
Rifle Company and Ben Jepson, Orderly Sergeant; we soon started
for the fort with tent, camp kit and provisions drawn by two yoke
of oxen in one wagon. On arriving at Manhattan, we found it a
false report, but we returned home feeling that we had a well
organized company that could be depended on in case of emergency.
I was in Lawrence the night that bogus Sheriff Jones was
shot. He came to Lawrence to make arrests of Free-s,tate men.
He pitched his tent on a vacant lot and was looking over his
papers by the light of a candle when some one shot him from the
outside of the tent, but the shot did not prove fatal. The next
morning the town was plastered with dodgers, around the outside
of which was a string of cyphers or naughts stating, that "the
above reward would be paid to the person who shot President
Buchanan's yellow pup " The dodgers were printed in the Herald
of Freedom office at Lawrence.
Late in the summer, I started for Kansas City, Mo. with oxen
for a load of freight. Just as I crossed McGee creek going into
the city, my off wheel ox was bitten on his right fore leg by a
rattlesnake; I stopped immediately, fried out bacon grease and put
it on the bite as hot as it could be put on. When I got to the levee
to load up. Col Buford's horde of South Carolina Border Ruffians
were landing from a river-boat. They were mostly young fellows
and as tough a set as any one would wish to see. After getting my
load to Gum Springs, now called Monticello, the leg of my ox was
swollen so much that I stopped there and tied him for twenty-four
hours in the soft mud up to his body. This had a good efl'ect and
I drove him home, he doing his share of work with the rest of the
team. I found along the road nearly up to the Wakarusa, camps
of Buford's men getting ready to drive the Free-state men out of
Kansas. I was often stopped and my load searched for Sharp's
rifles; none of them eyer helped me to reload after searching mv
outfit. Rumors of troubles about Lawrence and my being gone so
much longer than usual for a load of freight to Kansas City caused
three men, Capt. Mitchell was one of the men, to be sent below to
find out how much truth there was in the reports and what had
beconrie of me The men met me a few miles from home all right
but they decided to keep on until they found how matters sSod
about Lawrence Capt Mitchell was taken prisoner by the Border
Ruffians and hung up by the neck to make him tell what he knew
of the Free-state plans. Three times he was hauled up but thev
got no information out of the Cantain hut a-«f » a 7^ .
Mitchell's scotch ideas of what'^ best'fol fhem trdl'The^

 13 
were glad to send him out of camp and let him go. Soon after
Mitchell got home, the Beecher-Sharp's Rifle Company was called
to go to Lawrence to protect the people there, from the invasion of
the Pro-slavery horde that had assembled in the eastern part of
the te ritory with the avowed intention of driving out of the coun
try every Free- state man in it.
It will be well to remember that at this time the President of
the U. S , the Secretary of War and every Territorial officer was
doing all they could to make a slave state out of Kansas Nearly
every one of the Wabaunsee company turned out to go to the seat
of war. They were joined by several Free state men from upper
Deep Creek, a settlement west of Wabaunsee composed almost
entirely of eastern men Our company on this trip was gone some
six weeks Our boys were in every raid and skirmish that took
place in or near Lawrence, the last one being just at sunset on a
Sunday night The whole body of Borded Ruffians were in camp
at Franklin They were seen coming on the main road into
Lawrence; the Beecher Rifle Company took a position about a half
mile out of town in a ravine and when the column came in shoot
ing distance our boys opened fire on them They soon turned back
and got out of range of the Sharp's rifles. It has been credited to
the Lawrence Stubs as the ones that turned the ruffians. The
^tubs were not there I never saw one of them on the ground.
It was the Wabaunsee boys and they alone that turned that body
of men back in double-quick time.
A good share of the time while we were in and about Law
rence, we lived on wheat ground in a coffee mill, a little fresh beef
and what vegetables we could get from the surrounding country.
The Pro- slavery men had entire control of the Missouri river and
they cut off our supplies from that quarter.
When our company reached home we found ourselves in a bad
fix. The cattle we left had eaten up the most of the corn and
garden truck. Many of our boys were sick, caused by improper
food and exposure. That fall and winter there were so many sick
that there were not well ones enough to look after those that
needed care. At one time there was not money enough in the
settlement to buy an ounce of quinine. The winter of '56-'57 was
a very long cold winter. A neighbor of mine, with a wife and five
children had only one pair of shoes for the family. They were
French-Canadians and lived most of the winter on nothing but
lye hominy with occasionally a prairie chicken..
That winter I paid $6.00 for a 100 pound sack of flour in St.
George and brought it home, six miles, on my back. Mr. J. M.
Bisbey with a family to feed paid $9 00 for a sack of flour. Many
of the New Haven Colony became discouraged and left the coun
try. In the spring of '57 we found our numbers much reduced. Mr.

 14 
Lines went back to New Haven that winter to solicit aid for the
colony and visit his family. In the spring of '57 the annual elec
tion took place for officers of the company.
There had been a great deal of dissatisfaction in regard to the
financial affairs of the company. Lack of payment of bonuses bid
for choice of location, distribution of relief sent by New Haven
people, the dictatorial way in which some of our public affairs had
been handled, caused a division among the members of the colony.
At the election, Dr. J P. Root was elected President of the colony.
Afterward Dr Root was elected President of the first temperance
rociety formed in Kansas, and later on was Lieutenant Governor
of the State
In the spring of 1857, some of the colony th^t returned had
left us and brought others from Connecticut with them to settle.
The administration of Gov. Geary had dispersed the armed bands
of Border Ruffians in the eastern part of Kansas, except in the
southeast part. During the winter and spring of '56 and "57 our
colony that remained were busy in making preparations for their
future homes. I had taken a claim near the Kaw river on .-ection
20, Town 10, Range 10 I built a house by putting a 16 foot pole
in two forks set deep in the ground; ten foot rails, one end of the
rails on the ground, the other end on the pole These covered
with prairie hay then dirt on the hay, made the two sides of the
house The north end had a large fire place built of prairie sods.
A Ded tick split in two and fastened to willow poles, made an ex
cellent door on the south end This made a warm comfortable
house for winter and a good harbor for snakes the next summer.
Many times as I was taking my noon-day rest on my bed in the
heat of the day, I saw different kinds of snakes crawling over and
under the rails above my head My place was so near the island,
that had the good house logs on it (spoken of in the beginning of
this paper) that it was not long before S H. Fairfield, S R Weed,
J E. Piatt and J. F. Willard came to live with me, so as to be
near the timber on the island We were all making rails to fence,
the next spring, our claims Each one furnished his own bed and
food, the cooking was done in the sod fireplace The standard for
a good cook was to be able to cover the bottom of a frying pan
with batter, then turn the cake without knife or fork by giving the
frying pan a flip, bringing the flap-jack bottom side up in the exact
spot in the frying pan that it was at first. If by any means it
landed in the ashes it was eaten all the same. Four of these flap
jacks soaked in one or two spoonfulls of bacon grease and four
generous slices of fried bacon rolled up in those cakes made us an
ideal dinner w hile making rails, provided they did not become
frozen so hard that we could not bite through them all at one bite
When the cooking utensils were shoved under the eaves and w e

 15 
were all in bed on the "ground floor" the house was full. When
one fello < w anted to turn over in bed the rest had to turn over or
get mixed up vAith our grub and dishes. Those who remained here
during the \a inter of '56 and '57, went earnestly at the work of
getting together material for the improvements of claims they had
taken. Rails made, house logs cut, and tools bought as far as
means would permit
The New Haven colony as at first formed w as composed largely
of city people, tradesmen of almost every kind. Music teachers,
tutors of Yale College, politicians and preachers But few that
had been farmers or wanted to be As a whole they were not
calculated for a pioneer life or good material of w hich to make
farmers They were reasonably industrious, economical, quiet
people. All were temperance advocates and they had a great
regard for the Sabbath day. One man from Michigan sowed his
wheat on Sunday and came very near being driven out of the
settlement Afterwards this man married an Indian girl and was
shot to death by an assassin near Maple Hill. I never knew one
of the colony to tak e out a gun to hunt, or a rod to fish on the
"Lord's day" as some of them insisted on calling that day. In
making trips toi the Missouri river for supplies, nearly every one
of them would go iato camp on Sunday even if near home. So
cially, they were very clannish; so much so that the influence they
might have had for good was in a great degree lost on those from
other states that located in and around Wabaunsee. The first
Probate Judge for Wabaunsee county was J. H. Gould. He was
also for a short time our County Superintendent for common
schools Mr Gould was born and raised in Maine, educated at Fox
Croft Academy and Bowdoin College. He was a man of strong
convictions, always taking a leading part in public matters, ever
ready and w illing to help with his means and time, every cause
that was just and right.
Captain Wm Mitchell, another member of the colony, was of
Scotch parentage, outspoken and decided in his opinions, a natural
born leader of men; atone time a member of our Legislature,
County Commissioner for nine years, also he w as Major of the
Kansas Militia These two men had more to do with public
matters than any others. Church building, school houses, bridges,
roads, boundary lines, county and township, county seat, and
political organizations were the things these two men took deep
interest in and each of them was always found on the side of right
and justice.
Both men have gone to their reward. The children of these
men are now holding positions of honor and trust, a credit to their
parents example and training. Some time in June of '57, a

 16 
small Congregational church was formed by members of several
other denominations which still exists. In the past fifty years, it
has changed pastors seventeen times. Of the original New Haven
colony, only three are now living in Wabaunsee, Mrs. Elford Lines,
Deacon J. F. Willard and the writer, A. A. Cottrell.

'• recalled the kindness of
j spirit and neighborliness of
his friend Capt. Wm. Mitch-
jell. It will be many years
before Capt. Mitchell is for-
igotton in Wabaunsee. Al-
jways one of the most modest
a of men, still he was often
j honored by his neighbors. He
I organized and was captain of
jthe Wabaunsee home guard,
jcalled the "Prairie Guards."
I At the age of 21 he held a
I commission at corporal in the
I Connecticut state militia. In
'49 he went to California, but
I returned and came to K ansas
with the Connecticut Kansas
Colony. Here he held commissions in the Kansas State militia as
paymaster general, first lieutenant and captain. He was four times
chosen county commissioner of Wabaunsee county and was a
member of the legislature in 1868 and 1869 He passed away at
his home east of town March 23, 1903 and the following Sunday
the whole country side gathered to do honor to his memory.

One of the pioneers frequently mentioned was Judge John H.
Gould. Few men have left a deeper impress on the settlement
than he. He was appointed a lieutenant of the Prairie Guards by
the governor and served as County superintendent of public in
struction as well as being probate judge The records of the Wa
baunsee (Town) company show him to have been active in the
early management of affairs. Mr A. A Cottrell says Mr. Gould
was the first one of the colony he met as they came over the hills
into Wabaunsee.

Bibles and Rifles.

A Sketch of the History of the First Church of
Christ in Wabaunsee for Fifty Years.

BY REV. WILLIAM T. BLENKARN.

(~\^ a bright spring day,
^-^ in the middle of the
month of April, 1856, a par
ty of five young men, brave,
enterprising and eager,
stood on the brow of a hill
overlooking a section of the
valley of the Kaw river.
Their names were : John J.
Walters, E. Dwight Street,
T. C. P. Hyde, Amos A.
Cottrell and Walter Webb.
They were the pioneers, the
advance scouts of the New
Haven Colony, then on their
way westward from the
Missouri river, in search of
a location which they could
occupy as an outpost for
freedom. As the enter
prising adventurers on the
hill top looked down upon
the broad and beautiful valley oeneath, with its encompassing ram
part of low hills girding it around on every side, they realized that
they had found their goal; that this was the "promised land" for
the Kansas emigrants of Connecticut. From west to east through
the center of thebeautious landscape, flawed in serpentine wander-

 18 
ings, the waters of the Kansas river, one of the great arteries of the
new territory, whilst two smaller streams, Antelope and Deep
Creeks, gave promise to further possible irrigation. A few scat
tered families had already located in the vicinity, but there was
ample room remaining, for "Uncle Sam" to furnish the promised
farm to each of the oncoming colonists. Satisfied that their
judgment would meet with approval, the pioneers awaited the com
ing of the pilgrim band of sturdy New Englanders, who arrived in
the course of eight or nine days and camped for awhile on the site
where the church building now stands
It needs not that I should tell, especially in the ears of some of
the heroes of this Eneid, the story of the "Beecher Bible and Rifle
Company;" how, in that enthusiastic meeting in New Haven,
Connecticut, at the suggestion of Professor Silliman, of Yale
College, ably seconded by Henry Ward Beecher, it was resolved
to raise suflicient money to put a .Sharpe's rifle into the hinds of
every member of the company and a bible in his pocket; how, on
March 31, 1856, the noble band of earnest, intelligent, educated
men, one hundred strong, took their way along the streets of New
Haven amidst the applause of thousands, and startad on their ar
duous and perilous journey to the "battle ground of freedom "
How, that on their passage along the Missouri river, the steam
boat was boarded by a party of border ruffians, who had obtained
intelligence of their coming, but who, taking notice that eash man
had a rifle, and judging from their countenances that they were
men who in an emergency would not hesitate to use it, thought it
wisest to leave the boat at the next landing place and allow the
"boys" to go on their way, unmolested. As Dr. Cordley says:
"Others had been molested on the way; they were not; they did
not propose to be molested " They had come from their cultured
New England homes to the 'wilds' of Kansas, to do their part in
beating back the encroaching waves of the demon sea of slavery,
and they were not to be turned from their purpose. In a poem
written by Rev. Lewis Bodwell, from which I am permitted to
make some extracts, he says:
"The Giant Wrong, in pride grown strong,
And grasping new dominions,
Pought over Freedom's soil to spread
His black and blasting pinions
And thus, when (as in days of old,
Their fathers crossed the ocean,)
The children sought th' endangered spot.
Like mighty host in motion;
These came from old Connecticut,
On 'quiet harbors' lying.

 19 
To Kansas, over whose green plains.
The clouds of war were flying;
With minds well trained for counsel wise
And hands made strong for labor. ' '
To use the words of Dr. Cordley, respecting the heroes of
early Kansas days: "They were making materials for the histori
an and scenes for the painter; but it has been noticed that the
historian and the painter never happened to be around on such
occasions as these. ' '
But these men of pluck and resoluteness had come, not only
to stand for the freedom of all the inhabitants of the United
States of what color soever, but also to
"Give the Sabbaths of the wilds.
The music of her bells."
As soon, therefore, as they had begun to occupy the land, the
impulse was felt by a considerable number of the colony, to consider
the need of a close bond of Christian union and "these were dis
posed to unite in the organization of a Congregational church; but
as several were uncertain whether they should remain, and the
border war demanding much of our attention, and considerable
sickness prevailing, the organization of the church was not effect
ed until the following summer. In the meantime, public worship
was maintained very regularly, a Bible class and Sabbath school
was established. The meetings were held at the company's tent,
in the store, in log cabins and dug-outs, according to circum
stances " Truly, the condition of things generally throughout the
territory was such as to hinder them from the organization of a
church. The foes of freedom were raging in demoniac wrath on
every side, and freedom's friends were called upon to be as "minute
men," ready to watch with vigilance and to act with promptness
in the struggle against the enemy ; for the testimony of the early
history of Kansas, is, that at this time: "The people were under
arms, opposing bands were continually marching to and fro, skir
mishes were frequent and travel was as perilous as among the
Bedouins of the Arabian desert ' ' So the servants of God had to
"make haste slowly," yet with unflagging perseverance, realizing
that He whom they served is never in a hurry, but that eventually
the right would triumph Before the arrival of the colony, an
attempt had been made in the fall of 1855 to organize a church in
Wabaunsee under the supervision of the Rev. Harvey Jones, who
was laboring as an agent of the American Missionary Association,
but in consequence of the death of three of the seven Christians,
the effort failed. Wabaunsee, however, was represented at the
second meeting of the General Association of Congregational

 20 
Churches in Kansas, held in Topeka, April, 1857, at which Rev.
Harvey Jones is reported as present from Wabaunsee and acting
as clerk of the meeting.
At length, the fulness of time having come, on May 31, 1857,
after the Lord's day of services, an invitation was given to "all
who love our Lord and desire to unite in a church organization, to
promote the upbuilding of His kingdom and celebrate His death
and resurrection," to remain for the purpose of consultation,
"irrespective of former church relations." At this meeting,
resolutions were adopted, recognizing the expediency of organiz
ing a Congregational church, and committees were appointed to
draft the confession of faith and covenant, to make arrangements
for calling a council of recognition and to obtain the names of
those who were willing to unite in organizing the church, such
organization to take place on the last Sabbath in June. On June
21 it was resolved to set apart Saturday, June 27, as " a day of
fasting and prayer," and that seven persons, then present, having
letters from other churches, should constitute the "nucleus" of
the proposed church.
Accordingly, on the day appointed, the brethren gathered in
the bottom of a ravine on the east of the town site, under the
shelter of overhanging trees, "undisturbed by the noise and clatter
of the city." At this time and on the morning of the following
day, twenty-one other brethren and sisters, "having related their
Christian experience," were welcomed into fellowship and were
declared to constitute the church which, as stipulated beforehand,
was to be "Congregational in form but not in name and, in fact as
unsectarian as possible," and was to be known as "The First
Church of Christ in Wabaunsee " A council of neighboring
churches had been called to recognize the new church, but the call
was responded to by only one church, that of Manhattan, which >
was represented by its pastor. Rev. C E Blood, and a delegate,
Mr. Weller. It was therefore deemed expedient to organize a
council. Congregational church principles, however, being elastic
and capable of adapting themselves to any emergency, not being
ruled by circumstances, but possessing original authority, it was
resolved to proceed with the recognition services on the Sabbath,
June 28, 1857. .
Rev. S Y. Lum, of Lawrence, who on October 1, 1854, preach
ed the first sermon in Kansas and on October 15, organized the
first church, and who had been invited to be present at the rec
ognition, preached the sermon, and Rev C. E Blood gave the
fellowship of the churches Then, all gathered around the table
of the common Lord, commemorating His atoning death, and the
Wabaunsee church began to be.

-21-

The Rev. Harvey Jones
was invited by a cordial
vote to become the pastor
of the church. During his
faithful ministry of two
years and nine months,
there were added to the
origirial twenty-eight mem
bers, thirty-one by letter
and eighteen by confession.
The first pastor of the
church continued for many
years, the faithful friend
and ever ready advisor of
the church, and his memory
is cherished by all who
knew him, as that of "a
good minister of Jesus
Christ" and " a workman
that needeth not be
ashamed, handling aright
the word of truth."
Shortly after the or
ganization, a temporary church building was erected and measures
taken and plans discussed for the erection of a stone church large
enough to provide for the needs of the community. It appears to
have been a time of anxiety and uncertainty. Funds were low
and opinions seem to have differed as to the character and size of
the proposed building and upon one occasion it was voted "not to
erect a building this fall" But, as "constant dropping wears away
stone" it was found that constant persistence piles up stone, and
after four years of effort, the present house of worship was com
pleted and dedicated on May 24, 1862. The General Association of
Kansas Congregational Churches met with this church at that time
from May 22-28, and "took a recess" to dedicate the church build
ing. It is recorded that at the service, the pastor (Rev. W. A.
McCullom) gave a brief account of the condition of the church and
the struggles they had made to complete the building, ' 'some
having left their own homes unplastered that the walls of the
house of God might not remain bare." The dedication sermon was
preached by Rev. Lewis Bodwell from the text in Nehemiah 4:6:
"The people had a mind to work. " The dedicatory prayer was
offered by Rev. Dr. Cordley. At this, the eighth meeting of the
General Association and the only one ever held in Wabaunsee, Dr.
Cordley was the moderator and the Rev. G. C. Morse, of Emporia,

 22 
preached the Association sermon from the text in 2 Thessalonians
3:13: "But ye brethren, be not weary in welldoing" It is re
corded that the devotional time of each session occupied one hour.
They w ere men of prayer in those days and were not in a hurry to
get the worship over.
The history of the early days of this church would not be com
plete without mention of the energetic leader of the colony, the
Hon Charles B Lines He was made of the stuff from which all
the foremost men of all the ages have been made He was a stern
autocrat in all things, making everything bend to his will. Never
theless he « as a valiant soldier of Christ Jesus, determined to up
hold whatsoever he believed to be the right, prejudiced and fallible,
like the rest of us, but ready for every good w ork. He threw all
the energy of his strong character into the work of maintaining
and advancing Congregationalism in Kansas. Dr. ("ordley bears
witness of him thus in his relation to the meetings of the general
association: "The most unique among these was Charles B. Lines,
or Father Lines, as we loved to call him. He was almost always
at the meetings and at the time of his death had attended more
sessions of the association than any other person. He was a man
of boundless resources and tremendous force and his convictions
were like the everlasting mountains that stand fast forever. In
debate he was ever on the alert and he spoke with a force and
earnestness that were irresistible He was like a fresh breeze
from the ocean, always from the same quarter and always strong.
It was a high wind and was likely to wreck any craft that lay in
his way. In his Christian sympathy he m as very tender and his
personal religious experience was very rich. When he entered the
realm of Christian experience, his manner changed and everything
betokened the gentle and loving disciple. ' ' The present writer
can bear testimony that, as Father Lines lay helpless and almost
speechless, awaiting the summons to cross over the border into
immortality, to the reminder that, "Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today, yea and forever, ' ' he rallied all his remaining
power of articulation to utter, in reply, "Savior." Peace be to
his memory. We record with great thankfulness, the valued aid given in the
formative period of our history by the American Missionary As
sociation, the Congregational Home Missionary Society and the
Congregational Church Building Society, without which the efforts
of the "fathers and founders" would have been in vain; whilst we
rejoice that the church attained to the manhood of self-support in
less than ten years from the beginning, on April 4, 1867.
It would be wearisome to relate minutely all the varied actions
of the Church as found in the church record book. Suffice it to
say that services were maintained with regularity, both on the

 23-^ 
Lord's Day and at the weekly prayer meeting, for awhile with
many changes in the time and hour of meeting. One resolution is
worth mentioning, as adopted in connection with the prayer meet
ing and which may be suggestive at the present day, ' 'that the
brother assigned to lead the meeting be instructed to commence
promptly at the hour appointed if only two are present, and if the
appointed leader be absent, it shall be the duty of some one pre
sent to begin the service, yielding to the brother appointed on his
arrival" It is noteworthy also, that interdenominational comity
was observed by votes taken on two occasions, granting the use of
the church building to the "Methodist class, when not occupied
by us "
The church was frequently represented at councils held for
the recognition of many new churches organized in the early days
of Kansas and for the ordination of pastors. In April, 1860, it is
reported as the largest church of our order in the state, having
one more member than Lawrence and eleven more members than
Topeka In 1875, Dr Cordley, in a paper read before the General
Association at Leavenworth, says respecting Wabaunsee: "This
church continues to be the strongest rural church in the state and
at one time was the largest of any in the state, but some of the
city chdVches, with more material, have now outgrown it. ' '
The record of the years 1861-1864 by suggestive entries of the
election of individuals to offices in place of those "gone to the
war," remind us that the struggle for a free state begun in Kan
sas in 1854 had now become a resolute grapple with the demon
slavery on behalf of a free nation. But all through this strife the
Wabaunsee church held on its way, reaching out after the unsaved,
guarding the purity of its fellowship and dedicating its church
building during the darkest hour of the Nation's peril. At length the
victory came and has been admirably expressed in the words of
Rev. Lewis Bodwell:
The right triumphant, peace came down.
And all the land lay smiling.
While hearts and voices joined in praise
Glad hours of work beguiling.
From fertile field, or quarry brought.
From forests green and living.
They gave to God with willing heart;
Their token of Thanksgiving.
Without arose His temple walls.
Within, the voice of singing;
And o'er the Sabbath of the wild.
The promised bells were ringing.

 24 
In a meeting ot the General Association held in Manhattan,
October, 1858, a request was presented from Wabaunsee asking to
be received into the fellowship of the Congregational churches of
the Kansas territory and which was granted. J- F. Willard was
the delegate. On April 25, 1875, seven members of our church: S. H. Fair
field, Martha H. Fairfield, Mary E. Fairfield, Martha B. Byers, D.
S. Abbott, M. H. Abbott and Helen Hall, requested letters of dis-
mission for the purpose of uniting in the organization of the Con
gregational church at Alma. The organization was effected and
for some time the two churches worshipped under the leadership
of the same pastor, Rev. Harvey Jones, during 'his second pastor
ate of this church.
March 3, 1892, by request of the members living at Tabor
Valley, they were elected to become auxiliary to the church with
the privilege of one of their number being chosen to serve as
deacon. Mrs. Emeline Emerson was chosen the first deacon
In the year 1888, during the pastorate of the Rev. W J.
Peemster, the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was
organized and has continued to meet with good success and is still
flourishing. The testimony of the State Home Missionary superin
tendent a year or two since was that it was one of the best
Christian Endeavor Societies in the country churches of the state.
The Junior Endeavor was by special vote of the church on Feb
ruary 14, 1897, adopted "as part of the church work." A number
of its members united with the church and Christian Endeavor
as active members during the past year.
The Sunday school, organized in the summer of 1856 has had
one continuous existence, and tongue nor pen can never relate the
help it has been to the church and community. While in a meas
ure it is dependent upon the church, yet through all of these years
it has been of immeasurable value to the church in sowing seeds
of truth and nurturing the new life of the kingdom among all who
were in touch with it Any church would be incomplete v ithout
its Sunday school, v hich always gives abundant opportunity for
self denial and faithful service
Among the efficient agencies of the church, mention should be
made of the Willing Workers' Society by means of which the
ladies of the church, and some others have rendered valuable aid
in carrying on the work, have lifted many a load and have initiated
many an enterprise for the good of the church and for the ad
vancement of its best interests. The society has been indeed the
right arm of the church.
The Missionary Society, though not of large membership, yet
has done and is doing a noble service, invaluable to the complete
success of the church.

 25 
It is an occasion of great thankfulness that, during its first
half- century, this church has been blessed by the service of some
variously efficient pastors through whose devoted labors many
souls have been gathered into the Good Shepherd's fold, and saints
have been built up in strong Christian character and stimulated to
earnest service and persistent endeavor in the work of co-opera
tion for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom. We have
but to recall the names of Jones, Tunnell, Officer, Geer and Payne,
with others who have passed on to their reward, to demonstrate
this truth. Of those who still remain in the field of earthly
service we have nothing to say. None more surely than they
realize their "inefficiency for these things," and that they "have
but done that which it was their duty to do," yet may they indulge
in the hope that their work in sowing the good seed has not been
wholly in vain, and that they shall have a share in the joy of the
ingathering in the glorious hereafter.
The fortieth anniversary of the church was celebrated with
appropriate services on June 29, 1897 The incidents of the church
history since that date are too recent to call for more than the
briefest mention Some improvements have been made to the
church building and the parsonage, which will add not only to the
value but which will increase the pleasantness and usefulness.
The constitution and by-laws have been revised and printed with
other information in a church manual dated 1902
The Lord has been with us and has brought us now to our
Jubilee There have been added to the original 28 who first con
stituted the church, up to the close of 1906, a total of 481 members,
of whom 171 united by letter and 310 on confession of their faith.
Of these some remain until now, but many are fallen asleep.
The record concerning the church, as with all other churches,
is an illustration of the words of the Master in which He compares
the Kingdom of Heaven to a net, as found in (Matt. 13:47-48) "the
kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea,
and gathered of every kind, which, when it was filled, they drew
up on the beach, and they sat down, and gathered the good into
vessels, but the bad they cast away."
Nevertheless on this glad occasion we can testify to fifty
years of continuous existence with some progress made, and take
comfort in the fact that while we enter into these services we are
the earthly representatives, the great body of the Wabaunsee
Congregational church is holding a Jubilee above earthly Ufe and
earthly limitations.

Reminiscences of Wabaunsee*

BY S H FAIRFIELD.

I have often regretted
that I did not have the hon
or of being a member of
the Beecher Bible and Rifle
Company. I left Massachu
setts in the spring of 1856,
at the same time that the
Company left Connecticut
for Kansas. I stopped at
Mendon, 111., until August.
During the four months
that I was there, the ex
citement all over the coun
try was intense. The peo
ple of the free states look
ed with anxious eyes at the
dark war clouds hovering
over Kansas They felt
certain that it would culmi
nate in a bloody fratricidal
war The Fourth of July
that year was kept as a
fast day by the Congregationalists, and I think by some other de
nominations of Illinois. It was a genuine old Bible fast. The
family that I lived with were Puritan stock; nothing was to be
eaten from the rising of the sun until the going down of the same.
It rained the night of the 3rd, so I had to set up wheat to dry, and
keep the fast O, how I longed for the sun to go down and end it In
August, a party of young men left Mendon for Kansas, armed for
the conflict They were Enoch Piatt, Luther and Evarts Piatt,
Sam'l R. Weed and myself. One evening late in September we
drove up to the log cabin of B C. Porter, on upper Antelope, occu
pied by Porter and my friend Willard.
The next day Mr. Porter took us to Wabaunsee in a two wheel-

-27-
ed cart drawn by a yoke of wild oxen, a rope around the horn of
the near ox to guide them. Coming to the ravine opposite where
Mr. Burt lives, the oxen plunged down one bank and up the other
regardless of rope, cart or occupants — and we were in the New
Haven of the west. Three tents, two log cabins and a sod house,
with a bark roof, made up the town. The Post Office was two
miles further on, on the west side of Emmons creek, in the cabin
of the home missionary, Rev. Harvey Jones
Here was where the Sunday school and preaching services were
held. On Sunday we walked five miles to hear Bro. Jones preach,
and to attend the Sunday school. The services were irregular on
account of sickness Fever and ague (shakes as they were com
monly called) raged through the settlement. Most every one had
to take a turn at them. Often whole families were shaking at the
same time The spasms were sure to come on daily, or every oth
er day; some once a week; chill, shake, fever and the sweat. All
kinds of concoctions were taken to break them up, but usually they
had to be worn out Most of the cabins had no floors and hay was
used for carpets. Water was hauled in a barrel on a crotched
log. The Missionary had his hands full, looking after the poor
sick shakers without doing much preaching. The colonists did not
take to the frontier minister at first, but by his sympathy and kind
ly ministrations they learned to love the man. He called on one of
the Colony one day who was having a shake. The fellow exclaim
ed so that the good man heard him, ' 'There comes that  (It
was a cuss word he used ) All of the colonists were not angels.
Bro. Jones said "I see how it is" and mounting his pony he rode to
St. George, procured a bottle of ague cure and at night brought it
to the man That conquered him and bound him to Bro Jones as a
life long friend
Uncle Ingham and his son Malcolm built a sod cabin on the
quarter section south of the C B. Lines place. The cabin was
some 25 feet long. Crotches put into the ground, poles put on for
a ridge pole. Other poles resting on the ground and reaching to
the ridge pole was the frame work. It was then covered with hay
and that overlaid with a heavy coating of prairie sod. This cabin
was where meetings were held during the spring of 1857. I never
saw any women at these meetings The men sat on boxes, and on
the hay floor tailor fashion. But there came a soaking rain one
night and Uncle Ingham realized that something was giving away.
He had "just time to get into his pants and out of the door, his
son Malcolm following close behind with one leg in his pants, when
down came the cabin A narrow escape from being buried under
tons of earth The poor fellows made their way through the dark
ness and storm to their nearest neighbor, looking Uke two drowned
rats driven out of the hole

 28 
Our next place of meeting after this, for a few Sabbaths, was in
the store building where the present store is kept. One Sunday
morning in the spring of 1857 as we were gathering for church, the
drummer beat the "long roll." A messenger from Manhattan
reported settlers being driven in by the Indians. Thirty young
men armed with rifles started at once to the rescue. We camped
in Piper's mill over night and tramped back the next day with nary
a scalp lock dangling at our belts, and hone of OURS gone. Our
meetings were held after this, until the church was built, in a small
frame house, where Mr. Bowman's house now stands, and also in
a large frame building that stood on the knoll west of the Rock Is
land railroad tracks, known as the court house, when Wabaunsee
was the county seat
On the 27th of June 1857 the settlers gathered in a grove, in a
wooded ravine east of the town for the purpose of organizing a
church The day was set apart as a day of fasting and prayer and
a statement of Christian belief. Seven persons who had brought
letters with them from their home churches in the East were ap
pointed a committee, with the aid of a council that had been called,
to organize a church The names of the seven persons were Har
vey Jones, Charles B. Lines, Chester E Pond, S H Fairfield,
Hiram Maybee, Mrs C E Pond and Mrs. C. B Lines. After the
organization, 19 persons who had no letters were received into the
church, by their making a statement of Christian belief and exper
ience On Sunday the organization was completed The occasion
was an interesting one to the settlement and never to be forgotten.
The organization of this little church was an important event. It
was located on the borders of civilization Not more than 60 miles
to the west roamed the savage tribes of Indians; and countless
numbers of buffaloes covered the plains. This organization meant
much for the future of Wabaunsee county. It was the mother
church of the county and the only one for more than ten years.
The church has usually been fortunate in selecting a shepherd
to lead the flock Some of the ablest ministers in the denomina
tion have filled this pulpit. They once however, had an able min
ister that was very eccentric His principal theme was swine.
He labored hard to educate the people to exterminate them, and
drive them not into the deep sea but out of the country. He left
however, before the swine did Another eccentric minister was a
candidate for the pulpit, but was not employed He became pas
tor of the Alma church however, and some of the good people
conceived a plan to unite the Alma and Wabaunsee churches
and have the Alma minister as pastor for both churches Good
Bro. Jones came to Alma to see me He said "Bro. Fairfield do
not encourage it; he would tear the Wabaunsee church to pieces "
I said Bro Jones you advised that he come to Alma" He re

 29 
plied, "He cannot hurt the Alma church." Wabaunsee was Bro
Jones' first love. The Wabaunsee church, however, invited the
' Alma pastor to hold a series of meetings. The first evening of the
meetings the church was crowded. After a very powerful sermon,
he invited all that wanted to become Christians to rise. Only one,
away down by the door, stood up. After he closed the meeting he
came to me and said, "Bro. Fairfield, let us go back to Alma; these
confounded Yankees do not want any religion." He however, con
tinued the meetings, and some thirty persons were the fruits of
the revival. This minister cannot be credited to Wabaunsee. He
was borrowed from Alma
The year of 1857 was a hard one for the settlers. The fever
and ague continued to rage throughout the whole settlement, and
if my memory serves me right there was only one of all the new
comers that was not stricken down. It commenced in early spring
and lasted until long into the late fall, and many cases were "hold
overs" from 1856.
The early settlers and the men and women that composed the
church and congregation a. half century ago have nearly all dis-
appeared.and a new generation has taken their place. Only a few
familiar faces of the long ago are to be seen.
"So the multitude goes, like the flower and the weed
That wither away to let others succeed;
So the multitude comes, even those that we behold.
To repeat every tale that hath often been told.
They loved, but their story we cannot unfold;
They scorned, but the heart of the haughty is cold;
They grieved, but no wail from their slumbers may come;
They enjoyed, but the voice of their gladness is dumb.
They died. Ay! they died! and we, things that are now.
Who walk on the turf that lies over their brow.
Who make in their dwelling a transcient abode,
Meet the changes they met on their pilgrimage road.
The saint that enjoyed the communion of Heaven,
The sinner that dared to remain unf orgiven.
The wise and the foolish, the guilty and the just.
Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust "

.' ' t

JULIUS F. WILLARD.
Only Charter Member now Belonging to the Church

COL. CHAS. B. LINES.
The Founder and Head of the New Haven Colony.

GEORGE S. BURT.
One of the Faithful S. S. Superintendents.

S. A. BALDWIN.
An Esteemed Pioneer who died in t 903.

LETTERS OF GREETING.

FROM FORMER PASTORS.

REV. E RICHARDS, KANSAS CITY, MO.
I know of nothing that would give me greater pleasure in
this life than to be with you and the dear old Wabaunsee church
at your coming celebration, but I .shall be prevented from so
doing. Among my most precious memories are the few years when I
labored with the Wabaunsee church, to build up believers in their
most holy faith, and • lead those who were wandering away from
God, back to His loving fold.
Truly, God was with us, and set His seal of approbation upon
our united efforts for good, and this gives us joy on earth, which
will be perpetuated in heaven, but in a more exalted manner
My earnest prayer to God is, that He may continue to raise up
new standard bearers to take the places of the older ones, who,
by reason of age and infirmity, will soon fall beneath the hand of
time, to be lifted from the church militant, to join the church
triumphant where I am still endeavoring to meet them, - in heaven.
I am realizing more and more the truth of the prophet where he
said: "But it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be
light " I apply the foregoing to the evening of life, when I
expect to have a clear and peaceful sunset, through Jesus Christ.
May the blessing of God ever abide with you as a church, is
the wish of your brother in the Lord.

REV. G H WOODHULL, WABAUNSEE.
Rev. G. H. Woodhull alone of the former pastors was present.
After reading an extract from a New Haven paper of that period
(1856) quoted elsewhere, and a few introductory remarks, Mr.
Woodhull spoke as follows:
"Ties of association and ties of memory for ex-pastors, consist
ing of jolts and rocks on the roadway to Tabor Valley or else.* here
about the parish, have many of them disappeared of late in the
making of good roads
' 'There are, however, some things that abide The hearty good

 32 
will of the people and their oft tried patience remains ever the
same. "In making calls during the years 1895-1900 (my pastorate) I
used to figure two miles of travel to each call. A day's work was
ten miles, five calls. It must be the same yet.
"The leaven from old settlers has for fifty years been extending
through the valley of Hendricks, Upper Antelope, Turkey, Mul
berry, Paw Paw and Pretty creeks. But the interesting geogra
phy of these school house regions I have in the last few months
more fully discovered and where each lump of salt made its final
destiny and began operations in making our native land worthy.
This, as to exact locations, I have not clearly discerned and am not
able to make it clear to this audience as I once aspired to do by
means of a map.
"Papers connected withiny pastorate are packed up and not ac
cessible. But one fact connected with the recent history of Wa
baunsee is as likely as any to be overlooked. That is the prosper
ity of a settlement of colored people here in Wabaunsee. The
thriftiness, the moral and religious progress, the improving homes
and substantial family wagons, the thirst for education and the
improved church property, are all indications that Wabaunsee is
still doing the best kind of anti-slavery work. The negroes here
will come to their year of jubilee.
"May the last five pastors, still living, by their prayers and in
fluence long continue in fellowship with each other and with the
people here, to bless and be blessed."

REV. D H SCARROW, HOXIE, KAN.
I regret more than I can tell you that it is not possible for me
to be present with you on this your anniversary occasion. I am
glad to have known you and to have been permitted to touch your
life and to cast a drop into the ocean of your joy at this time.
While spending two happy years with you I felt that my ideals
were your ideals and that my purpose found a happy response in
so many hearts.
It is very clear to me as we look back and survey the past,
that habits of mind and of heart produce attitudes of one's life, and
that attitudes of mind, of heart and life, or one's ideals, weave and
mould the environment in which our noblest work for human ele
vation and happiness is performed.
What has been the trend of the thoughts, the purposes of the
hearts, the attitudes and ideals of this church for the fifty years of
her progressive history? Look at the results you have produced,
Behold the harvest of lives and character now in the active battle
of life. Where are the men and women who were born and reared

 33 
in your homes and schooled in this church? And as we read we
are reading the history of the characters and lives of the men and
women who have filled these pews for this half century past.
Here we see the ideals and faith of the past worked into the
manhood and womanhood of the present.
As you stand today upon this high mountain peak and look
back over the way you have come and mark the mile stones of suc
cess and the good work done, there will be lurking close by the
way failures and imperfections. In the midst of our joy there are
causes for regrets. In the midst of our exultation there are causes
for humiliation; hence, I will exhort you to make this anniversary
the starting point for better work, truer consecration and diviner
service. May God's purest love overshadow you and the all abounding
grace and peace of Jesus Christ dwell in your hearts. May the
power and wisdom of the Triune God lead you on to victory.

REV. FRANK D. JACKSON, PARTRIDGE, KAN.
Our congratulations to the Congregational church at Wabaun
see on the attainment of the fiftieth anniversary of its organiza
tion, to those who from the earlier pioneer days have been mem
bers of the church and to those who have come later into its fellow
ship and shared its life.
It was my privilege to be your pastor for about three years
and nine months— from about the 1st of March, 1900, to December,
1903 We were there during the flood of 1903, when a number of our
people were sufferers. Then was the building of the windmill and
tank which grew out of a Christian Endeavor social. During this
time too, the new fence around the church was built, an enterprise
in which Bro Blenkarn was interested. Another thing which was
begun while we were with you was the primary class in the Sunday
School which used to gather over at the parsonage during the les ¦
son hour and to whom came in time . the equipment of Uttle red
chairs. This class was under the leadership of Mrs. Winnie
Conrow. During those years the following came into fellowship with
God's people through uniting with the church: Ethel Bisbey, Julia
Lane, Blanche Burt, Mrs John Conrow, Emma Smith Burt,
Horace and Anna Smith, Jennie Davis, Harry and Mrs. Taylor,
Mrs Chas. Bellomy, Sadie Daniels, Nellie McCutcheon, Ross Tay
lor, Bessie Barnes, Mary Bowman, Ethel Stewart, Velma Franklin,
Mr. and Mrs. WilUam Conrow, Anna and Everett McCutcheon,
Elna Zimmerman, Mr. and Mrs William Field, Victoria Anderson,
Mrs Brewer and her daughter Bessie Forgive me if any have
been omitted, and my love to all who are now with you.

 34 
It was my privilege to have a part in starting a number of
new homes in uniting Wilber Fridley and Minnie Wilkinson; Lewis
Rand and Hedwig Hafenstein; Charles Shull and Elizabeth Davis;
Frank Burt and Mary Perry; Charles Freemen and Nellie Viergutz;
John O'Kane Stewart and Sophia Enlow; Herbert Smith and
Maude Enlow.
May it be really true of the Wabaunsee church in the words
of Browning, "The best is yet to come. " May there be Increased
consecration, and may there be increased influence with power.
Good cheer to you from us both, and may the grace of our Lord
Jesus be with you all. Amen.

REV. S. L. UNGER, Present Partor.

FROM THE CHURCH ALUMNI.

REV. DWIGHT H. PLATT, ALMA, NEB.
Why I should have the honor of heading the list of the Alumni
of your church is past my understanding. . Messrs. Burt, Gould,
Blenkarn and Willard were all reared in your church and can fit
tingly call her "Alma Mater."
As a child I frequently visited Wabaunsee Among my earl
iest recollections are memories of occasional attendance upon Sab
bath services in the historic church. I remember Harvey Jones.
There were giants among Congregationalists in those days and
Harvey Jones occupies in my memory a place beside Bodwell,
Morse, Cordley and Parker I remember Deacon Lines. Since at
taining manhood it has been my privilege to speak on several oc
casions from your pulpit, but I have never been directly connected
with the church or any of its auxiliary societies My father was
one of the earliest membe'-s of the church Why his name does
not appear among the charter-members I do not understand for he
came to Wabaunsee with Mr. S. H. Fairfield and Uncle Evarts
both of whom enrolled as charter-members. My uncle Enoch,
while never a member of the church was from the beginning one
of its staunchest supporters. Mr. and Mrs A A Cottrell are of
your number and have been for many years Numerous cousins
have been identified with the church. So if I cannot lay just claim
to being an alumnus of the Wabaunsee church, I claim the less dis
tinguished honor of being a grandson of the church Indeed, Men
don church in Illinois and Wabaunsee church in Kansas are both re
garded with peculiar reverence by. all members of the Piatt family
as family shrines Whatever of faith has been manifested and
whatever of achievement has been wrought by individual members
of the family is due in no small measure to the fine idealism, the
unbending righteousness and the unswerving faith in God which
have been marked characteristics of both these rural churches. My
debt to both of these churches is indirect, but big Both influenced
my father greatly ; one in childhood and youth, the other in young
manhood. No human influence has been so strong and so enduring
upon my own character as the independent thinking, the sweet
reasonable teachings, and the virile, consistent living of my own
father. I congratulate the Wabaunsee church upon fifty years of char
acter-making such as is given to few churches.
May God bless your future as He has your past.

 -36 
HENRY F. BURT, CHICAGO COMMONS.
It is with deep regret that I am unable to attend the Semi
centennial Anniverary of the old church, which we all love so well,
but my spirit goes out to you with my best wishes that this period
in your history may be rich and full with past memories, present
enthusiasm and future hopes
We love her because of the glorious place she has made for her
self in history, glorious not because of the notoriety she has had
but because of her struggles and her stability. We love her be
cause of the influence she has had in our own lives. Many of us
who have gone out to other parts of this country feel that the les
sons which we learned in her Sunday School and Young Peoples So
cieties and the inspiration and help which we received from her
services and her fellowship have an abiding place in our heart and
lives We love her because of the future Her field is in one of
the richest parts of this country and it is in the country itself
from which come most of our truest and best citizens and Christian
workers. We respect the Wabaunsee church because in a peculiar way
she has realized and worked out that divine command to spread the
kingdom. The one great thing which distinguishes the Christian
religion from other religions is the fact that it believes in missions.
The Christian church has never felt that it was doing its part when
it simply ministered to the people of one country but its field has
been the world, in compliance with those words of its Master "Go
Ye Into All The World. " The realization of this spirit was seen
when in '56 a little band of New England men left their business,
their friends and their homes and went to the "Far West" to help
in the struggle for liberty. It inspires us to hear the recital of
those early days and our sympathy and love go out to the men and
women who had a part in this early mission Their peculiar strug
gles many of us will never experience. When this little band ar
rived on the hill and beheld "The Dawn of Day" they found that
other pioneers had preceded them and had already established a
little mission It, no doubt, was a joy and a delight to both bands
to find that each could aid the other in the making of a new home
and thus developing the larger idea of the missionary spirit.
If battles are to be fought in the country today, not with a
Sharps rifle, but with the bible and the hymn book, in behalf of
freedom against the tyranny, which in some cases, is more terrible
in its effect than any tyranny which has ever been witnessed in
the history of the world, those battles must be led by men, in
fact they are being led by men, who were reared on the farm.' It
is so because these men have regard for character and conscience
and because their vision is not blinded by the almighty dollar. If

 37 
there are some of us to have-a pirt in these modern day struggles,
if we are to share in new achievements, it is because of the fibre
which became part of our nature in our boyhood days.
Let us be true to the first purpose which inspired the men of
'56. Let us believe that the Wabaunsee church has as vital a
purpose today as it did in those early days. Then we shall fulfill
and complete the work for which our fathers fought and struggled.
Then shall we make possible the realization of the Kingdom of our
Master; a Kingdom which stands for freedom, and justice, and
righteousness and love.  o 
J. SIDNEV GOULD, HANCOCK. MICH.
I am in receipt of the program of your Semi-centennial and
wish to express to you my great delight with it. The fine half-tone
of the old church brings back to me many tender memories. I see
many faces, young and old, of those who used to spend the time
between church and Sunday school in the cool shade in front of the
church, discussing the neighborhood news, the weather, and the
crops, or the subject that is the inherited birth-right of every loyal
Kansan, namely, politics.
I see myself leaning against the friendly wall to the right of
the door in company with Lincoln Cotton, George Burt, Will
Stewart, Henry Willard and Sherman Smith and" others of my age
and coterie. Some of them have gone to their long home, others
are in distant places bearing the burdens of mature life now and
some are pillars in the old church and co.mmunity, bearing worthily
the responsibilities which worthy fathers have been obliged to lay
down As I pass within the door the scenes which memory summons
are even more animated and tender.
There are a number of faces looking at me from the pulpit.
Mr Officer is farthest back, and Mr. Christopher and Mr. Geer,
Mr. Blenkam and Mr. Feemster come unsummoned to my mind.
Those who came later I knew but slightly. It was Mr. Officer
from whom our family purchased the old Prince melodeon that gave
my sister Jessie (Mrs Heil) her start in music It was Mr. OflScer
also, who gave his name "Morris" to my youngest brother, al
though we have always followed the other spelling "Maurice."
I recall Mr Geer's very earnest exhortations, and can even
now see him brush the tears away that spoke most eloquently of
his sincerity. Mr. Blenkarn stands out over the tragic form of my mother's
oasket, and never have I heard read with more effect those classic
words, "When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and
this mortal shall have put on immortality" than when he read them
that day in March, now nearly thirty years ago.

 38 
Prof. Piatt was the fifst to pass down the aisle that day and
grasp in brotherly sympathy the hand of the husband and father,
whosegrief was too deep for tears. They have all passed on to
their great reward now and are a united band in that land where
fellowship is perfect and eternal.
Mr. Feemster was one who in his zeal broke through my boyish
reserve and put directly to me the great question, "Are you a
Christian?" I was confused and embarassed by the personal appeal
but have always regarded him highly and most gratefully for his
zealous personal interest in me.
There are those, too, who appeared in the old pulpit from time
to time, notably the Platts and Harvey Jones and Mr. Tunnell.
It was the latter who spoke the words of comfort and eternal .hope
over the casket of my father. Whoever may come after these
worthy men and minister to other generations let him gain courage
from this, that he may sow seed in faith and love, which years,
and years only, can bring to fruitage.
I remember too, with deep affection and gratitude the Sunday
school teacher of my youth, Mr. Willard, and I wish to pay a trib
ute to his faithfulness, earnestness, wisdom and frank sympathy
with me as a youth under his instruction. The best remembered
of the Sunday school superintendents is Mr Burt,- who for so
many years guided the school wisely and well.
I recall the days when we had the singing schools on winter
evenings at the church, and how Prof. Piatt, and later Prof. Slie
and still later Mr. Hiram Brady taught music, and how from the
music classes we graduated into a choir and rendered the then new
songs of the Gospel Hymns, with the zeal worthy of a great orato
rio. My regard for the old church increases with the years Those
whom I remember as belonging to the church and colony of 25
years ago, only a few of whom remain to this day, are, take them
all in all, remarkable men and women. The story of their sacri
fice, and of their zeal for righteousness will remain an unwritten
chapter in the history of one of the greatest commonwealths of
our great country.
I only regret that I cannot be with you in person to pay my
tribute to those who built well in the past and to congratulate
those who are now building.
I trust that this occasion may enhearten the workers now in
the field and the future may hold in store for them great victories.

FROM FORMER MEMBERS.

HON. J. M. HUBBARD, MIDDLETOWN, CONN.
I take a few moments this morning to write a word of greet
ing and congratulations to the Wabaunsee church upon the com
pletion by it of fifty years of life and work in the cause of Him
who is the "Lord and master of us all. " The life has been one of
viscissitudes as is all human life, but notwithstanding all, it sur
vives and looks forward to continual and increasing life The
work has been imperfect, as is all human work, but for all that it
has been good work and the church has a right to rejoice in it, and
to gird itself for more and better work. The V\ abaunsee church
did a good work for me. It admitted me to its membership al
though so scantily supplied with theological beliefs and technical
religious experience that if those were the test my right to church
membership would have small basis upon which to rest.
But I did and still do, place great virtue upon the teaching
of Jesus Christ He is my leader and all who own that leadership
ought to form the church of Christ and work for Him and with
Him for humanity,  o 

MRS HELEN A. HALL, ALMA, KAN.

I very much regret that
I am not able to accept
your kind invitation to be
present at your Fiftieth
Anniversary, but am glad
that I can greet you in this
way, and recall some rem
iniscences of the many
years spent with you
Some of you will remember
the terrible excitement all
over the east when it was
feared that the infamous
blot on our nation was
about to be perpetuated on
our beautiful Kansas, and
how many left home and
friends, to offer themselves
in the cause of humanity
Mr. Hall who was an ardent
Free State man, felt that
we must add our mite In June, 1857 we embarked on a steamer
at Pittsburg bound for Kansas City, which was then in an em-

 -40 
bryo state, its projectors aiming to bring something of regularity
into its rocky cliffs Among the passengers was the Rev. H. D.
Fisher and family. He came as a missionary of the Methodist
church, and became quite a prominent man in the history of
Kansas. We are all familiar with the story of his remarkable
escape in the Quantrell raid. At Kansas City we took a stage for
Tecumseh, and it was soon filled with Missourians going to a con
vention at Lecompton. My heart sank within me; were such as
these to be the lawmakers of Kansas! -But God was with us, and
Kansas did her part in the destiny of the nation altho through
blood and tears.
Arriving at Tecumseh we put up at a hotel kept by a rabid
pro-slavery family. One day as we sat at dinner two gentlemen
sat near who were very unlike the usual blatant crowd we had
met (though they were under arrest for "kidnapping")— J. M.
Hubbard and S. H. Fairfield They gave us an earnest invitation
to join the colony at Wabaunsee As we had been much interested
in it from its beginning we decided to cast our fortunes with them,
and we have never had cause to regret it altho there have been
dark days and disappointments.
Starting for Wabaunsee we passed through Topeka, which
consisted of a few scattered houses, and went on to the Baptist
mission for Indians, where we stopped for the night We were
received very kindly and got an inside view of an Indian school of
the last century.
Our next day brought us to Bourassa's. That night a terrible
storm came up suddenly, overflowing the banks of Mill Creek and
carrying off a mill furnished by the Government for the Indians,
though every effort was made to save it.
Next morning a cry for help was heard from the farther bank
It was from a young lady and her intended from Wabaunsee, who
were on their way to Lecompton on a double mission — each to
pre-empt a claim of land, and then pre-empt each other.
'* Enoch Piatt with his span of mules and my new washtub lashed
-firmly to the wagon, plunged into the raging water and by great
exertion reached the opposite bank. After placing the lady in
the tub they made their w^y back in safety, and the pair went on
their way rejoicing.
Without more incident we came to our Wabaunsee home just
at night fall tired and hungry. From Mother Sawin's the only
hotel in the new city, we procured some food and then prepared for
rest in the small building then used as the church, near where Mr.
Bowman's house now stands Next morning Mr. C. B. Lines,
President of the colony and Mr. George Wells called on us and
gave us a hearty welcome We were soon settled in our one
roomed house, but each Sabbath everything movable, but our

 41 
chairs was taken outside and the house used as a church for the
Sunday services
Altho' an Episcopalian I cast in my lot with the church and
became identified with all its interests which were and are very
dear to me. How delighted we were when the new church was
ready for use and the settlers with their families loaded in ox-carts
came from far and near Our church was always full How the
dear Parson Jones and wife labored among us, breaking the Bread
of Life, comforting the sick and being a benediction to all.
Other laborers are brought to mind Revs. Tunnell and Officer
—and Christopher who disgusted us with the porcine family and
others who made their mark on the lives about them. I call to
mind the mothers of this time, fitted by culture to grace any east
ern home, enduring privations, toil, separation from friends, that
our land might be free. These have left an enduring monument in
their cultured sons and daughters, scattered over our country-
ministers, teachers and lovely christian lives.
I cannot refrain from mentioning the beautiful christian love
which was shown us when our pleasant home beside the church
was destroyed by fire. Coming with words of cheer and sympathy
our friends brought of their abundance to our relief.
It was Mr Hall's wish that he might be laid to rest in the love
ly Wabaunsee cemetery, among the many old friends, and there I
too will, ere long join him

Note -Mrs. Helen Wadsworth Hall is aged 82 years and is the
great great grandaughter of Capt. Joseph Wadsworth of Charter
Oak fame. Her grandfather, Capt Jonathan Wadsworth Jr , was
killed at the battle of Saratoga, N. Y , in 1777.

MR. AND MRS H B JONES, PASADENA, CAL.
It is with pleasure and yet with hesitation that I respond to
the invitation to send a few words of greeting on this your "Semi-
centenial celebration "
If I could express the half of what I feel of regard and venera
tion for the Wabaunsee church my letter must necessarily be far
too long and I must therefore content myself with a few words.
Your church is "the church of my father and my father's God."
The church of my earliest recollections and through youth and
early manhood my regular attendance was there for many years.
Its influences have followed me all the days of my life and will
until I die Nothing had a greater part in crystallizing my relig
ious ideals than the old church and the Bible Class of which my
dear friend A A. Cottrell was so many years, (and I hope still is)
the leader. I would not call him the teacher for he was more than

 42 
that. I can hardly draw a mental picture of the old stone church
on a Sabbath day, without seeing him, bible in hand in his old ac
customed place in front of the gallery. May God bless him most
abundantly in his declining years.
I feel the inclination strongly to call by name, as I would like
to press the hand of many, many others whose names and presence
are as intimately associated with the church in my memory as is
Mr Cottrell with the Bible Class; many of tham, I could almost say
most of them, have crossed the "Dark River" and gone to their
reward; for forty years, the time since first I knew the church,
makes wide gaps in the ranks of one generation. But time and
place forbid and I pass to another thought
My good wife joins me in this letter and our word to you is one
of encouragement Let no one despise the small church nor the
day of little things. Your record for the half century past has
been a grand one, even if not all that it might have been. Mrs.
Jones attended your anniversary of ten years ago and marks the
changes from year to year.
May God bless you and each one of you and help His good
work on and on until His love shall leaven all mankind throughout
the earth and lift us out of spiritual darkness into the pure atmos
phere of His everlasting presence.

Letters of greeting were received from Miss Martha Cottrell;
Miss Emeline Jones, Pasadena, Cal ;, ,G Corwin Keyes, Pasadena,
Cal. ; Mrs. Mary A. Stiles, San Diego, Cal ; Mr and Mrs. J. P.
Evans, Mr and Mrs J M. Lingf elter, Los Angeles, Cal ; Mr. and
Mrs Hiram Keyes, Ramona, Cal. ; Mrs. Charlotte R. Harvey, wife
of Gov. Harvey, and the Onaga Congregational church. Our limit
does not permit the pubUcation of these, but on behalf of the
church and all old friends we return their greetihgs most heartily.

-43-

PASTORS OF THE CHURCH.

The following is a list of

the pastors who have served

this

church, with their terms of service:

Rev.
Harvey Jones,
July 5,
1857,
to
April 1,
1860
Rev.
W. A. McCullom,
October
1860,
to
April 1,
1863
Rev.
Chas Guild,
March 11,
1864,
to
May, 2,
1868
Rev.
R. M, Tunnell,
July 25,
1868,
to
Sept. 3,
1871
Rev.
M. Officer,
Dec. 7,
1871,
to
May 25,
1873
Rev.
W. B. Christopher,
March 2,
1874,
to
April 1,
1875
Prof.
J. E. Piatt (supply) ,
June 1,
1875,
to
Sept. 1,
1875
Rev.
Harvey Jones,
Sept. 9,
1875,
to
August
1877
Rev.
Wm. T. Blenkarn,
Oct. 4,
1877,
to
April 1,
1879
Rev.
Herman Geer,
April 13,
. 1879,
to
Oct. 1,
1885
Rev.
W. J Feemster,
Nov. 1,
1885,
to
Nov. 1,
1888
Rev.
W. T. Blenkarn (sup )
Jan. 1,
1889,
to
April 1,
1889
Rev.
H. S. Payne,
April 7,
1889,
to
June 18,
1891
Rev.
E. Richards,
July 1,
1891,
to
May 11,
1895
Rev.
G. H. Woodhull,
July 1,
1895,
to
Nov. 16,
1899
Rev
Frank D. Jackson,
March 1,
1900,
to
Nov. 30,
1903
Rev.
D. H. Scarrow,
Dec. 1,
1903,
to
Nov. 30,
1905
Rev.
S. L Unger,
Jan 1,
1906,
to
^V 1^* v^
THE CHARTER MEMBERS.
Mrs. H. W. K. Jones,
Alpheus N. Allen,
Mrs. A. N. Allen,
John S. Avery,
William F. Cotton,
S. H. Fairfield.
Mrs. Caroline Foss,
Franklin H. Hart,
Daniel B. Hiatt,
Friend W. Ingham,
Harlow Isbell,
Mrs. H. Isbell',
Rev. Harvey Jones,
Mrs. Austin Kelsey,
Charles B. Lines,
Miss Cornelia M. Lines.
Hiram Keyes.
Mrs. Maria Lines.
Hiram Maybe.
John S. Nesbit.
Jeremiah Evarts Piatt.
Chester E. Pond.
Mrs. C. E. Pond.
Mrs. Mary Read.
Hezekiah M. Selden.
E. Dwight Street.
Mrs. E. Dwight Street.
Moses C Welch.
Julius F. Willard.
John Willig.
JOHN H. GOULD.
One of the Leaders of the Colony and for several years
County Superintendent.

-45-

Notes-

Mrs. L M. Lines, Mrs Lulu Burt and J. F. Willard were
present at the farewell meeting, New Haven, March 31, 1856.
All noted with sadness the absence of Deacon D. V. Conrow.
Since the anniversary in July, he has been called to his eternal
home. His quiet unassuming ways are not likely to be soon for
gotten. Among the visitors were Mr. and Mrs. J. T Genn of Wamego.
Mr. and Mrs. Genn were early connected with the church here and
have always been among its friends.
To John Gould the church building is in a way a memorial. He
was chairman of the building committee and to his unfailing vii' or
and untiring service is said to be due much of the success with
which the undertaking was carried out.
S. H. Fairfield of Alma, of the charter members and a settler
of '56, read a paper at the anniversary. Mr. Fairfield took his
membership to the Alma church at its founding He has in his
possession a commission dated 1861, given him by Gov. Charles
Robinson making him ensign of the Prairie Guards.
Many will be glad to see the face of Mr. S A. Baldwin among
others printed here Mr Baldwin was one of the early helpers in
the church, later talfing his membership to the Wamego Methodist
Episcopal church He was well knoAfn as a prosperous citizen.
He was the latest one of the original colony residing here to be
laid at rest, his death occurring March 31, 1903.
Samuel R. Weed was one of the settlers in the fall of '56. He
was early prominent in public life, holding the offices of county
clerk, clerk of district court, county treasurer, register of deeds,
representative and deputy of various offices He recalls the early
official work. The first county offices were in a stone building, some
of the foundation of which can be still seen in the front yard of
the home of Albert Robinson with whom Mr. Weed resides
Among the early school teachers were J H. Gould and Melina
Cotton-Genn. Mrs. Genn came herewith her mother in '57, and
with her brother Byron William and John Cotton came separately,
William in the spring of '57 William Cotton was one of the origi
nal members of the church but subsequently withdrew. John
Cotton moved to Wamego and then to Jophn, Mo. G. Bryon Cot
ton has lived here and been prominent in public life up to about
two years ago when he moved to Wamego.

 46 
[Extracts from a letter from Mr Benjamin Jepson, supervisor
of music. New Haven (Conn.) public schools:]
My brother William Jepson and myself landed at Leavenworth
March 27, 1857. We bought an ox team there, later a prairie
schooner at Lawrence, with which we journeyed to Wabaunsee,
arriving there April 2. My brother pre-empted the bluff claim on
the south side of town, I pre-empted one between Wabaunsee and
Manhattan I carried into the territory packed in my trunk a
small melodeon, the first and only instrument of its kind in the
vicinity of Wabaunsee at the time Before the first church was
built I conducted the music of the meetings in a grove nearby.
The first grove meeting was held June 28, 1857. On July 4, 1857
Wabaunsee held its first celebration in the grove C. B. Lines
delivered the oration and the Rev Mr. Jones conducted the reli
gious exercises After a bountiful dinner we had toasts by several
speakers, interspersed by my glee club. The following was the
program: Toast, "The day we celebrate " Music "Hail Columbia. "
Toast, "The President of U S" Music, "Land of our Fathers "
"Kansas, land of the free, home of the brave " Music "Room for
all," "The Governor." "Popular Sovereignty" Music "Loud raise
the peal of gladness " "The memory of those who died for Kansas"
"The Death of Warren " "Civil and Religious Libertv. " "America"
"The Press" "The Prairie Guards" "Merrily sound the Merry
Strain." "The Flag of our Union" "The Ladies of Wabaunsee"
"Here's a health to lads and lassies " "The Bachelors '^ "The
Bachelor's Lament." Closing song "Give the hand of f rieJhdship. "
The Henry Ward Beecher Sharp's Rifle Company, organizeid in
the North church, New Haven, adopted the name of "Prdirie
Guards." I was elected captain, Aug. 15, 1857 Had a few calls
from Gen. Jim Lane, and some Indian scares The following is a
list of the company: B Jepson, Geo O.sborn. Abner Allen, E. J.
Lines, Geo H. Coe, H. M Selden, P Hart, E C. Lines, Benj.
Street, John Isbel, Elbert HoUister, C. P. Kirstland, E. S Tadder,
Robt Banks, A Hart, Hamilton Dowd, H J Tadder, C. P. Pams-
worth, P. R. Whitaker, C H Sawin, A. Allen, C M Osborn,
Enoch Piatt, Luther Piatt, Geo Hill, Geo Thomas, Silas Thomas,
Wm H Wheeler, Jesse Allen, R H. Waters, J. Bisbey, Wm.
Hartley, Wesley Lewis, Clark Lapham, C. E. Bisbey, Wm. Mitch
ell, Henry Isbel, M. C. Welch, B C Benedict, Hiram Keyes,
Henry Fairfield, Wm Williams, A C Cutler, Mr. Noyes, Mr.
Poster, Mr Cottrell, Mr. Willard, Mr Seymour.
The following were not members of the military company:
Orange Bardwell, Rollin Moses, Thgp. Gardner, Hepry Ingham. n{
The first state election was held Oct 15, 1857. Wabaunsee
cast 74 votes for Parrot (Free state man), one vote for Ransom
(Slave state ) . , c i

 47 
One of the charter members of the church was Jeremiah
Evarts Piatt. He came to Wabaunsee in the fall of '56, took the
claim south of the Lines place. April 3, 1860, he was married to
Jennie Smith of Mendon, 111. , daughter of Samuel Smith a member
of the colony who stopped at that place Mr. Piatt spent his sum
mers on his claim and winters in Illinois teaching. From 1864 to
1883 he was instructor in music at the Kansas Agricultural college,
was State Sunday School superintendent of Kansas, 1883-1893, and
of Oklahoma from 1893 to 1899. He died in Guthrie, Ok., April 16,
1899 His life partner was present at the semi-centennial and
celebrated her 69th birthday there.
Mrs. Bowen told the following story about the Fourth of July
of 1857: The people of Wabaunsee were, and still are, a sociable people,
and very patriotic. The Fourth of July was a day to be anticipat
ed with pleasure during the entire year, and once enjoyed never to
be forgotten. One of their most memorable celebrations was that
of '57. The distinguishing feature was the grand parade. The
procession consisted of wagons drawn by oxen. Horse teams were
then seldom seen. It was later than this that the young ladies
were thrown into a state of wild excitement by the startling news
that a young gentleman of their acquaintance had fitted up a dry-
goods box for a buggy, had mounted it on two wheels taken from
the ox wagon and had found means to attach to it an Indian pony,
of which he was the proud possessor. It seemed to them a triumph
of genius and to promise social changes
To return to the parade Some of the wagons were covered
with snowy canopies artistically decorated with various floral and
evergreen designs. The yokes and horns of the cattle were fes
tooned and garlanded. One bright pink cover especially pleased
the children and took their votes. The "rig" receiving the largest
number of votes took the prize.

NOTE BY COMMITTEE.

In presenting this work compiled at the request of the church
and its friends the committee trusts that it has been able to gather
together such material as will be of greatest interest and value in
the future. The historical part has been the most difficult, espe
cially where it has been necessary to decide between conflicting
opinions as to facts We invite correspondence, correction and ad
dition on all this and other early Wabaunsee history for preserva
tion and future use. When the first generation has passed away
it will be impossible to obtain the early facts.

"AULD LANG SYNE."

By Mrs. Laura E. Newell.
Should early days e'er be forgot.
Though fairer days be here.
And friends long absent fade from mind
Though they may not appear
Within our vision? No! In hearts
They ever shall abide.
Although perchance they passed from view.
Upon the crystal tide.
Oh, here's the hand of fellowship.
To all assembled now.
Within this house. God's temple blest.
Before Him, here to bow.
To those who planted first the seed
Of gospel truth, we greet.
All who since toiled in His name.
With blessings we would meet.
But unto God the glory be!
The glory and the praise.
For joys our soul delight to-day.
And light of other days.
And as in glad reunion here.
We clasp the friendly hand,
God grant we all may meet again
In heaven, our fatherland.

'¥

ERRATA.
Page 7. Mr. Stone said "We did not come because we had no
quarter. ' '
Page 7. Read "Baby Caroline Smith."

Supplemental Historical Matter,

EARLY SETTLEMENT LIFE.

SHERMAN A. WILLARD.
About a year after the arrival of the colony in Wabaunsee the
Wabaunsee Company was formed to control the townsite. There
is the following record: "A meeting of the citizens of Wabaunsee
and vicinity called for the purpose of organizing a company for
entering and controlling the Townsite of Wabaunsee was held at
the store of Messrs. Lines and Thomas in said Wabaunsee, June 17,
1857. Dr. J. P. Root was called to the chair and H. Jones chosen
secretary pro tem Mr. C. B. Lines, from a committee previously
appointed, reported the following articles of agreement for such a
company which, after various modifications, was adopted."
These articles provided for the name, purpose as above stated,
membership, officers and meetings. Power of action was put in
the hands of the board of trustees. The first officers chosen were:
President, J. P. Root; Secretary, J. H. Gould; Treasurer, M. C.
Welch; trustees, C. B. Lines, Wm. Mitchell, J. M. Hubbard and
H. Jones. Dr. Root soon after went away and Mr. Lines was chosen
president. These officers and trustees were changed regularly and
held meetings and transacted business as necessary. Each member
of the company was given six shares in the townsite. For each of
these three lots were drawn and the following certificate issued:
IhtTST'^: WABAUNSEE COMPANY.
This certifies that  is entitled to
Share No  , containing three lots in the Town of Wabaunsee.
The Wabaunsee (Company is pledged to give to the holder of this
Certificate a good and valid title to this Share when they have
received the same from the Government; and the holder is liable
for all assessments thereon
This Share is transferable only on the books of the Company.
 Sec'y.  Pres't.
Wabaunsee,  185. . .
The autograph signatures of the original members of the com-
' pany follow the articles. They were in order of record: A. A.
Cottrell, J. F. Willard, Harvey Bisbey, Chester E Pond, J. H.
Gould, George H. Thomas, John J. Walter, Wm. Mitchell, jr ,
John H. Nesbitt, F. W. Ingham, F. H. Hart, Harvey Jones, C. B.

Lines, Benjamin Ftreet, L. W. Clark, E. D Street, L A Parker,
R W Griswold, William Hartley Jr., Harlow Isbell, George H.
Hill S M. Thomas, Harvey S. Hall, Moses C Welch, Thomas C.
P Hyde, George H. Coe, H. M. Selden, Daniel B. Hiatt, Isaac
Fenn, Peter Sharai, E J. Lines, J. M Bisbey, E. C Lines, D. L.
Bai-es H P. Leonard, J. M Hubbard Jr. Of these men Harvey
liis'bey, John H. Nesbitt, Harvey Jones, George H. Hill, Daniel B.
Hiatt, Peter Sharai, J. M. Bisbey and D L. Bates were not mem
bers of the Connecticut Kansas Colony but had settled here earlier.
The first meeting of the trustees granted Lines and Hyde land
for a mill. This was a sawmill, afterwards moved to the old
cheese factory site. It then stood down by the mouth of the ravine
toward Deep creek C. B. Lines, J. M. Hubbard, J. H. Gould
were appointed to survey the to A n site. At that time only the
baselines were surveyed. Hubbard and Wm Hartley surveyed the
townsite. Hubbard alone ran most of the farm lines about Wa
baunsee. Lines, Jones, Welch, Parker and Street were appointed
to plan and select a site for a school house Fifteen shares were
offered anyone who would erect a 40 horse power sawmill before
Oct. 1857, ten for a shingle mill, and six for a two thousand dollar
hotel. Reservations were made for school sites and three for
churches. At the second meeting, June 27, Hubbard, Gould and
Jones were appointed to select a cemetery site. July 9th the
Sharp's rifles of the colony were given to the "Prairie Guards."
The same meeting gave the "First Church of Christ in Wabaun
see" its present half -block site.-
A school house was built early with funds from the east This
was later turned over to the township and district on condition
that both stories be completed, the lower for school purposes, the
upper for public meetings, etc. The first building used for school
purposes now forms part of the Bowman residence. The town hall
was finally dismantled and sold.
For a long time Wabaunsee had the only school in the county.
Then No. 2 east of the town site was cut off and No. 3 on Hend
ricks creek. The early educational interest has been maintained.
Wabaunsee has furnished this and neighboring counties some of
their best teachers. Some have held positions in colleges and
universities. Among her sons and daughters are graduates of the
State Agricultural College, State Normal, Washburn college,
Chicago Theological Seminary and Yale. Very nearly, if not
quite, one hundred of them have attended schools of grade higher
than the district school. The colony has always loyally supported
educational interests and an effort was made to secure the location
here of what is now Washburn College, a bonus being offered by
the Wabaunsee company.

The company held its last meeting, as far as recorded, Aug 7,
1865. It had served its purpose as there was then a settled gov
ernment. Richardson county, which had included Shawnee and all
west, had been divided and Wabaunsee set apart with a portion of
what now belongs to Riley county. The officers chosen at that
meeting were, Wm. Mitchell, president; S. A Baldwin, secretary;
J. H. Gould, treasurer; C. B. Lines, 1st trustee; J. M Bisbey, 2nd
trustee; J. F. Willard, 3rd trustee; W. S. Griswold, 4th trustee.
The dreams of the town founders were not all realized. We
have a second New Haven in spirit out not in size. The saw and
shingle mills did not always satisfy. The one run by H. J. Fadder
for the Emigrant aid society and later by J. J. Walter, on the old
site of the Lines mill was most successful. The ferry boat seems
always to have caused annoyance. Lines and Thomas conducted
the first store. Efforts to secure a drug store failed. Dr. Buttman
being unable to carry through his plans.
The county officers in 1860, as shown by the county records,
were; state senator, J. M Hubbard: representative, E J. Lines;
probate judge, J. M. Hubbard; register of deeds, E C. D. Lines;
treasurer, H. M. Selden; superintendent of public instruction, J.
H. Gould; commissioner, William Mitchell; attorney, W. Odlin;
sheriff, Jehu Hodgson; clerk, S. E. Beach. When Wabaunsee
County was set off, Wabaunsee became the county seat and con
tinued to be until 1866. At the time of the removal of the county
seat to Alma, S. R. Weed was treasurer, S. H. Fairfield, clerk,
S. A Baldwin, register, G. G. Hall, probate judge, and Isaiah
Harris, superintendent.
The first post-office was in Harvey Jones' house on Emmons
creek. Soon after it was moved to Frank Hart's house near where
the Spielman house now stands; Selden was postmaster here. The
mail came over the For Riley trail, horse back once a week.
There were settlers before the New Haven men Among them
were the Bisbeys, Joshua Smith, Peter Sharai, Bartholomew
Sharai, Harvey Jones, D. B. Hiatt, J. H. Nesbitt, Robert Banks
and H. P. Leonard. J. H. Nesbitt established a store in 1855 and
D. B. Hiatt taught the first school in his cabin on the St. John
place in 1857.
The first death in the colony was of Freeman Johnson. The first
marriage was that of E CD. Lines to Grace A. Thomas, June 1857.
W. P. Cotton was the first justice of the peace after the township
was organized under the state, W. S. Williams and J. T. Genn con
stables. C. B. Lines was the first man to represent the county in
the territoral legislature, E J. Lines in the state legislature and
J. M. Hubbard the first state senator from the county. A child of
Rev. and Mrs. Harvey Jones was the first white pers n to die in
the county; this was April 24, 1856. It was buried in the old cem-

tery south of town. The first person buried in the Wabaunsee
cemetery was a child of D. B. Hiatt; they owned the old hotel at
that time. Bryon Cotton dug the grave.
The hardships of the situation of the settlers were such as can
scarcely be appreciated now. All freight had to be hauled by ox
teams from the Missouri river. Once a steamboat got up to Wa
baunsee. Walking was common. One of the men is known to
have walked as far as Valley Falls with ice sheeted water much of
the way, to visit a girl who had attracted him. Returning home
he walked 39 miles from Topeka in a day, having to swim Mill
Creek full of ice water, with his shoes around his neck and stock
ings in his breast. Then there was ague; everyone had it more or
less, mostly more, with all its misery, and quinine $12 an ounce.
No shipping market for grain They went to mill at Bourassa's or
Council Grove and later at Rocky Ford beyond Manhattan. Alma
and Louisville furnished closer opportunities for grinding. Then
there was the drouth of '60, and 1873 with its grasshoppers. These
insects appearing in clouds "to darken the sun" ate up everything
green and gnawed rough the pitchfork handles Wheat had to be
cut and bound by hand and there are men now in middle age life
who will tell you how J. P Willard taught them as boys to tie bun
dles. One of the first recommendations that one yuung man had
to his sweetheart (now wife) was that he was a rapid wheat binder.
Smith Kelsey brought in the Marsh harvester which was considered
perfection in harvesting machinery. This cut the grain while two
men stood on a platform and tied it Then came the self -rake, the
wire-binder and finally the old Buckeye and other string binders.
Wheat was often threshed with a flail Peter Sharai owned the
first threshing machine.
The boys who husk 80 to 100 bushels of corn a day now would
have laughed to have heard Bryon Cotton scouting the possibility
of a man's husking 40 Dushels. Corn was thinner then for one
thing. The roads « ere old prairie trails, not so bad however. The
one through Maple Hill past Bourassa's through to Pottawatomie
reservation seems to have been the main line.
Very soon after their arrival the colony was called upon to
help in the Free State struggle. It was just before the sacking of
Lawrence by Donaldson and Jones, May 21, 1856, when the colony
had been in Wabaunsee but three weeks. William Mitchell and
J. P. Root were appointed to go to Lawrence, learn the situation
and report. Avoiding the patrols at Tecumseh they reached Law
rence, learned the conditions and started to return. Just beyond
the town they and two companions were fired on from a cabin.
The other two were on horses and escaped, but Mitchell and Root
had mules that balked They were taken by ten or fifteen men on
promise of release in the morning if all right. In the morning they

were questioned separately and held for being Free State men.
Mr. Mitchell by his bold and defiant answers enraged the captain
who a day or so later sent to search him for correspondence Mr.
Mitchell was lying down and refused' to rise, but told the ruffian to
search away. He further enraged the ruffians by the language he
used in his protests and was again taken before the captain He
was ordered to cook for the remaining eighteen prisoners Mr.
Mitchell flatly refused The ruffians were half drunk and cried
out "hang the abolitionist " A rope was thrown over his head and
instantly drawn but Mr Mitchell was equal to the occasion Seiz
ing the rope and with it as a weapon, he said, ' 'if you want any
thing come on." The more sober interfered and saved him The
two were kept so long that their death was reported in the East to
the great grief of Capt Mitchell's family and friends in Middle-
town, Conn. But they were liberated after the sacking of Law
rence and returned to the colony, taking turns riding the one mule
returned them.
The summer of 1856 the men occupied themselves getting set
tled and at whatever else might come to hand. Several lived in
the big tent. Among these were Julius Willard and Luther C.
Parker. Parker had bad luck with an ox he had bought in Kansas
City. This one of a team, got a shoulder bruised by the yoke so
badly as to be of no service so Parker killed the stear and sold the
meat. With the proceeds he bought a cow and she furnished milk
for the two until Willard was taken sick and was taken off by the
Jones family for nursing.
In September, '56, word came up the trail that the men were
wanted at Lawrence to fight Missourians. It was a critical time.
The pro-slavery party had just had fresh encouragement in the ap
pointment of Gov. Geary. The company immadiately responded
and with their Sharpe's rifles went down to the troubled center.
Parker and Baldwin were sick at the time and were left behind,
Baldwin with a fever that nearly cost him his life. At Lawrence
Captain Mitchell and J. H. Gould were taken ill and cared for in
an improvised hospital.
Jim Lane was in command of the entire forces. One day they
went to capture a party of Missourians in Lecompton They were
found sheltered in a house, but whether Lane was afraid or what
no one knows, anyway he ordered a halt and they returned that
evening to Lawrence. It is related that Lieut. Ed Lines in com
mand of the Wabaunsee boys in absence of Captain Mitchell,
marching at the head of the company failed to hear the command
to halt and marched on until stopped by one sent after him.
A few days later news came that the Missourians were at
Hickory Point. Lane drew the men up in Massachussetts street
and after a bombastic speech told them to fall back two paces, then

said, "You who are afraid to go down stand where you are, the
rest march forward two paces." Not a d  n man stands. They
then marched by way of Wakerusa and Pleasanton and just at
nightfall saw the Missourians on the opposite side of an amphithe
atre. Lane refused to fight at night and ordered them back to
.^Black Jack, about ten miles. The Wabaunsee boys had no provi-
~sions except some ears of green com the Dutch baggage driver
had taken to feed his team. The next morning the outposts brought
in word that the enemy had departed and had left behind some
bacon and flour. These provisions and a heifer captured and killed
furnised the breakfast Frying-pans were scarce and were borrow
ed of Franklin Company which had provisions and whose captain,
Mort Day, had been a schoolmate of J. P. Willard.
One Sunday shortly after this the Missourians came to Frank
lin and toward Lawrence. The Free State men went out to meet
them under Major Bickerton of the Lawrence Stubs. The Stubs
were mounted on the right, the Wabaunsee boys were placed on
the left with the brass cannon at the edge of town. At the call
for a volunteer Ed Lines went forward to find what the Missour
ians were doing. They were found about a half a mile off going
away. An advance was ordered but the raiders were soon out
of reach of even the Sharpe's rifles. This was just west of the
Haskell residence., Some buildings were burned at Franklin.
Lane left before the troubles were over and put Capt Cutter
in command Cutter stationed guards on the Santa Fe trail. One
night when T C. P. Hyde was in command of the guard the train
from Santa Pe came in and was brought into camp It is said that
Cutter subsequently sold the cattle, appropriated the money and
went east. The govemment paid the bill for the train
When the trouble was at its height Governor Geary came to
Lawrence with Federal troops The Free State men were gathered
on Mount Oread, and a clash seemed imminent. But the governor
had discovered the real sentiment of the territory, and he told the
Free State men to go home, promising that their rights should be
protected. The Wabaunsee boys were gone about thirty days.
That fall and winter several of the company went home; some
to remain, others to bring their families. The Lines and Parkers
bi^ought their families out, and Timothy Read brought his. The
Reads arrived either Christmas or the day before, and were lodged
in Porter's cabin Fairfield, Willard, Weed, Parker and J E Piatt
were living with Porter at the time, and they were preparing for
a Christmas celebration. Mother Bisbey had promised to make
the boys some pumpkin pies for their feast. Weed and some of
the others had gone for these and were much surprised to find the
women in possession of the cabin on their return. They were
later quartered in the old Wilig cabin

One thing that confronted the free state settlers was the im
possibility of securing justice. The government was all in the
hands of the pro-slavery men. If a northern man's claim was
jumped he had no show at all in the courts So, for their self -pro
tection, the New Haven men organized the "Loyal League" to de
fend themselves against squatters.
This League was called into service but once. John H. Nes
bitt had taken the present Burt place to hold for the company and
had the material prepared to build his house He was caught by
the ague and went over to Peter Sharai's to be cared for. While he
was ill a friend of the Sharai family went over to the Lapham
place, cut his shakes, hauled them and had a cabin nearly completed
before the neigbors saw what was going on. One of the League
protested to him that the claim was Nesbitt' s but he said that made
no difference and went on building That night about ten men met
and went down to the cabin. Among these men were B. C. Porter,
William Hartley, S. R Weed, J. M. Hubbard, E. C. D. Lines,
S. M Thomas, J. P. Willard, Frank Hart, A. A. Cottrell, L. A.
Parker, George Coe and H. M. Selden
The claim jumper had promised to shoot the first man to enter
his door. This in the rush was Hartley. The man put his musket
to Hartley's breast but it missed fire, then he broke away but the
men bore him down and bound him. The shack fell with a few
blows of the ax. For lack of better kindling a ham found in the
cabin was sliced and used. With the man was a young fellow who
pleaded "don't hurt me, I'm only a boy" and cried during the whole
proceedings He was finally let go. The man was taken north to
the river. They told him to promise to leave the country and never
return or else he would be sent down stream on two rail cuts. As
he was stubborn they threatened to bind him facffdoWn ori-a"log for
his voj age, Parker all the time standing on the bank and repeating
in his deep heavy voice, "chuck him in, chuck him in." He finally
yielded and was escorted as far as Mulberry creek, blindfolded and
let go. The next morning friends searched for him along the bank
supposing him drowned. It had been rough work but necessary,
the settlers wishing no violence, but it had to be understood that
such things were no go.
One of the members of the party (Hubbard) asked before
starting what was the real purposes of the expedition, whether the
man was to be killed, for he said, "one life is worth several
claims ' ' The leader assured him that no one was to be killed, but
that they intended to scare the man into leaving the country. On
another occasion a man was taken away and never again heard
from, but this was by men from across the river and the Wabaun
see officers were concerned in their prosecution.
In spite of hardships there were some Uvely times. There was

the lyceum, the singing school and parties. It is related that after
the first social at Harvey Jones, the Platts with their four horse
team undertook to pass John Gould and A. A Cottrell in abuckboard
with Gould's fast oxen. The oxen won and crowded the team into
the fence. But the cattle were still hot the next morning and did
not get over the race all summer. Smith Kelsey had a team of
horses and used to race them against the ox teams coming home
from singing school and was invariably beaten by Gould's fast oxen
and J. P. Willard's runaways. Girls were scarce in the early days
and were much courted The lack of women for home-makers was
one of the greatest of all the drawbacks and many a settler left be
cause there was none for him in the West and the eastern girl he
knew could not stand the lonesomeness of pioneer life. The first
party on the bottom was held at the new home of Joshua Smith.
That the men who settled Wabaunsee, others as well as the
Connecticut colony, were true to their convictions is seen by the
part they bore in the national struggle. Several homes here were
stations on the underground railway; chief in th's work was Wm.
Mitchell. One of the colony, A. A. Cottrell, was actively engaged
in the secret service work in Missouri, helping slaves make their
escape. After his return from Denver in 1859-60 while cutting
cord-wood and working in a sawmill in Missouri he was engaged in
such an enterprise and was forced to make a ten days flight to
Quincy, 111 , to save his life, living all that time on such young pigs
as he could kill and cook by day, and eat without salt. This how
ever led him to Mendon, 111 , the home of the Platts, where he met
Martha Piatt who became his wife. The Prairie Guards and work
of the militia has been spoken of. About forty men were in the
Union army during the war.
So far as now known SiliS Thomas of California, George H. -
Thomas and J. M. Hubbard of Connecticut, and J P Willard and
A. A. Cottrell in the old settlement are the only members of the
New Haven company now living. The'y left a heritage of endeav
or and heroism for their sons and daughters to emulate Their in
fluence was felt where they dwelt and their work lives after them
in the community and in the sturdy manhood and loving womanhood
that has sprung from them.

THE COLONY.

SHERMAN A. WILLARD.
The Connecticut-Kansas Colony was formed in New Haven in
the winter of 1855-56 It was backed by the best men of New
Haven and the east. Its purpose was to settle in Kansas to help
in the free state struggle there and to found homes after the New
England ideal. February 17, 1856, Charles B. Lines announced the
formation of the company. Within a week 85 names were signed.
By March 7th this number was increased to 90. On that day Mr.
Lines was chosen president.
The Colony left New Haven the night of March 31, 1856 That
evening a farewell meeting had been held in Brewster's hall.
March 22, at a meeting in the North church, Beecher and others
had pledged the rifles the men were armed with, and a few days
after that meeting, A. Studwell, a member of Beecher's church,
gave the funds for the purchase of 25 bibles
The colony went by boat to New York then by ferry to Jersey
City. Here they took the train, arriving in St Louis, via Indiana
polis, Thursday April 3 April 5 (as nearly as can be learned) they
took the steamer Clara to Kansas City arriving there about a
week later. Several days were spent at this point, buying oxen in
Piatt county, etc Then they proceeded by wagon, hack and by
foot to Lawrence.
Here they were met by some of the pioneers sent ahead to
find a location, A committee was also sent to the Marias des
Cygnes country One pioneer, Harvey D Rice favored settling in
Topeka, that city offering liberal inducements. The Topeka offer
was rejected and the colony went from Lawrence past Topeka,
looked over Mission Creek valley and finally reached Wabaunsee
Monday April 28
The pioneers as given elsewhere (page 10) were J. J. Walters,
Benjamin (not E, Dwight) Street, Walter Webb, A. A. Cottrell
and T. C P. Hyde Mr Hyde's place in the list has been disputed.
Harvey D. Rice should be added His omission from the list is
probably due to the fact that he did not arrive at Wabaunsee with
the others. Mr. Rice left the following notes : "At church, India
napolis; snow; arrived in St Louis before close of March; Passage
on steamer Campbell to Kansas City, about a week going; bought
two yoke of oxen in Piatt county, the others bought two horses

which proved no good; entered Kansas at sundown April 1; arms,
Sharpe's rifles, revolver Smith & Wesson, packed in trunks to con-
,, ceal; molested that night by half drunk Westport Indians and got
out rifles; a cold north-west wind; came to Martin Donaldson's
next night 10 miles of Lawrence; passed Lawrence next day fol
lowing Sam Wood Walker wanted to know "will these Connec
ticut Yankees fight," Fourth night, Topeka; hadn't found site for
colony; went on through Topeka; went on to Wabaunsee alone;
little town; just the place, elated, 100 miles from Kansas City,
few log cabins along creek, sort of a store, no town laid out; order
ed mail to Manhattan; went prospecting still further; joined colony
at Lawrence and attempted to dissuade them from settling in Wa
baunsee " Mr. Rice favored Topeka finally and located there.
The colony consisted of about seventy souls, probably a few
less Below is a list as far as the writer can obtain them from
records or from the memory of survivors Disputed names are
not included Charles B Lines, president of the colony, John P.
Root, Harvey D Rice, Julius P. Willard, Amos A. Cottrell, Shar-
man A. Baldwin, Walter S Griswold, Rollin Moses, Freeman JoHn-
son. Orange Bardwell, Bryon C Porter, Chester E. Pond, John H.
. Gould, George H. Thomas, John J Walter, William Mitchell Jr ,
Prank H Hart, Frend W. Ingham, Benjamin Street, Levi W.
Clark, E Dwight Street, Luther A. Parker, Richard W. Griswold,
William Hartley Jr , Harlow Isbell, Silas M Thomas, Walter
. Webb, Harvey S Hall, Moses C Welch, Thomas C P. Hyde,
George H Coe, Hezekiah M. Selden, Isaac Fenn, Elfred J. Lines, A 
Josiah M, Hubbard, Edward C. D Lines, W G McNary, J. D. I
Parren, E M Penfield, L H Root, E Buell Root, Ward Terry,
Leonard Porter, Timothy Read, George Wells, Daniel F. Scranton,
P. P Huntington, R H. Waters, Penfield, Tomlinson, Ochre,
Lake, Tomlinson, Elmer, Bishop Edgar M Woodford came as
far as Lawrence and to Wabaunsee in the followimj year. Samuel
Smith came as far as Mendon, 111. , and Weston Ferrris turned
back at Kansas City.
Pour women were in the party. Miss Alford, Mrs. Harlow Is
bell, Mrs E D. Street. Mrs C. E. Pond, and two boys, the sons of
Harlow Isbell, John and Henry
Some of these remained in Wabaunsee but a short time. To
the list of survivors given elsewhere, George H. Thomas, Silas M.
Thomas, J. M. Hubbard, J P. Willard and Amos A Cottrell, should
be added the names of George H. Coe of New Haven, Conn , and
John J Walters of Cheshire, Conn

FAREWELL MEETINGS.

FROM AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN BY HENRY HOWE.
While the company was forming, a famous meeting was held
in North Church called "The Old Fort," "Kansas Stamping
Ground," etc This was on March 22, 1856, when spirited address
es were made by Henry Ward Beecher, Chas B Lines and others
In the course of the evening some one remarked that these men
were leaving their homes to help save their country from the fur
ther blight of slavery and that they should not be allowed to de
part without proper means of defense, whereupon at once one of
the audience became aroused and to the surprise of the rest and
eyen of himself called out, "I'll give a Sharpe's rifle " It was in
stantly followed by others, Mr Beecher pledging 25 from his own
congregation in Brooklyn Among the donors was the venerable
Prof. Silliman and several were pledged by the Junior class of Yale
College. On the 31st of March a farewell meeting was held in
Brewster's hall. Prof Silliman presided; prayer was offered by
Dr. Bacon, and Mr. Lines a natural earnest speaker, made a fare
well address; then the whole audience arose and sang "The Kansas
Emigrant Song, " by J G. Whittier, to the tune of Auld Lang
Syne.  o 
FROM NEW HAVEN PALLADIUM, APRIL 1, 1856
A very interesting meeting was held at Brewster's hall last
evening The object was a farewell to the New Haven colony des
tined for Kansas under the lead of its president, Charles B. Lines
Esq Professor Silliman Sr. , was called to the chair, when prayer
was offered by Rev. Dr. Bacon, after which was sung by the
audience "The Kansas Emigrant Song" by J. G Whittier, begin
ning "We cross the prairie as of old "
After the singing Mr Lines made his farewell speech. He seem
ed quite affected, though he bore himself manfully during the try
ing hour. He complained of great physical exhaustion, having so
much of the labor of preparation on his hands His remarks were
listened to with apparently very deep interest on the part of the
people. Rev. Dr. Bacon then ascended the stage and read a letter
from Rev Henry Ward Beecher to Mr Lines in which Mr. Beecher
presented a number of bibles in the name of his parishioners and
twenty-five Sharpe's rifles in behalf of several others. The letter
was a masterly production full of vigor, beauty, courage, strength

and truth. He was succeeded by Prof. Silliman, Rev Dr. Hawes,
Wales French Esq., Rev. Mr. Dutton and Mr. J. D. Parren, late
private school teacher. All these speeches were to the point and
well received.
The exercises were concluded by the singing of the following
beautiful song, composed by the Rev. Mr. Bingham of this city,
formerly of the Sandwich Islands. During the singing, sixty of
the seventy-two members of the colony took positions on the plat
form. Twelve of the colony had previously gone forward. Others
will join at different points making the whole number about eighty.
THE WESTERN COLONISTS' SONG.

DEDICATED TO THE CONNECTICUT-KANSAS COLONY BY
REV. H. BINGHAM.

Our fathers' faithful God,
The Pilgrim's safe abode
Our way prepare;
O, shield us by thy power.
Thy guidance we implore.
In every trying hour
Make us thy care.
All hail our glorious west.
Destined to be possessed
By liberty!
By compacts firm and pure.
While truth and right endure.
From slavery's blight secure.
Realm of the free !
We go for freedom's cause.
Justice and equal laws—
Come life or death;
God's truth we fain would hear.
His Sabbath blest revere.
And in His praise sincere,
Employ our breath.
May freedom's banner blest
Be o'er the ransomed West,
For aye unfurled;
At liberty's command.
Near each freeholder's land.
May schools and churches stand
To bless the world.
There cheered by freedom's light.
May every home be bright
With hope and love;
Then, when fife's toils are o'er.
Called to remove once more,
Safe may we reach the shore
Of peace above.
The members of the colony, after giving the farewell shake of
the hand to troops of friends, were kindly escorted to the boat by

the Elm City Guards and by Croton Engine Company No 1 It
w-as announced that already 3,000 men from the north were on
their way to the "Land of Promise," to take up their abode upon
the rich soil beneath the clear skies of Kansas Glorious mission.
May the good Being who rules over all, guard and keep them and
may they be successful in establishing freedom and free institu
tions in that land of beauty and fertility We expect to keep our
readers posted in regard to them and their future proceedings.

BEECHER'S FAREWELL LETTER.

The Rev. H. W. Beecher to the New Haven Colonies for Kansas.
Brooklyn, Friday, March 28, 1856.
C B. Lines, Esq., New Haven, Conn.
Dear Sir: -Allow me to address you, and through you the gen
tlemen of your company on the eve of your departure for Kansas.
I hope and believe that you will find a settlement there to be a
means of great personal prosperity. You are not like the early
settlers of New Haven, going upon a doubtful enterprise, to a poor
soil in a severe climate, the ocean on one side and the wilderness
of a Continent on every other side You will not go far from us.
In our day, we measure by time, rather than distance, by hours,
not miles. You will not be as far from your old home as one Pab-
bath is from another. And yet j ou go upon an errand not one
whit less Christian and less heroic than that of our common ances
tors, who founded New Haven You are pioneers of towns and
cities; you are the seed of Christianity— the germs of civilization.
You'll put your feet down in a wilderness, in a year it will be a pop
ulous place. k.nd where the morning sun now rises upon herds of
wild buffalo, couched deep in wild grass, in your own life time it
will bring forth the cry of multitudes and the noise of a city. Nev
ertheless such perils have been coiled about the young state of
Kansas that it is an act of courage to settle there, if a man goes
with a true spirit of American institutions To go there determin
ed to transplant to its soil that tree of liberty, which under God has
in older states borne and shook down from its boughs all the
fruits of an unparalleled prosperity, requires heroic courage. It is
a pleasure and honor to us to be in any way connected with such an

enterprise by furnishing to the emigrant material or moral aid I
have personally felt a double interest in your company, because it
springs from New Haven, my father's birth place and home of my
ancestors A friend and parishioner (A Stedwelf) desires me to
- present to you twenty-five copies of the bible. This is the
charter of all charters, the constitution of all constitutions, the
source and spring of Christian manUness This book will be at the
foundation of your state It will teach you to value your rights,
and inspire you to defend them. The donor has caused to be in- _
scribed upon them: "Be ye steadfast and unmovable." It is a
shame that in America, amidst our free institutions anything else
should be needed but moral instrumentalities But you do need
more. You will be surrounded by men who have already commit
ted the wickedest wrongs, and the most atrocious crimes They
have scrupled at nothing by which slavery may be fastened upon
the young state To send forth companies of men with their fam
ilies, amid those who have been bred to regard helplessness as a
lawful prey to strength, would be a piece of unjustifiable cruelty.
I send to you therefore, as I promised, the arms, required for twen
ty-five men I have not the least fear that a hundred men bred
under New England influences will be too eager or too war-like.
You have been taught to create wealth; and- not to rob it; to rely on
intelligence and rectitude for defence And you will not be in any
danger of erring on the side of violence. But you are sent for the
defence of great rights. You have no liberty to betray them by
cowardice There are times when self defence is a religious duty.
If that duty was ever imperative, it is now, and in Kansas I do
not say that you have barely the right to defend yourselves and
your liberties; I say that it is a duty from which you cannot shrink,
without leaving your honor, your manhood, your Christian fidelity
behind you. But this invincible courage will be a shield to you.
You will not need to use arms when it is known th'at you have
them, and are determined to employ them in extremities It is the
very essence of that spirit which slavery breeds to be arrogant to
ward the weak, and cowardly before the strong. If you are will
ing to lose your lives, you will save them. If, on the other hand,
you are found helpless, the miscreants of slavery would sweep you
from Kansas like grass on the prairies before autumnal fires If
you are known to be fearless men, prepared for emergencies, slav
ery like a lion, will come up, and gazing into the eyes of courag
eous men will stop, cower, and creep away into ambush. I trust
that the perils which a few months ago hung like a cloud over that
fair state, are lifting and passing away. May you find an unob
structed peace! Then, let these arms hang above your doors as the
old revolutionary muskets do in many ra New England dwelling.
May your children in another generation look upon them with pride

and say, our fathers' courage saved this fair region from blood and
and slavery. We will not forget you. Every morning's breeze
shall catch the blessings of our prayers, and roll them westward to
your prairie homes May your sons be as large hearted as the
heavens above their heads: may your daughters fill the land as the
flowers do the prairies, only sweeter and fairer than they.
I am in the bonds of the Gospel and in the firm faith of liber
ty truly yours, H. W. BEECHER.
From the New York Daily Tribune, , Friday, April 4, 1856.

-O —

LETTER OF REV. HARVEY JONES.
Letter written on occasion of the Celebration of the Fortieth Anniversary,
June 27th, J 897.
I rejoice with you sincerely in the completion of forty years of
successful church life You ought, indeed, to be very thankful for
all that the Gracious Master has permitted and enabled you to be
come and to accomplish for Him. I do not doubt that you all with
joy declare "Thus far the Lord has led us on;" "Hither by Thy
help we've come. ' ' Yet the church has not fully realized the hopes
of its founders. We looked for even greater growth and useful
ness. But you have stood fast, you have kept the faith, and I trust
the Master can say of a considerable portion of your history, as of
Mary of Bethany- "She hath, they have, done what they could;
well done, good and faithful servants " Just how He has regarded
us, we cannot certainly know But this you do know that there is
a gracious and glorious future of opportunity of attainment and
usefulness open before you May the future of success in your
work be as in the past forty years — and much more abundantly.
As to the circumstance in the organization of the church my
recollections are not very distinct. Others will recall the facts
more fully. It was on the whole a delightful and joyous occasion.
I have been present at but few similar ones, when the material of
the church gave so high promise of great usefulness Yet I con
fess I did not enjoy the occasion as perhaps some others did
Bro. Willard will recollect, though then comparatively only a
boy, that to a number of the leaders of the New Haven colony it
was a great disappointment that they found at the point chosen as
their future homes a Home Missionary already located. They

hoped to secure from the East a man of more culture and ability
than the (not very) humble brother already on the field This was
natural— they longed for their "New Haven privileges" It was
with some reluctance they accepted the situation Knowing this,
I confess I did not feel entirely at home on the occasion of the or
ganization The brethren, however, magnanimously overcame
their feelings of disappointment, and gave me cordial co-operation,
and I think a year or two later were not anxious for a change of
ministers Some of the best personal friends I ever had I found
in the Wabaunsee church Since that first pastorate, which closed
in 1860, I have, I think, three or four times been invited to supply
the church for a short period and in every case closed my services
with the same cordial good feeling as at first Of my nearly thirty
years of residence in Kansas nearly twenty-five have been spent
among you and in fellowship with your church Notwithstanding
my great unfaithfulness I confidently hope to welcome some in the
better world who were saved or helped on their way at Wabaunsee
through my very imperfect ministry.
I have spoken of the harmony and good feeling among us as
we joined ourselves in Covenant to each other and the Lord. I
may say a word in relation to one little incident that was some
what annoying— Bro. S Y Lum, first Congregational pastor at
Lawrence, was then Acting Home Missionary Supenintendent and
had agreed to preach the sermon at the organization. Sunday
morning came, 8, 9, 10 o'clock and he had not appeared.
Bro Blood of Manhattan, was the only other minister pi-esent
and he declined to preach It was between him and me and neith
er was prepared.
But an hour before time for service, Bro Lum appeared and
relieved our anxiety He had driven from Bourassa's on Mill Creek
Sabbath morning. This was not entirely auspicious, I thought in
a community where I felt it was so important to withstand the ten
dency to Sabbath breaking. I do not recollect Bro. Lum's text or
anything of the sermon except that the subject was "The Mission
of The Church."
I can only say in conclusion that I heartily rejoice with you in
your glad and thankful celebration of God's great mercies to you
as a church through one entire generation. May the succeeding
ones see even greater things for God and the comrnunity.
When I left Kansas, for a few years, in 1860, I wrote a fare
well sermon which was read the Sabbath after I left I cannot
close better than by repeating the exhortation of the text of the
sermon: Philippians 1:27 -"Only let your conversation be as be-
cometh the Gospel of Christ; that whether I come and see you or
else be absent I may hear of your affairs that ye stand fast in one
spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel "

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