In the summer of 1893 a number of men, among them Rev. Nestel, of St. Joseph, Mo., who had received a special invitation, met at the home of August Manglesdorf, Sr., and organized a German Evangelical congregation. It was decided to have services in Odd Fellows hall. Rev. Nestel came over from St. Joe from time to time and conducted the services. In January, 1894, Rev. C. Stork, of Concordia, Mo., took charge of the congregation as their first own pastor. In 1894 two lots of land, at the northwest corner of Ninth and Santa Fe streets, were bought, upon which the church was built. In 1895 the congregation became a member of the German Evangelical Synod of North America. In the same year the parsonage was erected, and in 1908 a school building was added to the church. Besides Rev. Stork, the following ministers served the congregation: H. Limper, 1897 to 1901; C. Bechtold, 1901 to 1905; P. Stoerker, from 1905 to 1909, and Emil Vogt, the present pastor. Besides the annual donations for their own church, the members have spent $2,000 for home and foreign missions. The church has a Sunday school, a teachers’ training course, a choir, a Young People’s Society, and a Ladies’ Aid Society.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST.
First Church of Christ Scientist, Atchison, Kan.
Mrs. Henrietta E. Graybill, of Milwaukee, might properly be called the founder of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Atchison. She was the original first reader when she came to Atchison from Kansas City in 1894. In March, 1895, she began a class in instruction at the Byram Hotel. This was the beginning of the local church. On September 7, 1895, the followers met in temporary quarters in the Ingalls’ building, at Seventh and Commercial streets, seven being present. The church was organized April 9, 1895, with seven charter members. The first testimonial meeting was held January 3, 1896, and January 15, 1896, the first Sunday school was organized, with seven children in attendance. Before the end of 1896 the church was moved to more commodious quarters, at the southeast corner of Fourth and Commercial streets. These quarters were soon outgrown, and in March, 1897, the German Methodist church at Ninth and Santa Fe streets was purchased and the first services held there were on July 4, 1897. This church was dedicated in April, 1900, by Mrs. G. W. Pennell, who had become first reader, and from the start had been a constant and enthusiastic worker. Ten years later, March 28, 1910, lots at the northwest corner of Fourth and Santa Fe streets were purchased, as a site for the permanent church. Land was secured and the foundation started September 11, 1911; corner stone was laid July 7, 1912, and first services held in the Sunday school room May 25, 1913. First services were held in the auditorium September 7, 1913, and the church dedicated October 19, 1913. Among the permanent members of the church are Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Pennell, Mr. and Mrs. James W. Orr, L. H. Munson, Miss N. S. Donald and Miss Emma Maage, the first reader, and D. W. Rowe.
The present church edifice was erected largely through the liberality of Mr. Pennell, at a cost of $50,000, and is pronounced an architectural gem.
ST. PATRICK’S, MT. PLEASANT.
St. Patrick’s congregation, near Mt. Pleasant, was founded in the early fall of 1857, by the Rev. Father Augustine Wirth, O. S. B. He came from Doniphan, Kan., over the prairies and through dense timber on foot, not having the means to buy a horse or secure any kind of a conveyance, in the summer of 1857. The Benedictine Fathers had been sent west by an American founder, Rt. Rev. Boniface Wimmer, O. S. B., to establish a priory in the eastern part of Kansas. They settled in the hills of Doniphan, and from this county they founded and attended missions in Atchison, Brown, Nemaha and Jefferson counties. Among the first parishes established by these priests was one near Mt. Pleasant. Mt. Pleasant at that time was quite a commercial center, owing largely to the overland freighting outfits that passed through there on their way to Denver and the Pacific coast. Patrick Durkin, who is a resident of Walnut township in 1916, and the late John Delaney were teamsters on this route, and had many interesting experiences and struggles with Indians and Jayhawkers. Following the first visit of Father Augustine, after he had told the few Catholic settlers how he had traveled on foot from Doniphan, a small congregation collected enough money to pay for a horse, saddle and bridle, and presented it to him.
Father Augustine attended to the spiritual demands of the early Catholic settlers in the Mt. Pleasant district about once a month during the period of his services there. There was no church edifice during that period, and divine services were held in the humble log cabins of the Catholic settlers, usually at the homes of John Knowles, Owen Grady, Ned Cotter, Bernard Fee and James McArdle. Mary Honorah Clare was the first child baptized at St. Patrick’s parish, September 28, 1857. The first marriage was that of James Barry to Catherine Hennesy, May 9, 1857, at the home of Edward Cotter. The ceremony was conducted by Rev. Augustine Wirth. In the fall of 1857 the first church was built, which was a small affair, constructed out of native timber. It was poorly constructed and was of short duration, as it was blown down by a strong wind one cold winter day, and wrecked beyond repair. Following the destruction of the first church, the members concluded to build a more substantial edifice of stone, and in the spring of 1866 the walls were built. The stone work was done by the late Nicholas Greiner, a German stone mason, who came to Sumner in the late fifties, and subsequently died, one of the wealthiest farmers of Walnut township. The church was dedicated December 8, 1866.
In addition to the church proper, the Catholic settlers of Walnut township, near Mt. Pleasant, have also erected a commodious parish house for their priest, and a hall for public meetings.