History of Atchison County, Kansas

by Sheffield Ingalls

The following is a list of the priests in charge of St. Patrick’s Church since it was established:

Irregular pastors.—Rev. Augustine Wirth, O. S. B., September, 1857, to November, 1859; died, December 20, 1901. Rev. Edmund Langenfelder, O. S. B., November, 1857, to December, 1860; died, April 18, 1885. Rev. Philip Vogt, O. S. B., February, 1860, to January, 1861; date of death not known. Rev. Emanuel Hartig, O. S. B., December, 1860, to June, 1861; died, September 1, 1910. Rev. Thomas Bartel, O. S. B., April, 1862, to August, 1867; died, November 30, 1885.

Regular pastors.—Rev. Timothy Luber, O. S. B., January, 1864, to March, 1871. Rev. Placidus McKeever, O. S. B., March, 1871, to August, 1873; died, September 22, 1896. Rev. Maurice Lynch, O. S. B., August, 1873, to August, 1875; died, December 13, 1887. Rev. Eugene Bode, O. S. B., August, 1875, to April, 1880. Rev. Raymond Danial, O. S. B., April, 1880, to September, 1880; died, September 25, 1910. Rev. Peter Kassens, O. S. B., September, 1880, to April, 1881. Rev. Adolph Wesseling, O. S. B., April, 1881, to April, 1883; died, September 24, 1891. Rev. Urban Tracy, O. S. B., April, 1883, to April, 1885; died, May 13, 1915. Rev. Timothy Luber, O. S. B., April, 1885, to April, 1890; died, March 29, 1901. Rev. Augustine Baker, O. S. B., April, 1890, to December, 1893; died, June 23, 1909. Rev. Thomas Burk. O. S. B., December, 1893, to December, 1897. Rev. Columban Meaney, O. S. B., December, 1897, to December, 1910; died, January 8, 1911. Rev. Ignatius Stein, O. S. B., January, 1911, to September, 1912. Rev. Lawrence Theis. O. S. B., September, 1912, to September, 1913. Rev. Robert Salmon, O. S. B., September, 1913, to September, 1914. Rev Lawrence Theis, O. S. B., September, 1914; still in charge (1916).

TRINITY CHURCH, EPISCOPAL.

This church was organized November 3, 1857, as St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, by Rev. Lewis R. Staudenmayer, John H. Stringfellow, Joseph P. Carr, G. W. Bowman, William O. Gould, John M. Maury, James W. Stringfellow and Daniel Adams. The Rev. L. R. Staudenmayer, a German, of middle age, was the first pastor, and the first property owned by the parish was at the northeast corner of Kansas avenue and Ninth street, where a small rectory was built in 1859. The first vestry was as follows: Richard C. Mackall, A. Hanson Weightman, James L. McClure, Philipp Link, John M. Maury and Joseph P. Carr, and in October, 1859, a committee from the vestry was authorized to procure estimates for building a church on its property upon Kansas avenue at a cost of $1,500. The foundation for this edifice was laid and some money expended, but the resignation of Mr. Staudenmayer in January, 1860, and his removal from the city, brought to a standstill the construction of the edifice. The court house and Price’s Hall were used as places of worship for ten years. The Rev. Faber Byllsby succeeded Mr. Staudenmayer, and in 1863 the Rev. John E. Ryan succeeded Mr. Byllsby. After Mr. Ryan’s resignation, in September, 1864, Bishop Thomas H. Vail was made rector of the church, and notwithstanding the manifold duties which pressed upon him as bishop of the diocese, he gave much of his time to his work here, with the assistance of his son-in-law, Rev. John Bakewell, who proved to be a very successful rector. It was during his rectorship that agitation for a new church building was started, and due to the efforts of Mr. Bakewell, Col. William Osborne, Richard A. Park, Judge Otis and E. S. Wills, the present church edifice at the corner of Utah avenue and Fifth street was erected, at a cost of $20,000. It is built of stone, in the early English style of Gothic architecture, slate roof and interior finished in black walnut and pine, and stands today one of the ornaments of Atchison. In 1871 Mr. Bakewell resigned and was succeeded by Rev. F. Nelson Meade in January, 1872, and continued in charge until April, 1874, when he was succeeded by the Rev Thomas G. Garver, who resigned in September, 1875. Rev. Frank O. Osborne became rector in February, 1876, and was succeeded by Rev. Abiel Leonard. Rev. M. Leonard found a congregation of 150 communicants, who in May, 1882, erected a two-story brick rectory on T street for him. It was during the Rev. Mr. Leonard’s rectorship that St. Andrew’s Mission, on west Commercial street, was built. Mr. Leonard was succeeded by the Rev. Francis K. Brooke, who in turn was succeeded by the Rev. John Henry Hopkins, who built a parish house adjoining the church, which was opened for use in 1905. Upon the resignation of Mr. Hopkins, Rev. John E. Sulger became rector, but he remained only a short time, and was succeeded by the Rev. John Henry Molineux. Rev. William R. Cross succeeded Mr. Molineux, and then came the Rev. Francis S. White, who remained in the parish until 1911, and was succeeded by the Rev. Otis E. Gray.

The present vestry of the church is composed as follows: E. A. Mize, senior warden; Dr. W. G. Beitzel, junior warden and clerk, and W. W. Hetherington, T. L. Lawrence, Clyde Hastings, J. W. Barlow, W. J. Brownson, Henry Diegel and Sheffield Ingalls.

ST. MARK’S ENGLISH LUTHERAN.

The history of English Lutheranism in Atchison is interesting. The work of establishing St. Mark’s was fraught with hardship and discouragement. Several of the early efforts failed. But the battle was renewed and success at last achieved. Early in 1867 J. H. Talbott, through the Lutheran Observer, called attention to Atchison as a point for a Lutheran mission. By correspondence he secured the interest of Rev. Morris Officer, then secretary of the general synod’s home mission board. At the convention of the general synod at Harrisburg, Pa., in 1868, the Rev. Officer persuaded the Rev. M. G. Boyer, then pastor at Marklesburg, Pa., to become a missionary to Atchison. Rev. Boyer and his young wife arrived here June 30, that year. Price’s Hall, South Fourth street, between Main and Commercial, was rented and fitted up as a meeting place. Services were begun and a Sunday school organized. On September 20, 1868, the congregation was organized with twenty-five members. The first church council consisted of C. Weber and H. Gehrett, elders; J. H. Talbott, J. Beamer, H. Snyder and F. Brendt, deacons.

In the spring of 1869 the board of church extension granted the congregation a loan of $500, which amount was invested in the purchase of an excellent lot on Kansas avenue. There were bright hopes of having a chapel soon, but these hopes were scattered when an aged minister advised delay on account of the financial stringency of the times, and the numerical weakness of the church. Among the members at this time was the Rev. A. W. Wagnalls, afterward one of the founders of the publishing house of Funk & Wagnalls, New York City. While here he was in the real estate business. At his suggestion the congregation purchased a fifteen acre tract adjoining the city of Atchison on the northwest, which section was platted and offered for sale with the hope of making enough profit to erect a church building. “In this the Lutherans were disappointed,” says the historian, “for they sold only enough lots to pay for the land.”

After that venture the congregation used the Congregational church building. About that time many English Lutherans left the city. Rev. Boyer resigned at the end of the year 1869, and for ten years the church was without a pastor. The Rev. Wagnalls supplied the pulpit now and then until his removal in 1876, but finally the congregation disbanded. The lots belonging to the church were sold for taxes, but were redeemed at the eleventh hour through Mr. Talbott’s efforts, and deeded to the board of church extension.