Bethel College - Graymaroon Yearbook (North Newton, KS)

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THE SETTLEMENT IN KANSAS The coming of the Mennonites was an event of great import- ance. .... They have transformed a large section of Kansas into farms .... introduced the celebrated Turkey wheat .... made Kansas the greatest Wheat producing state in Ameriea.fProf. G. D. Bradley, University of Toledo, The Story of the Santa Fe. There is much of romance and adventure in the coming of the Mennonites to Kansas. When the eastern Mennonite colonies were formed, Kansas was a wilderness, covered with vast buffalo herds and inhabited only by the wild and warlike Indians. But Kansas had scarcely passed the frontier stage when small groups of Mennonites began arriving on prospecting tours, seeking for unsettled lands where large areas could be secured cheaply enough to form extensive, compact settlements. In Russia the situation had grown intolerable. Under promises of special privileges, Catherine T T T T T the Great had induced thousands of German Mennonites to settle in her domains. They were granted permission to use their own lan- guage, to govern themselves, and were exempt from military service. The industry and skill of these residents of i'Little Germanyw in the heart of Russia aroused the jealousy of the Russians who lived about them, and constant pressure was brought to take away from them these privileges. At last the Czar decided to take that action. Three separate committees went to St. Petersburg in fruitless attempts to remind him of the nationis promises to them. He informed them they must hereafter speak the Russian language, submit to Russian govern- ' ' F . . . 1 ggi,rCQ,t5h51'Q,'pa,TQf'?f,fa183.Qfdt,2i,Q,Q2,.teg ment and, most serious of all. do service in the Russian army. The the Mennonite immigrants to Kansas free of charge. latter provision was modified to permit them to substitute forestry, hospital, and government factory service for actual fighting. The Mennonites in despair sent chosen men as did the Israelites of old to spy out the promised land of America. A committee of twelve, including Leonhard Sudermann, Isaac Peters, jacob Buller,LHeinrich Richert, Jacob lNiebe, Johann Wliebe, and Gerhard Wfiebe, visited in Kansas in 1872. They had been preceded by a few others, among them Bernhard XVarkentin, who became one of Newton's leading business men and destined to make a large and important coniribution to the T , TT . . i, , -Tc-ri ' .,.,' f '?1f 'zmfw',:. .. Temporary immigrant houses built for I- ,LJ , .5:,,t , I Y h , ijikvtfjqq ,flu .A 414325: the Mennonites fifteen miles north of 'g Qe , , , , gi. ' X:g .,tg,f 1f'- , If K: ,- -1 Newton by the Atchison, Topeka and afifilgg -it ' ' if f' ' ' ff T T' 16if '3 ' 4' Santa F9 Railmad- V ' 'T . ' , wifi' :Y V- 'i s T 5 4 1 9

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fiber' ' -5 ., ,Q :k'.xl'P?f?S' ' 3' sl -'n, b 'i' yin .hiffll ?'.,!,,,-L if J' ,X . if 'X ,W , ' ,v Qi xx l kk . Q- W, rw. , XM ff' x N I+ qi I 5 i H X ' 5' .., S , x , Q. t i ....-.4 -, 'Sk X ...Q , ,X . ni Ng my Q H Aw nt 'L. We VN .wg v A H '- A 5 A ' ,,..,-.A N sf :xg f. Q it rf 'sn W 'H 45 X 4 'ch f X 'xt vue uh' Y if M 1? 't of i as if .M 4 fs 52,0 14 s. v - Here Menno Simons set up his press. The Linden tree is over four hundred years old and IS known as Menno Simons' i.1nde, of the faith, and when he could get no one else to print these writings, he set up a printing press and printed them himself for distribution among the people. Forced to flee for his life not once but a score of times, he lived for years under the constant danger of arrest, with an imperial reward on his head and an imperial decree promising death by torment to any who aided him or gave him food or shelter. When at last he died, he left behind him an indelible imprint upon those with whom he had associated and these became known as Mennonites. The Mennonite teachings fell like the balm of Gilead upon the hearts of the common people of Europe, wracked by discord, war, and oppression. In spite of the persecution which followed it everywhere, the movement spread rapidly. An example of this persecution is a shameful chapter in the history of Switzerland, the very home of the movement. There the Mennonites suffered the death penalty until well into the seventeenth century, they were condemned to serve as galley slaves as late as the eighteenth century and were left to rot in filthy prisons and banished to foreign lands up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. In other countries they suffered a like fate. Yet the Menno- nites continued to worship as their conscience told them. Gradually the industry, the frugality, and the honesty of their lives began to make an impress. Catherine the Great of Russia was among those who recognized this. She offered them great in- ducements to settle in her realm and thousands of them did so. William Penn, the great Quaker, recognized their qualities and wrote letters to them and visited them, telling them of America, and asking them to - i form a settlement there. This resulted in the establishment I CCT! ff X53 ' of the Germantown settlement in Pennsylvania in 1683, Q 2 the first permanent Mennonite community in the western A fy A hemisphere. 1 fy 1 h Germantown was the beginning of a great migra- tion. More and more of the European membership drifted i ' V,-, to this new land, where tolerance and freedom were key- if notes, until today there are more of the faith in North A - I America than there are in any other nation on the globe. H ,,ff,1f,,,Zi'. dim -I A view of Germantown, Pa., the first settlement of Mennonites in the United States in 1683. 8

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g- +3575-33.3.5 e - economic greatness of Kansas. The committee found the smiling -I prairies ready to welcome them. With thanksgiving in their hearts they returned with the good news to Russia. f T -I Ti, ,mu lf ' In the meantime steps were taken by Kansas and Kansans to in E A 1- facilitate the Mennonite movement to this state. Among the leaders . A E in this activity was the Santa Fe Railroad Company, which quickly . E recognized the value to its territory in having these frugal, hard- , 74, l '.. gg ' -' working, intelligent people as settlers. In a large measure through y A its influence, a law was passed exempting the Mennonites from ,S 1 3 . . . . I l the state militia service. C. B. Schmidt, a Santa Fe agent, visited Russia to present the Schools and Churches were claims and advantages of the Sunflower State. The company even built upon the level prairies. chartered a Red Star liner which was sent to the Black Sea for a shipload of Mennonite household goods and farm implements. These goods were brought to New York and thence shipped by rail to Kansas without charge to the immigrants. The first Mennonite immigrants to Kansas disembarked at Newton and at once were taken to the luxuriant prairies north of that city where they established their homes and formed the nucleus of the settlements that were to follow. Vast stretches of Kansas railroad land were offered to the newcomers at from two to five dollars an acre. Groups of immigrants as they arrived in the east, were carried across the continent in special trains. Hundreds came during the summer of 1874, settling chiefly in Marion, Harvey, McPherson, and Reno counties. Today the Mennonites of Kansas constitute one of the pillars of the state's wealth and prosperity. TI-IE CONTRIBUTION TO KANSAS They have brought out bleeding Kansas with flying colorsg they have made it the banner wheat state ..... They have made their section a garden of affluence and contentment. They have built a college in Kansas and missions among the Indians in the Indian Territory.-C. B. Schmidt, Reminiscences of Foreign Immi- gration Work for Kansas. From the moment of their first arrival, the Kansas Mennonites have been a beneficial addition to the population of the state. They have shown themselves to be constantly industrious, thoroughly honest and dependable, self-reliant and progressive. When they first came to this country, many brought with them the crude agricultural imple- ments of the Russia from which they came. But they were quick to see and take advantage of scien- tific farm equipment and methods and today are not outdone by any in modern efficient management. IO