Bethel College - Graymaroon Yearbook (North Newton, KS)

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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

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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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1,--1, -511.7 le , 1-K f rv- ,lr- Tia? Y Sri' ' t A YY - .5 --A W ' - .. 544: lf! ! 'i' -' .9yg,f1i , , . ,- TT 'Y-if Qin. T f I ', A' p.AflfdW1PNl'ill.yAAHP l.-,fhsrwl 41 ,, ,!l If lldftllw If 'gl l. , f' 10 f Intl! 1 X 'ff' -L ' A .M 1 7 fm- ,S .f 1 ,G I IJ.. fl,,,40 11,7 , lt,-I ,f ff 1, ' Wy.. Q V l ll, . Z ff J ' Q pt Q , ' f i4ff!', 'w '? f f V fi' - 1 D ' ,iLf1..'x H' ff, , ..,, f K .a B .A I . - E, I f 'f If f I i Z Up from the Soil Kansas, but there is one specific The Mennonite character has remained essentially the same for three hundred years and more. Primarily they are farmers- tillers of the soil-and that is what they are still doing in Kansas. Some of them, however, have gone into business, and there the same qualities of rugged honesty, perseverance and willingness to labor, have won them rewards. The communities in which the Menno- nites have settled are among the most prosperous in the state. Bankers and merchants alike are happy to welcome them. The same idealism which has carried them through centuries of oppression and persecution, has induced them to establish numer- ous schools, hospitals, and other institutions of a similar nature. These are the general contributions of the Mennonites to contribution, credit for which belongs to them and them alone, which has meant so much in the development not only of Kansas but all the surrounding states, that it is difficult to estimate its full value. That contribution is the introduction of the famous Tur- key Red wheat, the hard wheat which has made Kansas the premier wheat-producing country in the world. More than any other man, the name of Bernhard Warkentin is associated with this priceless contribution. Before the coming of hard wheat, Minnesota was the chief wheat-growing state in the Union, and the soft spring wheat was considered to be the best. Efforts to grow spring wheat in Kansas had not been too successful, and millers had been in the habit of paying less money for Kansas wheat than they did for wheat from the northwest. It was Bernhard Warkentinis early life on the Russian steppes which suggested to him the idea of bringing to this country the type of wheat which he knew from experience grew so success- fully on the plains of Turkestan, a country which was in many respects the same as Kansas. Mr. W'arkentin's plan was to experiment with the wheat here. He imported some seed and his fellow Mennonites cooperated with him in planting it and watching its growth. The results astounded even the Mennonites themselves. Instead of planting it in the spring, they planted this Turkestan wheat. according to Asiatic custom, in the preceding fall. The wheat drew its nourishment from the winter Old flour and grist mill at Halstead. I I