He settled on a donation land claim of 640 acres of grass and timber east of McCoy in Polk County. Burnett organized the Bethel Church which flourished due largely to his strong, yet reverent and tender appeal and his scathing denunciation of sin. It must have been a pleasant ministry. At the time Bethel was founded, the nearest U.S. Post Office was Weston, Missouri. There is a profile on the life of Glen Owen Burnett .
Underlined names lead to personal profiles.
In 1855 the first store at Bethel was constructed and a post office was built 10 years later. The town flourished with blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, wagon shop, and a general store. An academy and then a college as built. The story of Bethel College is presented under the Colleges. During the glory days of the college construction in 1855, silver tongued Alexander Vance McCarty was the preacher at the Bethel Church.