Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1899-01-08

is the Beecher Rifles church erected by the
men who went out from Hartford. Conn,
meetings held at New Haven to organize
the colony MIR. Beecher mad the principal
address. After he had finished speaking
was well prepared to dig and pillow, it
was not in shade to fight. Professor Sill
man, OF Yale fpllege. arose. and in a short
lists with guns; so that they could do some
thing Tor freedom as well as for the build
e ENG up b OF I pgSSspearhl,ty on p t the .5 plains: He
OF a Sharp's rifle. Others followed. and in
a few minutes half of the colonists had
been provided with weapons for either de-
fensive or offensive warfare.
Remarkable Meeting.
Thesmeeting was in many ways remarka-
BILE. but most for what followed. Beecher.
then at the zenith Of his power. again took
the rostrum and in magnetic speech gave
his blessing to the new plans and promised
that II the colonists could get half enough
r rhnsc, there he would promise that his
a few days he sent to the company the
required number of guns. over $500 having
the purpose, and along with them came a
Bible and hymnbook for every member of
the party. On the last day of March they
tramped out of New Haven. as splendid a
party of men as ever gathered for the Colo
ntzation of the West. In the party were
doctors. lawyers. merchants. teachers and
ohN S'SAs oHS VII AliS
shoulder a rifle, in his pocket a Bible and
~hymnbook, and in his heart a determina-
ton to homer the people who had fitted
cry and the wilderness. In st. Louis they
organized a cooperative company and
bought the necessities of life on the bare
prairies and went into the new lands with
a complete outfit, prepared to make a liv-
ing and fit out homes for the reception of
With them went the words Of the preacher,
VINO wrote from his study in Brooklyn as
he sent the rifles: Let these arms hang
above your doors as the old Revolutionary
mlskets do in many a New England DWELL
ing. May your children in another gener-
a .oSr r lo9k upon coa them s with Pride hide am; and i say;
from blood and slavery Every mornings
breeze h catch the blessings of our
prairie homes. May your sons be large
hearted as the heavens above their heads:
may your daughters fill the land as the
flowers do the prairies. only sweeter and
fairer than they. You will not need to use
arms when it Is known that you rave
Them 1t Is the essence of slavery to be ar
rogant before the weak and cooSardly be-
fore the strong"
The Beecher Rifle colony shot as it pray
Of the members We're congregationaiists.
and there were not a few who carried
along with the Bibles and hymnbooks Yale
diplomas. But there was a broad catho-
licity in their religion. and when 1t was pro-
posed to found a church the platform was
made so broad that all denominations came
NE, anu III NHC pS tSit thai liz jill
had bought. in the grove where in summer
services were held and in the frame build
ing that later sheltered the gatherings.
only the purest Christianity was expounded.
A Call to Arms.
. Once during the time of service came the
alarm of an inroad by Indians. The rifles
were unslung and the congregation went
on the warpath. No scalps were taken,
but the Indian raid was stopped. A howitz-
er was added to the Announcements Of the
party, and when 1t was known that the
tation Of arms inside the borders it was
hidden. in a haystack. So the colonists
worked out their religious and financial
ever remembered the kind and patriotic
offices of the friends who put both Bibles
and guns into their hands. 1t Is often said
used effectively and well.
With the growing need Of the church
and at the beginning Of the war came
more funds from the East for the purpose
of erecting a new structure. In 1862 the
Inside its walls have services been held
since, and In many ways 1t is the most
notable structure Of the kind on the plains.
Plain. rough-hewn and unassuming. II
stands a to the invincible spirit
of patriotism and religion that animated
the first corners of the plains. 1t was not
more marked here, perhaps, than in many
other colonies, but II came out more boldly
because of the conditions under which the
OTSlldtCTS U tlc eAleullUDn dCteu. 1T
was characteristic Of those New England
ers to take them with the stern godly spirit
that had been their teaching in early lays
irto the new lands. It was seen In the con-
tests that came during the border warfare,
and had its highest disqualification. per-
haps. in the almost ~fanatical enthusiasm
that shcne in the acts and words of John
Brown, not that he was one of them, but
he showed in his life the spirit that was
seen in a lesser and saner degree in the
leaders of the New England forces. This
feeling was shared by those who fitted out
the colony, and their wishes were reflect
ed IN the settlers history.
TT spirit that Beecher breathed In the
colony named after him." says one writer,
'the spirit that animated the Emigrant Aid
Societies and other colonies from the far
East, was one of the influences that made
Kansas send more troops to the front in
proportion to its population than any other
state in the Union, and brought about more
tolerance toward seekers after Freedom,
religious or political. from that day to
this. It can pc appreciated now better
than for many years past how greatly was
the East interested in the struggle of the
West for freedom. IT was Americanism
In its purest and best form. and should oc-
casion arise for another exhibition of It
the descendants of those who led the way
toward the setting sun forty years ago
would be among the first to show it"