Beecher Bible and Rifle
Church
Beecher Bible and Rifle
Church
Location: In the village of Wabaunsee on Hwy K-18, turn South at the marked intersection. Church is 1/2 mile South of Hwy K-18.
Nearest Towns: Paxico, Wamego, Wabaunsee
Contact: Except for regular Sunday services, the church is locked. Phone ahead at Ph. 785/456-2485 or 785/456-9446 to arrange a tour.
Dedicated in May, 1862, this small
stone church has a lot of Kansas History woven in among it's
stones. The history of the church and the village in which it stands goes
back to the days before the Civil War to a period of time known as "Bleeding
Kansas". With the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, the decision
if the territory of Kansas would be admitted to the
Union
as a slave or free state was to be decided by "Popular Souvernty" or a vote of
the territorial residents. The tumult of these times can scarcely be
imagined today. On the floor of the US Senate, one argument ended with a
Southern senator nearly beating a Northern senator to death with his cane.
In Kansas, too, violence erupted. Men from the South and North swarmed
into Kansas in an attempt to influence the outcome of the slavery issue.
One such group was from New Haven, CT. "Kansas Fever", as it was
called, ran high in New England. The people were staunchly anti-slavery,
and were not afraid of making sacrifices in behalf of their convictions. A
group of 60 or so of these people decided to uproot themselves and their
families and set out for the Kansas Territory to help insure Kansas would be a
free state. Before the group left on their journey a meeting was held at
North Church in New Haven. A professor Silliman, of Yale, spoke up and
offered $25 to purchase a Sharp's rifle for the group. It was at this time
that the famous Henry Ward Beecher, a minister from Brooklyn and prominent
abolitionist, announced that his congregation would purchase 25 such rifles if
the audience would
purchase another 25. This was met with much enthusiasm from the crowd.
In a few days, the amount of $625 was provided for the purchase of the rifles,
as well as a box of 25 Bibles. The rifles, too, were placed in crates
marked "Bibles" so that they would not arouse suspicion on their journey
west. This is where the term "Beecher's Bibles" came into being. If
you are ever in the State Capitol in Topeka, be sure to view the famous mural
"Bleeding Kansas" just outside of the Governor's office. In the center is
the towering figure of John Brown, prominent Kansas abolitionist. To the
left you will see a smaller figure clutching a Bible in one hand. This is
Henry Ward Beecher, and it all links back to this small community and stone
church. The present stone church was completed in 1862 . Prior to
this the community held services in various buildings in the town. By the
time of it's dedication, Civil War was raging, Kansas had been admitted as a
Free-State, and Bleeding Kansas was just a recent, but bitter, memory.
In
a small park just off Hwy K-18 and a couple of blocks north of
the church, is a marker dedicated to the Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony.
This small group cast a long shadow on the future of Kansas and the nation.