Image Courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society

Presbyterian Missions

Two Presbyterian missions were established among the Osages in what is now Neosho County in 1824. One was the Boudinot mission. The work was in charge of Rev. Benton Pixley. Rev. S. M. Irwin established a mission among the lowas, Sacs and Foxes in Doniphan County, near the present town of Highland, in 1837. Highland College, one of the oldest colleges in the State, still remains as a school of this church.

 

Methodist Missions

In 1830 the Shawnee Methodist mission was established a few miles southwest of where Kansas City now stands. This mission was in charge of Rev. Thomas Johnson. A few years later it had a manual-labor school and a farm and was one of the largest and best known of the missions in Kansas.

In 1832 a mission was established among the Delawares in Wyandotte County, on the site of the town of White Church, by William Johnson and Thomas B. Markham. Rev. E. T. Peery was in charge.

A mission for the Kickapoos was founded in 1833. It was just north of the site of Leavenworth and was in charge of Rev. J. C. Berryman.

In 1833 a mission was established for the Kanzas at Mission Creek, Shawnee County, by Rev. William Johnson, who continued the work for seven years. When the Kanzas were moved, the mission was located at Council Grove. It existed from 1850 to 1854.

Baptist Missions

The Baptist Church established a mission among the Shawnees in 1831. It was about two miles northwest of the Shawnee Methodist mission. The leader was Isaac McCoy, and he was joined later by Dr. Johnson Lykins and Rev. Jotham Meeker. Mr. Meeker was a printer, and in 1834 issued the first book printed in Kansas, a primer in the Indian language.

A mission was established among the Ottawas in 1837, on the present site of Ottawa, under the charge of Rev. Jotham Meeker. This mission survives in Ottawa University.

A mission was opened among the Pottawatomies in 1837, by Rev. Robert Simmerwell, near the site of Osawatomie. When this tribe moved to the new reservation the mission was relocated at Mission Creek in Shawnee County. It was abandoned in 1854. In 1840 Dr. David Lykins established a mission among the Miamis, about ten miles southeast of the present city of Paola. Dr. Johnson Lykins opened a mission among the Delawares in 1832.

Friends Mission

The Society of Friends established a mission among the Shawnees in 1834, about three miles west of the Methodist mission. Henry Harvey, M. Mendenhall, and the Hadleys were teachers in this mission.

Catholic Missions

In 1822 Father La Croix visited the Osages, just across the line in Missouri, and baptized several Indian children. At different times Father Van Quickenborn visited the Osages and preached. In 1847 Rev. Schoenmaker established the Osage Mission, now St. Paul, in Neosho County.

The Catholic mission was founded in 1836 by Fathers Van Quickenborn and Hoeken for the Kickapoos, near the Junction of Salt Creek with the Missouri, in Leavenworth County. St. Mary's mission among the Pottawatomies was established in Miami County in 1838, and moved to Linn County in 1839, where it remained until the removal of the tribe to Pottawatomie County in 1849. The mission was then established at St. Mary's, where it survives today in St. Mary's school for boys.

 

Source: A History of Kansas / Anna E. Arnold. pp.225-226