Leavenworth County Churches
The First Methodist Episcopal Church, Leavenworth
"History of Leavenworth County," 1921
The first sermon preached
in Leavenworth County was delivered by Rev. W. G. Caples, of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, at or near the Leavenworth Company's coal
shaft October 8, 1854. Occasional services were held by Rev. W. Butt.
of Indiana, during the years of 1855 and 1856. It is said that he was
fairly driven out of town by the pro-slavery element and hid for a long
time in the hazel brush, so fearful was he for his life.
In May, 1857, George R. Weaver organized the first Methodist Episcopal Sunday School, which has been maintained ever since. At the same
time a Quarterly Meeting of the church was held.
On February 21, 1860, the church was incorporated by a special act
of the Kansas Territorial Legislature, under the name of "The First
Methodist Episcopal Church, Leavenworth City, Kansas," and has ever
since maintained its corporate existence.
The first incorporators or board of trustees named in the charter
were George H. Weaver, Elijah Hughes, Jacob Landis, William B. Waugh,
James R. Lunn, William Ferguson and William Fairchild. Before that
time, however, under the ministry of Rev. Hugh D. Fisher the church had
acquired the property at the northwest corner of Fifth and Choctaw
streets and commenced and completed the erection of a church building
thereon. Here the members worshiped until the fall of 1912, when the
congregation moved to the new and present edifice at the northeast corner
of Fifth and Chestnut streets. The old church building on Choctaw
Street, together with the grounds and the parsonage were sold to The
J. C. Lysle Milling Company. The new owners soon tore down the church
building pioper but the parsonage still stands. The new church is built
of stone and cost approximately $50,000 completed. It is a fine modern
structure of striking architectural beauty. The present membership is
400. There are several organizations of the church, consisting of a Foreign Missionary Society, Epworth League, Sunday School and a Ladies
Aid Society. Ira M. Benham is the present pastor. The following are
the names of the various pastors:
William Butt 1856
Charles Ketchum 1856
Milton Haun 1857
Hugh D. Fisher 1858-1860
James Paddock 1860-1863
D. P. Mitchell 1863-1866
A. B. Leonard 1866-1868
W. K. Marshall 1868-1870
D. P. Mitchell 1870-1871
J. J. Thompson 1871-1874
T. F. Houts 1874-1876
P. H. Phillips 1876
William Smith 1876-1877
J. R. Madison 1877-1881
A. E. Higgins 1881-1883
William Jones 1883
C. B. Mitchell 1884-1886
J. A. Swaney 1886-1889
A. S. Embree 1889-1891
Josephus Collins 1891-1893
E. M. Randall 1893-1896
S. A. Bright 1896-1900
E. Combie Smith 1900-1903
J. G. Henderson 1903-1904
J. D. Hitchcock 1904-1905
A. E. Young 1905-1908
H. E. Wark 1908-1911
C. M. Williams 1911-1913
M. M. Culpepper 1913-1916
A. L. Wood 1916-1919
Ira M. Benham 1919 to present (1921)
The Official Board at the present (1921) time is as follows:
N. T. Atwell.
Albert Berg.
A. M. Bain.
F. E. Borst.
Sam Butt.
Earl Berg.
George Combs.
George Conrad.
F. M. Denny.
Reese Faulkner.
M. A. Gonser.
W. F. Harding,
Jesse A. Hall.
A. B. Irwin.
H. G. Powers.
J. M. Parsons.
Herbert Kihm.
Clarence McGuire.
Charles R. Moore.
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