Shawnee County Churches
Church of the Brethren, Topeka
"A History of the Church of the Brethren in Kansas," Elmer L. Craik, 1922
Originally the members living in the city of Topeka
were considered a part of the Ozawkie congregation. On
November 25, 1893, however, they were organized into
a separate body, Elders J. S. Mohler, Daniel Vaniman, A.
W. Vaniman, and J. A. Root being present.
The church is located at 242 Michigan Avenue, in
Oakland, a suburb of Topeka. The building was originally intended to serve as a public hall and was known as
Saywell Hall. It was used for political meetings, dances,
entertainments, etc. For some time prior to the organization of the church, the local members had made arrangements with ministers from adjoining churches and
those attending the state university at Lawrence to come
over to preach every two weeks. But since other gatherings sometimes conflicted with the appointments, in 1892,
one of the Brethren bought the building and restricted its
use to religious services only, donating its use to the Topeka church. In 1905, the congregation bought the
building.
The charter members were W. H. Kintz, Mary Kintz,
Jacob Kintz, G. T. Boss, Lizzie Brindle, W. Z. Michael,
E. Ridenour, J. B. McKee, George Brindle, I. D. Haldeman, John W. Taylor, Cassie Taylor, T. W. Hill, Reuben
Michael, Lydia Michael, Lillie Newberry, Elizabeth McKee, Lizzie Root, and Abbie J. Hill. These members
were mostly from Pennsylvania and Indiana and were
attracted to the locality by the prospects of employment
and of entering business.
Two ministers have been called by this congregation :
Ellis Hooper (October 12, 1901) and Ira W. Weidler
(December 27, 1913). The following elders have had
charge of the church: J. S. Mohler (1893-1895), J. A.
Root (1896-1908), C. J. Hooper (1908-1911), I. H. Crist
(1912-1914), George Manon (1915), I. L. Hoover (1916-1919), and H. L. Brammell (1919 � ) . Among the
evangelists who have in later years served the church are
J. E. Young, S. E. Thompson, C. A. Miller, and O. H. Austin.
The present membership (1920) is approximately
forty, of whom about fifteen are isolated. The general
unpopularity of the Brethren church in a city and the
more or less drifting character of the membership have
proved handicaps to the progress of the work of the congregation.
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