Churches are the foundations of communities. When towns
across the plains popped up and promoted settlement in the 19th
century, one of the first buildings carved out was that of a church.
But we have to ask ourselves- what happened to these country
churches in midst of the development of Kansas City- or any city for that
matter?
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| 1950s photo of the corner of State Line and Santa Fe Trail |
In the case of the Santa Fe Christian Church, a lovely
country church on Santa Fe Trail just east of State Line, this question turned
into a battlefield of emotions when a small fire coupled with a new
congregation led to the demise of a quaint church that meant the world to so
many.
To tell the whole story, we must go back to the very
beginnings of the Santa Fe Christian Church.
In the earliest settlement of Washington Township in Jackson
Co., Mo., small churches were pivotal to the pioneers carving out their land.
New Santa Fe, stretching on State Line between the wilderness of Kansas
Territory and the state of Missouri, was platted in 1851. By 1860, the town,
strategically placed as the last stop in civilization on the Santa Fe Trail,
had two general stores, a blacksmith shop, a post office and High Grove
Presbyterian Church, established in 1856.
Oh, but the Border Wars were no match to a bustling town
filled with mostly pro-slavery Southern families. And the height of the Civil War did nothing
but destroy the town and most of its contents. In 1861, Jayhawkers led by Col. Jennison set fire to the town. According to an article from 1867 in the Christian Advocate, the church in New
Santa Fe was torn down during the late war and hadn’t been rebuilt.
Needless to state, money post-war was hard to come by.
The Presbyterian church in town was never reorganized. Many
families would travel on Sundays to Bethlehem Church of Christ in Hickman
Mills, the nearest church in the area- a journey that was six miles from the town and would have taken a half a day to reach.
Bethlehem Church of Christ in Hickman Mills was founded in
1845 and held membership of pioneers from miles and miles around it. In 1869, a
group of families living on the western border between Missouri and Kansas opted
to start their own church in the town of New Santa Fe. These families, many of
whom came from the stock of some of the first white settlers in southern
Jackson Co., were: William A. McKinney, John M. Wells, William Rippeto, Richard
Kirby, Joel Lipscomb, Marcus Gill, “Widow” Manion (likely Elizabeth Sharp King
Manion) and Ellen Watson.
But building a church takes time. . . and money. Country
preachers passing through would have services in homes or in public meeting
spaces in the town. A schoolhouse which faced east on the Santa Fe Trail where
the New Santa Fe Cemetery is today first served as a gathering place for this
new church congregation.
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| John Mercer Wells (1826-1893), charter member and original trustee |
In February 1881, steps were finally made to “officially”
organize this new group. John Mercer Wells (1826-1893) and his wife, Catherine
Rippeto Wells, took three lots they owned in New Santa Fe, totaling just about
2/3 of an acre, and deeded it to the “Christian Church at New Santa Fe”.” A
payment of $315 for these lots was made. Isaac Weeks (1833-1904), Jacob Sweaney (1824-1918) and Caleb D. Kerr (1842-1925) were listed as trustees
of the church.
This may not seem important now, but it certainly comes into
play later.
Before a church was built in New Santa Fe, members of the
community started to sense the need for a community burial ground. As these
pioneers reached their 50s and 60s, a permanent place of rest was determined to
be of the utmost importance. Small burial grounds often were found on pioneers’
farms; however, as they sold off their lands- and later, when development of
the area occurred, these burial grounds disappeared underneath roads, brush and
the foundations of new structures.
One of the charter members and trustees of the church was William
Albertus McKinney (1826-1900), a Kentuckian transplant living just over the
state line in Johnson Co., Ks. When W.A.
McKinney’s wife, Eliza Rippeto became terminally ill, he and John M. Wells took
lots 31, 34 and 35 and formed what we would know today as New Santa Fe
Cemetery. A lot adjacent to the deeded lots (Lot 30) was donated by John E.
Watson and his wife, Lou Lipscomb Watson (daughter of charter member Joel
Lipscomb). This spot- Lot 30- was where the church was to be built.
The first person buried at New Santa Fe Cemetery was Eliza
Rippeto McKinney (b. 1839), who died December 29, 1885.
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| New Santa Fe Cemetery on the Santa Fe Trail is still looked after and preserved today. |
Now for those of you who have visited the historic New Santa
Fe Cemetery and saunter past the weathered headstones, you know very well that
there are burials at that cemetery well before 1885.
This is actually not the case. As family burial grounds were
in danger of being destroyed, some of these families proactively moved their
remains, headstones and all, to larger cemeteries. That’s why some of the older
burials, including Dabney Lipscomb, founder of the town, are there today. They
were moved there.
Uh, not all were moved, though. . .
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| William Albertus McKinney (1827- 1900), charter member and trustee of Santa Fe Christian Church |
An article in the Kansas
City Times from 1970 mentions all these small burial grounds across the
city. It states, “The Kerby cemetery would have been in the northeast corner of
present-day Minor Park. . . What became of this 75 to 100 graves and markers no
one knows.”
The Kerby (also spelled “Kirby”) family was instrumental in
the early settlement of southern Jackson Co., and Richard Kirby was one of the
charter members of the Christian Church at New Santa Fe. Yet his grave location
is unknown. Only 10 of these family members of the Kirby’s were moved to the
New Santa Fe Cemetery… and Richard wasn’t one of them. “Uncle Dick,” as he was
known to families of the area, died in 1890 and is buried… somewhere.
By the early 1890s after the death of Uncle Dick, plans to
build the church on Lot 30 were well underway. In 1891, timber hauled up the
Missouri River was carted down by wagon from Westport to New Santa Fe. The
Christian Church at New Santa Fe was a simple country church, painted white
with one door for men and the other for women and children. It had a chimney in
the middle and potbellied stoves on each side. Pews from Westport were placed
inside the church and were unvarnished. The Santa Fe Christian Church was
dedicated in 1892 on the land, its bright white exterior and simplicity a
shimmer of hope in a town that had seen so much strife in its day.
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| 1933 artist's sketch of the church published in the Kansas City Star |
The railroad to the south and the creation of a town called
Martin City was the sealing fate of New Santa Fe’s business district. But
farmers- these pioneer families- stayed put. To keep the church alive, women
would sell eggs, make butter and haul their goods to Westport to be sold every
Friday. The social activities of the church, even after the buildings around it
were torn down, moved or withered away, were the cornerstone of this pioneer
community. It gave people a reason to return to the Santa Fe Road.
And that church was their social activity for just shy of a
century.
Think of all this little church and its members saw in its existence- it became one of the only structures surviving in the community even as JC Nichols snatched up land and started their planning.
In 1925, the church got a small makeover. Members pooled
their money and the original chimney in the center of the room was moved to the
outside, the potbellied stoves were upgraded, the room was re-plastered, the
roof was replaced and a basement was added.
A Kansas City Star article
from 1929 mentions how the Santa Fe Christian Church hosted a church bazaar. People present
could trace their family back to the southern states when settlement was sparse
in southern Jackson Co. Sarah Jane McPherson Bartlett, one of the founding
members of the church, stated, “Yes, I can recollect the trouble we had with
the border raiders- it was the redlegs one day and Quantrill men the next, and
we couldn’t do anything but just let ‘em rob us.”
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| A 1951 centennial celebration in New Santa Fe had the children of the area gathered near the Santa Fe Christian Church |
Burr McGee, descendant of charter member Marcus Gill who
lived on a farm encompassing all of Verona Hills subdivision, fondly remembers
the simpler days of the Santa Fe Christian Church. “It was all a very country
small town. It was great. There were sometimes church socials outside in the
area in front and on the west side of the church. I remember the cicadas
buzzing, playing with other kids and eating fried chicken and cherry pie. There
was Sunday School and a lot of reading from the Bible.”
Other small children that grew up in the area can still
recall the importance of the church in their quaint neighborhood. Even if they
didn’t attend church services, they would take up any opportunity to meet with
friends for a country dinner or church event.
One of the reverends of the church, the only one that could
claim the town of New Santa Fe as his birthplace, was Charles
Stewart (b.1884), grandson of Archibald Stewart and Cinderella McKinney. In an
article clipped from around 1939, Mr. Stewart recalled the Sunday School
attendance in the 1890s when “200 youngsters and adults crowded into the
building. . . The grounds were filled with buggies and wagons, the horses tied
to trees while the crowd stayed for all-day services broken by a basket dinner
at noon.”
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| Members gather at the church for a reunion in cir. 1937 Courtesy of Marilee Ciardullo |
Troy Bartlett, son of Sarah McPherson Bartlett, reminisced
in a 1959 article published in the Johnson
County Herald, “The church has also been a big social center. The big
Christmas Eve program was something anticipated from one year to the next.
There were strawberry and ice cream socials, back in those days, when all the ice
cream was homemade, and strawberries grew in abundance in the patches of the
community.”
By the 1960s, many of the descendants of pioneer families
had moved out of the area, yet several still made the Sunday pilgrimage to
Santa Fe Christian Church. As the area morphed from a farming community with
dirt roads to paved and platted subdivisions, the small church on a hill with
its cemetery welcomed new members of newly-settled suburban families.
And five of these people, for whatever the reason, marched
down to the Jackson Co. Courthouse in 1965 and incorporated the “Santa Fe
Christian Church,” most likely not discussing it with members. If you recall,
the church was legally named “The Christian Church at New Santa Fe,” but over
the years the name had been simply shortened by locals to the “Santa Fe
Christian Church.” These pioneers saw no need of any type of a new
incorporation when their organization owned the land and its sacred building for shy of 100 years.
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| Photo of the church, courtesy of City Planning Department, Historic Preservation (formerly City Landmark Commission) |
Clues can be unearthed through these court records; this
incorporation uses a Grandview, Mo. home
for their legal address, and one of the men listed uses the Santa Fe Christian
Church on the Santa Fe Trail as his legal
address. I consider myself pretty good at researching, and the Board of
Directors listed on this document don’t seem to have any attachment to the
founding families – or to the area, for that matter.
The destruction of the church, in my opinion, didn’t begin
when a fire took part of the building. It began with this incorporation of “The
Santa Fe Christian Church” in 1965.
I’m not going to name names.
This story isn’t about them.
It’s about that little white church on top of a hill on the
Santa Fe Trail that meant the world to so many.
On November 14th, 1969 at around 7:00pm, flames
and smoke could be spotted swirling on the north end of the Santa Fe Christian
Church. Firefighters arrived at the location, unraveling hoses and hopping into
action. In the Kansas City Times
article published the next day, battalion fire chief Joseph Connor said the
fire started “in a defective heater system near the altar.”
Connor stated the “structure was not severely affected, and
most damage was confined to the church interior and the area around the altar.”
One can only imagine the agony that this news would have
caused to the families forever entwined with this church.
Many of these pioneer families weren’t about to give up on
it. They knew in their hearts and minds that it was worth saving.
As the embers were extinguished, it became exceptionally
clear that the blossoming tensions were about the engulf the members, new and
old, of the Santa Fe Christian Church. At first, it seemed as if things would
be okay; however, the question of ownership of this organization was about to
get dicey.
So many hands were about to be played.
That “new” organization, aptly named the “Santa Fe Christian
Church,” incorporated in 1965, wouldn’t be located at someone’s home in
Grandview for much longer.
After the frost of winter lifted and the land thawed out in
the spring of 1970, the congregation gathered, allegedly not notifying all
members of the church, to raze the old building bruised by the fire. People
went into the church and stripped it of its pews and decorations.
These actions made many members scratch their heads and then
spring into action. Hugh R. Keltner and his wife, Esther (who was the
granddaughter of W.A. McKinney, charter member), opted to organize a
Restoration Committee. They figured if they could raise the money to restore
the church, there would be no reason to destroy it.
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| Bill McKinney, member of the Restoration Committee established to fight for the church |
Boy, they were sadly mistaken.
Regardless, Hugh began an aggressive campaign and recruited
many of the older members to stand up and fight. Bill McKinney, John Kernodle
and Homer Klapmeyer gladly stepped on board. Between the four of them, they
began to contact their friends and fellow members to generate support of
restoration.
“It’s not our aim to take anything from anybody,” Hugh
Keltner explained to the Kansas City Star,
“We just feel we’ve got a right to have our old church restored and this
cemetery undisturbed.”
In September, Hugh and Bill recruited Martin City resident
and friend, Gus Broockerd, to give an estimate to fix up the Santa Fe Christian
Church.
Gus, the former owner of Broockerd Construction, vividly
remembers what he saw when he examined the church just over 47 years ago. “It
wouldn’t have been much to repair it,” Gus recalled.
In fact, documents show that Gus Broockerd estimated the
damages at $3,000 to $3,500.
And tensions in the area were growing by the minute. Gus’s
neighbor was a member of the church and was completely against restoring it. “I
told her, ‘You know, that church can be saved. It’s kind of historic.’”
The Restoration Committee met with the trustees of the
church to try to reason with them on renovation. One balked the idea and concluded
that it would always smell like smoke. Another Board Member stated the church
wasn’t historic and allegedly said, “That’s the past. I’m for the future.”
In July 1970, it became clear what the future would hold.
The Santa Fe Christian Church took out a permit on the land next door to begin
construction of a new building.
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| Damage to the church from the fire Courtesy of Martha Walton |
… On land they didn’t even legally own yet.
The Restoration Committee spoke to Ray Klapmeyer, a
well-known businessman that grew up in the area. He was eager to help with the
finances to restore the church but said he wouldn’t help build a new one.
But a “Specialty Warranty Deed” changed everything on October 26, 1970. Three trustees of the Christian
Church at New Santa Fe, the legal name of the organization given in 1881,
signed pen to paper. It is alleged that some may have been misled on what they were
actually signing and told it was a “release of trusteeship.” But in reality, these
three men transferred ownership of
the Christian Church at New Santa Fe to the “Santa Fe Christian Church.”
Yes, transferred ownership to the organization started out
of a house in Grandview.
Digest that for a second.
Desperate to spawn support outside of the southern Jackson
Co. area, the Keltner’s contacted the Jackson County Historical Society. Their
president, Col. Slaughter wished to help but was knee-deep in restoring the
Wornall House. An article was published in their Summer 1970 newsletter to
generate support of restoration of the Santa Fe Christian Church.
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| Mel Solomon, Chairman, City Landmark Commission |
Mel Solomon (1928-2017), architect and chairman of
the City Landmark Commission, answered the cry for help. He drove out to the
little church and examined it. He wrote up a detailed report stating that not
only was the building worthy of restoration, but it should be considered as a
state landmark.
Hugh Keltner and Bill McKinney got a little wind in their
sail from this news.
No one would tear down a historic landmark on the Santa Fe
Trail, right?!
That Warranty Deed in October 1970 had flipped the tables
quite a bit, and when the insurance money for the fire rolled in, totaling around
$22,000, the money was used to purchase the land they already had a permit out
on next door to the weathering Santa
Fe Christian Church. In November 1970, $7,000 paid to JC Nichols set the future
into motion.
The Restoration Committee could sense it was time to
lawyer-up, and so they did.
I told you things got a wee bit complicated…
The Restoration Committee wasn’t willing to give up; they
generated a petition in the area. Some newly transplanted Verona Hills
residents signed it, stating that the church and the history of the Santa Fe
Trail were “selling points” to buying their homes. 290 signatures were
obtained.
Hugh Keltner and Bill McKinney met with state
representatives, Nick Penna and Harold Esser at the church. They explained
their case and how Mel Solomon, City Landmark Commission, believed the building
should be a state landmark. The reps were excited about a landmark in the area being
considered by the legislature.
The swift movement of the Restoration Committee to save
their little church came to a screeching halt on December 6, 1970. A letter
from the City of Kansas City was sent to the church and read aloud to the “new”
organization. They had five days to tear the church down, as it was considered “dangerous.”
Hearing of this alarming news, Hugh Keltner and Bill
McKinney met with their lawyer and called Mel Solomon. Both helped file the
paperwork to get a 60-day extension.
For now, the church was safe from the bulldozers.
The cold temperatures outside matched the reception of the
Restoration Committee as they made one last-ditch effort to plead their case to
the “new” Santa Fe Christian Church on February 7th, 1971.
William and J.K. McKinney, Eliza Holmes, Mabel Lawson,
Hubert and Louise Briggs, Mary, Hazel and Robert Sharp, Hugh and Esther Keltner
marched into the Martin City Elementary School where the church congregation
was meeting while their brand-new building was being erected. They explained-
pleaded- that private funds would be used to restore their little church and
they wouldn’t interrupt any of their current plans with their new brick building.
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| The gates on the western edge of the cemetery are close to where the outhouse for the church once stood. |
The matter came to a vote- again. The members of the
Restoration Committee were not allowed to vote, because according to the
by-laws, they had been “inactive” for 90 days. It was said that substantial
gifts throughout the years had been given and older members unable to travel
weren’t allowed to vote.
They wouldn’t hear it and the vote was cast. 17 in favor of
demolition; 3 against.
Left with no choice, Hugh Keltner and Bill McKinney met with
their lawyer on February 12th to file a restraining order against
the Santa Fe Christian Church to stop demolition.
The very next day, Hugh, possibly sensing the severity of
the situation, drove up Santa Fe Road to the top of the hill at 8:00am and took
a look at the little white church.
Judge Richard Sprinkle sauntered into his office that same
morning and began to sign off on papers filed. At 10:36am, he signed the injunction
laying on his desk to stop any destruction of the Santa Fe Christian Church.
If only that paper had made it to the top of his pile. . .
At approximately 9:30am, the equipment arrived in front of
the quaint, historic church and demolition began.
Just 66 minutes too late to change history.
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| Bulldozers leveled the Santa Fe Christian Church before an injunction could be served. The new church, still under construction, can be seen in the background. Courtesy of the Kansas City Star |
To think of how these families must have felt seeing that
pile of rubble next to the gravestones of some of those pioneers who fought,
planned and saved for the building of the church. It’s heartbreaking.
The next day, Mel Solomon, chairman of the City Landmark
Commission, made his feelings perfectly clear in the Kansas City Star. “I was shocked and dismayed to hear of the
needless destruction of the Santa Fe Christian Church, which is on the Old
Santa Fe Trail.”
Sometimes, it seems, progressiveness gets in the way of
saving pieces of our history. “This is another example of the failure of
individuals to see the importance and potential of rehabilitating a significant
remnant of our historic heritage,” Solomon explained, “It is tragedy not only
for the valiant people who worked so hard to save this church, but to the
entire community and nation.”
My, how accurate this statement is even today.
After the dust from the bulldozers settled along the
drastically-altared landscape surrounding the little burial ground in New Santa
Fe, Hugh Keltner and Bill McKinney filed suit as “The Christian Church at New
Santa Fe” against the Santa Fe Christian Church in April 1972. They sought
monetary damages as well as control of the cemetery that stood in the shadow of
their beloved church.
In May, 30 members of the original church stood Memorial Day
weekend at the little cemetery, heads bowed in prayer. Just two months later in
July, Hugh Keltner passed away leaving this organized fight a man down. And one
month after that, Paul Kernodle died in a car accident and was buried in the
New Santa Fe Cemetery.
To add insult to injury, Bill McKinney passed in December of
that same year.
But the fight miraculously continued, many of these original
members wishing for some type of resolution. And in 1975, it was finally
granted.
Pioneer families formed the New Santa Fe Cemetery
Association and the “new” Santa Fe Christian Church deeded part of the original
lots 31, 34 and 35 to them for $1, protecting the burial ground of their family
and friends forever.
Today, the outline of the baptismal font and part of the
chimney of the original Santa Fe Christian Church can be seen inside the
cemetery’s gates. Asphalt of the parking lot of the newer brick church covers
the remains of most of the church today, although a deep sinking spot shows
where the little white church once stood.
As the subdivisions moved in and the members of the church
passed away, the memory of the church could have been lost in time.
But the church will live on forever.
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Three years ago, a chance encounter at a store between my
mother and the president of the Historical Society of New Santa Fe brought new
light to the memory of the Santa Fe Christian Church. A project through the Little
Blue River Chapter, NSDAR was in the works to, fingers crossed, erect a marker
for the church.
“You should talk to my daughter,” my mom boasted, “She’s
really good at researching things.”
Thus, I was “volunteered” to research and write a grant for
this unfamiliar church.
What can I say? The rest is history.
This research not only led me to this church, but it opened
the doors to incredible stories of perseverance, pioneer lives and back to that
little cemetery I loved so much as a little girl. This gave birth to this very
blog and inspired me to pursue my unusual passion for the history of Kansas
City.
In March 2017, the final fight for the Santa Fe Christian
Church was officially recognized by the NSDAR. The grant was approved and a
permanent marker will be placed where the church once stood.
Along the way, one of the most rewarding aspects of this
project was meeting, talking to and resurrecting some priceless friendships
with these families so deeply impacted by this. I am humbled,
honored and so lucky to have met them.
Rev. Charles Stewart recounted in the late 30s how the Santa
Fe Christian Church was still strong even then. “The church of tomorrow will
continue its work for good,” he predicted, “because its congregation is not the
type to let its interest lapse.”
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| The foundation of the Santa Fe Christian Church and part of the chimney are visible today |
On October 7th at 1:00pm, we will congregate one
final time at the spot of the Santa Fe Christian Church and honor the founding,
the fire and the fight to save this beautiful church. Many people from out of town related to these pioneers will be traveling to Kansas City for this dedication.
It’s a moment of celebration of these brave pioneers, and I hope that the community will now not forget the little pieces of it that have remained unnoticed for just shy of 50 years.
It’s a moment of celebration of these brave pioneers, and I hope that the community will now not forget the little pieces of it that have remained unnoticed for just shy of 50 years.
It’s my privilege to be a part of this.
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