Beecher "Bible & Rifle" Church, Wabaunsee, Wabaunsee County, KS

Significance: This church was organized in 1857 by settlers from New England and the building was dedicated in 1862. The Congregationalist church took its name from the "Beecher Bibles" (in reality Sharp's carbines) which were furnished to free-state settlers who came to Kansas to combat pro-slavery sympathizers. The famous abolitionist preacher Henry Ward Beecher collected money for the arms, which were shipped to the Kansas Territory in boxes labeled "Bibles."

The building is a good example of early Plains vernacular style, with qualities similar to the New England churches of the 1830s. Its walls were constructed with native limestone. This is one of the earliest permanent church buildings in Kansas.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-10

Survey number: HABS KS-14

Building/structure dates: 1862 Initial Construction

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 71000334

churches stone buildings limestone mission 66 program religious services war civil war abolition movement wabaunsee beecher bible rifle church wabaunsee county kansas robert banks morris h beckman henry ward beecher mary f childres bruce w heckman historic american buildings survey gary r jarvis douglas mccleery james p noffsinger don m seyfert corydon smith david von riesen photo new england architecture american architecture church architecture building church buildings library of congress national register of historic places

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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